The 10th Anniversary Dungeons & Dragons Collector's Set boxed set, published by TSR in 1984, included the rulebooks from the Basic, Expert, and Companion sets modules AC2 Combat Shield and Mini-adventure, AC3 The Kidnapping of Princess Arelina, B1 In Search of the Unknown, The Keep on the Borderlands, and M1 Blizzard Pass Player Character Record Sheets and dice the set was limited to a thousand copies, and was sold by mail and at GenCon 17. Lawrence Schick, in his 1991 book Heroic Worlds, describes the adventure as "A good start for new players" and speculates that at the time, there had probably been more copies of B2 printed than of any other role-playing scenario. According to Denmead, the module "should give a party of low-levels a rather challenging time." The module was also reviewed in Shadis #29 (1996). Ken Denmead of Wired listed the module as one of the "Top 10 D&D Modules I Found in Storage This Weekend". The Keep on the Borderlands was ranked the 7th greatest Dungeons & Dragons adventure of all time by Dungeon magazine in 2004, on the 30th anniversary of the Dungeons & Dragons game. He concluded by stating "on the whole, I enjoyed this module and recommend it."
37, found the module "interesting and full of excitement", though he considered the map sloppily done. Griffis, reviewing the adventure in The Space Gamer No. The module has been described as a low-level introductory scenario, which leads the player characters from an outpost on the frontier of law into the forces of chaos.
The structure of the adventure as a series of separate caves allows for segmented playing sessions for beginners.
The module also provides rudimentary rules for wilderness adventures, as these were not included in the D&D Basic Set. Tips for running encounters appear throughout the text to assist beginning DMs. The module's cover notes it is especially designed to help beginning players and Dungeon Masters (DMs). The cover of the first printing included the notation, "With minor modifications, it is also suitable for use with ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS" this was removed from later printings. Although also available for sale separately, it was included in printings 6–11 (1979–1982) of the Basic Set.
It is designed for use with the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set. It consists of a thirty-two page booklet with an outer folder the module was written by Gary Gygax, with cover art by Jim Roslof and interior illustrations by Erol Otus. The Keep on the Borderlands was first printed in December 1979 and published in 1980. When The Grand Duchy of Karameikos edition of the Gazetteer series was published, the Keep was given a specific location in the Known World of Mystara, in the Atlan Tepe Mountain region in northern Karameikos. It typifies the dungeon crawls associated with beginning D&D players, while permitting some limited outdoor adventures. Plot twists include a treacherous priest within the keep, hungry lizardmen in a nearby swamp, and a mad hermit in the wilderness. These Caves of Chaos house multiple species of vicious humanoids.
Player characters begin by arriving at the eponymous keep, and can base themselves there before investigating the series of caverns in the nearby hills teeming with monsters. The module received generally positive reviews, and was ranked the 7th greatest Dungeons & Dragons adventure of all time by Dungeon magazine in 2004. A novelized version of the adventure was published in 1999. The Keep on the Borderlands went out of print in the early 1980s, but has been reprinted twice a sequel was also made. It was designed for people new to Dungeons & Dragons. Designed to be used with the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set, it was included in the 1979–1982 editions of the Basic Set. In it, player characters are based at a keep and investigate a nearby series of caves that are filled with a variety of monsters. The Keep on the Borderlands is a Dungeons & Dragons module by Gary Gygax, first printed in December 1979. The artwork depicts a band of heroes in battle.ī1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B6, B7, B8, B9, B1-9, B10, B11, B12, BSOLO The cover of The Keep on the Borderlands, with art by Jim Roslof.