Looking for some System suggestions.

[gamerprinter]

Of course Pathfinder is likely too d20 for your needs (and probably outside your groups interests, or so its seems), but if you add on some 3PP material from Rite Publishing for Pathfinder, it does hit some of your listed requirements. The entire series of In the Company of..., most contain racial paragon classes. These are 20 level racial classes as iconic representatives of that race with abilities taken from legend and folklore. For example one is In the Company of Minotaurs, the Rog-Kalen (Scion of the Horn) is the racial paragon of minotaurs. Since the Bestiary minotaur is CR 4, the Rog-Kalen at 4th level is virtually equivalent to the Bestiary version, which means 1st - 3rd, this class is weaker than the normal version, and at 5th - 20th, gains significant powers (balanced to normal classes) such as increases in size, strength, constitution, charging capacity, mastery of mazes, etc.

The In the Company of... series covers: dragons, fey, gargoyles, giants, ironborn (construct race), medusa, minotaur, and even Asian monster races like kappa, hengeyokai and tengu. These supplements also offer racially based archetypes for other standard classes of PF, like sorcerers, cavaliers and many others.

The Kaidan setting of Japanese horror (PFRPG) my published imprint under Rite Publishing offers Honor and Karma points, which aren't like Fate points, but offers alternative adjustments to PC development.

Though it sure sounds like your group is not up to using Pathfinder, I will say, that that could be because you may not have included the use of the many 3PP options (not just what Rite Publishing offers) that alter and enhance the basic Pathfinder game. I think its worth a look at PF 3PP - it might change your mind.

In my home PF games, 50% of the rules, subsystems, classes, archetypes, spells, feats and other options are 3PP, and not just Rite Publishing, but we use Dream Scarred Press, Green Ronin, Legendary Games, Louis Porter Jr. Designs, Raging Swan Press, Rogue Genius Games, and many others.

 

[Grakarg]

I have to chime in and also recommend Savage Worlds.
Depending on what you want to do, there are rules available that will support you. It has a 'magic' system that is very flexible that can support standard spell-slinging, divine power, psionics, or super powers.
It has extra books you can use to flesh out whatever genre you're looking to play (sci-fi, fantasy, supers, horror- or mash them all together)

As an added bonus, the deluxe explorer's edition book with the main ruleset is only $10 bucks. So cheap, your players won't be put off learning a new system and will even be willing to buy themselves their own copies.

Savage Worlds is the only game system I've ever GM'ed & played besided D&D where everyone besides the GM bought their own books. That makes it MUCH easier during character creation and advancement.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I'll suggest HERO, followed by Mutants & Masterminds, and Numenera/The Strange/The Cypher system.

 

[ShadowAssassin]

I might add that a lot of the material produced by Mongoose for their Legend line is pretty much compatible with Runequest 6 and broadens the scope to include stone age mammoth hunting and feudal religious orders as well as another S&S setting.

 

[garrowolf]

You could try my system. I am working on improving the creatures chapter. Maybe you can make some suggestions.

http://www.garrowolf.net/index.php/nexus-d20/

 

[ShadowAssassin]

Garrowolf I'd point out that the OP said "(Note: Preferrably not d20 as 70% of our group is burnt out on d20 of any flavor at the moment, but a good enough argument for a d20 system that would work could be made. For instance I like modding Fantasy Craft but its too d20/D&D and a few too many fidbly bits in combat than most care for at the moment.)" and your game sounds like a D20 game.

 

[Voadam]

Some version of White Wolf, either Exalted or one of the Dark Ages or a modern one plunked into a fantasy setting. Classless, level less, lots of different types of magic and powers. Balance is an issue. Werewolf versus vampire versus straight human as race makes a big mechanical difference and stuff to gain outside of race powers. Minor bestiary options including Bygone Bestiary for Dark Ages and the Exalted one Creatures of the Wyld. Lots of spirit compendiums and antagonist books as well.

Savage Worlds and BRP also come to mind.

Savage Worlds has various different magic systems done out in various sourcebooks as well as bestiaries like the Hellfrost Bestiary and the Deadlands Critters books.

BRP has Cthulhu, Elric!/Stormbringer style magic, Runequest stuff of various editions. Classless and level less. Malleus Monstrorum is a huge monster book.

 

[Dracones]

A problem with the priorities is that one of them, point buy system, sort of works against the other ones: varied magic systems and races.

Because typically point buy rpgs treat miracle/arcane/shaman magic systems nearly the same. Races are also typically just a bundle of "perks" that characters could buy anyway with points.

GURPS and SW come to mind with the point buy system you want, but both have pretty same-y magic/miracle/psionic systems in them that try to vary the flavor between them by limiting powers and/or tweaking the mechanical options.

 

[garrowolf]

Well Nexus D20 is technically based on D20 system but it is VERY different than most.
It uses a class framework system which is half way between a point buy system and a level based system. The character level defines the power level of the character in general. It is actually more of a skill/feat based system - no classes.

Magic is power based and much more versatile than other systems.

Combat is more realistic and much faster than most systems as well!

 

[innerdude]

A problem with the priorities is that one of them, point buy system, sort of works against the other ones: varied magic systems and races.

Because typically point buy rpgs treat miracle/arcane/shaman magic systems nearly the same. Races are also typically just a bundle of "perks" that characters could buy anyway with points.

GURPS and SW come to mind with the point buy system you want, but both have pretty same-y magic/miracle/psionic systems in them that try to vary the flavor between them by limiting powers and/or tweaking the mechanical options.

Well, it is sort of a "goes with the territory" kind of thing. All of the Runequest/BRP variants are going to be the same way. Runequest does at least vary the flavor and available spell lists.

If the OP didn't care about balancing each type of magic against each other, that becomes a whole other story. Suddenly there's all kinds of other options available.

But these kinds of threads are always fraught with peril for the OP. How do you decide amongst any of the suggestions? A lot of times these threads just turn into a "Try system X that really works for me!"

I actually think it's more useful when you're looking for a system to let people know the style/feel/vibe you want from the game, rather than to give a laundry list of mechanics. If a game "feels" right, the mechanics often become less relevant. So what if that system you chose only has 3 distinct kinds of magic instead of 8 or 9? If it does everything else you want, are you really going to care? (For some, of course, the answer is a definite "maybe," lol.)