I absolutely love Dragonbane it's easily my favorite RPG that I've played in a long, long time. Combat has some really interesting tactical decisions, encourages teamwork while using a constrained design space. Attacks feel weighty with just a solid blow or two can known out most PCs but you have tools at your disposal: armor, parries and dodges. The initiative system makes combat a little more chaotic but also gives the PCs a lot of opportunities to strategize.

I think it would be great for new players: no math required for almost everything you do at the table. Want to Dodge that attack? Roll at or under your Evade skill. Oh, you're wearing armor? Roll with a bane (roll 2d20 and take the highest/worst roll). Just fast and easy.

It also does a lot for me that feels right. It has the fantasy vibe I want. Players are heroic, but they're not super heroes. While it's certainly likely you'll get KO'd by a foe it's unlikely you'll die. It's relatively easy to Rally or be healed. It stays very small numbers as there isn't HP bloat. Heroic Abilities are flavorful but not exhausting. Magic is mostly centered on throwing around some damage spells and healing. The utility spells are limited and evocative.

This Core Set is just a huge value. It comes boxed with the Secrets of the Dragon Emperor campaign which is fantastic. I'm 22 sessions into it with my table and we're having a blast. It's 11 self-contained adventures on a sandbox map with a single campaign thread and three factions to tie them together. I found the whole thing to be very evocative, super easy to run, well keyed and very interactive. Most of the scenarios just have a bunch going on: NPCs to talk to, enemies to vanquish, puzzles to solve, factions to manipulate.

Highly recommended.