This adventure for D&D 5e by Chris Doyle is the 14th book in the Fifth Edition Fantasy line from Goodman games.  It’s intended for between four and six first level characters.  There’s honestly not a lot to it, but what is here feels like it would be pretty easy to port into a longer game, possibly using it as a starting adventure for an ongoing campaign. Though I think I’d likely want it to be maybe a third or fourth adventure, so I could set a few things up beforehand.

Keep on the Borderland is, of course, one of the most famous modules for Dungeons & Dragons, and has recently been remade for the current, 5.5 edition.  I suspect it’s also the module that has been “paid homage to” the most times by various D&D clones and variations.  I know Basic Fantasy Role-playing and ShadowDark have versions.  And Raging Swan has their variation.  I believe there are several more.  Beneath the Keep is clearly set up to be a plug-in for running a version of that scenario.  Though it wouldn’t take much work to move it elsewhere, including under a midsized or larger city.  

It’s essentially a murder investigation.  A local shopkeep has been killed, and the PCs are recruited, by some means, to figure out by whom.  The investigation will likely lead them to find an underground complex, a nasty villain, and connections to the near-by forces of Chaos.  There’s not really a lot to it, as is.  A few things seem a bit too locked behind die rolls, which I’d adjust.  But I think the simplicity allows a GM to build on things a bit.  Maybe introduce the murdered NPC in a previous session.  Hint at a few aspects, including perhaps the activities of this module’s villain in previous sessions.  And this scenario gives the opportunity to expand the scope of a game and introduce larger ideas, if you’re doing a slow build to venturing out to the Caves of Chaos, or whatever equivalent you might have.  

Ultimately, I think there’s a cool idea here.  It’s not an especially well developed idea, but one that could serve as a framework of something more, and as connective tissue for a larger game.  I’ll be keeping it in my back pocket for a time when I hopefully get a chance to run either an urban Fantasy game, or if I take a crack at one of the many variations of Keep on the Borderland.  

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