These two are being reviewed as a set for thoroughness, and because they go well together. They also totally around 350 pages together, so there's a lot of material.

The word "thorough" comes to mind, as do the words "charts" and "percentile rolling". If those words don't turn you away, read further.

It's a very thorough system, and does an excellent job of creating character classes that are less guided by artificial limits, but rather are defined by what they really do. The richness of this system is impressive. Truth be told, I only skimmed the main book and left that for the players to read, and leapt more into the Gamemaster's Handbook.

The Handbook is far more accessible and, in my opinion, a much more enjoyable read. So buy the dense text of the main book to make characters, but read the Handbook to really get a handle on what needs to be done-- or indeed, if you just want a good text on medievel Europe.

It's no coincidence the main book is dedicated to the SCA-- it's a pleasantly real portrayal of the feudal world. And really, despite my comments above, the rules aren't overwhelming, and 99% of them only are involved in character creation, after which everything you need is either on your character sheet, or available in the indices or end tables.

Realistic, practical, yet fun and evocative-- a good game system, if you fare better than I at leaping the flood of rules.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)