Hi, I'm pretty sure I want to get this, but I want to know how good the balancing in this game is with the different play styles.
I also want to know if the game itself is stable with mods.
And finally, is the real time mode actually fun to play? I've been hearing that it's too fast and stuff. Is there a mod to balance it? I get the feeling that I'll want to switch between the two modes on occasion, just for the heck of it.
Thanks.

I have had the game crash on exiting which is no big deal really and its only happened a couple of times. Balance is not Arcanum's strongpoint, it can be too hard as tech/gunsmith and too easy as spellcaster/melee but thats not to say its unplayable you just need to know what your doing. For me combat is shit period, real time is fine when your dealing with easy mobs, but otherwise it has to be turn-based unless you have super fast mouse skills.

Thanks for the quick and informative response.
Out of curiosity, how playable is this on a netbook? Seems like it would be epic if it could. Really, the question boils down to: how similar is the code to Fallout? I've heard that it uses the same engine, but it seems like there's much more than just that.
And I guess there's no mod for real time. Sad face. Seems like it could've been potentially really fun. Like Fallout but in Diablo mode.

I am currently doing a Lets Play on youtube for Arcanum and so far the game is great. Compared to Fallout 1 (Which I am also doing a Lets Play for) i can see the resemblance. It is different in its own right. As for you netbook question I think i should run well. It runs great on my 2001 Laptop. With a Pentium M and a Radeon 350M which isn't say much at all.
If you are interested my youtube
http://www.youtube.com/user/NxCmp

As mentioned, it is much more challenging playing a gun toting techo character, then say, a melee character or mage character. I believe the manual states the same.
As far as bugs, I cannot speak for vanilla, as I am currently playing the game with the fan made patch (UAP- latest) as well as various high res patches for the cities and for the game overall. I am also running the universial level cap mod (removes the level cap and ups it from 50 to 127).
I can say that I have only experienced one issue thus far, and that is occasionally getting stuck in Turn Based Combat mode. I have a separate post regarding this issue, and my solution that I found to it.
Other then this issue, it has played great.
Of course, your mileage may vary :)

I don't know about the same engine, but it is similar in many ways.
What really puts me off the combat is the horrible lack of animation, i loved ripping out rib-cages in Fallout (i know i need therapy) in Arcanum even if real-time was rock solid i don't think i would enjoy it Diablo style 'cos it looks so crap. Arcanum is all about the quests/story and choices. (And an orc who really likes his tea)

tbh I much rather the faster paced real time fighting. and i've finished the game with it many times....

Honestly, I generally prefer real-time to turn-based myself, but Arcanum really dropped the ball with it imo. It just feels broken to me. Divine Divinity did it pretty well, though. I think that was the best mixture of RPG and real time so far.