D&D General A different style of medieval fantasy game?

[DND_Reborn]

So, we are starting a Shadowrun (2E) game and I was wondering if anyone knows of a D&D/medieval game which is not level-based, but allows more customization to build your character?

For example, in Shadowrun (2E anyway) your choice of skills really defines what you can do in many way, and you spend good karma points to improve your ability scores (attributes), skills, etc.

I am looking for a medieval fantasy game more in this spirit. Thanks for any info!

 

[Bilharzia]

RuneQuest seems like it would also fit the bill; or Mythras, as The Design Mechanism rebranded RQ6 when Chaosium took back the license for the RuneQuest name. I recently bought the Lyonesse RPG, which is an adaptation of the Mythras system specifically to Jack Vance's setting/trilogy of the same name, and it looks really good. My players are more class & level fans, so I don't know when I'll get the chance to run it, but the system seems solid.

You could try the Classic Fantasy supplement with your players. It uses Mythras as the core system (taking things like skills and the combat system) but then it translates D&D 2e tropes into the system - races, classes, the magic systems (Arcane & Divine), and the monsters. It's been very successful for the publishers. One of the ways it can be used is to run older published D&D adventures with a bit of conversion work. It does not use levels as such, but the class abilities are gated by "Ranks" which are a kind of level-like system which functions just within class abilities.

 

[Kobold Stew]

Reign, The One Ring, and Burning Wheel all have excellent and cool features that create a different play experience at the table, without the level-system, with fluff you can shed as desired.