After several playtests, condensing skills has been appreciated at the table. The only complaint has been deception vs deeption skill checks since skills have never been opposed by themselves before. It seems that skills under Pathfinder RPG are an area that still needs tremendous work. Allow me to recommend the following skills for Pathfinder:
Acrobatics (Dex): combines Balance, Tumble, Escape Artist
Appraise (Int): same as 3.5, but includes new use to identify items
Athletics (Str): combines Jump, Climb, and Swim
Craft (Int): same as 3.5
Deception (Cha): combines Bluff, Forgery, and Disguise
Fly (Dex): as described in Pathfinder RPG
Handle Animal (Dex): combines Handle Animal and Ride
Heal (Wis): same as 3.5
Knowledge (Int): as described in Pathfinder RPG
Linguistics (or Speechcraft) (Cha): combines Diplomacy, Intimidate, Gather Information, Decipher Script, and Speak Languages
Perception (Wis): combines Spot, Listen, Search, and Sense Motive, no perception checks by sense (unnecessarily complex)
Perform (Cha): same as 3.5
Profession (Wis): same as 3.5
Spellcraft (Int): as described in Pathfinder RPG, combines Concentration
Stealth (Dex): combines Hide and Move Silently
Survival (Wis): as described in Pathfinder RPG, also includes Use Rope
Theft (Dex): combines Open Lock, Disable Device, and Sleight of Hand
Use Magic Device (Cha): same as 3.5
Combining skills in this way will require significant adjustments of all class skill points per level. DC’s listed and the descriptions of these skills must change to reflect the basic functionality of the new skills. Simply combining several skills under a new name without changing their ease of use is not a functional change. A name change alone does not streamline the current skills system!