Play Report July 29 2025 - DCC Keep on the Borderlands Open Table (IRL)
Introduction
Following the end of a D&D 5e campaign at my local game store, I was gripped with the madness to try running my first Dungeon Crawl Classics campaign as an open table. I hadn’t run DCC before, so I will be learning the rules as we go. Luckily, only one player had even heard of DCC prior to this, so we are all learning together.
My plan is to use the OAR #1 Into the Borderlands as my primary material. I increased the scale to 1 mile hexes using the map from this blog post by A Wizard in a Bottle. It’ll be drop-in, drop-out, with game time passing in real time (7 days for a weekly session).
For stat blocks, I will be converting what I can with quick and dirty 1:1 substitutes to the DCC bestiary section. I also opted to add a little Elemental Evil: Hommlet to the junction south of the Keep, and the moathouse to the swamp further southeast. I intend to use Mike’s World for exploration beyond the initial map. My long-term plan is to start a little mudfarmer and gradually ramp up the gonzo with some geological/elemental horror.
We were joined by two additional players I was not expecting, which was a pleasant surprise for a non-5e game. Game store is located inside of a fairly healthy local mall, so I'm hoping the foot traffic will continue to pull in more players.
Overall, I had a blast and it seems like the group did too. Looking forward to recruiting more players and seeing how the game evolves.
Report
In attendance:
- Rudy and
- Bohl, strapping farm lads turned doughty warriors;
- Birdy, a fledgling wizard;
- Domhnall, a cynical thief;
- Fabrio, a businesslike dwarf;
- Stanley the Scribe, a loony old man and subversive cleric of chaos
Having recently arrived at the Keep on the Borderlands, the band was put under the command of blustering Sir Neidermeyer, young knight. The quest was a reconnaissance sortie into the Caves of Chaos. At the Bloated Stoat Carriage Inn and Tavern, Domhnall heard that it was best to avoid altars found there. Neidermeyer and the band were accompanied by a handful of Neidermeyer's men-at-arms.
After a day’s march along the road east from the Keep, the band made camp within view of the Caves. Over trail dinner, Neidermeyer told the party of his plan for glory—forget reconnaissance and bring chivalric battle upon the orcs within the Caves! The band voiced their doubts as to the soundness of this strategy to their leader, hoping to bully him away from such suicidal folly.
Rudy, Fabrio, and Birdy broke off from the group to scout ahead closer to the Caves. They were slowed by the tangled undergrowth and the abundant scree, but were able to get a closer look at a structure carved from dark stone deep within the canyon, with what looked like a tiled courtyard within. The scouting party made it back to camp just before last light, but not before moans and wails began to fill the woods.
On second watch, the camp was attacked by four pigmen skirmishers. Neidermeyer and his men at arms lost their nerve! Huddled by the camp, they watched as Rudy dispatched an orc with his axe, Bohl dropped another with a well-placed crossbow bolt, and Domhnall dropped from a tree and planted a dagger in third! The victory was not without cost, as Bohl was wounded fumbling with his own crossbow, and Fabrio took a life-threatening wound from an orc’s javelin.
The last orc made a break for it, but was stopped paralyzed by Stanley’s invocation. An interrogation was mostly fruitless, as the orc had enough morale to taunt his captors until his eventual execution. The band did learn that the orcs and others had come to seek blessings at the Caves.
The next morning, the band bullied command of the group away from Neidermeyer and led the foray into the Caves. Stunted trees and thick undergrowth made for a tough march, keeping the party away until midday.
The first probe of the kobold lair met with disaster. A kobold incendiary badly wounded Neidermeyer and his retinue, killing two. The band retreated, unwilling to follow the kobolds deeper into the tunnels. From there, the group scouted two more cave entrances. The first was a well-constructed tunnel with evidence of competent engineering, from which the sounds of work emanated; the second was a rough cavern mouth, the stones ringing with deep song identified by Birdie as being in the ogre-language. In the second, what looked like a sleeping bear could be seen.
The band ventured it to the well constructed cave and discovered bands of goblins within! They caught the little blighters unawares, digging into a choke point with polearms and crossbows.
Each member of the band claimed goblin necks by halberd and bolt, inflicting grievous casualties upon them. Another of Neidermeyer’s men met his end by goblin-spear, with Neidermeyer himself taking a grave blow to the head. Both enemies and allies appeared poised to rout. In the chaos, a goblin disappeared… only to return with the ogre!
The ogre roared, threatening to rip out each of the band’s whole skeletons one by one! Fabrio sensed which way the wind was blowing and called a general retreat, but not before giving the ogre a javelin bite he won't soon forget.
The group made haste back to the Keep, their flight continuing from afternoon well into the night. The Castellan, Lord Gustave Guryan, rewarded them for their report with a sum of gold, taken both from their shares and the wages of the dead.
Already, talk has begun of another venture into the Caves of Chaos from a rematch with the ogre. For now, the crew planned to enjoy a week of well-earned rest… and drink!