The Beaumains Index

Version 1.30: Issues 1-6

by Shannon Appelcline

Overview

History: 1993-1996

Beaumains magazine is a fanzine that was founded in early 1993 by Gareth Jones. It was labeled "The Arthurian Magazine for Gamers", and almost exclusively contained content about Chaosium's Arthurian game, King Arthur Pendragon (1985). The colophon listed the magazine as produced by "Taupe Games", an imprint that Jones had previously used to publish his All-Adventure Action Roleplay (1990) game, or AAARG.

Two of the best elements of Beaumains as a magazine were that it focused on the historical framework of Pendragon, offering background and adventures for a variety of eras; and that it offered reviews not just of Pendragon products, but also other roleplaying (and non-fiction) books that might be of use to Pendragon GMs.

Originally, Beaumains was only distributed in Britain, but issues #3 and up would be more widely available in the US, Sweden, and other parts of the world. This was thanks to individuals in each of those countries who personally distributed the magazine: in the US, distribution was from Eric Rowe, who shortly went on to form the consolidation & distribution company Wizard's Attic.

Publication of Beaumains sputtered out after the publication of Beaumains #5 (June 1994). A final issue, Beamains #6 (1995) appeared over a year later, but by this point some of the distributors had moved on, making it more of a rarity compared to #3-5. Afterward, Jones says that "life got in the way" of editing additional issues.

In 2020, Jones (now moved from Britain to California) reported that he was working on a project to both reprint material from Beaumains and to publish material intended for the fanzine but never published. It has yet to appear.

Obtaining the Magazines

As a fanzine from the '90s, Beaumains is likely almost impossible to acquire on secondary markets, though issues #3-5 are slightly more likely to turn up.

About the Contents

This index was converted from an original version produced in 1995. The update was made without the ability to consult Beaumains #1 or #2 (since they were originally borrowed from one of the distributors of the magazine), though some references were double-checked and data filled in via consultation with RPGGeek Nonetheless, credits, system descriptions, and categorizations for the first two issues might be slightly less reliable. As usual, feel free to mail corrections or submit them as PRs to GitHub.

About the Editions

Publication of Beaumains occurred during the transition period between King Arthur Pendragon 3e (1990) and King Arthur Pendragon 4e (1993), the latter being extensively reviewed in Beaumains #4 (February 1994). Any articles were largely cross-compatible with both editions because of their similarity, other than the addition of magic in 4e. Articles are somewhat arbitrarily labeled as being for 3e or 4e depending on when they appeared, whether they referenced old books like Knights Adventurous (1990), and whether they featured 4e rules on magic.

Publication of Beaumains also occurred after The Boy King (1991) but before The Great Pendragon Campaign (2006), which means that its fairly considerable focus on historic adventures would likely need to be revised for the modern sourcebook.

This index is © Copyright 1995, 2022-2023 by Shannon Appelcline. It is released under a cc-by-4.0 license, allowing reuse with attribution. Background image by macrovector on Freepik laid atop Grunge Stained Old Paper Texture from Textures4Photoshop, used under license.

Main Arthurian Index

πŸ—ΊοΈ Accessories

Title System Author # Pgs
Forms
Pendragon Character Sheet Pendragon 3e 3 43-44

β›Ί Adventures: Misc

Title System Author # Pgs
Misc
The Blind Knight Pendragon 3e Nathan Gribble 3 34-35
The Fey Mist Pendragon 3e Tim Husband 1 31-35
The Five Ladies Pendragon 4e Heidi Kaye 4 33-38
The Moonlight Boar Pendragon 3e Gareth Jones 1 21-24
The Mysterious Manor1 Pendragon 4e Heidi Kaye 3 4-9
The Noble Baby Pendragon 4e Tim Harris 6 16-17
A Saint to Quest for Pendragon 4e Jackie Duckworth 4 13-14
The Twice-Trothed Knight Pendragon 3e Gareth Jones 1 4-20
  1. Reprinted in TALES OF CHIVALRY & ROMANCE (Green Knight, 1999)

βŒ›οΈ Adventures: Historic

Title System Author # Pgs
Phase 0 (Pre-Arthur)
The White Hart [445] Pendragon 3e Andrew Behan 2 13-19
In the Beginning [492] Pendragon 4e Megan C. Robertson 5 11-16
Phase 1
The Saxon Knight Pendragon 4e Heidi Kaye 5 17-20
Phase 2
The Castle of the Cursed Isle [512] Pendragon 4e Tim Harris 4 9-12
From Dubglas to Loch Lomond [517] Pendragon 3e Gareth Jones 3 10-15
Phase 4
The Strangers Path [Late 540s]1 Pendragon 4e Gareth Jones 6 4-15
  1. Originally the Beaumains Tournament at Convulsion '94

