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Mine in this order are probably:
Cooking
Literacy
Horsemanship

I even thought about putting Literacy first. I mean, good luck using that magic scroll if you can't even read But I guess one has to eat first. I know this personally b/c in our campaign, I am an Elven Mind Mage who blew half her skills on HtH Martial Arts, so now she can't even read Ok, so that wasn't too intelligent, but now I really value literacy of any language, preferably Dragonnese/Elven, to read use those magic scrolls we come across.

combinations of skills have proven to be key in my games:

botany
brewing
identify plants/fruits
holistic medicine

these four are essential for non-magical healing (things like infected wounds, rashes, insect bites, hang-overs, colds, that a lot of players dont think about).

cook
track/trap animals and/or fishing
preserve food

are essential for any prolonged trip outside of town. also handy for players who always forget to buy food my players would usually spend day one of a wilderness trip camping, and hunt/fish/collect herbs to create a stock of food/medicine for the trip.

I like this post.... I would pick History!

My most underrated skill is the ability to pleasure several women at the same time.

Oh, I think I've misunderstood the forum...

I think its dance and sing. Some of my players must have earned at least a full levels worth of xp by just dancing alone - 25xp for using a skill, successful or not. Needs no equipment and can be done as often as you like.

Others:

Sense of direction
Climb (overlooked too often in our games)

DiceCollector wrote:I like this post.... I would pick History!

I must agree. History is often overlooked, and can be quite useful depending on the GM/campaign.

Litercy
Speak Languages
Basic Math (5 gold, here you go, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5). Cant count without it.
Cook
Fishing
Sing
Dance
Play Musical Instruments
Sewing (great to fix your cloths after fights)
History
Lore (any)

CAVEMAN the Movie. The scene where they sat around playing music was awesome. Dudadada...Duda

Well, if you don't have first aid, you can't stop bleeding.

-Vek
"Stopping bleeding is important."

Play musical instrument.

When I used to run games a few years back, I loved to throw in pop culture references and situations in my games. One of my classics was when my players were traveling at night and a powerful demon appeared before them. And he said "Play for me, the greatest song in the world, or I'll eat your souls!"

Only one player had the skill to play a musical instrument, which just happened to be a pan flute. He busted it out and after making 3 skill rolls, none of which went over 30%, he played good enough to please the demon who let them pass unmolested.

Suicycho wrote:Play musical instrument.

When I used to run games a few years back, I loved to throw in pop culture references and situations in my games. One of my classics was when my players were traveling at night and a powerful demon appeared before them. And he said "Play for me, the greatest song in the world, or I'll eat your souls!"

Only one player had the skill to play a musical instrument, which just happened to be a pan flute. He busted it out and after making 3 skill rolls, none of which went over 30%, he played good enough to please the demon who let them pass unmolested.

Was that a tribute?

For my group it would be:

horsemanship (for obvious reasons.)
cook (at least 1 member always knows how to.)
basic math (to keep track of gold etc. Oh, I made a player mad one day)
sailing (to avoid having to share loot with NPC's. YES, THEY ARE THAT GREEDY!)
navigation [both land and astro] (To be able to get to places and read a map.)
identify plants and fruits (very useful for a lot of reasons)
holistic medicine (the ability to make salves and other things comes in very handy!)
heraldry (Good skill to have, but can be picked up while in game too.)
swimming (obvious)
climb/repell (obvious)
literacy (very obvious)

I would have to go with charm/seduction. The ability to seduce individuals (even/especially if only as a distraction) can work wonders when it comes to finding out key piece of info, or getting close enough to someone to palm a key/map/dagger off of.

It can also help with making temporary allies in helpful positions, from town guards to apprentice wizards. (those who think you find them attractive/sexually appealing are more likely to do you a favor or two)

Math is also a good one, but in the games I've played in (and gmed) the gm has always ruled basic math is a common skill for any adventurer class and is usually learned while acquiring/practicing other skills such as cooking, carpentry, and/or just buying selling stuff on a regular basis. (even farmers and trappers buy & sell stuff on a regular enough basis to know the basics of simple adding/subtracting, multiplying and dividing.) Granted long division and geometry would be beyond most people, but then again most people would never have a need/use for such skills in their regular lives. (Also as a player once pointed out, it's a pain in the butt to rp a char that can't do simple math and irritates the rest of the group to no end.)

