Let's Read...Everything D&D!
KirayaTiDrekan
Adventurer
B2: The Keep on the Borderlands
Originally published December, 1979
Version being read and reviewed: B2: The Keep on the Borderlands by Gary Gygax
First things first - SPOILER ALERT!!!!
Still here?
Ok, here we go.
The Keep on the Borderlands is arguably the most well known and most played adventure module of the 1980s since it was included in the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set, replacing B1: In Search of the Unknown. Does that make it a good adventure? Kinda.
Being an introductory adventure, the module starts off with advice for beginning Dungeon Masters, including encouraging players to hire some men-at-arms at the Keep should there not be enough players (the module recommends 5-9). Much of this introduction is quite familiar to veteran roleplayers, particularly older D&D players from the 80s. There's nothing particularly new and exciting here, though it was certainly helpful at the time. One item of interest - Gygax uses "he or she" and "his or her" in reference to the DM, more fully acknowledging the possibility of a woman DM than in previous works.
The introduction to the setting and adventure is terribly generic, though that means it could fit pretty much any setting (at least until settings started getting more exotic in the 90s). The Keep itself doesn’t even have a name. Its just referred to as “The Keep.” Likewise, the NPCs within are all unnamed.
As with T1: The Village of Hommlet, the Keep is highly detailed (almost like a dungeon itself) and the residents are more experienced and wealthy than one would expect.
There are four potential encounters in the wilderness between the Keep and the Caves of Chaos. One might think that these would be placed here to help the PCs gain a bit of XP before tackling the Caves but they are all quite deadly.
The Caves of Chaos are…odd. Basically, a collection of low-level humanoid lairs in the same hill/cave complex. Given that most of these critters are scavengers and raiders, you’d think they would have killed each other off or at least all become subservient to the strongest tribe in the area. Its also quite possible for PCs to wander into a higher level area than they are ready for. This happened to my group during the D&D Next playtest, resulting in two TPKs before we called it quits.
The various lairs include kobolds, 2 separate tribes of orcs, goblins, an ogre, hobgoblins, an owlbear, bugbears, a minotaur, gnolls, and a “shrine of evil chaos.” Like the Keep, the shrine inhabitants are quite generic so could be adjusted by the DM to suit any particular evil cult they have in their campaign.
The Caves of Chaos map is quite possibly the worst I have seen in any module thus far if only because it is nearly impossible to read. The contour lines of the hills, the blue of the background, the superimposed brush on the upper hills…its all a confusing mess.
This seems like a rather difficult adventure for beginning players. There’s also not much story behind the Keep and the Caves – just a home base and a series of monster lairs. Keep on the Borderlands may be a classic but it hasn’t aged well.
A much better, fan-made version of the Caves of Chaos map done by Weem can be found here.
Sidenote: The original version of this review was lost during a EN World crash.
Next up: C2: The Ghost Tower of Inverness
Originally published December, 1979
Version being read and reviewed: B2: The Keep on the Borderlands by Gary Gygax
First things first - SPOILER ALERT!!!!
Still here?
Ok, here we go.
The Keep on the Borderlands is arguably the most well known and most played adventure module of the 1980s since it was included in the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set, replacing B1: In Search of the Unknown. Does that make it a good adventure? Kinda.
Being an introductory adventure, the module starts off with advice for beginning Dungeon Masters, including encouraging players to hire some men-at-arms at the Keep should there not be enough players (the module recommends 5-9). Much of this introduction is quite familiar to veteran roleplayers, particularly older D&D players from the 80s. There's nothing particularly new and exciting here, though it was certainly helpful at the time. One item of interest - Gygax uses "he or she" and "his or her" in reference to the DM, more fully acknowledging the possibility of a woman DM than in previous works.
The introduction to the setting and adventure is terribly generic, though that means it could fit pretty much any setting (at least until settings started getting more exotic in the 90s). The Keep itself doesn’t even have a name. Its just referred to as “The Keep.” Likewise, the NPCs within are all unnamed.
As with T1: The Village of Hommlet, the Keep is highly detailed (almost like a dungeon itself) and the residents are more experienced and wealthy than one would expect.
There are four potential encounters in the wilderness between the Keep and the Caves of Chaos. One might think that these would be placed here to help the PCs gain a bit of XP before tackling the Caves but they are all quite deadly.
The Caves of Chaos are…odd. Basically, a collection of low-level humanoid lairs in the same hill/cave complex. Given that most of these critters are scavengers and raiders, you’d think they would have killed each other off or at least all become subservient to the strongest tribe in the area. Its also quite possible for PCs to wander into a higher level area than they are ready for. This happened to my group during the D&D Next playtest, resulting in two TPKs before we called it quits.
