Skill practice in the real world

[Jilliana]

I'm sad that the music link doesn't seem to work for me! Ah well. Perhaps one day we'll get an update on your progress.

All of my chars are some version of myself that I channel. Leiana is the most like me, however. I do knit like she does. If skills were set up differently on COGG, I would probably have her pick up languages in the way that I do. Anything else - such as cooking and the like - feels like extended real life work for me so I keep those separate.

I played the piano for over 20 years and stopped in 2016. Mostly due to life things, I have returned to creative writing because of COGG and this creative awakening has extended to my music. Now I'm in the process of looking for the piano of my dreams.

I will say though that even if I didn't pick up a skill, I think it's fair to say that most of us have at least learned quite a bit just by researching, playing and learning from others. Love it!

[Jaster]

Unlike my PCs, I have zero sense of humor in real life.

Parroting some of your other comments: I have an excellent Tuxedo lockpicking set from Sparrows as part of my EDC, which I've used on a few occasions (not illegally, of course).

I have, in the past, had a deep interest in blacksmithing as a hobby in no small part due to tinkering with blacksmithing at the beginning of CLOK, but it never became too serious due to the prohibitive upfront cost.

The aforementioned is the most applicable to the original premise of this thread, but I will continue on with other correlations between my real-life and CLOK/COGG characters since I like to read myself write.

I wish I could do sleight of hand, but try as I might my barely opposable thumbs keep me from doing it effectively (I loved magic as a child).

I do have an interest in defensive fighting, particularly extreme close quarters knife-work and wrestling (ECQC by Craig Douglas), but also traditional kodokan judo (as taught by Jigaro Kano) and classical pugilism (Self-Defense for Gentlemen and Ladies by Colonel Thomas H. Monstery), as well defensive firearms use - although generally I would consider myself more of a scholar than a practitioner.

Most of my real-world training is in the preservation of life as a medical provider, which is why I never play healer characters!