The Inside Scoop on Gaming

What is old is new again, be it Star Wars or D&D.

What follows are twin reviews of both the old and the new "Keep on the Borderlands" modules: The first a nostalgic trip back to my recollections of a classic; the second an honest assessment of the current state of TSR's modules.

DUNGEON MODULE B2 - THE KEEP ON THE BORDERLANDS (1980/1981)

INTRODUCTION

This is it, the module that launched a thousand campaigns.

Ahhhh, I remember it well: the year was 1983, the month was May, and the thing that I wanted most of all for my 12th birthday I actually got! That thing was the Basic D&D boxed set. Inside this pinkish box, along with a little red rules book, came something called a 'module', which was also of a strange pinkish hue.

Little did I know it at the time, but this little box would change the very course of my life. The Keep on the Borderlands was my first game both as a Player and as a Dungeon Master. My first character was 'Valdor' the Cleric (of no god in particular). And Craig and Chris were my first players on that sunny day in my dark basement. That fateful day we were launched into a world of fascinating wonder that has beheld me entranced ever since.

Well, enough reminiscing about my lost youth. Perhaps nostalgia has made my review of this classic a bit biased but, so be it, I'm merely offering my opinion -- take it for what it is worth to you...

APPEARANCE

OK, so you aren't going to see this book in the Louvre any time soon. But the module still has a naive charm to it that makes it endearing (at least to a dedicated hobbyists like myself). Holding _The Keep on the Borderlands_ in my hands and looking at its simplistic cover always brings on a moment of peaceful reflection.

COVER

On the front cover, Roslof's painting is a simple one that is very cartoonish. The figures are artificially posed and relatively lifeless. All in all it comes across as a a rather amateurish attempt. Mind you, I don't think that this is all a bad thing, in this case, because as a module for beginning DMs and beginning players it sets a more forgiving hobbyist feel; anyone with artistic talent in the group might well feel that they could, with a bit of effort, attempt such covers for their own modules.

On the back cover, Erol Otus' powerful rendition of the stark majesty of the titular Keep, like most of the master's works, bring forth the feeling of the hobby game like no other artist can. Many others are slicker and more professional, but none have ever matched the raw spirit of Erol Otus. The depiction of the Keep is nicely done: A part of adventurers approach the Keep at both the literal dawn and the figurative dawn of their adventuring careers. The colours are warm and inviting; the pinkish cover that surrounds the picture is worked with a blending of pinks, purples, red, orange, yellow, and black. The lines and shapes have the heartwarming characteristic Otus geometric form. What can I say, even if I can't adequately describe it, it is always a pleasure to behold a work of master Erol Otus. It's a pity that TSR has since stopped using such a distinctive style because D&D art just doesn't get any better. Look at the classic modules and you'll see a liberal dose of Otus art. D&D wouldn't be what it is without this nigh forgotten artist. One can but wonder what became of him?

INTERIOR

CONTENT

D&D CONTENT

As a D&D module this has everything that you could want from a module of the period: mostly lots of monsters (danger) and treasure (reward). For getting beginners accustomed to xD&D game mechanics this module, 'as is', allows players unparalleled opportunity to hone their dice-rolling skills so that they can move on to build living characters in a living campaign world.

However, it also reflects many of the things that D&D has been criticized for: illogical dungeon ecology, lack of detail, lack of roleplaying, lack of story, etc... But IMNSHO this it is the role of the DM to flesh out such matters as they see fit in a manner appropriate to their players and consistent with their campaign world.

When it comes down to it, I had a lot of fun both playing and DMing this module (on several occasions over many years). To this day, it remains one of my all-time favourite modules and I'll always have a special place for it in my heart.

I simply can't think of a better module to introduce beginning players to xD&D. In fact, despite all of the new-fangled stuff that has come out over the years, this simple old classic will be the starting point for my upcoming 'Back to Basics' Campaign. I'll be adapting it to the World of Greyhawk and introducing a new generation of players to the joys of roleplaying with the module that introduced me to it all.

GREYHAWK CONTENT

Let's not try to fool anyone; the Greyhawk content of this module is completely non-existent. It is not a Greyhawk module but, then again, it does not claim to be.

Heck, it ain't even an AD&D module! It is an introductory module for the plain old generic Basic D&D rules. This module even predates the D&D known world and is not placed into any 'official' setting. The Keep on the Borderlands is the epitome of a generic module; it can be easily adapted into pretty much any world setting without having to throw out or change the stuff in the book which you presumably paid good money for.

So, it might not be a Greyhawk module but it can be adapted to The World of Greyhawk as easily as to any other world. The DM simply must take the time and expend the effort to fill in the gaps that Gygax left for us to flesh out.