The various lairs include kobolds, 2 separate tribes of orcs, goblins, an ogre, hobgoblins, an owlbear, bugbears, a minotaur, gnolls, and a “shrine of evil chaos.” Like the Keep, the shrine inhabitants are quite generic so could be adjusted by the DM to suit any particular evil cult they have in their campaign.
The Caves of Chaos map is quite possibly the worst I have seen in any module thus far if only because it is nearly impossible to read. The contour lines of the hills, the blue of the background, the superimposed brush on the upper hills…its all a confusing mess.
This seems like a rather difficult adventure for beginning players. There’s also not much story behind the Keep and the Caves – just a home base and a series of monster lairs. Keep on the Borderlands may be a classic but it hasn’t aged well.
A much better, fan-made version of the Caves of Chaos map done by Weem can be found here.
Sidenote: The original version of this review was lost during a EN World crash.
Next up: C2: The Ghost Tower of Inverness
Last edited:
Ath-kethin
Elder Thing
I have attempted to run this module on multiple occasions and it (the module) has never survived intact. But then, I almost think that was its design goal.
Good to me you back at it! I hope this means all is well with you and your family.
Good to me you back at it! I hope this means all is well with you and your family.
KirayaTiDrekan
Adventurer
More or less. I'll never work again (I'm disabled) but we're getting disability benefits from the VA, so things are good enough for me to start this back up again.
KirayaTiDrekan
Adventurer
C2: The Ghost Tower of Inverness
Originally published December, 1979
Version being read and reviewed: C2: The Ghost Tower of Inverness by Allen Hammack
First things first - SPOILER ALERT!!!!
Still here?
Ok, here we go.
Two things stand out about this module from the introduction alone - an explicit connection to the Greyhawk setting, specifically the Duchy of Urnst, and that this is the second "competition" module. Look most of the early AD&D adventures, this was written for a convention and then published for a general audience later. Like C1: The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan, this adventure retains the scoring notes and other tournament-esque elements. There the similarities between C1 and C2 end, however.
The Ghost Tower itself is the abandoned fortress of yet another mega-powerful wizard, this one named Galap-Dreidel. The tower also houses yet another powerful artifact, the Soul Gem. The adventure begins as the Seer of Urnst convinces the Duke to enlist a group of adventurers to retrieve the Soul Gem. The seer, of course, seems a bit shady.
I'll be honest, I really don't understand the point of competition style play. Thus the tournament scoring section is a bit of an odd read for me. I started in the era of story focused gaming when AD&D 2nd Edition and Vampire: The Masquerade were the shiny new things. The scoring system is a bit subjective which seems to be defeat the purpose if a tournament has different DMs running the module. One DM may reward creative problem solving more than another, for example. It all seems a bit arbitrary and pointless.
As with C1, the tournament version includes a special introduction for the pregenerated characters - they are all convicts (well, almost all) being pressed into service. I kind of like it and it could be a way to bridge C1 and C2 and use the same characters since, in C1, the PCs were being tracked down by bounty hunters. However, as with the G series of adventures, there is a hefty penalty for failure - not quite the death sentence of Against the Giants, but almost as bad (back to prison).
The dungeon level is little more than a multi-part mcguffin quest to assemble a key to the actual tower. The non-tournament rooms seem a touch more "funhouse dungeon" and inexplicably odd than the rest of the dungeon. And there's a Chess themed room. I suppose it wasn't overused back then but, from a modern perspective - ugh. There's also a seemingly pointless time travel element when the party moves from the dungeon to the tower itself.
The tower has a loose elemental theme to its levels. The transition from the fire level to the water level involves a reverse gravity effect and I had a pretty hard time wrapping my brain around it while reading it. The entire water level is effectively upside down due to the gravity switcheroo. Like the Chess themed room, elemental themes seem to be a touch overused in early D&D adventures.
The Soul Gem itself is the "final boss" of the adventure as it sucks character's souls into it randomly until the characters can grab it and teleport back to Urnst and the Seer.
The module is rounded out with a few visual aids, the pregen characters, a monster entry for the firebat, and the DM record sheet and scoring sheet.
Though not as bad as White Plume Mountain, the Ghost Tower is definitely a "funhouse" dungeon along the same theme - built by a mad wizard to house powerful artifacts. I am definitely not a fan of this style of adventure.
Sidenote: The original version of this review was lost during a EN World crash.
