Just wondering what tabletop RPG system would work best if I were to run such a game in a type of setting I have been thinking of. Note that D&D (the most well known one and the only one that I am personally familiar with) is out for various reasons.

In any case, here are some characteristics of the setting:
* Alien fantasy world (none of the standard fantasy races are present; in particular, there are no humans)
* Ancient technology exists in the world, but is not common (in particular, modern weapons exists but are not the sort of thing you would buy in a store or find outside of certain ancient high-tech dungeons, which are not meant for beginning characters)
* Common magic (in other words, nearly everyone can use magic, and this includes the PCs) Also, magic should be convenient to cast, without having to worry about things like spell disruption and running out of spells. In particular, I want magic to be the *primary* form of combat for most characters.
* Religion does not play any gameplay role. In particular, there is no such thing as divine magic; healing magic would be obtained and cast the same way as other spells.

Some other preferences:
* I would prefer it if fighter-type characters do not have to choose a narrow specialization; in other words, fighter-types should be able to effectively use a good variety of weapons. (Also, they do need to have magic, since it's a common magic setting.)
* I would prefer not to have to precisely track position.
* I would prefer not to have a conventional rogue class. I don't like a class focused on thievery, and I don't like backstab/sneak attack because it makes position tracking important.

Why D&D is a poor fit (considering 3.5e and earlier, ignoring 4e because it's too different):
* Has rogues and clerics as character classes, which I don't really want (particularly not clerics, as magic doesn't come from deities, and deities might not even exist)
* Magic has disadvantages; in particular, at low levels spellcasters can run out quickly, spells can be disrupted, spells need to be prepared in advance, and offensive spells need to check both spell resistance and saving throws. Of course, D&D magic is balanced around those, so simply removing them would cause balance issues.
* It's too easy to make a character who can't use magic; in fact, 2 or 3 of the classes in the *Player's Handbook*, of all places, don't ever get magic, and several others don't start with any (some need to wait until level 8 or 9, which is a fairly high level in that system, to learn their first spells).
* Game (particularly apparent with 3.x) has mechanics (attacks of opportunity being the most obvious one) that require precise tracking of position. Note that simply removing AoO won't work, because too much of the game depends on it (there's a feat that simply makes the user able to make more AoOs per round, and it's a prerequisite for other feats).

Any suggestions? (Also, please explain why you recommend that system for this sort of setting.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Eye

Which edition is up to you, there are some huge differences also to the personal flavour.

Why? Because I think it fits you description :P

EDIT: And for any reason this thread did not show up anymore, another forum glitch?

I would suggest using Reddit /RPG for this.

It shows up now after you posted.

That's a toughie. It really depends on how much work you want to put into modifying an existing game system, as I'm not familiar with any that has a heavy usage of built in magic. I mean, sure, Ars Magica does, but it would take some tweaking to make it fit a science-fantasy vibe. Plus, I'm not wicked familiar with it.

Fate would definitely work, but it's a narrative system without a lot of emphasis on combat or game mechanics. I like it, even though I have yet to run it, but it's definitely more story-based than purely game-based.

http://www.evilhat.com/home/fate-core/

Actually, one that might work okay would be an old free system called Warrior, Rogue, Mage. It's a rules-lite system that uses those three classifications (Warrior, Rogue, and Mage) to determine a character's abilities. Meaning, no strict classes. Everyone is assumed to have basic magic in the implied setting and you could tweak it a little more to make the magic a bit more prominent.

The biggest drawback is I'm not in love with the single d6 resolution method. It's simple and doesn't have a good curve to it, as other resolution systems seem to. It feels designed for more one-off play than a long campaign, but then I like superhero games where the players never gain new powers or abilities, so that was never a con for me.

http://www.stargazergames.eu/games/warrior-rogue-mage/

It's free, so definitely worth a check.

Sounds like Numenera would be good.
Edit: oops, misread, I thought you said no standard fantasy races except for humans. Definitely humans in Numenera, also the magic comes from the technology.

