Legend

D100 RPG
Legend is the name of Mongoose Publishing's d100 game originally written by Lawrence Whitaker and Pete Nash as RuneQuest II and edited to remove all the RuneQuest specific parts. The result is a very clean, generic d100 system that is user-friendly and adaptable to almost any fantasy or historic setting. The cover is quite plain, but the interior of the 236 page digest sized book is illustrated with black and white art suggesting a fantasy theme. Before they formed their own company, The Design Mechanism, and published RuneQuest 6 (now re-titled Mythras), Mr. Whitaker and Mr. Nash re-worked Mongoose RuneQuest into a much improved game they called RuneQuest II.
RuneQuest combat is based on making an attack roll and a corresponding parry roll on a d100. It is a roll under for success system with criticals and fumbles and it is possible for both rolls to miss and nothing happens, both rolls to succeed and the attack is parried or one roll to fail and one to succeed. Often a series of rolls may occur before a successful attack gets past an unsuccessful parry. What Mr. Whitaker and Mr. Nash came up with in these rules is the Combat Manoeuvres table. Level of success (or failure) on the attack is compared to level of success on the parry and the table indicates  a number of Combat Manoeuvres that may accompany the outcome of the attack. It is possible that a failed attack roll paired with a successful parry to grant the parry-er one or more defensive Combat Manoeuvres.  The Combat Manoeuvres can end combat in a single round, or give the character an advantage in upcoming rounds. The result is that the player gets to make more decisions picking and choosing their Combat Manoeuvres and combat generally resolves more quickly and often results in sub-dual or surrender rather than death.
Magic is divided into three types, common magic, divine magic and sorcery. Common magic is low powered and often subtle magical effects that represent the kind of magic common folks might employ on a daily basis in a magic rich environment.  Divine magic is drawn from the gods and can be more powerful than common magic. Presumably, divine magic is worked in the service of the god who grants it. Sorcery is akin to the more flashy and dangerous magic wielded by those who devote their lives to the pursuit of such power.
Legend, as RuneQuest before it, is a skill based system, therefore there are no character classes, rather each character can learn the skills a player desires. Skill success, as with combat, is determined by a d100 roll under mechanic with critical success and fumbles possible. The d100 is one of the most straight-forward and intuitive systems ever developed and makes for a good introductory RPG.
Lacking a specific setting, Legend also lacks a bestiary, at least in the core rulebook.  Mongoose does offer two "monster" books for those seeking such. It is expected the referee will design their own world or import one of the many existing around the hobby and pick and choose monsters as appropriate to the chosen setting. Mongoose offers three "historic" setting books as examples, one for Vikings, one for Pirates and one for Samurai. Adaptability is one of the strengths of the d100 system.
I find Legend one of the best written and easy to understand game books available. At this time there are several iterations of the d100 mechanic available and to be successful and stand out a game needs something special, be that setting or presentation, ease of use or innovation. The several d100 systems are quite distinct from the d20 systems and each have their adherents. I consider both good systems that have stood the test of time, have many supporting products available and feature mechanics that can fade into the background once players and referee are familiar with them so as to allow concentration on the imagined world in play rather than on game mechanics. What more could I ask of an RPG system.