Magazines with KAP articles

[Tizun Thane]

1 hour ago, AlHazred said:

It's a good scenario, but difficult to implement prior to AD 531. I'm trying to figure out if it can be done with Uther.

Sure, it is written for the year 531. The kingdom is in peace, and that's why the "saxon" raiding is a mystery.

But, it could be adapted during Uther's reign. After all, the Saxons are active during this time. Maybe some knight from Levcomagus is behind the raiding? Or maybe some traitor from Salisbury, as in the original scenario? We can replace the attacking brigands with Saxons, trying to avenge their hanged friends.

[Voord 99]

Without knowing the details, I wonder if the Sleeping Beauty vampire could be reworked as a belle dame sans merci figure.

[Tizun Thane]

19 hours ago, AlHazred said:

Die schlafende Schöne (The Sleeping Beauty): From The Trodox - Ars Arcana, issue #37. As might be expected from the title, this is based on the story "Sleeping Beauty" from the Brothers Grimm, but there's a couple of twists. I have a few issues. I'll put them behind spoilers for people who haven't read it. Other than the quibbles I have below, I think this is a decent scenario, and works really well as a solo, perhaps for a knight who is still unwed after the rest of the party has started their families.

I totally agree with you.

Spoiler

I think the vampire part could be instead some banshee, some undead sucking life, but please, not a vampire. For the curse, the damsel could say I was cursed by Queen Rhiannon, the one the Romans call Juno"I was cursed by the queen Rhiannon", and that's it. Otherwise a good adventure.

@Voord 99 Not really. It's really a sleeping beauty character, under a curse.

Edited February 1, 2022 by Tizun Thane

[AlHazred]

Next one on the list:

Winterballade (Winter Ballad): From The Trodox - Ars Arcana, issue #40. This one is good. It's a winter scenario, so the GM is instructed to produce character sheets for regular people from one knight's manor -- a group of woodsmen. In the prelude to the scenario, all players play one of the woodsmen, who have an eerie encounter in the woods near the player knight's manor. When any survivors return to the manor, the scenario starts in earnest; it is recommend the player knight play his character while the other players play other NPCs from the manor or any surviving woodsmen.

The scenario concerns a mortal troubadour who became enamored of a fairy lady. He gave her his heart, and she did not return his love but also refused to return his heart. Now he haunts the winter (she's a winter fairy) as a kind of magical minstrel. The crux of the scenario deals with how the knight deals with this threat, as the troubadour could return every winter until he is decisively dealt with.

I like the idea of keeping this scenario for the session where you have one player show up and all the rest of the players bail out at the last minute, as an add-on to the previous session's Winter Phase. You could also modify the scenario to have it coincidentally take place at a point where one player knight is hosting the rest of the player knights at his manor, but the foes would probably need to be beefed up considerably.

I like this one a lot. Highly recommended.

Edited February 2, 2022 by AlHazred

[AlHazred]

I was RPG Director for a local convention back in the day, and have a lot of acquaintances in the local gaming. So, I've got a line on the Spanish-language scenarios and have started translating those to add blurbs with the Googles.

I feel like, as an English-language gamer in the 80s and 90s, I missed out on a lot of good content from overseas.

Also, there are at least five or six scenarios with "White Deer" or "White Stag" in the title.

EDIT: I see I was mistaken. I had remembered there was an "Adventure of the White Stag" in The Great Book of Pendragon Treasures, a netbook that made the rounds online a while ago, but tracking that down I find that it's actually the exact same (translated) scenario as the one in Lider magazine. In fact, a few of the adventures in The Great Book of Pendragon Treasures are apparently copied from other sources: the two @ShannonA scenarios from Ye Book of Tentacles are in there, for example. Did not realize that was a collection of pirated material, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised at a Netbook for doing that.

Still:

• “Adventure of the White Hart,” Beaumains #2 (1993) [EN]
• “La Chasse au Blanc Cerf (The Hunt for the White Deer,)” Casus Belli HS #8 (June 1993) [FR]
• “Les Cerfs Blancs (The White Deer,)” Tatou #16 (November 1993) [FR]
• “Aventura del Ciervo blanco (The Adventure of the White Stag,)” Lider (2nd Epoch) #39 (January 1994) [ES]
• “Adventure of the Hunt for the White Stag,” Tales of Chivalry & Romance (April 1999) [EN]

Edited February 7, 2022 by AlHazred
Cited sources.

[Tizun Thane]

thanks to @AlHazred, I learnt about the spanish side of the hobby. I manage to grab a few stories.

