Henry
Autoexreginated
Me too... oh, excuse me, I meant "B2".
If one wanted to get all spoilery on the NPCs, I'll elaborate that it was a little more than that, though, yes, they were bare bones:
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The goodly priest in the Keep is really the high priest of a cult meeting in the Caves of Chaos - anyone who takes too much of an interest in the caves he'll accompany and kill if given the chance.
The Jeweler in town is a rather snooty sort, he and his wife just waiting for the chance to find a caravan to get them back tp civilized lands.
There is a fairly explicit account of how the guard structure of the keep operates, and how the captain of the watch is a brutish guy, but one who respects bravery and who is taken by a pretty face easily.
There's a pretty good detail of what types of equipment each shop sells, who to go to for what items, etc.
There's an accounting of what the merchant guild pays attention to, what services they pay for, etc.
The sergeant of the guard is a rowdy fellow who loves to drink and brawl.
There are a number of prisoners in the Caves who interact in various ways with the Keep itself, or with the various monster tribes of the Caves.
The module is interspersed throughout with all kinds of one-sentence details like that to hang your creative hat on.
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Some of the less spoilery features:
The rumor table. A list of 20 rumors both far-fetched and real. It serves as an excellent intro to giving "quest-clues" to players on what kinds of things their PCs can follow next.
Tips on designing floor plans for man-made structures; great for first-time DMs looking to learn to do things on the fly.
The quick reference tables. Not as helpful as some other tables I've seen, but it was a great idea which came to fruition nowadays in the form of player aids, thanks to the Internet.
In short, it wasn't the best at what it did, but it's the only product I've ever seen to excapsulate all of the essential D&D experience, ALL of it, in 30 pages (28 plus the maps on the inside covers).
Speaking to Rangerwickett: if you ever get a chance to pick one up in a bargain bin somewhere, DO IT. It's an entertaing historical read into the roots of the hobby, in particular the period when the greatest number of Gen-X'ers flowed into the hobby, right around the "D&D is Satanic & Evil" phase.