Next up: The Rogues Gallery
Originally published December, 1979
Version being read and reviewed: C2: The Ghost Tower of Inverness by Allen Hammack
First things first - SPOILER ALERT!!!!
Still here?
Ok, here we go.
Two things stand out about this module from the introduction alone - an explicit connection to the Greyhawk setting, specifically the Duchy of Urnst, and that this is the second "competition" module. Look most of the early AD&D adventures, this was written for a convention and then published for a general audience later. Like C1: The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan, this adventure retains the scoring notes and other tournament-esque elements. There the similarities between C1 and C2 end, however.
The Ghost Tower itself is the abandoned fortress of yet another mega-powerful wizard, this one named Galap-Dreidel. The tower also houses yet another powerful artifact, the Soul Gem. The adventure begins as the Seer of Urnst convinces the Duke to enlist a group of adventurers to retrieve the Soul Gem. The seer, of course, seems a bit shady.
I'll be honest, I really don't understand the point of competition style play. Thus the tournament scoring section is a bit of an odd read for me. I started in the era of story focused gaming when AD&D 2nd Edition and Vampire: The Masquerade were the shiny new things. The scoring system is a bit subjective which seems to be defeat the purpose if a tournament has different DMs running the module. One DM may reward creative problem solving more than another, for example. It all seems a bit arbitrary and pointless.
As with C1, the tournament version includes a special introduction for the pregenerated characters - they are all convicts (well, almost all) being pressed into service. I kind of like it and it could be a way to bridge C1 and C2 and use the same characters since, in C1, the PCs were being tracked down by bounty hunters. However, as with the G series of adventures, there is a hefty penalty for failure - not quite the death sentence of Against the Giants, but almost as bad (back to prison).
The dungeon level is little more than a multi-part mcguffin quest to assemble a key to the actual tower. The non-tournament rooms seem a touch more "funhouse dungeon" and inexplicably odd than the rest of the dungeon. And there's a Chess themed room. I suppose it wasn't overused back then but, from a modern perspective - ugh. There's also a seemingly pointless time travel element when the party moves from the dungeon to the tower itself.
The tower has a loose elemental theme to its levels. The transition from the fire level to the water level involves a reverse gravity effect and I had a pretty hard time wrapping my brain around it while reading it. The entire water level is effectively upside down due to the gravity switcheroo. Like the Chess themed room, elemental themes seem to be a touch overused in early D&D adventures.
The Soul Gem itself is the "final boss" of the adventure as it sucks character's souls into it randomly until the characters can grab it and teleport back to Urnst and the Seer.
The module is rounded out with a few visual aids, the pregen characters, a monster entry for the firebat, and the DM record sheet and scoring sheet.
Though not as bad as White Plume Mountain, the Ghost Tower is definitely a "funhouse" dungeon along the same theme - built by a mad wizard to house powerful artifacts. I am definitely not a fan of this style of adventure.
Sidenote: The original version of this review was lost during a EN World crash.
Next up: The Rogues Gallery
KirayaTiDrekan
Adventurer
The Rogues Gallery
Originally published January 1980
Version being read and reviewed: The Rogues Gallery by Brian Blume with Dave Cook and Jean Wells
This is basically a big book of tables of NPCs of every class (AD&D 1st Edition specifically). While interesting, the intro which explains the various abbreviations used in the tables notes that things like AC and to hit bonus don’t take into account magic items, or even Dex bonuses. The magic items belonging to these NPCs are “purposely left sketchy and incomplete.” The usefulness of these pregens is thus also sketchy. I suppose they’re handy as starting points, but for something a DM needs right now in an encounter, there’s still far too much work to be done.
The table for clerics in the PDF version I have is missing the brief introductory paragraph the other classes have, possibly due to a scanning error. Each table uses a percentile roll except the bards table, which only uses a d20 (since bards are a pseudo-prestige class and are thus supposed to be quite rare). There is also a table for multi-class characters.
There are also tables for sages, o-level characters, caravans (which are heavily guarded - makes sense - I always wandered just how trade even exists when the wilderness between towns is often full of hostile critters), city guards (and watches and patrols), pilgrims, and bandits and buccaneers.
We then get sections on a few monsters that are particularly complicated to run - couatl, ki-rin, shedu, liches, and NPC dungeon parties. The dungeon parties are just a list of classes and specific magic items owned by individual members. So, you have to go back to the previous tables if you want at least some of their combat stats. Interestingly, the lower level parties have a few men-at-arms on hand while the higher level parties have henchmen and hirelings.
