RuneQuest

This fantasy role-playing rulebook invites players into a setting of bold quests and perilous confrontations, where heroes and villains clash both with blades and with claws. Its instructions are organized in a logical order, so a player can look up the guidance needed at any given moment without wading through unrelated material.

The mechanics are built to feel true to life. Characters grow in a natural, open-ended way, and no rule stops a player from turning to a weapon or a spell when a situation turns desperate. Close combat runs on a strike rank system based on the real size and form of each weapon, a method drawn from the author's extensive familiarity with bladed arms. Characters build skill with particular weapons and gain experience from each encounter, so over time they become seasoned fighters after many battles and escapades across several continents.

The choices a player makes, guided by their character's motivations, shape who that character becomes. Over the course of play, characters can study magic, sharpen their combat abilities, form bonds with deities, and explore the wider world around them.