I like that the Hobbit Tales supplement, despite reusing the exact same content as the Hobbit Starter Set booklets, expanded on the Adversaries and Pre-Generated Player-Heroes.
What I don't like as much is that I've always worked out different Callings for some of the Hobbits, based on a simple reverse-engineering from their favored skills.
Hobbits of the Shire have Courtesy or Stealth by standard. Callings and their Favored Skills (choose 2):
Warden: Awareness, Insight (exactly Rorimac + Stealth), Healing — same as in Hobbit Tales.
Scholar: Riddle, Lore (exactly Primula + Courtesy), Craft — same as in Hobbit Tales.
Messenger: Song, Travel (exactly Drogo + Courtesy), Courtesy (←) — same as in Hobbit Tales.
Here's where the discrepancies show up:
Captain: Persuade, Enhearten (exactly Esmeralda + Courtesy), Battle. In Hobbit Tales she's assigned as Treasure Hunter...
Champion: Hunting, Athletics (exactly Paladin + Stealth), Awe. In Hobbit Tales he's assigned as Captain...
Treasure Hunter: Scan, Stealth (exactly Lobelia + Courtesy), Explore. In Hobbit Tales she's assigned as Champion...
By the core rulebook character-creation rules, none of them should end up with any other Calling.
The one possible exception is Lobelia, since she has Mastery (+2 favored skills). She has both Courtesy and Stealth (so she must have bought at least one of the two), and she'd need at least 2 favored skills matching Champion — but she only has Awe. My reverse-engineering suggests Treasure Hunter is the "open slot" that lets the team end up with one of each Calling, with Lobelia filling it.
Looking at the only other things a Calling practically affects — the third Distinctive Feature and the Shadow Path:
- Lobelia as Champion has Enemy-lore(?) and Curse of Vengeance (vengeance for being excluded from Bilbo's heirloom? — though that's a projection of future events). She fits much better as Treasure Hunter, with Burglary and Dragon-Sickness reflecting her acquisitive greed — consistent with her other Distinctive Features (Inquisitive, Keen-eyed).
- Paladin as Captain has Leadership and Lure of Power. A teenage Took seems to fit much better as Champion, with Enemy-lore (Golfimbul and Took ancient tales for example) and Curse of Vengeance — consistent with his other Distinctive Features (Eager, Rustic).
- Esmeralda as Treasure Hunter has Burglary and Dragon-Sickness. Leadership and Lure of Power, as a Captain, seem to suit her much better — consistent with her other Distinctive Features (Eager, Merry).
So maybe role-play considerations drove the Calling assignments (via Distinctive Features) rather than favored skills — meaning the character-creation rules for favored skills were deliberately set aside here? Or maybe it was simply an error that should be corrected?
Either way, I think this supports reassigning Lobelia as Treasure Hunter (not Champion), Paladin as Champion (instead of Captain), and Esmeralda as Captain (instead of Treasure Hunter).