A great iteration of the tried and true Basic Roleplaying System, originally published by Chaosium. OpenQuest 3rd edition is a refinement of rules originally derived from the Mongoose Legend lineage of BRP (the same part of the family tree that Mythras and RuneQuest 6th edition came from) and is a way to play BRP without some of the more intricate rules found in more dense versions of D100 games. In OpenQuest 3, you still roll to parry, and armor still deducts damage from hits, but there are no hit locations. Skill point allocations are streamlined during character creation to make getting into the action as quick and painless as possible. There are three included magic systems: Personal Magic (which is essentially Folk Magic or cantrips and other minor blessings), Divine Magic bestowed by cult progression, and Sorcery. A nice touch isthe inclusion of laid out pathways to becoming a shaman, wise-woman/man, acolyte, priest, adept or magus that unlock benefits beyond simple skill increases or additional known spells.

If you are new to D100 gaming, or are just looking for a more streamlined set of rules to run a D100 campaign I think OQ3 is an excellent choice, particularly if you interested in running a game with some of the default assumptions you might find in a mythic setting like Glorantha; i.e. where everyone knows at least a bit of magic. That said, it seems like an easily hackable system that could readily use substitute magic systems or be tweaked to fit different genres or add in different supplements that are broadly compatible.

Some additional thoughts: Compared to OpenQuest 2nd edition (which is no longer available) OQ3 is still very compatible, just refined and expanded in a few areas that were lacking (combat spot rules, etc.) OQ3 uses a serif font which is much more readable, the organization and layout seems improved and makes better use of space, and the art direction and selection of images seems much more unified and consistent throughout. The only con I can think of is that there isn't more guidance for running a low or no-magic game inside the game masters section and the default assumptions that every character knows at least a bit of magic may not jibe with a lot of game master's conceptions of their campaign worlds (hint: ready availability of the healing skill and plenty of heeling potions and charms will probably be essential, unless a GM wants to tweak things to account for the absence of healing magic.)

I'm still worming my way through it, but as a huge fan of the Lyonesse books (and Vance in general) and the BRP family of games, I can safely say that so far, this is the most impressed I've been with a product since I picked up Elric! The layout is superb, the prose is great, the magic systems seem inspired, and (this is the big one for me) I can't think of anything I would house-rule or change as I read it.

There have only been a handful of other games that I had the same initial reaction to (Elric!, and Dungeon Crawl Classics perhaps?). It's everything that's great about Mythras, but tuned to perfection to capture what makes the Lyonesse books so special.

I can't wait to start my next campaign here.

I nice adaptation for the DCC rules that seems like an expansion of a concept I first saw here: http://rottenpulp.blogspot.com/2012/06/matt-rundles-anti-hammerspace-item.html several years ago.

If you need something just a little more expansive than the basic rules for encumbrance in DCC RPG without getting completely bogged down in accounting, this is a very nice middle ground.

Essentially a reissue of the excellent Elric!/Stormbringer rules by Chaosium; a slightly simpler version of the BRP rules compared to Runequest (no hit locations, variable armor rolls, quick and logical character creation, etc.) The main difference between Magic World and the older rules it is based on is, that it has integrated some of the newer rules from the BRP "Big Gold Book" (skill category bonuses, spells, monsters, etc.) and it has stripped out all of the references to Micheal Moorcock's intellectual property. In it's place they provide a simple fantasy sandbox setting called the 'Southern Reaches' with a vaguely Celtic flavor that has plenty of room for an imaginative GM to flesh out.

There is one other supplement for this game called "Advanced Sorcery." that is well worth getting. It offers an expanded sorcery spell list, a section on necromancy, a free-form magic system called 'deep magic', more robust summoning rules for demons, elementals and spirits, a section on herbalism, enhanced rules for characters with high skill ratings, and finally a fey magic section that fits in with the Southern Reaches setting provided in Magic World.

The only gripe I have with the game is that the layout, organization and artwork of the book are kind of subpar. I believe Chaosium was in a bit of financial difficulty at the time and it shows. Sadly, Chaosium has stopped producing any supporting materials for the game, but luckily there is a fairly dedicated (if small) community making fan-produced material at the BRP Central forums.

