NOTE: This product is an expansion set. To play, you will need "Chroniques Oubliées : Initiation au jeu d'aventures" (the blue box), also sold here a drivethrurpg.com.
Chroniques Oubliées Fantasy, or CO Fantasy, is an excellent adaptation of the SRD 3.5 to make the rules simpler and easier for new players. It is only available in French language.
Each character class has a set of career paths to choose from, and each rank earned gives the character a new "capacity"--a bonus, ability, skill, spell--to make them stand out from other classes played at the table, so a decent GM can give everyone a chance to shine.
There are no spell slots, and spellcasters never run out of spells or power: spells are earned in the career paths, and most are cast as a so-called "limited action" which takes one full round. Meaning the magic-user can cast every round during a combat as long as he/she doesn't have perform movement or other kinds of actions. (There are some powers usable once per scene, once per combat, or once per day, but only a few.)
"Chroniques Oubliées : Initiation au jeu d'aventures" is a great place to start, because it has a short rulebook, a book of starting adventures, a GM screen you could print out on large paper, maps, game aids, pregenerated characters, and blank character sheets. Be warned that the product description page is mistaken: as a PDF-only product, it cannot include the set of dice or dry-erase mat.
After you enjoy that box-set, which I think takes characters from level 1 to 4, there is a follow-on box-set called "Chroniques Oubliées Fantasy - Vengeance (Extension 1 au jeu d'aventures)" which, if I recall correctly, takes them up to level 8.
If you are an experienced GM and want more rules and options, you can then get "Casus Belli Hors-série #1 : Chroniques Oubliées Fantasy (édition Deluxe)". Depending on where you buy it, there are two versions: The Deluxe Edition has a nicer cover image and looks like a game rulebook; the regular edition has a magazine cover. I believe those are the only differences, so I recommend the Deluxe Edition.
There is also a book listed on drivethrurpg.com simply as "Companion" with more playable races (Centaur, Kobold, Goblin, Demi-ogre, Imp or Fairy, and a sort of golem called the Forged Soul); more character classes; more rules options--including encumbrance, if that matters to you; adventure-building ideas; advice on designing magic items; and a chapter dedicated to an OSR-style version of the game.
And the game is supported by many adventure modules and other products, including a 440+ page campaign module called "Anathazerïn", plus the adventures found in issues of Casus Belli magazine, which are also sold here on drivethrurpg.com. Even more is available on Black Book Editions' website, but I imagine more of that will make its way to drivethrurpg over time.
I have purchased a ton of stuff in PDF format. I am a great fan of all the products in the range.
But there are two products which are unusual:
First, "Chroniques Oubliées Fantasy - CO mini" is a different version of the game meant for introducing young children to fantasy RPGs. If you think about it, characteristic stats don't impact the game much--they're only used to calculate modifiers for die rolls, so CO Mini ditches the characteristic stats and just keeps the modifiers, and only three of 'em at that. It is a great game and certainly worth a read, but enough has been trimmed that CO Mini should be considered its own thing. (The CO Mini rulebook includes a small section describing how to convert a character for use in the full CO Fantasy game.) There is some support for CO Mini in issues of Casus Belli magazine, but in general the items in the CO Fantasy range here at drivethrurpg.com ignore CO Mini. In only 18 pages it has sections for character creation, game rules, a short adventure, a bestiary, and quite a few cute illustrations. If you're a student learning French, this could be ideal: it's a short work you could try out to get a good taste of CO and find out how much you like reading RPG rules in French.
Second, "Monstrueusement Mignons" is a bestiary of cute baby monsters--say for the groundskeeper at a magical school who wants to to cherish and husband the adorable little terrors. The book mostly has lavish descriptions and illustrations of the pets; actual rules-related stuff--stats for Heros & Dragons (BBE's version of the 5E), CO Fantasy, and CO Mini--appear at the end of the book, starting at page 164. "Monstruesement Mignons" is not an an adventure module.
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