Eric Hughes wrote:
I guess what I've noticed is how well the system rewards muliple skill sets and a diverse concept.
Actually, one of the things I like is how it almost forces multiple skill sets, and penalizes min/maxing. Compare spellcasting (and spellcasters) from previous rules which pretty much required "I build my character to do this" designs (if you were a caster and didn't do that, you were a character of minimal use), to this system that rewards mixed builds.
In this system, no matter how much you pump yourself as a pure caster - max your stat, take the talents, tweak everything to get every skill point - and you will be a great caster. EXCEPT, that after about two spells per fight, you will start to eat strain or burn fate points. Probably the most powerful characters out there are the most multipurpose - pop off a useful spell or talent while your recovery goes away, then use a combat maneuver as you let the strain go down. So the more you try to powergame, the more you fail...
Plus, spellcasters are much less powerful than they used to be, with flight being much harder to acquire, invisibility not existing, fewer long term buffs, and teleport/word crashing spells being plot only. I like that, since it used to be that casters were the most powerful characters after mid-level, bar none. Now it's much more balanced. About the only place I see that not being true is the Val'Mehan diabolist - its hard to balance having 2 demons at your beck and call all the time. That just looks like it will be ugly.