The Original "Maelstrom"

RPGPundit · October 04, 2006, 07:54:43 PM

Anyone remember this? It was a softcover in the style of the Fighting Fantasy books, about life in renaissance England??

I played it when I was a teen; when it had come out. And a while back I managed to buy a copy again (I had long since lost my old one) on Ebay, so much did I like that game. When I re-read it I found it to be very incomplete as a game, yet incredibly sophisticated for its time (I heard somewhere that it was supposedly one of the precursors to the WFRP, anyone got any facts on that?), and yet I still managed to find at least one use for it: its got the best index of Herbs I've seen in any RPG.

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Bagpuss · October 04, 2006, 08:24:34 PM

Remember? It's sitting on my desk about a foot away from me as I type. Totally agree on the herb index, nicely illustrated too, the magic system was also very ahead of it's time.

Balbinus · October 05, 2006, 05:10:30 AM

I still have a copy.

I don't know if it was directly linked to WFRP, but the parallels are very striking so it looks that way on paper.

Lawbag · October 05, 2006, 05:12:17 AM

It was published in the UK by Penguin, the same outfit that published Fighting Fantasy, but it wasnt endorsed by FF et al.

It turns up a lot in the second-hand book shop I visit.

It looked interesting, the cover almost reminds me of the style of 7th Sea - musketeers and sorcery.

Hastur T. Fannon · October 05, 2006, 07:50:49 AM

I wish I still had my copy. The magic system was interesting - the difficulty of the effect depended on how improbable it was

RPGPundit · October 05, 2006, 12:03:40 PM

The most fascinating thing about the book, which I only found out about years later, was that the guy who wrote it was only like, 14 at the time he wrote it.

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Akrasia · October 05, 2006, 12:10:18 PM

I remember that game, but sadly don't have it anymore.

Quote from: RPGPunditThe most fascinating thing about the book, which I only found out about years later, was that the guy who wrote it was only like, 14 at the time he wrote it...

Pretty impressive. :eyepop:

I remember writing my own RPGs back when I was 14. Some of them were pretty decent, now that I look back at them, but definitely not publication quality.

beejazz · October 05, 2006, 12:16:42 PM

So there's hope for us younger writers after all (and by hope I mean hope of a decent product, not hope of a decent salary... just to preempt any debate).

Anthrobot · January 12, 2007, 08:56:43 AM

Quote from: RPGPunditAnyone remember this? It was a softcover in the style of the Fighting Fantasy books, about life in renaissance England??

I played it when I was a teen; when it had come out. And a while back I managed to buy a copy again (I had long since lost my old one) on Ebay, so much did I like that game. When I re-read it I found it to be very incomplete as a game, yet incredibly sophisticated for its time (I heard somewhere that it was supposedly one of the precursors to the WFRP, anyone got any facts on that?), and yet I still managed to find at least one use for it: its got the best index of Herbs I've seen in any RPG.

RPGPundit

I have a copy of Maelstrom. I really love the concept of the maelstrom as a kind of chaos that causes strange events to happen in an area where too many spells have been cast.

Warthur · January 13, 2007, 03:15:29 PM

It's pretty awesome, except for the solo adventure being pretty limp - apparently Penguin insisted on putting it in so that people who bought it expecting a solo gamebook wouldn't be disappointed.

No idea as to whether it was a precursor to WFRP, but it came out in 1984 - 2 years before WFRP. It probably turned up on GW's radar, so it's perfectly possible it was an influence.

This, the Fighting Fantasy/Advanced Fighting Fantasy RPG, and the Corgi books paperback version of Tunnels and Trolls represented the greatest inroads into the mainstream roleplaying ever attained in Britain. You can still find them in many school libraries.

Anthrobot · February 07, 2007, 04:38:13 AM

Quote from: RPGPunditWhen I re-read it I found it to be very incomplete as a game, yet incredibly sophisticated for its time....
RPGPundit

The one thing that would have made it more popular,in my opinion,would have been stats and descriptions of supernatural creatures.Back when it was published it would have taken a dedicated library search to unearth info on what calcars or spoorn are or what a boneless is.
Its a pity that the game isnt being reissued with some added supernatural creature stats.