I've been doing a bit of research on different systems like Whitehack, Five Torches Deep, and a few others, but reviews of all of these are very polarizing with people being split on liking and hating them.

I figured just posting what I'm looking for and asking the community might lead me to what I'm looking for. We'll see. So here we go.

First thing on the agenda is races. I looked at Five Torches Deep and bought the booklet and was very disappointed at what I saw. I get that osr systems really emphasize the "Core 4" of Human, Elf, Dwarf, and Halfling, but I found them VERY lackluster. The non-human races had nothing to make them feel different from human other than class restrictions and getting static stats in 2 abilities. So whatever system I pick needs to make the races feel different enough from one another to be a significant choice. Or not choose at all like in DCC.

Speaking of DCC I played a bit of it last year and had a blast. I played a wizard and enjoyed how being a spell caster was risky and uncertain and how real the magic felt. But after the game the DM and the other players expressed how all the other characters felt like their classes had a lot less going on and were a bit boring to play.

I'd like to avoid that again if possible. So a system that balances the classes and makes them all feel fun would be great! Oh, and no "Races as Classes". I'm personally fine with it but my players didn't like it very much.

The game needs that feel of danger, weakness, and struggle, but have a sense of player choice and variety in character creation. Coming from 5e I like races like goblins and half-orcs so even if they don't have those I'd like a system where homebrewing them isn't too much of a headache.

Lastly and most importantly a system that's similar enough to D&D that lifelong 4e and 5e players can understand it. A d20 system is preferred but not a strict requirement.

Alright then r/osr, show me what you got. Thanks in advance for the help.