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starting_characters
Random character generation is a default here for two reasons. The first one is simple - it speeds up character generation for new players. Give players a choice and the engaged ones will stop the game to read through the book, find races, and consider each one's strengths and weaknesses. Unengaged players will feel overwhelmed by the options.
Random character creation give impetus. The GM can say 'roll two dice', and the player gets told 'you are an intelligent but weak dwarf', and has to go from there.
Louise from Rune Soldier is a mediocre mage, but an incredibly strong fighter. Bilbo from The Hobbit isn't much of a burglar, but he could be with time.
Player-chosen characters cannot produce these kinds of results. The system has to say that weak people make for poor fighters, which then demands that players crafting a character have to push towards certain strengths. A charismatic fighter might make for a good character concept, but making such a fighter penalizes the player.
Randomly rolled characters can produce these oddities easily, without penalizing anyone. A fighter who's surprisingly intelligent but clumsy, the mage who relies on dexterity to avoid being hit, all become possible again, and players have the option to build skills on top of this to play to these new, random strengths and weaknesses.
This thing needs more data from play - I don't know if the rules are sufficient as nobody's ever taken this option in my games.