Yes, Barrows & Borderlands (B&B) fits seamlessly into this mix—in fact, it provides the exact missing piece of the puzzle.This blog post picks right up from Integrating Adventurer Conqueror King System II (ACKS II) with the legendary, chaotic, and maximum-gonzo DNA of Dave Hargraves Arduin Grimoires
If ACKS II provides the rigid macro-economics (the "Conqueror" and "King" phases) and Arduin provides the gonzo micromanagement (the chaotic races and lethal criticals), Barrows & Borderlands acts as the ideal framework for the low-level, gritty "Dungeon Crawl" phase.
B&B’s streamlined, procedural, and focused design excels at tracking the physical and psychological toll of localized wilderness exploration and dungeon delve mechanics. Here is how to triangulate all three systems into a unified campaign architecture.
1. The Operational Hierarchy (Scale of Play)
To prevent rules bloat, assign each system a specific operational scale. Do not try to run them simultaneously; instead, pass the mechanical baton based on what the players are doing at the table:
The Local Scale (Barrows & Borderlands): Use B&B when the players are inside a dungeon, clearing hexes in the immediate borderlands, tracking rations, torches, and encumbrance, or dealing with faction tension in the local frontier town.
The Tactile/Gonzo Scale (Arduin): Inject Arduin when dice hit the table for individual variance—character class mechanics (like the Phraint and Deodanth built previously), custom critical hit/fumble tables, and the bizarre, reality-warping loot found at the bottom of the barrows.
The Macro Scale (ACKS II): Shift to ACKS II once the players return to civilization to invest their gold, build strongholds, calculate market inflation, hire mercenary companies, or manage dynamic domain populations.
2. Harmonizing the Math
Fortunately, both ACKS II and Barrows & Borderlands are descendants of classic B/X D&D, meaning their core mathematical skeletons are highly compatible.
The Silver Standard
Both ACKS II and B&B run on a Silver Standard economy (where 1 silver piece is the baseline cost of a day's rations, rather than 1 gold piece). This means you do not need to convert item prices, hireling wages, or treasure values when transitioning between a B&B dungeon and an ACKS II marketplace.
The Arduin Exception: Arduin treasure is traditionally written on an inflated Gold Standard. When dropping Arduin loot into this campaign, convert recorded Arduin GP directly to Silver Pieces (SP) to protect the integrity of the ACKS II economy.
Experience Points (XP)
B&B uses highly streamlined XP requirements, while ACKS II features granular, class-specific XP curves (especially with custom races).
The Fix: Use the ACKS II XP progression curves for all characters to account for the heavy mechanical advantages of Arduin classes (like the Phraint's exoskeleton). However, use B&B's exploration and milestone rules for awarding XP during play (e.g., XP for silver recovered, hexes mapped, and faction goals achieved).
3. Integrating Procedural Play: The B&B Exploration Engine
B&B’s greatest strength is its procedural loop for handling time and hazard tracking in dangerous territories. You should use its exploration mechanics wholesale while players are out on the frontier:
Dungeon & Wilderness Turns
Use B&B to track time, light sources, and wandering monster checks. If a combat encounter occurs, seamlessly execute it using the ACKS II combat sequence and the Arduin critical tables.
Reaction & Faction Rolls
B&B’s reaction matrices are superb for handling localized tension. If your Phraint Vanguard walks into a frontier human tavern, use the B&B faction reaction rules to determine how local frontiersmen react to an alien insectoid—then use ACKS II’s market rules to determine how heavily the local merchants price-gouge them based on that hostility.
4. The Campaign World Map
Visually and structurally, the campaign naturally maps onto concentric circles of civilization vs. chaos:
[ Outer Chaos: The Arduin Wilds ]
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[ The Borderlands: B&B Barrows & Hexes ]
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[ Civilized Core: ACKS II Empires & Domains ]
The Core (ACKS II): A stable, simulationist empire governed by strict feudal law, market values, and supply lines.
The Borderlands (B&B): The immediate frontier. Dotted with ancient barrows, ruins, and isolated strongholds. The players use B&B rules to clear this territory hex by hex.
The Deep Wilds / Plane Leaks (Arduin): The deeper the players venture into the borderlands, the more reality unravels. The monsters stop being standard goblins and become multi-dimensional Arduin horrors. The technology shifts from medieval steel to volatile magi-tech.
By using B&B as the mechanical bridge, your campaign transitions beautifully from a gritty, localized survival game about counting torches into a sweeping, high-stakes political and economic simulation—all flavored with unforgettable, high-gonzo science-fantasy weirdness.
Here we sketch out a Barrows & Borderlands style border town that features an ACKS II market economy and a sub-surface enclave of Arduin races.
Settlement Overview: Obelisk-on-the-Moor
Classification: Borderlands Frontier Town & Planar Trading Post
Market Class (ACKS II): Class VI Market (Small Settlement / Frontier Post)
Demographics: ~600 surface residents (mostly human frontiersmen, loggers, and outlaws); ~150 sub-surface residents (Phraints, Deodanths, and planar anomalies).
Built around the colossal, half-buried arm of a shattered, metallic-blue titan (the "Obelisk"), this settlement is the final stop before civilization ends and the chaotic Wilds begin. To the surface world, it is a hardscrabble frontier town of log cabins and mud. Beneath the floorboards, it is a subterranean bazaar where multi-dimensional reality leaks through ancient, basalt barrows.
[ THE MOORS / WILDERNESS ]
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===================[ WOODEN PALISADE ]===================
| |
| [THE RAMSHACKLE] |
| Surface Cabins, Mud, Fur Traders, Loggers |
| |
| [THE IRON AXE TAVERN] |
| (Surface Drink / Secret Cellar Trapdoor) |
| | |
| v |
============= [TITAN'S SEAM (CRACK)] ====================
| |
v (Vertical Chimney Shafts) |
| |
| [THE CHITIN VAULTS] |
| Sub-surface Enclave, Hexagonal Basalt Cells |
| - Phraint Nest-Pods (Vertical Access Only) |
| - The Twilight Bazaar (Deodanth Reality-Shops) |
| |
=========================================================
1. The Surface Layer: "The Ramshackle" (Barrows & Borderlands Style)
The surface of Obelisk-on-the-Moor is pure gritty, resource-scarce survival. It is damp, paranoid, and fortified against the terrors of the mist.
The Vibe: Thick log palisades, smoky peat fires, and an underlying dread of the surrounding barrows. People here count their torches, salt their beef, and lock their doors at sundown.
Key Location – The Iron Axe Tavern: Run by a scarred veteran named Barnaby. The ale is sour, and the patrons are suspicious of outsiders. However, the large stone hearth in the back hides a heavy iron door leading down into the foundations of the titan's arm—the gateway to the sub-surface world.
The Law: Enforced by a rotating "Moor-Watch" of local volunteers. They care nothing for cosmic politics; their only goal is ensuring the horrors from the wilds don't burn the wall down.
2. The Sub-Surface Layer: "The Chitin Vaults" (Arduin Enclave)
Dropping down through the vertical fissures of the Titan’s Seam reveals a completely different world. The cold, wet mud gives way to geometric, purple-tinted basalt corridors and zero-gravity vertical shafts.
The Vibe: Flickering, bio-luminescent fungi cast strange shadows over sleek, multi-faceted architecture. The air smells of ozone, dried musk, and copper.
The Phraint Nest-Pods: Positioned along the upper sheer walls of the main chasm. There are no stairs or ladders here—only a series of smooth, hexagonal stone shelves spaced exactly 15 feet apart. Human visitors must use ropes and pulleys, but to the resident Phraint Vanguards, it is a highly defensible highway navigated by effortless leaping.
The Twilight Bazaar: A subterranean market square controlled by a cabal of Deodanths. The architecture here feels slightly out of focus, a side-effect of the time-slip energies bleeding from their shops. Here, cloaked time-cats trade obsidian blades, preserved alien organs, and rare tech-flux components harvested from the deep barrows.
3. The Local Economy: ACKS II Market Mechanics
Despite its weirdness, Obelisk-on-the-Moor obeys the rigorous financial laws of ACKS II. Because it is a Class VI Market, it has specific economic constraints that define how characters must operate:
Market Boundaries
Monthly Trade Volume: Max 5,000 gold pieces (worth of silver equivalent).
Item Availability: Only common mundane gear, basic provisions, and low-tier weapons are available on the surface. True plate armor or masterwork steel cannot be purchased here—the local smiths lack the metallurgical infrastructure.
The Black Market Modifier (The Arduin Surge)
While standard medieval goods are scarce, the presence of the sub-surface enclave grants the town a unique custom trait: The Planar Leak.
Characters can locate specialized, high-tier magical components, tech-relics, or exotic services (like Phraint-bolt reinforcing for armor) that usually require a Class I Metropolis.
However, because it is an illegal, unregulated market, all Arduin-tier goods purchased here carry a 30% markup over standard ACKS II creation costs, reflecting the immense danger of smuggling items up from the Vaults.
4. Faction Interaction (B&B Reaction Loop)
Navigating the social friction between the two layers requires careful tracking of B&B Faction Reactions:
The Surface Humans: View the sub-surface enclave as a necessary evil. The Phraints keep the local goblin tribes from overrunning the valley, and the Deodanths bring weird, high-value silver coin into the local economy.
The Phraints: View the surface town with cold, hive-mind utility. It acts as a biological buffer zone against the chaos of the outer moors. They will not lift a finger to save a human civilian unless it fits their long-term tactical calculation.
The Deodanths: Treat the entire settlement as a hilarious, tragic petri dish. They actively enjoy baiting human adventurers into taking high-risk contracts to clear nearby barrows, knowing most will never return.
Hook for the PCs
Barnaby at the Iron Axe is looking for a crew willing to descend into the Chitin Vaults to deliver a shipment of salted pork to the Phraint Hive-Sentry. The Phraints pay in raw silver bullion recovered from a nearby barrow—but a local gang of Deodanth outcasts is planning an ambush in the twilight corridors to steal the metal before it hits the surface economy.
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