To be fair, it is was bit misleading of me to say "all traces of artificiality are removed"...while it is an option for an elf to be a very powerful spellcaster and fly around in a helicopter and have machineguns with magic bullets and a few bound demons...it quickly pushes the game into munchkin level.
In the first playtest I had a magic using elf cyborg dual weilding a 30mm revolver and a magic staff, a troll hit man that used a demon bound club and a mute revenant that led a small group of undead. While those characters were good, as a GM, in the interest of game balance and tone, I instituted the increased skill cost per differing culture skill mechanic to still allow those characters, but at the cost of becoming powerful but very limited.
While it is quite fair to say that it is entirely possible for a modern western female to become a Shi'ite cleric...it would be highly improbable. The same for in 1850, an Aborigine to travel the United States and becoming a cavalry commander. Perhaps a Russian steppe farmer in 1950 becoming an astronaught or an illiterate African death squad commander becoming a French astronaught or a Chinese submarine commander...or a Thuggee becoming a Cajun clan patriarch...
Culture, nationality, race and developmental level all play a role in what is possible for your character (or you, for that matter). It is possible for all of those things to occur, but it will be exceptionally difficult and extremely unlikely.
As far as money goes, I already have a good job.
:deadhorse:
-STS