Character Creation: Mazes

Grizzly maze? Corn? Amazing Stories? 

The Game: Mazes
The Publisher: 9th Level Games   
Degree of Familiarity: None. One of these days I'll run something in this system
Books Required: Just the one 

And a bookmarked PDF, oh my days. 

Mazes is a dungeon crawl RPG, taking its cues from early D&D, Tunnels & Trolls, and lots of OSR games. The intended tone is very "kick in the door, kill the monsters, loot the place"; there's a setting, but it's really broad and vague. 

I like the game; I've always liked the simplicity of that setup (makes me think of the old Dungeons & Dragons coloring book I had - actually I still have it somewhere). It also serves as a reminder that while we've spent a lot of years in RPG design focusing on storycraft and ludonarrative things and character motivations and narrative currency, there's something iconic and just cool about the mazes n' monsters style of game.

Now, the system? I have the same concerns I always have about Polymorph, I worry that the game system would get samey really quickly. Also, this particular game has a lot of moving parts - in addition to Role, which determine which die you roll (and is common to the system), we have Edges and Conditions and Aspects and so on, plus like four or five currency traits (Treasure, Wealth, Hearts, Stars, etc.). I think it would be playable and there are some cheat sheets that would be helpful, but it'd definitely be a game I'd need to pick through and suss out from a mechanical standpoint so I could explain it.

Also, the character sheets are really damn ink-heavy and I don't see any printer friendly ones. Actually, finding sheets on the 9th Level site at all is a chore. (But they have an itch page that has them.) 

Right, so!

So, why do I want to enter the Maze? The Roles aren't about methodology so much as, well, role within the party. That is, it's possible to be a warrior who uses magic or a Paragon (knowledge-seeker) who uses weapons (though mechanically that's unwise, because Paragons are squishy). I think I'll go classic here and be a Paragon; my character enters the maze seeking lost lore and secrets. ('Scuse me while I print a sheet.)

Oh, holy shit, those sheets are pngs, are you kidding me. Oh, wait, the product page in the 9th Level site does have sheets, including a fillable one. What the fuck. OK, moving on. Being a Paragon means I start with 4 Hearts and 4 Stars. I am squishy, but versatile! 

The book tells me to write some Drives down, but there's no place on the sheet for them so it must not be that important. 

How do I solve problems? Using my fooking magic, that's how! Ahem. Sorcery.

What is my place in this world? This is my Class, which is basically a combination of Role and Aspect, but gives me some Edge, too. Let's see. I think for what I'm picturing, Guild Mage makes the most sense.

I get Magic, obvs, but I do need to choose a Domain. I think my mage will be a Sea-Mancer. I think it fits with the "discovering secrets" vibe to be interested in things that are buried (or sunk) deep.

Who am I in this world? Clumsy way of asking whether I have a Familiar or a Magic Item. Do I want a familiar? I think maybe I do, that sounds fun. I need to choose a Domain for it. I'll say my familiar is a little mechanical dude named Clink. Clink's Domain is Forge (Sea abjures Forge, so it makes sense I could just wash the little booger away if I wanted to). 

What is my best attribute? Which is a fancy way of saying "choose from the three choices in the Class box." I think my guy is Learned. 

What do I look like? I think my wizard wears blue robes, a tricorn hat, and instead of a wand or staff has a wooden gauntlet-y sort of thing, carved from driftwood, that he wears on his left hand to cast spells. Clink rides in his rucksack (Clink is heavy, but he walks slowly, so he usually winds up in the sack out of convenience). 

What is my name? I don't care much for the sample names given under Guild Mage. I think my guy is named Sursera (it's a chosen name; it means "sea-dweller" in one of the older tongues, but Sursera's never been on anything bigger than a lake. Yes, he's good at Sea magic. That doesn't mean he's ever been to sea. Broaden your mind). 

That'll do it!