Write your own based on dice pools, triangular damage and the 10hp track. There's no such thing as a universal system; all are setting-specific, and most are bad for the type of setting they claim to support.

Just use a generic system like GURPS or D6. That's what they're for.

Savage Worlds is pretty customizable. Might wanna give it a looksee.

Just don't expect to get around to running the game if you use GURPS. Huge amount of customization, huge amount of burnout afterward.

There's also D20 if you want a barebones system. Big Eyes Small Mouth might also work.

I will post my thoughts on the systems presented in this topic, starting with the first one.

The Dark Eye:
Judging from the Wikipedia desciption, 1st edition sounds like a nice system, though not a good fit for this setting because only certain classes can use magic. I like the fact that new characters can actually take a few hits before going down. I note that, of the basic 5 classes, only 2 get spells, and 1 would not work as is (no standard races means no elves).
2nd and 3rd edition have negative attributes, which is a mechanic that I don't really like from the sound of it. I especially dislike the fact that curiosity is a negative attribute in 3rd edition.

Edit: Two questions about The Dark Eye:
1. Does 1st Edition have an English version? (The lack of one would be a dealbreaker if I were to actually run the game.)
2. If a newly created character is attacking a level appropriate enemy (that is, something a reasonable GM would throw at a new party as the first encounter), how accurate are physical attacks (on both sides)? The reason I ask is that I find that, in AD&D and computer games based on it, accuracy of 1st level characters is way too low, making the game more frustrating than it needs to be.

I extra didn't posted more ;)
Yes, the first edition is matching most of your description and I agree with your 3rd edition view.

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/185074/The-Dark-Eye--Core-Rules

But you might want to ask which version it really is, on the English pages I haven't found any info for this

2. compared to AD&D it is a tad easier as the approach is a wee bit different (good and bad at the same time, as usual ;) ).
I do not find my old books in the moment, neither do I fully remember and unfortunate in the moment I can not find it on the web either. (and I do not want to give wrong info ;)
But there are several webpages with an active community which would know right away ;)

And in the worst case you could also ask on the German forums of those web pages as a lot of us do speak English ;)

Edit: doing a bit more of background checks.

It seems that the 1st set was never officially translated. Only the 1st edition enhanced/advanced rules (1988 version), but even for me it is unclear if any of those publications does include the basic rule set. It is really hard to figure out as the second edition came out the same year. doesn't really help for internet search :(

GURPs would fit your needs, but it does require you to make player guidelines on what is available for characters (otherwise, the system has Everything). So don't try it if you don't want to go through everything in advance. If you want to try it, I'd recommend the basic books (Characters and Campaigns). There are rules for setting the TL (tech level) of the campaign and letting characters buy more advanced stuff for high costs. All characters have the same fighting rules, which fits what you want. For your campaign, it sounds like you will want to ignore the chapter on Magic and just have the characters buy various magic advantages.

You can get these as PDFs at Warehouse 23. The books may be out of print right now. (GURPs Lite is a free simplified version you can download. It can technically be used without anything else.)

Extras:

-The 3rd-edition book Aliens may be worth checking out for races or enemies. The point cost of the templates will be off a bit (current edition is the 4th edition). You might also want the Fantasy Bestiary or other 3rd edition books. I don't have these myself.

-If you want to customize magic powers, you need the book Powers. You might also be interested in Power-ups: Imbuements.

-If you need more equipment, you'll want Low Tech and later on High Tech.

-Fighting is well-covered in the basic set, but if you want more options, check out Martial Arts and possibly Technical Grappling.

Savage Worlds, as suggested above, might suit you. It doesn't have classes, so there's nothing to stop characters having both magical and physical combat abilities (though the more you focus on the one the less you'll be able to improve the other). There are several default "arcane backgrounds", i.e. magical/psionic/divine/whatever, set out in the core rules, and you can customise them for your setting. The rules do express things in terms of distance on a game board but you can easily manage without.