RPGPundit Reviews: The Maelstrom Companion

This is one of the oddest stories of the gaming world. Way back in the 80s, the UK publisher Puffin produced a series of extremely successful books for kids that were a step in between "Choose your own adventure" books and full-on D&D.  These were the "Fighting Fantasy" books.  They were spectacularly popular, and clearly there was something of a craze for this format; which eventually led to the Dungeoneer RPG (which was Fighting Fantasy made into a complete RPG).

Hot on its tail came a single book, also from Puffin, called Maelstrom. It was the same size, published by the same people, but was a stand-alone full blown RPG.  I really have to wonder how and why THIS game in particular ended up being published. It was not a fantasy game as such, being set in Tudor England (though it did have magic, but magic which was extremely low-key as a rule). It was also not written by the star authors (Steve Jackson and Ian Livingston) or even by an already-known RPG author. It wasn't even written by an adult. Alexander Scott, author of the Maelstrom RPG, was in the first half of his teens when he wrote Maelstrom.
I always wondered what the story was there; was the kid a family friend of someone high up on the Puffin hierarchy? Or was it just a crazy lucky break?

Lucky might be a relative term, anyways, the book didn't stay in print very long, and pretty soon after that the whole Fighting Fantasy line came to a crashing halt. Scott never published another RPG. The poor bastard peaked at 15 (at least, as an RPG designer).

But that's just the start of the weirdness. This game ended up being a major influence on the Warhammer Fantasy RPG. When you look at Maelstrom, you see the seed of WFRP there; the attributes, the careers, the starting equipment, even the gritty feel and look. Its amazing to ponder on it, how this little game ended up making such an impact.

Maelstrom was one of the first RPGs I bought when I was a youngster just starting out as a gamer; and I loved it. It had some aspects that were truly brilliant. It still has, to this day, the best ("realistic") guide to Herbs and herbalism of any RPG.
It also had some massive flaws, both system-wise and setting-wise.  Its combat system, especially with the advanced options, was sluggish and byzantine. It was ostensibly set in Tudor Britain, but it had no rules on firearms, and it did not mention or consider the reformation and religious conflicts at all. I never seriously thought that I'd think of trying to actually play it again today.

Flash forward to the present day, and ramp up the weirdness to 11.  How often is it that a game that's been out of print for 25 years should not only be revived, but have its first sourcebook ever?

That brings us to the subject of this review: the Maelstrom Companion. Arion games, under license from Puffin Books, has re-released the Maelstrom RPG, and Graham Bottley has released the first ever sourcebook for Maelstrom, the Maelstrom Companion.

The Companion is, according to the author, an attempt to bring the game into the 21st century (design-wise, not setting-wise, obviously). It tries to cover the irregularities in the system and the gaps in the setting, provide new material and help turn Maelstrom into a fuller, more workable game. And generally speaking, it succeeds.  Enough that I am now seriously considering running a future campaign set in Tudor England using Maelstrom and the MC.

That said, the new sourcebook is not without its flaws. And I think it is best used as a pick-and-choose notebook style of sourcebook, where the GM chooses the rules and elements he wants to make use of in his game.

The sourcebook begins with expanded rules for character creation.  After a note on changing "arrowskill" to "missile skill" to incorporate the new firearm rules, and a quick note on Noble titles (rather simplistic and not actually correct according to peerage rules), several new careers (livings) are presented. These are the agent (ie. the thug in the hire of powerful people), the alchemist, the barber-surgeon, the beadle/constable/watchman, the farmer, the friar, the hunter, the sailor, the servant, the tavern keeper, and the witch.  Most of these are fine additions to the list of livings provided in Maelstrom, with good setting detail and special abilities for each of them. The Witch and the Alchemist are the ones that I think could be problematic, as both add some more overt magical influence to the setting.  The Alchemist is particularly worrisome, as I can see it being ripe for abuse as a class, and likely to overshadow the Herbalist, which was one of the true gems of the original game.

You have a nice random names table after, and then the random fate table. I love random tables, and this one is a great way to generate either a random advantage or disadvantage for a character.

Chapter 2 is dedicated to game mechanics. Here you get rules for firearms, Tudor-style, which have good range and decent damage, but are slow to reload and have a 10% chance of a fumble, which can have pretty freaky consequences.
Rules are also provided for two-weapon fighting, and then the author's own idea of how to re-organize the advanced combat rules from the original book to make the damn thing actually playable. On the whole, I agree with his suggestions.
Rules are provided for alchemy, surgery and wounds, weapon-smithing, additional ability for the Labourer living (previously the most pointless class of the old game), and rules on alcohol and drunkenness close out the chapter.

Chapter 3 is all about campaigns and campaign ideas. Several general concepts are provided for the type of game you might want to run (ie. military, trade, exploration, etc). I think these would only really be useful to someone who has no idea what they want to do with the Tudor setting, and knows little or nothing about that setting. In other words, I personally don't find it useful in the least.