Finally, there are individual descriptions of various personalities, aka the player characters of Gary Gygax and his various players. A few of the names attached to various spells throughout D&D’s history can be found here. Bigby (a reclusive, mostly retired 13th level magic-user), Mordenkainen (a 16th level magic-user and the highest level character in the book), and Tenser (a 14th level Lawful Good magic-user who loves combat). The bard, Fletcher, reminds me of a bard NPC named Piper I created for my own campaigns - a scheming, inscrutable type who is always a couple of steps ahead of everyone else. Grimslade, a Neutral magic-user, seems like the sort of character played by someone who just wants to be disruptive and contrary. Most of these characters are Neutral at best, with several being outright evil. One wonders what sort of campaigns these folks were playing.
While useful for its time, this is one of those books that didn’t age well.
Sidenote: The original version of this review was lost during a EN World crash.
Next up: S3: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks
Originally published January 1980
Version being read and reviewed: The Rogues Gallery by Brian Blume with Dave Cook and Jean Wells
This is basically a big book of tables of NPCs of every class (AD&D 1st Edition specifically). While interesting, the intro which explains the various abbreviations used in the tables notes that things like AC and to hit bonus don’t take into account magic items, or even Dex bonuses. The magic items belonging to these NPCs are “purposely left sketchy and incomplete.” The usefulness of these pregens is thus also sketchy. I suppose they’re handy as starting points, but for something a DM needs right now in an encounter, there’s still far too much work to be done.
The table for clerics in the PDF version I have is missing the brief introductory paragraph the other classes have, possibly due to a scanning error. Each table uses a percentile roll except the bards table, which only uses a d20 (since bards are a pseudo-prestige class and are thus supposed to be quite rare). There is also a table for multi-class characters.
There are also tables for sages, o-level characters, caravans (which are heavily guarded - makes sense - I always wandered just how trade even exists when the wilderness between towns is often full of hostile critters), city guards (and watches and patrols), pilgrims, and bandits and buccaneers.
We then get sections on a few monsters that are particularly complicated to run - couatl, ki-rin, shedu, liches, and NPC dungeon parties. The dungeon parties are just a list of classes and specific magic items owned by individual members. So, you have to go back to the previous tables if you want at least some of their combat stats. Interestingly, the lower level parties have a few men-at-arms on hand while the higher level parties have henchmen and hirelings.
Finally, there are individual descriptions of various personalities, aka the player characters of Gary Gygax and his various players. A few of the names attached to various spells throughout D&D’s history can be found here. Bigby (a reclusive, mostly retired 13th level magic-user), Mordenkainen (a 16th level magic-user and the highest level character in the book), and Tenser (a 14th level Lawful Good magic-user who loves combat). The bard, Fletcher, reminds me of a bard NPC named Piper I created for my own campaigns - a scheming, inscrutable type who is always a couple of steps ahead of everyone else. Grimslade, a Neutral magic-user, seems like the sort of character played by someone who just wants to be disruptive and contrary. Most of these characters are Neutral at best, with several being outright evil. One wonders what sort of campaigns these folks were playing.
While useful for its time, this is one of those books that didn’t age well.
Sidenote: The original version of this review was lost during a EN World crash.
Next up: S3: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks
Hussar
Legend
On the point about alignment.
I wonder just how much the game was colored by the Gygax's players. From the stories I've read, they were, well, right bastards in character. Neutral to evil indeed. I wonder, and I imagine there's no way to know, how much things like Paladins, and the rather stringent alignment descriptions, and class/alignment restrictions, that sort of thing was influenced by the group that was doing a large amount of the play testing.
I wonder just how much the game was colored by the Gygax's players. From the stories I've read, they were, well, right bastards in character. Neutral to evil indeed. I wonder, and I imagine there's no way to know, how much things like Paladins, and the rather stringent alignment descriptions, and class/alignment restrictions, that sort of thing was influenced by the group that was doing a large amount of the play testing.
Echohawk
Shirokinukatsukami fan
It does indeed look like this is a scanning error. Here is the missing text:
The Rogues Gallery said:
KirayaTiDrekan
Adventurer
S3: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks
Originally published February, 1980
Version being read and reviewed: S3: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks by Gary Gygax
First things first - SPOILER ALERT!!!!
Still here?
Ok, here we go.
EN World ate the lengthy review I had typed up so - short and sweet.
Expedition to the Barrier Peaks is the culmination of the sci-fi hintings and cameos that appeared in various D&D products since its inception. There would be a few flirtations with the premise later on, but this adventure seems to be the most concentrated dose, so to speak.
