Editing Unwritten: System Reference Document/Character Creation (section)

==Choose Skills==
Once you have mapped out your character’s phases and chosen aspects, it’s time to pick skills.
Remember that your character is considered to be generally competent; you don’t need to worry about skills that reflect capabilities everyone would have at average levels (average for an adventurous explorer, of course). Your skills point out the areas where the character’s abilities stand out above the average person.

Your skills form a pyramid, with a single skill rated at Great (+4)—which we’ll usually refer to as the peak skill—and more skills at each lower rating on the ladder going down to Adequate (+1):
* One skill at Great (+4)
* Two skills at Good (+3)
* Three skills at Fair (+2)
* Four skills at Adequate (+1)

Mediocre (+0) is the default for any situation where you don’t have a skill. Sometimes, you won’t be able to attempt actions if you don’t have an applicable skill; in those cases, rolling the dice is irrelevant.

===Build for Diversity===
Protagonists are not just competent, but have some all-around capability. You should expect your character to be able to add something to a wide variety of situations.

When you are choosing your skills, aim for having a diverse range of options. Your skills should not all be in the same discipline or same set of disciplines—no more than two in any particular domain, ideally. A scholar might have a secondary area of interest, for example. If they have worked in the field a lot, maybe they have picked up some hands-on survival skills.

Think about the type of game you will be playing as well. If you have a game heavy on mysteries, you’ll need skills that you help you uncover clues. Exploration games will require problem-solving abilities, or skills that help in varying types of wilderness. If there’s going to be some action, you’d best be able to defend yourself or know when to run.

Diversity also applies to the group of characters as well. Where there is overlap in concepts, your skills should help differentiate you. If you have several scholars, they should have different specializations. Everyone should have a place where they have the spotlight.