While I haven't played in a long running HQ campaign, I have written up a number of characters for "one-off" sessions. Most of the time we have used the "write 100 words" approach to describing our characters. Some of my creative colleagues have come up with grandly poetic, and potentially powerful names for abilities. While opinions vary, as do styles of play, the way that I have reconciled this far ranging scope of descriptions is to have the numbers compare straight up, with the applicability of an ability potentially earning them a bonus.
Thus, Run 17, Run like the wind 17, and Swift 17 all are movement related, and make something move at the same speed. A while back Roderick explained this to me with an example that went something like: A fish with Swim 17, a monkey with Swing through Vines 17, and a bird with Fly 17 are in a race. They are each in their preferred medium (water, vines, and air). They would tie if they rolled the same. If it was a flying contest, the bird would probably win, just as if all three had to swing through vines the monkey would probably win. Otherwise, if you try to decide that flying is faster than running, which is faster than swimming, you could do it, but there will be a lot more math, and potential player debate involved.
The same is true for a horse with Run 17, and a human with Run 17. As I see it, the best roll would win. If you feel the horse should almost always win a running contest with a person, then the horse should have a higher ability, perhaps even a mastery or more higher. If they were running up stairs, the horse should probably get a negative modifier due to its size or something, if space was cramped.
On the poetic and epic end of abilities, if you have someone who describes their character with "Best swordsman in the World 17" and another uses "Sword 17", they are equal in ability when fighting with swords. My personal favorite is when one of my fellow players included the skill that was something like "Shout that makes opponents head explode". We didn't try reconciling that one with mathematic precision. It was easy when the rival tribe was fleeing the battle and the player rolled a crit when shouting at a running chieftan.
There are loads of ways to play these sorts of things. I'm enjoying the discussion.
Regards,
Rick
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