Although, I find those moments weird, it seems to me that those are easily patched by DM's use of common sense to veto such shenanigans: after all, the guidelines aren't there to encourage munchy quirks, but quite the opposite.
That is weird, I would just tear it out, plug the hole with some constant and call it a day. In the end, this skill is about "tightening" the thought muscle and not running the mental marathon (involving memory and analytical abilities).
Arts were explicitly not associated with XPs
I might need to refresh my memory on that, but IIRC 4e is making some abilities a bit silly this way (such as Verditīs boon, if that's the proper linguistic mish-mash)
I would like to point you to this thread: Little Things I Miss From 4th
Oh, looks like a nice thread! I'll look into it!
To be honest, I'm currently unemployed, and my first thought to your original thread was wondering if I could somehow arrange to buy you a (digital) copy of the 5th edition.
I'd strongly ask you not to. I believe in Atlas, and I'd like to pay them tribute myself: if I didn't feel like honouring them, I'd've just pirated the books. But I do believe.
No need to worry about my wellbeing too: I'm ok financially (there are other hopefully temporary circumstances). Besides, I'm learning like ten languages now and reading other stuff so there is no justification to rush the process either. Especially if you don't have a source of stable income.
I'm grateful this community just is (sic!) and I appreciate what all of you do for me already. Thank you for the kindness, attention and insight!
…and for this answer too!