I posted this back in December, but never got a reply. As such, I thought I'd give it another shot. Lately I've been working on a ruleset that replaces all classes with 'talent-based' versions, using RGG's Talented line of class books as inspiration for martial classes and Spheres of Power for casters. After looking at each of the 'Talented' classes, I've got a couple of questions I was hoping you guys could answer.
First off, what exactly is the logic behind each class's edge/talent progression? The Fighter starts out at the bottom with only a single talent at first level. Next is the Rogue, with one talent and one edge. The Barbarian gets a talent and an edge, as well as an actual class feature (primal reserve). The Ranger's up next, with one edge and two talents, followed by the Cavalier with two of each. Finally, we have the Monk, with three edges and two talents. I get that each class has different HD/BAB/saves/skills/proficiencies, and that might be part of the calculus. And the fact that they get qualitatively different talents. But the Fighter having only a single talent doesn't seem balanced when the Cavalier has two and two edges. Is this just a case of the developers learning as they went, or is there something I'm missing?
Related to the above question, do Fighters need edges to be consistent and competitive with the other Talented classes, or are they fine as they are?
I think it was to keep the talented classes on a chassis that you would be able to play the original class as it stood, rather than balance against each other. Give the original class more flexibility, but not completely rewrite it.
I tend to use the Talented Warrior for my generic martial talented class - the one at the end of Talented Barbarian.
As Lord Mhoram said - the classes are designed in such a way that you could pretty much rebuild any archetype from the ground up, as well as the core class - that also informs what's an edge, and what's a talent. The fighter is considered one of the weakest core classes, so if that's an assumption you agree with, I would consider bumping them up with extra talents. Otherwise, my take is to leave it as it is. I'm not sure about crossing edges over - the fighter has always been the "please build your ridiculous feat chain" class - edges are as much about power as they are defining the class's role within the party.
That's my two cents, anyway.