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Showing posts with label mazes and perils. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mazes and perils. Show all posts

Monday, September 8, 2025

Free OSR - Holmes 77 (First Holmes Clone)


K, this is where I point out an inaccuracy. There is a claim that Mazes & Perils is the "first Holmes D&D clone".


Mazes & Perils is NOT the first Holmes D&D clone. That honor belongs to Holmes 77.

Holmes 77 was produced by R.C. Pinnell in 2011, making it the first Holmes-based retroclone available to the OSR community.

Mazes & Perils (2012) credits Pinnell as an "additional contributor," presumably because of their work on Holmes ’77.

That's the facts.



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Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Mazes & Perils IS NOT The First Holmes Retroclone, Even if It Claims It Is!

Holy shit, I don't believe that here we are, over 12 years later, and Vince Florio (The Evil DM/GM) is back to pretending that Mazes & Perils is something that it isn't. Also, see here

The above screenshot is from Vince's Solo.to website

First, Mazes & Perils (2012) is a solid OSR game; there's no taking away from that. I'd expect nothing less, as it is based on the work of R.C. Pinnell and their  Holmes77 retroclone from 2011. That's the link for the freely available source material right there.

Heck, Vince even credits R.C. Pinnell as "Additional Contributor" because of Pinnell's work on Holmes77 in the credits, but somehow Mazes & Perils came first?

Dude, you won an ENnie with Mazes & Perils (2012). Isn't that enough? Why pretend Mazes & Perils is something it isn't?




Tuesday, February 22, 2022

Releasing in 2022 - Mazes & Perils 10th Anniversary Edition

Mazes & Perils won a Gold ENnie back in 2012. I find it hard to believe it's been 10 years already. (fixed)

Later this year we will see the 10th Anniversary Edition of Mazes & Perils released by Wizard Tower Games.

I've enjoyed Mazes & Perils in the past (as well as knocking heads with Vince Florio in the beginning of Mazes & Perils gestation period. Such is the way of The Tavern ;). It's been a lighter OSR than some of the other rulesets, and I'm interested in seeing where it lands on the final page count later this year.

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Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Deal of the Day - Mazes & Perils Deluxe Edition



Today's DTRPG Deal of the Day is Mazes & Perils Deluxe Edition by Mr OSR Podcssting himself, Vince Florio.

There is some interesting history behind the original Mazes & Perils, Vince & myself. Long story short, I would probably never have started podcasting if it weren't for Vince and his friendship. Yep, I call Vince a friend, but that doesn't mean that Mazes & Perils Deluxe Edition isn't one of the best OSR rulesets on the market. It quite simply is, and if you haven't checked it out yet, now is your opportunity at a very fair price.
The Mazes & Perils Role-playing Game (MnP) takes a page from the first wave of the Old School Renaissance (OSR) when it wasn’t OLD at all… Inspired by the 1977 “Holmes” edition of the world’s most popular role-playing game, it shuns pages and pages of rules for a simpler time when House rules were the order of the day. 
First released in 2012, MnP drew a line on the map of OSR retroclones as something easy to pick up and play where your heroes weren’t superheroes. There are no superpowers here. Fighters have swords and armor. Clerics have their faith. Thieves skulk in the shadows seeking better items to steal. And Magic-Users sling magics at their foes until they run out of spells. This style of gaming is about grit and wit – and if you die, it must be time to roll up a new character. 
The original book was awarded a Gold Ennie Award in 2013 for "Best Free RPG" and now we've updated it with even more great content! 
Now in 2016, a new version of MnP – with some new classes, new spells, new optional rules, and a new look! Mazes & Perils Deluxe offers everything you liked about the original with a new coat of paint and a few new tools in the toolbox! New bits include: 
  • New Class – The Enchanter – along with 20+ new spells in his arsenal
  • New Class – The Shaman – along with nearly 20 new spells of his own
  • Rules for Variable Damage for Weapons and Variable Hit Dice
  • New layout, more art, and plenty of editing
Come check out a blast from the past and see why OSR is alive and well!
Originally $7.99 in PDF and recently reduced to 4 bucks, for 24 hours only Mazes & Perils Deluxe Edition is on sale for $2.40. Probably the biggest bargain in OSR gaming this week, if it isn't in your virtual rules collection, it should be.

