Call of Cthulhu is basically classless...
Yup, and that would be the same as Basic Rolplaying or BRG - a very good buy if you can imagine using those rules anywhere else then for CoC.
Someone said above that the characters are not tough enough to truly represent Skyrim characters, but that should be easily fixed. The BRP (which is available from chaosium separately from any background) is quite flexible. One of these days, I will start a campaign with these rules for a change...
Dark Ages Vampire. It's much more gritty than fantasy, it's very much the "you are outgunned" sort of game. Very points based, uses 10-20 d10's for dice.
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Yup, and that would be the same as Basic Rolplaying or BRG - a very good buy if you can imagine using those rules anywhere else then for CoC.
And those rules actually started as a fantasy game, RuneQuest. As well as being used for a lot of other games put out by Chaosium, and now being used by Mongoose and whoever it is that's publishing the latest edition of RuneQuest.
Classless system?
Wouldn't that be F.A.T.A.L? :P (I need my rimshot smiley)
EDIT: And yeah, Runequest was Da Bomb back in the day.
That joke's already been posted in this thread.
Has anyone mentioned F.A.T.A.L. yet?
Oh, wait... now I see... you wanted a system without classes, not a system with no class...
Never mind, then... as you were!
Anyhoo, my favorite classless system is MEGS. I haven't mentioned it before because the OP prefers a system with more than one die type.
*meh*
So much for stand-up act. :P
BRP has an appealingly simple set of mechanics, but it's definitely got some issues. The simple percentage chance of success concept doesn't easily lend itself to tasks of varying difficulty, for instance. But in practical terms, I do like it for its ability to easily tell you, in a quantifiable way, what a particular character's strengths and weaknesses are. As such, I really liked using it for one-shot games (for conventions).
Skill-based systems are, broadly speaking, less about (rapid) character advancement. I don't know whether Skyrim is the same way, but in BRP, GURPS, HERO, and the like, you tend to start with a fairly decent set of skills which then improve only very slowly.
I've been taking a gander at Barebones Fantasy RPG by DwD Studios recently, and am quite impressed. Lots of room for customization.
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BRP has an appealingly simple set of mechanics, but it's definitely got some issues. The simple percentage chance of success concept doesn't easily lend itself to tasks of varying difficulty, for instance. But in practical terms, I do like it for its ability to easily tell you, in a quantifiable way, what a particular character's strengths and weaknesses are. As such, I really liked using it for one-shot games (for conventions).
Skill-based systems are, broadly speaking, less about (rapid) character advancement. I don't know whether Skyrim is the same way, but in BRP, GURPS, HERO, and the like, you tend to start with a fairly decent set of skills which then improve only very slowly.
BRP has modifiers to represent difficulty like many games, e.g. d20 etc.
I've been taking a gander at Barebones Fantasy RPG by DwD Studios recently, and am quite impressed. Lots of room for customization.
This looks very interesting. I normally try to avoid getting enmeshed in foreign entanglements... I mean new game systems. However, this looks worth picking up. The setting seems appropriately straightforward and classic, but I'd really like to hear some reviews of people actually playing the game, rather than just reading the book :)
Have you seen the reviews on DriveThruRPG's page for BareBones Fantasy Role Playing Game? A couple of those reviews imply that they are based on game play experience.
Here are some excerpts:
Normally I'd not give 5 stars, as I find the system lacking compared to Swords & Wizardry, Labyrinth Lord or a couple more retro clones I've tried. And not that much easier for new players than any of those, either. But it's got brand new concepts and the best DM section I've seen. It needs serious balancing, as Spellcasters even from level 1 outshadow each and every other class (combat included); each combat became just a turn grinding until the spellcaster could cast offensive strikes to all enemies... It could be the group I DMed (they were very much apprentices in the rpg scene), but still...
But I'll give it the five stars, because it's also extremely good priced for what it offers!
More time is spent rolling dice than looking up obscure rules scattered over a dozen books.