Irongate Keep

NOTE: The following material is an homage to the Basic D&D module: B2 Keep on the Borderlands. In adapting it to my 5e campaign, I took liberties with the original document (some of which I intend to discuss in a future post), but I tried to keep much of the flavor and phrasing of Gary's original text. This module taught me what a dungeon setting was all about, and, to some degree, has influenced every adventure I've ever created.

Classic illustration from B2
by D. S. LaForce (Diesel)

This sturdy fortress sits at the southernmost edge of human civilization. Built along an ancient trade road, atop a high bluff at the head of a wide canyon between two steep ridgelines, the keep's purpose is to defend the remote border of Remedios against invaders from the Red Desert. A village has sprung up within its walls, catering to the needs of those intrepid enough to brave the wild frontier beyond. The village will serve as the characters’ base camp as they adventure in the Badlands.

The keep's Castellan is a no-nonsense, law-and-order man. Though loyal to the king, he expects his ailing liege to die soon, so he is careful with his alliances and keeps his troops close by to fend off ambitious rivals. Despite the tenuous political situation in the northern capital, he is duty-bound to his sworn mission: maintaining the keep’s standing strength and defending the pass from incursions. 

In recent years, it was discovered that the craggy hills around the keep are rich in ore and gems, prompting an influx of itinerant prospectors and treasure-seekers. As a result of the mining boom, the Castellan's coffers are filled with gold. He has received credible reports, however, that trouble is a-brewing in the hills to the south: witnesses claim to have encountered various bands of hostile humanoids roaming the canyons, and perhaps gathering together into a bigger force.

In order to protect the keep—and his new source of revenue—without risking his own troops, he has decided to fund an operation off the keep's books. His closest advisors and officers have orders to find trustworthy mercenaries willing to brave the wilds and root out the source of this growing menace. Several parties have been dispatched so far, but none have returned. 

There are many such opportunities at the keep for brave souls willing to handle dangerous threats, particularly those who first make names for themselves among local residents and officials.

Keep Details

The fortress is well-organized for security and defense. Sentries are alert and guards patrol the walls, making it difficult to enter or leave without notice. Fortified structures have crenelated battlements, arrow loops, and machicolations. Perimeter towers are manned with ballistae and light trebuchets. The dusty courtyards and avenues of the lower bailey are paved with flagstone and well-maintained.

Non-fortified structures are brick or sandstone buildings with plastered walls and clay-tiled roofs. Interiors are supported by timber frames. Windows are closed by ventilated wooden shutters and heavy interior curtains. During the heat of the day, most residents take shelter inside or sit under thick awnings for shade.

Troops and Organization

The keep garrison totals 300 soldiers led by nearly 20 ranking superiors. The garrison is organized into two companies of 150 men each: the Watch (yellow tunics) and the Guard (blue tunics). Each company is commanded by a captain and is divided into three platoons of 50 men led by a lieutenant. Each platoon is formed of five squads of 10 men led by a sergeant. Each squad is further divided into two teams of five men led by a corporal.

The Watch is responsible for patroling the territory surrounding the keep, but they do not venture deep into the Badlands (no further than five miles). Three squads of the Watch are cavalry: one squad of heavy cavalry and two squads of medium. Two-thirds of the Watch (i.e., 100 men = 8 infantry squads and 2 cavalry squads) are in the field at any time. The remaining third (50 men) rotate into the keep for rest.

All 150 men of the Guard, on the other hand, are responsible for defending the walls of Irongate Keep. One squad of the Guard serves the Bailiff as law enforcement in the village. Thus, at any time, ~225 soldiers and officers guard the keep, while ~115 are away from the keep on patrol. All field forces can be recalled in 1d3 days.

The bulk of the soldiery consists of well-trained, regularly-drilled fighting-men. The troops respect the Castellan and morale is generally high. They know that punishments for mistakes and poor conduct are severe, as well, so efforts to bribe them are likely to fail (and possibly end in the briber's arrest).

A soldier's typical kit includes: studded leather armor and wooden shield, steel helmet with leather brim, yellow or blue tabard, leather belt and pouch, short sword, dagger, rugged linen trousers, and hard leather boots. Each soldier also carries one of the following [d6]: 1-3 = polearm; 4-5 = heavy crossbow; 6 = longbow. Variations to the standard soldier are based on rank and/or specialty (see below).