There's also the argument it's such a common thing someone shouldn't have to blow a skill choice on it when they don't have to spend skill choice son other common level skills like tying their shoelaces/basic knots. (yes there's rope works, but that's for sailor/girl scout style knot tying, something most common people never learn/use)

In other games I've done, those coming from a "civilized/scholarly" background sometimes get reading/writing (their native/local area language) as a free skill since it made a logical fit for their chars background/upbringing and freed up one of their skill choices for something a bit more interesting/beneficial to the group. (Cartography, archeology, and anthropology are a few skills I've seen people choose when I told them to pick another skill instead of reading/writing that was non-combative)

Rope Works. If you can't tie the right knot to climb out or secure your gear then you're SOL.

rope works

Swimming.
My players never seem to realize just how valuable it is until they get to that first river with no bridge in sight. And I am still amazed at how many of my players don't take it.

Masonry.
I once built a bridge for a NPC employer (mercenary looking for work). GM was so surprised that I had the masonry skill, he accused me of adding it to make the game easy. I'd emailed him my character sheet 2 weeks before and told him to check. He was like...Oh. Wow...nobody ever selects masonry. Okay. Make your roll. Between me and the other sub-contractors I hired, it ended up working out well.
Rope Works is another good one. We house rule that granny knots and bow knots (tying your shoes) are the only knots you know without ropeworks.

Weapon Proficiency Blunt. Most Players take everry WP except this one and I only ask why. The staggering answer is, because blunt weapons are pretty weak. My response is simple; Picture your character, lost and alone, wandering about in the forest, unarmed and afraid as a terrible creature stalks you, waiting to rip you limb from limb. If only you had a weapon to defend yourself with. Oh wait... WP Blunt! You pick up a sturdy looking stick from the ground and swing it defiantly at your tormentor! Most people tend to rethink their choices after that

Overkill wrote:

JuliusCreed wrote:Weapon Proficiency Blunt. Most Players take everry WP except this one and I only ask why. The staggering answer is, because blunt weapons are pretty weak. My response is simple; Picture your character, lost and alone, wandering about in the forest, unarmed and afraid as a terrible creature stalks you, waiting to rip you limb from limb. If only you had a weapon to defend yourself with. Oh wait... WP Blunt! You pick up a sturdy looking stick from the ground and swing it defiantly at your tormentor! Most people tend to rethink their choices after that

I think the main reason it's ignored is because the enemy can 'roll' with it and reduce damage by half. Though your points are valid.

Half damage is better than no damage i always say

I'd have to say any of the Lore skills. Why?

GM: Ok, so you've been set a task by the local community to find out what those dead-ish things are that keep attacking and kidnapping people.
PC: It's obvious that it has to be zombies or vampires.
GM: Do you have undead lore?
PC: Um, no.
GM: Well, then you don't know that, do you?
PC: Well, I'll do some investigating at the scenes and see if I can figure it out.
GM: Again, do you have undead lore?
PC: Again, no.
GM: Then do all the research you want, but you won't be able to piece it together if they're undead because you don't know a whole lot about them other than they are supposed to be dead.

OR

GM: You are in the faerie king's lair.
PC: I'll amaze them all with a faerie song. I have singing.
GM: Do you have Faerie Lore?
PC: Um, no.
GM: Then explain to me how you know what a faerie song would be?
PC: Um...never mind.

See, the lore skills are vastly under-rated and almost never taken unless they are part of your OCC.

All my fantasy characters have also had Lore skills.

Lores! my brother and I always take as many as we can. I've had groups with no lore get into trouble because they didn't have any lores.

Play Musical instrument and/or singing- I always recommend this one. forget the xp, but think of you arrive in a town and have no money, if you can sing or play you find the tavern and throw down a contain and start filling the air with music.

Brewing- moral booster

wilderness survival- it's very important to know this if you leave the path.

identify plants - most people forget to stock up on rations, chewing on random plants may not be the smartest thing to do

masonry and carpentry- building structures can be very very useful.

Swimming- maybe it's because I'm been swimming since I was 3 months old, but it's very funny when people are stopped by water.