The Combined 2nd Edition of AGS-F1: Mage and AGS-C1: Warrior
From the introduction:
0.1 Introduction the combined 2nd Edition
Mage (1980) and Warrior (1981) were designed to provide generic role playing systems which were simple, easy to play, fun, comprehensive and realistic at the same time. The evolution of the role- playing hobby since this first edition has seen the rise and fall of many systems, games, and approaches to what is essentially improvised theatre. One of the ideas of Mage & Warrior is not having any restrictive character classes. A player can role-play anyone at all: someone who can do many things or is only good at only a few things. What is available will depend on opportunity, player choice and the amount of time available to learn skills.
The difference between a mage and other occupations lies in the amount of time required to acquire magical skills. A fighter can practice magic, be a thief, a cleric or anything else the player wished.
One of the things which has changed since the early days is the time available to set up a campaign and play a session. Players and GMs now avoid-in-depth systems due to lack of time and the difficulty in getting others up to speed.
This edition of Mage & Warrior continues the tradition of no character classes. There are new skills added to the original lists. We have simplified the approach to both magic and combat.
In these 2nd Edition rules we retain the view of the 1st edition that there is very little distinction between what is done by mages and what is done by clerics. Being a cleric who does miracles is being a kind of mage. What other differences there are depend on the power of the god or gods invoked by a cleric. Nothing in Mage & Warrior prevents a cleric from being a warrior, using all of the weapons of a warrior. Clerics are not bound by any rule not to spill blood or not to use swords. What causes clerics not to be warriors is the amount of time needed to become an expert in miracles.
0.2 Introduction to Mage (1980)
Magic is the stuff out of which all fantasy comes. If magic is not assumed, there can be no fantasy - no strange creatures, terrible monsters, demons, powerful swords or great wizards. Magic has traditionally been conceived as both an ART and a SCIENCE. It is an art insofar as its effects are not totally predictable and depend upon the will of the individual mage to come about. Magic is nothing more than the direct and successful imposition of the will on a part of the world bringing about a desired effect. It is also a science in the sense of being organised according to certain laws and principles such as formulae, rituals and spells.
0.3 Introduction to Warrior (1981)
Hand to hand personal combat is one of the mainstays of role-playing games. The other is, of course, magic whose presence in a game makes it a fantasy role-playing game. Hand to hand combat adds spice and excitement to any role-playing game since it offers the dangerous possibility of the player’s persona getting eliminated. In other systems, the simulation of hand to hand combat has tended to be either too simplistic, requiring no though or player input - mere dice rolling - or it has been too complex, requiring the player to engage in a great deal of bookkeeping and calculation as well as many die rolls. The present rules, hopefully, have eliminated most if not all of these problems and allow for a combat simulation with but minimal bookkeeping and most of the time only one die roll per incident. Warrior contains rules for simulating personal combat in the period between 500 CE and 1500 CE. This period begins with the advent on the European continent of the heavy horsemen of the barbarians and ends just prior to the rapier and dagger era. Warrior can be used both as an historical simulation or as a fantasy role-playing game as the player wishes.