As I said above, Vince is a friend of mine. That being said, Mazes & Perils stands on it own, it simply is damn good. Yes, that is an affiliate link above. Affiliate sales help keep the beer cold and the lights on at The Tavern. I thank you in advance.


Wednesday, December 21, 2016

OSR Christmas - Bonus Gifting - Mazes & Perils Deluxe, in Print



Yep, as we get closer to Christmas the Christmas bonuses start cropping up. Awesome, isn't it?

Moebius Adventures is giving away a free copy of Mazes & Perils Deluxe, in Print.

Edit - Add 5 PDF copies for 5 runner ups :)

What do you need to do? Follow the link to the Moebius website and follow the instructions given. It really is that simple.

Good luck. They are taking entries through Friday.

Friday, December 2, 2016

Mazes & Perils Bundle - 60% Off - Limited Tme


Yep, rules, adventures, extra classes and a book of undead - for under 10 bucks in the Mazes & Perils Bundle!
Moebius Adventures Announcement
Greetings, gamers!  
It's that time of year again when you scramble to find presents for all your gaming friends. Well, now's the time to grab the whole kit of Mazes & Perils products in time for the holidays!

Through the end of the year, you can grab every Mazes & Perils product for a huge discount. How big? Well, how about less than $10 for everything we've released so far? That's 60% off the cover price! 
That's right - for the entire month of December we're giving you everything you need to kick off an epic campaign of OSR goodness. The main M&P book, two adventures, two extra classes, and a book full of undead critters to keep things interesting!
Remember, all purchases using The Tavern's OBS affiliate links puts 5% of your purchase price into The Tavern's coffers. Don't leave that money on the table for the greedy corps! Tip your barman!  ;)

Friday, June 3, 2016

New Release - Mazes & Perils Deluxe Edition - Only a Buck in PDF for a Limited Time Only



I've written about Mazes & Perils Deluxe Edition already (click here for previous post) and as I said before, I was impressed.

Well, M&P Deluxe released earlier today and it's on sale for a buck for a limited time only. Really, at a buck can you go wrong?

Even if you use it just for source material for other OSR games (especially for the new classes) you owe it to yourself to grab a copy of Mazes & Perils Deluxe.


Monday, May 23, 2016

First Look - Mazes & Perils Deluxe Edition (Wild Games Productions) - Part the First, I Have Class



I've had in my grubby little virtual hands the PDF of the soon to be released Deluxe Edition of Mazes & Perils for a few weeks now and I've finally gotten around to giving it a proper perusal. Don't know about Mazes & Perils? The Gold ENnie winning RPG is available for free download at RPGNow. I'm looking at the soon to be released Deluxe Edition with this post :)

First and foremost, the annoying watermarking that many publishers feel they need to make their product look special but usually winds up making the product unreadable? It's so subtle here that it actually adds to me reading experience. Not a whole lot, but it is pleasant. Well, that and it's a dungeon map or maze, so very appropriate.

Something that jumps out at me right away is that Dexterity does not adjust one's armor class, for good or ill. Interesting, as it makes armor all that much more valuable and makes the armor-less casters just that much more squishy.

The rest of the ability scores and modifiers are much as your already know, tho' the actually modifiers are a bit different from other OSR games, they are different across pretty much ALL of the OSR games. Close enough to be compatible with others, although fighting men do get the % Strength Roll if their Strength is 18.

Your classes are: Fighting Man, Magic-User, Cleric, Thief, Enchanter and Shaman

Enchanter and Shaman are new. Both have their own spell list and are easily added to the OSR game of your choice with minimal adjustments.