On 2/7/2022 at 5:58 PM, AlHazred said:

Aventura del Ciervo blanco (The Adventure of the White Stag,)” Lider (2nd Epoch) #39 (January 1994) [ES]

I read it. The figure of the white stag is not really exploited in the story.

The story itself is a nice little tale, with a touch of folklore. There is some riddles, and I love riddles.  However, the scenario itself is a bit short. The story is a solid 7/10 in my opinion. 

Quote

Dosdediez #7 - La aventura de la doncella sitiada

The adventure of the bessieged damosel.

this scenario is a tribute to the story of Perceval in Chrétien de Troyes's story, especially the siege of Beaurepaire. It's always interesting to take an old tale, and make it a roleplaying scenario. Of course, if you know the original tale, it's a copy-paste.

8/10 if you don't know the original tale, 5/10 if you do (You have to change numerous details to make it works).

Quote

Nivel 9 #12 - Do ut des

I didn't like it. It's more a synopsis than a scenario. The stakes are too high, and the obstacles too low. It was not easy to read either.

4/10.

Spoiler

I don't like that young PK have to save Arthur in disguise before his coronation. It's a nice idea, I guess,but badly exploited.

 

[AlHazred]

So far, of the foreign-language articles I've finally been able to read (thanks to friends with old-school collections and the wonders of Google Translate), there have been a few really outstanding scenarios. Everyone's table plays differently, so I'm not sure my ratings would help anybody, especially as I've not had a chance to run any of them yet. But of the magazine scenarios, I think the following are noteworthy:

• "Premières Armes... (First Weapons)" from Casus Belli #74. Solid starter scenario. [French]
• "La Dama Misteriosa (The Mysterious Lady)" from Nivel 9 #10. This one has a strong faerie element, and ties in to a major (but not crucial) character -- what a great way to have the PKs have a lasting campaign impact without totally derailing the GPC. [Spanish]
• "Winterballade (Winter Ballad)" from Der Trodox Ars Arcana #40. A winter-time scenario perfect for when only one of your players can make it to a session. [German]
• "The Adventure of the Reluctant Bride" from Ye Booke of Tentacles #2. A Shannon Appelcline scenario that I like because I can see it spun out any of a dozen ways, some of them wildly different from other similar scenarios. [English]

Edited April 1, 2022 by AlHazred
Fixed errors.

[Tizun Thane]

On 3/28/2022 at 7:37 PM, AlHazred said:

"La Dama Misteriosa (The Mysterious Lady)" from Nivel 9 #10. This one has a strong faerie element, and ties in to a major (but not crucial) character -- what a great way to have the PKs have a lasting campaign impact without totally derailing the GPC.

I agree. It's a very nice adventure, with a nasty dilemna and many ways to solve the adventure. A solid 8/10.

[Tizun Thane]

Does someone know " The King Beneath the Hill", a pendragon adventure from white wolf magazine (#26)? It is good or not?

[AlHazred]

8 hours ago, Tizun Thane said:

Does someone know " The King Beneath the Hill", a pendragon adventure from white wolf magazine (#26)? It is good or not?

I have that at home. I'll give a mini-review once I have it in my hands.

EDIT: Okay, so first off, "This adventure is primarily designed for use with D&D/AD&D. It can also be adapted very easily for use with other roleplaying systems, and notes on Chivalry & Sorcery, Pendragon, Ars Magica, RuneQuest and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay are given at the end of the adventure." It's fairly "Arthurian-esque," even more so than "Le Goût des Cendres" from Casus Belli #103. It's not bad, but it requires work.

It takes place in the "Barony of Esca," where Lord Caradoc "has gradually carved a territory out of the wastes, but strange and unnatural prodigies still occur in Esca, albeit less frequently than in previous years. There are still adventures to be had..." This sounds like a good fit for the Forest Sauvage to me. There are several challenges which actually work better in Pendragon than D&D, although you have to do some editing. For example, there's a magic sword a character can claim; "The sword can only be taken by a true knight." In D&D and AD&D, there's some specifications how to determine that. For Pendragon, I'd make it a contest of Valorous rolls, to see who is "worthy." There are notes at the end for converting enemies to Pendragon stats.

I like it, but I feel like there is a missed opportunity I'd make use of. I'll put it in the spoiler.

