| Editor | Lee Gold |
|---|---|
| Categories | Role-playing games |
| Frequency | Monthly |
| First issue | #1, June 1975 |
| Final issue Number | April 2025 #593 |
| Country | United States |
| Based in | Los Angeles |
| Language | English |
| Website | Alarums and Excursions page |
Alarums and Excursions (A&E) was anamateur press association (APA) started in June 1975 byLee Gold; the final issue, #593, was published in April 2025. It was one of the first publications to focus solely onrole-playing games.
In 1964,Bruce Pelz of theLos Angeles Science Fiction Society (LASFS) began a weekly amateur press association namedAPA-L.[1] In 1974, with the publication ofDungeons & Dragons byTSR, Inc., articles and comments about the new roleplaying game began to fill the pages ofAPA-L, a development to which Pelz objected.[2]Lee Gold took note of this and started a new APA,Alarums and Excursions (the title taken from anElizabethan drama stage direction that moved soldiers across a stage[3]), to focus entirely on roleplaying games, attracting such material away fromAPA-L. The first issue appeared in June 1975.
In addition to removing roleplaying games discussion out ofAPA-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.[4][5]
The June 2017 issue ofAlarums and Excursions was number 500, with a color cover drawn byLee Moyer and printed byRob 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 manyA&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 gamesare an art form took strong root in thiszine, and left a lasting impression on many of the RPG professionals who contributed. The 1992 role-playing gameOver the Edge was inspired by discussions inA&E.[6]
Among the contributors over the years were:
In the February 1976 issue ofStrategic Review (Issue 6),Gary Gygax 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 bestD&D 'zine, and well worth reading. See for yourself why it rates a Major Triumph."[8]
In the June 1981 edition ofDragon (Issue #50),Dave Nalle reviewedAlarums 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."[9]
To date,Alarums and Excursions has been a winner of theCharles Roberts/Origins Award four times: