[hal]

Just to add another note of "dissent" to the discussion ;)

There are instances where some skills, despite being used daily, fail to advance beyond the neccessarly level required for daily success. A computer operator who functions as an operator day in and day out for 10 years, isn't neccessarily going to have a computer operations skill of 16 if he is not permitted to engage in activities requiring knowledge or passwords of a senior systems operator. If he is constantly working at a level where the highest skill he will require is a 12, then having the person's skills advance beyond 12 is unreasonable. Same thing with the Lumberjack. If he uses a "telegraphed blow" for a +4 bonus to hit, and his skill is 12 to begin with (professional level), then he will constantly be placing his ax blow against the tree trunk with a modified skill of 16. If he takes pride in cutting the tree down in the quickest possible time and requires that he have even better control of his act, one could see where his skill with an ax might improve to a 14 - maybe.

Few tasks are ever really "mastered" beyond what is needed for the job unless there are driving factors involved, such as pride, need, etc. That's my thought on the topic ;)