Followers and Broad/Narrow abilities

From: epweissengruber_at_...
Date: Wed, 27 Jun 2001 22:31:59 -0000

So say a PC has a follower with

Warrior 17 Swift-footed 14

Does a narrator treat the Warrior 17 as a broad ability, or is like an affinity and thus subject to a penalty (-3 perhaps) when the character attempts something specific (i.e. fight with sword) and to an even greater penalty if that act is culturally inappropriate (-10 for trying to go fist-to-fist with a Martial Artist)?

In other words, is that "17" used only for things such as AP lending or augmenting the PC, and that there are a varitey of penalties for everything the follower does on his or her own?