This category encompasses anything that the Storyteller deems to be mainly self-taught and is usually (though not always) more active than intellectual. Storytellers should first examine the list of existing Talents to determine if a particular activity might fall under one of those (for example, Swimming and Climbing would be specialties of Athletics).

• Novice: You’ve dabbled.

•• Practiced: You’ve got a good grasp of your hobby’s basics.

••• Competent: Other practitioners regard you as fairly skilled and competent.

•••• Expert: You are familiar with the subtle nuances and applications of your Talent.

••••• Master: You could write a book on what you do. Perhaps you already have.

Suggested Hobby Talents: Carousing, Diplomacy, Fortune Telling, Negotiation, Scrounging

Skills are Abilities learned through training, appren-ticeships, or other instruction. If you try to perform an action involving a Skill in which you have no rating, your difficulty is increased by one. An unskilled worker just isn’t as effective as someone who might have lower Attributes but a better understanding of what the procedure entails.