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Message: <blockquote data-quote="AbdulAlhazred" data-source="post: 7380090" data-attributes="member: 82106">Right, I think [MENTION=42582]pemerton[/MENTION] noted that he thought the cultist cave was particularly useful, but I could see almost any of the others as potentially fitting some sort of character concept goal, though some might be fairly niche.The concept of the Caves generally though? Certainly you could find a way to work clearing them all out into a decent number of character's paths, but MOST will probably only want to hit one cave. The others become more like hazards to avoid than anything else.So there's nothing WRONG with B2 here, its just not super 'right' either.Well, I guess why I ask is that a LOT of characters, even the ones mentioned in the original post, are likely to find those questions interesting and related to their goals. Is the wilderness there because it is untamable? Because it is a frontier that is being pushed back? Because its a set boundary, and if so why? I mean, if I am going to build a keep in the wilderness those are very interesting questions indeed! They probably interest a thief too (exactly how much can the law be enforced and reach in there?). Likewise for a cleric, is this region something that can be converted to the faith? Is there some magic in there for wizards? Now, I understand what you're saying, and in No Myth there is obviously no answer to these questions, except what comes out in play. Things can come out in play in your style too, but I sort of feel like if you're going to be creating setting, then these would be the big questions to answer. In effect B2 is very thin as a location because we have no insight into how it works or why it is here, etc. Only knowing what the borderlands ARE would really address that.But why does YOUR fighter Mark the Mighty want to build a keep? I mean, EVERY SINGLE FIGHTER wants to do this by default, all of them. It says nothing about your character unless you can provide some motivations. That's the issue with the initial characters in relation to Story Now, as presented in the earlier post. Simply declaring a class, as was done here, doesn't provide the material required for Story Now. It is easy to provide it, and B/X D&D certainly imposes no impediment to doing so. It just isn't manifest in either the system nor the module in question. Thus I question how these materials support or are 'suitable for' Story Now. Yes, but again, these are generic goals which every D&D adventurer ever was endowed with at level 1 by default (unless the player decreed otherwise). While they provide a very basic lampshade over the question of why the PCs are adventuring, they're not exactly great material. The consequence being that the Caves themselves are just very generic locations. I mean, if you consider it, why does a guy who simply has a hankering to make a castle go and poke his head in these caves at TERRIBLE RISK to his life. I mean, the chances of his coming back alive, by the B/X rules are actually pretty crappy! Sure, some people are crazy, incredibly foolish/overconfident, or driven by some deep-seated personal need, to take great risks. All we get here is "because there might be some gold there." Its pretty thin gruel.</blockquote>

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