A First Real Look At The Reincarnated 'Into The Borderlands'!

Goodman Games has posted a whole pile of photos of its 5th Edition conversion of Into The Borderlands. First announced in March 2017, these books were available for pre-order in January of this year. Now, the pre-orders are shipping very soon, and photos abound! This is the first in a series of "Original Adventures Reincarnated" line. (Thanks to Jeremy for the scoop!)

The hardcover includes:

· Restored scans of two complete printings of the original B1: In Search of the Unknown. Specifically, the second and sixth printings, one featuring the original monochrome cover and the other featuring the later color cover by Darlene.
· Three complete monster and treasure assortments for stocking the dungeons of In Search of the Unknown (which are “un-stocked” in the original 1E edition).
· Restored scans of two complete printings of the original B2: The Keep on the Borderlands. Specifically the second and fourth printings. These are distinguished the change in monster stats between the two printings (Dexterity scores were included in early printings). The later printing also features six interior illustrations that were not present in earlier printings.
· A complete, “pure” 5E conversion of In Search of the Unknown, including tables for stocking it with creatures.
· A separate chapter with a few new encounters for the Caverns of Quasqueton, all inspired by references in the original work.
· A complete, “pure” 5E conversion of The Keep on the Borderlands.
· A separate chapter with a few new encounters for The Keep on the Borderlands, all inspired by references in the original work.
· Appendices with 5E stats for newly introduced monsters, hirelings and followers, and magic items.
· A chapter of introductions and testimonials.

You can read the full interview with Chris Doyle on Goodman Games site.

 

[Lidgar]

I think it is a very good book. I love the sturdiness of it and the thickness of the pages. Print is easy to read.

Agree that it could use some improvements on organization. I would have preferred that for the 5e conversion, they integrated B1/B2 into a more comprehensive campaign. While they set it up that way, it is awkward to puzzle together with them separated out.

The DM tips are nice, but I don't know how many beginner DMs will pick this up. The 5e Starter Set is certainly a better place for newbies to start. The tips are more in line with "if you want to DM with a more old school vibe, do this."

The 5e conversion work on B1 is pretty impressive. They took what is essentially an outline module and made it much more cohesive. Nice job on B2 too, but there was more material to start with there.

Campaign-wise, it makes sense to start the PC's at the Keep, have them hear rumors about Zelligar/Rogahn, and lead them to B1 first. Diving straight into the Caves of Chaos with 1st level characters would be, um, unwise.

 

[Winterthorn]

Cool Easter egg; eight of the pregens are the NPC henchmen from Return to the Keep on the Borderlands from 2e (Third, Cob, Opal, Martin, Jess, Mouse, Aseneth and Dubricus 'd Amberville). Third and Dubricus are references to B4 and X2, respectively.

That is cool

So looking at the pregens I downloaded and Third, Warrior Maid of Maruda is another human variant: Cynidicean, darkvision and sunlight sensitivity, cannot speak common (that can be fun, lol), and maybe +2 hit points? -- CON of 12 and d10 HD should be 11 hps not 13. A typo, or I missed something, or a subrace bonus?

 

[PyroArrow]

Here are 1st / 2nd Edition versions of the "Into the Borderlands" Pre-Gen Character Sheets I made!

I made 2 versions of Aseneth, one is a regular 1E Magic-User, the other is Multi-classing as a Witch / Necromancer (using information from "Astonish Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea"), to better fit her description. Also I Kept her 2 5E spells:

Ok, here are the Individual final versions of the Character Sheets for my “Into the Borderlands” Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st /2nd Edition game:

Myrna the Female Human bard:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/svomefuvuubfsmm/Bard_Myrna_Character_Sheet_1st_2nd_Edition.pdf?dl=0

Breccia the Male Hill Dwarf Cleric:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ax7wbr2q2w2ks85/Cleric_Breccia_Character_Sheet_1st_Edition.pdf?dl=0

Brother Martin the Human Male Cleric:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/g33xdi04i3fjcq6/Cleric_Brother_Martin_Character_Sheet_1st_Edition.pdf?dl=0

Opal the Female Human Druid:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/uv1qb8bfs0ztw2n/Druid_Opal_Character_Sheet_1st_Edition.pdf?dl=0

Cob The Human Male Fighter:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/xq6ebwur9r40cij/Fighter_Cob_Character_Sheet_1st_Edition.pdf?dl=0

