Re: Suggestions
This might seem like a heretical suggestion but...I think the Strong Of line should be changed to give +4 instead of +8, especially if there's a switch to allowing 5 flaws for 5 talents (for 10 total talents) in mind.
I know it's balanced against 2 exp for 2 stats but I don't think it actually needs to be, considering that it's a boon for character creation only. Its current incarnation is powerful enough that many of the secondary stat boosting talents have had to be balanced to compete with it, allowing for some other ridiculous specializations by stacking them.
As of current, if you take one talent in Strong Of in your main stat, you immediately gain:
+8 to HP/PP/EP
+4 to HP and/or PP and/or EP
+4 Resistance
+4 Attack
+4 Dodge
(In the case of Body) +8 Stealth, Perception, Grapple. +4 Damage. Small bonus to speed.
(In the case of Mind) +8 to Trap and Item finding. +4 Base Casting. Varying bonus to spell damage.
(In the case of Spirit) Not as much benefit here. +8 to Perception if you're a spirit wielder. 1.6 increase to your spirit ceiling though, I suppose.
A change to 4 would halve all of that.
8 to a stat is a pretty huge gain compared to the monsters as well. A person with 30 in their main stat isn't nearly as capable as a person with 40 when it comes to taking on beasties, another 10 and you might be fighting knights on pretty even ground. Plus, as alluded to earlier, because of the power of Strong Of talents, talents like Stealth, Perceptive, Resistance, etc. have been changed to make them more competitive with Strong Of, which means that people can go the opposite way and do ridiculous stuff like dump 5 talents into Resistant and have a 50:50 or better chance of charming an angel. Maybe they could be toned down just a little bit without making them unpalatable selections if such a change were implemented.
I know that even with this nerf, people could still dump 2 xp into stats for the exact same gains as Strong Of offers now. At least 2 xp at a time or doing so during rest periods only seems a little more...I don't know, earned, I guess? Not insanely powerful off the bat.
Just a thought, anyway, after comparing the general power level of characters with ten talents (and those that make good use of the strong of talents) against enemies like knights and even some of the boss tier creatures. I guess creatures might be getting stronger too, though, which would make this something of a moot point.
Edit: Also, maybe mutated should be a talent instead of a flaw now? Most of the stuff gained from it seems to be beneficial, if sometimes a trade-off, currently.