Episode 1 - Keep on the Borderlands Memories

[@williamhenderson8371]

"We made stuff up and it was fun and it was good". Whether you realize it or not, you captured the spirit of original D&D in that sentence alone...

[@geeknerdgame5200]

friend turned me onto the channel, The truth is out there. Great Job Bill keep up the good work. There is a room full of folks here rooting for you.

[@thedungeondelver]

Hey thank you so much! Welcome! And if there's a room full of people - everybody subscribe! 😁But seriously thank you for the words of encouragement. And to whoever your friend is - thank you to them, too!

[@amusement420]

Love the T-shirt. yep this is a classic. I have it from the Holmes boxed set. Interesting to see some differences. I loved the distinct design of the TSR module covers back then. B2 was very 'Gygaxian' ie. A Minatour cave across from Orcs down the caves from a Medusa. Did you ever wonder how denizens could coexist in the same D&D Dungeon lol

[@thedungeondelver]

Thank you! I love the whole "monster condo" feel of it. I often wonder if John Romero wasn't inspired by Caves of Chaos for the 27th map in Doom 2!

[@CaptCook999]

Yep, first module I played in. We went through several characters and probably only one or two went up in level. We also spent a ton of time going back to the keep for supplies like flasks of oil and arrows.

[@thedungeondelver]

Flasks of oil! You gotta keep those on hand.

[@blockmasterscott]

That's how I started in 1982!

[@harrywaltan8497]

I am play it whit my Schoolfriends in the 80s. Great time in my life... Greetings from germany...

[@jonathanduplantis1403]

I was 11 and my cousin 9. 1985. We were in his basement and we saw the box still wrapped in cellophane. We opened it and that was it. 35 years later. It was so cool to find it like that. His dad had bought it and just left it there.

[@vinnyganzano1930]

That brings back loads of memories. I took it and transplanted it into our house world added details to the people in the keep and a village around the base of the keep. Happier times.

[@thejimm2009]

Yes! B2 is where I started playing D&D. Such a classic adventure. So well done.

[@m.andrewbernier4251]

My very first game was the B2 module, fond memories.

[@thedungeondelver]

It's one of those that never gets old.

[@m.andrewbernier4251]

@@thedungeondelver I have played all editions and going back the all things THAC0, had a lot more fun.

[@thedungeondelver]

@@m.andrewbernier4251 It is pretty cool here in the old school!

[@christophersims7060]

Yep I still have my original, though it's all written in and there's notes all over it, the cover is shredded in half and Faded in God do I love it! I also had a replacement which I hope I will run my son through one day, as well as the return to the keep module as well. I just wanted to make note to you though that your videos are very low audio oh, and I have to turn up my phone all the way and I can still barely hear you talkin I don't know if you can boost your audio signal or not to boost the volume, but that would help me a lot and maybe some other people who can't quite hear it. Still trying to catch up with the how to play AD&D playlist

[@waltwhitmanleaves]

It was my first also Quick question as kids we showed the map on the table It was wrong but we did

[@charlesreed5839]

The first adventure I ever ran. Thanks for posting!

One thing that is very, very well done in B2 is the map, and the adventure set up for the Caves of Chaos. Basically, having the valley set up in a U shape with multiple lairs and as many entrances to those lairs. This is giving the players significant choices in the way they choose to explore the Caves right off the bat. It is genius.

[@JesseSierke]

Very true. I also like that some of the cave entrances were hidden. This made it possible for a whole section to remain unexplored for future gaming sessions.

[@GridSweeper]

The Caves of Chaos definitely made the whole campaign very non-linear, letting the players choose from many options. However as a DM I always had a hard time describing the valley in such a way that made the visible options clear. I ran this module three times and was always reluctant to just show players the main map, yet tried my best to describe the clearest caves or areas that might have something more to reveal from the perspective of the valley entrance. A Google Image search today for "Caves of Chaos" shows some wonderful creations by DMs to remedy this.

[@JesseSierke]

I'll admit that I made a rough version of the map that showed visible entrances, but upon reading the text more closely, I saw that this had not been what the module intended for me to do. I'm glad that others have tackled this issue.

[@TimKreitzAdventures]

Like you, I started with this module and learned the basics of the game via the info contained therein. From there, it was onto the Slave Lords module and many of the other classic adventures of that era (White Plume Mountain, Vault of the Drow, etc.). I still have all these modules and they are in good shape considering age and use. Thanks for this trip down memory lane. I may need to dig this module out and re-read it now, as I'm not sure which version I have after seeing your art and layout comparison.

