Well, it really depends for me. I do like to play characters much different than me(ive got pretty low physical attributes but decent Mental), but i tend to play really varied.
I admit, though, i end up playing guys often...because for some reason, every time i create a female character, she ends up being alot like me. As in not really powerful physically, but clever, sarcastic, and able to win situations by sheer trickery. (Hey, im a smartass.

) This happens before i even realize it. (say im making a female mage. She ends up somehow ending up as a Trickster shaman...even if she's a hermetic.) I really don't know why this is, but this is why i think i end up playing guys, because i have a much wider range with them, and they usually end up different. Well, ive always been 'one of the guys'. Most of my good buddies are guys. im a tomboy in dress and style, though im not very rough and tumble. I find it very easy to play male characters for that reason i guess. But when it comes to playing girls, they end up being offshoots of me, which is why i only end up playing them once in awhile.(I had finally come up with a concept different than usual for a girl, and ive been hanging onto it; a hermetic magic snob specializing in Alchemy, almost a mad scientist type. Well, ok. About as different as i can get. Im cherishing this idea.

) I do want to play characters different than myself.
But yeah, numbers and age are all dependent really.