GURPS
The Generic Universal Role-Playing System (usually abbreviated GURPS) is a pencil-and-paper role-playing game first published by Steve Jackson Games in 1986. GURPS is a modular game system applicable to any genre and gaming style.
The game, unlike many older (and some more recent) games such as Dungeons & Dragons, does not have a character class system; instead, there is a large selection of skills. A point-based character creation system allows the player to build any character he likes (a popular sport among GURPS players is to build oneself as a GURPS character). The available professions and races are a matter of the game background, not of the game system. The drawback of this flexibility is that setting up the game and ensuring a fair play requires more work from the game master.
GURPS offers a very rich selection of optional rules and is capable of very detailed simulation; however, the core rules are quite simple and also allow for a rules-light and narrative game. A compact, summary form of the game is GURPS Lite, available as a 32-page PDF from Steve Jackson Games for free.
