Portals of Irontooth is the second installment of the Portals series from Judges Guild This adventure, like the others in the series, is written for use with Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. It was written by Rudy Craft. And it was published in 1981. The module is 48 pages long.
The three installments of this series include:
- Portals of Torsh
- Portals of Irontooth
- Portals of Twilight
Each of these portal adventures takes the adventurers to a new and unique world. In this installment the adventurers land on a world where iron is the most common element. Iron is in the plants and wildlife. Many of the creatures even have iron teeth.
What I like about Portals of Irontooth
Portals to a new world are always welcome. Players like exploring places that are different than anything that they expect. A world where iron is in everything that they encounter is a pretty unusual place.
It offers us a new dragon. The iron dragon. It also offers us iron variants of several familiar foes.
What I do not like about Portals of Irontooth
Other than the Iron everywhere there is nothing particularly interesting about this adventure. There is not even a dungeon provided here which is highly unusual for a Judges Guild product. It is merely a place with a few set encounter areas and a lot of wandering monster tables. The premise for this one is kind of weak. Sending the adventurers to a new and alien world is great if they have something specific to do there. When they do not…..things get a little confusing.
Would I recommend this adventure to others?
Probably not. I see no valid reason for this product to have been written. Without a specific goal on this new world why would the adventurers want to go there? And what are they supposed to do when they are there? Just wander and look around?
Would I run Portals of Irontooth with my own party?
No. I think I would have to choose a better adventure to run than this one. This one left me kind of wondering why it even exists. There is no real adventure in it. There is no dungeon. There is a town or two. But so what? That alone is not worth the trouble of breaking this out. I liked the Portals of Twilight product much better and that is coming in a later review.
This adventure is 48 pages of maps, area descriptions and random encounter tables without much else. It is more like a setting than an adventure. Maybe that was the point? I really do not know.
If you enjoyed this article then you might enjoy these:
- Undead in Dungeons and Dragons
- Beholders in Dungeons and Dragons
- Mind Flayers in Dungeons and Dragons
- Intellect Devourers in Dungeons and Dragons
- Displacer Beasts in Dungeons and Dragons
