Impressed with Mazes & Minotaurs

[privateer]

I realize it was done as a quasi-joke, but dang if Mazes & Minotaurs doesn't capture the essence of late 70s/early 80s RPGing, IMHO. And it's FREE!

I'm sure there have probably been a million threads on this, but I'm making it a million and one.

Thanks for the cool game, Herr Legrand!

[jrients]

Mazes & Minotaurs is frankly amazing. It captures the wahoo spirit of early rpgs but in its own distinct style and with an incredibly tight design that takes advantage of mechanical developments since those early days. One of the very few A+, five star designs I've seen in recent years. Of all the dozens of games I own, this is one a small handful I consider a Must Play.

[David J Prokopetz]

You mean somebody actually wrote the made-up RPG from that old EDIT: Tom Hanks flick?

[joshua neff]

Originally Posted by David J Prokopetz

You mean somebody actually wrote the made-up RPG from that old Tom Cruise flick?

Are you thinking of Tom Hanks and Mazes and Monsters? Man, I hope no one has written up rules for that "RPGs lead to madness and male prostitution" crapfest!

I just read Mazes & Minotaurs for the first time yesterday and, yeah, it really does capture the light, gee-whiz feel of early RPGs while putting a fresh spin on it all. Has anyone actually played it? I'd love to read some actual play write-ups of it.

EDIT: Also, M&M reminds me much of original RuneQuest, in a good way.

[David J Prokopetz]

Originally Posted by joshua neff

Are you thinking of Tom Hanks and Mazes and Monsters?

Quite so. Cruise was in Legend, not Mazes and Monsters - my mistake. ^^;

Originally Posted by joshua neff

Man, I hope no one has written up rules for that "RPGs lead to madness and male prostitution" crapfest!

You say that as if madness and male prostitution are bad things.

Okay, yes, I misremembered the title - the movie was "Monsters", not "Minotaurs". Still, I doubt the similarity is wholly unintentional.

Not to derail the thread, tho': can someone give us a rundown of what the game is all about?

[joshua neff]

Originally Posted by David J Prokopetz

You say that as if madness and male prostitution are bad things.

Not at all. But the evidence that playing RPGs leads to either or both is...sketchy at best.

Alright, who wants to write up a "let's pretend it was written in 1976 as if it were the first RPG" game of "Madness and Male Prostitution"?

[joshua neff]

Originally Posted by David J Prokopetz

Not to derail the thread, tho': can someone give us a rundown of what the game is all about?

Mazes & Minotaurs is written as if it were the first RPG, but based on Greek mythology and the old Ray Harryhausen movies like Jason & the Argonauts. There are character classes (Barbarians, Spearmen, Nobles, Sorcerers, Priests, and Nymphs), rules for combat, rules for magic spells, rules for character advancement through accumulating Glory or Wisdom Points, monsters, tips for "Maze Masters," and more.

It's really quite keen.

[jrients]

Not to derail the thread, tho': can someone give us a rundown of what the game is all about?

From an old blog entry of mine:

"Another great example of an apocryphal RPG is Olivier Legrand's Mazes & Minotaurs. Back in 2002 cool game dude Paul Elliott (a.k.a. Mithras, a.k.a. the author of GURPS Atomic Horror and lotsa other cool stuff) wrote an RPGnet column entitled The Gygax - Arneson Tapes, in which he outlines a thought experiment with the following premise: what if the grandfathers of roleplaying had been more into Jason & The Argonauts? Monsieur Legrand takes this idea and rolls with it, producing a complete vintage game that was the progenitor rpg in some alternate universe. And it looks pretty dang cool, too."

[joshua neff]

Oh, and there are sidebars, written from today's point of view, discussing the "old school" rules, supplements published later that detailed more character classes, articles and arguments published in "Griffin Magazine"--all to give the illusion of having been written back in the '70s.

It belongs right alongside Encounter Critical.

[zomben]

Originally Posted by joshua neff

Not at all. But the evidence that playing RPGs leads to either or both is...sketchy at best.

Alright, who wants to write up a "let's pretend it was written in 1976 as if it were the first RPG" game of "Madness and Male Prostitution"?

Reminds me of a supplement for D20 Modern a pal of mine wanted to write:

"Dungeons and Drag-queens: Roleplaying in San Francisco in the 1970's"