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Message: <blockquote data-quote="DestroyYouAlot" data-source="post: 3080000" data-attributes="member: 36618">No need - synergy bonuses take care of that.  At 2nd level, a character can be getting all kinds of bonuses in skill B, C, and D from taking 5 ranks in skill A.  And, besides - you guys are crazy.  (Or maybe I just run my game differently from other people...  nahhh, you're all crazy.)  The only skills on that list that I can honestly say haven't seen occasional to regular use in my campaign are Alchemy, Forgery, and Use Magic Device, and the latter two have been been featured in the players' contingency plans.  Of course, I'm mindful to make all of them useful, and I feature a broad mix of adventure and RP styles in my game, but still...  A few frequent offenders:Appraise:  How else, exactly, do your PCs tell if the jeweller is giving them an honest price on that sapphire, or giving it to them the hard way?  (Or do the gems in your campaign come labelled "500gp"?)Balance:  I don't even know where to start with this one (other than to remind the person that suggested this be rolled over into a Ref save that skills are "active" while saves are "reactive", and to wonder how exactly a second-story man rogue character would take ranks in a saving throw?).  Anyway, I also use a homebrew spelunking system that uses this skill heavily.  (Let's see, charging across a Slick surface with a Moderate incline?  That's a DC 15...)Bluff:  My players took special notice of the feint rules, and I have a PC in one game that specializes in feinting with a glaive.  Anyway, maybe your players are more honest than mine, but lying effectively comes in pretty handy sometimes.Concentration:  Not much written into the 3.0 rules for non-spellcasting Concentration checks, but I've thrown it in a few times for random stuff like drinking games, etc.  Craft / Profession:  Again, seems pretty obvious, but these are as much about character background and flavor as they are in-game use.  But you never know...Decipher Script:  Puzzles.  Among other things.  But, seriously, puzzles.  Diplomacy:  Sees plenty of use, but is relatively ill-defined - and the "NPC reactions" in the DMG are crap.  Seriously, anyone who plays a d20 game should check out Rich Burlew's alternate Diplomacy skill article on Giant in the Playground, I guarantee you'll never look back:  <a href="http://www.giantitp.com/articles/jFppYwv7OUkegKhONNF.html" target="_blank">This Old Rule:  Diplomacy Skill</a>Forgery:  Adventuring in Cormyr without an adventuring charter 101, right this way folks.Heal:  More useful in a diagnostic than a curative sense; also, consider allowing a successful check to get a sense of a monster or NPC's current HP remaining.Knowledge (whatever):  Wow.  Just, wow.  (Although, an earlier poster was right, this wasn't well-defined until 3.5.)Sense Motive:  Again, detecting a lie can be a life-saver.Use Rope:  You never take prisoners?  How about rappelling down a cliff?  (I know I'm not letting the wizard tie that knot.)</blockquote>

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