Spoiler

The main enemy is the "undead" King Marbonadius and his court of ghouls. The one who sends you on the mission is, as I said, Lord Caradoc who has "gradually carved a territory" here. In my game, I'd introduce Caradoc earlier and have a him give the PKs a few missions previous to this one; the missions should make it feel like the land itself supernaturally resists Caradoc's attempt to create a barony. It feels like there is an adventure in dealing with the cursed king and taking his crown back so that Lord Caradoc can finally claim true rulership of the lands, that would be cool to run for PKs during the Enchantment of Britain.

 

Edited May 3, 2022 by AlHazred

[Tizun Thane]

9 hours ago, AlHazred said:

The sword can only be taken by a true knight." In D&D and AD&D, there's some specifications how to determine that. For Pendragon, I'd make it a contest of Valorous rolls, to see who is "worthy."

Maybe honor would be more accurate? Anyway, thank you. I will read it.

[Morien]

2 hours ago, Tizun Thane said:

Maybe honor would be more accurate? Anyway, thank you. I will read it.

Or even require Chivalric Bonus and Honor 16+. In any case, I would threshold it rather than rely on the randomness of 1d20.

[Tizun Thane]

So... I read the "king beneath the hill". It's a nice d&d aventure with a celtic touch. 

Is it a nice adventure for KAP? Probably somewhere ^^ I think you could change all the undeads by some faeries (or make the undead less D&D and more Pendragony), remove some magical items, place the hill/tumulus in some appropriate site. In the old boy king, all the "real word" tumulus in the Forest Sauvage are listed.

 

[AlHazred]

You could appropriate one of the tumuli in the Forest Sauvage. My thinking on the undead is either "ghost kights" or faeries. I lean towards ghost knights, and using the whole thing as a metaphor for how Arthur is sweeping aside some traditions for something new, and the resistance against that. Although, going faeries gives the Hunt new meaning.

[ShannonA]

Bit of a Necro, but I updated my old _Beaumains_ index to HTML and to include #6, so here's one of the biggest listing of articles:
 

https://www.erzo.org/shannon/gaming/indices/pendragon/beaumains.html

[AlHazred]

I have a search pinned on eBay for Beaumains, but it never pings on any of the fanzine issues. I fear I will never lay my hands on any!

[ShannonA]

Yeah, that's the sad reality for old fanzines. Low print runs, and probably not preserved by many folks since they tended to be printed on pulp paper and/or run off at copy shops.

Ironically, I used to game with the US distributor, and so there were piles of the 'zines (#3-5 and later #6) at his apartment.

[AlHazred]

On 9/12/2022 at 3:48 PM, ShannonA said:

Ironically, I used to game with the US distributor, and so there were piles of the 'zines (#3-5 and later #6) at his apartment.

Well, if you run into him, tell him to put the extras on eBay and let us know! 😄

[AlHazred]

I acquired a copy of The Last Province #1, in order to get the Pendragon scenario. It was disappointing. I'll post a more detailed review of it when I get home from work, but the scenario was not worth getting the magazine.

[AlHazred]

So, the scenario is called "And Then There Were Nun..." and is billed as "a scenario for beginner knights." The knights are at the court of the Earl of Bedegraine. They are supposed to succeed in Intrigue rolls to figure out the Earl is looking for a group of knights to do a task for him. If confronted, he tells them he has an escort mission for the knights to bring 12 young maidens to a nunnery.

Joining the group on the morning of departure is another woman, who the players are supposed to roll to Recognize as Isodore, who is married to the Earl's son, Gabriel, who is away on a quest. Unbeknownst to the PKs, her backstory is she had an affair, which was discovered, and is to be banished. She fears if she stays in Bedegraine she might be killed to salvage the family honor.

NOTE: In the BoU, Greg Stafford has the King make Sir Sulien the Count of Bedegraine in 481, and in the GPC after the Battle of Bedegraine in 510 Arthur sleeps with Lyzianor, daughter of Earl Sanam of Bedegraine, fathering Borre le Cure Hardy. However, none of this was around when this scenario came out in October 1992, so David Barras can be excused for not putting any of it in.

Along the way, the PKs can camp at Castle Hill (a trading outpost), and eventually they reach the nunnery, which lies in ruins. The nunnery was sacked by Saxons, and there is only one survivor,a single nun. She tells the PKs the leader of the Saxons is named Ezra, who is The Devil himself. Nobody knows where the Saxons camp, but they've been raiding along the border with Logres.

So, the PKs have a choice of how to take care of their charges: they can bring them back, or they can find someone to watch the women for them. The scenario mentions the players might feel a time pressure from this, and it would make an interesting narrative pressure. However, the scenario informs the Narrator that there's no real time pressure -- the players can just follow the trail of destruction to the Saxon hill fort.

