Revisiting The Keep on the Borderlands

[Schmoe]

Change #9 – Ties to the Temple

Change: I gave the hobgoblins and goblins closer ties to the cult by having them wear symbols of chaos (black-stained 8-pointed star icons made of wood). In addition, I placed an adept with the hobgoblins.

Reason: This follows along with my reasoning that the chaos cultists are central to having all of the different humanoid groups together at the Caves of Chaos. There should be enough clues to point to some evil force coordinating the humanoid actions. This was a minor change that didn’t take long to make at all, just a few notes jotted down in the margins.

 

[Schmoe]

Change #10 – Hidden Aid

Change: I added a secret panel in room #12 area 1 that can only be opened by a use of divine power from a Lawful priest (Turn Undead, basically). Behind this panel is a silver bell engraved with the words “Strike to shatter Evil’s spell.” The bell can be struck once, and once only, to create a Dispel Evil-like effect that automatically cleanses any evil enchantments in the area.

This is basically a silver bullet for if the party gets in over their heads. I’m anticipating it being used to save someone in the Chapel, but as it only has one use, I’m willing to wing it and let them use it to basically give them the upper hand in any one encounter.

Reason: I like putting in secrets for players to find, and I like rewarding players for searching around and investigating their environment. If the players capture an orc or rescue some prisoners, I’ll probably also drop a hint about this room. I think it’s fun if players can find specific tools and benefits that they can use against foes, and this scratches that itch. This took maybe 10-15 minutes to come up with.

 

[Schmoe]

So at this point that's about the extent of the changes I've made to the module. Over the past 2+ months I've spent about 6 hours "preparing" the adventure plus whatever time spent in idle daydreams, and I'm much happier with the results. I feel like there's enough information for me to improvise when necessary, and things are connected together well enough for some interesting adventuring hooks. There's always more that could be done, and I'm sure as I come up with ideas I'll probably add more. For example, I'm already thinking about how I can tie this into a followup adventure with The Tomb of Abysthor by having the cultists worship Orcus instead of Chaos. But even if I did nothing more with the adventure, I'd be happy with where it is right now.

For new DMs, hopefully this gives you an idea of the kinds of things you can do to an adventure to make it more coherent and easier to run. And hopefully it also shows you that it doesn't have to be a whole lot of work. Don't feel like you have to do it all at once. If I tried to do 6 hours of prep before even starting to game, I'd probably never do it, but over 2+ months it's practically nothing.

For experienced DMs, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

 

[Eltab]

I rebuilt the map from Keep a bit.

On the far side of the river is now a range of hills. The caves are spread out in the hills. (Connected cave entrances are properly placed relative to each other.)

The road from Civilization goes past the keep, to the little island in the river - on which I placed a ruined village - and continues up into the hills via a creek bed. Presumably there is a town or something out further thataway.

The Lizardmen live in the riverside swamp and do a good job of staying hidden (not that anybody is exploring).

The backstory as the PCs learn it, Evil is slowly gathering in the hills. The Keep was built after the village was sacked by monsters. There is no strong leader who can flush the Evil out.

The backstory the PCs do not know is, the cult priest came first and decided the region would make a good home base. He is gathering the monstrous humanoids to eventually attack the Keep. He found out the hard way that he cannot place them in each others' back yards, when he ordered the attack on the village. He is nowhere near ready yet but is working on it.

 

[LordEntrails]

Change: I added a secret panel in room #12 area 1 that can only be opened by a use of divine power from a Lawful priest (Turn Undead, basically). Behind this panel is a silver bell engraved with the words “Strike to shatter Evil’s spell.” The bell can be struck once, and once only, to create a Dispel Evil-like effect that automatically cleanses any evil enchantments in the area....

This one would concern me a little bit. Particularly as I would expect the players to ring the bell in trying to figure out what it does. And therefore expanding the only charge when their is no use for it.

Maybe that's ok though, but... if it's the only single use item, and the players really don't have anyway or expectation that it is a single use item, then this punishes them (or at least teases them) by expanding the only single use item for no gain.

 

[Schmoe]

This one would concern me a little bit. Particularly as I would expect the players to ring the bell in trying to figure out what it does. And therefore expanding the only charge when their is no use for it.

Maybe that's ok though, but... if it's the only single use item, and the players really don't have anyway or expectation that it is a single use item, then this punishes them (or at least teases them) by expanding the only single use item for no gain.

Point taken, but there are a couple of things to consider. First, the group is very aware of the Identify spell, as they already have a magical rope that they are curious about, and their discussion has turned to using the spell rather than actually experimenting, so I expect the same with the bell. Second, if they do experiment with the bell and lose out on it I don't consider it a big loss, as it wasn't in the module to begin with. And finally, I'm actually ok with teasing them a little bit.

 

[Silver Moon]

Our Gaming Group has been going for 35 years. We used B2 twice in our initial three years, and have revisited it twice since then. A classic indeed.

 

[Schmoe]

Our Gaming Group has been going for 35 years. We used B2 twice in our initial three years, and have revisited it twice since then. A classic indeed.

Hah, that's great to hear. This is actually only the second time I've run the module, the first being roughly 30 years ago. What have been some of your most memorable moments? We've had a few so far, from my perspective.

The first memorable moment came on the group's very first foray to the Caves. The first time they found the ravine they headed directly for Cave G., and then directly for the pool. I rolled that there were three oozes present, and the oozes came into action while one of the PCs was trying to fish the goblet out of the pool. The party lost three weapons and two sets of armor and narrowly dodged death before fleeing all the way back to the Keep, virtually naked, penniless, and badly burned. It was a rather ignominious introduction to the game, but I think it set the tone for the campaign pretty well. Their second foray was all about finding enough loot to buy some more armor.

 

[Redswift]

Change #7 – Integrating the Hermit

Change: I added a conversation overheard at the bar between three guards where one mentions that the hermit living north of the keep is a “monster who eats children.” I also have one of the slaves in area #40 who has been driven mad and will rave to the party that the cult is going to doom them all, and only the hermit knows their secret. Finally, I’ve decided that the curate in the Keep knows how to approach the hermit without the hermit attacking on sight. Essentially, the party must wear crowns of leaves and always, always speak in the third person.

Reason: It always bugged me that every encounter in the wilderness was just a straight up combat encounter as written. I also always thought that there was a lot of role-playing potential with the hermit. This set of linked clues allows me to give the party a chance to get some vital information from the hermit and tie him into the adventure in a more meaningful way. It should also be fun seeing the players try to have a conversation strictly in the third person.

I spent probably half an hour to an hour writing up the conversation, thinking about how to tie things together, and coming up with a key for the party to be able to interact with the hermit safely. I'm really hoping to use this one.

Is the write-up of the conversation digital? This would be wonderful for the campaign that I am running for my sons (new to D&D).

 

[aco175]

@Redswift welcome to the message boards. Hope you get what you are looking for as this is a 5 year old thread but is looks like @Schmoe visits often enough.