Thinking of reworking/adding some skills, thoughts?

[Legendxp]

I'm trying to make some small changes to the 5e skill system for a d20 system I'm making. It will be to 5eD&D what pathfinder was to 3.5eD&D (except with a JRPG flavor). So I thought I'd share my thoughts for skills so far.

Athletics (The same)

Appraisal (New skill, requires INT)
I always thought it was weird that you knew a treasure was worth exactly 50gp when you picked it up. It can be used to do the following:
-Determine the cost of a mundane item
-Determine the cost of treasure (Various gemstones etc)
-Determine the rarity of a magic item
-Used as a knowledge check to determine the school of magic involved in a magic item.

Alchemy (New skill, also requires INT)
Can be used for the following
-Craft medicines
-Craft poisons
-Craft explosives

Acrobatics
The same, except you can grant yourself resistance to falling damage and more easily move through difficult terrain if your skill is high enough. (I can't remember if there's something similar in original 5e)

Animal Handling (The same)

Deception (The same)

Stealth (The same)

Sleight of Hand
Can be used for the following:
-Can now be used to disarm a trap
-Used with a rope and grappling hook
-Can draw an opponent's weapon if you move before them on your first turn and you win a contested check.

Lore (New skill, combines several knowledge skills)
-Combines history and religion as a skill
-Can also be used as a knowledge check to learn one or two things about an enemy you are facing. Like resistances or vulnerabilities (assuming you roll high enough).

Magic (New skill)
Used for the following:
-Make knowledge checks like the Arcane skill
-Operate certain magic items
-Operate spell circles and runecraft
-Used when casting certain spells
(like counterspell and dispel magic)

Medicine (The same)

Nature (Now combined with survival)

Insight (The same)

Perception (Now combined with Investigate)

Intimidation (Now uses strength)

Persuasion (The same)


I was also thinking of adding some more profession based skills like cooking or smithing. Some of the skills from 3.5e look like they could be repurposed back into 5e (Like crafting).

Any of these seem like good ideas, or is there something obvious that I've overlooked?

If any of you guys had to either make a new skill or get rid of an old one, which ones would you pick?

Basically, I just wanted some feedback before I get too far and have to redo everything.

EDIT: I'll be editing this post sometime either today or tomorrow with my take 2 for my skill list.


Adventuring Skills

Acrobatics - Dexterity
Dive, roll, or perform a flip or somersault
Walk a tightrope
Stay upright on a rocking ship
Fall safely from a great height (gain resistance to falling damage)

Arcana - Intelligence or Wisdom (Haven’t decided)
Operate magic items
Operate spell circles and runecraft
Used when casting certain spells (like counterspell and dispel magic)

Athletics - Strength
Climbing
Jumping
Swimming
Grappling

Deception - Charisma
Misleading someone
Disguising yourself
Passing yourself off as someone else

Insight - Wisdom
Tell if someone is lying
*Predict someone’s next action - More on this below
Become good at poker

Intimidation - Strength or Charisma (Haven’t decided)
Threaten someone into doing something
Demoralize a group
Frighten an enemy

Lore - Intelligence
Determine important historical events
Determine important theological information
Determine if you’ve heard something about an enemy (For example a resistance, vulnerability, or immunity it may have)

Medicine - Intelligence
Diagnose an injury
Treat an injury

Nature - Wisdom
Recall information about nature
Follow tracks in the wild
Hunt wild animals
Determine your location
Determine the weather
Avoid natural hazards (Quicksand etc)
Calm a domesticated animal
Calm a wild animal
Control your mount
Intuit an animal’s intent

Persuasion - Charisma
Convince someone to do something
Barter at the market

Sleight of Hand - Dexterity
Disarm a trap (Needs Thieves’ Tools)
Pick a lock (Also needs Thieves’ Tools)
Pickpocket / Plant an item
Hide a weapon
Cheat at a game or make it appear as if someone else is cheating
Use a rope with a grappling hook
Draw an opponent’s weapon - Gain advantage on this roll against a surprised enemy but receive disadvantage when not hidden. You cannot do this if an opponent already has their weapon drawn. (i.e. they go before you in initiative order)

Stealth - Dexterity
Hide
Move Silently


Profession Skills

Alchemy - Intelligence
Craft medicines
Craft poisons
Craft explosives

Appraisal - Intelligence
Determine the cost of a mundane item
Determine the cost of treasure (various gemstones etc)
Determine the rarity of a magic item
Used as a knowledge check to determine the school of a magic item but not its exact effects

