As for character creation, I haven't been able to reproduce the reported bug. When you change races and sex certain character features will reset if they aren't congruent with those of the selected race or sex. For instance, if you choose to be very tall then swap to the goblin race, your height will be reset. Similar things occur with some skin tones, and some body parts when swapping gender. Do you think it may have been that?
Managed to reproduce and fix the item pickup issue.