I'm somewhat interested in the system, but I'm unsure of one major factor; is True20 classless or is it similar to D20 Modern which uses archetypes that are just classes with a new name? I'd love to see a version of D20 that actually WAS classless (and in fact did some work on such a thing myself prior to a HDD failure).

Classless??? What is this heresy you speak of? Next you'll be role-playing DICELESS!!! (shudders)!

EDIT
I have gotten another copy of the Grim-n-Gritty Hp and combat rule so I figuresd I would correct the mistakes I wrote here the first time when going off of memory alone. This is just the basics of the rules without the charts and specifics, if anyone is interested I can shot them a copy of the rules in Pdf format.

Corrected Rules:
I use the Grim-n-Gritty Hp and Combat rules by Kennith S Hood. The rules where available as a free pdf download a few years ago but as far as I know are no longer available.

A character gains base HP equal to Con, then adds bonus Hp for class and level (there is a good, medium and poor progression and it is the same ones used for attack bonuses, no more than 1 per level). This total is multiplied by a modifier for your size (Each step up or down from medium either doubles or halves your Hp, though we always cut that down to a smaller modifier).

Rather than AC, defense is used the characters gain a defense stat (same charts as saving throws). The character's Defense skill is modified by dexterity bonus, shield/dodge bonuses, and like hp then modified by size. The rules as written made attacking into a contested D20 roll between the attacks attack bonus and defenders defense score (though we always dropped the roll and just added a base defense of 10 just like AC).

Armor absorbs damage rather than making you harder to hit. The armor reduces damage from ALL attacks by the standard D20 rules AC value (this protection stacks with damage reduction). Some weapons receive armor penetration beat this protection as well.

At 25, 50, and 75% Hp loss you suffer a penalty to all ability rolls, ability checks, saving throws, and skill checks. The clobbered rule (more damage from one attack than 1/2 current hp) is standard rule under the variant system.

Rather than increasing damage on a critical hit you increase the number of dice the attack deals, additionally there are a series of called shots that can be applied to an attack. To make a called shot you must select the area you are striking and can apply special attack modifiers as well such as increased crit modifier, increased crit multiplier, and superior critical (multiplies the total damage rather than just the dice). Critical threat range is also increased as you gain levels (based on base attack bonus). We modified the rules a bit here as well, since you can gain more modifiers to your critical threat range you we changed items such as Keen so that rather than doubling they added one point to the critical threat range.

Sneak attacks no longer add damage dice but instead add an attack bonus and a modifier to critical threat range.

There are also variant rules for bleeding where rather than damage you make a roll to determine time before you become fatigued, exhausted, incapacitated and dead (we used this but changed the roll a bit). A variant rule where a saving throw is used with every attack to determine if you become stunned or dazed.

Due to how powerful magic becomes in the system there is a couple of ideas/variant rules for how to scale down magic (though we never used these as I have my own modified system for magic that we used, based on a couple of other rule mods).

The system is my personal favorite for dark and/or horror themed games.

Now that I have another copy of these rules I am preparing to run a D20 modern game using these combat rules.

Richard

Heck, Runequest has been class free since its inception back in the 1970s.

The Auld Grump

Just looking through the True 20 stuff on Green Ronins website and am shocked at how cheap the books are in PDF! I'll have to pick them up ASAP.