''Alarums and Excursions'' (''A&E'') was an

amateur press association An amateur press association (APA) is a group of people who produce individual pages or zines that are sent to a Central Mailer for collation and distribution to all members of the group. They began in the late 19th century. History The first A ...

(APA) started in June 1975 by

Lee Gold Lee Gold is a member of California science fiction fandom and a writer and editor in the role-playing game and filk music communities. Role-playing games Gold became prominent after 1975 as the editor of ''Alarums and Excursions'', a monthly ...

; the final issue, #593, was published in April 2025. It was one of the first publications to focus solely on

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out ...

History

In 1964, Bruce Pelz of the Los Angeles Science Fiction Society (LASFS) began a weekly amateur press association named ''APA-L''. In 1974, with the publication of ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...

'' by TSR, Inc., articles and comments about the new roleplaying game began to fill the pages of ''APA-L'', a development to which Pelz objected.

took note of this and started a new APA, ''Alarums and Excursions'' (the title taken from an Elizabethan drama stage direction that moved soldiers across a stage), to focus entirely on roleplaying games, attracting such material away from ''APA-L''. The first issue appeared in June 1975. In addition to removing roleplaying games discussion out of ''APA-L'', the initial aim of the publication was to prevent roleplaying games from becoming so divergent that people from different cities could not participate in games together. The June 2017 issue of ''Alarums and Excursions'' was number 500, with a color cover drawn by Lee Moyer and printed by Rob Heinsoo.

Each issue is a collection of contributions from different authors, often featuring game design discussions, rules variants, write-ups of game sessions, reviews, and comments on others contributions. Although game reports and social reactions are common parts of many ''A&E'' contributions, it has also, over the years, become a testing ground for new ideas on the development of the RPG as a genre and an art form. The idea that role-playing games ''are'' an art form took strong root in this

zine A zine ( ; short for ''magazine'' or ''fanzine'') is, as noted on Merriam-Webster’s official website, a magazine that is a “noncommercial often homemade or online publication usually devoted to specialized and often unconventional subject ...

, and left a lasting impression on many of the RPG professionals who contributed. The 1992 role-playing game '' Over the Edge'' was inspired by discussions in ''A&E''. Among the contributors over the years were: * Terry K. Amthor * Wilf K. Backhaus * Scott Bennie * Greg Costikyan * Doc Cross * John M. Ford * E. Gary Gygax * Andrew Gelman * David A. Hargrave * Rob Heinsoo * John Eric Holmes * Wes Ives * Robin Laws * Nicole Lindroos *

Samuel Edward Konkin III Samuel Edward Konkin III (July 8, 1947 – February 23, 2004), also known as SEK3, was a Canadian-American libertarian philosopher and Austrian school economist. As the author of the publication ''New Libertarian Manifesto'', he was a proponen ...

* Stephen R. Marsh * Phil McGregor *

Dave Nalle David F. Nalle (March 19, 1959 – February 13, 2021) was an American political writer, game author and type designer. He was active in the early history of the development of the internet. Nalle was at one time Chairman of the Republican Liberty ...

* Mark Rein·Hagen *

Ken Rolston Ken Rolston is an American computer game and role-playing game designer best known for his work with West End Games and on the computer game series ''The Elder Scrolls''. Tabletop role-playing games Ken Rolston began working as a professional g ...

* John T. Sapienza Jr. * Lawrence M. Schoen * Edward E. Simbalist * Jonathan Tweet * Erick Wujcik * John Nephew * Spike Y Jones

Reception

In the February 1976 issue of '' Strategic Review'' (Issue 6),

Gary Gygax Ernest Gary Gygax ( ; July 27, 1938 – March 4, 2008) was an American game designer and author best known for co-creating the pioneering tabletop role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') with Dave Arneson. In the 1960s, Gygax creat ...

complimented the new APA, calling it "an excellent source of ideas, inspirations and fun." Although Gygax felt some of the contributors were "woefully lacking in background", and the quality of printing varied dramatically from issue to issue, he concluded, "For all of its faults, it is far and away the best ''D&D'' '

, and well worth reading. See for yourself why it rates a Major Triumph." In the June 1981 edition of ''

Dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...

'' (Issue #50),

reviewed ''Alarums and Excursions'' after its 63rd issue (November 1980), and although he found the writing style "a bit stuffy", with a "tendency for the writers to pat each other on the back", he still called it "the top APA publication... This is a very well run APA and features many of the leading thinkers in fantasy gaming."

Awards

To date, ''Alarums and Excursions'' has been a winner of the Charles Roberts/

Origins Award The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the gaming industry. They are presented by the Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA) at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for games released in the preceding year. For example, t ...

four times: * "Best Amateur Adventure Gaming Magazine" in 1985 * "Best Amateur Game Magazine" in 1999 * "Best Amateur Game Periodical" in 2000 and 2001 * "Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design Hall of Fame" in 2022

References

External links

Alarums and Excursions page

Lee Gold's index of APA-L's pre-A&E D&D-related content

A Farewell to A&E
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alarums And Excursions Fanzines Magazines established in 1975 Organizations established in 1975 Origins Award winners Role-playing game magazines Science fiction organizations Magazines published in Los Angeles

History

Contents

Reception

Awards

References

External links