If you are about to use this conversion for your Rifts® campaign you may want to use your own set of skills. I introduce my set here.
As mentioned before I made the skill groups to skills themselves and the former skills to specialization of the skills - vaguely.
The new skills are...
Combat
This is a combination of all former weapon proficiencies (modern and ancient) and the hand-to-hand fighting styles. Since strike, dodge and parry rolls are skill tests now, you will naturally earn the bonuses you formerly got with new experience levels and each level of the base combat skill will give you access to new moves and maneuvers. These include kick attack, knockdown attack, knockout attack, paired weapons, pull punch and so forth. So each time you increase the level of the base combat skill you may chose one of the maneuvers you formerly got through the hand to hand style in certain levels. This way you can and will create your own style (and may still name it commando or assassins training or the like).
Computers
This is mostly what was originally introduced in the technical skill group, combined with advanced communications (like cryptography) and espionage or rouge (like hacking). Of course, an appropriate form of literacy is still required.
Crafts
These skills were originally part of the technical skill group and this is now a collective term for all sorts of craftsmanship which are the specializations you can choose from.
Cultural
This skill is mostly all there was to domestic skills and other skills that refer to special cultural backgrounds and proficiencies (like cowboy and technical). So specializations are accounting and bureaucracy as well as languages, literacy, farming or riding. All cultural lores (not belonging to another skill) and domestic handiworks are also part of this skill.
Languages and literacy: With using this skill I decided not to go with languages and literacy as separate skills for each language but instead let each character learn a number of languages equal to the base skill and specialization skill level. Allocating one of these virtual points to a language will make you understand and speak it on a basic level, allocating another point will let you use it fluently. The same goes with literacy to each language.
Medical
This is a simple skill combining all medical skills of the original rules.
Military
This is mostly the military skill group as a simple skill. But there are some specializations that are not part of this skill since they belong to one of the other groups, like parachuting (physical) or find contraband (rogue).
Physical
This skill combines all physical skills from the original skill group. Since the original physical skills had a lot of bonuses to attributes and other stats I used a system similar to that introduced to the new combat skill. With each base skill level you can choose a certain bonus like a 10% bonus in one of the physical attributes or 20% in the speed attribute or +1d10 S.D.C.™. Why I use percentages instead of absolute numbers is based on some special features regarding the attributes. Physical strength can be very high now.
Pilot
This skill is what originally was the pilots and the pilots related skill groups and each original skill is now a specialization.
Rogue
The original rogue and espionage skills were combined in that knew skill although some became (or always were) parts of other skills, like prowl (physical) or wilderness survival (wilderness).
Science
Simply everything from the original science skill group became the new science skill.
Technics
This is similar to the new combat skill the biggest change from the original skills since technics combines all skills from electronics and mechanics into one single skill.
Wilderness
This new skill combines everything there is regarding interacting with pure nature so it became a bit "smaller" since some of the original wilderness skills were classic craftsmanship skills.
So there is a lot to learn with a lesser number of skills. But you will still need and want to use specializations to these skills because of two simple reasons. Firstly, you may not want or need to know all there is to a certain subject. You may want to program software but are not interested in hacking (both computer skill specializations). Secondly, raising a skill level in a specialization is a lot easier and quicker done as raising a whole skill.
All skills will probably have a lore specialization as well, that reflects the general knowledge of the subject.
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