Good Non-d20 systems?

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

Feng Shui for wuxia and kung fu fantasy.

Weapons of the Gods for the wuxia, though it's not quite out yet thanks to some sort of shipper/printer hex.

A .pdf should be available later in the week.

Earthdawn was/is pretty neat. Great concepts, though the system irks me.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Warhammer Fantasy Rolepaly New edition is very flexable system and has done way with levels, magic offers some interesting options.

See thread: http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=126466

 

[der_kluge]

I've really taken to liking HARP. For, despite it's numerous minor little flaws, the system itself is beauty sublime. I especially like that it doesn't scale upwards exponentially. Combat is just as deadly to a 20th level party as it is to a 1st level party. And the magic system is simply brilliant.

 

[Gentlegamer]

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, by TSR (E. Gary Gygax 1977)
Dungeons & Dragons (Rules Cyclopedia)
Star Wars, by West End Games
GURPS, by Steve Jackson Games
HERO System, by HERO Games

 

[donbaloo]

Thanks to all for lending your aid. I'm starting to see some repetition now which leads me to believe that I've got a good representative list to mull over. With all that's been said and what little bit of research I've had the opportunity to do thus far (more in depth to come) I think I've picked a few to check out in more detail. For now I think I'm gonna try delving more deeply into HARP, HERO, RuneQuest or BRP, Ars Magica, and Warhammer. I chose those based upon the things you guys have said (in relation to what I'm looking for in a new system) and how easily they may be obtained. Who knows, I may receive my Black Company CS and have my desire for changes whetted by what changes they've made within d20. Even so, I think a schism is on the horizon for me as I've grown more and more tired of the class levelup system. Thanks again to everyone, you've been especially welcoming to this newcomer.

EDIT: Also, to those who recommended Riddle of Steel...I checked into it and it seems pretty good and may be close to what I'm after in a skills system. However, it just didn't give me the right feel as I glanced over it. I may come back to it.

 

[Plane Sailing]

RQ2 would be my suggestion of choice if you could find it. RQ2 >> BRP, which was a greatly simplified version of RQ which took away much system flavour IMO.

RQ has proved flexible enough that I've used it for Empire of the Petal Throne and Dark Sun - it arguably fited the latter setting much better than standard D&D did! I've also run sci-fi RQ2 too.

 

[sjmiller]

Well, your choice of fantasy RPG depends on whether you want a new and easy to find game or an older and possibly more difficult to find game. Of the latter type, I can recommend DragonQuest by SPI. Make sure you do not get the 3rd edition that was printed by TSR and you will do well. You can raise up individual skills and spells, there are diverse numbers of professions to choose from, many of the creatures in the bestiary are taken right from mythology, and it is also incredibly easy to add your own material to the game. I enjoyed playing it for years. The only reason I am not running a game of it now is because the group I am with has a thing about owning their own copies of the rulebook, and I do not have 9 copies to give out.

I also find that GURPS Fantasy works quite well. I spent quite a few years playing 3rd ed and enjoyed it greatly. There's the added bonus of being able to blend in other genre at your discretion. Dinosaurs, time travellers, ancient races of great tech, all are easy to do. I hope to buy 4th edition of GURPS soon, and maybe I wil be able to convince my group to play some of that for awhile.

While some of the other suggestions are good, and some of them I know absolutely nothing about, I cannot say enough good stuff about DragonQuest. Find yourself a copy, I think you will enjoy it.