March Hall of Fame Inductee – Search of the Unknown and Keep on the Borderlands

The journey into Dungeons & Dragons begins with adventure, and for countless players, that adventure started with B1: In Search of the Unknown and B2: The Keep on the Borderlands. These seminal modules, written by Mike Carr (B1) and Gary Gygax (B2), became the gateway for an entire generation of role-players. First published at the dawn of the 1980s, they provided both new and experienced Dungeon Masters with imaginative, well-structured adventures that set the stage for all that followed.

In Search of the Unknown provided an innovative approach to dungeon design, featuring a flexible layout that encouraged Dungeon Masters to populate the adventure themselves. This structure helped new DMs learn the art of world-building while offering players an exciting and unpredictable experience. Meanwhile, The Keep on the Borderlands introduced the legendary Caves of Chaos, an adventure site teeming with danger, intrigue, and the seeds of limitless storytelling. Its depiction of a living, reactive dungeon set a standard for adventure design that persists to this day.

Together, these modules defined the early Dungeons & Dragons experience, setting a benchmark for introductory adventures that generations of players would follow. The imaginative and open-ended gameplay they encouraged laid the foundation for how RPGs are played, taught, and enjoyed. They are the adventures that launched a thousand campaigns. More than 40 years later, their impact is still felt in modern adventures and game design, proving that great storytelling and clever mechanics are truly timeless.