Richard is a War Wizard - a user of both sides / types of magic whose magic use is intuitive. Users of pure additive [creative] or pure subtractive [destructive] magic lack this innate intuition and thus must learn their spells. However, the more they learn the easier it is to use less potent forms of magic. Most lower level additive wizards, for instance could not cause their hair to grow at will by stroking it while thinking / concentrating on it growing - as Zedd did in the first book to demonstrate Additive magic. Then he pointed out that he could not remove it with magic, as additive magic could only create or make (additive alterations).
Sounds like the difference between sorcerers and wizards to me, and considering that War Wizards were called such due to their utility in combat, the comparison seems even more apt.
Some other comments:
The idea of a wizard experiencing pain due to their growing powers is odd. I'm not certain how to implement such into the d20 system. Perhaps a daily (weekly?) will save (DC 12?) verse 1d2 Con damage? Given enough time the wizard will either die or reach a high enough level that they no longer have to worry about it. Even level five would be sufficient, especially if you allowed the wizard to meditate for perhaps 10 min every morning to take ten on their save. In a world where magical healing is uncommon and lesser restoration, etc is unknown (or at least rare) then this would perhaps work. Of course, the problem with this is explaining why Richard didn't die under the Mord-Sith if he also had to deal with this. Perhpas, in sealing his power away, they also removed the need for such saves?
Confessors - after a single use - typicallly required a very long time before they could cast again. If I recall correctly, Kahlan (spelling?) explained that many require about a day to renew their "charge" (so to speak), but she was highly unusual in only requiring about two hours. The effect was basically a 1/day use of Dominate Person (indefinate duration). Recall that when she spoke of - in the past - a Mother Confesser subduing a kingdom, she told of the MC taking a large band of Confessers with her. Each would dominate one, the group as a whole (with its ever growing retinue of new (and fanatic) cohorts) sweeping through the palace / castle / town to eventually find the leaders. They would specifically target a leader, then have the leader lead them to the next of higher rank, etc. One (or even a small group) was rarely enough for such a task.
Sorceresses were basically female adepts that had learned the basics on how to aid wizards coming into their powers from the greater (true) wizards of the past. Over time (centuries if not millennia) they came to abuse the trust initially placed in them, allowing their religion to cloud their views of what they were doing and how it worked. They also slid towards a more draconian use of their powers - especially in regards to wizards. Pain and other methods of control were seen as justified - the ends justifying the means. These and other subtle alterations over the centuries allowed Dark equivalent sorceresses to eventually emerge among them, spreading until their number was a significant minority of all of them (if I recall correctly).
The Mord-Sith, on the other hand, were trained in the use of the Agiel - a potent magic item that could seemingly cast any of the Inflict spells (and more) at whim but was limited as a Melee Touch attack. However, the Mord-Sith also experienced what her victim experienced. If they used it to cause an injury, they also felt pain equivalent to (or nearly as great) as that their victim experienced; they just didn't receive the wound that accompanied the pain. It was likely a PrC whose most abilities required a specially made item. Note that the ability to bind a wizard's magic was not absolute or universal. It only worked on a single wizard at a time - using it on another would almost certainly free the first, and there appeared to be a will save of some sort. However, if the wizard was caught by surprise it seemed they had a significant penalty to thier save. Of course, if I recall correctly, Richard was already being affected by some type of control / suggestion spell at the time he met the mord-sith, weaking his ability to resist their ability to seal his power.
Divination magic exists, but it is very very rare and not wholy precise. Prophets are almost exclusively additive mages, and they are hampered by seeing all possible futures, rarely knowing which ones are more or less likely unless they have decades (or even centuries) of experience. This is what makes Nathan so powerful - he is the only prophet in all of history to have had over a thousand years of prophetic study. Granted, this has driven him slight insane (okay, maybe a bit more than slightly), but this also means he has a better understanding of time and potentials than any other that ever lived. He does not necessarily know what to do, but if something happens he knows most of what may result and perhaps has a few clues as to what may encourage / discourage certain paths.
Dreamwalkers seem to be Telepath specialized psions - very very specialized, to the point of exclusion of virutally all other types of powers. There is only one in the series - who admits to having studied the art of it for decades, becoming an unparallelled master of it. While his range is truly extensive, it appears it is not infinite. I would state he is low-epic in psion level with a few levels in fighter &/or rogue tossed in as well.
The Creator is not Good. He is merely Life, Creation, Light, and Growth. The Keeper is Death, Destruction, Dark, and Decay. Both the Creator and the Keeper are indifferent as to whether a person is good or evil. So long as they serve to encourage life, creation, growth, and/or light the Creator may be willing to aid them in some measure. The Keeper is the polar opposite; so long as the person is willing to encourage death, destruction, darkness, and decay It may seek to aid them. The Creator, understandably, is viewed more favorably than the Keeper by the populous.
There exists but two worlds: the Creators realm (the world in which people live) and the Keeper's realm (the afterlife). ALL go to the Keeper after dying. However, the Creator - in a time long prior to mortal existence - bound the Keeper at the lowest depth of Its (afterlife) realm. After dying those that were closest to the Keeper in life tend to sink near to Its level. Those that were not strive to stay as far from it as possible. As the Creator has no afterlife associated with it, this means they are basically non-manifesting, invisible, and intangible ghosts - the "good spirits" as they are called by some (regardless of their alignment).
Taking 6 seconds (full-round action) to focus and then 12 seconds (2 full-round actions) to cast works just fine in this sort of setting. If there are spells that you cast more frequently, you can make them signature spells and cast them as a standard action (still requiring the full-round action to become focused if you are going to cast without V/S components).
