Keep on the Badlands — Character Creation

I asked my Monday night players how they felt about switching to a different rules system for the new campaign. I explained that I really wanted to run Basic/1e D&D using one of the retro-clones, but my suggestion was met with a resounding, "No, thanks." The guys know 5e and are confident playing it, so they have zero interest in learning a new game (even if it's sort-of the one we used to play 40 years ago).

I like core 5e well enough so I'm not terribly disappointed, but I was jazzed about trying something different (especially for this campaign, my adaptation of B2 Keep on the Borderlands). I haven't played/run AD&D since the late 80s—going back to that system or even Basic sounds like great fun to me, but it's not the hill I felt like dying upon.

Fifth Edition it is, then. To capture the feel of Basic/1e under the 5e framework, however, I established the following character creation guidelines. Because the Caves of Chaos are filled with lots of enemies, I also boosted some of the class abilities to give the party a little more endurance and enable them to press on longer without stopping to rest every other combat (which might be difficult or even impossible during an attack on one of the humanoid lairs).

CHARACTER CREATION

STEP 1: ABILITY SCORES

We're using the variant point-buy system from the DMG: You have 27 points to purchase ability scores, before adding any racial bonuses. A score of '15' is the highest you can purchase.

 

	Score		Cost
	8		0
	9		1
	10		2
	11		3
	12		4
	13		5
	14		7
	15		9

• A score of '18' (+4) is the mortal maximum for any PC race. Higher scores are possible with magic items, but a racial bonus or an ASI can only boost a score to 18.
  
• Modifiers for scores of 19+ are applied on a 1:1 basis (i.e., 19 (+5); 20 (+6); etc.)

 

STEP 2: AVAILABLE RACES

Per PHB versions. Available sub-races and exceptions noted below.

• Dwarf — Hill or Mountain Dwarf. Instead of Darkvision, dwarves have “Cave Vision” (works only underground or in darkened interiors). 
• Elf — High or Wood Elf only. Instead of Darkvision, elves have “Night Vision” (works only under the ambient light of the moon and stars). 
• Halfling — Lightfoot or Stout
• Human — Standard Human only (no Variant).
• Humans also gain (1) free skill or tool proficiency of their choice.
• Humans gain a bonus of +10% to ALL XP earned.

 

STEP 3: AVAILABLE CLASSES

Per PHB versions. Available sub-races and exceptions noted below.

• Barbarian — Path of the Berserker only. A short rest plus expending (1) Hit Dice (without gaining any HP) allows the barbarian to remove (1) level of Rage exhaustion. 
• Bard — College of Lore only. 
• Cleric — Life, Light, Order, and War Domains only. 
• Druid — Circle of Land only (Desert, Grasslands, or Mountains) 
• Fighter — Champion or Battle-Master only. To make the Champion Fighter more attractive to play, the following changes apply to the PHB version...
  
• 3rd-level Champions gain an additional Fighting Style.
• 3rd-level Champions may use a bonus action to make a single attack with any equipped weapon, whether they use the Attack action on their turn or not.
• 6th-level Champions may also use their reaction to…
• Counter-Attack = Make one melee weapon attack against an opponent that makes an Attack against you and misses.
• Shield Block = With an equipped shield, you can either increase your AC or that of an ally within 5 ft. of you by 2 against a single enemy attack, or add +2 to any DEX saves vs. area-based effects (such as Fireball) for yourself or an ally within 5 ft. of you.
• Paladin — Oath of Devotion or Vengeance only. Paladins get (1) free Divine Smite per Proficiency bonus before requiring spell slots to cast. One or more additional free uses can be expended to increase the smite damage by 1d8 (as though the paladin had used a higher level spell slot).
• Ranger — Beast Master or Hunter only. Rangers get (1) free Hunter’s Mark per Proficiency bonus before requiring spell slots to cast. The free use is cast at 1st-level only.
• Rogue — Assassin or Thief only. 
• Wizard — All PHB sub-classes are available.
  
• When determining starting spells, Wizards may choose (1) cantrip or spell from the list per INT modifier; the rest are rolled randomly. 
• Additional spells gained with each level are also rolled randomly.

 

STEP 4: BACKGROUND SKILLS

You don’t choose a background from the PHB; instead, take Proficiency in any (2) skills and/or tool kits of your choice. 

 

STEP 5: STARTING MONEY AND GEAR

You have the clothes on your back and a few personal items. You have been hired to escort a merchant caravan to Irongate Keep. You start with the following…

Money
You left civilization with your life savings of 100 gp (you sold everything else you owned to get it). You were paid 50 gp up-front, and will receive another 150 gp upon arrival.

NOTE: A big part of this campaign is day-to-day survival, both in the wilderness and in the “civilization” of the keep. Life on the frontier is hard, and if you run out of money or can’t pay your living expenses, then no one here is obligated to take care of you.

Weapons
Everyone starts with (1) simple melee or ranged weapon of your choice.

• Fighters, paladins, and rangers start with any (2) additional weapons of their choice or (1) weapon and shield.
• Picking a ranged weapon using ammo also gives you a quiver/case with 12 pieces of ammo. 
• Your merchant bosses provide a spear for anyone who requests one, but it must be returned when the mission is complete.
  

