Think about your character, pick out their strengths, come up with a broad term to describe them, and make it their skill(s.)
I'm not going to give you a big long set of skills to choose from, I want you to come up with skills that come from your character, not a character that comes from your skills. I will, however, give you some examples.
gun combat, brawl, mathematics, drive, fashion, carousing, bureaucracy, electronics, mechanic
Now, a point is above average, remember that. Two is good. Three is great. Four is phenomenal. Five is godly.
Yes, sometimes I will give negatives for having zero points in something. If you want to negate that permanently then you can sacrifice all of your skill points at character generation for Jack of All Trades, which will mean you start game with no negatives in any skill. You can still get negatives for other reasons, such as a distraction, though.
That said, you start with
15 xp.
Skill Level Cost
I 3
II 2
III 4
IV 6
V 8
You must buy each level of a skill
individually.
If you have points left over after buying what you want, hold onto them, you can use them whenever you wish.
Example:
Tal is, of course, a super awesome ninja dude! So.
Security 1 (-3xp), blade combat 2 (5xp), bombs! 1 (-3xp), thrown weapons (-3xp)
He keeps 1xp to spend later, and is now ready to be a super awesome ninja dude!
( ... please don't play super awesome ninjas ... )