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Message: <blockquote data-quote="rounser" data-source="post: 985182" data-attributes="member: 1106">Keep on the Borderlands is a lot overrated due to it being many folks' first module, IMO, and so I feel a responsibility to warn against it in order to keep some perspective...Things it has going for it:1) Cool font and layout.  Cool bolding of keywords.2) Simple and elegant - just a detailed base and a dungeon.3) Generic in feel due to details such as no-one having a name and vague allusions to "The Realm" and such, and resultingly has a vibe of unlimited potential for the rest of the campaign.4) Evocative artwork.  Check out the back cover...woo.5) Adaptable to almost anywhere in any D&D world, and probably launched countless homebrews.6) The mad hermit is kind of cool.7) The blue map of the Caves of Chaos is kind of cool.Things it has going against it:1) Dungeon is an uninspired, repetitive, dull, hack and slash affair with almost no variety.2) No-one has a name, background, or personality to speak of (which could be considered a plus if you like improvising, but anyway).  The setting and NPCs of this module have all the flavour of cardboard (which, again, could be considered a bonus when viewed in a certain light), which can result in boredom when in the wrong hands.In the same ballpark, I think that Return to the Keep on the Borderlands is a far superior module to actually play out of the box, so to speak (if you iron out some of the wrinkles, such as a couple of the too-tough encounters), whereas the original module is superior for lifting the keep from and making it your own, or simply using as inspiration material.  I wouldn't want to inflict that dungeon on players though; it's just kind of boring, and only lives up to the hype when viewed through glasses opaque with nostalgia.The Secret of Bone Hill is a lot more interesting as a campaign launchpad, although it's not half as generic as the ubiquitous Keep is.  Sometimes this is a Good Thing.  I'd also echo the recommendations of Ravenloft and White Plume Mountain - they're simply a lot of fun to play, and not yawnfully dull or unplayably deadly like some modules usually deemed classic are.</blockquote>

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