Madicon 21: The State of the Borderlands

When I started running Keep on the Borderlands last November I hadn’t really thought to make a serious campaign. The situation at the Keep and the Caves seems to be evolving from game to game of its own accord, though. Here is a fairly complete list of the developments:

The kobalds have been on their guard ever since a group of freelance adventurers raided the place and killed the king and his bodyguards. Their new security precautions have paid off. Someone falls into their pit trap every week or so now and the kobolds make good money selling vials of oil, wine skins, and iron rations to the other monsters in the area. It is rumored that additional kobalds have moved in recently, bringing them at least back up to their original strength.

The goblin caves were overrun with giant rats and carrion crawlers during the days following the genocide that recently occurred there. The next phase of the underworld cleaning service appears to be kicking in now and the place is infested with a variety of slimes.

It is rumored that the hobgoblins are much more wary now that they’ve lost sixteen of their warriors. Their tactics seem to be developing in order to take advantage of flaming oil and they also seem to be taking precautions specifically designed to foil adventurers that depend upon sleep spells. Word has also reached the Keep that the hobgoblins have a dwarf named Tobur held hostage. The hobgoblins demand that the 500 gold in the dwarf’s bank account be brought to their main entrance within one week’s time or they’ll kill him. (Tobur’s stats are 15-7-13-10-13-11, HP 8, Neutral Dwarf, XP 880 + 220 + 11 = 1111.)

Since the bandits have been brought to justice, trade has resumed its normal course. One merchant has arrived with several magic scrolls for sale. He is willing to trade them in return for jewelry and other high-value artifacts.

One adventuring party brought back several captive kobalds several months ago. The Castellan normally has them excavating and expanding the dungeons underneath the Keep, though they occasionally perform in a circus at the Saturday marketplace.

A adventurer named Argent is a fixture of the tavern. Anyone that buys him several drinks will hear him recount the horrors he’s encountered in the  kobald, hobgoblin, and the goblin caves. (Argent’s stats are 10-13-6-14-14-13, HP 2, Chaotic Magic User, 10 + 265 = 275 x 1.05 = 288 XP, Charm Person Spell, dagger.)