Cooking - Wisdom
Prepare a meal
Brew alcohol

Performance - Charisma
Play musical instruments
Act out a drama in theatre
Distract others by dancing

Tinkering - Intelligence
Craft and operate mechanical marvels
Craft jewelry and glass baubles

Armorcrafting - Intelligence or Wisdom (Haven’t decided)
Craft armor from various materials (wood, leather, metal, bone, chitin)
Certain materials may require certain tools or locations (metal = anvil, forge, and hammer etc)

Weaponcrafting - Intelligence or Wisdom (Haven’t decided)
Craft weapons from various materials (wood, metal, bone, chitin, etc)
Certain materials may require certain tools or locations (metal = anvil, forge and hammer etc)

PS - Perception Score - This will be its own stat (like AC). It includes certain things investigation would normally cover, like hidden doors.
Spot something
Hear someone
Find a hidden object
Find a hidden door

DM’s will roll traps and hidden doors beforehand (like 11+1d6 or +1d8 or something) and mark down the results for each.
A player will then notice the traps if their PS beats the trap’s roll.
If a group of enemies stealthily approach the party you can roll stealth normally.
A player will then notice them much like the traps (If their PS beats the stealth roll, they notice the enemy).

If a player catches you rolling, just say that you are either setting DC’s for future sessions or rolling health for future monsters in advance (assuming you have a DM screen). Alternatively, mark down the stealth rolls for the enemies in advance before the session begins. (or if you are using roll20 or something you don’t have to bother because the players can’t catch you)

The only tools I have left to turn into skills are the following:

Calligrapher's Supplies - Calligraphy
Carpenter’s tools - Carpentry
Cartographer’s tools - Mapmaking
Cobbler’s tools - Shoemaking
Mason’s tools - Masonry
Painter’s supplies - Painting
Potter’s tools - Pottery
Weaver’s tools - Weaving

I could also feasibly include Forgery as a skill.

The issue I’m having here is that most of these “skills” aren’t really useful. Be honest here, how often have any of you actually used any of the above tools in a campaign?

I can probably roll Calligraphy, Mapmaking, Painting, and Forgery into one skill but I’m not sure what I’d call it. I could also probably merge carpentry and masonry into a “Fortifications” skill and get rid of pottery and weaving.

Thoughts?

[JNAProductions]

Why would Intimidation use Strength universally?

[Legendxp]

Mostly just a flavor thing. Yes I realize it is normally charisma. See the following example:

Giant hulking barbarian screams at bartender (doesn't care)

Stringbean half-elf bard screams at bartender (flees in terror?)

EDIT: Just found this post (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?503455-5e-Without-Ability-Scores-skills-Skills-Skills) here. It has a lot of insight on changing skills around and is generally rather helpful.

[JNAProductions]

Mostly just a flavor thing. Yes I realize it is normally charisma. See the following example:

Giant hulking barbarian screams at bartender (doesn't care)

Stringbean half-elf bard screams at bartender (flees in terror?)

Intimidation isn't about being scary-adventurers are inherently scary. It's about using the fear right.

By the time you're 3rd level, you can kill most people you meet pretty easily. And it just gets easier as you level.

So a hulking barbarian is scary! But proficiency in Intimidation, or a good Charisma score, or both, represents your ability to LEVERAGE that fear. When dealing with an ordinary barkeep, it's not about whether or not they'll be scared of an adventurer if the adventurer wants them scared-it's about the barkeep's REACTION. So the barbarian can make him run in terror, easy. But can the barbarian make him not report the crime the party just committed to the authorities? Can he get the secrets the barkeep knows out of him? Maybe, maybe not-that's what the check is for.

And if you're dealing with something that doesn't scare easy, like say a dragon, you'd have to do a pretty stupendous feat of strength to intimidate them. A young red dragon already has 23 Strength, more than anyone short of a level 20 Barbarian can achieve from the PHB.

