Jumping backward & forward today to a simpler past & future, the next game in line on the shelf is Mazes & Minotaurs (M&M). In 2002 Paul “Mithras” Elliott wrote a humorous alternate history of gaming in which he imagined that the very first RPG was inspired by Ray Harryhausen sword & sandal Greek adventures instead of Conan & Fafhrd. Then in 2006 designer Olivier Legrand decided that imaginary foundational game should exist in reality & created an M&M for this timeline. The game is far from a joke; it has a sizeable fan base that has produced (continues to produce?) reams of support material & expansions, all available free.

In best old-school fashion we start by rolling 4d6 drop lowest for each of our Hellenic superhero’s six, self-explantory, attributes. I’m having an inverse Wheaton’s curse morning apparently.

Might: 12
Skill: 14
Luck: 12
Wits: 10
Faith: 17
Grace: 17

By the rules as written you’re allowed to arrange to taste but I’m going to leave those scores where they fell to help illustrate an interesting aspect of chargen: your highest attribute determines your class! Note that there are no minimums for a class; you can play whichever you have your heart set on, but you’ll have to assign the highest score, whatever it is, to the relevant attribute. If there’s a tie for highest score the player is free to choose between them.

Highest Attribute	Class
Might	Barbarian
Skill	Spearman
Luck	Noble
Wits	Sorcerer
Faith	Priest
Grace	Nymph

I’m thinking Priest in this case.

Time to select a name, gender & age. Kate Monk’s Onomastikon provides the name Menekrates, which I like the sound of. We’ll say he’s a dude, although most classes take any gender. Characters start at 2d6 + 15 years of age. Menekrates rolls a 7, making him 22.

We stop rolling for a bit & switch to calculating some derived values by adding pairs of attribute modifiers. Each attribute uses the same modifier table:

Score	Descriptor	Modifier
3	Abysmal	-3
4-5	Inferior	-2
6-8	Poor	-1
9-12	Average	0
13-15	Good	+1
16-17	Superior	+2
18	Exceptional	+3

Melee Attack = Might + Skill = 0 + 1 = 1
Missile Attack = Skill + Luck = 1 + 0 = 1
Initiative = Skill + Wits = 1 + 0 = 1
Basic Defense Class = 12 + Luck = 12 + 0 = 12
Hits Total = Basic Hits + Might = 8 (for a priest) + 0 = 8

There are three more modifiers that come into play a bit less often. Danger Evasion roughly equates to a saving throw against … well, anything. First reaction refers to NPCs’ initial social reaction to the PC. Mystic fortitude comes into play when resisting the effects of magic.

Danger Evasion = Luck + Wits = 0 + 0 = 0
First Reaction = Grace + Luck = 2 + 0 = 2
Mystic Fortitude = Faith + Luck = 2 + 0 = 2

So what do we know about Menekrates at this point? He’s a stunningly handsome man of profound religious feeling, possibly with the ear of the gods, who has a good amount of natural skill at arms. But he isn’t particularly sturdy & between you, me & the oil lamp he isn’t exactly the sharpest xiphos in the armory either. Staying out of the direct line of fire might be the smartest choice for our Hellenic himbo. Assuming he can be counted on to make a smart choice…

Each class has a special ability. For priests that’s their ability to call on the gods for aid. Because they’re magic users, priests have an additional secondary attribute: Power, used to fuel their spells.

Power = 9 + [prime attribute’s modifier] = 9 + 2 = 11

Priests must select or roll for which deity they serve. Priests serve gods & priestesses, goddesses. I’m inclined to say that clergy who are enby, intersex, fluid, or some other gender are free to choose, alternate, or maybe find themself a genderbending patron from classical mythology. There has to be at least one out there, I’m just not familiar enough with the literature to name one off the top of my head. Anyway, Menekrates rolls a 1 which makes him a priest of Zeus.

Each magic-using class has a set of powers, one granted at each of the six levels of experience. (That’s right, advancement in M&M tops out at level 6, Bushido-style.) Priests don’t cast spells exactly. Rather they perform Divine Prodigies. The first-level prodigy is Divine Blessing, which buffs certain abilities by an amount equal to the recipient’s Faith modifier. For a priest of Zeus, that’s Mystic Fortitude & Defense Class, demonstrating Zeus’ unassailability as king of the gods. If someone has offended the gods, a priest can also inflict a Divine Curse, but the offense has to have been grave enough to really tee them off. Note that since it’s fueled by the target‘s Faith, you can only Bless or Curse the faithful. The godless are beyond the reach of the clergy for good & ill alike.

Each class starts with a standard kit of equipment & a number of silver pieces. For a priest that’s a staff, a dagger, a set of ceremonial robes, & 3d6 x 10 coins. The dice have finally gone cold for poor Menekrates, leaving him with a paltry 80 silvers. That ready money, by the way, is for expenses on the adventure; the rules specifically state that characters begin with their standard kit & “cannot normally [spend their money] during character creation”.

That’s it! Menekrates the Priest is ready to join a roving band of heroes, roaming from city-state to city-state battling monsters or sailing the wine-dark sea in search of adventure.

Side note: the first name that caught my eye on the Ancient Greek Onomastikon page was Stesagoras. I loved the sound of it, but soon realized that the rest of the party would inevitably end up calling him Stegosaurus. So it goes.