Everyone okay with that?') Emerson met the challenge of novelizing this scenario by ren I admit that this was a nostalgia trip fueled by the memories of tearing open a boxed set, devouring a clearly written and evocative rule book in a single sitting, and then becoming thoroughly confused by a skeletal and entirely open-ended adventure module that forces a likely novice DM to hit the ground running from the very start. (A module whose background is essentially 'We're going to go beat up monsters. For those who don't want to go to the trouble, I've compiled a list for you.I admit that this was a nostalgia trip fueled by the memories of tearing open a boxed set, devouring a clearly written and evocative rule book in a single sitting, and then becoming thoroughly confused by a skeletal and entirely open-ended adventure module that forces a likely novice DM to hit the ground running from the very start.

The frequent rebuttal is, of course, that DMs are thereby able to use names evoking their own campaign world, (for which module B2 was originally intended to serve as a starting point). (I've never understood this, as my players usually refer to NPCs by their occupations as opposed to their names, anyway). One of the most common criticisms leveled against 'The Keep on the Borderlands' is its lack of names for the various NPCs. *if one is actually planning to run the module in Greyhawk, check out 'Repair to the Keep on the Borderlands' by Russ Taylor, published in Oerth Journal #11 (May, 2000) True, some few who do survive the process will turn from Law and good and serve the masters of Chaos, but most will remain faithful and ready to fight chaos wherever it threatens to infect the Realm.ДЄ location in Greyhawk was described in 'Return to the Keep on the Borderlands' (1999) by John Rateliff, who had intended the setting to be generic, (resulting in 'a nasty shock when Powers That Be slapped a GREYHAWK logo on the back cover.')* They will be tried in the fire of combat, those who return, hardened and more fit. Here, these individuals will become skilled in their profession, be it fighter or magic-user, cleric or thief. Such adventurers meet the forces of Chaos in a testing ground where only the fittest will return to relate the tale. It is these adventurers who, provided they survive the challenge, carry the battle to the enemy. Bold adventurers from the Realm set off for the Borderlands to seek their fortune. Yet, there are always certain exceptional and brave members of humanity, as well as similar individuals among its allies - dwarves, elves, and halflings - who rise above the common level and join battle to stave off the darkness which would otherwise overwhelm the land. If it were not for a stout few, many in the Realm would indeed fall prey to the evil which surrounds them. Always the forces of Chaos press upon its borders, seeking to enslave its populace, rape its riches, and steal its treasures. The Realm of mankind is narrow and constricted. Much has been written suggesting the American frontier as the ideological framework behind D&D in general, and 'The Keep on the Borderlands' in particular, (see comments for this postВ from Grognardia as far back as 2008, as well as this post from Blog of Holding in 2016). A few years ago, I posted my experience running the earlier version for my son and his friends, (you can check out my campaign journal, complete with tactical illustrations, here). The version of module B2 in the 1981 Basic Set was the first module I ever ran.

The initial version was written specifically for Holmes Basic, and so included Dexterity scores for the monsters. Gygax had just finished writing module T1 'The Village of Hommlet' and completed 'The Keep on the Borderlands' in under three weeks. *from an interview in Goodman Games 'Into The Borderlands' (2018)

When Mike Carr wouldn't accept a cut in the royalties he was due, Brian Blume asked Gygax to write a replacement module.* The classic adventure has been the basis of a novelization by Ru Emerson, a long-running webcomic, and a D&D Online video game.ДЄlthough various reasons for replacing module B1 have been proposed, the original motivation appears to have been financial. There has been more discussion online concerning module B2 than for module B1 (see the Dragonsfoot index, here).

Keep on the boarderlands