Playing B2: Keep on the Borderlands Right

It's probably the most played module of all time: the in-box adventure for the Basic sets, one of the foundational text of the OSR and the model for open-ended gameplay. I've played it (DCC), run it myself several times in both B/X and "the current version of the world's most popular fantasy roleplaying game" as of the time of this writing. I think I've figured it out. And I think it's brilliant.

No one in the OSR is surprised by this take. You've likely played it yourself, perhaps even in multiple campaigns as I have. So why read about it? Because it has endless potential. It is the gold standard of "easy to grasp" while also holding plenty of challenge and possibility. It's great as a low-prep campaign starter and feels just open and empty enough to fill in with your own locations and encounters while also feeling like the PCs can find all sorts of cool things to do if they're willing to spend some travel time.

I am currently running it in the "current version blah blah blah" for a few friends who had never roleplayed before, and it has changed their lives- so much so that I was introduced to friends at their wedding as "our Dungeon Master". A testament to the power of B2 indeed!

How am I running it, and why are we having so much damn fun? Take a look at the short campaign narrative so far:

  • PCs arrived at the Keep and were told of the Chaos Beast attacks and lack of supplies reaching the Keep
  • Found a recently used camp on a bluff and entered the Caves of Chaos
  • Sought help in their journey and freed Mohag the Wanderer from imprisonment to assist them on their journeys
  • Eradicated most of the Kobold population in the caves, sparing only some of the mothers and children
  • Mounted a sneak attack on Orc caves, killing several but losing their ally Arcfeng the necromancer in the tunnels
  • 6 weeks passed (downtime) during which the Keep was attacked by the bandit group formed by the deserters from the Keep
  • The Borderlands in general are in decline, left on their own by the Kingdom. Only adventurers, criminals and prospectors come there.
  • PCs resolved to travel north with Mohag to make an alliance with his tribe against the Northeastern Savage Barbarians
  • Became lost on the journey northward and lost a horse to an ambush by Savage Barbarians
  • Regained their bearings, fought a midnight battle against a scout party of Savage Barbarians and captured one for interrogation
  • Discovered that the Savage Barbarians worship the Chaos Beasts and have been spreading southward to seize the "Sacred Sites" there

Each bullet point summarizes 1-2 sessions (it is so difficult to keep up with my baroque session report style, and does anybody read it?). Clearly, we are playing "vanilla" fantasy. What makes it special is the OSR and weird fiction mindsets.

The Unknown Frontier: We aren't just tromping through the wilderness with quick cuts, this is the dangerous hinterland: unexplored and unconquered by whatever civilization lies back to the west where the module's road goes. Travel takes time, requires careful consideration when resting, and losing supplies or horses could mean death.

The Sole Bastion: The Keep is all that gives any semblance of security. There are no roadside taverns or villages. It is the first, last and only outpost in this land. The PCs have come here to escape or find fortune, and going back doesn't even enter their minds. At the same time, support is hard to come by. The average person doesn't want to join them, because it sucks out there. They had to agree to take custody of a dangerous prisoner in order to gain a follower.

Meager Rations: The Keep is the only source of supplies, and it's akin to the Watchers on the Wall of A Song of Ice and Fire: remote and forgotten by the kingdom it serves. It is bleak. It is not supported by farmlands or tribute, and does not have its own industry. It is supplied by its kingdom, and scarcely at that. Shopping or negotiating is incredibly limited, leaving only adventure and resourcefulness as the means to advancement.The Keep can be relied upon for room and board, information and basic repairs and services, but not much else.

Horrid Monstrosities: The OSR doesn't do the whole "1d6 orcs" thing. It's not a vampire, it's the vampire, as the saying goes. B2 is full of monstrous factions of the classic low-level blade fodder, but that is not how I portray them aesthetically. They are disgusting, animalistic and teratic, twisted by Chaos- thought by civilized folk to be humanoids corrupted by the waves of dark magical energy twisting the land. My players know what they are in a base, mechanical sense, but in gameplay they are anything but standard. The "kobolds" are akin to those of Tucker. The "orcs" are grotesque, bloated chimpanzee-like brutes moving erratically on all fours. The Savage Barbarians (I don't have a more thematic name for them yet) are grungy, mutilated and hoping to undergo their own transformations via the power of Chaos. Interactions with enemies are disturbing, tense, and every development in an encounter has the players at the edge of their seats. All this with nearly no mechanical modifications. Since the players benefit from modern power bloat, they are more or less able to mow them down without too much actual danger (it does indeed speak to the "4-8 encounters" nonsense doctrine necessary to challenge this type of character). Despite this, they are afraid of what will happen if they make a mistake. Will they escape for reinforcements? Will they give away their position to other dangerous, unknown beasts? Will they chip away at the party's resources too far away from resupply? That horse going down from an arrow really shook my players.

What is the essence of B2? How should it be run? Any way you want. That's what's so great about it. It can be run with juvenile fantasy tropes ("you're caravan guards and goblins attack!"), it can be run as mechanical dungeoncrawling, it can be run as a glorious wilderness adventure of Tolkienesque vistas and mythical locales, it can be run how I'm doing it. However you do it, make sure that you remember that what's on the page is not the limit, it is the beginning. The gaps are there to be filled, the rough is there to be polished, the edges of the map are meant to be stretched and stitched.

It's on the Borderlands. Who knows what's out there?

 

 

 

 

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