If you could choose only one...

[Angel Tarragon]

D&D Basic. I have no experience with the other systems.

 

[Derren]

The question is flawed. For what fantasy games?

For a very magic heavy world Ars Magica all the way but for a low magic world Ars Magica is probably the worst system you can find.

 

[jdrakeh]

Can we get an explanation for why you asked it?

Sure. Unfortunate circumstances have forced me to part with nearly all of my now admittedly small collection of games (the poll options). I'm trying to decide which ones to keep (currently I'm not GMing anything, but am tentatively a player in a GURPS game).

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

D&D Original. I have no experience with the others. Original is the only one I actually have played and actually have materials for.

 

[jdrakeh]

For a very magic heavy world Ars Magica all the way but for a low magic world Ars Magica is probably the worst system you can find.

It is odd that you should say that as magic in Mythic Europe is extremely rare. Sure, the game is about magi, but it is about a handful of magi in a very large world.

At any rate, the question isn't flawed. It's pretty cut and dried. In fact, I'm really not sure how it could be any more simple. If you had to choose one of those games for your fantasy roleplaying needs, which would it be?

Note that 'none of them' doesn't answer the question being asked, nor does 'something else'.

 

[mythusmage]

I went with BRP because it's adaptable. With a bit of work you can produce most any sort of fantasy RPG from it. Think of BRP as the foundation on which one can build upon.

 

[Wormwood]

I'd use Castles & Crusades because it's the only one I haven't become bored with.

 

[mythusmage]

Sure. Unfortunate circumstances have forced me to part with nearly all of my now admittedly small collection of games (the poll options). I'm trying to decide which ones to keep (currently I'm not GMing anything, but am tentatively a player in a GURPS game).

That being the case, go with C&C. You're more likely to find people willing to play that than any of the others. C&C is, after all, enough like D&D to make it readily accessible to people. Something you can't say of the others.

Hope things improve for you.

 

[jdrakeh]

That being the case, go with C&C. You're more likely to find people willing to play that than any of the others. C&C is, after all, enough like D&D to make it readily accessible to people. Something you can't say of the others.

A very good point.

Hope things improve for you.

I'm sure they will. I can't imagine that life would kick me while I'm down for three years in a row

 

[fusangite]

Holding up decently 20 years on is a pretty good acid test for a system's utility if you ask me.

Yep. BRP looks pretty impressive and doesn't seem antiquated at all; I didn't use it at all between 1996 and 2005 and when I went back to it, the only thing that seemed out of date was slightly inept way they handled variable levels of skill difficulty. But I found that one could almost effortlessly plug in the D20 skills system in in its place.