What are the Ten Best and Awesome Skills?

[Greysect]

For an upcoming game I will be a level one character in a group of about 6-8. I'd like to say i know my way around the game more than most of the other players in the group, and I don't want to overshadow anybody. I imagine all the role will be covered, so I wish to create a character who is as a disadvantage compared to other players, but who can still stand one his own legs in his own special way.

I'm planning on a joke character: An Expert going into Fortune's Friend. I will have at least two flaws, Coward and Magical Fascination. I will only have ten skills at my disposal, and I will be investing most of my feats on luck. I will also be asking my DM if I can trade out what few proficiencies I have in exchange for something like a Drunken Master's improvised weapon proficiency.

Anyways, what I ask of you, the Playground, is a list of the ten best skills to invest in, either one list considering the most useful and interesting, or a separate list for each one. Being an expert, I want to rely on ingenuity, and plan on taking ranks in Craft (Alchemy) and Craft (Traps), both skills being useful at least at lower levels and fun without overshadowing anyone.

[maximus25]

Knowledge Arcane, Planes, Nature and Religion. Max ranks, win the game. Also Spot, Listen, Search, and Bluff. Diplomacy is important as well.

[Greyfell]

I'd have to go with Use Magic Device and Tumble myself, as some of the most useful darn skills in the game.

Gather information, bluff, intimidate and diplomacy help with social interaction.

If you want cheese.... Iajitsu focus (from oriental adventures) and some gear choices make you a scary damage dealer.

[Flickerdart]

1: Use Magic Device, no doubt about it. Being able to hold the CLW wand in case the Cleric bites it is useful, and having a stack of scrolls for a rainy day is never a bad thing.
2. Handle Animal. Get a minion, or even better, use the Push action to command wild tigers and enemy pets to stand down (which you totally can, because there's no clause in Handle Animal that requires it to be used on friendlies).
3: Intimidate. It can be cranked up to ludicrous heights of awesome, and a dip in one of several classes will let you scare the bejesus out of things immune to Fear.
4: Iaijutsu Focus. Ever wanted to deal more damage? Now you can! This caps out at 9d6, almost as good as a Rogue's Sneak Attack if you invest fully. Like the above skills, also Charisma-based. Starting to see a trend here?
5. Autohypnosis breaks the trend, being WIS-based, but being able to ignore poisons and roll for free temp HP is pretty swank regardless.
6. Craft (Poison). You make progress in gold instead of silver pieces, and easy access to materials cuts the materials fee to 1/6 of the standard cost. Easily the best craft skill to pursue, as Alchemy is only available to casters and Traps suck.
7 & 8. Spot & Listen. Being able to notice the enemy before they notice you means actions in the surprise round.
9. Tumble. Attacks of opportunity are for suckers, and you sir are no sucker! Ninja-roll your way through the reach of that Ogre and feed him a three-course meal of knife, dagger and shiv.
10. Sleight of Hand. It's a flat DC to steal something, so regardless of whether or not that caster spots you, you can loot his components pouch or holy symbol, and then the backup ones.

Honorable mention: Forgery. Opposed by Forgery, and nobody takes Forgery.


If you want cheese.... Iajitsu focus (from oriental adventures) and some gear choices make you a scary damage dealer.
Cheese? Even if you use the Quickrazor, you're still dealing less damage than a Rogue's Sneak Attack. Your bonus damage is harder to get off, and requires more investment. Iaijutsu is cheese the same way that VOP Monks are cheese: only to people who don't understand the game.

[AmberVael]

In no particular order:

Use Magic Device / Use Psionic Device - being able to use magic, even in item form, helps you be incredibly versatile. It's great.

Autohypnosis - What CAN'T this skill do? Memorize stuff, ignore wounds and poisons and fear and use a diehard kind of effect- get your check high enough and it gets crazier.

Iaijutsu Focus - A skill for doing damage. Not always useful, but investing in it is cheap and effective.

Diplomacy/Bluff/Intimidate/Sense Motive - Mind control for the thrifty.

