Proficiencies: Overview

Proficiencies have been greatly expanded from 1st Ed. in terms of scope, necessity, content, allotment, and classification. There are three broad categories of proficiency, each breaking down into two more specialised fields. Each character will have a certain amount of general proficiency slots based on their birth, order, race, and apprenticeship, and possibly more focused slots depending on their class. Humans and half-human characters must begin in one of three birth stations: Noble, Common, or Freefolk. Each accords the character certain trait bonuses and proficiency slots. Depending on station, some apprenticeships may be considered already completed and implied in the bonuses. Non-humans begin with a set of proficiency slots and and bonuses based on race. A character will also have bonus proficiency slots, regardless of class, based on exceptional traits.
The three broad categories of proficiencies are Physical, Practical, and Intellectual. Proficiency slots of these sorts can be used for skills in either of its subcategories: Weapon and Athletic, Civil and Wilderness, Cultural and Scholarly.
Each character also has a certain number of spoken language slots based on intelligence. Humans can speak one language plus the intelligence bonus. Non-humans usually have innate understanding of several languages in addition to those they can learn due to intelligence. Additional standard (common,court,racial) spoken languages fill language slots, not proficiency slots. However, literacy requires a Scholarship proficiency slot for each script learned. Class languages and Magical languages require Scholarship proficiency slots to learn and do not use up Language slots. Alignment/Planar languages may be learned using either Scholarship or Language slots.
Many proficiencies can be acquired using more than one type of slot. For instance, Iajutsu could be considered a weapon or athletic skill; herbalism could be wilderness or scholarship (see Sage Proficiencies). 

The number of skills a character can eventually learn is limited by their traits. Maximum limits are subject to the effects of age and other forces that change attributes, which means that over time a character will gain extra Intellectual proficiency slot, but lose some of their Physical slots. It is the player's choice which skills to lose.
Trait-based Proficiency Bonuses and Limits

	Physical	Weapon	Athletic	Practical	Civil	Wilderness	Intellectual	Cultural	Scholarly
Bonus Slot at	n/a	Str 15	Con 15	n/a	Dex 15	Wis 15	n/a	Cha 15	Int 15
Maximum Proficiency Slots (Cumulative)	Str+Con+Dex	Str+Dex	Con+Dex	Int+Wis+Dex	Int+Cha	Str+Con	Int+Wis+Cha	Wis+Cha	Int+Wis