Looking for a new (preferably non D&D/d20) game

[GawainBS]

One of my players said that there's an enormous load of etiquette to be taken in account when playing Legend of the 5 Rings. Knowing our group, we decided against starting a new game with that.
As a DM, I'm looking for something that's quite readily available and offers some out-of-the-box adventures. (I'm lazy.)
My group is not too serious, so anything with a possible light hearted tone is good. They are also fairly capable of optimizing, so it doesn't have to be a shallow/dumbed down system. A general fantasy setting is fine. Not all of the players are keen on SF, but steampunk is still good.
D&D 3.5 has been our game for the past five or six years, so we'd like something else.

So far, we've considered Warcraft (d20), the new Warhammer RPG and Legend of the 5 Rings. I've also taken a look at GURPS, but the Lite-rules were not clearly written and didn't impress me.

Can you help us choose between these, or suggest other systems?

Thanks in advance!

[Insanodag]

Savage Worlds. Easy to learn, easy to master. Somewhat bizarre probability curves aside, it is an easy system for players to get their head around, while always offering meaningful choices for the players throughout.  While it is a generic system, the various toolkits and campaign settings offer quite a lot of mutually compatible rules for specifics. One of their settings, Deadlands Reloaded, does have a strong steampunk element. Of course, it would be just as easy to run a Steampunk/Fantasy crossover.

[GawainBS]

I've heard some good things about that one. I'll keep it in mind. Thanks!

[AfterCrescent]

Another boon of it (for your lazy Dming ass ) is that each 'setting' is also a prebuilt adventure. Rippers has a very 18th century vampire slaying feel. Necropolis 2350 is SF focused. Necessary Evil is super-powered comic books, Solomon Kane is probably closer to your Fantasy setting. Sundered Skies has a very Skies of Arcadia feel to it, from what I've skimmed.

[GawainBS]

Another boon of it (for your lazy Dming ass ) is that each 'setting' is also a prebuilt adventure. Rippers has a very 18th century vampire slaying feel. Necropolis 2350 is SF focused. Necessary Evil is super-powered comic books, Solomon Kane is probably closer to your Fantasy setting. Sundered Skies has a very Skies of Arcadia feel to it, from what I've skimmed.

From what I've read, Skies of Arcadia has a bit of Eberron in it, and that's our favourite setting.
The prebuilt adventures are certainly a plus. Thanks!
Keep the suggestions coming!

[gtroc]

are you looking for long term gaming(up to a year or more)? or are you looking for a middling type(six months to a year)? or short term(less than that)? or one shot game? as there are games that do each of those brilliantly. also are you looking for something with standard task resolution, and skill+attribute style mechanics? or are you seeking to expand to other thoughts on gaming? there are a lot of games out there and if I am to recomend one I need to know more of what you are looking to do(and by you I mean you and your players).

[GawainBS]

It's aimed at long-term gaming.
We (especially me as DM) like a clear mechanism to resolve encounters. Skill + attribute is good, but other mechanics aren't excluded by default.

[Vidar]

We (me being the mostest importantest player of the group) have already decided against mutants and masterminds too, as it is devoid of all tactical combat rules and such.
So clear combat rules would indeed be one of the criteria.
Ironic that two of the most interesting settings for our party (warcraft and iron kingdoms) are d20, so we had to skip those options too.

[Dan2]

All knob polishing aside, Burning Wheel and Mouse Guard are both really good games.
The tone and setting are what you make of it. for most cases.

Having seen it only briefly, I can only venture a little support for Savage Worlds, but there's definitely something to it.

[gtroc]

I would like to recommend Wild Talents. it's cheap($10), it's open(you can do damn near anything with it), and I enjoy it( I know that is not objective, but it is one of my favorite games, so there).

[Balmas]

I found a little-known game a while back, called Fireborn. Basically, long ago, Dragons ruled the earth. With the death of magic, dragons vanished. The magic has returned, and with it, people with a touch of dragonhood--called Scions--learn to use magic and powers. It's a great little fantasy game--sort of gritty, set in modern London, with flashbacks to when your character was a mighty dragon. It's not so linear as DnD, since you get and spend what are called advancement points (IIRC) instead of levels. It's more of a GURP than DnD.

You can get PDFs of the both the Players Guide and the GM's handbook at DriveThruRPG.com.

[Alea_Iacta_Est]

Don't consider the new WFRP. The WFRP 2nd edition is much much better. FATE is a great free generic rpg that Spirit of the Century and the upcoming Dresden Files rpg are based off of. Someone already mentioned Burning Wheel and Mouse Guard, but I'll also mention Dogs in the Vineyard. It is a simple mechanic and plays like poker (not exactly the same). Surf around a little on Indie Press Revolution and you are bound to find a game for you.

[kevin_video]

The first system I ever GMed was BESM by Guardians of Order which is now owned by White Wolf. It's literally a system where anything goes. You want to be a fighter cat girl that can pilot a mech who's also a student in Japan High with a crush on the local wizard elf boy? You can do that with this. It's anime based, and there's only a few characters prewritten for it, but the 3rd edition is by far the best of the three (d20, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd). And best of all, if you don't go with the d20 version, it's only 2d6 for the whole thing. Don't have to worry about percentile or anything else again.

It's one of my favourite systems to run, and you can do just about thing with it.

[GawainBS]

We settled on Anima quite some time ago, but the more I read it, the more I get irked by AD&D-style "That's up to the GM." Great way to write rules, guys...