Cannibals & Colin

Originally published by Nightfall Games in 1993, SLA Industries is a roleplaying game set in a far future dystopia of corporate greed, commodification of ultraviolence, the mediatisation of murder, conspiracy, and urban horror, and serial killer sensationalism. The player characters are employees of the eponymous SLA Industries, undertaking missions and assignments across the many sectors of Mort City, into Downtown, and even into the five Cannibal Sectors beyond. They will hunt down serial killers, search the sewers for monsters, prevent terrorist attacks by rival corporations, silence dissenters, and more, not just taking the pay for each mission, but hoping to be caught on camera and the action footage be good enough to get them noticed, get them sponsorships and contracts, get them on the first rung to fame, fortune, and being media darlings. Over the years, the roleplaying game has been through the hands of several publishers—for good or ill—which means that it has not been as well supported as its devotees would like. Now back in the hands of the original publishing team, Nightfall Games, the core rule book for game has not only received a new printing, but following a successful Kickstarter campaign, it has released a major new supplement.

Cannibal Sector 1 is the first and worst of the Cannibal Sectors, the model for the other four, so it is no surprise that it should be the subject of its own supplement. Yet SLA Industries: Cannibal Sector 1 is not just a supplement for SLA Industries, it is also a whole new campaign framework and a set of miniatures combat rules. As a supplement it opens up a vast region abutting Mort City for examination, infiltration, and invasion; as a campaign framework, it provides a new point of view from which to roleplay SLA Industries; and as a set of miniatures combat rules, it provides a new way in which to play in the World of Progress. It comes packaged in a handsome, sturdy hardback that showcases some of the best art seen for the World of Progress, in turns grim and grimy, weird and horrifying, cartoonish and toothsome—all of it in full glorious colour. 

After opening with an overview over the five Cannibal Sectors, SLA Industries: Cannibal Sector 1 dives into the history of Cannibal Sector 1. Once called the Central Outskirts and home to millions, in the year 300sd, Salvation Tower, the great hope for solving Mort City’s epidemic unemployment, plunged several storeys into the ground. In the chaos that followed, millions of civilians rioted and looted, then fled towards the city walls, seeking refuge in Mort City proper. But unable—or unwilling—to deal with the wave of refugees. In the six centuries since, the descendants of the Central Outskirts civilians turned to cannibalism to survive and as it became acceptable evolved into tribes of what SLA Industries now consider to be an entirely new species. As the Central Outskirts decayed and crumbled, other factions used the ruins as a vector to get closer to Mort City. These include the strange antler-skulled Carrien with their hockey-stick-like clubs and DarkNight, which set up bases from which to launch terror strikes inside the city; the gasmasked, trenchcoat wearing, chain wielding Scavs appeared from nowhere to smash at all other factions; whilst the otherworldly, Dream Entities seem to come from somewhere else to tempt and taunt the weak and the unwary before sending them mad. SLA reacted to these threats first by constructing the impregnable, 207 km long Sector Wall and dispatching Digger, the great Manchine to track down the leaders of those who had rioted following the collapse of Salvation Tower. Digger went rogue and haunts Cannibal Sector 1 even now. Although Sector Rangers have long been slipping into Cannibal Sector 1 to map and scout its furthest reaches, it was not until three years ago that SLA decided to take back Cannibal Sector 1. Project Red Sky sent thousands of Shiver Units—the mostly Human urban pacification and police—into Cannibal Sector, but poorly supplied, the operation was a disaster and most of the Shivers died under waves upon waves of Cannibal attacks. As SLA suffered from the recriminations and fallout from the failure of Project Red Sky, another plan, the Bellwood Campaign, has been put into operation—establishing bridgeheads. Better armed and armoured Shiver Units, Sector Shivers, would establish forward bases from which to patrol the immediate surrounds and curb the activities of the denizens of Cannibal Sector 1. Naturally, this renewed effort has been heavily mediatised with shows like the popular Sector 1: Life on the Wall which became the highly popular Shivers Fuck Shit Up.

This sets up a detailed exploration of Cannibal Sector 1, which itself consists of some seventeen regions across twenty thousand square kilometres bounded on one side by the Sector Wall, pierced by just six Sector Wall Holes. Much like the rest of the World of Progress, Cannibal Sector 1 is poisoned by pollutants and lashed by near constant rain, but this varies region by region. Each is detailed in terms of its area and level of pollution, weather, terrain, resources, logistics, and notable inhabitants. So the war zone Southern Front consists of two thousand square kilometres, suffers from low (relatively) pollution and intense rainfall as well as flash floods, resulting in mud fields where Shiver forces are engaged in trench warfare with DarkNight. Its most notable resource is a rich copper mine, which the terrorist organisation uses for weapons manufacture. In comparison, the Northwest Compact is three times the size and suffers from greater pollution, and its main threats are Carrien, followed by Cannibals and 9th Division—the remnants of Project Red Sky turned rebel. Beset by torrential rainfall, it consists of a tightly-built grid of office tower blocks and civilian apartment highrises, many of which have collapsed into piles of rubble. Its most notable inhabitants include Klip-Klop, a Greater Carrien who leads a conclave on deadly sweeps of his territory; Jordy, the murderous offspring of the largest Cannibal clan in the region, The Bloody Bones, who only lives to kill those his mother dislikes; and of course, Digger, the largest and most notorious of the Manchines.

Across the seventeen regions, SLA Industries: Cannibal Sector 1 as a setting offers a huge range of terrains and threats. It means that the player characters could have to hunker down in the Western Front-style trenches of Southern Front, get stuck in the weird post-apocalyptic suburbia of the Tabor Projects—home to The Homespun Cannibal clan, and perhaps monitor the marshlands of the McGill Valleys, at the heart of which are the almost-luxury hotels and complexes where the 9th Division has its headquarters. 

Some nine factions are to be found in Cannibal Sector 1, most of them inimical to SLA Industries. They include the Cannibal clans, which have long feuded with each other for food and territory, but some now fight over whether or not they believe in their deity, Rawhead. Four Cannibal clans are described—The Bloody Bones, The Gartaks, The Homespun, and The Black Shucks. The strange alien origins and biology of the Carrien are explored, as are those of the Scavs, genetic experiments from two centuries ago who have come back to plague SLA Industries. DarkNight and its operations are detailed, as are the Dream Entities which cause fear in their opponents, affecting them with horribly realistic illusions or their worst phobias. Some take the form of tortured Shivers expressly to prey upon their victim’s survivor’s guilt, whilst the child-like Titters use their supposed innocence to lure their victims in before distorting their realities. In presenting all of these factions, it should be noted that a lot of teeth are on show and for an SLA Operative—or more likely Shiver trooper—there is a strong likelihood of their being torn apart, if not simply eaten. This is horrifying, but as much as SLA Industries: Cannibal Sector 1 focuses on physical and body horror, with the Dream Entities it does not ignore mental horror either.