Final Verdict: An excellent iteration of the BRP line of game rules, that hits the sweet spot for those who like their systems a little less crunchy, and want an off-the-shelf fantasy game that should easily support any kind of fantasy from swords & sorcery, to high-fantasy, and to anything in-between. It's only held back by its less than stellar production values.

I grew up on the Mentzer Basic sets and AD&D 1st ed. in the mid to late 80s, so I never really played original D&D or even saw the little white books until I was well into my thirties and picked up a set as a sort of curiosity piece. Needless to say, original D&D would be nearly impenetrable for somebody if they weren't already familiar with RPGs in general or later versions of Dungeons & Dragons in particular. Here Matt Finch has considerably cleaned up and clarified what was once very obtuse, providing ample sidebars and optional rules to help people understand just how open and fluid the original game really was. The game he has (re)created sort of feels like a version of AD&D 1st edition without all of the clunky rules that we always ignored anyway (like segments, weapons speed, variable weapon vs. armor to-hit modifiers, etc.).

If you've never played an "old school" style game and don't really "get it," then download and read Matt Finch's excellent (and free!) "A Quick Primer for Old-School Gaming" before playing and you might just get the zeitgeist that drove those older games and you'll be able to give S&W a fair shake; playing it on its own terms and not trying to force it play in a modern way and being left disappointed.

One caveat. This game is probably not for everyone. If you prefer a modern, power-fantasy driven, heavily codified RPG, with a rule for everything and rare character death, then go play something like Pathfinder or a later version of D&D. However, if you have a good referee that is comfortable making rulings instead of relying on hard-and-fast rules, a group of players that are comfortable narrating character actions instead of relying on skill checks and if you prefer low character-power games then there's a lot to like here. In any case the rules are free so you're not going to put yourself out picking it up and giving a read-through.

To sum up, of all of the 0e retroclones out there, this is the best I've encountered. The prose and organization are clear, logical and concise and it's well supported with a vibrant community of people writing compatible products for it to go along with Frog God Game's excellent product support. Ultimately if you like it and decide to spring for a hardcover, the production values and binding are second to none; reminiscent of those library bound AD&D 1e hardcovers that last for decades.

There are an awful lot of favorable reviews floating around out there - for good reason. This is an absolutely brilliant system. It's like B/X D&D and D20 had a baby, midwifed by Michael Moorcock, H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard and Clark Ashton Smith.

The positives are numerous, but these immediately stood out to me.

1. This book is packed with fantastic old-school illustrations and many of the classic TSR artists of yore contributed pieces for it (Easley, Otus, Nicholson, Roslof, etc.)
2. System complete. Everything in one book; no need to buy a ton of splat books or accessories to get a complete game.
3. Table heavy, but rules-lite. This might seem contradictory at first, but despite the array of lookup tables for critical hits and spell effects, it plays a lot more intuitively than you would think (especially if you track down some of the excellent player made reference sheets or purple sorcerer's excellent table/smartphone app).
4. Magic done right. It's dangerous, it's unpredictable and it immediately brings to mind the dark sorcery of the Conan or Elric novels.
5. Warriors are finally fun. Too often the humble fighter in RPGs is relegated to simple die rolls and not a lot of flavor, or they are overly burdened with feats and skills that feel rigid and narrow. Not here. The warrior with his "mighty deeds" gets multiple opportunities per combat to shine and the system actively encourages players to be creative, inventing and describing the deeds they want to attempt.
6. Race as class done right. Some people might balk at being "just a dwarf" or "just an elf," but mechanically and stylistically they have just the right amount of flavor and uniqueness to allow a player to really stretch into a role and make it their own.

Downsides? For me it's possibly the best game I've purchased/played in years. However, no game is perfect for all people and DCC RPG is no exception. If you really enjoy long-lived characters that you carefully plan from level 1 and abhor randomness in an RPG then this probably isn't the game for you. DCC is unabashedly old-school in it's design with it's 3d6 in order, 0-level character (death) funnel, corruption effects for wizards and its utter and complete disdain for encounter and character balance. (Here's a hint: If you feel like you're losing, then run!)

In short, this game is ideally suited for people who love classic swords and sorcery (appendix N) role-playing. If you favor more Tolkien-esque fantasy RPGs, with predictably scaled encounters and magic that functions according to very static and dependable rules, then I'd definitely look elsewhere, because DCC RPG is not that game.