Creating a character in Shadowbane is very quick and easy in my experiences so far, but then again, ruining a character can also be very quick and easy and painful. My advice to anyone starting this game as a newbie is to study and study hard, read up on templates and see what others have done before you, see where they have succeeded and failed and discover what works and what does not. It will save you the headache of rerolling thirty or more levels down the road.

As far as customization goes, the game is lacking. While the various classes, professions, and disciplines provide a decent plethora of training options, when one breaks things down into what works and is good and what does not, options can be limited. I see this as being a game where there will be certain powerful templates exist and are widely used, as this has already been done to some degree in beta. There are certain race and class combinations you see everywhere, there are certain ones (and entire classes) that only a few unknowing or highly devoted players will be seen as.

In terms of your character's appearance, the same holds true. Your customization options are basically your race then each one gets about three preset skin tones and about a dozen preset hair styles and colors. Clothing will also tend to be limited, especially if you use armor, as there is currently no color customization on equipment at all. The robes various mage classes get look nice, but these robes total about ten all-together. When it comes to armor wearing classes, I would expect to see all of them looking the same in higher levels, even the ones who have their own special armor such as Crusaders.