The Keep on the Borderlands 2025 - Session 3 Rety or Not

Yeah, I've been waiting to tell the joke in the title for a while. 

We are back with Keep on the Borderlands, session 3. If you click that link, you'll get the DriveThruRPG page to purchase the module. 

We left the A Team in the ruins of an old manor house, looking down on the valley. From their position, they're able to scope out what is happening down there. Thankfully, the B Team has shown up. 

The ruins.

I stat'd out the B-Team and made some changes. Rety is the thief, as mentioned before. Everyone else morphed into full-blown 1st and 2nd-level characters. I decided to make Left and Punch Knights since they have the weapons and armor for it. Thomas the Cleric is the only 2nd level character of the group. The barman Hender and his son Sonny are a Barbarian and an Assassin. They have integrated themselves with the drover family: Simon, Bela, and Liz. I made Simon a Druid, and the two young women are a Ranger and an Illusionist. 

I could be a Knight...
Or maybe not.

I used these classes so I could learn how they work in the OSE rules. I did hand myself a problem. By making family groups, I have disallowed myself Demi-Humans. I plan to avoid a TPK, so I don't see that changing unless I make some poor dice rolls.  

Rety is reasonably smart and savvy. The B Team lacks the staying power of the A Team, all being 1st level except the cleric. She has outfitted them for a long, slow slog in the Caves as opposed to the more tactical, fire-team-like behavior of the other group. Her team has horses. This fundamentally changes how they need to operate. 

Rety has split her forces. Simon, Bela, Liz, and Sonny are part of the support team, staying behind to care for the horses. Lefty, Punch, Hender, and Thomas are the adventuring group behind Rety. By doing this, the Barbarian is separated from two of the three magically powered characters. Thomas reasonably decided to give the "we are all on the same path" speech in the hopes that Hender would think of him as one of his tribe. At this point, Hender thinks "magic is as magic does" and finds Thomas to be ignorable until he acts. 

Camp is at the edge of the trees to the east of the valley. It cannot be seen from the ruins at the top of the valley, although people coming and going can be seen. Rety's stolen map shows the cave entrances and a small distance into each cave. She suspects it is not accurate. 

Punch and Lefty probe the valley floor, riding their horses along the northern edge. They encounter the kobolds in the trees near Cave A. I hate the wording of this encounter. There is a 2-in-6 chance they will come out of hiding and attack the party. Does that mean there is a 4-in-6 chance they remain in hiding, OR does that mean there is a chance they aren't there at all? I like the second option. Sometimes, the kobolds are simply not there. 

The kobolds threw rocks and garbage at Punch and Lefty. The Knights were assigned recon and kicked their horses away from the nasty bunch of kobolds. They ride south to escape along the hillside. On the way back, they note Cave E, which is not on the map. They also spot creatures inside Cave D, but they can't tell what they are. 

You never know what is in the shadows

Rety was excited about the discovery and had Punch and Lefty ride again, retracting their steps in the opposite direction. On this pass, Cave D appeared empty. They slowed near Cave E. They saw a hulking form in the back of the cave that convinced them to move faster. They wove their way through the trees around Cave G. An unholsome smell spooked the horses, made worse by the appearance of several massive rats. They give their horses their heads, striking for the kobold caves again. 

Behind them, the stirges burst out of the cave in hot pursuit. 

The riders encountered a line of kobolds, scattering them. Although they don't know it, the Knights' ruckas brought the 8 kobold guards out of the cave, too. In turn, this brought the goblin guards and patrol out of Cave A. The Knights swung northward to escape the impeding melee, and the stirges dove on the kobolds and goblins.

This is what the A Team spotted in the previous session from their perch at the top of the valley, but missed seeing Rety and the Knights due to the treecover. 

Rety was monitoring the Knights' progress from the end of the valley. She greeted them with excitement and praised their bravery all the way back to camp. Additionally, she treats everyone as if they had ridden to war with the Knights. Rety doesn't retire after a glorious dinner; she takes the first watch herself. A bunch of morale dice are thrown, and Rety wins the day. 

Thank you for sticking with me through this combat-free session. It is now time for the commercial. 

I like to use a simple A6-sized notebook and a composition graph paper pad for my games. The links go to Amazon, and I may earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase, at no extra cost to you. If you already have a small notebook, you might like refills. They are so cheap, and the craft paper is attractive at the game table, giving an ol' timey look to notes. 

This particular image shows a list of songs, which you can find on YouTube Music. If you have an account, you can listen to the songs that make my brain go. This playlist is called "triphop by the light of the silver cords". 

I shared the composition notebook as an example only. A week or two from now, you may find them at your local retailer for pocket change as "Back to School" sales wrap-up. I suggest you try to find one at a discount. It helps your local retailer.