In its campaign to occupy, pacify, and reclaim Cannibal Sector 1, SLA Industries send innumerable men and women into the different regions on a variety of missions. First and foremost—at least recently—are the Shivers, previously assigned to patrol the streets of Mort or man the sector walls looking over each of the five Cannibal Sectors, but following a massive recruitment drive, sent into Cannibal Sector 1 to establish bridgeheads. Sector Rangers are SLA Operatives trained to scout the far reaches of the sector on six month-long tours, whilst SLA Operatives, the company’s elite, undertake missions to look good on television as much as they are to fulfill their objectives. Lastly, NAGA 7 Division protects Mort from the unknown and the unseen, primarily the Dream Entities.

These faction descriptions are not just simple write-ups of their history, their organisation, and so on. Every description is accompanied by write-ups of typical roles within the factions. So for the Shivers, there are stats and descriptions of Troopers, Pacifiers—close combat specialists, Sergeants, Breachers—defensive specialists, Medics, Shiver Dogeybone—heavy armour suits, and Shiver Elite. These are accompanied by write-ups of notable figures, in the case of the Shivers, Sergeant Rooker, a famed squad leader, and then notable squads. Similarly, the description of the Cannibal clans goes into their culture and daily routine, as well as their worship of Rawhead, before detailing the four clans and their organisation. These include their Matriarchs, Butchers—the prized sons of the Matriarchs, Wranglers—who raise and herd carnivorous pigs for feast, fighting, and fun, Runts—the not-so prized sons of the Matriarchs, and the Mastiffs—the Cannibal clans’ prized hunting beasts. This is followed by a full write-up of the aforementioned Jordy.

In all of this, SLA Industries: Cannibal Sector 1 presents the Game Master with NPCs and threats to bring to her SLA Industries game, but that is not all. Another more chapter follows, detailing the flora and fauna of the sector—from the Arachnostalker, the armoured spiders known to lay massive webs and stalk its prey to exhaustion, and the disgusting Fleshworms which strike from cadavers to the annoying Clinger Algae, which degrades ceramics and so has to be scraped from the fortress walls of the Shiver Bridgeheads, and White Queen Lichen, the most poisonous substance in Cannibal Sector 1 which is harvested by Carrien to smear on their antlers and by Cannibals to coat their blades. Later on, full descriptions of the weather, toxins, diseases, and other environmental hazards to be found in Cannibal Sector 1 are given—and vile they are too! Lastly, Digger, the most feared thing in Cannibal Sector 1 is given stats and a write-up. The stats are all but superfluous since no player characters—whatever their skills or equipment—is ever going to take him down.

Equipment details are provided for all of the factions operating in Cannibal Sector 1. So the arms and armour of DarkNight as much as the Shivers, plus the bizarre things used by and against the Dream Entities. Not just the manufactured equipment of DarkNight and SLA Industries, but also the hand-built Scrap Armour, Punch Dagger, Ripper Gauntlet, Slingshot, and more used by the Carrien and Cannibals. The hardware section covers mundane equipment too, like the MT04 Trencher Shovel, the Piggy Wiggy easy-to-open meat tin, and Spritzcleen Sanitiser, the latter vitally important for operating in a sector that is redolent with disease and crud. Every item is given a full colour illustration, every gun, every melee weapon, every armour, every thing. Previous supplements for SLA Industries have not been able to do this, but it is important for two reasons. There is a strong military aspect to roleplaying and gaming in Cannibal Sector 1, so what a character takes beyond the city walls and might help ensure his survival is important, but also, SLA Industries is a game of commodification and mediatisation of violence and survival, so what you are equipped with matters… Lastly though, there is one vital piece of equipment that every Shiver squad will not go without—Colin the Teddy Bear. The surrogate squad member in case any one of their number is lost, Colin the Teddy Bear staves off any fall in morale which might come with the loss of a squad member, preventing their number falling the standard ten to the dreaded nine…

In terms of roleplaying, SLA Industries: Cannibal Sector 1 adds a range of new skills, from Animal Husbandry—essentially Pigotry and Bridgehead Construction to Gristle—the Carrien language and Sector Lore. It provides rules for creating Shivers, the recruits currently being sent out to establish and hold Bridgeheads from to patrol and pacify, including various training packages. These are supported by a guide to building Bridgeheads and everyday life within them, as well as five scenario outlines. What SLA Industries: Cannibal Sector 1 presents in terms of a campaign, is military-themed, a low intensity conflict that can be best described as a ‘Police Action’, with the ‘alien’ environment as much a danger as the inhabitants. There is scope also for long range patrols as Sector Rangers, as well as standard BPN missions for SLA Operatives, but the focus in SLA Industries: Cannibal Sector 1 is on the Shiver set-up.

Lastly, SLA Industries: Cannibal Sector 1 includes a set of skirmish rules for handling tactical situations between the various factions within the sector, each player controlling a patrol from one of these factions. Each player is given a pool of points or Creds, with which to design his patrol, whilst the Threat Level of any one model will determine how many can be in a patrol. These are clear, simple wargames rules for handling small engagements in 25 mm scale on an area roughly three by three feet. Rather than the standard roleplaying mechanics of SLA Industries, it uses a dice pool of ten-sided dice, with the best result counting. This being for SLA Industries, the rules also cover the use of Ebb—the strange power harnessed by Ebons and Brainwasters, as well as the various abilities of the Factions, like Juggernaut or Terror, fear being a possible response to many of the things found in the sector, plus the equipment. Several scenarios are given as are optional rules which cover vehicles and denizens.

The skirmish rules being for SLA Industries means that it is not just about defeating your opponent, but looking good on camera whilst doing it. Success in the rules means generating Ratings Points, the better the success, the greater the number of Ratings Points. A higher kill count will generate more, as will melee attacks. This modelled by the Bullet Tax, which encourages SLA Operatives (at least) to forgo the use of guns in favour of melee weapons. Overall, this is a solid subset of rules, offering an alternative to roleplaying in the World of Progress, though one that requires some investment in terms of the necessary figures.

Physically, SLA Industries: Cannibal Sector 1 is a well-presented book. The layout is simple and clean and profusely illustrated. Every thing, every creature, and every one to be found in Cannibal Sector 1 is given a full colour, fully-painted illustration, and barely a page goes by without an image. And the artwork is all  very good. The writing throughout, is engaging and in many cases, entertaining, the pieces of in-game text in particular, whether it is jingles for Spritzcleen Sanitiser or Shiver Sergeant Raymonde Giles’ prologue to episode 238 ‘Jimmy’s Release Party’ of Shivers Fuck Shit Up. Note that the language is of an adult nature throughout, but that is in keeping with SLA Industries.

On the downside, of course, SLA Industries: Cannibal Sector 1 is written for use with the first edition of SLA Industries rather the forthcoming SLA Industries: 2nd Edition, which is currently on Kickstarter. This means that its content are not easily compatible and so will need a conversion document. Another issue might be the lack of maps of individual locations, such as the Bridgeheads. 

The anticipation among fans of SLA Industries for Cannibal Sector 1 has been long and not without its difficulties. That anticipation, that wait though, has been worth it. The interesting fact about SLA Industries: Cannibal Sector 1 is that were it to come with a set of rules of its own, it could have been the ‘Cannibal Sector 1 Roleplaying Game’. There is enough content and gaming material for it to have stood on its own and not as just a supplement for SLA Industries. It is no mere supplement though, for it extends and deepens the World of Progress like no supplement before it, at its core, pitting the ordinary lives of the Shivers against the outlandish—in all senses of the word—environments of Cannibal Sector 1, as well as offering other options. In addition, the effort made to show what the world of Cannibal Sector 1 looks like, from the mundane to monstrous is amazing, helping to bring the vision of the authors and artists to life.