Armor
Everyone starts with padded armor or none. The merchants provide a shield for anyone who requests one, but it must be returned when the mission is complete.

NOTE: The campaign setting is a hot and arid climate (think the American Southwest). Wearing medium or heavy armor in the heat is a liability unless you’re mounted (and even then, it can still be a problem). 

General Equipment
None for now; the merchants provide food, water, and other necessities for the journey. You will equip yourselves for adventure at the keep using the money you earn.

Personal Equipment
Certain character classes start with “essential” items (such as holy symbols for clerics and paladins, spellbooks for wizards, thieves’ tools for rogues, musical instruments for bards, etc.) Please don’t assume, however; ask me before giving your character anything. You can also start with any trinkets or non-equipment items that may have personal meaning for your character.

Backstory

Don't bother with one as it will have no impact on this campaign. You are fleeing political strife and civil war in the north, and have left whoever or whatever you were behind to seek out a new life for yourself on the frontier.

The Badlands

The Badlands are a desolate range of broken hills located along the southeastern border of the kingdom of Remedios, across the Plains of Yorum. The region is harsh and unforgiving, a labyrinth of boulder-filled canyons that wind through high, craggy ridgelines.

The air here is hot and dry, and vegetation is sparse—mostly dry grass and low, thorny scrub. An occasional stream trickles through the deeper canyons, where thickets of pine trees and brambles grow. In some low-lying canyons, the streams get trapped and form weed-choked marshes that teem with mites and biting flies.

The craggy hills are rich in mineral wealth, however, and mining camps have popped up all over as prospectors, assayers, and merchants flock to the region seeking their fortunes. Caves abound and shelter can be found among the terraced ridgelines (though such caves are often the lairs of dangerous creatures). The ridges are also said to hide mysterious ruins that hold all manner of ancient secrets, treasures, and terrors alike.

The locals consider the entire land cursed. Some say an ancient evil once held dominion over the area—and that shadowy remnants of it linger still. Prospectors tell tales of ill-seeming creatures slinking through the hills... and of an evil cult stirring them up.

To the west sprawl the arid grasslands of the nomadic horse-clans, who compete for territory with herds of aggressive centaurs as well as bugbear tribes who dwell in the fringes of the Badlands. The territory to the east is the stomping grounds of a trio of hill giants—brutish brothers who war constantly with each other. The eastern hills are crawling with their evil minions—goblins, orcs, and much worse. Nobody goes into the east, not even the brave soldiers of Irongate Keep. Beyond the Badlands to the south lies the inhospitable Red Desert, home to the savage red orcs.

Keep on the Badlands

I took a brief hiatus from the blog due to real-life work projects. In the meantime, Jeff decided to end his campaign and asked me to resume DM duties for our regular weekly Roll20 campaign. The only thing I had ready to go was a set-up I created during the 5e playtest (D&D Next). The playtest packet included a conversion of the Caves of Chaos (sans keep or surroundings) from the Basic D&D module: B2 Keep on the Borderlands.

Erol Otus captures it all so perfectly.

B2 was the first module I adventured in when I started playing D&D, and the caves hold a special place in my heart as my first foray into a "dungeon" setting. I still vividly remember flipping through the module for the first time and seeing all those illustrations that cemented what D&D was in my young brain.

My plan during the playtest was to run B2 as a mini-campaign to introduce my players to the new ruleset. I re-imagined the keep as an outpost on the edge of a desert wilderness called "The Badlands," and created a new regional map for the players to explore (much of it cribbed from the original module). I never ended up using any of the materials when we started playing the published 5e rules, even though I'd done a lot of work on it. This seemed like a great opportunity then to dust off the setting and start a new campaign: Keep on the Badlands.

The setting is a sandbox with several active plot-lines occurring in the area (one of which is the restoration project underway at the Caves of Chaos—the existence of which is NOT currently known to the residents of the keep). Part of the early campaign will involve uncovering the knowledge of the caves and the evil cult behind it.

Irongate Keep — the last bastion of civilization on a desolate frontier.

As in the module, the titular keep serves as the party's base of operations. I created special survival rules to simulate a harsh desert environment, as well as house rules to restore some of the game's inherent danger, largely neutralized by 5e's default "easy" setting. It took the players a few sessions to adjust to the difficulties of operating in a desert environment, but overall the new rules have infused a lot of flavor to the campaign and forced the players to plan their journeys accordingly.

Another major campaign element is that the keep's remote location has made everything more expensive. Most common equipment items sell for 150-200% of book price; any uncommon items are difficult to find, while rare items aren't available at all. The players can—if they wish—plunder the countryside for valuable materials. I created simple mini-games for hunting, foraging, prospecting, and crafting built in, which the players are beginning to leverage to earn money and make the things they need. So far, they haven't resorted to banditry, but the option has come up in conversation.

Just a few months in and we are already pretty far afield from the main (Caves of Chaos) plot. My weekly prep is fairly minimal, though, and I'm really enjoying just "winging" much of the session as we play. Going forward, I'll post all the campaign material and make updates on how the sandbox develops.