Chapter 4 expands the magic system from the original book, something I'm pretty wary about, since I liked the very free-form nature and subtle influence of magic in the original game.
Even so I have to admit that the majority of the ideas Bottley presents are good ones, mainly consisting of different "specialties" of magic. He mostly focuses on the sort of magical specialties that would make sense in the setting, ie. astrologers, scryers, plus witchcraft. The only one I find dissatisfactory is the "elementalist", since it makes use of the old stupid D&D trope that an elementalist much specialize in one of the four elements, and will not use the opposite element in magic, ever. This goes directly opposite to the ideas that real 16th century occultists had of the four elements, where the goal was to use and incorporate all four of them.
Finally, some supernatural creatures are provided, all inspired by English folklore. So, points for that.

Chapter 5 talks about the church. The Tudor church, that is, including material about the reformation and the dissolution of the monasteries. Even the Pilgrimage of Grace is mentioned. The material in this short chapter isn't exactly a history thesis, but it does enough to inform the reader about the single greatest conflict of that century that it can be incorporated into a reader's game.  

Chapter 6 details price lists, pretty thorough; and chapters 7-9 provide a sample setting location, Bury St. Edmunds. The chapter, which comes with some nice maps and ample detail, does a good job of creating a default "home base" for the characters in any Tudor campaign. It includes thorough material on the town, people of the town, the conflicts in the town, and a brief chronology of events going in 1540, specifically how they affect things around Bury St. Edmunds. Top notch work here, and plenty to hang an entire campaign on.

Appendix 1 lists the various alchemical recipes. These are the ones that have caused me such consternation. To their credit, they are based on real Tudor recipes and alchemical ideas, which is great.  And there's no doubt that the non-magical recipes are fine; the magical ones are potentially a bit more unbalancing. And again, the main concern I have is that the more showy and explosive (sometimes literally) nature of the alchemist will end up overshadowing the excellent herbalist.

Appendix 2 contains reference sheets for the game, an extremely useful list of tables and charts for speedy referral. Particularly useful are the flowcharts for basic and advanced combat! It sure simplifies the sometimes complex combat system of the original game.

The book itself is a softcover, of similar size and form to the original Puffin book. The cover is good, but not nearly as awesome as the cover to the original game (which I must admit was one of the first things that  moved me to buy that game all those years ago). The binding seems fine, and there is occasional artwork (aside from the maps) inside, mainly seeming to be computer-generated 3d art, that mostly failed to impress me.

So is this a perfect book? No. But it certainly does accomplish one important mission: it makes Maelstrom a full, payable game. The new material provided also makes it a fuller game than it ever was before, and that's saying a lot.  It is enough of a positive review to say that this gamebook stands a great chance of being used in actual play, something I can't say for a lot of books these days.

If you want a piece of gaming history, I'd recommend you pick up the re-issuing of Maelstrom.  And if you've been looking for something to run in the Tudor setting with, I'd strongly recommend that you get both Maelstrom and the Companion.

RPGPundit

Currently Smoking: Ashton Old Church Rhodesian + Stockebbye's Bulls Eye Flake

Interesting. And a good review.

Maelstrom was the first RPG I bought, and although running it was a bit of a nightmare in places, it is still one of my prized possessions, sitting (near mint) alongside other RPG greats. Good that it's finally receiving the attention it deserves.

Quote from: RPGPundit;310759I really have to wonder how and why THIS game in particular ended up being published. (...) It wasn't even written by an adult. Alexander Scott, author of the Maelstrom RPG, was in the first half of his teens when he wrote Maelstrom.
I always wondered what the story was there; was the kid a family friend of someone high up on the Puffin hierarchy? Or was it just a crazy lucky break?

Here ist an interview with Alexander Scott. (The link starts a PDF download!)

QuoteThe book itself is a softcover, of similar size and form to the original Puffin book.

All I can find is the PDF version on RPGnow. Even on the publisher's homepage is no mention of a print version. That's weird!

Quote from: Dirk Remmecke;311049All I can find is the PDF version on RPGnow. Even on the publisher's homepage is no mention of a print version. That's weird!

I was away at a meeting with my dayjob when i fanally got the go-ahead for the POD:

http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/maelstrom-companion-pb/6399052

Available from Lule for $18.55 (~11.20), although i must go and add a description, keywords etc to the Lulu page this evening!

I have also managed to get the Hardback version available:

http://www.lulu.com/content/hardcover-book/maelstrom-companion-hb/7266770

This one is $30.  Now that the shipping for Hardbacks has reached a sensible level ($6 to europe), i am ordering one for myself!

Well done, bottg!

RPGPundit

If anyone who bought the book fancies leaving another review at RPGNow, it would be appreciated.  As long as it is honest, it might repair some of the damage of this:

http://www.rpgnow.com/product_reviews_info.php?products_id=61370&reviews_id=21107

I just picked the paperback of this up yesterday and it looks a pretty good addition.

Excellent.  Keep the comments coming as we have several products in the pipeline and we pride ourselves on listening to our customers!

Fantastic review. I just picked up a copy myself.

Maelstrom was such a massive influence over my own homebrewed game when I was younger. Naturally, it was also a recognized influence over Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay and ZWEIHÄNDER, to boot.