Standard Keep Soldier
Medium human, lawful neutral (good)
AC 15 (Studded Leather and Shield)
HP 11 (2d8+2)
Speed 30 ft.
STR 12 (+1), DEX 12 (+1), CON 12 (+1), INT 10 (+0), WIS 10 (+0), CHA 10 (+0)
Proficiencies. Athletics, Intimidation, gaming set, land vehicles
Senses. Passive Perception 10/15* (see Alert)

Alert. The troops are highly-disciplined; when “on-duty,” they have advantage on Perception checks.

Actions
Weapon Attack. +3 to-hit, +1 damage (by weapon type)

Variations

• One-in-20 soldiers is a Medic with Medicine proficiency. In addition to the standard kit, they wear a white sash and carry a pack filled with basic first-aid supplies, including 0-2 elixirs that heal 1d4+1 hp.
• Corporals add +1 hit dice (16 hp)  and wear a standard kit plus a burgundy sash.
• Sergeants add +2 hit dice (22 hp) and gain +2 to STR and WIS; Weapon Attack (melee) increases to +4 to-hit and +2 damage; passive Perception increases to 11/16. In addition to the standard kit, sergeants wear a burgundy sash with gold chevrons.
• Cavalrymen have proficiency with Land Mounts, add +2 hit dice, and gain +2 to STR and CON (26 hp); Weapon Attack (melee) increases to +4 to-hit and +2 damage. In addition to the standard kit, all cavalrymen wear red tabards, and use steel shields, lances, and longswords; heavy cavalry also wear chain mail (AC 18).
• Lieutenants add +3 hit dice (27 hp) and +1 to Proficiency bonus, and gain +2 to STR, DEX, WIS, and CHA; they also gain Multiattack (2 attacks) and Weapon Attacks (all) increase to +4 to-hit and +2 damage; passive Perception increases to 11/16. Lieutenants have a standard kit, except they wear chain shirts (AC 17 with shield), wield longswords instead of a short sword, and do not carry any additional weapons. They also wear a burgundy sash with a single gold star.
• Captains add +4 hit dice (45 hp) and +1 to Proficiency bonus, and gain +2 to all ability scores; they gain an additional +2 to STR and CON (+4 total); they also gain Multiattack (2 attacks) and Weapon Attacks (melee) increase to +5 to-hit and +3 damage; ranged attacks increase to +4 to-hit, +2 damage. Passive Perception increases to 11/16. Captains have a standard kit, except they wear chain shirts (AC 17 with shield), wield longswords instead of a short sword, and do not carry any additional weapons. They wear a burgundy sash with two gold stars.

Keep Population (~700 total)

The majority of keep residents are soldiers and their families. The wives and children either work in the village or serve in the Castellan’s household, which further motivates the soldiers to be loyal, diligent, and reluctant to take bribes. A smaller population of commoners lives here as well, along with various outsiders passing through the keep for one reason or another. Most migrant laborers rent out communal living space in the Apartments (area 7) or above businesses.

Keep Economy

Immediately surrounding the keep are various farms, ranches, and mining camps that contribute to the keep's operation. All of these are small steadings, however—simply peasant folk ekeing out meager livings under the safeguard of the keep's soldiers who patrol the area. Other, much larger mining operations exist deeper in the Badlands, but they are isolated out there on their own, with no guarantee of safety or protection. 

The supply of trade goods and equipment commonly found within the keep are geared toward these types of operations. Fortunately, this also covers many of the tools commonly used in dungeoneering: ropes, spikes, packs, torches, et al. Mounts and beasts-of-burden are also commonly available here. Most common goods and equipment can be purchased for 125-150% of book price, and sold for 25-50%. Uncommon items may be harder to find, and cost double or triple book price. Rare and high-end luxury items are not available, and ordering such items will cost 5-10 times book price and take weeks or months to arrive by caravan.

All trade within the keep is either conducted in minted merchant coins: guilders (gp), bits (sp), and pennies (cp), or bartered for equivalent coin value. All mineral finds must be assayed at the Loan Bank to cash-out. All valuable materials and commodities (including monetary treasure) returned to the keep and declared to the Master-of-Stores for sale or trade is subject to the Castellan's tax of 10% of assessed value.

Law and Order

The townspeople are generally law-abiding and honest, and intolerant of boorish or ill-mannered behavior. If someone sees a criminal act, an alarm is sounded which brings a guard patrol in 1d4 minutes. If met with resistance, keep guards will not hesitate to use force, killing if they must. Prisoners are locked in the keep dungeon and punished for their crimes. If the keep comes under attack, civilian militia help man the walls, while other villagers tend to the wounded and resupply defenders.

