Pegasus (game magazine)

• 1. Introduction

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  Pegasus #13 went to the printers and then simply ceased to exist. Judges Guild stopped production before a single copy of that issue reached readers. The magazine had run from April/May 1981 through early 1983. It attached a 32-page game supplement to each issue it managed to publish. What drove a publisher that had already stumbled on new licenses and computer games to stake its future on a roleplaying journal? And why did one of its earliest critics praise the supplement while telling readers not to subscribe to the magazine itself?

• 2. Pulp Pages, Bigger Vision

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  Mike Reagan edited the first issue of Pegasus, which came in at 96 pages, making it larger than any previous Judges Guild magazine. Both the pages and the covers, however, returned to an older pulp-quality standard. The lead feature of that first issue was a 36-page installment called "The Black Ring," written by Dan Hauffe and set within the city-state campaign. Guild members received a Pegasus subscription as part of their membership. From issue #3 onward, each issue spotlighted certain products that members could purchase at a 10% discount. The magazine's ambitions, though, extended well beyond any single game system.

• 3. Twelve Games, One Magazine

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  Pegasus carried material for twelve distinct roleplaying game systems during its run. D&D, RuneQuest, Traveller, and Tunnels & Trolls sat alongside Arduin Grimoire, Champions, and Ysgarth. The Fantasy Trip, The Morrow Project, Skull & Crossbones, Stormbringer, and Villains and Vigilantes completed the roster. AD&D variant rules appeared alongside statistics for new magic items and monsters, advice for gamemastering, fiction, and reviews. What changed more often than the game being covered was the name on the masthead.

• 4. Four Editors, Two Years

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  Chuck Anshell came back as editor with issue #3 in 1981, an early indication that the desk would not stay settled. Edward Mortimer replaced him for issue #5 in December 1981. Mark Holmer took over with issue #9 in August/September 1982. Mike Maddin then assumed the role for issue #12, dated February/March 1983. Four editors moved through the position in fewer than two years. By the time Maddin took the desk in early 1983, only one more issue stood between Pegasus and the end of its print run.

• 5. The Space Gamer's Verdict

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  W. G. Armintrout reviewed the first issue of Pegasus in The Space Gamer No. 44, splitting his verdict along the magazine's own structure. "I can't recommend Pegasus as a magazine," he wrote. "However, the installment supplement was nearly excellent." His conditional endorsement came with a specific audience in mind. "If you play AD&D and you think supplements a year for the price is a good deal, then subscribe," he added. Perfidious Albion also covered Pegasus, with a notice on page 19 of its fifty-first issue in September 1981. Armintrout's endorsement was addressed to AD&D players specifically. Pegasus, in the two years it ran, covered eleven other game systems alongside D&D.