If you’re scouting for a quick adventure to pull in some first-timers or ease a few rusty players back into the rhythm of dice and danger, Borderlands Quest: Goblin Trouble has your back. This free one-shot dropped just in time for the International Day of Play, courtesy of Wizards of the Coast—and it’s a slick little piece of game design.
Set in the legendary Keep on the Borderlands and tied to the upcoming Heroes of the Borderlands Starter Set, this adventure does more than just kill an evening. It introduces the updated 2024 rules, makes onboarding smooth, and brings just enough classic charm to keep grognards like me nodding in approval.
Let’s crack it open and see what makes it tick.
What Is Borderlands Quest: Goblin Trouble?
At its core, Borderlands Quest: Goblin Trouble is a free 1–2 hour D&D 5e one-shot designed to teach the basics. It’s built for four to six Level 1 characters, but with a flexible tone that makes it easy to scale or adjust for slightly different groups.
The mission is clean: goblins have nicked the Bowl of Plenty, a magical artefact that helps feed the Keep on the Borderlands. The castellan—your classic stern noble with a problem only adventurers can fix—hires the party to retrieve it. Naturally, the trail leads to the Caves of Chaos, a beloved and dangerous location from D&D’s early days.
From there, the players explore the caves, face a few goblins, deal with a trap or two, and ideally make it back alive with the bowl in hand. It’s light, it’s fast, and it’s got just enough bite to feel like a real adventure.
Why This Adventure Works
A hundred free D&D one-shots are floating around the internet. So what makes this one worth running?
1. Built for the 2024 Rules Update
This is one of the first official adventures using the revised 2024 D&D rules, giving players a soft introduction to new mechanics. If you’ve been curious about what’s changing—or want to prep a group for the shift—this is a perfect entry point. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it smooths a few edges.
2. Teaching-Focused Design
Goblin Trouble is structured with beginner players in mind. That means:
- A single, clear objective
- Simple combat scenarios
- Built-in guidance for exploration
- Just enough roleplay hooks to let someone try on a character voice
It’s not a sandbox. It’s a guided lane into the world of Dungeons & Dragons, and that’s what makes it work.
3. Nostalgia With Purpose
Older players will immediately recognise the setting—the Keep on the Borderlands and Caves of Chaos date back to 1979’s B2 module. But this isn’t just nostalgia for its own sake. The new story ties directly into the upcoming Heroes of the Borderlands Starter Set, due out in September 2025. So you’re not just getting a one-off—you’re getting a glimpse of a whole new campaign foundation.
Ties to the International Day of Play
You might wonder why a tabletop RPG company is celebrating something like the International Day of Play. The truth is, it fits perfectly.
The United Nations created this day to highlight how important unstructured, imaginative play is for children and communities. Wizards of the Coast saw an opportunity to support that by doing what they do best: giving people tools to tell stories together.
So, from June 9th to June 30th, U.S. game stores will be hosting D&D Play Events built around this module. And yes, Domino’s Pizza is sponsoring some of it, with $50 gift cards up for grabs for stores that participate. That’s about as close to a D&D-party-perfect combo as you’ll get: dice, pizza, and goblins.
How to Use It in Your Own Game
Whether you’re a seasoned DM or this is your first rodeo, Goblin Trouble is easy to slot in:
- New Player Sessions – This is the main use case. It’s paced like a teaching tool and gives clear wins without complex choices.
- Session Zero Primer – Run it as an introduction before your main campaign starts. Let players try their characters and the new rules without worrying about long-term consequences.
- Side Quest Filler – Drop it into a larger campaign as a side mission. Maybe your party needs supplies, and this keep is the only stop before the wilds.
Best of all? It’s free. Head to D&D Beyond to grab it. No subscription needed—just a login.
Looking Ahead: Heroes of the Borderlands
Goblin Trouble is the first taste of the 2025 Starter Set, Heroes of the Borderlands. That box will be a full product: pregens, expanded adventures, rulebooks—the lot. It reimagines Keep on the Borderlands for a new generation, much like Phandelver did a few years back.
If you like what you see in this short module, the starter set might be worth pre-ordering when the time comes, especially if you’re onboarding a new group or starting a home campaign from scratch.
Final Thoughts from the Taproom
I’ve been running D&D since the days when a goblin was just a goblin and the treasure was always in a sack behind the door. But even now, it’s refreshing to see WotC take the time to build something simple, clean, and effective.
Borderlands Quest: Goblin Trouble is a win, not because it’s flashy, but because it does the fundamentals well. It teaches. It entertains. It builds toward something bigger.
And it reminds us all that the heart of D&D is gathering around a table—digital or wooden—and telling a story together.
So light the lantern, roll initiative, and go fetch that bowl.