I fully think Intimidation should be, by default, Charisma-based. Using Strength to intimidate others makes sense in some circumstances, but frequently those will be circumstances where rolling is already irrelevant. If your goal is to scare a crowd of children away from your camp, they might be more scared of the physically imposing rather than those with imposing personalities-but is a roll even needed? If you want to spook a lonely, inexperienced guard, the breaking a log over your chest is intimidating as heck, but was the guard a challenge anyway? Whereas if you want to scare, say, a ghoul lord and its retinue away from your camp, a simple feat of strength won't do. If the guard you need to scare has a decade of war experience under his belt, he ain't gonna flinch from just a brute with strength.

[Legendxp]

When dealing with an ordinary barkeep, it's not about whether or not they'll be scared of an adventurer if the adventurer wants them scared-it's about the barkeep's REACTION. So the barbarian can make him run in terror, easy. But can the barbarian make him not report the crime the party just committed to the authorities? Can he get the secrets the barkeep knows out of him? Maybe, maybe not-that's what the check is for.

If this is how intimidation works it's news to me. I've seen and/or been in campaigns from at least half a dozen different DM's and none of them had characters fleeing in terror from a character that had a bad roll on intimidation (due to charisma being a dump stat for that specific character). In fact a bad roll in intimidation usually means the character isn't intimidated at all. That makes me think it isn't just about leveraging fear versus causing fear.

I suppose its possible that people just DM wrong, but that just means the game isn't being played the way it was intended to and thus should have some changes to it.


And if you're dealing with something that doesn't scare easy, like say a dragon, you'd have to do a pretty stupendous feat of strength to intimidate them. A young red dragon already has 23 Strength, more than anyone short of a level 20 Barbarian can achieve from the PHB.

EDIT: Wouldn't you be unable to intimidate the dragon anyway if you were using charisma? What's the difference then?

Personally, I don't really care whether Intimidation is strength vs charisma based. I just thought it was strange that barbarians could never intimidate people (who mains charisma as a barbarian?) and wanted to rectify that.

Thanks for taking the time to reply to the thread though. Any skills you particularly like/dislike about 5e?

[Kerching]

Appraisal (New skill, requires INT)
I always thought it was weird that you knew a treasure was worth exactly 50gp when you picked it up. It can be used to do the following:
-Determine the cost of a mundane item
-Determine the cost of treasure (Various gemstones etc)
-Determine the rarity of a magic item
-Used as a knowledge check to determine the school of magic involved in a magic item.


The last one should be under Arcana/Magic, but otherwise I like it.



Acrobatics
The same, except you can grant yourself resistance to falling damage and more easily move through difficult terrain if your skill is high enough. (I can't remember if there's something similar in original 5e)

The last part could be stepping on the toes of class features, but I'd allow them if I was DMing


Lore (New skill, combines several knowledge skills)
-Combines history and religion as a skill
-Can also be used as a knowledge check to learn one or two things about an enemy you are facing. Like resistances or vulnerabilities (assuming you roll high enough).


I like to keep Religion and History separate so I can use Religion as the Arcana/Magic for divine magic. Also, the last part is definitely stepping on the toes of class features. I'd probably only allow it if the enemies were notable enough.


Magic (New skill)
Used for the following:
-Make knowledge checks like the Arcane skill
-Operate certain magic items
-Operate spell circles and runecraft
-Used when casting certain spells
(like counterspell and dispel magic)


...This is just Arcana. And I like the word arcana better.


Nature (Now combined with survival)

Perception (Now combined with Investigate)


These are good


Intimidation (Now uses strength)


<rant> And no. The default should be Charisma, with the DM deciding when to use Strength. Most people forget that Charisma isn't just wordplay, it's personality. Plus, there are some cases where you can frighten someone just by talking. So when your barbarian breaks a table in half, that'll use Strength, but when my bard describes in detail how he's going to torture the barkeep unless he gets his drinks right now, that'll use Charisma. Intimidation is a social skill, and for me social skills should use Charisma. </rant>

The profession based skills seem fine- I thought there were already a few in 5e, but I guess not. Persuasion and Deception could probably be combined since both are about convincing people.

[Kane0]

With all these additions are you increasing the amount of skill proficiencies available to class or background? I would consider adding one more to make up the difference.



Appraisal (New skill, requires INT)

Thumbs up.



Alchemy (New skill, also requires INT)

So this replaces the Alchemists/Herbalists/Poisoners tools? I would just merge those tools myself, or wrap this into Medicine to make it a better choice.



