The Keep on the Borderlands (and it's Video Game Mod) | Dungeons & Dragons | Musings of an Idiot #10

[@williamozier918]

Overtie I am utterly convinced they should go back to module formats. Modules were great because you could mix it up from adventure to adventure in theme, style and adventure type. Also modules were very sandboxy. My favorite thing about modules was how each DMs campaign world would be different from another's depending on which modules the DM owned. IMP the campaign books are to railroady and locked in. I think they can keep the massive campaigns, but they shoud broken into modules; this way for example if you want to do all of Descent into Avernus great buy all the modules...or perhaps you just want one of the modules of it to keep on hand in case your players go to the outer planes in your campaign.

[@DellikkilleD]

they moved away from that model specifically because players balked at spending 30$(at the time) 20 times to get all the modules in a given 'campaign' you can achieve what you are looking for by getting the campaign book, and only using the portions you want.

[@tatuira93]

Having DMd a good few 1E and 2E modules and having participated in a few myself, I can tell that I am not a big fan of the more "storytelling" or railoraded experiences some of these modules provided, and most grognards also aren't, and it wasn't before I actually played with a group that followed these modules very strictly that I understood why. Players can tell when they're playing through a script, and I know some people might say "well that is a DM problem", then that's the issue; if you want to "own" the adventure as a DM, what's even the point in following or even having a prestructured narrative in the first place? you're better off with a sandbox where the entire story develops organically through gameplay, rather than fixating on the scripted original experience. I don't know if it's my borderline autistic brain that can't mediate between player agency and curated content; the more I deviate from the modules the more I feel like I'm not being "authentic" and I start questioning if I should be running the adventure in the first place, I feel shackled by the content and get a constant feeling of impostor syndrome, it's not so much about not meeting the player's expectations, but rather my own. Curious if anyone else experiences this.

[@tatuira93]

One more thing (as if I didn't yapp enough), I still think modules like T1-4 (Temple of Elemental Evil) are classic modules that deserve to be experienced as written, but even that needs your own little twists and inputs to keep things interesting. I wonder how much creative freedom DMs allowed themselves back when these products came out, and how much can someone tweak the experience before it stops being authentic.

[@Zylo587]

Glad to see you decided to cover this mod. Great video as usual.

[@fandraxx]

Thank you!

[@freda7961]

Checked your review after coincidentally seeing your post in the forum. I was supposed to just download the Co8 mod after years of being away. And I got to say, I'm surprised at how detailed and good you are. Your voice is excellent too! This is the first time I subscribed to a gaming channel (and probably the last time that I would).

[@GM_Darius]

Thank you for the reminder that i have to try the Keep on the Borderlands mod at somepoint. I Love the Temple of Elemental Evil game cause hot damn, it's easily one ot the best, most accurate to tabletop games we've EVER had in all of D&D. I've never played through Borderlands, so a fresh adventure just be what I need.

[@fandraxx]

It's certainly worth the time!

[@TylerJBrown192]

Wow, I had no idea that mod existed (or really any for ToEE)! Super excited to download it this weekend, thanks for the video!

[@Dndditches]

“Player hostile” - so as Gygax intended then? 😅

[@tatuira93]

All cobblestone buildings have murderholes

[@Thkaal]

The modules were there to give you jumping off points to build your own world the GM's book actually explained how to build a world and a culture around what you wanted to do and then how to implement a module into that world you obviously have no clue what the hell you're talking about

[@Frostwulf1313]

Proud to say I have an original copy of Keep on the Borderlands.

[@tammieloya1198]

𝓅𝓇𝑜𝓂𝑜𝓈𝓂 ✌️

[@Meetchio]

It might not be your thing but a few years ago Dungeons and Dragons Online released a pretty neat Borderlands module as a replacement to their new player area Korthos. Ill have to check out this mod as well!

[@fandraxx]

I would *love* to do some content based around DDO, I just have nowhere near enough time to get through it all and still get videos out. The only reason I've been able to do Guild Wars stuff is because I spent hundreds of hours playing it before making anything. Nowadays, what I spend my free time playing is largely defined by these videos and there's way too much in DDO to make it work in the 3-4 week windows in which I make videos in. Maybe one day, but likely not any time soon.

[@DellikkilleD]

Co8? they took a rather bad game (toee) and made it both playable, and spent decades refining and perfecting a very flawed system.