[quote=Elendra]
I feel as if characters are going to have to start younger too, to make sense of them being so much worse at things. Older characters with longer histories but no skills seems... not so good.Also, I disagree with you on "IRL skills are negligible" with regards to social characters. Even if we have people we know are social IRL, that doesn't mean we can still properly convey it. It doesn't take a mastermind to have a sword swing with a few words in a RP, but if you want all socials based on your ability to RP then some characters are going to be more powerful by virtue of their player just having a better way with words.
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I meant someone's personal skills there. If you can't play a character and don't know how to work them... Maybe its not the character you need to be playing... Common sense plays into this. What you say [i]is the foundation of diplomacy[/i]. Insult a character in your speech? Yeah, they aren't going to react well. Play to their interests? Okay, nice. The rolls are going to be taken out largely, from what I understand. If you try, its not that hard to get across. And as far as combat abilities, if you have not noticed, they are not directly tied to any one capability like weapons. Armour. Etc. Its just... how well you can utilize it. *shakes my head* There's more factors that come into play here than you may know. There are some bonuses that can apply to what you try. But, really, common sense calls by the GMs here make the most sense. You don't have to be a social genius. You don't have to be flashy, know big words or anything else. Not all characters react to the same type of people or interactions. Its not really a matter of being more powerful or not... Its not a stat. Its a character's basic ability to play nice with others. If you can't play a character without handicaps and hand-outs from a GM... then it doesn't exactly make sense for you to be playing it... *shrugs* 

[quote=Elendra]
Further, by the same logic, there shouldn't be skills for picking up on lies or the like. Players are already capable of trying to figure out when something another character says is a lie based on their own skills. Further, this also restricts you from making characters that are more intelligent than yourself too.I heavily disagree with the notion of physical abilities (magic, sword play, w/e) having stats and things tied them while other important things don't.Just because they may not be rolled as often, doesn't mean they shouldn't still be there as a mechanic.
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I'll talk to Brovo about the lies things. Personally feel it can work into the system, but maybe it does need a second-pass.

 Also, if your character is meant to be more intelligent than yourself... And you can't write it... Then they do not exactly come off as intelligent... Do they?

Physical abilities have no stats. You have trained skills. Abilities. Think of it like a skill-tree in a game. You can unlock an ability and suddenly, you can preform it. This is not tied to any weapons. Weapons are now open. It is more tied to ability styles. Last Stand, increased mobility, little tricks and cantrips. Stats are no longer in this system. These are just small bonus abilities you can utilize in game.

If you need an example of why the diplomacy is the way it is... Look at it more this way.

You have done nothing to this NPC to have them act in any particular way to you. You begin to talk to you and they interact well, you have said plenty of reasonable things and they logically have no qualm. It works out... But suddenly have to do a success roll. You fail. Suddenly, everything you did doesn't actually matter. You don't get the information you needed. Because a roll dictated that as opposed to basic interaction skills.

Another situation, a player walks up and starts talking to an NPC trying to get closer to them. They out that they killed the last person who rebuffed their affections. Suddenly, alarm bells are going off in their head. By sheer luck, the player rolls a success. Guess what, the NPC goes completely against character and accepts this and happily deals with the player.

These are highly illogical situations that highlight the problems with a roll system for diplomaxy. You don't have to be a master of words as a character to have a chance. It follows the same rules a lot of the RP tends to go along. Be smart, use common sense. Chances are, you'll be fine. *shrugs* If you go full-on durp... Of course the interactions are likely to sour. Here's the deal... Trust your GMs on this one. We know how to write characters and do interactions. Unless you're acting like the guy who tries to force his will upon a character and goes crazy stalker insane person, it'll be fine. *shrugs*