Tumble - Moving Around, Advanced Version. Avoid AoOs, climb up stuff, fall down stuff, run across walls like you're the Prince of Persia, acrobatic performances... tumble is flashy and fun.

Hide/Move Silently - Preferably, pair with Darkstalker feat. Not being seen, and in a way that can't be obviated with most senses, is incredibly useful. Go somewhere you're not supposed to be, be a shadow when your enemy wants you to be a target, whatever you want to do with it, it's useful.

Spot/Listen - Because knowing what other people are doing or saying is power.

[Zaq]

I've thought of playing an Expert, and I plan to do so if I ever end up in a low-op group.

Anyway, the majority of the best skills are CHA-based, which I find to be interesting.

UMD: I don't need to tell you how good this is.
Iaijutsu Focus: Free damage! Well, OK, not free, but still, damage!
Handle Animal: Minions!
Diplomacy: Different minions, or at least an ace in the hole!
Bluff: Again, I don't need to tell you how good this is.

After that, I'd say Balance (just five ranks, so you might cross-class it), Tumble, Spot and/or Listen, and maybe Sense Motive are especially worth it, though those last few depend on your game.

You can have a lot of fun with Sleight of Hand (I prefer to use it to plant things on people rather than to lift things off people), but you have to get creative for it to shine.

Forgery is godly if you have a good Bluff check and a cooperative GM, but a lot of GMs get a little upset when you produce a signed note from the King that lets you do whatever you want and is indistinguishable from the real thing.

As you mentioned, Craft (poisonmaking) and Craft (trapmaking) have their uses, though you need a PrC (either Trapsmith or Combat Trapsmith) to get the most out of trapmaking. (Trapsmith is better.)

There's a bizarre and nasty trick you can do with Lucid Dreaming, of all things, that basically lets you assassinate people with it, but I would not count on most GMs letting that fly.

Escape Artist is invaluable if your GM is fond of grapples, but it generally doesn't have much use if that's not the case.

Gather Info really depends on your GM . . . some GMs use it as a "find plot hook" check, some GMs will let it help you when you come up with a totally wacky idea and need some assistance ("hmm, if we can just fudge whatever that special sealing wax is made of, we can probably bluff our way inside! Where can we find a crooked alchemist who can help us get some of that wax that only the priests are supposed to have?"), and some GMs don't let it do much of anything.

Intimidate has the potential to actually be useful in combat, but you generally need feats, items, and/or class features to really pimp it out (not that you'll have access to many of those at or near level 1).

Technically, if you invest in Truespeak and blow a feat on Minor Utterance of the Evolving Mind and get Universal Aptitude, you can give yourself a +5 typeless bonus on ALL your skills a few times per day, but I cannot in good conscience actually recommend that you do that. (Once you hit your stride with the rerolls, it wouldn't be impossible to pull it off a couple times a day, especially in noncombat situations, but . . . that way lies madness. Trust me. I know.)

Climb can get you into places you're not supposed to be, especially at low levels. In fact, I'd say that Climb should definitely be one of your top picks. A lot of people forget about it, but it's incredibly handy, and you can get some good mileage out of it.

Edit: I forgot Autohypnosis. Yeah, it's good.

Can you be a human? I'd recommend taking Able Learner, so you can at least dabble in some other skills (even if you can't hit the max ranks).

[AugustNights]

Craft (Basket-weaving (http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19870302/The_Basket_Weavers_Handbook))

A more serious comment: Check out the Factotum's Handbook (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=2720.0).

[Yora]

I like Climb, Jump, and Balance. In low-level campaigns these provide a huge number of additional options in overcoming obstacles.

[Darrin]

Forgery should be in there somewhere. Resisted by...? Forgery!

"I'm here to pick up the King's +5 Holy Avenger from the Royal Treasury..."
"But I've already paid for that +5 mithral full plate, here's the receipt from your bank..."
"Now, I don't normally do this, but it might be possible to, shall we say, misplace these tax assessments... for a small fee, of course."
"You mean it *was* your wizard's tower. I believe if you review these documents from my lawyer, it's quite clear that it's now *my* wizard's tower."

