Keep on the Borderlands

Somewhat fittign to start the blog with a post on the Keep on the Borderlands, the start for so many.

We are playing the classic adventure Keep on the Borderlands (module B2) combined with In Search of the Unknown (module B1). As both are more of a rough adventure outline, I fill in the blanks with additional material I made up, because that is part of the fun of being a DM. (There are also expanded commercial remakes of the keep that do the same for you with 5e stats, if you prefer). 

In my version, the keep is located deep in the Phoswood, and the Cave of the Unknown houses the dungeon from In Search of the Unknown (module B1) and on level 2 has a connection to the Caves of Chaos Area 51. The wizard's experiments from his fungus garden have leaked out, so the the whole forest is rich with weird lichen, fungi and mushrooms. Maybe even the fungal growth that creates the weird blueish glow at night and gives Phoswood its name can be traced back to him.

The bandit kingdoms and behind them, the evil empire of Iuz threaten civilization from the North beyond the forest, provide a backdrop and reason for the keep. They may be in league with the bandits and the evil cultists and humanoids that populate the caves. 

The keep is provided with goods from Radigast City or Wintershiven via barges trawling the Yol between those two cities, that then detach traders with carts along the forest road. One of the keeps Merchants also trades in rare fungi. Around the keep are a number of farms, that provide essential victuals, that are robbed and raided by the denizens of  the caves.