Acrobatics
The same, except you can grant yourself resistance to falling damage and more easily move through difficult terrain if your skill is high enough. (I can't remember if there's something similar in original 5e)

I wouldn't recommend that, they are already covered elsewhere by other skills, class features, feats, spells, etc



Sleight of Hand

I do pretty much the same, except I rename it Thievery since it also replaces Thieves Tools.



Lore (New skill, combines several knowledge skills)

I do the same, but beware it becomes exceedingly broad and thus useful. On the other hand, you have Alchemy, Appraise and Magic which takes chunks out of this catchall so that's good.



Magic (New skill)

Why not leave it named Arcana?



Nature (Now combined with survival)

Yeah I do something similar, Nature and Animal Handling largely get redistributed into Lore, Survival and Medicine. The riding portion of Animal Handling becomes a Tool like Land Vehicles.



Perception (Now combined with Investigate)

I don't like this one as much. Perception is already a nigh mandatory skill amongst the others and this just makes it even better. It's like the difference between noticing something and searching for something.
In fact come to think of it I would remove Perception as a skill entirely and just leave it as a passive score that you don't add Proficiency to but rather from certain race/class abilities like Initiative.



I was also thinking of adding some more profession based skills like cooking or smithing. Some of the skills from 3.5e look like they could be repurposed back into 5e (Like crafting).

That's literally what Tools are for. They are worth less than a skill but still useful and more than just a raw ability check, can be trained with time and money but don't take up a precious proficiency.

[Eric Diaz]

The main issue here is that most tools are less valuable than most skills, although the game sometimes treats them as having the same value (Skilled feat).

So, things like appraisal and cooking should tool proficiencies IMO. And if you want to be a "true" expert in some of these things, so that they do more than just adding your proficiency bonus, there are feats for that (in Xanathar's, IIRC?).

Also, some skills are just better than others.

Anyway, I'm getting rid of most skills for other reasons, but I like the idea of consolidating them. I've considered six skill sets:

- Nature: animal handling, survival, nature, maybe perception when in nature.
- Lore: religion, history.
- Thievery: sleight of hand + thieves' tools.
- Arcana: well, arcana.
- Medicine: just medicine.
- Observation: perception, insight, investigation.

I'd probably bundle acrobatics+athletics, and all Charisma skills, so we'd have eight skills.

Here are a couple of post about that FWIW:

https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2021/08/minimalist-d-xiii-skill-use-proficiency.html
https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2021/01/minimalist-d-vii-six-skill-sets.html

[Legendxp]

Kerching - Persuasion and Deception could probably be combined since both are about convincing people.

If I’m remembering correctly, doesn’t deception also revolve around disguise checks?


Kerching - Also, the last part is definitely stepping on the toes of class features. I'd probably only allow it if the enemies were notable enough.

Wait, which classes do this? Are you talking about the Fighter subclass Battlemaster? I don’t think it says anything about resistances or vulnerabilities, or is there another class I’m not remembering? Also, if the Lore skill is nerfed enough (only getting a single resistance, immunity, and/or vulnerability) I don’t think it would be too overpowered. For example if you had taken that action to instead cast fireball and discovered it was resistant to fire, you would have still used your action. Except in the latter case you would have still inflicted damage regardless so it would have been better than wasting your action on the skill. There is also the chance of the skill failing based on the DC and I don’t think you can redo knowledge rolls on the same object/person/location.


Kane0 - Why not leave it named Arcana?

Honestly I can’t remember why I renamed it to “Magic” I think I was thinking of adding more stuff that only the magic skill would be able to do, but I can’t remember what they were now. So I guess I’ll just switch it back to arcana.


Kane0 - I don't like this one as much. Perception is already a nigh mandatory skill amongst the others and this just makes it even better. It's like the difference between noticing something and searching for something.
In fact come to think of it I would remove Perception as a skill entirely and just leave it as a passive score that you don't add Proficiency to but rather from certain race/class abilities like Initiative.

I do like the idea of rolling a bunch of skills into one, but I also agree that making perception any more powerful would pretty much make it mandatory.

I also like the idea of making it into something akin to a separate stat (like AC). Does anyone know if that’s been done somewhere on these forums before?


Eric Diaz - The main issue here is that most tools are less valuable than most skills, although the game sometimes treats them as having the same value (Skilled feat).

I think making all of the tool related proficiencies into skill proficiencies would be fine. I just have to make it so that the skill proficiencies still require the tools and add more proficiencies to classes.

