I've been looking for candidate free rpg rule-systems to adapt and use for the creation of a multiplayer online rpg for quite sometime.
Lately I came upon "Adventure Forge" (www.adventureforge.blogspot.com), which was listed on the "Free RPG Compendium" (www.homebrew.net/games) where most of my candidate systems initially were found from, and I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of creativity and work that had gone into its making.
Setting: The year is 650 A.D. Central European region of Rhaetia. A century after Rome fell ot Germanic invaders. Roman tyranny is dead, but so is civilization. Much that was known is rotting away in musty books. Trasures lie in forgotten ruins. There is no magic, but the idea of magic has overtaken the world as superstition has spread. One small deviation from historical Europe: small bands of Neanderthals have survived in remote places, known as "brutes".
Aim: The next few years are critical. Your party must gain battle experience, knowledge, and wisdom. You must build reputations as formidable and powerful leaders. You must gather wealth. Accomplish all this, and you will have the power to build a nation out of the ashes of the Roman Empire. A world of adventure awaits.
I read and re-read the ruleset PDF (62 pages only) and I admired the simplicity, completeness and easiness-of-use. Something clicked inside me!
I got in contact with the author Stephen Gordon, who regularly replies in comments in the AF blogspot and he was kind enough to give his blessing in my using his game for mine ;)
Then I contacted my partner-brother and he read and shared into my enthusiasm. We got a team of two!
