The overall villains are The Hidden Temple, villainous evil priests of a cult of two death gods who have recruited a collection of bandits to their cause and have been systematically eliminating the humanoid residents of the Caves of Chaos (by exterminating them, or pushing them out), and using the resulting bodies to bolster their undead army.
![return to the keep on the borderlands 3.5 return to the keep on the borderlands 3.5](https://i.imgur.com/3EoEcoA.jpg)
![return to the keep on the borderlands 3.5 return to the keep on the borderlands 3.5](https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ndChTyuEe7U/UuWx4rezS3I/AAAAAAAAF3g/X5duh0rm79M/s1600/keep.png)
Interestingly, not all the bad guys are on the same side as one another, and even those that are may only be working together out of mutual convenience. A functional, if relatively impoverished local economy is described, various NPCs are given jobs, personalities, and families, several NPCs are detailed who might throw in their lot with the PCs and become adventuring companions or henchmen, and so on.īut an adventure module is not an adventure module without a cast of villains, and Return to the Keep on the Borderlands has an extensive, well-developed cast of bad guys. Without Macsen's influence to help bring in money and supplies, the community inside the Keep has struggled, and many of the areas inside the fort have been given over to trade crafts, farming activities, and otherwise being used to house, feed, and clothe the residents. The remaining inhabitants of the Keep decided to stay and tough things out, electing Devereau, one of their former Lord's henchmen (who stayed behind because he was crippled), to lead them. Macsen Wledig, the original builder of the Keep, left many years before with the bulk of his fighting forces to fight in a war raging far away where he and his retainers were all killed. The Keep is also given a name (Kendall Keep) and a brief history that ties together many of the ambitions of the various NPCs.Ī quick outline of the background: The Keep has fallen on hard times. Even the villains have names, personalities, and goals, all of which are quite useful for a DM trying to decide what particular actions, deals, and plots would or would not interest the various actors. The first difference one notices is that the NPCs all have names and many have actual personalities.
![return to the keep on the borderlands 3.5 return to the keep on the borderlands 3.5](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wVXM2LbTqb4/VLl5-YrNAXI/AAAAAAAAEEA/_r16YR-j8ic/s1600/SG9_reclaiming_the_caves_of_chaos.jpg)
It is also is simply better designed and thought out than the original. Unlike the original, this module is designed for the 2nd edition AD&D rule set, and is firmly set in Greyhawk (although it would be relatively easy to convert to another setting). On the twenty-fifth anniversary of the publication of B2: The Keep on the Borderlands, Wizards of the Coast published Return to the Keep on the Borderlands, an updated adventure scenario set twenty years after the events of the original.