SLA Industries: Cannibal Sector 1 literally opens up a whole new sector for a SLA Industries campaign to play in, whether that is as a Shiver squad assigned to a Bridgehead or a team of SLA Operatives sent on a particular assignment. It presents threat after threat, danger after danger, and mystery after mystery in a wealth of detail which will fuel a SLA Industries Game Master’s campaign for months and months of play—if not more. Cannibal Sector 1 is a testament to the perseverance of its authors and artists, that despite the difficulties faced, they have produced such an impressive supplement. Overall, Cannibal Sector 1 adds so much to the World of Progress and in such a simple and stunning fashion, that every SLA Industries Game Master will want SLA Industries: Cannibal Sector 1 the way a Shiver wants a Colin.

Review 1000: King Arthur Pendragon

Much like the return of Glorantha to Chaosium, Inc. with RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, the return of King Arthur Pendragon felt like a long lost roleplaying game finally coming home. Originally published by Chaosium, Inc. in 1985, it was never really a case of King Arthur Pendragon of actually being lost, for other publishers, most recently Nocturnal Media, had published highly regarded editions of the classic, most recently King Arthur Pendragon 5.2, but the award-winning roleplaying game—including the 1991 Origins Award for Best Roleplaying Rules for King Arthur Pendragon, Third Edition, and the 1987 Origins Award for Best Roleplaying Adventure and the 2007 Diana Jones Award for Gaming Excellence for The Great Pendragon Campaign—was first published by Chaosium, and so feels at home with the publisher.

King Arthur Pendragon 5.2 would suggest that it is a relatively minor update to King Arthur Pendragon, Fifth Edith, but those changes are significant. Most obviously, in the new layout and full colour upgrade, which results in a stunningly clean looking book, but also in minor tweaks to the mechanics. Less obviously, but in hindsight, more importantly, in the addition of a set designer’s notes from the late Greg Stafford. These place King Arthur Pendragon in context and explain Stafford’s reasons for his design decisions, his love of Arthurian legend, and more. That they are his final words on what he clearly states he considers to be his masterpiece, is sad but fitting. So the question is, is King Arthur Pendragon Greg Stafford’s masterpiece? Instead of making you wait until the end of the review to answer that question, that question will be answered here and the review will instead be used to explain why.

Yes.

King Arthur Pendragon is Greg Stafford’s masterpiece and he was right to make such a claim.

King Arthur Pendragon is as the title suggests an Arthurian roleplaying game. Drawing from sources as diverse as the Welsh The Mabinogion, Sir Thomas Malory’s fifteenth century Le Morte D’Arthur, and T.H. White’s The Once and Future King, it presents a melange of the legends that compacts a thousand years of history and French and British culture into just eight decades. It begins in the ‘Dark Ages’ of the Fifth Century with native Britons holding off the Saxon invaders, sees the discovery and rise of King Arthur, inaugurating a golden age of chivalry, Christianity, and feudalism, and of honour, romance, and great quests, before the death of Arthur ushers a return of the Dark Ages with greater Saxon successes…

Players will explore this not through one character, but several, as their characters first try to protect Britain’s surviving kingdoms against the encroaching invaders, and then their characters’ sons will see the rise of Arthur, and their sons will aspire to become members of King Arthur’s Roundtable. This generational play is just the first of King Arthur Pendragon’s innovations. They will do this as one character type—the Knight. And even then only as one type of Knight—the British Cymric Knight. They may be British Christian Knights, Roman Christian Knights, or Pagan Knights, but they are British Knights. Each begins the game as a squire, before being knighted and serving Sir Roderick, Earl of Salisbury in the south of England. Now previous versions of the roleplaying game have allowed other character types, such as Pictish and Saxon Knights, even characters capable of casting magic, but King Arthur Pendragon 5.2 saves Knights from other lands for future supplements and magic for use by NPCs and as narrative devices and effects for the Game Master. This focus on a single character type is indicative of King Arthur Pendragon 5.2’s tight focus.

One issue with this character type is it is primarily a male one. As both historical and ahistorical as King Arthur Pendragon is with its feudal society, it should be no surprise that Knights are male, and that to be faithful to the history and the sources, the roles of women are limited in the roleplaying game. This does not mean that there are not important and influential women in the setting—notably Queen Guenever and Queen Morgan le Fay—but they do not necessarily ride into battle or go on quests. King Arthur Pendragon though, does not limit player choice and not only provides a list of historical examples who did, it also gives guidelines for creating female knights.

As a Knight each character is defined by Homeland, Culture, and Father’s Name, then Father’s Class, Son Number, Liege Lord, Current Class, Current Home, Age, and Year Born. All this before we even get to the numbers, which start with Traits and Passions—which define a Knight’s personality, then continue with Attributes—Size, Dexterity, Strength, Constitution, and Appearance—which are rated between three and twenty-one. Notably, there is no Intelligence attribute, that being left up to the player rather than the character. Skills are roughly divided into combat skills and ordinary skills. They range between one and twenty, but can go higher. Every Knight has Glory, a measure of his renown and his actions, the higher it is, the greater the chance of his being recognised.

Character generation is dedicated to creating such a Knight. Much of the background information is designed to support the set-up in Salisbury and is thus set in stone. The player has a choice in how he assigns points to his Knight’s attributes and skills, although the base skills are the same for all Knights. A Knight also has a coat of arms that a player is free to design and he also receives a Family Characteristic which all members of his family share. The last step in Knight generation is to develop his family history in and around Salisbury. This is a step-by-step process which charts the events in the lives of the Knight’s grandfather and father in the forty or so years before the player character Knight enters play. One thing thing a Knight inherits from his father is Glory, reflecting the renown his father achieved. Of course, the Knight will go on to greater Glory...

Our sample Knight is Sir Miles the Modest, a Christian Knight, whose outstanding Trait is his self-effacement and his ability to compose songs and poems. His grandfather fought with great distinction defending King Constans and he hopes to be as valorous.

Sir Miles the Modest
Homeland: Salisbury Culture: Cymric
Father’s Name: Melion Father’s Class: Vassal Knight Son Number: One
Liege Lord: Sir Roderick, Earl of Salisbury Current Class: Vassal Knight 
Current Home: Cholderton
Age: 21 Year Born: 464 AD

Glory: 1,196

ATTRIBUTES
Size 12
Dexterity 12
Strength 12
Constitution 15
Appearance 12

DERIVED ATTRIBUTES
Damage: 4d6
Healing Rate: 2
Movement Rate: 2
Total Hit Points: 27
Unconscious: 6

Distinctive Features: Green Eyes

FAMILY CHARACTERISTIC
Good with Words (+15 Compose)

PERSONALITY TRAITS
Chaste 10 | 10 Lustful
Energetic 10 | 10 Lazy
Forgiving 09 | 11 Vengeful
Generous 10 | 10 Selfish
Honest 10 | 10 Deceitful
Just 10 | 10 Arbitrary
Merciful 10 | 10 Cruel
Modest 16 | 04 Proud
Prudent 10 | 10 Reckless
Spiritual 10 | 10 Worldly
Temperate 10 | 10 Indulgent
Trusting 10 | 10 Suspicious
Valorous 16 | 04 Cowardly