[Greysect]

My DM uses whatever I use, and I never introduced Psionics, OE, or ToM to them (aside from Binder : D). So Iajutsu Focus, Autohypnosis, and Truespeak are out.

I plan on being a Human with 18 INT, but that depends on how well my rolls go. I need to decide on which of these skills to always put points in, thus making them class skills, and which are useful but don't need to be pumped into, so they can be left a cross-class.

I will be tight on feats, I believe, but I'd like to take some one-shot feats that are worth it if anyone has suggestions. I'm thinking Leadership, but that depends on how many people play and how I feel about having extra actions by way of cohorts. Are poisons fine enough to stand on their own without feats? I'm thinking of investing a feat into Imperious Command or anything to beef Intimidate.

The Skills chosen so far: Diplomacy, Bluff, Use Magic Device, Intimidate, Handle Animal.

Still need to decide on how many Crafts to take. Spellcasting regardless, is Alchemy good compared to the other two crafts? And how much of a dip into Trapsmith would make Trapmaking a worthy skill?

All the other skills seem nice, but all reach their potential at 5 ranks, so I will need to prioritize which deserve more attention.

[Flickerdart]

Alchemy sucks: after low levels, alchemist's fire won't deal enough damage, and tanglefoot bags are basically just nets. Poison does need feat investment to be effective - Master of Poisons lets you apply it as a swift action and never poison yourself, and Wild Cohort gives you a great source of poisons.

[Zaq]

Alchemy sucks: after low levels, alchemist's fire won't deal enough damage, and tanglefoot bags are basically just nets. Poison does need feat investment to be effective - Master of Poisons lets you apply it as a swift action and never poison yourself, and Wild Cohort gives you a great source of poisons.

While Flickerdart's right that alchemy (unfortunately) sucks, I disagree with the reason. The real reason that alchemy sucks is that the stuff you can make with it is relatively common and generally not worth producing yourself. You won't save THAT much money (unless you're just mass-producing vats of the stuff, which has its own problems), and since it's just adventuring gear, you can pretty much be assumed to be able to buy it in any but the most podunk of towns.

Poison, on the other hand, is often illegal to sell, so while a good Gather Info check will probably help, it's still an extra wrinkle. Plus, CAdv gives special rules for making poisons, and they only cost you 1/6 the market price in materials, as opposed to 1/3 the market price for pretty much anything else. Oh, and you make them faster.

Basically, alchemical items are fun and useful, but there's no reason to make them yourself. Making your own poison, on the other hand, actually carries several benefits with it.

[JaronK]

Diplomacy + Lucid Dreaming. Journey into the dreams of your enemies, make them into friends while they sleep. Then confuse the rest of the party when you turn out to be best friends with EVERYONE.

JaronK

[Dictum Mortuum]

1: Use Magic Device, no doubt about it. Being able to hold the CLW wand in case the Cleric bites it is useful, and having a stack of scrolls for a rainy day is never a bad thing.
2. Handle Animal. Get a minion, or even better, use the Push action to command wild tigers and enemy pets to stand down (which you totally can, because there's no clause in Handle Animal that requires it to be used on friendlies).
3: Intimidate. It can be cranked up to ludicrous heights of awesome, and a dip in one of several classes will let you scare the bejesus out of things immune to Fear.
4: Iaijutsu Focus. Ever wanted to deal more damage? Now you can! This caps out at 9d6, almost as good as a Rogue's Sneak Attack if you invest fully. Like the above skills, also Charisma-based. Starting to see a trend here?
5. Autohypnosis breaks the trend, being WIS-based, but being able to ignore poisons and roll for free temp HP is pretty swank regardless.
6. Craft (Poison). You make progress in gold instead of silver pieces, and easy access to materials cuts the materials fee to 1/6 of the standard cost. Easily the best craft skill to pursue, as Alchemy is only available to casters and Traps suck.
7 & 8. Spot & Listen. Being able to notice the enemy before they notice you means actions in the surprise round.
9. Tumble. Attacks of opportunity are for suckers, and you sir are no sucker! Ninja-roll your way through the reach of that Ogre and feed him a three-course meal of knife, dagger and shiv.
10. Sleight of Hand. It's a flat DC to steal something, so regardless of whether or not that caster spots you, you can loot his components pouch or holy symbol, and then the backup ones.

