Many old D&D modules have this "wander the halls and kill" mentality. B2 is different, with a more instructional conversation style for new DMs. It was written by Gary Gygax, so it is a masterpiece of a teaching module. Also, once Wizards starts running these through AI to "create new content," all that magic will be lost. Just read some of this:
Reading that makes me want to play.
Putting it through AI to "create more Gygax" makes as much sense as putting the bible in AI and treating everything it spits out as gospel. We are in for some sad lessons Wizards will have to learn.
The coming age of AI darkness aside, converting B2 to a "GURPS on the Borderlands" type experience is pretty easy with my conversion notes. Many humanoids have less than 5 hits, which in GURPS seems strange, but this is an OSR-style world, and some monsters will be minion-like here with only a few hits. Maybe they are sickly or wounded. The world may work differently, and some are more minion-like than others and lack the hits to last long in a fight.
The notes on page 14 indicate that B2 could also be seen as a role-playing module rather than a combat one. A paragraph here allows for surrender, humiliating captivity, and ransoming the captured characters back to the keep. There is another paragraph allowing for alliances with the tribes and setting them against each other. On page 6, Gygax talks about how those who survive may "turn from Law and good to serve the masters of Chaos."
This, as a role-playing module in GURPS, raises many questions. First, picking a tribe—or even being offered a chance—to cooperate with them. None of my playthroughs of this adventure ever ended with the players setting the tribes against each other—partly because there is very little advice other than this section. A few of those in the tribes may know common languages, but speaking those languages will come in handy if you choose this route.
Being captured and overhearing conversations may help characters learn of tensions and opportunities, but my players were never captured when we played this. Many who play this in 5E treat it as a deathtrap dungeon where the monsters fight to kill with no quarter given. You could start the game by having players captured in the Caves of Chaos and ransomed, which is one way to drop these seeds.
This module should be less deadly than it is written. There is a lot of talk of defenses and traps but not enough about the tribes' leaders and their goals outside the caves. Are the orcs fighting with the lizardmen in the swamp? Would they reward characters for freeing orcs captured by the lizardmen? If you side with the goblins, what do they want? What would you say if they asked you to go against the Keep? Would they even ask that, knowing who you are? Could one tribe work out an arrangement with the party to work for them - but not against the keep - and eventually fight with that side to eliminate the others?
D&D has this "never work with the monsters" thing going on, and this was cemented after the Satanic Panic of the 1980s. D&D never had the good-to-evil alignment axis in these early modules, only law versus chaos. Working with the tribes was an option. Aligning with Chaos was also an option. D&D has always had a thing against "the evil campaign" and even "characters who did not align with the common good." They use the fear of "players fighting" as a boogeyman, and most adventures are written with the "hero narrative" in mind.
This module is likely different from many that came after because TSR feared releasing sandbox modules where one could side with Chaos. The D&D and AD&D split further pushed D&D to be the safe "for kids" game, and AD&D got the good-to-evil axis, which honestly prevented many evil games from ever happening since you chose alignment once, and it stuck that way as guardrails for player behavior. D&D was actually the more morally ambiguous game since servants of Law could commit "evil" actions (paladins killing innocents on a crusade) and servants of Chaos could do "good" (Robin Hood stealing from the rich).
Similarly, servants of Law could justify working with a tribe if the cause of Law comes out ahead. The servants of Law could also go back on their word after all; killing all the other tribes and finishing off the one you worked with would help the cause of Law in the grand scheme of things. The law-to-chaos axis is much more fluid and allows for betrayals by both sides. Good-to-evil is far more absolute and restrictive.
To rebuild this adventure to be a true "GURPS on the Borderlands" experience, you will need to rethink how you approach this adventure as a player - and the referee will need to rethink how to run this adventure. There will be far more outside missions and alliances if the party takes the route of talking with the tribes and negotiating with them. There will be jealousy and hatred from the opposing factions. Special missions that take characters to other places or deeper underground may be asked for. Some in the keep may get suspicious of the adventurers that return with gold, but no reports of the Caves of Chaos being cleared out. There could be intrigue in the town or secretive factions trying to blackmail the players (and get them to do missions for them next). Maybe there is a plot to overthrow the keep's leadership, or an outside group of crusading paladins arrives.
Also, the skills players pick to deal with the tribes won't be the same as those needed to clear out these halls. While improving combat abilities is still essential, languages, lore, social skills, survival skills, tracking, and stealth skills to spy on other tribes will also be needed. An engineer could fortify defenses and put fatal flaws in them in case of a double-cross. Trust will need to be built. The tribe may ask for services the players don't have skills for, and they will need to figure out a way to get this done (with hirelings paid well to keep quiet or learning how to do these things themselves).
And then there is the "end boss" of the adventure in the Shrine of Evil Chaos,, who will undoubtedly notice all this happening and take an interest in the newcomers and their activities. Will he fight them or make an offer? Depending on the player's choices, there could be a lot of roleplaying and double-crossing here.
D&D and 5E don't put you in this mindset, as the adventure is still seen as a "wander the halls and kill things" experience. The skills in 5E lend themselves to something other than this type of roleplaying, and languages are typically set in stone, and you can't learn new ones. You will never learn to speak with them, so let's just kill them all instead. You can never learn orc culture, belief, and history skills, so how can you even relate to them?
Kill them all and take the treasure.
Combat is fun!
There is a lot more to this adventure as rooms to toss fireballs, flasks of oil, and sleep spells into. Especially when you look at this adventure through the lens of a different set of rules.
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