So , I dug around here and didn't really see anything that fir this idea, so I figured I would start a new thread and see if it could stick around for awhile or not...

So anyway, the premise is to share our underused Skills in our games, and help each other come up with ideas to use them more often.

Tomorrow I'm running a game where in the first Encounter the Team will be taking a NPC from point A to point B because of plot. They will be chased by baddies because they don't what they NPC to leave. So a big '70's car chase through Nar Shaddaa will ensue. The Driver happens to be. Duos and does have a good skill at Astrogation, Since this a planet bound game with no starships in it, this skill is never really used. My idea to use is he can use Asro to help navigate through through the three dimensional city streets picking out short cuts, alternate traffic routes, alley ways, side streets and and avoiding high traffic areas with decent rolls. I don't want to get to bogged down in rolls and trying to interrupt rolls so I will probably just have the base Astro difficulty at two red verses his 2 Y 2 G. Despair will upgrade his pilot checks, Triumps will down grade his pilot checks, threats will add setback dice, and advantage will add boost dice. This will also have the exact opposite effect to his enemies. That are following. My logic being that as he is careening into the traffic, he is either making holes or more hazards they will have to follow through. His Planetary Piloting is really good to.

Some ideas on this?

It seems that I get in rut and always have the players use the same skills, so I'm looking to break the habit, and I bet that most GMs also have the same habit that I have. We as Humans like the comfortable. We find what works, and it becomes hard to do something different. So let me know what you think of my idea, and share some of you under used skills!!

Worth a listen:

http://www.madadventurers.com/tales-from-the-hydian-way-episode-67-the-underused-tale/

Um, thanks. I normally listen, but behind on my podcasts of late. But no other thoughts or comments. I feel cheapened by this. ....................................

Skill Monkey had a good segment on this kind of thing as well.

I did ask my players to roll Ranged(Heavy) to see if they knew what type of weapon it was they had just found...(something I made up). But I have to confess I've been guilty of sticking too close to the standard fare. So, no other thoughts or comments except I hope to do better in the future.

You have failed me for the last time.......... I'm now doing that thing where I'm holing up my fingers squishing your avatar between my fingers.....

I'm not sure I'd use Astrogation for navigating city streets, to me the skill is more about knowing about hyperlanes and stellar phenomena than it is about moving around obstacles. I might roll with an Intellect-based piloting check, with success granting a boost die or two to the next piloting roll?

One thing I don't see often is using skills with another characteristic than the one in which they're based. For example, identifying a starship: why would I have someone make an agility-based Piloting skill check for something that's based in memory/brainpower? I wouldn't! I would base it in Intellect and justify it with the Piloting skill representing the player's overall familiarity with starships. I doubt this is RAW but it sure does make sense.

I don't know about under used, but using skills in creative ways is always a good idea.

I have a weapon malfunction as a Despair result possibility and allow a mechanics check or applicable weapon skill to clear it.

If there were a piece of standardized ordinance, like a weapon warhead that needed disarming or something, I'd likely allow the applicable weapon skill for that as well.

Astrogation could be used for land navigation as well imo. It might be used to analyze intel to predict possible troop/vessel movements.

I think the "Astro" part of "Astrogation" precludes it for use in space only. One use the books mention is general head knowledge of space lanes, star systems and the kind of traffic that moves through those areas (identifying a system as having a high amount of pirate or criminal activity, maybe estimating how heavy an Imperial presence there is in the sector, and so on). Maybe also use it to identify individual ships, or use it to repair hyperdrives and navicomputers as an alternative (but maybe increase the difficulty by 1).

Perception or Knowledge (Education) would be my go to for cross country travel, especially if the planet has a serviceable road system (Survival being reserved for the wilderness), throw in Streetwise for cities, or Outer Rim or Core Worlds if it's a particularly well known planet (or if the PC has backstory there). Warfare for determining the tactical advantages of an area would be a good one, as well as identifying weapons or military vehicles.

I like Coordination for seveal things others have mentioned, such as navigating through a crowded space quickly, or catching an object that's falling or being thrown. I think Coordination would be good for the equivalent of using roller blades or skates, ice scates, skate boards, etc. (a powered version would probably be Piloting though). I know RAW says otherwise, but I'd be willing to consider it for climbing or jumping along with Athletics (for nimble characters with high Agility but low Brawn). Maybe something like dancing as well, or sports/games that require hand-eye coordination rather than strength (table tennis coming to mind, as an example). Does it cover freefalling/skydiving per RAW? If not, that as well.

I'm a big fan of knowledge checks providing help to other party members.

As far as your op I'm not sure if Astrogation is the right skill to use for fine scale navigation of a city. It would probably be ok for 1 sector to another, but it would be a harder check than a Knowledge Outer Rim would be. Perhaps for recognising a unique ship that a particular organisation uses, or the organisations to see about shipments along certain routes.

Resilience

I don't poison that often my players or put them on inhospitable planet

Resilience: extreme environments need not come from extreme planets. Extreme heat or cold from some kind of facility or laboratory (like an incinerator or smelter, or some kind of friezer) or a malfuctioning thermal unit on a starship. Maybe things like smoke inhalation or a thinning atmosphere or limited oxygen supply. A sudden exposure to high altitudes can really affect people, in game it might call for a Resilience check.

Maybe if you make a difficult Astrogation check, you can tell where a ship that just jumped out of a system is headed. And if you've got a faster hyperdrive than they do, you can be waiting for them when they arrive...