Third, Warrior Maiden of Maruda (Fighter), Female Human (Cynidicean):
https://www.dropbox.com/s/hg5x5witgm3auit/Fighter_Third_Character_Sheet_1st_Edition.pdf?dl=0

Dalar Deweweller, the Male Wood Elf Ranger:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ls48s9t3t2evjj9/Ranger_Dalar_Character_Sheet_1st_Edition.pdf?dl=0

Manu the Mountain Dwarf Paladin Knight:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/sjvaoglkdw6ccpq/Paladin_Knight_Manu_Character_Sheet_1st_Edition.pdf?dl=0

Aseneth, the Female Human Magic-User (Wizard):
https://www.dropbox.com/s/mto3pa6d1y8hx46/Magic_User_Aseneth_Character_Sheet_1st_Edition.pdf?dl=0

Aseneth, Multi-Classing as a Witch / Necromancer taken from Astonishing Swordsmen & Socerers of Hyperborea (Recommended Version):
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ad4ivq3j9l08cz6/Witch-Necromancer-Aseneth.pdf?dl=0

Dubricus d’Amberville, the Human Male Magic-User (Wizard):
https://www.dropbox.com/s/lqgqjs8xfdqv4hr/Magic_User_Dubricus_Character_Sheet_1st_Edition.pdf?dl=0

Jess the Female Human Thief:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/uz7kvk7r7vsjqrw/Thief_Jess_Character_Sheet_1st_Edition.pdf?dl=0

Mouse the Male Lightfoot Halfling Thief:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/q6sb49n5228kxxf/Thief_Mouse_Character_Sheet_1st_Edition.pdf?dl=0

 

[PyroArrow]

Here are my 1st/2nd Edition AD&D Version of the Goodman Games "Into the Borderlands" Pre-Gen Character Sheets:

I went through another editing pass to clean it up. Spell Casters now have the spell descriptions listed.

I made 2 versions of Aseneth, one is a regular 1E Magic-User, the other is Multi-classing as a Witch / Necromancer (using information from "Astonish Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea"), to better fit her description. Also I Kept her 2 5E spells:

Ok, here are the Individual final versions of the Character Sheets for my “Into the Borderlands” Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st /2nd Edition game in a dropbox folder:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/s983ylno05ncbrl/AABJV9ISGIbdT9PFSMkpffKsa?dl=0

Myrna the Female Human bard

Breccia the Male Hill Dwarf Cleric

Brother Martin the Human Male Cleric

Opal the Female Human Druid

Cob The Human Male Fighter

Third, Warrior Maiden of Maruda (Fighter), Female Human (Cynidicean)

Dalar Deweweller, the Male Wood Elf Ranger

Manu the Mountain Dwarf Paladin Knight

Aseneth, the Female Human Magic-User (Wizard)

Aseneth, Multi-Classing as a Witch / Necromancer taken from Astonishing Swordsmen & Socerers of Hyperborea (Recommended Version)

Dubricus d’Amberville, the Human Male Magic-User (Wizard)

Jess the Female Human Thief

Mouse the Male Lightfoot Halfling Thief

 

[PyroArrow]

Updated B1 / B2 "Into the Borderlands", 1st / 2nd Edition Pre-Gen Character sheets.
Did a 3rd editing pass through the sheets to clean things up and fill in missing information.

13 Character sheets, one is a recommended variation on Aseneth to better play her Witch / Necromancer description:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/s983ylno05ncbrl/AABJV9ISGIbdT9PFSMkpffKsa?dl=0

Myrna the Female Human bard

Breccia the Male Hill Dwarf Cleric

Brother Martin the Human Male Cleric

Opal the Female Human Druid

Cob The Human Male Fighter

Third, Warrior Maiden of Maruda (Fighter), Female Human (Cynidicean)

Dalar Deweweller, the Male Wood Elf Ranger

Manu the Mountain Dwarf Paladin Knight

Aseneth, the Female Human Magic-User (Wizard)

Aseneth, Multi-Classing as a Witch / Necromancer taken from Astonishing Swordsmen & Socerers of Hyperborea (Recommended Version)

Dubricus d’Amberville, the Human Male Magic-User (Wizard)

Jess the Female Human Thief

Mouse the Male Lightfoot Halfling Thief