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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Woas" data-source="post: 3079913" data-attributes="member: 16317">I agree. Sometimes it feels like some skills are meant for just NPCs really... I picked a bunch of skills (16 in all).Appraise - What's the point? Unless the characters are setting up their own store. But otherwise the characters are happy whether they are getting 600 or 700 gold coins for that ruby. It's not like the characters really set how much the merchant is going buy it for... I guess some out there like to role-play bartering and trading with merchants but my personal prefrence, along with my group I play with tend to see situations like those as big slow-downs in game pacing and turning into Papers & Paychecks.With appraise to make it worthwhile, I allow characters to make appraise checks to 'assess the situation' in combat. Almost like a Knowledge check to see what type of denfenses and special abilities a monster would have, assessing the situation tells a player what sort of tactics they may encounter (as in feats the combats might hold - trippers, shot on the runners, etc), specific targets and what not. I guess recently Complete Adventurer did something like this in alternate uses for skills but applied it to Sense Motive.Bluff - Not a huge problem, but its in that gray area. Not really sure how to explain it. Plus it is easily over-ridden by low level spells.Disable Device - Ok so the rogues, bards and rangers may use this a bit to disarm traps. And it does see a lot of use that way. But thats it. The skill may as well be Disarm Trap. Setting up wheels to brake and other such situations seem rare.Diplomacy - As the number of posts about trouble and situations with this skill in the past indicate, there just is something wrong with this skill. And like bluff, it can be circumvented with easy low-level spells.Disguise - As others have said, there are low level spells that do this skill better than skill points. And in a fantasy world its really hard to image this skill being useful. It seems very circumstantial. I mean what if a gnome needed to look like an orc? Ok sure, get some stills an a long cloak... but still, orcs and gnomes have totally different skull structures. How does a human disguise himself as a dwarf or halfling?Escape Artist - Like pawsplay said, player characters don't get tied up that often. Other than the rare chance they are caught in a grapple, this skill sees little use.Forgery - Maybe other people use this more often in urban/politiking type games. But I have never seen anyone put ranks into this, or evne use it once.Intimidate - Using this skill feels like forcing square pegs into round holes. The skill is very odd and rarely worthwhile. Ok, you intimidate the level 1 warrior goblin who has no idea what the boss goblin king had in plan since he's some grunt and isn't privy to that info... Just kill the goblin and cast Speak with Dead or whatever.Sleight of Hand - It would seem useful. But the characters are already so rich, whats stealing 10 silver from some dude off the street going to get ya? I guess if a particular campaign was geared toward a more urban/rogue/thief theme it would be helpful.</blockquote>

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