On the way to the Hill Fort, they can be joined by Sir Gabriel. But, surprise!, it's not Sir Gabriel, it's Isodore, dressed in Sir Gabriel's armor. She didn't feel safe in Bedegraine and has come to journey with the PKs, the only people with which she feels safe.

The players then go to the Hill Fort and fight some Saxons and eventually Ezra. There are two possibilities given for Isodore, a competent and a meek version. And there the module ends.

So, there's a lot of wasted potential here. It seems like the family drama could have been fleshed out considerably. The Earl of Bedegraine doesn't get a lot of development in the GPC (IIRC) so you can expand that without running into any continuity problems. But the only character who receives any real description is Isodore, and the only family members mentioned by name are Isodore and Gabriel. Nobody else in Bedegraine is given a name or personality.

Then there are the 12 women going to a nunnery. They're the reason for the name of the module, but they are given no personalities or names, and that seems like an enormous waste of potential. They could have been used to provide interesting interactions with Christian (or Pagan!) Knights, having discussions of spirituality and engaging in interactions. Heck, you could have one of the women secretly be an informant for the Saxons! That whole section could have been expanded a lot instead of just being dropped halfway through!

Ezra himself is beefy, but doesn't scream "mini-boss" to me. He has no personality beyond his given Traits and Passions ("Valorous 18, All Wotanic Traits 16, Honor 15"). He needed more foreshadowing or to be more archetypical.

No Glory rewards (or loot) are given. There is a nice map of a Saxon Hill Fort.

It's... underwhelming. It feels like there are a few nice ideas, but it would take a lot of work to make it into an enjoyable session.

Edited January 12 by AlHazred

[AlHazred]

I read this just before going to bed, and it informed my dreams. So, my subconscious coughed up a few things.

• Definitely flesh out a few of the maidens. One should be very devout and offer some theological interaction with a chaste PK. Another should be an impoverished noble's daughter, being sent to the convent since there's no prospects for her at home; she can offer some political or social commentary. One of them could be a Pagan, being sent to the convent by her folks who have otherwise converted to Christianity. There are sooo many possibilities here.
• The Earl's family should be fleshed out. I'm on the fence whether the Earl should be villainous or just excessively selfish; leaving it ambiguous would let the GM change it to suit his needs later on. Perhaps Isodore is being excessively paranoid and the Earl doesn't much care about her one way or another.
• Isodore's adultery is dropped into the scenario and never really addressed. In Arthurian stories, that could go a lot of ways. Perhaps she was enchanted (if you want to tie in Morgan or somebody magical). If you want her to be more sympathetic, her husband can have been particularly vile to her; this may be a more appropriate plotline after Guinevere introduces Romance.
• I feel like, if you're going to run this, you should have the PKs have run-ins with Ezra's Saxon followers previous to the scenario. Maybe they're a throwaway encounter in an earlier scenario, with the last surviving Saxon shouting (in broken English), "The Devil will take you!" Make it more noteworthy.
• In my dream, Sir Gabriel was a villainous knight in cahoots with Ezra, and this gave megives the PKs the lead necessary to track Ezra to his secret lair, which should be more dramatic -- maybe a seaside cave system or a ruined keep on a rocky island just off the coast.

[AlHazred]

It occurred to me I never got around to reviewing all of the "White Hart" adventures. There were ultimately five:

• “Adventure of the White Hart,” Beaumains #2 (1993) [EN]
• “La Chasse au Blanc Cerf (The Hunt for the White Deer,)” Casus Belli HS #8 (June 1993) [FR]
• “Les Cerfs Blancs (The White Deer,)” Tatou #16 (November 1993) [FR]
• “Aventura del Ciervo Blanco (The Adventure of the White Stag,)” Lider (2nd Epoch) #39 (January 1994) [ES]
• “Adventure of the Hunt for the White Stag,” Tales of Chivalry & Romance (April 1999) [EN]

I don't have Beaumains, so that one will have to take a back seat. Also, I seem to remember an "Adventure of the White Hart" in The Boy King?

“Aventura del Ciervo Blanco (The Adventure of the White Stag,)” Lider (2nd Epoch) #39 (January 1994) [ES]

This is a short scenario. The PKs encounter a white deer, who leads them to a deserted castle. In a room in the center, they find a sleeping nobleman on a bier, with three fiery horses attached to the bier with leads; they prevent anyone from approaching the nobleman. The deer explains she's a noblewoman who has been turned into a deer by an enchantment, which also put her brother to sleep. The PKs need to solve three riddles to stop the curse and free the nobles from their predicament.

