Most skills are very broad categories. It may suit your character to //excel// in one or more area of that skill. 

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For Example: A doctor would be a Natural Studies expert who specializes in medicine. An assassin would be a Natural Studies expert who specializes in poisons. A zookeeper would be a Natural Studies expert who specializes in wild animals. 
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Taking a specialization costs **1 additional XP**. If you are using your skill in a situation appropriate for your specialization, you will have a slightly greater chance of success. Mechanically speaking, you will be granted an **additional edge one degree less than your skill**. Being specialized is never a penalty.

Taking a specialization for a skill at level 1 will not give you an edge. It is merely for flavour purposes.

^ Skill Level ^ Max Specs ^ Specialization Bonus ^
|     1       |  3  | **No Bonus. Flavor only** |
|     2       |  4  | Additional Minor Edge |
|     3       |  5  | Additional Significant edge |

Specializations are part of [[gm:game1:skill_training|training]] your skills. The 'Max Specs' represents how many specializations you will need to get a broad understanding of the skill. If you have this many specializations, you may **trade them in to increase you skill level**. You will lose the specializations, but have a higher skill level.

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For Example: Godam is an expert architect, at Level 2. He is specialized in Bridge construction, Irrigation Systems and Storm Defenses. After some hard study, he has a broad knowledge in Anti-Piracy measures. With all this special knowledge, he is practically a master architect. He turnsheets to trade in his 4 specializations, and become an unspecialized level 3 Architect.
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Therefore, even level 1 specializations have value.