🎨 Background: Misc

Title System Author # Pgs
Misc
A Pendragon Glossary (A-G) Ian Jenkinson 3 21-24
A Pendragon Glossary (G-M) Ian Jenkinson 4 23-26
A Pendragon Glossary (N-Y) Ian Jenkinson 5 21-24
Artifacts & Relics
Excalibur Fred Steadman-Jones 3 30-33
Heraldry
More About Heraldry S. Tucker 2 20-21
Organizations
The Knightly Order of St. Eustace Pendragon 3e Andrew Behan 3 20
New Knightly Orders Pendragon 3e Heidi Kaye 5 10
Temporary Fellowships Pendragon 3e Heidi Kaye 6 35-36
Religion
Paganism, Christianity, and the Arthurian Myth Danny Bourne 3 36-37
The Unconquered Sun Lewis Griffiths 4 15-18

βŒ› Background: Historic

Title System Author # Pgs
Phase 1
Family History for Phase 1 Pendragon 4e Michael Trout 5 4-9
Pendragon Before Arthur Pendragon 3e Heidi Kaye 4 4-8
What Your Character Knows (495 AD Version) Michael Trout 6 25-34

πŸ–ŠοΈ Campaign Design

Title System Author # Pgs
Adventures
In Durance Vile Pendragon 3e Gareth Jones 1 27-30

πŸ› οΈ Equipment

Title System Author # Pgs
Artifacts & Relics
Excalibur Fred Steadman-Jones 3 30-33
Weapons
Excalibur Fred Steadman-Jones 3 30-33

πŸ“£ Interviews, Memoirs & Notes

Title System Author # Pgs
Designers
Stafford, Greg Gareth Jones 2 22-23

⬆️ Meta

Title System Author # Pgs
Actual Play
The Ellyllon Knights Campaign 1995 Gareth Jones 6 40-41

πŸ—£οΈ NPCs

Title System Author # Pgs
Misc, Knights
A Chronology of the Knights of Arthur's Britain Chris Lampard & Tom Rogan 2 24-29
NPC Knights Pendragon 4e Shannon Appelcline 4 43
Lancelot
The Early Adventures of Lancelot du Lac Chris Lampard 2 6-12

πŸ“œ Rules

Title System Author # Pgs
Character Creation
Family History for Phase 1 Pendragon 4e Michael Trout 5 4-9
Minstrels Pendragon 3e Gareth Jones 5 28-35
Saracen Knights Pendragon 4e Danny Bourne 6 36-37
Characteristics
Aging Pendragon 3e Chris Lampard 2 34
Combat
Battles Pendragon 4e Gareth Jones 5 36-41
Jousting Pendragon 3e Chris Lampard 2 34
Weapons Pendragon 3e Brian Malowany 2 33
Hunting
Dogs and Hunting Pendragon 4e Michael Trout 4 44-47
Squires
Squires Pendragon 3e Jamie Revell 2 32-33

πŸ”Ž Previews

Title System Author # Pgs
Pendragon, Fourth Edition
Pendragon Fourth Edition Pendragon 4e 2 4-5

⭐ Reviews

Title System Author # Pgs
Misc, PBM, Pendragon 1e
Dieu et Mon Droit Pendragon PBM Pendragon 1e Miguel Anton Rodrigues & Salvador Gonzales Toll 3 25-26
Generic, Misc, Books, Childrens
King Arthur's Camelot: A Pop-up Castle & Four Storybooks Gareth Jones 6 39
Generic, Misc, Books, Non-Fiction
The Age of Arthur Andrew Behan 3 25
The Encyclopedia of Arthurian Legends Ed Everett 1 36
King Arthur: The True Story Ed Everett 3 26
Generic, Misc, Magazines, Non-Fiction
Pendragon Magazine Gareth Jones 3 27
Chaosium, Pendragon 3e
Blood & Lust Pendragon 3e Ed Everett 1 38-39
Perilous Forest Pendragon 3e Ed Everett 1 39
The Spectre King Pendragon 3e Ed Everett 2 30
Chaosium, Pendragon 4e
Pendragon, Fourth Edition Pendragon 4e Henk Langeveld 4 27
Pendragon, Fourth Edition Pendragon 4e Paul C. Duggan 4 27-29
Pendragon, Fourth Edition Pendragon 4e Ed Everett 4 29-30
Pagan Shore Pendragon 4e Heidi Kaye 6 38
Pagan Shore Pendragon 4e Ed Everett 6 38-39
Columbia Games, Generic, Lionheart
Lionheart Heidi Kaye 4 31
FGU, Lands of Adventure
Lands of Adventure LoA 1e 1 25-26
ICE, Rolemaster 2e
Robin Hood Rolemaster 2e Heidi Kaye 4 30-31
Steve Jackson Games, GURPS
Gurps Middle Ages I GURPS 3e Ed Everett 2 30-31
Taupe Games, AAARG
AAARG AAARG 2 35-36
TSR, AD&D 2e
The Crusades Campaign Sourcebook AD&D 2e Ed Everett 6 39-40

Covers