In short, don't look for Greyhawk content here because you won't find it. But if you are looking for a generic module that you can adapt to fit into the World of Greyhawk I'd be hard pressed to recommend one that is easier to do so with.

        Greyhawk Content                 0 (Nothing)
        Greyhawk Adaptability           10 (You can use it all)
        Overall Greyhawk Suitability     5 (Time & effort needed)

RETURN TO THE KEEP ON THE BORDERLANDS (1999)

Now, the year is 1999, the month is August, 16 years have passed since I first laid eyes upon "The Keep on the Borderlands" and began my sojourn into the world of roleplaying gaming. My world has changed, in many ways that I never could have imagined. But 19 years after TSR published the original module they have now published a "Return to the Keep on the Borderlands" (shortly after publishing the newest incarnation of the D&D Basic rules). So, 16 years later, it would seem that I've come full circle.

COVER

The border design is rather well done. Silver anniversary and a silverish cover.

The cover art by Fred Fields is clearly a tribute to the Roslof cover in the way that the figures are set up. It is also clearly far slicker and more professional than the old rather simplistic and, frankly, 'cartoony' Roslof cover. But the new cover still isn't great any closer to being great art, and it lacks much of the hobbyist charm of the old. The rendition is still a stiff and posed one, quite lacking life and energy -- all together unsatisfactory. TSR has used fancier graphic designs over the years and has quite the stable of excellent artists upon which to call; as clearly this cover isn't the best that it could, and should, be one can but wonder how much effort TSR's team really put into making this 25th anniversary module special.

Where's the back cover art? Erol Otus' powerful rendition of the stark majesty of the titular Keep itself is completely lacking. Why bother to imitate the front cover of the original module if not to do likewise to the back? Well, it's on page 2 in a much smaller monochromatic format. It is fine insofar as it goes, but it doesn't go far enough. The original picture makes clear the height of the nearly vertical cliffs that enhance the keep defencibility. A pity that TSR couldn't be bothered find Otus and Roslof to redo the cover. But perhaps such symmetry in a series of books is too much to expect from a large American corporation.

Two things that are sorely lacking on the the module cover are the module code i.e. B2 and the levels that the module is appropriate for. The former is something that TSR has, wrongly IMNSHO, let drop to the wayside. The latter is not just missing from the cover but from the entire module itself, it fails to clearly state what levels it is for! A prospective buyer would have to break the shrink wrap (something that many stores may not approve of) and read the text of the module before they can get this, the most basic of all, information about the module: "this adventure gives novice players and characters a chance to learn the ropes without getting in over their heads" (p.2). I'd really prefer it if TSR went back to clearly stating on the cover what levels the module was for -- especially for beginners! This could have been justifiably ignored in the original module (as it was implicitly for levels 1-3 because it was in the Basic Rules box that was for those levels) but wasn't. TSR has no excuse for such an oversight. Mind you, considering the opposition in some of the encounters "levels 1-3" might not be the thing to put on the cover anyway, but I digress.

The Map isn't much of an improvement over the old one. Sure they put in colour but it doesn't really add anything to the map and makes it a lot harder for a DM to modify than the old blueline one in the original. If they were going to go with fancy colours and such I was hoping for something more akin to the old Ravenloft module map that was useful in that it showed the 3-D aspect of the setting. Well, at least they kept the map on the inside of the cardstock cover so that the DM can use it as a shield and refer to it during play -- unlike many of the newer TSR modules which are nice to look at but are not as practical for play -- and the map itself is very close to the original so all is not lost.

As a generic module this looks pretty decent.

Part 0 - Return to the Keep

As this is the introduction for the module I'll quote it here in full (with some of my own comments in squared brackets):

"Of the hundreds of adventures published by TSR over the last twenty-five years, B2, Keep on the Borderland[s] [hello editor?] holds a special place in the hearts and memories of a whole generation of gamers. For many, it was the first adventure they ever played; literally hundreds of thousands of players and Dungeon Masters cut their teeth on "The Caves of Chaos" as their first dungeon delving. While we will never know the exact number, there's every reason to think tat more people have played this adventure than any other in the history of roleplaying games.

This I whole-heartedly agree with, and so IMNSHO the historical importance of this module demands that it attention be paid to the smallest details and quality be of the utmost concern. The text continues:

Return to the Keep is an update of the classic adventure, detailing what has happened in the Caves of Chaos and the Keep itself in the two decades since brave adventurers cleaned out the monsters and departed for other challenges. The rules have been fully updated to Second Edition, encounters have been fleshed out, and the section of advice to inexperienced Dungeon Masters expanded and rewritten. In the main, however, Keep on the Borderland[s] remains what it has always been: a series of short adventures, distinct enough that player characters (PCs) can catch their breath between each section, that smoothly segue together. Altogether, this adventure gives novice players and characters a chance to learn the ropes without getting in over their heads; characters who survive will have learned the basic tricks of their trade, just as players and Dungeon Masters will know the basics of good gaming."

