House Rule for Skills:
When I was first learning how to play my DM had a house rule that I've used in all of my own campaigns. For your first level you get 10 skill points to invest in any skill you like, you don't have to be proficient in it. NOTE: Modifiers will still apply to these skills so if you have 4 skill points invested in persuade but your charisma modifier is -3 you would technically have 1 usable skill point in persuade. Every level you get an additional 3 points to spend at that time. At certain levels you will get 5 instead of 3 skill points. You can also find scrolls or other items in game that may grant either a temporary or permanent boost to certain skills.