Honorable mention: Forgery. Opposed by Forgery, and nobody takes Forgery.


Cheese? Even if you use the Quickrazor, you're still dealing less damage than a Rogue's Sneak Attack. Your bonus damage is harder to get off, and requires more investment. Iaijutsu is cheese the same way that VOP Monks are cheese: only to people who don't understand the game.

Couldn't agree more :P

[TurtleKing]

Well if you can use Incarnum then be an Azurin. Take the Shape Soulmeld feat getting Lucky Dice which adds a +1 to all ability and skill checks. You can even get an occasional burst of it appling to attack, damage, and saving throws.

[Big Fau]

1: UMD/UPD (treated as equals, though they are different skills).

2: Diplomacy.

3: Lucid Dreaming.

4: Bluff.

5: Knowledge (Any combat-useable skill).

6: Craft (Warforged). Yes, you can use it with the normal Craft skills to create a Warforged that's worth three times the price of a normal Warforged.

7: Iaijutsu Focus.

8: Handle Animal.

9: Intimidate.

10: Perform (by RAW, can get you an audience with a deity, with potential for divine intervention).

[Greysect]

What book is Lucid Dreaming from? Never heard of it, so DM won't allow it. Sounds cool though, my use it in my own games.

Skills: Diplomacy, Bluff, Intimidate, Craft (Poisons), Handle Animal, Use Magic Device, Tumble, Hide, Move Silently, and Spot.

Priority cross-class skills to dabble in (probably five in all of them): Climb, Use Rope, Balance, Sleight of Hand. The last two will be maxed out first.

A Human Expert with 18 Int would start with (6+4+1)X4=44 Skill points, which means if I maxed out all my class skills I'd still have four points left over to put two ranks in one cross-class or one rank in two cross-class...Disregard, I just saw Able Learner, baby!

How's this for a feat selection?

Feat Selection, FF meaning Fortune's Friend's bonus luck feats. Luck Rerolls are listed at the levels they change.
H: Able Learner
Flaw: Sly Fortune (the flaw will be Coward) (LR 1)
1: Master of Poisons
3: Unbelievable Luck (LR 3)
6: Make Your Own Luck (LR 5)
FF7: Better Luck Than Good (LR 6)
9: ???? (Maybe Leadership, if my party is small enough to allow for NPCs taking up time for extra turns. If not, perhaps another luck feat for a +1 LR)
FF9: Survivor's Luck (LR 8)

By level 10 I'll have nine luck rerolls, ten if I take another Luck feat at level 9.

Suggestions? Though I've been told Traps and Alchemy suck, I can't help but think about taking at least one of them. I'll check out Booby Traps in DMG II and decide if they're worth it.


6: Craft (Warforged). Yes, you can use it with the normal Craft skills to create a Warforged that's worth three times the price of a normal Warforged.

No...That's too awesome, that can't be! Where does it say this? I'll have to ask my DM if I can do that. He does allow Warforged, after all.


Well if you can use Incarnum then be an Azurin. .

Never used Incarnum, but thanks.

[Keegan__D]

UMD, Bluff, Tumble, Diplomacy, Sleight of Hand, any relevant knowledge checks for your campaign, Hide, Move Silently, Forgery, and whatever Autohypnosis is.

[Zaq]

10: Perform (by RAW, can get you an audience with a deity, with potential for divine intervention).

I think that's overselling it just a little bit.

