Mazes from 9th Level Games is one of those systems that’s pretty simple from the player side, but has more substance on the GM side, even though the GM never rolls dice. The game is a hundred percent focused on the dungeon – you start at the door, and gloss over downtime. The flavour is quite swords and sorcery, though they couldn’t resist adding three non-human options to the class list.
The players only ever roll one die, which is determined by the chracter role they chose. Different types of activities have different number ranges for success, whilst the highest and lowest values on the dice have special effects; rolling a 1 lets you succeed if it’s something your class would be good at, and rolling the maximum value can be a success, a success at a cost, or a failure depending on the Darkness level at the time of the roll.
Characters also have a few resources – Hearts which are health, Stars which are used for special abilties, and Treasure – a group resource which is used to produce equipment on the fly, and after the adventure is converted into individual wealth.
Character creation is quick; pick your role which determines your Die, pick your Aspect (Sword, Shadow, or Spell) which determines the list of classes you can pick from, and finally select your class, which determines your Edges – special abilties.
Each class has one Edge that all members of the class have, then you pick two more from a list of two, and a list of three; see the block below for an example.
THE MONSTER SLAYER
A Monster Slayer is always WELL ARMED.
As a hunter of vicious monsters, are you MAZEWISE or do you have a Loyal Hounds (RETAINERS)?
Are you CUNNING, DEXTEROUS, or STRONG?
As character generation is quite simple, here’s a party of four.
Sir Cassius of the Broken Oath, Valiant Dragoon
Sword Sentinel (d10)
Hearts 10
Stars 1
Armoured
Gain advantage when resisting damage and while defending in general. You can spend Stars to negate all the damage you take from an attack – throwing your shield in the way perhaps.
Retainers (Alex, my squire)
You have people that follow you, providing you with additional hands and feet on the ground. Retainers are still “the character” mechanically – meaning that you roll for them with your die – but they are separate from the character. Spending Stars on retainer activity will allow them to take actions outside of the norm (like having your torchbearers map a part of the maze complex without you needing to be there).
Ardent
Resolute, strong willed, and can resist pain and temptation.
Scorched Henry, Blazing Sorceror
Sorcery Fighter (d8)
Hearts 8
Stars 2
Magic (Forge)
The Forge is the domain at the heart of the human condition. The Forge is the beating of metal into blades, and the burning away of doubts. The Forge is the flame, the fire, and the heat. The Forge controls human passion, and can be used to charm intelligent beings, or fool their sight into seeing things that are not there. Forge magic abjures Earth Magic, as the Forge breaks the earth and burns the plants.
As a Forge sorcerer, fireball magician, warcaster, or item enchanter– you have access to the magic of Flames and Metal, Illusion and Sight, of Passion and Anger.
Accurate
Gain advantage when fighting from a distance, you are an expert marksman. Star spends on Accurate are for taking careful aim when you are calling shots – like knocking apples from children’s heads.
Ardent
Resolute, strong willed, and can resist pain and temptation.
Tally Gearwise, Puzzling Locksmith
Shadow Vanguard (d6)
Hearts 6
Stars 3
Gearwise
Knowledge about gears, clockwork, machines, traps, and locks. Gearwise allows for setting and disarming traps, picking locks, and other mechanical activities. Star spends for Gearwise will usually result in setting or disarming a trap, or making something work or not work, that would otherwise take a lot of time
Learned
Well educated and intelligent. You are well read, well spoken, and have a deep understanding of the world around you.
Streetwise
Ability to perform crime – picking pockets, forgery, con jobs, fencing, etc. Knowledge and experience on the hard streets. You gain advantage on criminal activities and can spend Stars to have already committed a crime in preparation for whatever you are currently facing.
Igmoth of the Deeps, Underground Druid
Sorcery Paragon (d4)
Hearts 4
Stars 4
Shapeshift
You have the ability to turn into another form, usually animal shapes. When you transform, your clothing and gear change with you. While you are in an animal shape– you still remain yourself in mind and personality, but you lose access to your other Edges and your Class. Changing into an animal shape takes a Star Spend but reverting to human happens at will or whenever you take a Condition. While you are in an animal form, your DIE changes – d4 for birds, d6 for most small mammals and the like, d8 for predators, and d10 for large animals.
Mazewise
You’ve been delving for a long time and are familiar with the design and history of mazes. You are skilled at handling the need for light, air, and other complexities of maze running. You are never without a torch.
Keen
Alert, sharp eyes and ears, great senses.
Do I want to play this?
Yes. I’m interested to see how it works in practice. I did a quick solo game running these four through one of the published adventures, and it seemed to work quite well from both the player and GM side, but I’m interested to see how it works in practice (and I didn’t finish the final encounter due to getting distracted by work)