I have a number of comments on the matter.robbmiller wrote:Good advice, thanks!
Anything wrong with the common skills or other numbers?
Skills actually follow more of an exponential curve progression, rather than a linear one. As such: Short Sword: 1; Bow: 0; Dagger: 3; is not the equivalent of: Short Sword: 2; Bow: 1; Dagger: 1. The former is actually 14 Experience points worth of skills, while the latter is only 10 Experience.
There is a similar issue with the common skills where you ended up with 12 Advancement Points worth of Experience more than a standard starting character (or in character creation 3 extra starting Experience). Of course, you could be using the generational character rules and this is a second or third generation character. Even so, some might consider that total 7 point experience gap a bit odd considering she's quite a bit younger than most of the company.

Numbers aside I have couple of other suggestions. If you are that concerned about young Primrose starting with Folk-Lore, consider switching her calling to Treasure-hunter has no Lore specialty associated with it,. Treasure-hunter also has the Perception skill group to which Awareness and Insight both belong, which would mean having them favored would not be a deviation from the RAW. Keep in mind, not all Treasures are gold and gems, and a young Hobbit orphan could be seeking other treasures as it were. Of course, gold and gems could provide a means of security for a poor lass than is just barely making it by in the world. Furthermore, Burglary might as well be a survival trait for a Wild Hobbit, as it could have been vital for her to find food and shelter.
If you have your heart set on Wanderer, however, consider this. Perhaps young Primrose does not known much of the cultures of other folk, but her inquisitive nature might allow her to find things out quickly. After all a curious child sitting and listening intently as the elders recount the legends of their people would certainly drawn less attention than a company of armed strangers. Children also tend to pick up languages rather quickly as well, which is another defining characteristic of Folk-Lore.
In regards to Hobbits coming of age, I am generally inclined to agree with Stormcrow on many matters, and my first inclination would be to saw that longevity does not necessitate slower maturity.Stormcrow wrote:Yes, the average age of all hobbits listed with ages in the family trees in Appendix C, excluding Drogo Baggins, Primula Brandybuck, and Lotho Baggins, who all met untimely deaths, is 96 years.
However, longer life does not necessarily equal longer maturation. Aragorn surely wasn't a boy until he was 50! (His sword and birthright were revealed to him at age 20.)
However, that being said, I believe that there is a strong case to made that Hobbits not only have a slower rate of emotional maturity, but also of physical maturity as well.
There are a couple reasons for this. To start with, I'm going with the assumption that the various peoples of Middle Earth (with the exception of the Elves) tend to go adventuring when they are in the physical prime of their lives. For most Mannish cultures this is between 16 and 30. This would also be the age when they would also be likely to sire children. (Yes, in the modern day and age many people may not have children until their 30s or later, but in medieval times without the virtue of modern medicine having, children after 30 was an extremely risky proposition.) If Hobbits and Dwarves physically matured at the same rate as the race of Men we might expect them to go adventuring at the same age rather than at 25-60 and 50-100 respectively.
Now, this has been mostly supposition so far, but we actually have five family trees to look at for additional evidence. The Bagginses, Tooks, and Brandybucks are all upperclass gentry and might be expected to have children later in life, but the Gamgees and Cottons are common folk and show little significant difference from the more prominent families. All tend to start having children in their thirties or early forties. Samwise has his first child at 41 years of age and the last of his thirteen kids at the ripe old age of 62.
Dwarves do not tend to have large families. Most of Durin's line have hand children around the age of 100, Thráin II begot Thorin Oakenshield at 90 and his third child Dís at 114. The Dúnedain, for their part would reach maturity at 18 and and remain in their prime until 60, maturing slightly slower than most Mannish cultures but more quickly than the Hobbits.
In any case, that is my short exposé on the matter.