I suppose that one way to judge the module is by if it achieved what it sets out to do. And it actually achieves most of this except for the fact that it is a bit too advanced for most beginning players with characters of levels 1-3 to handle. Sure, give us old veterans the PCs and we could do it, but newbies I have greater doubts; I mean I know that 2nd ed. is more power mongering than 1st (and BD&D) but some of the encounters seem a bit much. Maybe it works for people using all of these new-fangled 'kits' and power playing options books, but I think that the module fails as an introductory adventure because of the difficulty level.

Part 0 - Advice for the Young at Heart

This 5-page section offers some very good basic advice for the DM, much of which the DM can impart upon the players if they fail to figure these things out by themselves. To old veterans this section might not seem that useful, but to the new DM I imagine that it will be immensely valuable. This section is an EXCELLENT thing to have in an introductory module; it's too bad that all the encounters don't match up.

Part I - Keep

There certainly is more detail to the Keep this time around. The map itself is thankfully largely the same as the original module - a model of functional simplicity. The NPCs in the keep are fleshed out a LOT more than the skeletal inhabitants of the original. This makes the Keep a better base of operations for adventurers and a lot less work for the DM to flesh out the characters. Again as a 2nd ed. AD&D module the NPCs are too powerful for my tastes. But, all in all, the section on Keep itself is an improvement over the original module.

Part II - Wilderness

I know that others differ in opinion with me but I think that the "Bee Man" is a nice nod of homage to the "Mad Hermit" in the original module. And unlike even more people, I think that the "Shy Tower" encounter has a grim sort of genius to it. The other encounters are serviceable but these two stood out in my mind as particularly good ones. Again the Wilderness section with its more encounters is an improvement over the original module.

Part III - Caves of Chaos

As with the original the real meat of the module is in the Caves themselves. And the module, for the most part, delivers a serious of encounters that are worthy successors to those in the original module.

In some ways the module is a distinct improvement, namely in how the different cave-factions interact with one another; In short, as I believe someone else pointed out, it is a better dungeon ecology. And the NPCs have been fleshed out a bit, but not overly much.

What is lacking is game balance for a party of beginning characters with *beginning players*. But the thing which is most sorely lacking in this module I'll deal with shortly.

GREYHAWK CONTENT

This time the module is set in the world of Greyhawk. Wow! The module that got me started with D&D now actually set in my favourite D&D world! A dream come true! But, Alas, it seems that there are indeed 'dreams that cannot be'. Face it, the Greyhawk content in this module is pretty bloody freakin' dismal, folks:

Page 7: "If you're using the World of Greyhawk setting, the Keep should be located in the southwesternmost part of the Yeomanry, a lordless land of freehold farmers shielded by monster-haunted mountains from the great desert beyond." Inexplicably, there is no mention of a useful Hex number on the main WoG map! Also note the word 'If': if they are going to take that approach why not make the module truly generic and add a paragraph for each TSR world -- 'if you're using the Forgotten Realms setting...' How about a close up map of a region of Greyhawk, like the unsurpassed Saltmarsh series provided? Too much effort I guess... How about one like the ToEE or Against the Cult of the Reptile God? Can't be bothered? Could TSR have given us less information on where the Keep is located in Greyhawk?

Page 14: "Abercrombie (3rd-level Cleric of St. Cuthbert)" Nice to mention a 'Cleric' (N.B. not a 'priest') of an actual Greyhawk god but the sheer amount of non-Greyhawkian gods (e.g. Erishkigal, Nergal, St. Erkenwald, Maruda, etc...) mentioned and details given elsewhere in the module sour this Cuthbert reference as only the most token of efforts to provide Greyhawk content.

One must wonder if TSR has learned anything, over the years about what the fans *really want*. Here, of course, I mean the Greyhawk fans -- Greyhawk fans want Greyhawk content. If you are going to bother slapping the Greyhawk logo on something then, by all means, bother to insert the appropriate content for that world. If you are going to make a generic module that is suitable to adaptation into the World of Greyhawk, then just be honest with us and do so. To wit, don't pretend that a module is something that it isn't!

Beyond wondering what the company TSR might have learned about the fans, TSR should be concerned with what the fans have learned about the company...

Putting the graphic Greyhawk logo on the module cover and failing to provide the actual textual content to back it up severely lessens the impression that both this module and this company leave in the dedicated hobbyist gamer's mouth -- or at least mine own.

One can only hope that the 'Against The Giants' revival will be better executed.

