OK, so this is
still a raw draft phase, but seems like 25 skills is actually doable. Maybe 30. Here's what I currently have:
http://1drv.ms/1TLSNwy
^ Excel sheet with a conversion list, and a list of the skills to which the conversions go (with the number of occurrences). Note that a single RAW skill can be simultaneously covered by two or more Consolidated Skills.
Copy of the list with counts here, as calculated as of 17-Aug-2015:
My thoughts on the resulting list:
The skills currently don't look quite equal, which may be solved by giving them different Difficulty ratings. The raw number of RAW-skills covered by a Consolidated skill is not necessarily all it takes to estimate worth:
Stealth and Deceit seem like two very low-count C-skills, but IME they get used a lot in campaigns anyway.
Otherwise, a count of 15ish seems OK for an Average skill, 18+ for Hard (though more because some 18+ skills are just too useful, like Larceny and Crafts), 10- for Easy, and 25+ for Very Hard (hypothetically).
A special note on Provoke: this Consolidated Skill is largely inspired by the way a skill of the same name works in FATE, and by the desire to emulate whatever social skill Renegade Shepard possesses in ME2+ (no, it's not just intimidation). It's meant to cover not just intimidation and the like, but also taunts, ability to inspire people through negative emotion, ability to bend rules and get away with it through sheer chutzpah etc. GURPS seems to be somewhat lacking in this area.