PASSIONS
Loyalty (Lord) 15
Love (Family) 15
Hospitality 15
Honour 15
Hate (Saxons) 11
Hate (Picts) 11

SKILLS
Combat Skills: Battle 15, Horsemanship 10, Sword 15, Lance 10, Spear 6, Dagger 5
Awareness 10, Boating 1, Compose 25, Courtesy 10, Dancing 5, Faerie Lore 1, Falconry 5, First Aid 10, Flirting 3, Folk Lore 2, Gaming 3, Heraldry 3, Hunting 2, Intrigue 3, Orate 10, Play (Harp) 3, Read (Latin) 0, Recognise 5, Religion (Christianity) 2, Romance 7, Singing 5, Stewardship 2, Swimming 2, Tourney 2

EQUIPMENT
Chainmail and shield, two spears, sword, dagger, fine clothing (worth £1), gear (personal, travel, war), four horses (charger, two rouncys, sumpter), engraved silver ring (heirloom, worth £2)

HISTORY
Miles’ grandfather fought at the Battle of Carlion in 439 AD and served as a garrison knight for several years before dying trying to protect King Constans in 444 AD. Miles’ father, Melion, fought at the Siege of Carlion in 466 AD and then as a garrison knight for many years, withstanding many Saxon raids. He fought in the Battle of Salisbury in 480 AD and was present at the funeral of High King Aurelius Ambrosius and the election of Uther as the new Pendragon. He was killed at the Battle of Eburacum in 484 AD.

Mechanically, King Arthur Pendragon 5.2 is simple. A player rolls a twenty-sided die, the aim being to roll equal to under the skill, Trait, or Passion. Rolls of twenty are always a fumble, whilst rolls equal to the value of the skill are always critical rolls. Critical rolls grant an experience check. For example, when attempting a Recognise check for Sir Miles to see if he recognises a fellow knight by his coat of arms, results of one to four would be a success, but a result of a five would be a critical success. In opposed rolls, the participant who makes a successful roll, but rolls highest succeeds better than his opponent. For example, in a Gaming contest, Sir Miles’ player succeeds, but only rolls a two. His opponent, with a higher skill of 6, rolls a five and wins. If a Knight has a skill over twenty, then the value over twenty acts as a bonus to his player’s roll, with results over twenty counting as a critical success. For example, Sir Miles has a Compose skill of 25. This grants his player a +5 bonus to the roll, with any roll of 20 or more counting as a critical success. When it comes to making Experience Checks, a player simply has to roll over the value of the skill, Trait, or Passion to increase it, but for skills over twenty, a straight roll of twenty is required to improve it.

For example, Sir Miles wants to write a song dedicated to the widow of his liege lord, extolling the virtue of her loyalty to her late husband and duty to see to the care of his children. He believes that having lost his own wife, he should marry the lady and the song he believes is appropriate means of wooing her. His player rolls 17, scoring a critical success. Later on, when it comes to rolling the Experience Check for Sir Miles’ Compose skill, his player rolls only a 12 and so does not improve the skill.

Combat essentially uses the opposed roll mechanic. In a Melee Round, rolls are made for each combatant’s combat skill. If both combat skill rolls are successful, but the higher roll means that participant wins the exchange and inflict damage, whilst the defender can use his shield to defend himself. If the roll is failed for a combatant and his opponent’s roll is a success, then the defender cannot use his shield. Damage in general, is not done by weapon type—though some weapons, like a dagger, will reduce the number of dice rolled for damage—but by the damage rating of the Knight or NPC.

Typically, a player will be rolling four six-sided dice for damage for his Knight. If ready for a fight, a Knight will be wearing Chainmail which provides ten points of protection, and if his player rolls well enough, wielding a shield that provides another six. If not, even an average damage roll for a Knight will inflict damage and if a player makes a critical roll in combat, then the damage is doubled. What this means is that combat in King Arthur Pendragon has the potential to be incredibly deadly, the rules also allowing for knockdown, being knocked unconscious,  inflicting wounds, and breaking weapons.

After a Knight has suffered from damage or wounds, first aid can be applied in order to keep him from death’s door, but in the long term, a Knight will need the application of Chirurgery—an ‘non-knightly’ skill that no honourable Knight will know. Otherwise, there is rest and recuperation, but what there is not, magical healing, and what there is, is the chance of a wound deteriorating and should a Knight not rest, of aggravating it. What this highlights is that the life of the Knight might be glorious, it might be honourable, but it can also be nasty, brutal, and short. The time needed for healing should a wound be suffered is also one reason why adventuring opportunities are so limited in King Arthur Pendragon.

As simple as the mechanics are in King Arthur Pendragon, they are not what the roleplaying game is known for. That honour goes to its system of Traits and Passions. Traits represent a Knight’s personality, consisting of thirteen opposite pairs. So Chaste and Lustful, Honest and Deceitful, Valorous and Cowardly, and so on. Each Trait in a pair is assigned a value, the two values together adding up to no more than twenty. So, a Trusting of ten and Suspicious of ten, an Energetic of fourteen and Lazy of six, and so on. During a game, a player can look to the values of his Knight’s Traits to determine how he might act, but if unsure or wanting guidance, the player can roll against one of them, and the Game Master can also direct a player to roll against one to see how his Knight will act in a particular situation.

For example, Sir Miles is attending a feast at which his lord has an entourage of Saxon warriors as guests. During the evening, a Saxon knight, Cuthred, boasts of his prowess at the battle of Ebacurum against the less than worthy Christian knights. Good manners forbids the hosts rising to the bait, but Sir Miles’ father was killed in the battle and so he has a hatred of Saxons. Looking at Sir Miles’ personality Traits, he has a Vengeance of eleven and a Forgiving of nine. Sir Miles’ player could just say that the knight leaps to his feet and demands satisfaction or that Cuthred apologises, but instead decides that he will roll for it to determine what Sir Miles will do.

If Sir Miles’ player rolls against the Knight’s Vengeance of eleven, then Sir Miles will be angered to act against Cuthred, leading to an exchange of words, possibly a fight with Cuthred, and a rebuke from his lord. If though, that roll is failed, his player will roll against Sir Miles’ Forgiving of nine. Again, if Sir Miles’ player rolls under that, Sir Miles will not act vengefully, but demur, being prepared to forgive Cuthred for his boasts. No fight ensues and his lord might give Sir Miles an approving nod for his keeping his temper. Of course, if both rolls are failed, Sir Miles is free to act as his player decides. 

If the player successfully rolls against a Trait, then like skills, the Trait can be improved, even if that Trait is seen as a negative one. What this means is that the values of Traits can change over time, reflecting how a Knight’s personality can change when he is pushed to act one way or another. At the same time, a Knight should also be working to find opportunities to raise certain Traits. These are seen as virtuous Traits—for example, Chaste, Energetic, Generous, Modest, and Temperate for Sir Miles as a British Christian Knight—and if their combined is high enough, he will be renowned for his virtue and gain Glory for it. In this way, King Arthur Pendragon encourages a player to roleplay his Knight aspiring to be the best knight that he can.

