D&D 5E Highest Quality D&D 5e 3rd party publishers?

[AaronOfBarbaria]

So, question about Kobold Press....

I have Hoard of the Dragon Queen and really hate the flavor. I suspect a lot of that is how tightly married it is to the Realms as well as things like having a half-dragon as a featured antagonist. The dungeons look extremely well done, but the "overland" portions seem very sketchy. I'd just kind of written off Kobold Press because of HotDQ, but with all the love they're getting, here, I have to ask whether that adventure is representative and their work is just not going to click with me or if I should give them another look?

I would say that a second look is in order. I don't necessarily think that all of what you didn't like about that adventure is absent from their other products, but I do know that they were putting that adventure together while the game wasn't quite finished and finalized yet, so there are naturally some bits that don't function as well as they could have had that not been the case.

 

[n2Ashes]

Good stuff ya'll. Thanks for all the opinions. Please do keep em coming.

 

[cmad1977]

Highest Quality D&D 5e 3rd party publishers?

So, question about Kobold Press....

I have Hoard of the Dragon Queen and really hate the flavor. I suspect a lot of that is how tightly married it is to the Realms as well as things like having a half-dragon as a featured antagonist. The dungeons look extremely well done, but the "overland" portions seem very sketchy. I'd just kind of written off Kobold Press because of HotDQ, but with all the love they're getting, here, I have to ask whether that adventure is representative and their work is just not going to click with me or if I should give them another look?

My experience with HoTDQ:
I enjoyed the bulk of it. I could have run it better. If I run it again I'll use the book more as a sourcebook than a straight 'by the numbers' adventure. Regarding the travel part: this was where I really dropped the ball. I should have used that part to build my own adventures while using the wagon train as a mobile village of sorts. The NPCs were engaging, I just failed to provide interesting adventures for the ride to Waterdeep. The book offers a variety of encounters/NPCs that could easily have been built into a short adventure.

I find both HoTDQ and RoT to be fine books with some 'issues' that I would do differently. Much like any adventure.


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[Blue]

Legendary Games is very good. They started out as a quality 3rd party publisher for Pathfinder games. Their top writers were winners of the Pathfinder "RPG Superstar" contest, and they did a lot of good official pathfinder stuff. They have since branched into 5e as well.
http://www.makeyourgamelegendary.com/products-page/5th-edition/

I just saw from another source that that are having their 20 for $20 sale. I've not read anything from them before but based on your recommendation and this crazy-good price I'm in.

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/197222/20-for-20-BUNDLE

 

[Zardnaar]

I had a brain fart but is it Green Ronin who does Freeport?

Basically the OGL thing had the cream rise to the top. The good 3pp have been doing D&D longer than the WotC staffers.

Others survived the OGL culling, Frog God honed their quality on Pathfinder.

Theres alot of material being converted from Pathfinder from the look of it.

 

[n2Ashes]

Anyone else care to chime in?

 

[CapnZapp]

By and large, if a company produces hardcover physical books, their stuff is pretty solid. Nobody is going to go though the expense of producing and distributing a physical product of that magnitude without having their stuff together.

Agreement