Between the time I ordered Volume I of Letters from the Dark from DriveThruRPG and when I was ready to order further volumes, the print on demand option disappeared.  I asked about it, and creator Chris Powell mentioned that there was some sort of issue and that for the time being they wouldn’t be available POD through DriveThru, but I could order them directly from Powell’s website.  That website turned out to be a bit difficult to track down, so I’ll share it here.  Though I wanted to pick up all of the volumes released to date, I have limited resources and decided to pick and choose the ones most likely to be useful to me in the near term.  Thus, I don’t have reviews for Volume II or III at this time. Instead, I’m on to Letters from the Dark Volume IV: Borderlands.

Often cited as the “most played” D&D adventure of all time, I suspect Keep on the Borderlands has since been surpassed by Lost Mines of Phandelver, as 5e has a much, MUCH larger pool of players than any previous edition of D&D ever had.  However, one cannot deny its popularity and the nostalgia many older players have for it.  Consequently, among the many varied OSR and Old School adjacent games that have come out over the last 15 years or so, there have been many inspired by or reimaginings of Keep on the Borderlands.  Not to mention the massive Goodman Games tome that started off their Original Adventures Reincarnated line, where they reprinted the original and then did an expanded 5e version.  I believe Keep on the Borderlands is also going to feature in the upcoming starter box for We Swear It’s Still 5e from WotC.  Personally, I’ve never played through it, having only dipped my toes into D&D a few times over the years, and never having had any fun doing so.  I have no particular nostalgia for it.  However, as a framework for adventure, I see its appeal.  Thus, I figured a ShadowDark-focused take on the concept would be fun.

Powell tries to keep with the ShadowDark style of simple, clear, almost terse rules and options.  Also, for a “zine,” Letters from the Dark issues actually have a pretty high page count.  So, there’s a lot crammed into seventy two pages.  First up are rules for hirelings.  Then there’s a fairly extensive section on mercenaries, a more advanced and nuanced form of hireling.  There are also several pages of sample mercenaries to hire.  Up next, there are a few pages of rules for player character-owned keeps, what I’ve seen called strongholds or domains.  There are then a few pages going over the general “philosophical” idea of the borderlands, as well as some hints for running a so-called West Marches style game.  Often you’ll see the West Marches described as how they “used to play” back in the early days of the hobby, though having grown up around folks who played D&D from the early days and having been in the hobby since the 80s, I have met literally zero people who played in anything resembling a West Marches styled game…or much of anything like what a lot of OSR devotees describe.  Anyway.  Finally, the last thirty five or so pages are taken up by the Borderlands adventure site.  This consists of a hex crawl map with almost nothing filled in (that’s for the GM & PCs to do), a big, settled keep for the PCs to base out of, restock, hire folks, and spend their money at.  Then there’s the Caverns of Kowse, a take on the Caves of Chaos from the original Keep on the Borderlands.  The latter features a bunch of monster/enemy factions for the PCs to fight with, ally with, or play off each other.  

I believe I’ve written previously about how ShadowDark, for all the things it does very well, falls into one rut that really bugs me.  Chaos equals evil.  It goes back to D&D, where the two were essentially synonymous, and has become sort of assumed in the genre (see also: Warhammer).  I’m much more of a fan of Michael Moorecock’s Law VS Chaos dynamic, where both are evil if taken to the extreme.  That’s why Lawful paladins can slaughter innocents with a smile on their face and god in their heart just as easily as a lord of the Nine Hells.  The Empire from Star Wars is as much a force of Law as the Republic before it.  Sticking with Star Wars for an example, Sol Gerrera is an agent of Chaos who works within…or alongside, the Rebellion, which is itself attempting to replace one version of Law with another (ideally less stuffy & repressive than the Empire or the Old Republic, closer to balance, or Neutrality).  All that is to say that Borderlands sticks with that classic D&D thing that has come forward into ShadowDark.  The creatures from the Caverns of Kowse are Chaotic, which here essentially means Evil.  I think Powell does a nice job in the GM Philosophy section on pages 30 and 31 explaining how this version of Law and Chaos work, especially related to the setting of Borderlands.  It’s just not my preferred take on the two.

While nowhere near the first book to be inspired by Keep on the Borderlands, this one has some really nice stuff, and includes some rules that could be fun and helpful in your ShadowDark game, while not adding anything too overpowering or over-complicated.  Another useful tool for the toolbox.  I don’t know if some of this material will be rendered moot by the upcoming official ShadowDark book The Western Reaches, but worse case scenario, it gives you some alternatives and some things to think about.  And the keep on the edge of a monster-infested borderland is always going to be ripe for adventure.

See my unboxing video here.

I’m an independent author, so… If you like what I do, you can buy me a coffee. Check out my YouTube, and/or take a look at my Patreon page, where I’m working on a novel and developing a tabletop RPG setting. I’m also proud to be an affiliate of DriveThru RPG.