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Message: <blockquote data-quote="BookTenTiger" data-source="post: 9776878" data-attributes="member: 6685541">What a neat idea for a thread. In my experiences of both running and playing 5e, this is how I would rank the usefulness of the skills:1) Perception2) Persuasion3) Stealth4) Insight5) AcrobaticsThese are the five skills that get used pretty much every session. Perception is used so often that it should just be a core ability instead of a skill. I mean, every time the characters enter a scene with something hidden in check their Passive Perception scores.Maybe it's just my players, but we use Persuasion a lot!!! If my players can talk down an enemy or turn them into an ally they will always try to use Persuasion first.Stealth is also used a lot in my campaigns. Characters are always sneaking, hiding... This skill can change an encounter so much that I have to put it high on the list.Insight is basically the sub-Perception. When characters are interacting with an NPC I'm often checking passive Insight scores, or the characters are actively making them. Players really love Insight.And number five is Acrobatics. I find that I want players to use this skill more often than they actually do. It's much more common for my players to try and think or talk their way through a challenge than balance, jump, or climb. I don't know why, but it's what always happens!6) Deception 7) Athletics8) Intimidation9) Investigation10) SurvivalThese four skills don't get used by most characters, but they can be really powerful when a single character specializes in them..a character who is super Deceptive or Intimidating can turn the campaign in interesting ways. Having a really high Investigation or Survival can cut through challenges that would otherwise befuddle a group. A single character with really high Athletics can pull a Shaq and change combat into an all-close-in strategy with grappling.11) Arcana12) Nature13) History14) ReligionThe four knowledge skills go here, in order of how useful I find them. Usually if a DM wants you to know something they'll tell you, but it can be fun to unlock extra knowledge early. I wish Knowledge were its own thing separate from skills.15) Sleight of Hand16) Animal Handling17) Medicine18) PerformanceThe bottom-list skills are either so specific (Sleight of Hand, Animal Handling) or useless after low levels (Medicine). Performance is a weird one because it's used for one single specific thing, but also if you're proficient in an Instrument you don't really need it.When I created my own D&D-lite system, I boiled down the skills to six:AthleticsExpertisePerceptionPersuasionStealthWildingThe characters can use any ability bonus with any skill so it opens each skill up to a lot of different uses. I put Knowledge in its own little checklist. If a character has a knowledge (like Nature and Monsters), that means they either know something, or can make an Expertise check to know more.</blockquote>

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