Actually, I just had an idea. Most skills could be classified into “Adventuring Skills” and “Profession Skills”. Why don’t I just make two separate skill lists? You could have the more commonly used skills on the first page of the character sheet and the lesser used ones a few pages further in? I could also have each class get like two proficiencies from one list and a single proficiency from the other (or something similar to that effect).

-

Also, as to the Strength Intimidation thing;

I’m genuinely surprised that the concept of an imposing physique is aggravating to people. That was not my intention at all. From my point of view, it seems to make more sense than someone who is wiser being better able to see in dimly lit conditions (Perception - Wis?).

I know people will make the argument that it’s because wisdom in D&D also relates to the senses of the character. But this is homebrew right? So why can’t I just tack this onto the end of the definition of strength? Strength is how powerful a character is and how physically imposing their physique is.

I also keep seeing people say that intimidation is not just based on physique but also relies on charisma. Couldn’t I make the same argument? That Intimidation doesn’t solely rely on charisma but is also influenced by one’s physique? At this point the question becomes: Which one of these influences intimidation more (and that’s pretty much entirely subjective). Which means at that point it’s just a matter of preference right?

I kind of get the feeling that the reason people associate intimidation with charisma so much is because it’s stated that way in the player’s handbook. If that’s the way someone has done it for years, they’ll be more liable to assume the writers did it that way for a reason, rather than because they couldn’t think of a better way to implement it. It almost seems like people are confusing the charisma ability score with the presence ability score from Mutants and Masterminds. I’ve seen people in real life that, while they would be considered charismatic, would definitely not be considered intimidating.

It just breaks my SOD a little that one could claim that one’s physique has absolutely no bearing on whether or not someone is scared of someone or something else. After all, you’re not scared of an ancient red dragon because it's charismatic.


PS: Sorry my quotes are so crappy, I can’t remember how to quote correctly (I haven’t used this forum in like 8 years lol).

[Kane0]

Also, as to the Strength Intimidation thing;

It just breaks my SOD a little that one could claim that one’s physique has absolutely no bearing on whether or not someone is scared of someone or something else. After all, you’re not scared of an ancient red dragon because it's charismatic.


I can see it both ways, however I can definitely say that I would be scared of, say, Azula.

Perhaps adjust Intimidation so it is a skill that draws from both Str and Cha, either best of either or half of both. Of course this sets a precedent for other skills to do the same.

[Eric Diaz]

Using Str instead of Cha for intimidation is a popular house rule (and covered in the DMG). It's just nerfing Cha that is a bad idea IMO; let them use either.

[GalacticAxekick]

Intimidation is inspiring fear in another creature. This doesnt have to be fear of violence, or even fear of you, so there's no reason intimidation should be tied to the size of your muscles.

"Do what I say or I'll slander you and ruin your reputation"

"Keep treating them like this, and God almighty will never let your soul rest"

"Do not follow us. A life of adventure is more hellish than you can imagine"

Do these sound like Strength or Charisma checks to you?

EDIT: If you want to reduce the skill list, I would tie Intimidation to both Persuasion and Deception

Persuasion-based intimidation is for real threats (e.g. threatening to beat a man with your large muscles, or discouraging a man from beginning a dangerous endeavor)

Deception-based intimidation is for false threats (e.g. threatening to send your nonexistent goons after a man, or blackmailing a man with secrets that you dont actually know)

[Eric Diaz]

EDIT: If you want to reduce the skill list, I would tie Intimidation to both Persuasion and Deception

Persuasion-based intimidation is for real threats (e.g. threatening to beat a man with your large muscles, or discouraging a man from beginning a dangerous endeavor)

Deception-based intimidation is for false threats (e.g. threatening to send your nonexistent goons after a man, or blackmailing a man with secrets that you dont actually know)

This is a great idea too; I wrote extensively about that here.

https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2016/09/intimidation-should-it-be-skill-also.html

Here is a part:

In many cases, intimidation is nothing more that an extreme and violent form of negotiation: "Give me your purse, or I will cut your throat", "surrender and I'll spare your troops", etc. There needn't be a skill roll involved, just a decision about the costs and risks one is willing to take. Charisma and Strength may play a part, sure, but reputation, status, martial skill, and specially the circumstances will be more important than the specific ability of intimidating people.

