The game encourages, nay celebrates, inventive use of skills, so it is much easier than might be thought to use one ability to do many things, once you have the hang of the game.
Some examples from our group. My Vingan recently won an 'entertain the children' competition using one of her combat abilities. Charles Corrigan's Issarian has used his Communication affinity (IIRC) in combat. James Hawkins recently used his Skovaran's Bless Family affinity on a military hero quest.
Powered by hypermail