The personality Traits in King Arthur Pendragon are an incredible piece of design, subtle and elegant, and doing so much more than you think. Obviously, they guide and direct a Knight’s behaviour and decisions, at dramatic moments deciding how a Knight will act and they push a player toward roleplaying an ideal, that is, an Energetic, Generous, Just, Merciful, Modest, and Valorous knight, the very model of Christian chivalry which lies at the heart of the genre that King Arthur Pendragon is all about emulating. Yet, they also serve as the equivalent of the game’s mental advantages and disadvantages, either hindering or benefiting a knight depending upon the situation. In the given example, Sir Miles’ Vengeance of eleven works as a slightly stronger disadvantage, whilst his Forgiving of nine is a weaker advantage. Given another situation, his Vengeance might be the advantage and his Forgiving the disadvantage. In other roleplaying games, such advantages and disadvantages are cut and dried absolutes, known quantities. In King Arthur Pendragon 5.2, they are not. They are flexible, they have the capacity to change over time, and so they reflect a character’s growth and change more readily and easily, with there being no possibility of a character simply and absolutely buying off a disadvantage, for personality Traits can just as easily swing back the other way.

In addition, a Knight’s Passions, like Loyalty (Lord), Love (Family), and Hate (Saxons) which represent strong emotional and psychological tendencies. When a player rolls against one of his Knight’s Passion, it can grant inspiration and a bonus for a task, but should it fail, it can leave the Knight disheartened and suffering a penalty to a task.

For example, at the feast where a Saxon knight, Cuthred, boasted of his prowess at the Battle of Ebacurum against the less than worthy Christian knights, Sir Miles’ player made a successful roll against Sir Miles’ Vengeance of eleven. Instead of striking at the uncouth Saxon, Sir Miles’ player decides that the Knight will rebuke Cuthred and speak vehemently of the British knights at that battle. This will be an Orate check, but Sir Miles’ player decides that he will invoke Sir Miles’ Passion of Hate (Saxons) of eleven. He is fortunate and rolls ten—a success. Sir Miles is inspired, gains +10 to his Orate skill for the one roll. Sir Miles’ player rolls twenty, which would normally be a fumble, but is here a critical result, and Sir Miles gives an impassioned speech about the prowess of his father and his fellow knights at the Battle of Ebacurum, which has the Christian knights around the table cheering.

What is so surprising is that given the flexibility of the Traits and Passions in King Arthur Pendragon, that they have not been used elsewhere—until recently that is. Most obviously in the Paladin: Warriors of Charlemagne, but also in the way that Runes and Passions are used in RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, both published by Chaosium. Imagine how Traits and Passions could be used in a roleplaying set in feudal Japan or even somewhere as alien and baroque as Tékumel?

Another innovation in King Arthur Pendragon is its highly structured, generational play. Knights will generally go on an adventure just once a year, typically in the summer when it is easier to travel. This might be as simple as attending court, but it might also be a raid on the neighbouring Saxons, going on a quest, participating in a campaign, and so on. Once that is over, a Knight will engage in training, family matters, and see to his manor, all during the Winter Phase. In game terms this is when a player rolls for any Experience Checks that his Knight has accrued during the summer adventuring phase, but equally as importantly, it is when a Knight and his family age. When a Knight reaches the age of thirty-five, there is a chance that he will suffer random reduction to one or more attributes. This will carry on until either one of the Knight’s attributes is reduced to zero or he retires from play. When he does so, ideally, his oldest surviving son will step into his shoes and become the player’s new Knight. The son has to be a minimum of twenty-one to do that, and even before that, the player has to be rolling each year to see if his Knight’s wife gives birth, and then each year to see if the child survives. This generational play should ideally see one Knight succeed his father and then be succeeded by his son, but the constant need to check to see if each child survives further enforces the perilous times in which King Arthur Pendragon is set.

King Arthur Pendragon 5.2 includes a great deal of information about its setting. This covers not only Salisbury and notable places and personages, but also a guide to the Britain of the time, the customs of Knighthood and laws of the land, both Paganism and Christianity, before moving forward to explore the chivalrous and romantic future of King Arthur’s reign. As well as a relatively short bestiary, a complete battle system is provided for handling combat between hundreds and thousands of men. Then  of course, there is the scenario, which sees the player characters a squires on their last day before being knighted. There is very much a step-by-step process to the scenario, the squires undergoing some training in order to show their players how the mechanics work, and so on. The scenario will be familiar to anyone who has played previous editions of King Arthur Pendragon, but it does a fine job showing how the roleplaying game works.

Physically, King Arthur Pendragon 5.2 is a fine looking book. The full colour, stained-glass window illustrations which preface every chapter are excellent, capturing the high medieval idealism of the Arthurian setting, whilst the sepia illustrations elsewhere depict the romance, the mystery, and the brutalism of the setting. The book is well written and quite easy to read and digest, although a few game examples, more clearly marked would have nice additions.

It would be easy to simply describe King Arthur Pendragon as the greatest Arthurian roleplaying game ever published. Easy because it would be true. It is a fantastic design and it superbly invokes its sources. Yet as a roleplaying game, King Arthur Pendragon is all but without peer, indeed the second greatest Arthurian roleplaying game ever published, Prince Valiant: The Storytelling Game, is also designed by Greg Stafford. As to the others, the third best, Age of Arthur: Heroism in the Dark Ages eschews the romanticism of the first two, whilst Legends of Excalibur: Arthurian Adventures from RPGObjects is the best d20 System option for Arthurian roleplaying, Once and Future King, published by TSR for the Amazing Engine rules, the best Science Fiction interpretation, Corporia the best dystopian interpretation, and Steve Jackson Games’ GURPS Camelot offered the most comprehensive overview of the genre. Of I, Mordred: The Fall and Rise of Camelot from Avalanche Press, the less said, the better…

Yet, King Arthur Pendragon 5.2 is not quite perfect. The problem is that its focus is too much on set-up for the period in the Dark Ages of its history, prior to the rise and reign of King Arthur. There are notes on this, but they are relegated to an appendix, almost like an afterthought. So anyone coming to the roleplaying game wanting the grandeur and romance of that period may well be disappointed by what they are given in the pages of King Arthur Pendragon 5.2. Similarly, some may be disappointed by the lack of character options, but to be fair, the combination of character Traits and skills allow for more diversity in terms of character personalities than is obvious at first glance. Further, the focus on Salisbury means that there is not a huge amount of scope to take a campaign and its player Knights beyond that and the scenario only gets the player characters to knighthood, with nothing really for them to play as knights, although the Game Master could perhaps adapt one of the solo adventures included. Now there are supplements which will address these issues, most notably The Great Pendragon Campaign, the astonishingly grand campaign which will take a band of Knights and their descendants right through the eighty year time frame of King Arthur Pendragon. As for further character options, there is the Book of Knights and Ladies supplement. Certainly though, an anthology scenarios showcasing just what King Arthur Pendragon 5.2 is capable of would be perfect, but in the meantime there are older supplements available—such as  Tales of Mystic Tournaments and Tales of Chivalry and Romance—which are compatible with King Arthur Pendragon 5.2.

