Skills in xenimus have always been kinda... shaky. They never seemed to affect much. Volucris should turn this around.
I think that skill points should be granted at level up based on : (Class), (Character level), (a stat. suggestions here please)
A thief (lets bring him back) should get the most skill points, with magic classes getting less.
The skills should have a noticable effect. Overall, you should get less skill points per level than in xenimus, but each point should be more effective.