PHB, pg. 79:
"DC 30: Extraordinary performance. In a prosperous city, you can earn 3d6 gp/day. In time, you may draw attention from distant potential patrons, or even from extraplanar beings."

There are a lot of extraplanar beings that aren't deities. A whole lot of 'em. That said, getting tourists from Sigil who came just to hear you perform is pretty awesome, and since skill checks are easy to boost, this might be worthwhile just for how silly and fun it is.

[aazru]

Lucid Dreaming: Reality Warper Light :smallbiggrin:
Preform(mindrape), also known as Oratory for some reason.

[Weezer]

If you're going to be focusing on using skills in fun and exciting ways, look up the Exemplar PrC from Complete Adventurer. It is solely focused on using skills, getting lots of tasty abilities to help in that regard. It's relatively late entry, level 11 is the earliest I think, so it could be a good way to round off your build after you finish Fortune's Friend. Dunno if your campaign will go that long, but if it does Exemplar is worth a look.

[Flickerdart]

No...That's too awesome, that can't be! Where does it say this? I'll have to ask my DM if I can do that. He does allow Warforged, after all.
Warforged are not an item. Even if the were, you would not be able to use a skill to craft them because they'd be magic items.

However, if you take Craft (minting), you would be able to turn one gold piece into three gold pieces after a week. This is not especially useful, but it breaks physics.

[Dictum Mortuum]

Hide & Move Silently are overrated.

[Greysect]

Hide & Move Silently are overrated.

So then I should move them to the cross class list? They don't look right next to the other skills, and I know there will at least be a rogue in the party already. Judging from what you've read, what would you place in those slots. Autohypnosis, Truespeak, Iajutsu, and Lucid Dreaming are all out.

[Big Fau]

Warforged are not an item. Even if the were, you would not be able to use a skill to craft them because they'd be magic items.

However, if you take Craft (minting), you would be able to turn one gold piece into three gold pieces after a week. This is not especially useful, but it breaks physics.

Or craft diamonds, for easy Rezzing.

[Zaq]

Don't cross-class Hide and Move Silently. Either max them (and get all the trimmings, like Darkstalker) or forget them. They don't work if you only go halfway.

[gallagher]

Forgery is the best skill, it is opposed by forgery, which nobody really takes, and works well with bluff

[AmberVael]

Don't cross-class Hide and Move Silently. Either max them (and get all the trimmings, like Darkstalker) or forget them. They don't work if you only go halfway.

Yeah, this. They can be good if you max them, but otherwise don't even bother.

[Telonius]

Depends a bit on the circumstances. Casters will want Concentration; it's useless to others. Then there are things like Iajutsu Focus that are awesome in certain builds but not others. But as a *general* thing, and ignoring non-Core skills...

1. Use Magic Device.
2. Diplomacy
3. Bluff*
4. Tumble
5. Move Silent
6. Spot
7. Listen
8. Knowledge (Arcana)
9. Knowledge (Religion)
10. Knowledge (Planes)

* Right here, I would really have liked to put Sense Motive before Bluff. Better to not be fooled by the one who can hurt you by fooling, than have a single option out of many being taken away. But Sense Motive it's one of those theoretical skill that never seem to actually work out to the benefit of the PC. For the main bad guys and spies, where it would actually benefit a PC to be able to sense a person's motives, the bad guy will have +a bazillion to his Bluff check, or Glibness, or who-knows-what-all. For the little guys, where it doesn't matter if the PC senses the motive or not, it's a trivial victory. At least in my experience, it's more of a trap than a skill in practice.

[Zaq]

Depends a bit on the circumstances. Casters will want Concentration; it's useless to others. Then there are things like Iajutsu Focus that are awesome in certain builds but not others. But as a *general* thing, and ignoring non-Core skills...

