It affects it as far as power sets and what kind of travel power I think the character should have. I don't RP specific powers within those sets, but rather what the set does for me. An example is Willpower - the vast majority of my Willpower characters are treated as if they're invulnerability, due to how durable a Willpower character can be. Another example is Weave; it -can- be actual weaving, in the case of Shield or SR, or the defense from it can simply be part of a character's armor or overall fortitude/toughness. Attack sets are the same; I'm not going to skip Greater Fire Sword, or Fire Sword Circle, just because I don't envision my character forming a blade of fire. Now, would I like an alternate gfx for those powers? Of course, but I'm not gonna gimp my character for the sake of RP. That's just not fun for me.