This week it’s another fine retroclone. Mazes & Perils. This is a pretty good little book.  It’s based on the good old Holmes blue book and comes in two versions; Original and Deluxe.

The Original Editions has your four basic classes (Fighter, Magic-User, Cleric, and Thief), the standard races (Human, Dwarf, Elf and Halfling) and all the other  basics that you’d need to run a game.

The Deluxe Editions has the same basic rules but with some edits and nicer layout and art work. It also adds two new classes: The Enchanter and the Shaman. The Enchanter is sort of like an Illusionist but not quite. While the Shaman is sort of like a Druid but not quite. Both these classes stick to simple and easy design that comes along with using the Basic style rules. Each has their own spell list and most of the spells are unique to the class while some are similar to other spells. And each has their little other quirks. Non-Enchanters attempting to read an Enchanter’s spell book have a chance of going insane. While the Shaman has a quick self healing ability (Atunement) and can summon a Spirit Guardian that attacks like a watch dog.  These new classes are worth the price of admission.

I’ve got both editions of Mazes & Perils but I do reference and use the Deluxe edition more. I’ve house ruled the Enchanter and Shaman into my own Swords & Wizardry game and if I’m running some thing like Old School Essentials then I’ll go ahead add those classes into the mix.

You can get the Original and Deluxe Editions on DrivethruRPG. And there’s a Mazes & Perils Wiki on the Wild Games site.