Keep Locations

A map of the keep and descriptions of keyed locations continue under the cut...

Campaign Prologue

Session 0 for this campaign consisted of rolling up characters and then giving the players the following background information and encounter.

Seeking adventure, the characters have signed on to escort a merchant caravan across more than 700 miles to Irongate Keep on the southernmost border of the kingdom of Remedios—the edge of the civilized world. Each was paid 50 guilders (gp) to sign on, plus another 150 guilders upon arrival.

During the trip, each character learns two of the following rumors about the area, overheard from the merchants (roll 1d8, no repeats)…

1. The Badlands region was once the site of an ancient temple dedicated to Thera—matriarch of the Solis pantheon, and the goddess of earth, life, and hearth. In the distant past, her temple priests fought a war with an evil cult. The ruins of both the Theran temple and the cult’s former lair are hidden somewhere in the hills below the keep.
2. The keep’s castellan is a former Remediosi knight, a righteous man of law and order.
3. The keep’s doctor pays good money for animal and plant specimens for his studies.
4. The broken hills of the Badlands are rich in gold and silver ore, but there are also many reports of caves and ancient ruins dotting the region, chock-full of treasure and artifacts.
5. There is a fountain in the keep with a statue of the water-goddess, Luvia (daughter of Thera). Supposedly, its waters invigorate any follower of the Solis pantheon. When the moon is dark, the statue is said to whisper secrets to the faithful.
6. There is a secret morgue beneath the castellan’s fortress, where the doctor conducts grotesque experiments on the dead. Some say he is a necromancer.
7. The vizier of the keep is one of the castellan’s closest advisers. He is said to possess a magical eye that sees everything that happens in the keep.
8. Many unsavory characters pass through the keep’s village...especially now that so much ore is coming out of the hills. Be careful what you say and to whom you say it.

It is up to the players as to what rumors they share with the rest of the party (or don't). 

 

Approaching the Border

After more than two months of travel across the grassy plains, a line of dark hills finally appears ahead. As the caravan gets closer, the jagged, broken hills become more dangerous-looking. A hot dry wind begins to sweep across the flat plain, carrying whiffs of acrid smoke and the sickly-sweet scent of death.

The caravan track eventually enters the hills via a wide canyon between two craggy ridgelines. The ground becomes uneven and strewn with boulders. Dry, thorny scrub clings to the hillsides, and rocks and debris occasionally tumble down from the ridges. There is a constant sense that the caravan is being watched from the cliffs, as vultures wheel ominously overhead.
 

Encounter on the Road

Near day’s end, a thin ribbon of smoke is seen rising ahead—other travelers on the track have been ambushed and viciously murdered by bandits. A burned-out covered wagon smolders on the dusty track. A merchant and two guards lie dead on the ground, along with a pair of bandits. Two mules and a pony graze nervously on scrub nearby. A band of ill-seeming stragglers picks over the remains.

The surviving bandits consist of (3) goblin peons and a hobgoblin grunt (the two dead are also goblins). The goblins wear ragged leather armor and wield scimitars and short bows. The hobgoblin wears leather armor and uses a longsword in melee. 

As the party moves forward to attack, the goblins take cover behind the wagon and open fire with bows while the hobgoblin hangs back to engage the main fighter. After a quick (but difficult) fight, the bandits are dead.

After looting the bodies of some loose change and a collection of poor-quality weapons, the party's fighter—Smitty—acquires the hobgoblin's leather armor and longsword. He also finds that the hobgoblin was wearing a bronze badge embossed with a strange sigil. In addition, the creature's forehead is branded with the same mark.

The party recovers a bale of trade goods from the destroyed wagon. The merchants with whom the party travels refuse to take possession of any of the goods, as the containers all bear the trade-marks of a competing merchant house and they don’t want to be accused of stealing. The party is welcome to take the goods, however, if they so wish.

 

Arrival

When the caravan gets back underway, the keep is only a few miles away. They continue following the trail and arrive just as the sun sets. The narrow, rocky track ascends the bluff—a sheer wall of natural stone to the left and a steep cliff to the right. The track widens at the top, before the entrance to the keep, where a drawbridge spans a deep gorge.

All along the keep wall, helmeted soldiers peer down, ready to repel enemies with crossbows and polearms. A guard carrying a polearm and wearing ring mail and a dark blue tunic with the sigil of a gray portcullis greets the party at the drawbridge: 

"State your names and business in Irongate Keep!”