Spellcaster brainstorming...

I suggested a spell earlier in chat, though it was quickly put in the dirt by Stev468... However, i've got a slightly modified version.
Give the spellcaster Races a new Racial Ability "Mana/Fatigue Barrier" that allows Damage to be either taken from the Fatigue/Mana pool before going to the Life pool. OR split it between the two at a rate of 1life:1fat/mana (maybe even at a lower rate, 1 : 1/2) This would require quite a bit of testing before implementation though. You would also have to significantly increase the XP Cost formula for training these races' Life stats.
On a side note, i think the old way to do spellcasters was good too, im curious why Spell Grope isnt Wis/Chr like it used to be. With Int only being the number of strikes the spell makes. It's not like Chr is a HUGE difference this time around anyway.

I personally like your idea about a new race or changing one of the pre-existing races for a true spell caster. Unfortunately, I am not able to change the races, exp for stats, or magic as it is a preset formula. I think it would take MT to change or write new coding for these to work properly.