1. Use Magic Device.
2. Diplomacy
3. Bluff*
4. Tumble
5. Move Silent
6. Spot
7. Listen
8. Knowledge (Arcana)
9. Knowledge (Religion)
10. Knowledge (Planes)

* Right here, I would really have liked to put Sense Motive before Bluff. Better to not be fooled by the one who can hurt you by fooling, than have a single option out of many being taken away. But Sense Motive it's one of those theoretical skill that never seem to actually work out to the benefit of the PC. For the main bad guys and spies, where it would actually benefit a PC to be able to sense a person's motives, the bad guy will have +a bazillion to his Bluff check, or Glibness, or who-knows-what-all. For the little guys, where it doesn't matter if the PC senses the motive or not, it's a trivial victory. At least in my experience, it's more of a trap than a skill in practice.

I think this is one of the few times I've seen Move Silently without Hide. Are you just relying on Invisibility (which isn't that big a bonus if you're moving)? Given what you said, I think you could ditch MS and take Sense Motive instead.

[The_Jackal]

If you're a coward, you NEED stealth. Move Silently and Hide are crucial to your ability to avoid danger. Neglect them at your peril.

[Dictum Mortuum]

So then I should move them to the cross class list? They don't look right next to the other skills, and I know there will at least be a rogue in the party already. Judging from what you've read, what would you place in those slots. Autohypnosis, Truespeak, Iajutsu, and Lucid Dreaming are all out.

I'd choose something like Knowledge(arcana or nature), spellcraft, sense motive or listen.

Contrary to the other posters I think that you don't need to max hide/move silently for it to be effective (assuming out of combat situations).

[Calanon]

Diplomacy + Lucid Dreaming. Journey into the dreams of your enemies, make them into friends while they sleep. Then confuse the rest of the party when you turn out to be best friends with EVERYONE.

JaronK

...Why does this make me think of inception?

[Flickerdart]

I'd choose something like Knowledge(arcana or nature), spellcraft, sense motive or listen.

Contrary to the other posters I think that you don't need to max hide/move silently for it to be effective (assuming out of combat situations).
Hide and Move Silently are opposed skills, meaning that if you don't max them out, they're useless. On the other hand, skills with flat DCs like Tumble and Balance can be cross-classed easily, because an investment in them actually means something regardless of how many points that Balor has.

[Greysect]

The party enjoys sneaking for the most part, or my DM keeps putting us in situations where we would want to sneak. Considering this and my cowardice, I think I'll make out these skills.

Now for priority. Despite these class being dependent on CHA I don't think I'll actually have a high CHA unless the party is smaller than six so that Leadership won't be annoying. In order I think my ability scores will be INT, CON, DEX, STR, CHA, WIS. I'll need HP considering d6, DEX goes well with AC and cross-class skills, and what is the point of poisons if I can't touch the enemy because of a crappy STR? How is this thinking?

[Flickerdart]

You can use a Gnome Calculus (A&EG) to launch vials, and there's no reason you couldn't deliver doses of contact poison that way. Injury poison could be delivered via arrows. With that d6 HD, you'll want to stay away from large men with big swords anyway, so Strength isn't really an asset for you.

[Psyren]

What book is Lucid Dreaming from? Never heard of it, so DM won't allow it.

Since nobody appears to have answered you, it's in Manual of the Planes. :smalltongue:

And using it to Diplomance everyone in their sleep is much more difficult than it sounds. Even if you are able to locate a specific dreamer (this is difficult, even if you fall asleep beside them), then successfully grapple them into the Dreamheart (this is highly dangerous for both of you) and finally keep them from leaving long enough to work your wiles, the RoD isn't quite the Matrix. Sure you die in real life if you die in the Dreamheart, but it says nothing about other effects being transferred to the waking world as well, including compulsions or forced changes in attitude.

[missmvicious]

The answer varies wildly depending on the character you're making.

There are some skills that I wouldn't consider awesome, but definitely consider generally useful. They're the broth of the Skill Set Soup--not exactly exciting enough on its own, but it's not a soup without it. Here they are:

Gather Information: put enough ranks into it, and it gives you a sort of unofficial (albeit circumstantial) synergy with other Knowledge checks. Plus it can take the place of almost any knowledge check as long as you are within walking distance of someone who knows the answer to your question.

