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.