WotC/TSR simply has no excuse for not providing the Greyhawk content. They have a few members of their own staff who know their stuff well enough, and a few Greyhawk fans were even brought onboard to advise 'Team Greyhawk' (I wonder why if they aren't going to get to help out on Greyhawk products?); I really can't imagine that these folks would turn down the chance to help out with revising B2 for Greyhawk (would they?); so the question remains why weren't they asked in the first place? If TSR was run more like a hobby (people staying true to the content and the fans) and less like a business (whatever makes a buck quality be damned) this sort of blunder would not have occurred.

Had a draft of the module been turned over to "Team Greyhawk" for editing, for even a week, the RETURN TO THE KEEP ON THE BORDERLANDS could have been the best of the year. A little work by some people who actually knew, and CARED, something about the World of Greyhawk would have made a huge difference. But instead, as it stands this module does nothing to encourage me about TSR's/WotC future plans for Greyhawk and, in fact, only saps away some of the hope that Roger and Sean built up with their previous efforts.

        Greyhawk Content                 1 (Token only)
        Greyhawk Adaptability            5 (Changes Required)
        Overall Greyhawk Suitability     3 (Time & effort needed)

        N.B. effort by 'Team Greyhawk' could have made it a 9-10!

CONCLUSIONS

As a generic (or D&D Known World, a.k.a. Mystara) module The Return to the Keep on the Borderlands is a pretty damn good one. Good as long as your PCs are high enough level or players are real dungeon commandos; Personally, I'd say that with an experienced DM and players levels 1-3 work, but for a new DM and players levels 2-4 or even 3-5 are more like it (depending upon the size of the party). If only TSR had the wit to either edit the module to be a Greyhawk one or leave it as a generic one it would be hailed as a great success.

*But as a World of Greyhawk module The Return to the Keep on the Borderlands is a dismal failure which TSR, WotC, John D. Rateliff, and Duane Maxwell should be very, very ashamed of having disingenuously foisted upon the Greyhawk fans/customers!*

Overall, I was sadly disappointed by this module because I was expecting more in terms of Greyhawk content. It was labeled as Greyhawk and TSR has easy access to people with the required expertise to provide such. That they didn't do so shows only a callous disregard for the fans of the hobby in general and of the Greyhawk setting in specific. If this trend continues in the future D&D will cease to be.

TSR take note: I gave you a second chance with the revival of the Greyhawk setting, but due to this insult you now are on your last chance -- don't screw Greyhawk around anymore or you'll lose this fan as a customer and I suspect many others along with me!

However, the game itself won't die, as easily as a greedy company will, for the fans won't let it die. Even as I complete this review, I see that a dedicated Greyhawk fan (Russ Taylor) has taken it upon himself to provide the Greyhawk content to the module that TSR should have done in the first place as they promised to do by slapping the Greyhawk logo on this generic module. Therefore, I salute Russ Taylor whom, in retrospect, TSR should have had as the editor for this module. If you are going to play this module in Greyhawk drop him a line and get his "Repair of the Keep on the Borderlands", without it you'll have a lot of work to do one your own that TSR should have done when theyslapped the Greyhawk logo on the back cover.

Perhaps, like Malagris, my familiar should remind me that:

"...no necromantic spell could recall for you your own lost youth or the fervent and guileless heart that loved ... or the ardent eyes that beheld..." (Clark Ashton Smith, "The Last Incantation")

So, I am both saddened and invigorated by where it started and where it has ended up. The true spirit of the game lies, where it always has, in the hands of the fans.

If the company doesn't want to come along with us on this wondrous journey then we'll just have to go it alone, or rather with each other. When it comes down to it, the company needs the fans to buy its products to survive; but the Greyhawk fans do not need the company. Greyhawk will endure and to grow long after TSR is gone, for we have all we need -- a solid foundation and a fertile imagination -- although the hardcover and poster map of the World Greyhawk would be the best thing that TSR/WotC could do for Greyhawk and its fans.

The views in this review are my own, but I'd also like to give credit to my fellow reviewers: Russ Taylor, Paul Stormberg, Nathan Irving, Gary Welsh, and Scott Rennie whose comments on the module I have read as I was typing up my own thoughts on the matter.

Jason >:)

His Dread and Awful Presence, Jason Verbitsky, hierax@home.com, http://members.home.com/hierax/

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 3 (Average)

The Keeps on the Borderlands (Twin Reviews of)

DUNGEON MODULE B2 - THE KEEP ON THE BORDERLANDS (1980/1981)

INTRODUCTION

APPEARANCE

COVER

INTERIOR

CONTENT

D&D CONTENT

GREYHAWK CONTENT

RETURN TO THE KEEP ON THE BORDERLANDS (1999)

COVER

CONTENTS

Part 0 - Return to the Keep

Part 0 - Advice for the Young at Heart

Part I - Keep

Part II - Wilderness

Part III - Caves of Chaos

GREYHAWK CONTENT

CONCLUSIONS