About the forward offset, all forks have this to varying degrees. The amount of offset or trail affects the stability of steering. Its hard to tell exactly how any rigid fork will feel. I changed from one road fork to another and found it rode OK but wasn't quite as stable on big descents.
Tange, ProjectII, IRD are all good stock forks. Many older bike shops have a stash of old MTB forks from when people converted to suspension. Many skip-rescue bikes have a usable fork that you could try out.
Make sure the fork comes with the clearance, eyelets and brake fittings you want.
Threadless forks need to be cut but its best to leave some spacers in for adjustment.