Basic Fantasy Appreciation Day

http://www.basicfantasy.org/

From the website:

The Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game is a rules-light game system modeled on the classic RPG rules of the early 1980's. Though based loosely on the d20 SRD v3.5, Basic Fantasy RPG has been written largely from scratch to replicate the look, feel, and mechanics of the early RPG game systems. It is suitable for those who are fans of "old-school" game mechanics. Basic Fantasy RPG is simple enough for children in perhaps second or third grade to play, yet still has enough depth for adults as well.

Basic Fantasy RPG is an Open Source game system, supported by dedicated fans worldwide who have contributed hundreds of pages of rules supplements, adventure modules, and other useful and enjoyable game materials as seen on our downloads page. We'd love for you to join us on our forum where we discuss the game as well as creating new materials for it.

Curious? Take a look at the sample character sheet (click here). Or, read the introduction story, collected from the rulebook.

Back when I thought that writing my own system (D&D Mine, if you would, or Raven Crowking's Fantasy Game if you would not), there were three major influences on my writing:  Labyrinth Lord, OSRIC, and Basic Fantasy.  For some reason, Basic Fantasy doesn't get the attention it richly deserves.

This is a game with a lot going for it.  If I was going to play any published fantasy game, right now, apart from Dungeon Crawl Classics, it may well be Basic Fantasy.  Of course, since the engines of those three influences are relatively close together, you can use adventures and even supplements for one with any of the others with only minor tweaking.  Likewise, the available Basic Fantasy adventures can be used with other game systems, such as Dungeon Crawl Classics.

If you haven't checked out Basic Fantasy yet, please download it and give it a look.  If you like what you see, consider putting a little coin in the coffers by buying a print version.  EDIT:  See comments below; the print version is "at cost"; this is done for love of the game alone!  How can you not support this?  And, finally, if you do check it out based on this recommendation, please leave a comment to let me know!

Thank you, and I hope you enjoy the first annual Basic Fantasy Appreciation Day!  Kudos to Erik Tenkar, over at Tenkar's Tavern for suggesting it!