It strikes me as a lot of the armor use skills seem to fit the more "higher strength" sorts (more with metal/stone, maybe bone), while the aim/precise aim/opportunity strike tree is being given to more "dexy" classes.

That's all accurate. Light Armor Use also cares about Dexterity. The other three only care about Strength. (I thought about Constitution there, but I'm always hesitant because I don't want to discourage people from playing characters who have died a bunch.)

Though if I wanted to think about it, there might be a certain intelligence/wisdom factor in thinking how to use it.

Only for Mystical Armor Use. Nearly all of the characters who get that skill are pretty smart anyway, barring the occasional svirf mage or dopey-race APs.

Aside: I think one of the cooler outcomes from the system is how it encourages a PC to dress. Pure mages only get Mystical Armor Use, so they get a perk for dressing in bizarre items made of energy, etc. These items also tend to be light, which is nice for them. But if you look at their profile, they tend to look best against magical/elemental stuff, and less so against physical attacks. Mages also can't really rely on other defenses much, so this is one of their few ways to make attacks not land.

So what happens? Well, if you go heavy into Mystical gear, you're a mage that defends well against magicky stuff, but you're still not real good in a fistfight, or against some guy with a steel axe. Plus, you tend to look like a mage, and probably very different from a warrior. (And different from a thief, who is probably emphasizing leather/padded where feasible, both for Light Armor Use and to keep their Kasty-Standardized weight down.) From a style standpoint, I love all of that.

Can you ignore this and just wear platemail everything on every character? Sure! We didn't want to handcuff you into only being able to wear certain kinds of gear. You won't get so many perks, though, and neither will that warrior decked head to toe in armor made of lightning or whatever.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com