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