What is "talislanta"

Talislanta is a fantasy role-playing game written by Stephen Michael Sechi, with significant stylistic input by artist P.D. Breeding-Black. Initially released in 1987 by Bard Games, the game quickly gained a reputation as an alternative to Dungeons & Dragons that was both much simpler mechanically and far more colorful in tone. The game has maintained a strong cult following among table-top gamers. Talislanta has endured a bumpy publication history, such that there have been five different editions published over the years (eight, if one counts ashcans, alternate rules and foreign editions), nearly all by different companies. Talislanta is now freely available online via a Creative Commons licence.