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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nyeshet" data-source="post: 3088293" data-attributes="member: 18363">I have arranged the results based upon number of votes (and saved this to a txt file named "Value of d20 Skills"). Query: Which Skills Should Be Useful But Are Not?[code]Skill Name. . . . . Votes. . % of VotesSpot. . . . . . . . . 02 . . 0.57%Search. . . . . . . . 04 . . 1.13%Listen. . . . . . . . 05 . . 1.42%Hide. . . . . . . . . 06 . . 1.70%Move Silently . . . . 06 . . 1.70%Tumble. . . . . . . . 06 . . 1.70%Disable Device. . . . 08 . . 2.27%Open Locks. . . . . . 13 . . 3.68%Knowledge . . . . . . 20 . . 5.67%Concentration . . . . 23 . . 6.52%Bluff . . . . . . . . 24 . . 6.80%Sense Motive. . . . . 24 . . 6.80%Spellcraft. . . . . . 28 . . 7.93%Perform . . . . . . . 30 . . 8.50%Ride. . . . . . . . . 30 . . 8.50%Jump. . . . . . . . . 31 . . 8.78%Survival. . . . . . . 34 . . 9.63%Diplomacy . . . . . . 35 . . 9.92%Use Magic Device. . . 35 . . 9.92%Climb . . . . . . . . 37 . . 10.48%Gather Information. . 39 . . 11.05%Swim. . . . . . . . . 45 . . 12.75%Speak Language. . . . 46 . . 13.03%Handle Animal . . . . 49 . . 13.88%Balance . . . . . . . 59 . . 16.71%Heal. . . . . . . . . 60 . . 17.00%Sleight of Hand . . . 64 . . 18.13%Disguise. . . . . . . 65 . . 18.41%Intimidate. . . . . . 67 . . 18.98%Escape Artist . . . . 69 . . 19.55%Craft . . . . . . . . 80 . . 22.66%Profession. . . . . . 107. . 30.31%Forgery . . . . . . . 116. . 32.86%Decipher Script . . . 121. . 34.28%Use Rope. . . . . . . 126. . 35.69%Appraise. . . . . . . 155. . 43.91%[/code](I broke the rows based on differences of more than 5 from the prior skill.)Comments on the breakup and the skills are below:Essential SkillsSpotSearchListenHideMove SilentlyTumbleDisable DeviceOpen LocksThese skills are, not surprisingly, seen as the essential skills for a party of adventures. No other skills had so few votes on this poll, and the next group (beginning with Knowledge) is seven votes beneath this block of skills. I doubt anyone was surprised by these results. These skills are typically maxed out by those that have them as class skills. Useful SkillsKnowledgeConcentrationBluffSense MotiveSpellcraftPerformRideJumpSurvivalDiplomacyUse Magic DeviceClimbGather InformationSwimSpeak LanguageHandle AnimalThese are utilitarian skills mostly. Some are arguably essential - Knowledge, Concentration (esp for casters), but most others are typically only useful if you have a class that specializes in their use (Perform for Bards) or as utility skills (Climb, Swim, Bluff, Ride, etc). They make life easier and are good second choices (and sometimes first choices, depending on the class / skill) for maxing out if you have extra skill points after maxing (or nearly maxing) the Essential Skills (provided any were class skills, of course).Note-worthy SkillsBalanceHealSleight of HandDisguiseIntimidateEscape ArtistIf you have skill points left over after maxing or nearly maxing your Essential and Useful skills, these are often the ones to receive the remaining skill points. These help round out a character, but most of them can be done better by even lower level spells. If magic is uncommon I expect many of these skills to see more use, actually. Craft and Profession can possibly be placed in their group, although their ranking was notably less. Like these skills, Craft and Profession are often used to round out a character - especially in terms of background. For that reason they are often seen as NPC skills, although some PrCs make notable use of them (such as Peerless Archer, I think, that requires ranks in Craft (arrows / bows). Not-Quite-Useless SkillsCraftProfessionThese are the typical NPC skills. They fall by a wide margin from the next group up (and even by a wide margin from each other - and from those skills beneath them), but they can have some usefulness - if only for backgrounds and some rare PrCs. See Note-Worthy Skills, above, for more info, as I briefly considered adding them to that group of skills. Apparently Useless SkillsForgeryDecipher ScriptUse RopeAppraiseThese skills are seemingly useless. Speak Language was Useful, while Decipher Script was Useless. Forgery is apparently rarely if ever used, and Use Rope is - I presume - used mostly for fancy knot tying and the synergy bonus to Escape Artist (a minor Note-Worthy Skill). Appraise was considered so useless that it resides on the absolute bottom - a full thirty points below the next lowest skill, Use Rope. These skills are seemingly never used or seen as without any real use. Placing ranks in these skills is proably more of a handicap than an investment in a skill for future use. PrCs that require such might be considered as scraping the bottom of the barrel in handicapping the N/PC taking the PrC. In some ways the results surprised me. I didn't think that Speak Language would do so well, but then it only requires a single rank, so perhaps that is its charm and usefulness. A +2 bonus in Int grants a similar ability automatically, as I recall. Knowledges were a pleasant surprise, as I tend to group them with Profession and Craft skills, but then I recalled that each Knowledge type grants one or two synergy bonuses to other skills or abilities (such as Turning or Bardic Knowledge). Decipher Script seemed odd, but then I recalled that at least one low level spell makes it redundant, as any party will have at least one caster, and such a useful spell will almost certainly make the list. Anyway, what are others' views on this list?</blockquote>

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