[@DnDnBeer]

Well done. Thank you!

[@ricardocastillo5485]

It's funny that the stirges are depicted as cute because those things would MESS YOU UP, especially when you don't take them seriously enough.

[@johntunney1864]

Stirges are pretty deadly in Oldschool, especially Rules As Written.

[@MARSHOMEWORLD]

Another gamer that began with this module (included in my D&D Holmes Basic) back in the day. I still use it as a launch point for new gaming groups. Great to see so many other people remember it fondly.

[@rickeymariu1]

I love rolling d20s for D&D stats. Its what I had my groups do when I started.

[@ronniejdio9411]

Roll 4 6 sides dice. Drop the lowest

[@RichchatdemonTrickey]

Mentzer Basic D&D set did not include an adventure module, it has a solo dungeon in the players manual and a group adventure in the DMs manual.

[@justinpfeil5018]

Nice review! Love this module.

[@thedungeondelver]

Thank you so much! It is a classic.

[@ricardocastillo5485]

I have both versions buried somewhere in an attic, but for some reason I remember that one version had a sword+2 in one spot, in the other version the same sword was a flaming sword +1. I guess they decided one or the other was too powerful. As far as B2 almost having everything you need to play in one package--they literally could have added two more pages of key info and then had the entire game in one module.

[@thedungeondelver]

Yes, that's the sword kept by the Wight in the crypt area of the Temple of Evil Chaos.

[@williamlee7482]

Back in the 80s st my local boys club I played it with a group of 18 other kids and 4 older teen Dm's and we all had a blast .

[@thedungeondelver]

It's such a great adventure.

[@williamlee7482]

@@thedungeondelver Its one of the best . I showed it to a group of newer d&d player who only play d&d 5 and it took them a few minuets to understand that the original d&d has hex crawling where the players decided where to go based on clues

[@thedungeondelver]

@@williamlee7482 Nice. I find introducing new players to old D&D to be a fairly painless process, and once gamers realize that classic D&D is unbound by skill systems, etc., then it really does take off.

[@williamlee7482]

@@thedungeondelver Exactly . We used our imagination to fill the gaps in the rules when it came to skills and other things like jumping over a 10ft wide pit ( roll dex or under on d20 to make it ) or doing crazy stunts in combat like jumping on an opponent's back or tackling him . I still run a hybrid 1st/2nd edition AD&D game using the skills and powers book in my own setting with a few added races and classes from other AD&D products and Dragon magazines reworked for balance towards the original classes

[@darrenp9454]

Love the Wormy print on your wall. David Trampier is still one of my favourites and his work always brings back fond memories. Thanks for the video.

[@thedungeondelver]

Darren P. glad you like it! it's homemade; I'm going to try to get a better scan and thus a better print.

[@The_Custos]

Running it on Sunday, two groups, and it looks great!

[@SquidySaurus]

I found this video to be quite enjoyable.

[@prespos]

I used to do a lot of buying and selling on eBay, and B2 easily wins the award for Most Damaged Module of All Time. Caveat emptor!

[@thedungeondelver]

Finding a "first edition" with the noted Erol Otus minotaur is a rare treat; I'm glad I (re)located one and was able to get it autographed by Gary back in 2004.

[@JesseSierke]

+thedungeondelver Wow! A true artefact!

[@thedungeondelver]

I sort of lucked out and over the years that I was able to meet up with Gary got his autograph on my Original D&D set and supplements, plus my Dungeon Masters Guide; Tim Kask and Dave Arneson signed my copy of Supplement II: Blackmoor, Jim Ward and Rob Kuntz autographed Gods, Demi-Gods and Heroes for me. Good times.

[@nokomarie1963]

Yeah, well, I still have mine and it is all marked up from assorted play throughs that were decades apart. Stands to reason.

[@Thetrumanunit]

Thank you for this. I too literally had this module without the rules, and had to wing it until I could afford to buy the basic set (back then it was the purple box). Having come straight to D&D from Fighting Fantasy books, this module was actually advertised in the school library book catalogue and implied it was all I needed lol. I did the same with Tunnels and Trolls too, by the time I'd bought the rules, I'd already played two solo adventures :)

[@thedungeondelver]

+Thetrumanunit Yeah, it's amazing how central this is to all old-school D&D players - and beyond. I mean, the module that came with the playtest rules for 5e was a 5e-modified Keep on the Borderlands!

