The Maze of Peril video review by captcorajus

The Maze of Peril (1986), cover art by Dan Day

Space and Time Books continues to restock copies of the original 1986 printing of The Maze of Peril in their Amazon store, as I previously reported. 

Click here or on the cover image in the right side bar to get a copy 

(the link includes my Amazon affiliate number)

Over on Youtube, captcorajus has a new video review of the book, titled "OSR Musings: Maze of Peril". captcorajus is a Holmes fan; I've featured two of his RPG Retro Reviews before, one of the Holmes Basic Set as a whole and the other of the Tower of Zenopus Dungeon. And this past February (just before coronavirus shut everything down), I had the pleasure of meeting and having him play Bardan the Dwarf in my game at Scrum Con!

I will note as a warning that if you haven't read the book yet, this review does include a significant number of spoilers regarding the plot.

OSR Musings: Maze of Peril

Stepping away from game and module reviews this week, I take a look at the Dungeons & Dragons inspired adventure by the author of the D&D Basic Set, John Eri...

Reviews from R'lyeh on Bayt Al Azif #2

Reviews from R'lyeh recently reviewed the second issue of the Call of Cthulhu RPG zine Bayt Al Azif (link below), in a column entitled, "A Cthulhu Collecteana II".

As I announced last fall, this issue of this zine includes a reprint of J. Eric Holmes' 1983 review of the Call of Cthulhu RPG, along with some commentary on his review by myself. This was a follow-up to the article I wrote for the first issue about Holmes role in bringing the Cthulhu Mythos to D&D in the '70s. Each issue can be found at DrivethruRPG in either PDF or Print format:

Bayt al Azif issue 1 ~ Bayt al Azif issue 2

(links include my DrivethruRPG affiliate number)

The R'lyehian reviewer Pookie provides an in-depth review of the issue, concluding:

"Overall, Bayt al Azif Issue 02 is a good second issue, much improved on the first. Its better sense of professionalism is combined with a good range of voices, scenarios, and articles about Lovecraftian investigative roleplaying"

And specifically regarding Holmes' review, Pookie writes:

"The second review is actually of Call of Cthulhu itself, but not of Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition. Rather, ‘“It is not dead which can eternal lie…” Game Review: Call of Cthulhu’ is actually a review of Call of Cthulhu, First Edition by J. Eric Holmes, the editor of the 1977 Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set RPG. This is fascinating continuation of Zach Howard’s ‘Clerical Cosmic Horror: The Brief Era of the Cthulhu Mythos as Dungeons & Dragons Pantheon’ from Bayt al Azif Issue 01 and he adds a commentary to the end of the review. Together they provide a contrast between a time when Cthulhu was just beginning to appear in the gaming hobby and its prevalence today."

Read the rest of the review here: 

A Cthulhu Collectanea II

s with editorial, 'Houses of the Unholy', which really takes stock of the progress of the magazine from the first issue to this one. So it is somewhat reflective in nature before it sets out what the -fulfilled and unfulfilled, the highlights, and the trends. From , .

"RPG Retro Review: Tower of Zenopus"

Over on Youtube, Captcorajus has a great 18 minute video review of the Zenopus Dungeon, entitled "RPG Retro Review: Tower of Zenopus" (link). He walks through the dungeon and includes images of his stunning Hirst Arts version of the dungeon. And he kindly refers viewers to this blog! He also mentions that he will playing in my Zenopus game at Scrum Con 2020 (Feb 29th).

Also see his 2015 review of the entire Holmes Basic rulebook (link). 

RPG Retro Review: Tower of Zenopus

Let's go back to 1977 and take a look at the sample dungeon champion of the world, 'The Tower of Zenopus' from the Holmes Basic Set of Dungeons and Dragons. Zenopus Archives: http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paratime Design: https://paratime.ca/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My Patreon Page: https://www.patreon.com/captcorajus --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Facebook: Dungeons and Dragons RPG Reviews: https://www.facebook.com/groups/rpgre...