D&D 5E Kobold Press (and are they the new Paizo?)

[Omand]

Tome of Beasts II hardcover just arrived in the mail today... and it is spectacular! A nice balance of new creatures across all monster types, a meaty wildlife section at the back with find familiar suggestions, and the expected fun artwork. Can't wait to unleash some of these nasties on my unsuspecting players!

PDF has not been released yet (expecting an email for that tomorrow). And it looks like it is not quite available yet on the Kobold Store for those that didn't jump in at the Kickstarter.

Good to hear they are coming through. Eagerly awaiting my copy.

Cheers

 

[Mercurius]

Anyone know how long after the hardcover that the pocket edition comes out?

ToB was 3 years, CC 2 years. Hopefully this will be much quicker.

 

[Tyler Do'Urden]

Tome of Beasts II hardcover just arrived in the mail today... and it is spectacular! A nice balance of new creatures across all monster types, a meaty wildlife section at the back with find familiar suggestions, and the expected fun artwork. Can't wait to unleash some of these nasties on my unsuspecting players!

PDF has not been released yet (expecting an email for that tomorrow). And it looks like it is not quite available yet on the Kobold Store for those that didn't jump in at the Kickstarter.

Can't wait to get my ToB II PDF today... It'll be the perfect way to reward myself after finishing a four hour exam on retirement planning...

 

[Zardnaar]

Well, they are a new Paizo. I of course prefer 1e over 2e PF, so Kobold Press might be even better than Paizo.
I'm sure the Kobolds are better than Wizards. But they aren't like 2000s paizo.

To me Paizo peaked somewhere around Savage Tide to 2010 or so.

After that to much splat and a decline in AP quality often tied in with the splat.

 

[humble minion]

5e Southlands kickstarter announced, will launch on Nov 30.

I'd probably have preferred Brilliant East all things considered, but I'll buy the hell out of this one regardless...

 

[Marc Radle]

5e Southlands kickstarter announced, will launch on Nov 30.

I'd probably have preferred Brilliant East all things considered, but I'll buy the hell out of this one regardless...

The Southlands Kickstarter is LIVE!

The Southlands feature high adventure in a self-contained and standalone campaign setting, with all the tools at your fingertips for a dozen adventures and even full campaigns! This updated 5E version includes new player options, an updated Worldbook with all-new chapters, and a fantastical city book to launch a memorable campaign—and a caravan's weight in short- and medium-length adventures. The Southlands setting is fully compatible with the 5th Edition of the world’s first RPG.

Welcome friend! Come and adventure with us here.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/deepmagic/southlands-5th-edition-a-realm-of-high-adventure/description

 

[nevin]

To me Paizo peaked somewhere around Savage Tide to 2010 or so.

After that to much splat and a decline in AP quality often tied in with the splat.

I think that's about the time they got really paranoid and crazy with "Balance" as well. It seems to me that the players became the enemy and they became the gatekeepers protecting the game. Not a good place to be relative to your customers.

 

[Maialideth]

I own Tome of Beasts, Tome of Beasts II, Creature Codex, and Deep Magic.

The monster books are really good. Art and design is great and the monsters are much more varied in abilities, rather than just being different sacks of hit points and damage with minor flavor differences, which I feel most of the monsters from Monster Manual and the other WotC monster books are. But what I like the most is that the monsters are more challenging than the official books, these monsters actually challenge the players. And then there are all the pawns for the books

Deep Magic, however, didn't impress me. The spells don't feel balanced (often weak compared to spell level) and some feel downright pointless. The wording in a lot of them is a bit off the mark.
There is an 8th-level spell that causes creatures with darkvision to be blinded and stunned for 1 round, creatures without darkvision can save vs. Con or be blinded. It affects all creatures that can see the caster, even if they're wearing a blindfold...
There's also a weaker version of Feign Death called Heartstop, which I don't really see the point in having, as Feign Death is only a 3rd-level spell and can be cast as a ritual on top, which the other spell can't.

But still, their monster books are incredible.

 

[Zardnaar]

I think that's about the time they got really paranoid and crazy with "Balance" as well. It seems to me that the players became the enemy and they became the gatekeepers protecting the game. Not a good place to be relative to your customers.

They also started to move away from what appealed in the first place. They were a bit more adult orientated.

I think I bought the last product 2012 outside of some 3pp stuff.

Kobolds scratch that itch. Need to get ToB2, Creature Codex and Southlands.

 

[Goliath Coins]

Interesting post for me personally. I am difficult to buy for and my wife always gets on me for holiday gift ideas.

I have been watching Kobold's Kickstarters for some time. So my list included several of their books. Honestly they are the gifts I most want to receive.