Overpowered in the way that you can do all those thing for free, in spells you need to PAY for all that. So, all combat maneuvers?, of course, versatility is the best, but for free and everyone?, that is the overpower, with a DP cost of 1/5 you can do all what you want, and that is unbalanced.
Unbalanced? Everyone can use them, even spell users! Arms users would be just better at it (after all, they're
Arms users...).
It would be unbalanced if only arms users gained them, but since
everyone get the same options I can't see how it can be unbalancing...
Then it is very easy and cheap to be a perfect archer with very low cost, and you can brace, killing shot, etc. Too far from being a perfect spell caster, where you need the spell list, spell mastery and surely other skills like magical language to increase your spell casting bonus for the SCSM derived from the spell mastery use.
Come on, what can an archer do, other than shooting arrows very well? How much versatilty there's in that?
I understand that you like spell users, but you can't really say that as they are they're balanced compared to non spell using professions! They're obviously much more powerful, and the fact that they have to spend PPs to use spells is not a balancing factor IMHO, as when they have no more PPs to spend (and it's a rare occasion, save for low-level characters) they can still use normal skills, like all the other characters...
You say that Spell users need a lot of skills compared to non spell using characters? Ok, let's look at how
actually things work.
Let's analyze a random list, say the first from Spell Law, Essence: Delving Ways.
2 ranks in it and you get Text Analysis I, which gives you 2 ranks in ANY written language you want.
A few more ranks in the same list (which means
the same skill) and you get spells that gives you more information than the skills they mimic (stone lore, metal lore, etc) and with NO chance of error!
How many skills would have to develop a non spell using characters to reach the same level of versatility??
Oh, yes but the poor spell user has to spend PPs to use those spells! So he will be able to cast them only say, seven to ten times before... having to rest!
And that is just an example, you could take every spell list (and there's a lot of them) and draw the same conclusions.
So sorry, but your arguments in defense of spell users don't convince me at all.
To make it all free seem a little on the generous side to me and I'd personally prefer some sort of restrictions.
IMHO you forget that PCs wouldn't be the only ones to receive these options, even monsters and NPCs would be able to choose freely among them. As a result, combat will become overall:
- more tactical: with these options aviable you really have to think when choosing your round action!
and
- deadlier (which also means potentially quicker)
Also, higly skilled combatants would be
a lot better than unskilled ones, as they could take full advantage of maneuvers (and high level foes would become really frightening, think of what a Dragon could do!).