Kobold Press’ “The Raven’s Call” (Adventure Review)

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In recent years, Kobold Press has earned a solid reputation for their bite-sized adventures that can be dropped into both Tales of the Valiant and D&D 5e campaigns. These short modules are meant to run in a session or two while delivering a satisfying narrative arc and giving GMs a decent amount of material without requiring a ton of prep.

Their latest entry, The Raven’s Call, is an adventure for 3rd-level characters that focuses on a rescue mission with a gritty, Viking-inspired tone. Although written for the Northlands region of Kobold Press’ Midgard setting (which was front and center in a recent Kickstarter), it’s also flexible enough to run in just about any campaign world. You can pick it up now as a PDF for $7.99 USD from Kobold Press or DriveThruRPG.

So is this call to adventure worth answering? Below, we dig into all the details. (NOTE: In the interest of full transparency, we did not receive a review copy of this from Kobold Press and purchased it with our own funds from DriveThruRPG).

What is “The Raven’s Call” about?

The Raven’s Call is a 22-page stand-alone adventure for Level 3 characters written by Kobold Press founder Wolfgang Baur and designed for both Tales of the Valiant and D&D 5e. It can likely wrapped up in about 2 to 3 sessions of play, with the story focused on the remote fishing village of Nargenstal, which was recently attacked and occupied by a group of kobold, trollkin and ogres known as the Mossback Raiders. When the players arrive, Nargenstal is half-burned, filled with terrified captives and swarming with enemies.

The Mossback Raiders, however, are far from a united front, with their own internal power struggles taking place and an obsessive focus from their two leaders to find a magical relic which may be hidden somewhere in the village. It’s up to the players to try and find a way to drive the invaders out and rescue the villagers. A direct all-out assault, however, is out of the question given the numbers of enemies, requiring players to think outside the box in order to get inside and turn the tables on the raiders.

It’s a novel approach to to an adventure, and one we haven’t really seen before in any fantasy TTRPG. What’s more, while the adventure does provide a clear structural framework, it’s also far from linear and is really a mini sandbox that offers a ton of flexibility and player agency.

Another unique aspect of The Raven’s Call is it’s solid blend of exploration, combat and social encounters. Players will likely find themselves crossing swords and spells with the Mossback Raiders, but just as often they’ll need to rely on stealth and scouting of key locations, as well as prying valuable intel from the captive villagers.

In addition to the complex power dynamics between the Raiders themselves (and their quest to find a powerful magical relic), the adventure also throws in some unique challenge, including environmental hazards (such as a giant crab), NPC sub-quests and an optional outside force which shows up to further complicate the situation.

All of it may sound difficult for a GM to juggle over a few sessions (particularly in keeping track of where NPCs and enemies are at any given time), but the book does a great job of laying out the important beats and also includes a helpful random table that allows GMs to quickly roll to determine if any foes or villagers are in a particular location.

Finally, it’s worth noting that the book includes some excellent maps, including the village itself and key buildings, which are gorgeously illustrated and table useable. As a bonus, it also includes two new magic items (although noticeably absent are any new monster stat blocks).

Is “The Raven’s Call” worth running?

Pros

• A unique adventure premise: The Raven’s Call offers a fresh take on the village-under-attack-by-monsters story we’ve seen in countless other adventures. Instead, it provides real tension and a ticking clock that propels the action forward. What’s more, it offers monster enemies that are far from cliched and have their own unique motivations and personalities.
• A flexible, mini-sandbox structure: It’s rare for a short adventure to offer this kind of emergent gameplay, offering a ton of player agency and narrative choice. We need more adventures with this level of open world play.
• Strong blend of encounters and challenge types: The module does a fantastic job of blending combat, exploration, stealth, environmental hazards and intel-gathering, providing opportunities for all players a chance to shine, regardless of class.
• Excellent GM support and usability: Despite its complexity, the adventure is beautifully structured, with clear encounter breakdowns, strong NPC motivations and a “who is where when” table to help GMs from feeling overwhelmed.

Cons

• High complexity for new GMs: While the adventure is well structured and provides some useful tools and advice, it may still be a challenge to run for inexperienced Game Masters.
• Difficulty can swing sharply: Given the number and types of enemies, a single bad choice or dice roll could result in PCs facing overwhelming odds and staring down a TPK.
• The optional outside force may feel extraneous: Depending on your pacing, the additional wildcard NPC can either enrich the scenario or feel tacked-on if introduced too late.
• No new monster stat blocks: It would have been nice to see a few new enemies in the appendix (which is something we’ve seen with other Kobold Press adventures), but this is minor quibble at best.

Final Thoughts & Review Score

The Raven’s Call is one of Kobold Press’ strongest short-form adventures to date (which isn’t a surprise given the pedigree of its author Wolfgang Baur). It’s a tightly constructed module with meaningful player choices, unique encounters, complex enemies and a location that feels truly alive.

If you’re looking for a short sandbox adventure that offers exploration, stealth, combat and social encounters in equal measure, this is one call to adventure that’s definitely worth answering.

Final Review Score: 19 out of 20

You can pick up The Raven’s Call now from Kobold Press or DriveThruRPG.