Reviewing the first edition of King Arthur Pendragon—a rather lovely boxed set—in White Dwarf 72 (December, 1985), Graeme Staplehurst said that it “…[L]ooks like being one of the best systemised roleplaying games around.” before concluding that, “Overall, I would not hesitate to recommend the game to any roleplaying aficionado who is looking for inspiration . . . were it not for the dreadful price.” (It was then priced at £25.95—approximately £78 today). Nevertheless, Staplehurst awarded King Arthur Pendragon nine out of ten. In Dragon #107 (March, 1986), Ken Rolston concluded that, “Pendragon’s Arthurian matter and its masterful treatment commends itself highly.” and that, “In presentation, Pendragon is attractive and pleasurable reading. serious fantasy role-playing gamer’s shelf. The Pendragon boxed set is an excellent value, certainly one of the most important RPG releases of 1985, and belongs on every serious fantasy role-playing gamer’s shelf.” Anthony Fiorito, writing in Different Worlds Issue 42 (May/June, 1986), said, “In summation, King Arthur Pendragon is a straightforward, uncomplicated attempt at recreating the atmosphere of Arthur’s Britain. It is easy to understand and extremely playable. The rules flow smoothly and although they do not cover every possible situation, are structured to give a general idea of what to do in any reasonable case.” before highlighting what he saw as weaknesses—the lack of a magic system and the background knowledge required by the Game Master in order to create scenario. (Arguably, the first of these is not really a weakness, but the second may still be an issue.) Fiorito awarded King Arthur Pendragon four stars out of five and finished by saying, “But even with these few drawbacks, Pendragon has turned out to be one of the most enjoyable new role-playing games that I’ve played in a long time. It was definitely worth the money spent. I recommend this game to everyone who has ever dreamed of being a knight in shining armor or pulling the sword from the stone.”

At the top of this review, I stated that Greg Stafford is right to regard King Arthur Pendragon as his masterpiece. Not just a masterpiece, but a design classic, a master class in using mechanics to both model its Arthurian genre and to encourage its players to roleplay its knightly character types. Those mechanics are all but peerless, beautifully elegant, but flexible in how they push a Knight to act and his player to roleplay and explore Arthurian Britain not through the player’s eyes, but through those of his Knight. Then there is that setting, brought to life as a labour of love upon the part of the author, ready to be explored and experienced. Put it in your top ten, your top five, or your top three, King Arthur Pendragon is one of the greatest roleplaying games ever published, the perfect combination of mechanics and theme. 

Review 999: Original Adventures Reincarnated #1: Into the Borderlands

The reputation of B2 Keep on the Borderlands and its influence on fantasy roleplaying is such that publishers keep returning to it. TSR, Inc. of course published the original as well as including it in the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set, which is where many gamers encountered it. The publisher would also revisit it with Return to the Keep on the Borderlands for its twenty-fifth anniversary, and the module would serve as the basis for Keep on the Borderlands, part of Wizards of the Coast’s ‘Encounters Program’ for Dungeons & Dragons, Fourth Edition. Yet since then, Wizards of the Coast has all but ignored B2 Keep on the Borderlands and the module that preceded it, B1 In Search of the Unknown, barring the publisher’s 2012 Dungeon Module B2 The Caves of Chaos: An Adventure for Character Levels 1-3. This was the playtest scenario for D&D Next, first seen in Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle, which was essentially previewing what would go on to become Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition.

Instead, it would be other publishers who would revisit both scenarios in the twenty-first century. So Kenzer & Company first published B1 Quest for the Unknown, a version of B1 In Search of the Unknown for use with HackMaster, Fourth Edition, and would follow it up with not one, but two versions of B2 Keep on the Borderlands. First with B2 Little Keep on the Borderlands: An Introductory Module for Characters Level 1–4 in 2002, and then again in 2009 with Frandor’s Keep: An immersive setting for adventure. Another publisher to revisit B2 Keep on the Borderlands was Chris Gonnerman, with JN1 The Chaotic Caves, a scenario written for the Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game. In addition, Faster Monkey Games published its own homage to B1 In Search for the Unknown with The Hidden Serpent, whilst Pacesetter Games & Simulations has published a number of extra encounters and sequels for both scenarios, most notably B1 Legacy of the Unknown and B2.5 Blizzard on the Borderland.

Yet Wizards of the Coast did not ignore its extensive back catalogue. It would release numerous titles in PDF, and even allow Print on Demand reprints, including both B1 In Search of the Unknown and B2 Keep on the Borderlands. Further, in 2017, it published Tales from the Yawning Portal, a collection of scenarios that had originally been published for previous editions of Dungeons & Dragons, including Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Edition, Dungeons & Dragons, Third Edition, and even D&D Next. These scenarios though, did not include either B1 In Search of the Unknown or B2 Keep on the Borderlands. Which upon first glance seemed a strange omission, but then came the announcement from Goodman Games about Original Adventures Reincarnated #1: Into the Borderlands.

Original Adventures Reincarnated #1: Into the Borderlands presents a huge package dedicated to B1 In Search of the Unknown and B2 Keep on the Borderlands. The large volume includes interviews, reprints, advice, redesigns, expansions, and more. It is a chance for gamers—old and new, but given the nostalgia value of this book, mostly old—to look at these modules anew and actually compare with what versions written for Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition might look like. For newer players, it provides an opportunity to examine the modules in their original form, but really then play them using a set of rules with which they are familiar. All together, there are three versions of each module in Original Adventures Reincarnated #1: Into the Borderlands with the means to include both in the region.

Original Adventures Reincarnated #1: Into the Borderlands opens with a series of interviews and reminiscences. Luke Gygax, son E. Gary Gygax, provides a foreword and shares his memories of playing B2 Keep on the Borderlands, whilst Mike Mearls, co-lead designer on Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition explores the key elements in the module that best shows of the elements of Dungeons & Dragons, before looking a little at B1 In Search of the Unknown. What he highlights is how many of the elements found in B2 Keep on the Borderlands serve as the model for a good Dungeons & Dragons adventure, and show how they can be applied to various settings. Elsewhere Alex Kramer talks about how B2 Keep on the Borderlands started his collection of Dungeons & Dragons titles, but the highlight of the introduction is naturally enough, an interview with Mike Carr, the designer of B1 In Search for the Unknown. This is a lengthier piece than the Q&A which appeared in In Search of the Unknown Campaign Sourcebook, which serves as a companion to this informative interview. Similarly, the discussion of the cover and art of B1 In Search of the Unknown in the fan-based In Search of the Unknown Campaign Sourcebook serves as a companion to ‘The Mystery of the Alternate B1 Cover Art’. This is the last entry in the introductory chapter and brings it to an interesting close.

Over a third of Original Adventures Reincarnated #1: Into the Borderlands is devoted to reprints of the original modules. These include scans of the second and sixth  printings of B1 In Search for the Unknown and the second and fourth printings of B2 Keep on the Borderlands. For the most part, the differences between the two sets of printings are minor, and it is unlikely that a Dungeon Master would use both. They are more than just historical curiosities though, as they showcase how the modules  originally appeared and they also serve as springboards for contemporary designers to approach them using the Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition rules.

The Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition versioning begins by giving options that fulfill the aim of B1 In Search of the Unknown. Famously, that module left it up to the Dungeon Master to stock each of its rooms and locations with monsters, NPCs, and treasure from the lists included. Three such lists are included, each accompanied by a little introduction explaining the reasoning behind each list. This is followed by advice echoing that given both the Dungeon Master and her players in B1 In Search of the Unknown. Although written with the Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition version of the module that follows in mind, it really harks back to that originally included in B1 In Search of the Unknown, preparing player and Dungeon Master alike for a different roleplaying experience—an ‘Old School’ experience if you will. The actual version of B1 In Search of the Unknown for Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition retains the same emphasis on exploration and combat as the original, but the modern update means that it places more of an emphasis on social interaction and story than in the original. This is achieved by what is a complete stocking of the dungeon of its monsters, NPCs, and treasures—essentially what is the fourth stocked example in Original Adventures Reincarnated #1: Into the Borderlands—with NPCs and monsters being active in the dungeon. These include a set of highly competitive Gnome triplets leading a band of evil Gnomes on a raid of the dungeon, whilst a band of the barbarians from the tribes that the builders of Quasqueton, Rogahn the Fearless and Zelligar the Unknown, are famous for defeating. Certainly, the Dungeon Master will have fun roleplaying the nasty little Gnomes. There is also an entertaining Mimic in the caves too. The result is a fun dungeon, tough and challenging, but to an extent what is lost is the emphasis on the background and story of Rogahn the Fearless and Zelligar the Unknown.

Beyond the confines of Quasqueton, Original Adventures Reincarnated #1: Into the Borderlands adds three further encounters. These include the tower which Rogahn the Fearless and Zelligar the Unknown never quite completed, and what are both of their tombs. These are primarily trap and puzzle-based areas as you would expect from a tomb, and again, these are quite tough, almost evoking the infamous S1 Tomb of Horrors in their nastiness. Written of course, for lower Level characters. These three encounters are all optional, but quite detailed. They do include yet another take on what happened to Melissa, Rogahn the Fearless’ mistress, which provides the first of Original Adventures Reincarnated #1: Into the Borderlands’ links between B1 In Search of the Unknown and B2 Keep on the Borderlands.

In comparison, the adaptation of B2 Keep on the Borderlands for Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition is not as interesting. This is because it is more straightforward and lacks the scope for design input which is integral to B1 In Search of the Unknown. This does not mean that it is not well done, but it is more of a straight adaptation than a rewrite. Where the designers have scope to do more with B2 Keep on the Borderlands is in the wilderness area between the Keep and the Caves of Chaos. Original Adventures Reincarnated #1: Into the Borderlands doubles the number of encounters and locations, turning the area into a mini-sandbox. Old standbys are still there, like the evil Lizardmen and the old apiarist hermit, but there are also Bullywugs living in a Reed Maze, an abandoned Adventurer Camp, and more to be encountered. The inclusion of the Bullywugs, one of a number of monsters to appear here which originally appeared in the Fiend Folio for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Edition, is a nice touch since Luke Gygax, together with his father, originally designed them. One of the main additions—and very much an optional one at that—is that of the Caves of the Unknown. In other words, the designers give the option for the player characters to discover Quasqueton and play through B1 In Search of the Unknown before they even get to the Caves of Chaos!

As well as the encounters in the wilderness between the Keep and the Caves of Chaos, Original Adventures Reincarnated #1: Into the Borderlands provides extra encounters in and around the ravine containing the Caves of Chaos. These increase the number of caves from eleven to fourteen. They include a hidden lair of Xvarts—another ‘Old School’ monster that originally appeared in the Fiend Folio and more recently in Volo’s Guide to Monsters, but is rarely used, a cave of giant vermin, and a cave system designed to link the Caves of Chaos to the lower level of the Caves of the Unknown. Again, these are well designed and do not necessarily feel out of place alongside the original caves. 

Rounding out Original Adventures Reincarnated #1: Into the Borderlands are lists of the various new monsters and magical items, as well as potential hirelings, but the volume closes with one last reprint. These are the full colour covers of both B1 In Search of the Unknown and B2 Keep on the Borderlands along with their maps. These are lovely reprints vibrant with colour that everyone’s battered and used copies of the originals lost long ago.

Physically, Original Adventures Reincarnated #1: Into the Borderlands is decently presented. The facsimiles of both B1 In Search of the Unknown and B2 Keep on the Borderlands are clearly presented and easy enough to read, although the updated versions with their serif text and much bigger fonts are easier. That said, the use of different fonts and so on does make the overall look of the book disjointed, but it is obvious why it was done. (In fact, it would have been fascinating to have seen this product done as a boxed set containing the different versions of the modules, old and new, as well as separate maps and supporting material.) The book does need an edit though. The new maps are all sharp and clean, whilst the new artwork, much of which has a cartoonish quality to it, is decent enough. The contents page could definitely done with expanding, especially as there is no index in the book. Surprisingly, for a book of its size, Original Adventures Reincarnated #1: Into the Borderlands is quite light in the hand, although it still feels sturdy enough.

Now as good and as fun as it is to see the old versions of B1 In Search of the Unknown and B2 Keep on the Borderlands reprinted, and then updated to, and expanded for, Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, there is something missing in Original Adventures Reincarnated #1: Into the Borderlands. The problem is that in setting the context with the interview and the memories, it feels as if B1 In Search of the Unknown receives all of the attention, leaving the reader wanting when it comes to reading about B2 Keep on the Borderlands. And further, the memories and the interview do feel wanting in comparison to the publisher’s earlier treatment of another TSR. Inc. classic, Metamorphosis Alpha with the delightfully informative Metamorphosis Alpha Collector’s Edition. Understandably, the creator of B2 Keep on the Borderlands, E, Gary Gygax, is longer with us, but surely something more could have been included?

There is a great deal to like about Original Adventures Reincarnated #1: Into the Borderlands. The interviews and reminiscences are interesting to read and to be able to place two classic modules alongside what more contemporary designers would do with them makes for fascinating comparisons. The expansions are all well designed and do not feel out of place with the older material, and even though the placing of the Caves of the Unknown close to the Caves of Chaos feels a little too much for the wilderness region, it does mean that B1 In Search of the Unknown and B2 Keep on the Borderlands can be played together as a campaign. And despite the Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition updates, expansions, and updates—which it must be made clear makes both B1 In Search of the Unknown and B2 Keep on the Borderlands playable by those whose first game is Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, these are still ‘Old School’-style adventures. So there is more of an emphasis on combat and exploration, though the updated versions do include more story and more social interaction, and the adventures feel tougher and more unforgiving. If there is one thing that is missing, it is perhaps a discussion of the differences between the two styles of play, between Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition and the Old School Renaissance. There are hints, but if ever there was an opportunity to do so, surely it was with Original Adventures Reincarnated #1: Into the Borderlands?

Ultimately, it does feel as if there are a few things missing from Original Adventures Reincarnated #1: Into the Borderlands and it missed an opportunity or two. Yet it still manages to both satisfy our sense of nostalgia and explore a more modern approach to a pair of classic modules. This is because again and again, different publishers, whether TSR, Inc. or Kenzer & Company, Wizards of the Coast or Chris Gonnerman, have revisited these modules, exploring them, reshaping them, expanding them, all in an effort to recapture some of that joy of playing them the first time around, but still with the benefit of hindsight of decades’ worth of play and change in gaming sensibilities. Original Adventures Reincarnated #1: Into the Borderlands is a fine example of that, but takes the time to look back as well as update. Original Adventures Reincarnated #1: Into the Borderlands is not quite the definitive treatment of B1 In Search of the Unknown and B2 Keep on the Borderlands, but Goodman Games’ homage is far from unwelcome and the updated versions provide plenty of play forty years on...