The crashed spaceship that features in this adventure is actually a single section of a larger colony ship that was separated to quarantine a deadly plague. The adventure suggests that the ship-section entered the reality of Greyhawk via a black hole from an alternate reality. There is also a section of a spaceship featured in a couple of Mystara (D&D Known World) products, most prominently in Wrath of the Immortals. I like to think they are parts of the same ship.
Given the general recreational nature of most areas, this section of the ship would seem to be rec-room of the larger vessel, so to speak. Gymnasium, swimming pool, theater, arcade, cafeterias, lounges, and a botanical garden and aquarium. The garden, however, is now the deadliest area of the ship. Its a veritable death trap and it would surprise if any party managed to get out of there without losing at least one player character.
The technology in this adventure has a very Lost in Space/Star Trek feel to it, from the dials and buttons on the control panels to the designs of the robots (the police robots remind me of the robot in Lost in Space). If I were running the adventure today, I would update the tech to modern sci-fi sensibilities.
Several new monsters appear in this adventure, including the vegepygmy, which appears to originate with this module, their origins being from irradiated plants in the botanical garden. Most of the critters are noted as having been captured during the ship's voyage, implying that the reality this ship comes from also has intellect devourers, mind flayers, shedu, and couatls.
Some parts of this adventure are written with tongue firmly in cheek but I think it could also work as a horror-tinged sci-fi adventure - the player characters stumbling across it drifting through space and board it to investigate. One of the issues with this adventure is the paradox of futuristic and modern items being familiar to the players but not their characters. My solution when the situation arises is just to tell the players what the item is and let them sort out how their character reacts to it.
The preface notes that this adventure traces its origins to Metamorphosis Alpha, one of the first sci-fi RPGs to hit the market and that the adventure served as a means of introducing D&D players to sci-fi roleplaying and adventuring. S3 hasn't aged well as sci-fi continually advances and the spaceship feels like the setting of a B-movie.
Sidenote: The original version of this review was lost during a EN World crash.
Next up: The World of Greyhawk Folio
Originally published February, 1980
Version being read and reviewed: S3: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks by Gary Gygax
First things first - SPOILER ALERT!!!!
Still here?
Ok, here we go.
EN World ate the lengthy review I had typed up so - short and sweet.
Expedition to the Barrier Peaks is the culmination of the sci-fi hintings and cameos that appeared in various D&D products since its inception. There would be a few flirtations with the premise later on, but this adventure seems to be the most concentrated dose, so to speak.
The crashed spaceship that features in this adventure is actually a single section of a larger colony ship that was separated to quarantine a deadly plague. The adventure suggests that the ship-section entered the reality of Greyhawk via a black hole from an alternate reality. There is also a section of a spaceship featured in a couple of Mystara (D&D Known World) products, most prominently in Wrath of the Immortals. I like to think they are parts of the same ship.
Given the general recreational nature of most areas, this section of the ship would seem to be rec-room of the larger vessel, so to speak. Gymnasium, swimming pool, theater, arcade, cafeterias, lounges, and a botanical garden and aquarium. The garden, however, is now the deadliest area of the ship. Its a veritable death trap and it would surprise if any party managed to get out of there without losing at least one player character.
The technology in this adventure has a very Lost in Space/Star Trek feel to it, from the dials and buttons on the control panels to the designs of the robots (the police robots remind me of the robot in Lost in Space). If I were running the adventure today, I would update the tech to modern sci-fi sensibilities.
Several new monsters appear in this adventure, including the vegepygmy, which appears to originate with this module, their origins being from irradiated plants in the botanical garden. Most of the critters are noted as having been captured during the ship's voyage, implying that the reality this ship comes from also has intellect devourers, mind flayers, shedu, and couatls.
Some parts of this adventure are written with tongue firmly in cheek but I think it could also work as a horror-tinged sci-fi adventure - the player characters stumbling across it drifting through space and board it to investigate. One of the issues with this adventure is the paradox of futuristic and modern items being familiar to the players but not their characters. My solution when the situation arises is just to tell the players what the item is and let them sort out how their character reacts to it.
The preface notes that this adventure traces its origins to Metamorphosis Alpha, one of the first sci-fi RPGs to hit the market and that the adventure served as a means of introducing D&D players to sci-fi roleplaying and adventuring. S3 hasn't aged well as sci-fi continually advances and the spaceship feels like the setting of a B-movie.
Sidenote: The original version of this review was lost during a EN World crash.
Next up: The World of Greyhawk Folio
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