Razjah
Explorer
Burning Wheel, especially if you use the Codex for corruption or other magic. Magic takes time, taxes you, research is hard and long, combat is deadly.
Using the Dresden Files RPG with some core tweaks can work great. Changing the setting impacts very little mechanically. Lower the thresholds and play up the danger of sponsored magic. You can have several people working on a ritual which needs to be defended (and doing that well takes time and research).
Using the Dresden Files RPG with some core tweaks can work great. Changing the setting impacts very little mechanically. Lower the thresholds and play up the danger of sponsored magic. You can have several people working on a ritual which needs to be defended (and doing that well takes time and research).