Handle Animal: perfect for most occasions. And it gives synergy with Ride checks. Find yourself a Dire Bear, make friends with it, and ride him into battle. The rest of the team can wait in safety while you devastate your foes.

Hide: Not being seen is even better than having great armor. A Small category Sorcerer who is out of spells can still pull off a called shot to an opponents throat with their Dagger and 8 STR and do considerable damage if they hid well enough to catch their opponent Flat-Footed. And they can stay out of the fight until they're ready to jump back in at the most opportunistic time.

Listen: You may not be able to Spot an invisible opponent, but if you're listening hard enough, you could still figure out where it is when it flaps it's wings or steps on a twig.

Spot: It's just not a D&D campaign without a Spot check, and I'd rather have a great Spot check than a great Search check any day of the week. (No slight against Search; it's just Spot is that useful.)

I know I didn't pick ten yet, so here are the runner ups:
Bluff, Diplomacy, Knowledge (Any), Search, Use Magic Device

My heart isn't in the last 5, though, because, as I said, it depends on the character I'm building. My Half-Orc Cleric of Kord put no points at all in Bluff, Diplomacy, Search or Use Magic Device and still became one of the most BAMF characters I ever played. He was such a force that he actually became our front-liner while our Dwarven Fighter became the defensive line. Admittedly, my half-orc was absolutely no good in a social environment... great ally in a bar fight though. ;)

[Mystral]

UMD, coupled with enough money, can get you really good results.

To support this, you might consider taking open lock, move silently, hide and disable device for a heist or two.

Alternately, take diplomacy, bluff, sense motive and knowledge (Nobs and Royals) and go diplomancer and talk people out of their stuff.

For the last 5 skills, I'd take iajutsu focus for massive damage, listen and spot so you don't stumble around blindly, handle animal to ride your trained battle dinosaur into war and a knowledge skill of your choice.

[Socratov]

I'm not experienced in any way, but i have a few favorites.

I agree with investing in the sneaky skills to stay alive (move silently and hide), always pick those. next you have to pick a theme because some skills only work best when used in conjunction with others (especially considering synergy bonuses)

My first and favorite setup:
-diplomacy
-bluff
-sense motive
-gather information
-intimidate
-UMD
-Handle animal
-perform(oratory)

congratulations, you will have friends. You will either wow them with perform, or just bluff your way through, or even haggle your way through life. Everyone knows what the diplomancer can do, and now you can borrow a little gouda from that on a side plate. Or you can focus on beïng a jedi and boost the bluff checks (more information on it's usage here (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0767.html)). Another skill you will be able to use is handle animal: find an animal, handle it, presto, you can pretend to be a druid. 1 difference, you can replace it as soon as you find another animal.

setup 2:

next is the parade of useful in specific situations: the skills not picked by your skillmonkey
-appraise
-forgery
-decipher script
-UMD
-heal
-listen
-spot
-sleight of hand

here you will be able to sell loot better (you will atually know what it is worth), you will be able to forge and decipher douments, you will be able to stabilise your partymembers, and you will above all be able to smuggle weapons inside a jail when the need arises, you will be a supplement to your party skillmonkey

list 3: the know-it-all
-knowledge: the planes
-knowledge: nature
-knowledge: religion
-knowledge: arcane
-knowledge: dungeoneering
-knowledge: nobility and royalty
-UMD
-knowledge: local

you know everything there is to know. You are the ultimate walking encyclopedia, the ultimate tourguide, you above all else knwo what the hell you are facing.

There you have it, 3 lists with a theme making you actually an asset mostly out of combat. You will notice UMD in every list. the reason for it is simple: UMD is that good. Spend your wealth on wands etc. so you can boost your skills even further and be a major asset to your team, filling in the gaps in spells etc. the party doesn't allready has.

summary: you are an expert, so you aren't interested in using class mechanics, other then skills. You wont overshadow your party with anything combat related, but will actually be be able to show them how to use skills, and what the options are with even a NPC class.

alternatively play a bard and support your party even more.

going the luck route, dont forget to roleplay extremely superstitious, any help can be found here (http://wiki.lspace.org/wiki/The_Lady).