[@howardbiel5290]

The kolbolds, set aside the pit trap and the giant rats, if he kolbolds just form 3 ranks of 5 javeliners and get decent initiate rolls they are going to pincushion the sleep caster, or 1-2 of the front rank pcs. Most level 1 pcs have banded armor at best, or leather armor or worse robes. And if you don’t have an 18 dex well 15 javelins…..I hope you brought henchmen…cannon fodder.

[@earlteagrey]

Thanks for sharing! Added to my B2 favs. I'm currently working on a 3D realization of the keep. My channel has a number of videos on it.

[@thedungeondelver]

Very nice! Back in 2000 or so I actually blew up the dungeon map for Keep on the Borderlands and printed it out so each square was 2"x2" and used miniatures on it. I had to do it in sections, otherwise it would've filled the entire living room! Ah, filling the house with the smell of warm laser toner...

[@xyonblade]

Hmmm. I wonder if any of the stuff from the playtest was used for Goodman Game's reprinting where they made a 5th edition conversion of it.

[@dixieflatline9772]

The Otis minotaur looks real.

[@thedungeondelver]

Yeah, Erol's minotaur was formative for me. Also, you have an awesome user handle.

[@howardbiel5290]

You should do a series of parties playing through encounters in B2, I’d really like to see examples of gameplay of these encounters, the puma encounter, the 1st and 2nd versions of B2 it’s a puma that’s. 3+3 HD and 3 attacks at 1-6 and it atttacks first and it gets +2 for each attack when it jumps from the tree. How a level 1 pc survives that first round is beyond me.

[@dane3038]

It would have been so much cooler if he referenced the Caves of the Unknown.

[@thedungeondelver]

Maybe I'll do a short video talking about that one by itself one day. :)

[@KeithGigliotti]

Great adventure, for DM and player alike. I had to laugh when you said you bought just B2, I did the same thing only my first purchase was A3. I did it wrong, but was only 7 at the time. Hope to see more videos.

[@howardbiel5290]

I think the goblins might be a better first cave, or even the orcs. Since the party usually has 6-9 or more members, then the of opponents Matter, so tougher but smaller number of opponents is easier for the pcs…..I think

[@legomegacy]

love your shirt man

[@Mercury-Wells]

It's not for sale ☹

[@thebrotaku7156]

do you know where i can find a list of the exact changes needed to be made to convert this to ad&d

[@thedungeondelver]

I don't know that there's a canonical list, but it's not very difficult. Remember that there's a couple different versions of this module, though, so you have to be specific about which one before you go converting. Mostly, the higher-level monsters (the Owlbear and the Ogre, for example) should be tougher than shown...

[@johncartwright3130]

The web site Dragonsfoot has it.

[@ColTaylorDyath]

Where did you get that shirt? Are they still available cos I want one? Recently played B2 (using the original 1982 rules). There were only three players (me as DM and two with characters) and we all enjoyed it. I mad e a blog of the adventure at hoagys2.blogspot.co.uk. It's a bit of a WIP so I'll probably add bits to it as time goes on.

[@thedungeondelver]

ColTaylorDyath Nice 'blog! I got the shirt at dndmerch.com - they have (mostly) classic AD&D and Basic D&D themed tees there. Note they're not an affiliate, but visit the heck out of them anyway.

[@ColTaylorDyath]

+thedungeondelver Yay! Got one now. Many thanks.

[@Lightmane]

+ColTaylorDyath That was a fun read, but I'm very surprised one character never leveled up til the end, let alone survived the entire module. Those tribe leaders are tough & the last cave is insane for a first level character to adventure in. They must've had some really good defenses. B2 will always be my favorite module. I've never read another that's as fun to read or play.

[@ColTaylorDyath]

Yeah. The elf needed 4,000 xp to level up, and he was about 100 xp short when they went into the Shrine of Evil Chaos. He had a pretty good Con bonus, and a good AC (having gotten some elf-sized plate +1 from the minotaur cave), so even at 1st level he was quite awesome. Getting the fire ball spell off (from the scroll) in the final encounter helped a lot as well.

[@Lightmane]

ColTaylorDyath 4000??? Yikes! That's crazy. I thought the Paladin was hard to level up. Sheesh! But now the rules are so dumb (unless they changed them again) that it's way too easy to level up, which is just as dumb if not dumber. I like that D&D was hard. That's what made it so great.

[@williamhenderson8371]

"We made stuff up and it was fun and it was good". Whether you realize it or not, you captured the spirit of original D&D in that sentence alone...