Funnies:

How Edmund hoped character creation would go

I'm guessing that we will have to go through a couple of iterations in the character creation process to tweak the characters so they cover everything and fit together well as a team.  The process will probably go something like this...

PLAYERS: "Here are our characters, o wise one!"

ME: "These are nice, but nobody is covering stealth, and you only have one person with healing abilities."

PLAYER #1: "I will rework my character so it also has some skill at first aid, o jewel of intellect."

ME: "OK.  So who is going to handle stealth?"

SILENCE

ME: "I'm telling you - someone needs to handle stealth.  Who is it going to be?"

PLAYER #2: *SIGH*.  "I shall do it, o shaykh.  It means lowering some of my massive combat skills, but you believe the skill to be necessary then I accept your wisdom and shall comply."

ME: "Good, good.  Now, player #3, I notice your character has 'Psychopathic axe murdering bastard' and 'dependence on beating human hearts for sustenance' as disadvantages.  I don't think that's going to work with the concept I have in mind.  I did ask that the characters be heroic in nature, and I don't think that mugging drunks in alleys and cutting out their living hearts so that you may feast upon them fits in well with that theme."

PLAYER #3: *WAILS* "Alas, clever one, you have detected my clumsy and ill-advised attempt to circumvent your wise and benevolent guidelines for character creation.  I am undone!  I shall modify the character and all shall be as you wish."

ME: "Excellent.  Other than that, it looks like the team is shaping up nicely."

PLAYERS: "Thank you, o compassionate and benevolent GM, for overseeing our flawed efforts at character creation, so that we may bask in the light of your exciting and entertaining game without giving you sufficient headaches to cause nose bleeds and vomiting."

Well, OK, maybe not EXACTLY like that, but pretty close I'll bet. ^_^