Having "intimidation" as a skill may encourage players to look at the character sheet instead of focusing on this negotiation.

What about empty threats? There should certainly be a skill to allow you to intimidate people when you have no real leverage?

Well, there is - it is called "deception", "bluff", or something similar. The sweet-talking character archetype can paint itself as your friend and your foe at the same time, intimidating and seducing at the same time.

Basically, intimidation is about getting leverage, or faking it. The first is probably better handled through role-playing and common sense, the second makes more sense as a skill (since "lying convincingly" is probably a skill in real life too). Different archetypes, such as the brute and the sweet-talker, can achieve the same result through different means, which is why using a single skill might be a bad idea.

[Legendxp]

Eric Diaz - Using Str instead of Cha for intimidation is a popular house rule (and covered in the DMG). It's just nerfing Cha that is a bad idea IMO; let them use either.

Yeah, it wasn't really my intent to nerf charisma. I could always do something similar to what they have on pg175 of the PHB and do something like this:

A - "Do what I say or I'll break you in half!" (Strength)
B - "Flee from my awesome might!" (Strength)
C - "If you don't comply I'll slander your reputation!" (Charisma)
D - "If you keep being so difficult I might not be able to hold back my companions." (Charisma)

Some might ask why I don't just keep intimidation as charisma and do the variant rule for strength. I might, I haven't decided yet. I just figured that options A and B would show up more commonly at a D&D table. Although that might just be what I've personally experienced. You know what they say, anecdotal evidence isn't really evidence.


Kane0 - Perhaps adjust Intimidation so it is a skill that draws from both Str and Cha, either best of either or half of both. Of course this sets a precedent for other skills to do the same.

I can see the issue here too. I have a solution to this but it requires a bit of background on what exactly I'm trying to do with my alternate d20 system.

On a closer look, there will actually be significantly more differences with my system and D&D 5e than between 3.5 and pathfinder, so that comparison I made earlier isn't really apt anymore. However, at its core I want it to at least be similar to D&D. My plan was to change class features into feats and have characters only get feat points as they level up and have certain class features / feats restricted to certain classes. With certain class features / feats costing more points than others, I have been attempting to balance things out. This is a bit difficult but not impossible.

Finally back to my solution. Have the intimidation with strength thing be a class feature / feat that costs a rather low amount of points (or vice versa, have the bard get a class feature / feat that costs a low amount of points to use intimidation with charisma).

[Kane0]

Finally back to my solution. Have the intimidation with strength thing be a class feature / feat that costs a rather low amount of points (or vice versa, have the bard get a class feature / feat that costs a low amount of points to use intimidation with charisma).

Yes in 5e's vernacular that would be referred to as a 'ribbon'

[Greywander]

Why Intimidation shouldn't be exclusively a Strength skill. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYQbQ2Xgar4) And I don't just mean the bit at the beginning.

I'm generally in favor of decoupling skills and ability scores. A skill means you're trained in a particular field. However, how you apply that field will determine which ability score you use. This can, for example, broaden the scope of something like Medicine by allowing it to use WIS for first aid, but INT for things like anatomy or diagnosis.

On the subject of Nature and Survival, I don't think these two should be combined. Survival is about hunting, building shelters, forecasting weather, and other outdoorsy skills. Nature is about academic knowledge, such as geology, zoology, ecology, and the like. One is practical, the other is academic. It makes total sense for Survival to be primarily WIS-based, while Nature is primarily INT-based. Yes, there is some overlap, and that's okay, it's minimal enough that you don't lose much by picking up both skills, in fact these skills complement each other quite nicely, but aren't required to use one or the other effectively.

Two skills that I have advocated for in the past are Business and Warfare. The former deals with running a business, as well as appraising the value of items (with a bonus if you have the relevant tool proficiency), and handling money. The latter is more concerned with logistics, fortifications, and grand strategy. Both are more NPC-ish skills, but could have value for a player. Also missing are a few knowledge skills (what does physics fall under? Nature?) as well as a Law/Politics skills.

[Kane0]

Two skills that I have advocated for in the past are Business and Warfare.

Also missing are a few knowledge skills (what does physics fall under? Nature?) as well as a Law/Politics skills.

I would argue for proper systems rather than a catchall skill if we're going down that path. Really provide some meat to the exploration and interaction portions of the game.