Back in 1984, at the height of the adventure game book popularity, Puffin Books published a new role-playing game called Maelstrom. It is the creation of a young Alexander Scott who, according to gamer legend, started working on it when he was a mere school lad. Maelstrom is both innovative, full of ideas that would shortly make their reappearance in other games such as the Warhammer Fantasy RPG, and is also a somewhat under-developed release. Despite this, there are many good ideas in Maelstrom and it has recently gotten a renewal on life both as a re-release in it's original form plus companion materials and as Maelstrom Domesday.
Maelstrom is set in Tudor England and as such holds to an historic setting, mostly. It's history more like the Elizabethans would have understood it than what we think of today. Witches and magic have a real presence in the game as do elements of the supernatural, all of which probably seemed quite natural to most folk living in the 16th century. The system uses a roll under percentile dice mechanic referred to as a Saving Throw throughout and like most percentile based games is therefore pretty straight-forward and easy to understand. The nine attributes are a mix of starting value of 30 points and having 50 additional points to add where one likes as long as no more than 20 are added to any one starting attribute. The player then selects one or more "Livings" or life paths/professions for the PC. Some Livings such as Mercenary or Rogue replicate classic roles found in most games, others such as Trader and Professional allow one to play a Fishmonger or an Architect. Each Living both ages the PC and grants associated skill proficiencies. If any of this sounds familiar it's because these mechanics appear again in later games.
Combat is composed of both the familiar and the novel. PCs act in order of their Speed attribute making a Saving Throw roll to hit, the target making a defense Saving Throw to block. If the attack goes through, damage is rolled and after reducing for any armour (Maelstrom is a British game), a wound is recorded. Each wound total remains a separate number as healing is per wound. The total of wounds is compared to the attribute Endurance and when wounds exceed Endurance the PC loses consciousness.
Magic is a secretive art and can get one burned as a witch if you are discovered to be a practitioner so most magic using folk have another less suspicious Living. Magic spells are cast by drawing on the Maelstrom, a source of magical energy which connects the present with other times and dimensions. The spell is described, no list of spells is given, so casting is a creative process. Once the desired effects are described the referee assigns a difficulty grade between 1, easy, could happen by chance and 5, impossible, defies natural laws. Saving Throws are rolled to determine outcome which can include a Maelstrom catastrophe if high grade magic fails badly. The Maelstrom can also become unstable just by being accesses a lot. The PC's Will score is also temporarily reduced by a d6 roll per grade level. So casting spells indiscriminately is usually discouraged.
The Priest Living provides the character with no white box type spells, but does grant a skill set including preaching (power to influence people), power over spirits (including exorcism) and deliverance, the ability to occasionally receive divine aid in desperate situations. The Herbalist is also a potent Living providing one of the few sources of healing through herbs and poultices, as well as other effective herbal powers. The list of herbs and their descriptions that constitutes the appendix section of Maelstrom is generally well regarded as a valuable hobby resource. Experience in Maelstrom is gained by taking part in combat, receiving wounds, casting spells, and any other special cases the referee deems experience worthy. Experience allows the player to make an improvement roll to increase attributes and skills.
Maelstrom includes a solo adventure and a referee adventure, both set in 16th century England. Other than some discussion about doing historical research, the two adventures are the only hints the author gives as to how he intends the game to be played. As a game designed to be run in an historic setting, although one where magic works thanks to the Maelstrom and where the supernatural is real, Maelstrom seems a good fit for settings that adhere more closely to an historic model. The Harn setting immediately comes to mind with it's emphasis on feudal society and relationships and its low magic assumption. The system mechanics are intuitive and easily modified and is generally what I would call "rules-lite". Maelstrom has some nice innovations including the wound system which could be lifted and used in white box or other systems.
Maelstrom has recently received a deserved second chance thanks to Graham Bottley and Arion Games who have reprinted the original volume as well as two new Companion volumes and a Classic Fantasy Toolkit, the latter bringing Maelstrom into the realm of classic fantasy elves, dwarves and orcs. Maelstrom Domesday is a rewrite of the system (again by Graham Bottley, who incidentally has also rewritten the Advanced Fighting Fantasy RPG) to a Norman-Saxon English setting where players take on the role of investigators of the supernatural in yet another historic setting. Maelstrom Domesday includes more historic setting material and gives PCs a specific job/goal other than "adventuring".
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