So many skills

[Mathulhu]

A useful guideline for new GMs; if you think a skill could be used for a task let it be used for the task. It's unlikely that a new player is trying to game the system by having everything run of the same skill.

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by Mathulhu

A useful guideline for new GMs; if you think a skill could be used for a task let it be used for the task. It's unlikely that a new player is trying to game the system by having everything run of the same skill.

Good advice and defaults help here. Most things can at least be attempted even if you dont have the best skill.

[ericthered]

Also, I like to keep 5 points in reserve for use on those one or two skills that really ought to be part of the character but I missed. If it comes up during play, I can just say "Oh! I ought to have had that, concept wise. I have points, can we say he has this skill?"

The basics of skills:
Kromm's every adventurer skill list
Combat Skills
Social Skills
Vehicle Skills

Will give you most of what you need. Then find a few skills for your profession and that rounds you out to start with

[Infornific]

Originally Posted by Refplace

Skill Categories is really helpful and like John said its free.
There i a simiar PDF for advantages and others.

A major thing to remember is that not everything in the Basic set (much less the entire GURPS sysem) is designed for every game. Use what fits your setting and tone and ignore the rest.

Second this. Peel away any skill or Advantage you don't have in your world or just don't want and the lists get a lot more manageable. Don't list a skill if it's not in the world or not one adventurers will have a use for. Don't feel obliged to include every possible Advantage and Disadvantage. Also setting up templates for characters might be helpful.

[trooper6]

When it comes to skills...how many a character has is partly GM style.

There are GMs here who prefer PCs to have a small number of skills--say only the most important 5-9...everything else goes off of default. I am a GM who prefers lots of skills (15-25).

But how do you make the process easier? The Skill Categories pdf is really a life-saver.

You could also go with only three skills if you wanted. One skill that is a cinematic bang skill based on concept: ToughGuy! Femme Fatale! Honest Cop! and supplement with two other normal skills the person things is really important.

[corwyn]

Originally Posted by johndallman

Several. Experience will take a bit of time to acquire, so let's go for other documents that will tell you about skills needed for a pirate campaign.

GURPS Skill Categories is free for the downloading, and breaks up the great big skill list into a lot of useful categories. Pirates go around on ships, which are vehicles, so they need Vehicle Skills. They take goods by combat, or the threat of combat, so they need Combat/Weapon Skills. They use intimidation and threats a lot, which comes under Social Skills. If they have the same ship for a long time, they need to maintain and repair it, which requires Craft Skills.

If you're willing to spend a small amount of money, there's a GURPS book, Age of Sail Pirate Crew which has a complete pre-built pirate crew. GURPS PDFs are discounted by 40% until December 15th, so it's a good time to buy.

A bit of web searching was also worthwhile. Here's someone's account of how he created a small pirate campaign using the Pirate Crew book.

I would also recommend Dungeon Fantasy Denizens: Swashbucklers. Even if DF is too powerful or the wrong tone for you, the 5 templates in it will give you a good idea as to what skills PCs need.

[whswhs]

I recommend putting together your own list of which skills fit your scenario. If there are no cinematic martial arts you leave out the esoteric skills; if it's a low-tech environment you leave out the skills based on advanced technology, and so on. You can also leave out the academic skills if it's going to be a purely adventure-focused scenario.

The other thing I recommend is not giving your players a list of skills and asking them to pick. For a one-shot, do pregenerated characters. But even for a continuing campaign, ask them what they envision their characters as being good at, and figure out what skills apply. There's some helpful advice in How to Be a GURPS GM, I believe.

[Captain Joy]

Originally Posted by whswhs

I recommend putting together your own list of which skills fit your scenario. If there are no cinematic martial arts you leave out the esoteric skills…

Agreed. To that end, there is the offcial Online Trait Sorter.

I have also compiled a list of cinematic/exotic/magic skills. Should one want to drop such skills from a more mundane campaign, they're all listed there so you don't have to comb through the skill list looking for offenders.