You have the usual four races and the maximum level any class can reach is 12 (with some classes restricted by race and most classes restricted by level by race)

I need to note that this is a five point alignment system, or is it four points plus a middle? Lawful Good, Chaotic Good, Lawful Evil, Chaotic Evil and Neutral.

Alright, that's the character stuff. Onwards to Part the Second, where we'll discuss "stuff" ;)

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

I'm Sitting on Review Copies of Mazes & Perils Deluxe and I Am Zombie: Toxicity - Stuff to Read After Gift Awarding

Somehow life got really busy after retirement ;)

Seems it's hard to say "no" when your mother wants to go shopping at the garden center 40 miles away, as you are "retired" now. Then I had to pick my son's car up from the collision shop (they did an excellent job) and shortly I have to pick my son up from the airport - smack in the middle of NYC evening rush hour traffic. Sigh.

Some gifts from the Chuck Wright Fundraiser will be picked tonight. The rest SHOULD be picked tomorrow, assuming no one else decides my retirement means I'm free to do more random shit. Heh.

Over the weekend I received an unsolicited copy of the first book of the I Am Zombie: Toxicity three book set. I have it in PDF (obviously). I also have the entire press kit. What I would ever do with a press kit, I have no idea. I posted about this Kickstarter earlier.

Today I received the Mazes & Perils Deluxe final version, which should be releasing to the general public in the next few weeks, if not sooner. Fun times to have free time.

So yes, something just jumped line in what I want to read...

edit - Airport wound up being nearly 3 hours round trip and I never left the city. Giftin' in the morning...

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Look What I Got to Peek at Today - Mazes & Perils Deluxe Edition


The Ennie award winning Mazes & Perils is getting a facelift and I got a copy of the not quite ready for public consumption but yes it's damn good earlier today.

I'm really enjoying the optional rules, allowing one to tweak between a "basic" feel or an "advanced" feel (or somewhere in between).

Ah heck, I'm just enjoying the rules and the additional classes (Enchanters and Shamans).

Maybe I can twist +Vincent Florio to allow me to sneak some peeks into some blog posts over the next few days ;)

Alright, back to reading. Might need to charge up my tablet and see how it looks on it. Did I mention hyperlinks from the table of contents?

Thursday, March 7, 2013

A Sneak Peek of the Mazes & Perils "Expanded Edition"


+Vincent Florio was nice enough to forward me a sneak peek of some of the layout and such of the Mazes & Perils Core Rules "Expanded Edition". Vince and I have a bit of a history, which can basically be summed up as "screaming at each other without listening until we actually listened", which is to say that it's much easier to converse with others when you remove the extra noise.

We converse much better these days, thank you very much :)

Anyhow, as I was saying, Vince has allowed me a sneak peek at the forthcoming Mazes & Perils Core Rules "Expanded Edition". Would that abbreviate to M&PCREE?

The layout is MUCH improved (I can't speak about the content itself, as all I have access to is bits and pieces sent to me). Dare I say it, it looks like a professional layout.

Looking at the sample monster page, it strikes me that S&W doesn't have Treasure Type listed with the monsters in Monstrosities. Was this a Holmes Edition addition? (for those not in the know, M&P is sort of a Holmes Basic retroclone). Hmm, while I'm at it, it appears the monster heading font might be a bit too bubbly - the "G" looks more like a blobby "O", but maybe that is just me.

Nice choice for the art for the Monster Section art header page.

Damn, I should have asked Vince what the price was going to be for this puppy and what extras the "Expanded Edition" was going to have that the regular free edition did not (assuming that the "Expanded Edition" is not going to be free, but God knows I could be wrong).

Anyhow, interesting soon to be addition to the OSR palette. Please don't ask me if we need more additions to the OSR ruleset list of choices - I'm one of those that believes you can't have enough. What I really should do one day is make myself a Franken-Game from all of the OSR rulesets that are freely available (no houserules - just published rules) and see what I can come up with ;)

Sunday, August 12, 2012

A Story of Perils and Mazes

Let's tell a story.

