I kind of compare it to real life. IRL, someone can be a skilled singer and guitar player, good with math, and an excellent car mechanic. They are also learning to fence and perform stage combat and enjoy reading books in their spare time. They can be good and proficient at all these things and many more. But there is a big difference between their skills, even though they are good at these things, and someone who has dedicated their life to singing opera and perform for the Met. That level of skill is phenomenal. But of course, the opera singer does other things as well outside of singing.
So, to me, saying "my character is skilled at both white and black magic and must take some ridiculous flaw to balance it" is more... martial arts movie rather than reflective of real life (magic use aside for the moment). In many martial arts movies, someone is only good at martial arts because they have dedicated their whole life to it, to the exclusion of everything else.
(Caveat: This has long been a pet peeve of mine. xD When I played tabletop RP, I'd get frustrated at the skill point limit. I would think, "IRL I can do this, this, this, AND this with some measure of proficiency... but my fantasy character can't have an equal number of skills?")(But then too, it doesn't help that some systems label 1 or 2 dots in an ability as "you suck at this". XD)
Dunno if it makes a difference, but my characters will never be god-like. They can be very good at multiple skills, but none are able to create life or destroy worlds. Some people do enjoy that level of drama, so maybe having an exaggerated flaw to balance the character's powers makes sense? I'm not sure.
So, to me, saying "my character is skilled at both white and black magic and must take some ridiculous flaw to balance it" is more... martial arts movie rather than reflective of real life (magic use aside for the moment). In many martial arts movies, someone is only good at martial arts because they have dedicated their whole life to it, to the exclusion of everything else.
(Caveat: This has long been a pet peeve of mine. xD When I played tabletop RP, I'd get frustrated at the skill point limit. I would think, "IRL I can do this, this, this, AND this with some measure of proficiency... but my fantasy character can't have an equal number of skills?")(But then too, it doesn't help that some systems label 1 or 2 dots in an ability as "you suck at this". XD)
Dunno if it makes a difference, but my characters will never be god-like. They can be very good at multiple skills, but none are able to create life or destroy worlds. Some people do enjoy that level of drama, so maybe having an exaggerated flaw to balance the character's powers makes sense? I'm not sure.
