Quote Originally Posted by cupkeyk View Post
Why Human?
Yeah... not human.

Look at the bonuses this way:
+2 to a stat is +1 to skills that use that stat (varies between +1 and +5 total)
skill training = +5 to one stat.
+2 bonuses to a skill = +2 bonus to a skill.

Breakdown of each stat:
Str: One skill
Dex: Three skills
Con: One skill
Int: Three skills
Wis: Five skills
Cha: Four skills

So now that we've got the basics out of the way, let's look at how much various races adds to skills.

Humans: +2 to one stat, free skill training (5 points) = between 6 and 10 points.
Half-Elf: +2 Con (1 point), +2 Diplomacy/Insight (4 points), either +2 Cha (4 point) OR +2 Wisdom (5 points) = 9 or 10 points
Eladrin: +2 Int (3 points), +2 Arcana/History (4 points), free skill training (5 points), either +2 Cha (4 points) OR +2 Dex (3 points) = 15 or 16 points.

Eladrin wins, hands-down.

Now, as for class? There are three real options: Rogue (5 skills), Thief (6 skills + training as you level) ... or, my favorite: Bard (5 skills). I like the Bard best because it can take multiclass training in everything and thereby get skill training in everything. Also, it has the best feats available to it. Also, Eladrin works very well with it (though to be honest, they make pretty fine Rogues and Thieves too).

Bards are also ritual casters, so if languages are a problem, that fixes it.