"John" is taking a class in college. He does some research and decides he wants to write his term paper on "13 y/o boys whose mothers' lock them in the basement". He sees a previous student wrote the same and likes the previous term paper so much, he decides to do a homage to it, extrapolating the data to cover "13-18 y/o boys whose mothers' lock them in the basement". He hands the paper in crediting the original writer of the previous paper as the "editor" and himself as "retro-organizer".

His professor isnt sure what to make of it. He had read the original term paper it was based on, but the amount of new material and research was significant. There were problems with some of the material that was repeated verbatim, and in the end "John" decided to abandon the term paper and the class.

Along comes "James". He wants to take the same class and wants to do the same type of term paper. "John" sees him and says to the effect: "I no longer want to take this class. Do you want my term paper?" "James" eagerly takes "John's" term paper, makes a few minor changes and submits it with his name on it "By James". He lists the previous "authors" as "contributor" and "original system and rules authors" after his name and in a much smaller font.

Now the professor is getting pissed. He's definitely seen this before. The tables match the previous copy he pulls out of his desk. Paragraphs may be rewritten but say basically the same thing. There is no way"James" wrote this.

"If I accept this paper, I'll have to bring it to the attention of the school authorities." After a little thought, "James" withdraws the the term paper.

The next semester, "James" rewrites pieces of the previous term paper, changes some numbers on the charts and resubmits it. He wonders why the professor refuses to accept his rewritten term paper, which in substance hasn't changed at all.

So, here's the issue with Mazes & Perils, just so it's out there in plain english - Vince didn't write it. He claims authorship, but it's not his work. It's the work of another (or two others, depending on your point of view.)

If Vince had released it as "Mazes & Perils, based on the work of Holmes and Pinnell. Additional work and editing by Vincent Florio" I doubt there would have been as much as a whisper. Ego apparently wouldn't allow that.

So, where's my facts? As apparently Vince feels I've appointed myself "OSR Cop", I figured I'd take some pictures of the crime scene. To Vince's credit, he does change up the numbers and charts in the second release of M&P. Doesn't change the fact that he is not the author of the work. Editor? Certainly. Additional material? I'll grant him that. Author, let alone sole author? Not happening.

The following screenshots are, from left to right: Holmes 77, M&P 1e, M&P 2e. You'll need to click on the images for a larger view.




Let me put it another way. Vince does podcasts. If Vince were to suddenly say "I'm done with podcasting! Jack, here, Save or Die is all your's now." Jack now goes and instead of writing new episodes of the podcast, uses old scripts, changes a few words and now claims authorship of the "new" episodes. People that listen to Save or Die would be going - "WTF?!? I know I already heard this! This guy "Jack" is taking credit for Vince's work!"

Therein lies the problem - taking credit for work that isn't your own. As a creator, I'm sure Vince has a better understanding of the point being made now.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Grumpy Beats a Dead Horse - The Resurrection of Mazes & Perils

Nothing pisses me off so much as thievery. But what's even worse than general thievery is stealing from the dead. Not once. But twice.

There is a version of the Holmes D&D rules that can be found on the internet. Edited and enhanced a bit to be a "What if?" type of rule set, but credited to Dr. Holmes, as it should be.

What's pretty fuckin' amazing is that the original theft (Mazel & Perils 1e) was nearly a word for word, page for page copy of the Holmes 77 rules you could find online. Heck, the charts look like were a copy + paste from the source right into Mazes & Perils. So, not even an original theft, but stealing someone else's reworking of Holmes D&D.

So, now what does Vincent do? Changes a few numbers, moves charts around and repeats his claim as author and copyright holder. He had to do this because the document he used as source material took passages and tables verbatim from the source material - which is why it got pulled last fall.

Why bother changing stuff around? We already know it's basically stolen.

You know what, let me screen shot the 3 tables of contents, then you can decide if Vinnie was doing an original work derived from another, or if he's a straight up thief.

From left to right - Holmes 77, M&P 1e and M&P 2e

Yep, as I thought - he's a straight up fuckin' thief.

