What are Talents?
A. Talents are basically group skill bonuses, similar to those for nonhuman species in Third Edition, but for individuals. Talents add to groups of skills, regardless of what attributes the skills use, a lot like Language Talent and Musical Ability did inThird Edition. But they also do two other cool things. First, they make it easier to buy up skills through study in play. They knock 10% off the needed study time per level. So if you have +2 in some Talent, you learn the skills it affects in 80% the usual time. In a continuing campaign, this means talented types will improve their skills more quickly, which is sort of how talent works in real life. Second, they give you a reaction bonus equal to their level. This affects those who’d be impressed. The “why” of this depends on the Talent, but basically, it’s about coming across as a natural . . . or inspired . . . or just trustworthy. So a Talent is good for those with tight character concepts that involve lots of related skills — skil
