I originally posted this on RPG.net, because there is a lot more love for Fate over there than here. But I thought I might get some intelligent responses here
 
As I've posted in this thread, I have some issues with "free-form" traits. It's one of my few criticisms of Fate/SotC. So I was thinking of introducing a fixed list of Aspects for new characters... at least, during chargen. As the campaign expands and characters grow, players are free to make their own Aspects. But initially at least, they would be required to choose from a pool of specific Aspects until the entire group develops a shared understanding of the feel of the game world.
 
The idea is to have several "pools" of Asepcts based on various fantasy archtypes. Players having difficulty in thinking of what sort of character to build would have something to fall back upon, in a similar vein to the way that character classes are popular with some groups. Players with a clear vision of their character would still be free to mix-and-match from the various pools to create an interesting and unique character... in d20 parliance, this would be similar to multiclassing I suppose. There would also be other pools of Aspects, based on other elements of the game world... I think most notably for occupation and race (in a D&Desque game, this could also include Aspects for Alignment).
 
Firstly, what are the fantasy archtypes?
 
The fighter, the rogue, the holy man and the sage. I think the fighter and rogue are reasonably obvious choices. The holy man is a little bit more complicated. I was thinking using the term ascetic... since an ascetic is anyone who dedicates their life to contemplative ideals and therefore encompasses the traditional RPG notion of a "cleric" as well as a "monk" (and to a certain extent, also some orders of knighthood, or even samurai).
 
I've used the term sage instead of the more traditional mage or wizard. The ability to cast spells is more campaign specific and would be handled by a different pool of Aspects (or by a skill list). So the archtype of sage might encompass spell casters, but also fantasy historians such as scops or skalds, or other knowledgable types like herbalists.
 
The next challenge is to develop a tight list of core qualities that define each of these archtypes. Each of these qualities, maybe 5-10 per archtype, would be a potential Aspect to select.
 
For example;
 
What are the core qualities of a fighter? Strength, endurance, speed, courage... [fill in the blanks]
 
What are the core qualities of a rogue? Cunning, nimbleness... [fill in the blanks]
 
What are the core qualities of the ascetic? Discipline, abstinence... [fill in the blanks]
 
What are the core qualities of the sage? Knowledgable, wise... [fill in the blanks]
 
Remember, that the Aspects within each pool represent the core of the archtype and they are optional to an extent. A fighter doesn't have to be strong, but they often are. And as I said, it is possible to build a character with Aspects that span archtypes. For example, to create a ranger, you might select Aspects from the fighter and rogue pools.
 
So, have I got the archtypes correct? And what are the Aspects for each archtypes?