Sterling Jade-Marble |
Not having played an RPG since AD&D, I initially found the concepts of Skills and Feats confusing as well. Having taken a long hiatus from RPGs and having missed the whole d20 revolution, there was a steep learning curve when I got into PF.
I have generally explained Skills as things any character can try to do, some characters having better odds of success based on background, class, training, etc. Conversely, I have meta-explained Feats as "break the rules" mechanisms in the game (usually you cannot do X, but with this Feat you can). These are not perfect explanations, of course, but for new players they seemed to point in the right direction. And with the the PF2 rules re: skills, any character really can attempt any skill, since none are reserved only to those who have put points into them.