[kulosle]

these are the skills that are good for everyone to have
use magic device and tumble are my favorites.
bluff your way out of everything. bluff can almost replace diplomacy if you lie all the time. don't for get that it also covers acting and impersonating others.
and who can forget diplomacy, "hey you there help me over through the kingdom." "okay" having everyone be helpful or friendly towards you is great. be creative with it and you can easily run the campaign.
then another skill that i find useful is profession (trader) then you start making drug rings, and prostitute scandals, or what ever you want. ask your DM first some let this be covered by diplomacy.
handle animal for all the above reasons plus animals make excellent distractions. and you can command other animals to stop attacking, and we all need a columbian pack mule for smuggling reasons.
and if you are willing to take a dip into one of the many PrC that let you intimidate creatures immune to fear then take intimidate. it will get you far when the few people who don't trust you are scared of you.

as far as which craft to take depends on your DMs style. i once made a poison maker and my DM was an ass and through us in an undead campaign. but usually its the best. if you do have plenty of down time though alchemy wins out because you can then have a stock pile of semi magical trickery and if you put some feats towards it then **** gets real. i'd say no to traps for all the reasons previously stated. i'd also say that craft construct is my personal favorite but you have to put almost all of your character towards it.

the rest of the skills id have to say depend on what you want to do with the character. balance jump swim and climb can get you out of a lot of situations. slight of hand and move silently if you want to be sneaky, escape artist if you DM is real grapple friendly (i know i am, chokers for the win). decipher script cam be used to make ciphers as well if that's your cup of tea. forgery if you are inventive enough to use it and your DM is cool with you proving that the mayor is unsuited for the job and you should be the next mayor. disable device should be covered by the sneak but if you don't trust him to use it for all its other fun purposes then you should take it. breaking every thing is so much fun. gates, wheels, scales be creative. take ride if your want a mount but i suggest against it. and survival if you plan on being out and about

try to keep in mind what skills you can completely avoid by the use of magic spells and items. such as appraise, disguise, hide, open lock (should be covered by the rogue anyways), and use rope. also consider what skills are being covered by other players. don't take knowledges that other people have. its also nice for 1 or 2 people besides the healer to take a few ranks in heal. and you really only need one person with spellcraft and it shouldn't be you. and same with open lock and search

[deuxhero]

For what?

From a over optimized point, in no order

1. UMD
2. UPD
3. Diplomacy
4. Bluff
5. Jump (for Exemplar)

[Redshirt Army]

Intimidate: Intimidate can easily be one of the best in-combat actions available to non-casters with some investment, especially if you take the Imperious Command (DotU) feat and the Never Outnumbered skill trick.

UMD: On the other hand, UMD lets you pretend to be a caster, with your limitation being your wallet instead of your spell slots.

Iaijutsu Focus: You can never have too many skills with in-combat utility, and a limited version of sneak attack for some skill ranks will be useful.

Handle Animal: This is the cornerstone of super-low level optimization, and with enough investment, you can purchase dinosaurs and send them at your (by now terrified, blinded, and stabbed) foes.

Diplomacy: No will save to avoid being convinced to defect, and the amount of general utility this skill brings to the table is astonishing.

Knowledge Skills: These are generally useful, and Knowledge Devotion gives you attack and damage bonuses against relevant foes. Arcana, Nature, and Local are especially good.

Tumble: Attacks of Opportunity? What are those?

Craft (Poisonmaking): If you're going to be shanking people while they're unaware, you might as well add some Drow Sleep Poison to the mix.

[hex0]

Bluff 5 for the Synergy. If you don't have the skills it gives to you in class, dump 5 into Bluff asap. Or just do it all the time. All my characters have.

Concentration if you are a Kensai/Exemplar :smallcool: