B2 Keep On The Borderland Adventure Module Commentary On The Internal Adventure Structure & Framework For Your Old School Campaigns

Many old school gamers cut their teeth on B2 The Keep On The Borderland adventure. This is one of the most iconic and interesting introduction adventures that came down the pike from the old school period starting with the Holmes 1979 version of it. Let's look at some of the bits and pieces that make B2 so iconic and interesting.

Ever since I was a kid, I've been obsessed with B2 Keep on The Borderlands for many years now. Last night I was looking into the history, backdrop, and as a jump off point for future campaigns. Keep on the Borderlands has so much history for me as a part of the swath of history of my gaming. This is the module that we as players and dungeon masters returned to again and again. The title of the module suggested something to me that echoed bits of Robert Howard's Conan and other classic pulp titles. Hell, we used this module for everything from Boot Hill, Gamma World first edition, Metamorphosis Alpha 1st edition , and even as a location for boot legging for Gang Busters minus the monsters but with cops and NPC's.

You can see an interesting video with the details on the background, history, and some of the details of B2 Keep On The Borderland module as well as the variations between the editions. There are so many echoes of cross popculture experiences with B2 that seem to happen to those of us who had the OD&D,Holmes, Moldvay, and Mentzer D&D editions. There are some subtle and not so subtle differences between the editions of B2.Artwork, cover images, and more colour the flavors and details of this adventure.

B2 has a smattering of a wide range of old school monsters that appear in The Keep on The Borderlands adventure setting; along with a nasty and very dangerous cult of evil which is starting to brew in the Caves of Chaos. There are a number of humanoid factions that can cause even an Expert level  party of adventurers more then a bit of pain. There is a great thread on B2The Keep on the Borderlands, Caves of Chaos with some wonderful resources including maps and some solid advice. There's also a Caves of Chaos Reimagined by Weem

which gives a really nice overview from the Caves themselves and the really weird structure and breakdown of the caves. These are the fountainhead of the corruption of the area. This gives a DM a perfect excuse  to expand the area with ruins and other opportunities for adventure encounters. This is especially true of the area around the mad hermit's lair.

There plenty of scope  to expand and detail the locations of B2 as your own, in the past I've placed the Keep and its environs on the edge of a country that has fallen into decay and decadence after fracturing into many minor baronies with swaths of wilderness between civilized lands. This gives plenty of room to place tribes of gnolls, orcs, kobolds,and more dangerous monsters where the DM wants and needs them. This also means changing the character of B2 to suit the DM's wants and needs for their campaign settings.  By using this option I was able to take a solo module in this case the Maze of the Riddling Minotaur and use it as a ruin just over the border in order to have it as a side quest for a party of mid and lower level adventurers to challenge the adventure and brave the maze of the minotaur. They had prior experience with this species of monster from B2.
Minotaurs are a monster that has been a part of D&D  since the beginning of the game;"The minotaur was one of the first monsters introduced in the earliest edition of the game, in the Dungeons & Dragons "white box" set (1974), where they were described as a bull-headed man, and a man-eater" In 1977 the minotaur as a monster came into AD&D with all of its viciousness preserved; "The minotaur appears in the first edition Monster Manual (1977), where it is described as a cruel man-eater, typically found in labyrinth the places in the wilderness and underground."


 The Eighty Three adventure "Maze of the Riddling Minotaur" came out and I ran it as a complete side quest for my players by expanding the adventure with a few additional adventure elements from Dragon magazine. These included a NPC political plot as part of the adventure background and a few unique monster NPC's from the Creature Catalog I & II for some add flavor. The adventure is a perfect side jaunt;"Maze of the Riddling Minotaur is an adventure module published by TSR in 1983 for the Expert Set of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It is a solo adventure for one player character of level 1-10"
Vacros had a full blown background back tied into the Caves of Chaos and the minotaur in B2 was actually from the island of evil. This tied the two adventures quite neatly together.

The ancient & evil Vacros was  a part of a decaying kingdom  now rife with horror,evil, and cults. This module has lots of bits and pieces that can be back imported into B2 to make an elaborate campaign setup and stepping stone.


Minotaurs have always been one of my favorite servants of evil, I never understood the Minotaur race variation in Dragonlance ( I  personally have never been a fan of that setting and know nothing of it. If you enjoy Dragonlance more power too you). I quit AD&D at about the time when that campaign setting came out and I know nothing of it. For me the Minotaurs of  AD&D 1st edition are servants of chaos and evil. They  were and are my preferred monsters to place in both Blackmoor and Grayhawk as well as my own home game's settings.

B2 Keep on The Borderland remains one of my all time favorite adventure modules to DM and run. It has lots of potential to take a campaign in the direction that the players and the dungeon master wants it too. With all of the the options that Keep on the Borderlands brings to the table it remains one of my all time favorites.

B2 Keep On The Borderland Adventure Module Commentary On The Internal Adventure Structure & Framework For Your Old School Campaigns

Many old school gamers cut their teeth on B2 The Keep On The Borderland adventure. This is one of the most iconic and interesting introduction adventures that came down the pike from the old school period starting with the Holmes 1979 version of it. Let's look at some of the bits and pieces that make B2 so iconic and interesting.

Ever since I was a kid, I've been obsessed with B2 Keep on The Borderlands for many years now. Last night I was looking into the history, backdrop, and as a jump off point for future campaigns. Keep on the Borderlands has so much history for me as a part of the swath of history of my gaming. This is the module that we as players and dungeon masters returned to again and again. The title of the module suggested something to me that echoed bits of Robert Howard's Conan and other classic pulp titles. Hell, we used this module for everything from Boot Hill, Gamma World first edition, Metamorphosis Alpha 1st edition , and even as a location for boot legging for Gang Busters minus the monsters but with cops and NPC's. 

You can see an interesting video with the details on the background, history, and some of the details of B2 Keep On The Borderland module as well as the variations between the editions. There are so many echoes of cross popculture experiences with B2 that seem to happen to those of us who had the OD&D,Holmes, Moldvay, and Mentzer D&D editions. There are some subtle and not so subtle differences between the editions of B2.Artwork, cover images, and more colour the flavors and details of this adventure.

B2 has a smattering of a wide range of old school monsters that appear in The Keep on The Borderlands adventure setting; along with a nasty and very dangerous cult of evil which is starting to brew in the Caves of Chaos. There are a number of humanoid factions that can cause even an Expert level  party of adventurers more then a bit of pain. There is a great thread on B2The Keep on the Borderlands, Caves of Chaos with some wonderful resources including maps and some solid advice. There's also a Caves of Chaos Reimagined by Weem

which gives a really nice overview from the Caves themselves and the really weird structure and breakdown of the caves. These are the fountainhead of the corruption of the area. This gives a DM a perfect excuse  to expand the area with ruins and other opportunities for adventure encounters. This is especially true of the area around the mad hermit's lair.

There plenty of scope  to expand and detail the locations of B2 as your own, in the past I've placed the Keep and its environs on the edge of a country that has fallen into decay and decadence after fracturing into many minor baronies with swaths of wilderness between civilized lands. This gives plenty of room to place tribes of gnolls, orcs, kobolds,and more dangerous monsters where the DM wants and needs them. This also means changing the character of B2 to suit the DM's wants and needs for their campaign settings.  By using this option I was able to take a solo module in this case the Maze of the Riddling Minotaur and use it as a ruin just over the border in order to have it as a side quest for a party of mid and lower level adventurers to challenge the adventure and brave the maze of the minotaur. They had prior experience with this species of monster from B2.
Minotaurs are a monster that has been a part of D&D  since the beginning of the game;"The minotaur was one of the first monsters introduced in the earliest edition of the game, in the Dungeons & Dragons "white box" set (1974), where they were described as a bull-headed man, and a man-eater" In 1977 the minotaur as a monster came into AD&D with all of its viciousness preserved; "The minotaur appears in the first edition Monster Manual (1977), where it is described as a cruel man-eater, typically found in labyrinth the places in the wilderness and underground." 


 The Eighty Three adventure "Maze of the Riddling Minotaur" came out and I ran it as a complete side quest for my players by expanding the adventure with a few additional adventure elements from Dragon magazine. These included a NPC political plot as part of the adventure background and a few unique monster NPC's from the Creature Catalog I & II for some add flavor. The adventure is a perfect side jaunt;"Maze of the Riddling Minotaur is an adventure module published by TSR in 1983 for the Expert Set of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It is a solo adventure for one player character of level 1-10"
Vacros had a full blown background back tied into the Caves of Chaos and the minotaur in B2 was actually from the island of evil. This tied the two adventures quite neatly together. 

The ancient & evil Vacros was  a part of a decaying kingdom  now rife with horror,evil, and cults. This module has lots of bits and pieces that can be back imported into B2 to make an elaborate campaign setup and stepping stone. 


Minotaurs have always been one of my favorite servants of evil, I never understood the Minotaur race variation in Dragonlance ( I  personally have never been a fan of that setting and know nothing of it. If you enjoy Dragonlance more power too you). I quit AD&D at about the time when that campaign setting came out and I know nothing of it. For me the Minotaurs of  AD&D 1st edition are servants of chaos and evil. They  were and are my preferred monsters to place in both Blackmoor and Grayhawk as well as my own home game's settings. 

B2 Keep on The Borderland remains one of my all time favorite adventure modules to DM and run. It has lots of potential to take a campaign in the direction that the players and the dungeon master wants it too. With all of the the options that Keep on the Borderlands brings to the table it remains one of my all time favorites.

OSR Commentary On The Lovecraftian Aspects Of B1 In Search of The Unknown By Mike Carr For Your Old School Campaigns

" In Search of the Unknown is a module for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, designed for use with the Basic Set of rules. It was written by game designer Mike Carr and was first published in 1979 by TSR, Inc. The module details a hidden complex known as the Caverns of Quasqueton. Reviewers considered it a good quality introduction to the game that was written in the so-called dungeon crawl style, where the primary goal of the players is the exploration of a dangerous labyrinth to battle monsters and obtain treasure."

Mike Carr rolled out a classic module in the form of B1 In Search of the Unknown, there are flawed classics and this is one em.

"Many years ago two wealthy adventurers, Roghan the Fearless and Zelligar the Unknown, built a hidden complex known as the Caverns of Quasqueton. From this base, they conducted their affairs away from the prying eyes of civilization. While of questionable ethical standing, the two drove back a barbarian invasion and gained the support of locals. Eventually, they gathered their own army and went on an expedition against said enemies, where they met their demise."


I have run 'B1 In Search of  The Unknown'  way too many times to count. I dusted it off because of looking into the Sword & Sorcery rough & ready aspect of B1. I've talked about B1 many times & run it way back in January of this past year.

So when you begin to look at Roghan the Fearless and Zelligar the Unknown, then you begin to see the tale of two adventurers who were resisting the Hyperboreans in the 'Old Solar system' setting. Then the Green Death came along & killed off the adventurers and their crew. Now the reason why I chose the old version of B1 to look into is because of the conversion guidelines that were included to convert from Basic D&D to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition. 

"When B1 was released, Basic D&D was not yet its own rule system, but rather an introductory set of rules that was intended to lead players on to the original D&D game or the AD&D game. The closeness of the Basic and Advanced lines in those days is revealed in B1's earliest printings, by the inclusion of a short section that explains how to convert the adventure to AD&D. That section was removed by the time the third printing appeared in 1979, and was the last attempt to overlap the two lines."Roghan the Fearless and Zelligar the Unknown must have been generals & local powers in their own right. The Caverns of Quasqueton lay completely unfinished at the time that the Green Death struck Hyperobrea. What were they searching for? My guess is that they were specifically searching for weaponry  or artifacts left behind by one of the numerous prehuman races. Down in the lower unfinished levels are some of the pre-filled rooms which include a museum, an arena, and grand cavern all of which points to incredible construction possibly started by others before our two adventurers moved in and took over. Many of the monsters & other residents that moved in speak of laboratories & other underground facilities. Lizardmen, troglodytes, fishmen all point to some very high level Lovecraftian race connections in the Caverns of  Quasqueton.


Fishman Jason Sholtis


So what's really going on here at the Caverns of  Quasqueton? I believe that during the Hyperborean occupation & height of their power came across an outpost in Underborea belonging to the Great Race of Yith. "Roghan the Fearless and Zelligar the Unknown" came across this knowledge during their exploration of the region & began to exploit it to gain power towards the end of their adventuring career. That is until the Green Death turned their plans to death. Where exactly does the Green Death come from? Well,"The Isle of the Torturers" appeared in Weird Tales, March 1933  & it was not a part of the Hyperborean cycle but Clark Ashton Smith's Zothique tales.  The tale speaks of a cosmic cycle of the 'Silver Death' visiting the inhabitants of Zothique from a comet. 

Could the Great Race of Yith have been experimenting to avoid dying by the strange plague of the Green Death in the Caverns of  Quasqueton? I think so. Given their precognition abilities and time travel connections from HP Lovecraft's 'The Shadow Out of Time' its easy to see them doing everything in their power to avoid being killed by the strange powder from the sky. "Dire was the Silver Death; and none knew the secret of its contagion or the cure. Swift as the desert wind, it came into Yoros from the devastated realm of Tasuun, overtaking the very messengers who ran by night to give warning of its nearness. Those who were smitten felt an icy, freezing cold, an instant rigor, as if the outermost gulf had breathed upon them. Their faces and bodies whitened strangely, gleaming with a wan luster, and became stiff as long-dead corpses, all in an interim of minutes.

In the streets of Silpon and Siloar, and in Faraad, the capital of Yoros, the plague passed like an eery, glittering light from countenance to countenance under the golden lamps; and the victims fell where they were stricken; and the deathly brightness remained upon them."
Isle of the Torturers Clark Ashton Smith. 

It all fits, the laboratories, the isolated adventure location, a vast array of experimental subjects/slaves, the lonely quasi mining operation, & more. All of it points to a vast machine of an operation going on within  the Caverns of  Quasqueton. Because of the DYI Dungeons & Dragons aspect of B1 In Search of the Unknown its very easy to slip it into a campaign even under the radar of experienced players. B1 still makes an excellent choice for a campaign stepping stone even today. Even though its flawed B1 has many excellent resources.
Keep em rolling. 

Ten Reasons Why The Lovecraftian Aspect Of B1 In Search of The Unknown By Mike Carr Can Add Depth To A Campaign

1. If The Fortress has been banished to the realms of the Dreamland what else has come back with it?! 
2. Could the Caverns of  Quasqueton be harboring a prison for the Flying Polyps if the Yithians had a base there. 
3. Do local cults of Cthulhu or the like know about  the Caverns of  Quasqueton?! And could they be planning on taking over. 
4. Are the Caverns of  Quasqueton attracting the attention of orcs & other humanoids because it's strange energies. 
5. Is there a spawning pit of Ubbo-Sathla ("The Unbegotten Source", "The Demiurge") down below the cavern that promoted it to be build in the first place? 
6. Do the Mi Go know about the caverns & is there a gate way down below in the place. 
7. If there is a gateway could there be a Star Spawn of Chthlu waiting to wreck havoc across the land??! 
8. Could the the Caverns of  Quasqueton hold techologies & occult artifacts of the serpent men?! Could said artifacts be far more dangerous then the NPC builders released?! 
9. Is there a sleeping god held within the prison of the Caverns of  Quasqueton
10. Are there clues to what's going on within the fortress above!? 

OSR Commentary - Why Expert Dungeons & Dragons Turns Up The Volume To Eleven

So labour day is over but I spent it with an old friend of mine, the Dungeons & Dragons Expert rule book is where things really start to take off. Sure the red Basic D&D book maybe iconic but its really Expert where that old magic flavor happens. You get  rules for PC's up to 14th level:  deadlier spells, more fleshed out equipment including ships and mounts, & full followers for higher level 'named' adventurers. Everything in the Expert rules is keyed for long-distance wilderness  & full  stronghold construction.


1981 Dungeons & Dragons D&D Expert Rules X1 Rulebook TSR #2015


Every iconic monster is found within the Expert Rule books pages from blink dogs, displacer beasts, & yes even the PC swallowing purple worms! The wilderness is the next frontier in Expert & it shows here's the full force of what X1 The Isle of Dread can provide the players. Isle of Dread's map is left blank to allow the players to have full experience filling in the details whist bringing them up levels. That is of course if they survive the experience. PC's will go from being lowly adventurers to hardy  warriors, thieves, clerics & high ranking mages, lords, ladies, &  patriarchs/matriarchs plus there are rules for guild masters. Because the higher PC levels mean even more problems!
There's an almost gold rush feeling about Expert Dungeons & Dragons like the fact that the expansion of adventure options in cities, the wilderness, sea voyages, etc.. Opens up the possibilities of death waiting right around the corner for the PC's. Expert Dungeons & Dragons is the big leagues where the choices of the players is for life or death.


Basic was the box set with the training wheels off for the PC's but things were heating up for the characters as they became movers & shakers within the royals courts & the wilderness outposts on the very edges of the map. Both B1 Keep on the Borderland & X1 The Isle of Dread offered the PC's the opportunity to realize that the edges of the map are not safe by any means. PC's have to deal with an ever changing landscape of hazards & pitfalls.



The fact that Basic/Expert Dungeons & Dragons is cross compatible with Gamma World makes it far easier to get the PC's into all kinds of science fantasy situations. The dungeon master has to temper this but this style of play can enable the DM to keep the game fresh & interesting while moving things in weird or strange directions. This is where the wilderness meets the wasteland for a very deadly combination! The  rules are much expanded with epic possibilities such as mass battles, naval combat, underwater adventures or aerial combat just around the corner making these rules perfect for science fiction or science fantasy variations of adventuring!


The simple style & no nonsense school of design here lends itself to the type of hard knocks that old school players were used to. This style of play produced an epic yet dangerous style of play. This style rewards the intelligent & crafty player while weeding out the weak from the bleeding hearts.This is one the reasons why B/X Dungeons & Dragons is still beloved to this very day.

Holmes Dungeons & Dragons Sunday & Seventies Cyclopean Orcs

If your new here welcome aboard! Last night I was prowling around the Zenopus Archives and a bit of information on the artist known as Fangorn aka Chris Baker cropped up. Especially his famous dragon  illustration from the Fiend Folio! But the speculation is that this was supposed to be the cover of the U.K. Holmes Basic  edition of Dungeons & Dragons!


Suddenly the quest of our fighter battling the wives of the cyclops that I used to stare at for hours from the U.K. edition of Holmes Basic as a kid makes sense! The wizard & two fighters kicking cyclopedian orc butt are the same party from the Fiend Folio artwork. Everything in the artwork matches the adventure locations in the sample dungeon of the U.K. Holmes set. There is a fantastic thread on Dragonfoot.org that goes into lots of details about the Cyclopean horrors of Holmes.



But these monsters were so popular that Games Workshop made a cyclops miniature based on these dungeon horrors;
"
A minor find related to this thread. On the left is a Cyclops miniature by Citadel, FF-14 from their Fiend Factory. The photo is from a 1979 article about GW in Military Modeling magazine which can be read here. On the right is a crop of Fangorn's cyclops from the UK Basic rulebook (full artwork in this thread on the previous page), published in Dec 1977. It's a dead ringer, and the Citadel line debuted in Spring 1979 (source), so it looks like the mini was designed based on the artwork. "

Zenopus77 goes into a whole break down of the dungeon ecology & stats for these things; "The original source for the depiction is the UK Holmes Basic rulebook, published in Dec 1977. It has two pictures with cyclops creatures - see the post on the previous page of this thread. The first is on the title page, and is an analog of the art in the US, so the cyclops seem to be stand-in for orcs. The other picture doesn't have an analog, and shows a larger cyclops that the Citadel mini is based on - perhaps it is meant to be an ogre? There are no cyclops described in the text, which is identical to the US version.

In White Dwarf #5 (Feb/March 1978) there is a column, Monsters Mild and Malign by Don Turnbull that is a precursor of Fiend Factory. In this issue he describes monsters from the US zines, including the The Dungeoneers and Alarums & Excursions. A Cyclops is mentioned (HD 12, AC3, MV 12, Attacks at -2 due to cyclopia, 5d12 damage, treasure type E + 5000 GP), but this is probably unrelated to the artwork since it was created in the US.

The Citadel Miniature of the Cyclops is from 1979 and must be based on Fangorn's artwork since it is so close in details.

Finally, in White Dwarf #21 (Oct/Nov 1980) there is a whole Fiend Factory column based around Cyclops, a mini-wilderness scenario called "One Eye Canyon". This includes a Cyclops write-up by Albie Fiore with artwork by Russ Nicholson that looks just like the second Fangorn cyclops & the mini."

"Albie Fiore's Cyclops is HD 6, AC 6, MV 12, AL CE, TT M x10 (individuals), D (lair), AT 3 (at -1 due to cyclopia, -2 for missiles), D 1d6 x 2 (claws), 2d6 x 1 (bite), SA hypnotic stare as AD&D spell hypnotic pattern for 6 rounds, range 6", one individual per round, can only affect a character one time, SD +2 on saves vs illusions. Cyclops live groups of 2-20 with any group of 10+ having a leader with 7 HD, +2 to hit, +3 damage. The write-up is almost a whole half-column so there are many more details on their habits etc.

So, to me it seems that Fangorn's artwork led to the Citadel mini, which then led to the full White Dwarf write-up."
Now I don't usual copy & paste this much material but I'm really excited to actually find out more about these iconic characters. But what's Chris Baker been up too since he drew & created these characters for U.K. Dungeons & Dragons? Well, after stumbling around the interwebz I happened upon this great interview with Mr. Baker done by Wicker Girl. It goes into his career, what he's been doing in the film industry, & more. There's some excellent material there.

So in the meantime things have not been stalled out on the Holmes Dungeons & Dragons front!

Meanwhile it seems whist I've been away from the Zenopus site he's been busy putting together the Holmes reference 2.0 document. This thing is eighteen pages packed with everything Holmes! 

All credit for this goes to Zenopus '77 for all of the great information! 

OSR Commentary On The Lovecraftian Aspects Of B1 In Search of The Unknown By Mike Carr For Your Old School Campaigns

" In Search of the Unknown is a module for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, designed for use with the Basic Set of rules. It was written by game designer Mike Carr and was first published in 1979 by TSR, Inc. The module details a hidden complex known as the Caverns of Quasqueton. Reviewers considered it a good quality introduction to the game that was written in the so-called dungeon crawl style, where the primary goal of the players is the exploration of a dangerous labyrinth to battle monsters and obtain treasure."

Mike Carr rolled out a classic module in the form of B1 In Search of the Unknown, there are flawed classics and this is one em.

"Many years ago two wealthy adventurers, Roghan the Fearless and Zelligar the Unknown, built a hidden complex known as the Caverns of Quasqueton. From this base, they conducted their affairs away from the prying eyes of civilization. While of questionable ethical standing, the two drove back a barbarian invasion and gained the support of locals. Eventually, they gathered their own army and went on an expedition against said enemies, where they met their demise."


I have run 'B1 In Search of  The Unknown'  way too many times to count. I dusted it off because of looking into the Sword & Sorcery rough & ready aspect of B1. I've talked about B1 many times & run it way back in January of this past year.

So when you begin to look at Roghan the Fearless and Zelligar the Unknown, then you begin to see the tale of two adventurers who were resisting the Hyperboreans in the 'Old Solar system' setting. Then the Green Death came along & killed off the adventurers and their crew. Now the reason why I chose the old version of B1 to look into is because of the conversion guidelines that were included to convert from Basic D&D to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition.

"When B1 was released, Basic D&D was not yet its own rule system, but rather an introductory set of rules that was intended to lead players on to the original D&D game or the AD&D game. The closeness of the Basic and Advanced lines in those days is revealed in B1's earliest printings, by the inclusion of a short section that explains how to convert the adventure to AD&D. That section was removed by the time the third printing appeared in 1979, and was the last attempt to overlap the two lines."Roghan the Fearless and Zelligar the Unknown must have been generals & local powers in their own right. The Caverns of Quasqueton lay completely unfinished at the time that the Green Death struck Hyperobrea. What were they searching for? My guess is that they were specifically searching for weaponry  or artifacts left behind by one of the numerous prehuman races. Down in the lower unfinished levels are some of the pre-filled rooms which include a museum, an arena, and grand cavern all of which points to incredible construction possibly started by others before our two adventurers moved in and took over. Many of the monsters & other residents that moved in speak of laboratories & other underground facilities. Lizardmen, troglodytes, fishmen all point to some very high level Lovecraftian race connections in the Caverns of  Quasqueton.


Fishman Jason Sholtis


So what's really going on here at the Caverns of  Quasqueton? I believe that during the Hyperborean occupation & height of their power came across an outpost in Underborea belonging to the Great Race of Yith. "Roghan the Fearless and Zelligar the Unknown" came across this knowledge during their exploration of the region & began to exploit it to gain power towards the end of their adventuring career. That is until the Green Death turned their plans to death. Where exactly does the Green Death come from? Well,"The Isle of the Torturers" appeared in Weird Tales, March 1933  & it was not a part of the Hyperborean cycle but Clark Ashton Smith's Zothique tales.  The tale speaks of a cosmic cycle of the 'Silver Death' visiting the inhabitants of Zothique from a comet.

Could the Great Race of Yith have been experimenting to avoid dying by the strange plague of the Green Death in the Caverns of  Quasqueton? I think so. Given their precognition abilities and time travel connections from HP Lovecraft's 'The Shadow Out of Time' its easy to see them doing everything in their power to avoid being killed by the strange powder from the sky. "Dire was the Silver Death; and none knew the secret of its contagion or the cure. Swift as the desert wind, it came into Yoros from the devastated realm of Tasuun, overtaking the very messengers who ran by night to give warning of its nearness. Those who were smitten felt an icy, freezing cold, an instant rigor, as if the outermost gulf had breathed upon them. Their faces and bodies whitened strangely, gleaming with a wan luster, and became stiff as long-dead corpses, all in an interim of minutes.

In the streets of Silpon and Siloar, and in Faraad, the capital of Yoros, the plague passed like an eery, glittering light from countenance to countenance under the golden lamps; and the victims fell where they were stricken; and the deathly brightness remained upon them."
Isle of the Torturers Clark Ashton Smith. 

It all fits, the laboratories, the isolated adventure location, a vast array of experimental subjects/slaves, the lonely quasi mining operation, & more. All of it points to a vast machine of an operation going on within  the Caverns of  Quasqueton. Because of the DYI Dungeons & Dragons aspect of B1 In Search of the Unknown its very easy to slip it into a campaign even under the radar of experienced players. B1 still makes an excellent choice for a campaign stepping stone even today. Even though its flawed B1 has many excellent resources. 
Keep em rolling. 

Quick Commentary On Using B2 Keep of the Borderlands By Gary Gygax As The Foundation For Old School Campaigns

When it comes to B2 Keep On The Borderlands I've been doing a lot of thinking about how its application can not only kick off a campaign but foreshadow future events within a campaign. The plot twists are really the key here;" Plot twists include a treacherous priest within the keep, hungry lizardmen in a nearby swamp, and a mad hermit in the wilderness." These four all can be used to branch off into other directions that can easily foreshadow several major classic Dungeon & Dragons B/X classics including: Village of Hommlet, The Temple of Elemental Evil, I2 Tomb of the Lizard King & many others.



The wilderness of I2 Tomb of the Lizard King could be connected to the trackless wastes around The Keep from B2 and made to be a series of forts along the borderlands of some sword & sorcery nation ala Greyhawk. There's again that echo of  Robert Howard's Beyond The Black River or Konrad's Heart of Darkness.
But there's more to this ideas then simply that, there's the fact that the threat of the resurrection of the elemental evil's cult has been on going for centuries & that its evil is present, real, and growing within the campaign. The Keep presents the opportunity to introduce throw away NPC's who can become major players later on in the campaign. There's an almost Lovecraftian feel to even the basic monsters of D&D, this is something that I've exploited. The Lizard men of D&D have changed & grown in scope over the years;
"The lizard man was introduced to the game in its first supplement, Greyhawk (1975). It is described as an aquatic monster with a rude intelligence, that is fond of eating human flesh." This ports right into the idea that;"
The lizard man appears in the first edition Monster Manual (1977), where it is described as a semi-aquatic creature that dwells underwater, and is omnivorous but prefers human flesh.^[3]
The lizard king, a more intelligent and evil relative to the more common lizard man, was introduced in the Fiend Folio (1981)"
Which can be one of the signs of the growing evil of the elemental cults as the Lizard Kings begin to rouse they're armies of reptile warriors as the egg vats of old begin hatching their charges out into the world.


All of this can hinge right back into the Village of Hommlet where the evil's minions are sewing the seeds of despair and horror right under the very noses of the locals. The thing about both the keep and the village is the fact that both of these can be used to represent an old order of military that has faded with time and its glory eroded. The PC's are key here to restoring and creating a new order to take over the charges of the past.  The village of Hommlet and the keep should both be parts of the growing domain of the PC's. This something I've seen used in both Adventurer, Conqueror, King & Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea games that I've run and played in as well as both AD&D 1st edition & B/X D&D.


This sort of bridging  of  modules gives a sense of cohesion in old school play and proves the PC's with both a safe haven and grounds to adventure from. This is something that is very important in old school play & yet seems to get seldom mentioned today. That being said its not that hard to imagine that there is a festering evil or two in the form of nearby dungeons.

B1 Where Giants Have Played Or More Commentary On B1 In Search Of The Unknown Plus A Free OSR Resource

Between the snow, ice, & Winter weather we've had, its been a very challenging season for talking with fellow gamers & dungeon masters. Now that being said, I was able to get some reading in this morning about four A.M. of B1 In Search Of The Unknown. Now why bother with one of the classics of B/X Dungeons & Dragons? B1 In Search of The Unknown
was written by TSR employee and editor Mike Carr with an out of the box beginner's perspective. It came with every box of Holmes D&D way back when & it filled a function of guiding a beginning dungeon master through stocking their own dungeons.


I reread it because I was scanning the Zenopus website which I do frequently and came across this quote by Dr.Eric John Holmes -
November 1981
"An excellent example of what the DM is striving for is Gygax's Dungeon Module B2, The Keep on the Borderlands, sold separately by TSR. This beginners' game contains the maps, room descriptions and even the combat tables needed to play the game, plus a variety of hints and advice to the DM. The module is designed to play with the Basic Dungeons and Dragons book and is the best of its type yet produced." (pg 89 of FANTASY ROLE PLAYING GAMES)

"Introductory modules are: In Search of the Unknown and The Keep on the Borderlands previously mentioned. Both contain not only the maps of the areas and dungeon but a lot of helpful advice for the DM. If a gaming group can agree to have only the referee see the module, so that the surprise is not spoiled by somebody buying and reading the Dungeon in advance, these are an excellent introduction to the game. Both are intended to play with these rules in the Basic Dungeons and Dragons game. In Search of the Unknown comes packaged with the basic set." (pg 92 of FANTASY ROLE PLAYING GAMES)

Note: The above quotes make it sound like Holmes himself wasn't aware that B2 had been bundled with the Holmes Basic Set. But the FRPG book also has a picture of the Holmes set with B2. Perhaps he wrote this sentence before early 1980 when B2 replaced B1 in the Holmes set. The book was probably written well in advance of its publishing date. "

I always used In Search of The Unknown as the location of the 'Other' in D&D, that place where something heinous has occurred & there's an air of the alien tragic about the hidden complex known as the Caverns of Quasqueton. I've always associated the legacy of  Roghan the Fearless and Zelligar the Unknown as two minor powers that discovered something powerful & tragic within the underworld of the module during the age that Robert Howard describes as," there was an Age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars. . "  This spoke to me about Quasqueton being a more modern complex or castle set amid older forbidden ancient ruins. The reason was our two NPC's who operated during another earlier time of sword & sorcery.
 To my young mind this was when these two were at their peak because ," the two drove back a barbarian invasion and gained the support of locals. Eventually, they gathered their own army and went on an expedition against said enemies, where they met their demise."  The PC's enter when they have disappeared beyond the pale never to return, the rumors & legends. There's something about the PC's being the barbarians trespassing & treading on the grounds of two warlords one a magus of great power & one a warrior of dangerous aspect.

""Between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities . . . there was an Age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars. . . . Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand . . . to tread
the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandalled feet."
Robert Howard,Conan


The PC's are there to try & grab some of that gold, faded glory, & bits of the legends of this adventure. I'd place B1 right after B2 Keep Of the Borderlands within the bounds of this order of modules. Once again this is from the Zenopus Archives;"4/22/05 - in response to a question about the order of modules for an "All Gygax, all the time campaign".
"Keep on the Borderlands, Village of Hommlet, Temple of Elemental Evil, Dungeonland, Land beyond the Magic Mirror, Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth, Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun, Steading of the Hill Giant Chief, Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl, Hall of the Fire Giant King, Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure, Tomb of Horrors, Descent to the Depths of the Earth, Shrine of the Kuo-toa, Vault of the Drow, Isle of the Ape, Necropolis (final portion)." (Dragonsfoot forum post)." This gives an excellently rounded out campaign for years of play especially sword & sorcery style Conan adventures.


You know its too bad that there isn't a source book that could save you time stocking B1, reveal some of its mysteries to the DM, be entertaining, and have everything a DM needs to look at In Search of The Unknown in a bit of a new light. Well actually there is.
Demos Sachlas (paleologos of Dragonsfoot) has assembled a mighty B1 Campaign Sourcebook which is half way down the page on the fifth paragraph right over here


I've done a lot with B1 In Search of the Unknown in different style of Holmes D&D including post apocalyptic adventures, sword & sorcery, etc. Yet since 2013 I've always heard in my head Leonard Nemoy of In Search of Fame narrating the adventure. This isn't original either, this is another product of the Zenopus Archives & this blog post.
In fact I've used an NPC narrator/time traveler in several games of Mutant Future where this module was a midpoint.

But this is a good cross point into the fact that this module shares a title with a Robert Chambers story collection. This collection is about a zoologist in search of various cryptids & served as another Mutant Future adventure inspiration. But I digress, B1 In Search of the Unknown makes an excellent reference point for sword & sorcery adventure especially with a Lovecraftian twist. All of the elements are there, simply take your favorite Lovecraftian source book such as Goblinoid Games Realms of Crawling Chaos and add in a Shaggoth or some other Lovecraftian horror.


Alright let's talk about how B1 In Search of the Unknown can add in an interesting twist to a sword & sorcery campaign specifically:

1. Because of the repelling of the barbarian horde are their forces still out there waiting to strike at any moment? Well because of the events of B2 and the resurrection &  surging of the Elemental Evil cult I've had DM use this as a signal to those hordes to pour down from the hills. 
2. We know very little about what the hell was happening in the mines of Keep On The Borderlands was the Caverns of Quasqueton part of an underworld lost world or the remains of some lost race's out post to the upper world? 
3. There's always been some shady connection between the forces operating out of Hommlet & the Caverns of Quasqueton. Perhaps there is some deep weirdness going on between all of the humanoids within the Caves of Chaos & the Caverns of Quasqueton. 
4. I've used demonic orcs from Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea with half orc thieves and assassins lead by a were demon pig priest as higher level NPC's searching for artifacts within Quasqueton. 
5. Several PC's over the years have used Roghan the Fearless as a blood relative for their barbarian or fighter characters that they've tried to solve the mystery of his fate for their tribal elders. 
6.  There are several mysterious plot hooks within the Caverns of Quasqueton that can be linked back into the religion of the temple of elemental evil allowing B1 to be used as a foreshadowing of that classic module. 

B1 In Search of the Unknown has lots of potential for a dungeon master to customize it to their own home campaigns through the treasures, monster encounters, and even throwing in the odd NPC or six. All in all I might still have use for this classic module in the up coming 2017 OSR season. What I do know is that the players are not going to be expecting me to use this classic.