Another possibility: The keyword represents a whole range of experience and activity, which is consistent with daily life (and not, perhaps, with life on the campaign).
So... Perhaps if a character has to miss a campaign, the narrator can just say, 'Okay, you were at home advising the chief. Bump up your "lawthane" keyword by two, and your "heortling" by one.'
That keeps the character from falling too far behind (the narrator can set the increase high enough to keep the character at the right strength), but it punishes him for missing a campaign (the player doesn't get to choose where the increase happens).
For that matter, if a campaign happens concurrently with daily life (the characters are still living at home, doing all their tribal chores, and working in their heroic stuff around it), the narrator might say "Everyone gets to increase his occupation keyword by 1", or at least let people buy an increase with HPs.
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