Heh, I feel that.
If you are ~ fluent in German, I can recommend Splittermond. Classless, Levelless (there are 4 levels which only serve to limit the maximum you can achieve in each particular skill as well as roughly track progression/power levels) and with a well balanced and designed magic system - No 5E bullshit of "can this spell do that". It also beautifully avoids the problem where occupying any portion of a niche restricts you to only that niche via attributes. Skills each have two attributes, so even if one is a dumpstat you can still use the skill. Weapons each have their own two attributes, making strength-less combat characters easy to build (aka some swords take agility and intuition, a mace may use constitution and strength). Magic is divided into 19 schools with overlapping spells and each school uses two attributes as well (Although all schools share the same first attribute) - and some schools straight up use CON or STR, so fighter mages are green to go.
Disadvantage: Only in German.
Amazon.de doesn't seem to be the place to order the books. Splittermond Rules "Usually dispatched within 4 to 7 months " and €37.34 +
€19.69 delivery 14 October - 13 December, 2024.
I'm checking out the publisher's store right now. Thank goodness for translate built into the web browser!
Hah, glad to hear that enthusiasm!
Yes, the Grundregelwerk is free as a pdf. Uhrwerkverlag has the rest, don't use Amazon or other resellers.
To play I highly recommend Mondstahlklingen (Weapons, Armour, Equipment and Crafting - which is a really cool system) and Die Magie (Magic, duh). I'll check which of the other books I use regularly once I get home.
There are tons of regionalia (Zhoujiang is my favourite, it adds china made-in-china) as well as Die Welt (which gives a nice overview).