Alright, I just got into the D3 friends & family portion of the beta.  I've run it to the end with a Wizard and just started up a Barbarian to change things up.   
 
Interesting things I've noticed so far:  

You get a Hearthstone.  It has a 10 sec (i think) cast time, and ports you straight back to town (New Tristram) but leaves a portal behind so you can pop right back over to where you left from. 
 
You get a Cauldron that you can sell your gear to no matter where you are.  Things sell for the same price that they'd sell to a vendor for. 
 
You get a Cube, but not the Horadric one.  This one is a disenchanting cube, that turns items into crafting materials.  So far, I've been disenchanting all the magic items, and selling everything else to the cauldron. 
 
There's an interesting scroll you can find, which I believe is called the Scroll of Companion.  It summons a random little critter that just crawls around and picks up gold piles off the ground for a limited time.  Critters I've gotten so far: chicken, pig, roach, snake, centipede. 
 
I've come across a few Treasure Goblins as well.  Shiny hunched over dudes with a sack of gold on their back.  They just try to run away from you, leaving little piles of gold behind, until eventually opening a portal and disappearing.  If you kill them first, you get a small pile of loot and gear.  I'd like to see if I can get through his portal, but my henchman has killed the last couple I've seen, so I'll have to dismiss him next time around. 
 
Skills and abilities are doled out at set levels, but you can only have a certain amount 'equipped' at a time.  When you begin, you only get to use 2 of your abilities at a time, with a third slot opening at level 6.  You can change out which abilities you have equipped whenever you want, however, so if you're a quick clicker it's not much of a hindrance. 
 
The runestones that alter your skills (i.e. the biggest character customization system) don't appear within the beta's scope. 
 
There's a lot to say, but I'll leave it at this for now.  I'll post more later. 
 
-Duncan