I'm a little bit unclear as to when you can train advanced skills. According to the book, skills can only be trained once per rank. But when you take an advanced skill at character creation or afterwords, you don't actually get a point of training in it--you just get the ability to use the skill.

Does that count as your training for that rank? That is, are your basic skills limited to [rank], and your advanced skills limited to [rank - 1]? Or could I use the advance I earned during my first session of play to train my ratcatcher's Animal Handling? If I acquired education by virtue of being a high elf, or channeling by virtue of being an apprentice wizard, can I then choose them as skills to train during the next step of character creation?

Also, the rules say you need to be trained in a skill to take a specialization in it. That seems awkward when it comes to advanced skills (especially for the those careers whose skill lists are almost entirely advanced skills, like the wizard). Must I actually attain that point of training to qualify for a specialization? or is merely having bought access to the skill enough?

arscott said:

From the Errata p 6:

Skills: Advanced Skill Clarification
Accessing an advanced skill is a two-step process. A character cannot
attempt an advanced skill until he acquires the skill. Acquiring
an advanced skill is the first step in the process, at the cost of one
Skill Advance. Once an advanced skill has been acquired, a character
can attempt checks based on that skill, just as if it were a basic
skill on his list of basic skills.
Once an advanced skill has been acquired, the character now has
the option to train the skill, as he would any of the basic skills available
to him. Training the advanced skill would be the second step
in the process, and costs one Skill Advance.

Acquiring a skill is NOT the same as training it. Training it is the second step in the process. You can both acquire a skill and train it, but it costs 2 advances to do so (1 advancement to Acquire the skill, and 1 advancement to Train it).

So, that doesn't really answer my question. I know the how alreadyI'm interested in the when.

You can train a skill once per rank. The act of acquiring an advanced skill does not count as training it at that rank. So you can both acquire and train an advanced skill during chargen, acquire an advanced skill during chargen then train it with XP while Rank 1, or both acquire and train an advanced skill with XP while at Rank 1.