It's not bad, but it's a little short. It would probably work well as a scenario at a convention, where you have very limited time to run your game. I would have liked a little more meat to it, but I'm pretty happy that the riddles aren't bad. I agree with @Tizun Thane's 7/10 rating. Two endings are given, a happy ending and a paranoid ending; what a strange way to end a Pendragon scenario...

Edited June 14, 2023 by AlHazred

[AlHazred]

I managed to acquire (at more expense than I would normally like) a copy of Beaumains issue #6 from a UK eBay seller. As a result, I can now report on the articles in it, in somewhat more detail than @ShannonA's index.

• The Adventure of the Strangers' Path, by Gareth Jones: This was the tournament Pendragon scenario from Convulsion '94. It's set sometime in the late 540s, and begins at King Arthur's Court, then goes into strange territory. It's an interesting scenario, based on the author's own interpretation of the Arthurian Grail drama. It's also, IMO, somewhat heavy-handed. It has some very evocative and extremely weird encounters, and definitely feels like something that could have dropped out of The Mabinogion or Perlesvaus. 12 pages long, very detailed.
• The Adventure of the Noble Baby, by Tim Harris: This is more of a scenario seed than an adventure, despite its name. It could take place at any time and bbegins On the Road. The PKs meet a mute woman carrying a child. The identity of the child is left to the GM, with five options being provided; as I said, this is more of a plot seed. Weirdly, the jewelry of the mute woman is described in detail, including value and magical powers, almost like it was D&D. Not bad, but it's only two pages long and extremely bare-bones.
• What Your Character Knows in 495 AD, by Michael Trout: This was my main interest in this issue. It's a lore article detailing the state of Britain in 495, invaluable information for those of us who were trying to run a sort of "Phase 0" game to lead to a longer campaign. A lot of this information is probably also provided in The Great Pendragon Campaign, but I'm interested in seeing how it compares. 10 pages, brief coverage of many topics.
• Divers Dabblings: A miscellany column of short pieces not long enough to be articles, this contains:
  • Temporary Fellowships, by Heidi Kaye: A few examples to show how temporary Orders were set up and the sorts of benefits they provided and duties they required. Example orders: The Order of the Devoted Heart and the Knights of the Cyclops. 1 page.
  • Saracen Knights, by Danny Bourne: Character generation for Saracen knight characters. 2 pages.
• Reviews: Pagan Shores, reviewed by Heidi Kaye and Ed Everett; King Arthur's Camelot, a Pop-Up Castle and 4 Storybooks, reviewed by Gareth; AD&D Crusades Sourcebook, reviewed by Ed Everett; and, The Ellyllon Knights Campaign 1995, reported on by Gareth.
• Waxing Wood, by Gareth Jones: endnotes about various Arthuriana Gareth has received, DC Comics interpretation of Excalibur, and so on.

Now I need to acquire issue #5, which I believe contains the 495 AD character background tables to go along with the lore article in this issue. I'll update the spreadsheet shortly.

Edited January 6 by AlHazred

[AlHazred]

Sheet has been updated. I'm still haunting eBay looking for issues of Beamains, but it's really slow going. People like to hold onto it, and I don't blame them; it's a great fanzine!

I've also got saved eBay searches for Fantasy Chronicles but that's trickier, both because those are extremely common words to have in any particular RPG listing, and also because the ones I've found are too rich for my budget. This year my daughter was born, and budgeting for inessentials has become trickier! 🙂

I was gifted some gift cards which went to PDFs of old magazines I could find, so I plan to fill out some more blanks in the list this year.

[AlHazred]

I realized the list doesn't have much European material beyond a couple of German entries, a bunch of French material, and a few Spanish entries.

I've heard there was a small Pendragon fan community in Italy. I've heard of Italian gaming magazines Kappa (at least in 1991, the first two issues had RPG content), Fuori dal Tempo (also seems to have published RPG material in 1991), Kaos (ran from 1991-2002), X (a spin-off magazine from Kaos focused on RPG material), and E Giochi and Giochi (these two might be the same magazine -- RPGGeek is less helpful in this regard since "giochi" in this context means "games"). For a variety of reasons, my Google skills are failing me on these. I have no idea if any of these have Pendragon content, sadly.

I know there's another Kaos magazine, a Danish periodical, that had a Call of Cthulhu scenario in issue 12. I wonder if they had any Pendragon, since they obviously knew Chaosium.

Anybody have any idea for where to look?