cRPG systems, which is the best and why?

[BearBomber]

AD&D 2, the way it was handled in Baldur's Gate/PST. Nice, concise, and neat. BG2 fucked it over with endless xp hunting and diluted classes.

No pnp copy-pasta, original content only.

 

[Kavax]

Arcanum. It let you create a huge variety of characters with different abilities and traits. It only needs a better combat system.

 

[JarlFrank]

Arcanum. It let you create a huge variety of characters with different abilities and traits. It only needs a better combat system.

Yes. Arcanum has an awesome system. Loved it, very complex and lots of different stuff to pick.

 

[Demnogonis Saastuttaja]

Jagged Alliance 2.

train your people

It was so nice having an other option to raise your skills than grinding. Why TES and such don't have functions like "Practice archery on the range for a month" is beyond me.

 

[Carlos' Bitch1]

Ultima 5. I would pay for more games using this engine, just not using a PC speaker for sounds.

 

[bhlaab]

Arcanum. It let you create a huge variety of characters with different abilities and traits. It only needs a better combat system.

The technology vs magic thing was just asking for balance issues though

 

[Squeek]

You have to go back to a time before graphics cards (or at least a time before they were so significant) to name a good system, IMO. It's not that graphics aren't cool and haven't made these games more fun -- they are and they have -- it's just that the need to depict things graphically is limiting, and this genre in particular doesn't need that kind of limitation.

My honest answer would probably be Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday, because it left so much to the players' imagination.