of the adventure as a series of separate caves allows segmented playing sessions for beginners. The module has been described as a low-level introductory scenario, which leads the player characters from an outpost on the frontier of law into the forces of chaos. Jon Peterson, for Polygon, highlighted that Keep on the Borderlands was created after "sales of the Basic Set rose dramatically" following the September 1979 disappearance of James Dallas Egbert III. The financial success of Mike Carr, writer of the previous module included in the boxed set, showed that "a module like this [...] could bring significant income to its author". In early 1980, Carr's module was replaced by Gygax's in the Basic Set. Reception Anders Swenson reviewed The Keep on the Borderlands for Different Worlds magazine and stated that "It is well balanced, and suitable for the levels of characters for which it was written. D&D is a good introductory set of adventure gaming rules, and The Keep on the Borderland is a good introduction to D&D." Kirby T. Griffis, reviewing the adventure in The Space Gamer No. 37, found the module "interesting and full of excitement", though he considered the map sloppily done. He concluded by stating "on the whole, I enjoyed this module and recommend it." Lawrence Schick, in his 1991 book Heroic Worlds, describes the adventure as "A good start for new players" and speculates that at the time, "There probably have been more copies of B2 printed than of any other role-playing scenario." A retrospective review in Shadis #29 (1996) said that "Keep on the Borderlands was designed with beginners in mind, and may seem quaint to experienced role-players. But that quaintness grows on you as you read through it, and the mix and match quality of the dungeon leaves an impression that's hard to ignore. For a Basic D&D nostalgia trip, there's very little that can match it." The Keep on the Borderlands was ranked the 7th greatest Dungeons & Dragons adventure of all time by Dungeon magazine in 2004, on the 30th anniversary of the Dungeons & Dragons game. Ken Denmead of Wired listed the module as one of the "Top 10 D&D Modules I Found in Storage This Weekend". According to Denmead, the module "should give a party of low-levels a rather challenging time." Peterson commented that the original Keep on the Borderlands is "a classic, beloved module, whose Caves