I’ve been reading my copy of Goodman Games’ Original Adventures Reincarnated #1: Into the Borderlands. At 384 pages this is no lightweight. It republishes the first 2 adventures written almost 40 years ago for Basic Dungeons & Dragons: B1 In Search of the Unknown and B2 The Keep on the Borderlands. It was my first time reading B1.
Not only are the original adventures republished with restored maps and commentary but new material is added and everything is converted to Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition. The new encounter maps that extend the old maps are a nice addition regardless what edition of D&D you plan to use. Some of the new material was taken from a novelized version of The Keep on the Borderlands which didn’t appeal to me at all but these details are easy to change.
It was somewhat disappointing to see several of the new encounters being very much in line with the modern approach to D&D. This makes them jarring when placed in the same adventure with the original encounters. For example, finding many “magic-proof” cages on the side of the road broken and their magic rabbit prisoners running everywhere presents a different take on magic than a reader will find in the original Keep on the Borderlands’ encounters. Thankfully the encounters are easy to rewrite.
Although a little pricey I recommend Into the Borderlands for fantasy roleplaying fans. Its material is useful and will likely be at my game table soon.
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