A1 Assault on Blacktooth Ridge – Adventures for 5th Edition Rules by Davis Chenault is a role playing game supplement published by Troll Lord Games for use with Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. As such, it is covered by the Open Game License and some parts are considered to be Open Game Content as a result. This is an adventure for 1st-2nd level characters and is also available in a version for Castles & Crusades, though it isn’t clear if the C&C version has the additional adventure and material.
The supplement is available as a 49-page PDF from DriveThruRPG for $7 and is also available in printed form from sites such as Amazon. The PDF is the version reviewed, although it was purchased at a reduced price as part of a special bundle. Two pages are the front and rear covers, one page is the front matter, one the Open Game License and one is an ad.
The first page of content has a map of the Blacktooth Ridge area where the adventures in the A-series take place. This map is hyperlinked to the relevant locations in this supplement, except for Dungurd; that link doesn’t seem to work.
The Preface explains that there is an underlying plot and theme for this adventure, running into the next, Slag Heap, but there are many other things that have little to no connection to the main plot.
The Introduction gives a history of the lands and covers the current situation.
For the Castle Keeper provides information on a current ongoing plot that is the main thread for the adventure. Involving the Characters has several hooks.
Botkinburg describes the town and the various NPCs in a good amount of detail, together with a map and local area map. There is a short table of rumours.
Wilderness Areas gives brief descriptions of the surrounding wilderness, with encounter tables. There are also a number of encounter locations described in more detail.
The Vargolg is the main adventure location, an underground complex that the characters need to explore to defeat the primary foes of this adventure.
Dungurd is an additional adventure, a small dungeon crawl, one designed for characters of levels 3rd-5th; in other words, probably not exactly suitable for characters who have completed the first adventure, and certainly not suitable for encountering during it.
Blacktooth Uncovered has a series of small encounters for levels 1-3. There are probably three encounters – it’s hard to tell precisely, as the encounter subheadings use the same size font as the heading – two of which can also be found on the map.
Nargulf’s Reavers is a small group of goblins and orcs led by a hobgoblin.
The Wizening Branch is an ancient and intelligent tree that is under attack.
Otter Talk is a single encounter.
Finally, Conversion Notes explains how this adventure was converted and how it was done differently from The Rising Knight.
A1 Assault on Blacktooth Ridge – Adventures for 5th Edition Rules
The PDF lacks bookmarks and is long enough with enough different sections that these are greatly missed. The map may be hyperlinked, but that’s the only navigation aid. Navigation is poor. The text maintains a two-column black and white format and a number of errors were noticed. In addition, there are references to the Kingdom of New Aenochre and the Horned One. These are in the Codex of Aihrde called the Empire of New Aenoch and the Horned God; it could be that since the original Castles & Crusades version was published, the names have been changed. However, they should therefore have been changed when this supplement was converted.
Though this supplement theoretically has one primary adventure, dealing with the Vargolg, there are enough subsidiary encounters scattered around, and possible adventure hooks in the town itself, that this is more of a sandbox location. This also means that incautious characters can blunder into dangerous locations they are ill-prepared for. Though the sandbox feel is good, it is seriously let down by the poor navigation. The secondary encounters are in two completely separate parts of the supplement and the second set are poorly laid out in terms of section headings. A GM will need to go through this supplement carefully before running it, making a note where everything is, to truly get the best from it. A1 Assault on Blacktooth Ridge – Adventures for 5th Edition Rules is nice selection of encounters let down by poor organisation and it can be found by clicking here.
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