Holmes 77 states "This version edited by Eric Holmes, Retro-organized by RC Pinnell

Mazes & Perils states "By Vincent Florio, Contributors: R.C. Pinnell" then at the end "Original System and Rules Authors: Dave Arneson, Gary Gygax and Dr. John E. Holmes". Being that the work was all done by Dr. Holmes and enhanced by RC Pinnell, I fail to see how the fuck Vinnie can claim "he wrote it". Unless he means "I changed some wording and made it mine - just like those term papers I bought in college that I handed in."

Vincent - just because you claim you wrote it doesn't make it so.

Shit, I need to go back to reading the 5e updates. At least there I didn't have to deal with outright thievery.
       
                                                                                                The Grumpy Dwarf

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Mazes & Perils - Round 2 (OSR Clone Claiming Holmes Heritage)

Does everyone remember the first incarnation of the Mazes & Perils fiasco?  Well, it's back. 

Were there changes made? Yep.

Does it really have anything to do with the Holmes set of D&D rules? Not that I can see, or at least no more than other OSR rulesets. To claim such a heritage is inaccurate to say the least. Misleading might be more accurate.

Do we really need another clone?  No.  But this really isn't a clone so much as someone's house rules that previously cribbed a heck of a lot directly from the Holmes Boxed Set.

I was going to do a side by side comparison of the two "editions" (earlier "pulled" edition and current "fixed" edition) but really, why bother?

If you grabbed it the first time around, the major changes are:
reduced expo tables
other tables that went high to low now go low to high, or visa versa, or mixed order
hobbits are now halflings
level titles are gone
OD&D style HD advancement is gone 
movement rates were randomly changed to avoid repeating earlier rates

Listen, if you want a set of really good OD&D style house rules, pick up a free copy of the LOTFP Weird Fantasy RPG. Sure, Mazes & Perils is free too. But your time has value, so why waste it?


Monday, October 17, 2011

"It's Free" Does Not Mean "Free for all!"

I feel like I'm beating a dead horse, but this crap really annoys me. Probably even more so, as I get alerts from OBS for most of the OSR releases. I like to pass that info on to my readers as soon as I can, and in doing so I got burned by the same person twice.

Just because you are releasing your latest set of houserules for free it doesn't mean you don't have to follow the law.

Let me put it another way. John gives Mike a free joint. Free as in "Yo man! Just take it. I made it special. It's free!" Guess what, in the eyes of the law (at least under the NYS Penal Law)
John just "sold" Mike marijuana. Criminal Sale of Marijuana. No money needs to exchange hands.

Releasing your latest and greatest plagiarized piece of work for free is no different than asking cash for it. Hell, you might as well ask cash for it - it's product lifetime is gonna be short either way, you may as well make a few bucks off of it.

I'm wondering what his third release will be. You know he has something waiting in the wings.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Two For Two - Or is it "Oh!" For Two?

The author of the OSRIC Players Reference (NOT to be confused with the OSRIC Player's Guide) and The Mazes & Perils OSR clone / rip / pilfered from the bones of the Original D&D Boxed set and Holmes Basic, has managed to have both of his projects pulled from OneBookShelf / RPGNow.

Or maybe he had them both pulled on his own.  Somehow I doubt that.  Because if that was the case, he never would have put his second project up on OBS - he would have learned his lesson with his first f' up.

If you want to do a bunch of house rules using copyrighted material, ignoring the OGL, go at it.  DON'T try to distribute it into the RPG wilds, even for free, especially not via a company like OBS and it's like.  Why put a company like OBS in the possible sights of WotC / Hasbro because your ego prevents you from following the rules (OGL / copyright law).  It has to be ego.  Even stupidity has a failsafe mechanism.  Besides, stupid wouldn't have been able to put together the packages he did, which, although far from perfect, were certainly serviceable.

Next time your ego demands that you ignore the law (and the polite niceties of the OSR in general), host it yourself.  That way your ego can get stroked and the lawyers can cut out the middle man when the cease and desist comes your way.


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