$characters{'Bob the Fighter'}->{'Feats'}= [ 'Strong Spit', 'Perl Guru']; # or @feats = ('Strong Spit', 'Perl Guru'); $characters{'Bob the Fighter'}->{'Feats'} = \@feats; #### $characters{'Bob the Fighter'}->{'Feats'}->[1]; #is equal to 'Perl Guru' #### $characters[3]->{'Attributes'}->{'Str'}; #### $characters->{'Bob the Fighter'}->{'Attributes'}->{'Str'}; #### if($char{Bob}->{Feats}->{'Good With Pointy Objects'}){ Kill_Bad_Guy(); } else { Die_Hideous_Death(); }