Thanks Stacie, I did see that, but I kept reading reviews that said the Fantasy Hack in the guide would work as a loose base that would need a great deal of shoring up to fit one's game. So I decided to start from the direction I was introduced to Cortex Plus and convert from MHRP since it sounded like I had some work ahead of me either way.
I struggled through many iterations of Affiliations (Martial/Skilled/Magic; Fortitude/Reflex/Will; Body/Mind/Soul) before deciding that keeping the Solo/Buddy/Team structure would add a dimension I always felt was lacking in my games.
I looked at making Class a limiter on what power traits you were allowed to choose, but decided that a single power set representing your class with no limiters flowed better and made room for all the character concepts that never worked out as well in D&D as people would have liked.
I'm hoping that the starting point I set for characters allows enough variety, while still leaving room for growth.