There's more than one kind of mage, too...
You've got your typical Destruction/Restoration/Alteration mage... Then you've got your Conjurer/Illusionist, who might not use Destruction at all... Then there are various types of Battlemage, with/without armor/weapons... Your Spellsword type, who uses magic to support armed combat... Your Alchemist type, who masters poisons and uses simple weapons to deliver them... Your "Mystic Archer" type, like Buffy...
Then there are various "restrictions" you can put on a character to make things interesting. My "Fitzie" character, for instance, is "nearsighted"; she doesn't see well enough to use any sort of targeted attack. A little thing like that changes the whole game.
Just a few thoughts.