Choosing a system, looking for advice.

I'm always thinking about a new campaign (even when I run one) , and always try to read something new system wise, to mine for ideas and possibly use the system. So, the question is: What system could easily run a high fantasy game. Criteria: 1) Fast and brutal combat. I'm not talking about constant one-shots. But it would be good if the system supported something like sneaking behind and slitting the enemies throat. 2) Character progression with limited power creep (I'm looking at you with disgust, D20!) I would like big monsters to be scary and dangerous regardless of character progression levels. 3) Fairly flexible character customization from the start. The system can be class based or classless. Easily generated or/and homebrewed antagonists are a big plus. My players find GURPS a bit too hard for them. We tried WFRP2, but it's tailored for one setting, and would look a bit out of place for a homebrew, at least for me. I was thinking lately, is Savage Worlds any good running fantasy? Thanks for any input in advance.

Savage worlds is good to run most game types, i have run fantasy with the system with no problems, and there is a least one official fantasy setting out there for it as well (The hellfrost setting). Other systems i have used for fantasy are open quest 2, legend ( by mongoose publishing) and Rune Quest 6. These three systems are all d100 based (roll under), open quest 2 is the more straightforward system, the other two, IMHO have some extra layers of complexity (not a bad thing). All the mention systems have classless based character generation system and home brewing antagonists is easy in any of them. Also, another game good for fantasy, which is free and has a bit of an old school feel to it, is Warrior, Rogue, Mage. Google it to find it.

Dungeon World . And here are the rules under Creative Commons.

I would think Savage Worlds is exactly what you are looking for and meets all of your needs. Combat is fast, you can make whatever characters you want, and it is really easy to learn. I hear hellfrost is a good setting and there is also the Fantasy Companion full of all sorts of good stuff. There are also a bunch of different settings if you get tired of fantasy.

Thanks for all the answers. I think I'll give SaWo a bash. As for DW it does not pass all the criteria. There is almost no character customization system wise.

DW: most of the customisation there occurs during play. As you rise in level, people in the same class have lots of different options. Other games: just about any fantasy game other than the D&D/d20 family of games would meet your criteria. You could try Runequest, especially editions before Mongoose's version. There's a game where dragons (and other iconic monsters) are REALLY scary.

I know how DW works, and the customization is not that great even after you level up a bit. It's a great game and a great system idea. I have run a couple of one shot's with it, but I think I just prefer my RP systems with a bit more meat to them.

Sounds like what you're after is more simulation in which case Savage Worlds should fit the bill.

Savage Worlds can work great for fantasy, so long as you're not expecting it to work exactly like D&D. The characters are competent from the start and powerful in an over the top or "pulp" sort of way. 1) Fast and brutal combat. Combat runs at least as fast as any game I'm familiar with apart from something extremely bare bones like OD&D or maybe Risus. The game's tag line is Fast! Furious! Fun! and it does it's part. If you give your players access to something like this combat cheat sheet , that will help smooth things along. How brutal the combat is can also be controlled by how frequently you award out bennies (fate points) to your players - so you'll always have a way of adjusting how things go on the fly. Sneaking up on people and trying a coup de grace is called "getting the drop" in Savage Worlds and there's rules for that. 2) Character progression with limited power creep. Given that a PC's biggest edge is the wild die - that they get from the beginning - there isn't a huge dramatic shift in capabilities at thresholds. Characters will get more powerful as they gain experience, but not to game breaking levels suddenly. However, with how the exploding dice work, your big and scary monster can be one-shotted by the players on occasion. Conversely, your players can be one-shotted by the big and scary monster on a good roll. Unless each has a stack of bennies to play with, that is. 3) Fairly flexible character customization from the start. You're good here. One common complaint is that characters can feel the same at character creation. I'd stress to your players that the selection of edges is the key way to differentiate characters and if they play their selected flaws to the hilt everything will click into place. Some disadvantages: You're going to have to either buy into a setting or the Fantasy Companion in order to get a fleshed out magic system. The one in the Explorer's Edition is a kind of skeleton that you hang different trappings on each type of spell. It works, but might be a little lacking right out of the gate. Also, players have to get how the bennie economy works and how the various "tricks" work in combat before the game starts feeling like it's own thing. Just trading blows with the enemy is going to feel a little bland. If you're still looking for alternatives, something like Mongoose's Legend (as mentioned above) could also work - it's only a buck to check out and see. If that is more in the vein of what you're looking for, you can expand into things like RuneQuest or OpenQuest, but Legend is a solid system in its own right. I'd also recommend Barbarians of Lemuria as a more simple yet powerful system that meets your needs as well.

Fate Core has everything you want and it's pay-what-you-want online.

I would say Hero, but you want fast and Hero is not fast. Try Savage Worlds (test drive is even free) and if you have money buy the books (I think it is like $10 for the core rules in PDF). As was said earlier, getting a setting, looking online or fantasy companion will be a must unless you are already familier with effect based systems.

there is not a lot of customization, but I really loved Dragon Age the RPG. Fast fun inventive combat, easy to run, once you get used to the points spent in combat / reading the dice system.