Monday, May 23, 2016

First Look - Mazes & Perils Deluxe Edition (Wild Games Productions) - Part the First, I Have Class

I've had in my grubby little virtual hands the PDF of the soon to be released Deluxe Edition of Mazes & Perils for a few weeks now and I've finally gotten around to giving it a proper perusal. Don't know about Mazes & Perils? The Gold ENnie winning RPG is available for free download at RPGNow. I'm looking at the soon to be released Deluxe Edition with this post :)

First and foremost, the annoying watermarking that many publishers feel they need to make their product look special but usually winds up making the product unreadable? It's so subtle here that it actually adds to me reading experience. Not a whole lot, but it is pleasant. Well, that and it's a dungeon map or maze, so very appropriate.

Something that jumps out at me right away is that Dexterity does not adjust one's armor class, for good or ill. Interesting, as it makes armor all that much more valuable and makes the armor-less casters just that much more squishy.

The rest of the ability scores and modifiers are much as your already know, tho' the actually modifiers are a bit different from other OSR games, they are different across pretty much ALL of the OSR games. Close enough to be compatible with others, although fighting men do get the % Strength Roll if their Strength is 18.

Your classes are: Fighting Man, Magic-User, Cleric, Thief, Enchanter and Shaman

Enchanter and Shaman are new. Both have their own spell list and are easily added to the OSR game of your choice with minimal adjustments.

You have the usual four races and the maximum level any class can reach is 12 (with some classes restricted by race and most classes restricted by level by race)

I need to note that this is a five point alignment system, or is it four points plus a middle? Lawful Good, Chaotic Good, Lawful Evil, Chaotic Evil and Neutral.

Alright, that's the character stuff. Onwards to Part the Second, where we'll discuss "stuff" ;)


  1. I'm a little disappointed by the nostalgia for stupid class names. I always felt "Magic User" was the clunkiest name for any of the classes in Basic and 1e Advanced, and there's no need for it in OSR games, where you're not using all the cool names for arcane spellcasters as level titles. And do we really need the implied sexism of calling the warrior class the "Fighting Man" in this day and age?

    1. Well I am sorry to disappoint you Kevin, I was sticking to the original flavor of the OSR period and mixing Holmes and 1e together. Threw in some new homebrew classes I've used over the years.

    2. Beyond the old school names - which is a stylistic choice, we do mean for this game to be enjoyed by everyone across the board. I included a "note about pronouns" on the very first interior page that reads...

      "We use the word 'he' and 'him' throughout the text, but we mean 'he or she' and 'him or her' wherever you see it mentioned. This game is meant for everyone to enjoy, regardless of gender or sexual orientation and the use of male pronouns is used for simplicity's sake."

    3. The OSR is firmly rooted in nostalgia. That actually is the point to the OSR to some extent - to keep the old rules in play.

      As for the "implied sexism" of the "Fighting Man" - it's how the class was originally named. I like it for nostalgia reasons myself, but I'm damn well sure there were no thoughts of implied sexism in the writing of Mazes & Perils.

    4. My disappointment is minor. If the words "magic user" scared me off, I would never have read any OSR games. I do worry that things like the Fighting Man class can unintentionally (because I never thought anybody was trying to be sexist) send a signal either that women aren't welcome in the hobby or that female characters must conform to gender stereotypes. I'm glad the authors are taking steps to alleviate that impression.

  2. Ok. The Enchanter and Shaman have my attention. Looking forward to seeing what they are. When is this out to the general public?

    1. I'm with Tim - excited to see the Shaman! Fitzy, any chance that by saying "June 3," you really meant "tomorrow?"

  3. Thanks for taking a look Erik!

  4. Very nice! Thanks to Vince and Erik and everyone involved. The idea of a magical illusion choke is flipping sweet too =)




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