I don't whether many of you have heard of the game Maelstrom. It's a wonderful gem of British roleplaying from the eighties, but has now been republished by Arion Games. Some might groan at the reprint of a thirty or so year old roleplaying game, but I must say that this is a reason for celebration, not tears.
Maelstrom, or so I read somewhere or other, was even an influence on the Warhammer roleplaying game, and it shows. The game plays like some wonderful Warhammer Light, but more in the spirit of OD&D than anything else. Skills? Well, each class basically says "well, you're good at this and this and this", with the exception of a few special abilities for mercenaries, wizards, and priests, etc.
Now, I'll be the first to admit, this game does have some flaws and lacks some information. For example, it has numerous different types of swords listed with both their price and their damage. Yet it fails to say what swords they are; the period it is set in was rife with guns, yet no mention is ever made of them. The Maelstrom Companion does fix this up, not that I own it, but so I have been informed. Despite these little flaws here and there, this is nothing one cannot fix with some fairly logical rulings, or maybe even a dip into wfrp, if you're already so inclined to that game.
In short, this is definitely one of my favourite games, right up there with Dungeons & Dragons, Tunnels & Trolls, and Traveller. After all, what other game ends a quick fight with a zombie biting off a character's finger, while the wizard attempts to crush the skull of another villain?