'B2' Series: Dungeon Module B2 The Caves of Chaos

The reputation of B2 Keep on the Borderlands and its influence on fantasy roleplaying is such that publishers keep returning to it. TSR, Inc. of course published the original as well as including it in the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set, which is where many gamers encountered it. The publisher would also revisit it with Return to the Keep on the Borderlands for its twenty-fifth anniversary, and the module would serve as the basis for Keep on the Borderlands, part of Wizards of the Coast’s ‘Encounters Program’ for Dungeons & Dragons, Fourth Edition. Yet until the advent of Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition and then most recently Goodman Games with Original Adventures Reincarnated #1: Into the Borderlands, which covered both B1 In Search of the Unknown and B2 Keep on the Borderlands, it would be other publishers who would revisit B2 Keep on the Borderlands. Kenzer & Company visited it not once, but twice. First with B2 Little Keep on the Borderlands: An Introductory Module for Characters Level 1–4 in 2002, and then again in 2009 with Frandor’s Keep: An immersive setting for adventure. Another publisher to revisit B2 Keep on the Borderlands was Chris Gonnerman, with JN1 The Chaotic Caves, a scenario written for the Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game. Yet Wizards of the Coast would give B2 Keep on the Borderlands one last hurrah in 2012.

Barely four years old, by 2012, Wizards of the Coast was already developing and playtesting a replacement for Dungeon & Dragons, Fourth Edition. Although Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition would not be released until 2014—and before we continue, consider that was five years ago and Wizards of the Coast is still not considering developing Dungeons & Dragons, Sixth Edition—a number of playtest documents were released instead. These were for D&D Next, first seen in Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle, which was essentially previewing what would go on to become Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition and they included the scenario, Dungeon Module B2 The Caves of Chaos: An Adventure for Character Levels 1-3.

Dungeon Module B2 The Caves of Chaos begins with some general notes. These highlight how “…[T]his module, originally titled B2: Keep on the Borderlands, has been the introductory module from the earliest boxed editions of D&D rules. The adventure consisted of a detailed keep, to be as a base, and a cave complex known as the Caves of Chaos. The latter has been included here.” Immediately, this establishes Dungeon Module B2 The Caves of Chaos as being focused on play. There is no keep for the player characters in which to wander around, do some shopping, and discover some rumours from the nameless inhabitants. Instead, it simply presents the dungeon, the infamous Caves of Chaos, and no more. In doing so, it is intended as a fairly faithful rendition of the original, designed actually to test out the freedoms of how Dungeons & Dragons might be played—not should be played or must be played, but might be played. The point is that as an adventure, Dungeon Module B2 The Caves of Chaos is designed to be open any style of play, whether that is hack-and-slash, dungeon crawls, guerrilla warfare and political manipulation, and so on.

It also highlights how the module does not present a single story or plot, the player characters being free to proceed how they want through the scenario. Nevertheless, in a sop to thirty odd years in roleplaying development, Dungeon Module B2 The Caves of Chaos does include numerous motivations which can be used to draw the players and their characters into exploring the Caves of Chaos. The five given are all strong hooks. Another point is that Dungeon Module B2 The Caves of Chaos is designed for ‘Free-Form Adventuring’. It states that, “Most adventures published for the latest editions of the D&D game have encounters tuned for balance and a structure meant to take the characters from one set-piece battle to the next. Sometimes, safe resting places were built in at just the right points. Although each cave has a recommended level for a party of four characters, The Caves of Chaos doesn’t work like such previous adventures.” So what it is saying is that the adventure is not like those of Dungeons & Dragons, Fourth Edition—and to some extent with Dungeons & Dragons, Third Edition with adventures like Scourge of the Howling Horde with their ‘Combat Encounter’ structure. Thus it would be more like the classic adventures of old—which of course, is what Dungeon Module B2 The Caves of Chaos is a version of—and indeed, would be more like the adventures, or rather, the campaigns to come for Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition.

For the Dungeon Master, there is solid advice on handling the monsters and making the dungeon dynamic in how its denizens react to the activities of the player characters and on how to handle to avoid killer encounters, the latter a problem because the player characters could simply wander into a section of the Caves of Chaos for which they are not experienced enough to handle. The advice continues with each of the eleven caves which make up the Caves of Chaos. Each one is preceded by a section explaining the level of challenge it represents to a party and providing an overview. For example, the first cave, the Kobold Lair, is presented as a challenge for a First or Second Level party and that a higher Level party would trounce the Kobolds. The key location in the Kobold Lair is area 6 and that any fleeing Kobold will go there to warn the others, who will react as needed, though eight will always remain. It also highlights how the Kobolds are notorious for their traps. It does this in turn for each of the caves.

All of the individual location descriptions are clearly laid out. So there are notes on any sources of light or noise, what monsters are present, what features, treasure to be found, and if a possibility, any development. Thus for the Orc Leader’s Room in the first Orc Lair, there is source of light, but mutterings might be heard between him and his four formal mates. There is treasure to be found on the Orcs and around the room as well as a couple of secret areas, but in terms of development, the Orc Leader might slip behind a tapestry and flee through a secret door to get help from the other Orc tribe in the Caves of Chaos. This formating makes every location and every cave easy to read and the various skill and attribute Difficulty Class targets are easy to spot. 

Now anyone who has read, run, or played B2 Keep on the Borderlands will find much that is familiar. So the Goblins shout “Bree-Yark!”; the Ogre is open to bribery and hiring, though he cannot be trusted; the Bugbears offer hot meals and beds for the night; and so on. Yet, there would have been players and Dungeon Masters enough who had not seen B2 Keep on the Borderlands, so it would not have been as familiar to everyone. Especially that it would not be until January, 2013 that Wizards of the Coast made it available as a PDF for general sale.

Physically, Dungeon Module B2 The Caves of Chaos is a twenty-three page, 2.61 MB PDF. Barring the full colour painting on the front cover, there are no illustrations in the document and it is very clearly marked as a with ‘Playtest’ throughout. It does include a map of the Caves of Chaos, which looks to have been copied from B2 Keep on the Borderlands and is a little murky and difficult to read clearly.

Dungeon Module B2 The Caves of Chaos is not B2 Keep on the Borderlands and it is not intended to be. It is instead a version of the major parts of that module designed to test the limits—or the freedoms—of play in an open environment unshackled from an earlier set of rules. To do that it presents a facsimile of the Caves of Chaos from B2 Keep on the Borderlands in a very accessible format with some solid supporting advice and then just leaves the Dungeon Master and her players to just play however they want. In fact it is so accessible, that any Dungeon Master with any experience would be able to pick this up and start running it with relatively little preparation. Overall, Dungeon Module B2 The Caves of Chaos is a snapshot of a game in development, one looking forward to what would become Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, but still ready to look to—and acknowledge—the past.