What skills does the Everyman possess?

[Donnadogsoth]

Here is a list for the universal Everyman. Anything I missed? If you have genre-specific versions, have at it.

Balance/Footwork
Handworking
Speech
Perception
Land Navigation
Con/Acting
Diplomacy
Hygiene
Etiquette
Memory
Logic
Reproduction
Pain/Shock Resistance

[veti]

Here is a list for the universal Everyman. Anything I missed? If you have genre-specific versions, have at it.

Climb
Arithmetic
Spot
Jump
Gather Information
Listen
Sense Motive
Medicine
Cooking
Stealth
Knowledge: home area
Knowledge: home culture and people
Knowledge: popular stories and folklore
Knowledge: local weather
...

This is a bad idea. No matter how long you make the list, your Everyman will inevitably find herself unable to do something very basic, like walk up stairs while whistling a jaunty tune.

[Kid Jake]

This is a bad idea. No matter how long you make the list, your Everyman will inevitably find herself unable to do something very basic, like walk up stairs while whistling a jaunty tune.

That's the number one cause of death among commoners between aged 4-16. From ages 16+ it's being eaten by owl bear while farming.

[Gritmonger]

Animal Handling - I mean Child Rearing.
Disadvantage on Locate Object when Object is Keys
Proficiency: Household Tools
Disadvantage: Repairs with Household Tools
Disadvantage: Disbelieving Illusions that they have Proficiency with Household Tools

[goto124]

I thought the Everyman lost keys because wizards kept shrinking them for kicks and giggles!

[Arbane]

I thought the Everyman lost keys because wizards kept shrinking them for kicks and giggles!

No, they're stolen by the Car Key Gnomes.

[Frozen_Feet]

It's wiser to fold everything an everyman is supposed to be able to do in the average of whatever basic abilities a game uses, rather than coming up with long-winded skill lists.

For example, let's take the six ability scores from D&D: strenght, dexterity, constitution, intelligence, wisdom, charisma. For normal folks, the distribution is decided by 3d6 roll, with the most common scores being 10 and 11. So if you think John or Jane Doe should be capable of something, make sure they can achieve that within the system with just the average score and nothing else.

[goto124]

I thought this was a joke thread...

Also, Bluff.

[Donnadogsoth]

I thought this was a joke thread...

Also, Bluff.

Kinda was, but not entirely.

Also,

Suspension of Disbelief
Prayer

[Jayabalard]

Here is a list for the universal Everyman. Anything I missed? If you have genre-specific versions, have at it.

Balance/Footwork
Handworking
Speech
Perception
Land Navigation
Con/Acting
Diplomacy
Hygiene
Etiquette
Memory
Logic
Reproduction
Pain/Shock Resistance

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects! -- Lazarus Long

[Gritmonger]

Honestly, if most household chores and simple things are relatively low in difficulty, I'd hardly call them skills. Skills to me would be things that

Require training to do at all (weaving or producing articles that require substantial processing, anything to do with construction of anything substantial, reading and writing)

Require training to do without incurring dire consequences if done wrong (cooking, canning, butchering, less substantial construction like shelves or chairs or tables)

Require training to do with any kind of efficiency (raising and harvesting crops, raising animals, collecting food or fuel that is actually worthwhile)

Jumping fences and climbing stairs is self taught, prayer unless deities are super active falls under inconsequential, social rules are trial and error and emulation. I'd just map skills that bear on production and production quality and tack the rest under the knowledge skills of being a humanoid and being a commoner, with any physical act a DC of 5 so unless you fumble you can take a ten and do them most times when not under duress..

[Beta Centauri]

Where "skills" means "skills that are likely to be relevant to the PC on an adventure" an Everyman might not have any skills. The blacksmith might be as strong and athletic as the barbarian, but the blacksmith couldn't necessarily scale a cliff to save his life. The king commands thousands, but he's not using Diplomacy or Intimidate: he's just the king.

[SimonMoon6]

I remember when I first bought GURPS back in the 80's. I decided to see how many points an average modern person should cost, with the assumption that every subject taught in high school would result in spending at least half a point on, not to mention other skills that a grown adult would just have to have in modern society (like driving a car, etc). It was quite a lengthy list of skills worth quite a few points as I recall (though this was, like, 25 years ago).