I read through the rulebook and over the skills and specialization parts quite a bit but i can not quite get my head wrapped around them, can anyone explain to me about how you get them and how they work.

Thanks

When you train a Skill you gain an Expertise die on all rolls that use that Skill. You can only train a Skill once per Rank.

When you take a specialization, you gain a Fortune die on all rolls where the specialization comes into play. Since specialization represents additional focus on a narrower use of the associated skill, you must be trained in a Skill to take any Specializations in that Skill.

So for example, a player can be trained in Ballistic Skill. If so, he adds an Expertise die to all ranged attacks. If he takes a specialization in Long Bow, he would also add a Fortune die to ranged attacks made with a long bow. While the Expertise die would still be used for shooting a crossbow, the player would not get a Fortune die on that roll unless he also had a specialization in crossbow.

There is no limit to the number of specializations you can have for a Skill, but you can only take each specialization once, so you can't double specialize so to speak. In most cases, this means that only a single Fortune die could be applied except on rare occasions where the GM determines that more than one specialization in a Skill applies to the current circumstances. Example from the FAQ, if the GM asks the player to make a single Athletics check while chasing an enemy across rugged terrain dotted with rocks and debris, the description of the scene may warrant allowing the character to apply both Running and Jumping specialisations if the GM agrees.

The specializations shown under each Skill in the rulebook are suggestions and not an all-encompassing list. Players are free to create additional Specializations with the GM's permission. So, for example, a player with a character trained in Guile decides that he wants his character to specialize in disguises. Although not listed as one of the options under Guile, the GM may agree and allow this new specialization.

You can train Skills and take Specializations during chargen based on the number of creation points you spend referring to table 3-2 on page 30 of the rules. After that, you can purchase Skills and Specializations with advancements. All characters can always train one of the skills listed on his career card (but remember, only once per rank) or take a Specialization in any of these Skills which are already trained using the General Career Advance line labeled Skill Training or Specialty. In addition, you may take additional Skill training or Specializations from those listed on your career card as an Open Career Advance based on the number shown under Skill in the Advances portion of the career sheet. These are cumulative with the each other so if your Career sheet lists Skills 2, you could train or take a specialization in up to 3 of the Skills listed on your career sheet. You may train other skills outside of your current career as non-career advances at the cost shown on page 37 of the rulebook. Lastly, if a character completes a career by taking 10 advances and then spends an advance on the Dedication Bonus, he gains one Specialization in every skill trained while in that career at no additional cost.

Note that you cannot take Specializations in non-career Skills as a non-career advance, only training (or acquisition and/or training in the case of Advanced Skills) and you cannot use non-career advances to gain additional training or specializations in skills listed on your Career sheet.

Hope this helps!

thanks, i found that the rule book bunched everything together so i couldn't figure it out very well. but now i get it. by the sound of it specializations are pretty useless compared to skills then, i may be wrong but if balastic skill helps with all of those checks and a longbow specialization only helps with balistic skills using a longbow then i would much rathr take balistic skill.

thanks.

You are correct in that Expertise dice are better than Fortune dice and are more broadly applicable. Specialization comes into play on top of this however, since you must be trained in a Skill before you can specialize. So you can't be specialized in Long Bow without first having Ballistic Skill trained. However, once BS is trained, you cannot improve that again until the next rank. In the meantime, if you always use a Long Bow (for example) for your ranged attacks, then an extra Fortune die on all your shots may be worth the advancement to you. And remember, specializations resulting from the Dedication Bonus are in addition to the other benefits of the Dedication Bonus and included in the cost of just a single advancement. So if you completed a career where you trained 4 career skills and took the Dedication Bonus before moving to another career, you'd get 4 specializations (one each) in those skills.