Don't worry too much about the respective major, minor, and misc skills Mel, eventually they all go up, either by practicing the skills yourself, or by running into one of the mastertrainers.
You might find
this useful on your trips through the wastelands. It's a map of every location in Vvardenfell. If you don't wanna use it, it's understandable, but you'll find out that some locations are VERY hard to find, and then a few directions may prevent a lot of stress.
While you're still in the beginning of the game, you might wanna sign up for as much guilds as possible, the Mages, Thieves, Fighters, Morag Tong, Temple, Imperial Cult, Imperial guards... all of them. Try to do one task at a time for every guild, so they won't interfere with one another (some do eventually).
Edit: Yes, taunting and bribing can come in quite usefull, work on those skills. Sometimes you need to get something from someone, and if they're not giving it voluntarily, you could taunt them into attacking you. If you kill people after they attack you first, you're always at the right side of the law. If you deliver the first strike, you'll get a bounty on your head, and every guard in the entire game, will attack you on sight.
[ 04-28-2004, 05:08 PM: Message edited by: johnny ]