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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Charles Dunwoody" data-source="post: 9375168" data-attributes="member: 17927"><a href="https://www.talesofthevaliant.com/" target="_blank">Tales of the Valiant</a> is a fantasy RPG by Kobold Press that builds on the Creative Commons foundation of Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. <a href="https://koboldpress.com/interview-with-wolfgang-baur/" target="_blank">Wolfgang Baur</a>, Kobold Press CEO, was kind enough to talk to me about Tales of the Valiant, the setting of Midgard, and all things Kobold.[ATTACH=full]367417[/ATTACH]<a href="https://www.talesofthevaliant.com/" target="_blank">Tales of the Valiant</a> is available now with the release of the <a href="https://koboldpress.com/kpstore/product/tovrpg-pg-mv/" target="_blank">Player's Guide and Monster Vault</a> with a <a href="https://tales-of-the-valiant-game-masters-guide-5e.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders" target="_blank">Game Master's Guide</a> scheduled to follow this year. Plus, Steamforged Games has a <a href="https://steamforged.com/blogs/steamforged-news/sfg-kobold-announce-tov-starter-set" target="_blank">Tales of the Valient Starter Set</a> in development.Charles Dunwoody (CD): Thanks for talking with us, Wolfgang. The <a href="https://koboldpress.com/kpstore/product/tovrpg-pg-mv/" target="_blank">Player's Guide</a> contains rules familiar to D&D players but also some new heritages. Are kobolds a lineage option for player characters and if yes any details you can share!?WB: Kobolds are absolutely a core lineage and playable characters! In particular, we wanted to make the kobolds a worthy and heroic option for players, not just the comic relief or the underpowered underdog. So we leaned into what kobolds do well: they tinker with traps, they sneak well, they make wonderful rogues and mechanists, and they are just as worthy heroes as any dwarf or human. Likewise, the dwarf, elf, and human lineages all offer new things to players, mostly by separating the biology of a character from their upbringing. it's possible to choose the cosmopolitan heritage for a grove elf, for instance, to create a woodland elf who was raised in a big city. The number of character concepts enabled by the lineage/heritage distinction is truly impressive!CD: How did <a href="https://koboldpress.com/see-eonic-lineage-and-heritages-for-the-tales-of-the-valiant-rpg/" target="_blank">Eonic lineage and heritages</a> develop? Are any monsters tied into this lineage found in the <a href="https://koboldpress.com/kpstore/product/tovrpg-pg-mv/" target="_blank">Monster Vault</a> and are there plans to explore this lineage further going forward?Wolfgang Baur (WB): The eonic lineage got its start in the <a href="https://koboldpress.com/kpstore/product/tome-of-beasts-1-2023-edition-hardcover/" target="_blank">Tome of Beasts 1</a> sourcebook, where the eonic drifter appeared as a race of humanoids adrift in time. It was submitted in the open call for that project, so it came from the community, and it has been a popular concept or background ever since. It is was expanded with the eonic savant in <a href="https://koboldpress.com/kpstore/product/tome-of-beasts-2-for-5th-edition/" target="_blank">Tome of Beasts 2</a>, expanding the lore and making it clear that the eonics have a goal, returning home. However, the eonics are a totally free lineage on the Kobold site, and not part of the <a href="https://koboldpress.com/kpstore/product/tovrpg-pg-mv/" target="_blank">TOV Player's Guide</a>. That's a rumor that rattled around for a while (I'm not sure why, exactly). I just want to be clear that it's not part of the <a href="https://koboldpress.com/kpstore/product/tovrpg-pg-mv/" target="_blank">Tales of the Valiant</a> core rules--it's a player option that's available right now for anyone playing TOV with the Alpha rules. (Note from Charlie: this interview was written before the core rulebooks were published but they are available <a href="https://koboldpress.com/kpstore/product/tovrpg-pg-mv/" target="_blank">now</a>.) I certainly have plans for the eonic lineage going forward! And we've got a lot more options for Tales of the Valiant and 5E generally. The one that's live now is called <a href="https://campaign-builder-dungeons-and-ruins.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders" target="_blank">Campaign Builder: Dungeons & Ruins</a>, and it's all about giving Gamemasters and players alike new creatures and new traps and treasures, plus a primer on how to designing more entertaining dungeons and ruins. You can get a free look at some of it on <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/deepmagic/campaign-builder-dungeons-and-ruins" target="_blank">Kickstarter -- Campaign Builder: Dungeons & Ruins</a>.CD: The <a href="https://koboldpress.com/monster-vault-preview-tales-of-the-valiant-marilith/" target="_blank">Monster Vault Preview: Tales of the Valiant Marilith</a> provides a monster with a set role in any world, a ranged attack option, teleporting as a bonus action, and an easy to read stat block. All of which bodes well for the quality of the other monsters. Could you provide more details on the “New terrors from the ever-corrupting Void, such as voidlings, star crows, crimson jellies, and the mighty void dragon.” What is the Void (is it this <a href="https://koboldpress.com/shades-of-magic-gifts-from-the-void/" target="_blank">Void?</a>) and which one of these new beasts is your favorite and why?WB: I agree the marilith is pretty great! The Void is a dark plane antithetical to life, which empowers dark magic and provides a home for malign creatures of various kinds--like the voidlings and star crow. It is part of the Labyrinth setting, which is the default for Tales of the Valiant. My favorite void creatures are the void dragons (which are amazing, and which also first appeared in <a href="https://koboldpress.com/kpstore/product/tome-of-beasts-1-2023-edition-hardcover/" target="_blank">Tome of Beasts 1</a>), and the Voidlings from the same volume. The voidlings in particular are weird and tentacle-y creatures that seem to (somehow!) survive the soul-snuffing conditions of the Void itself, and they can be summoned by casters who know the Void Speech and the right rituals. Both are delightfully destructive foes who leave no doubt that they are evil creatures bent on destroying heroes, which makes them great for straightforward combat encounters.CD: Were there consistent themes such as high fantasy, heroism, or tactical options that informed the design of <a href="https://www.talesofthevaliant.com/" target="_blank">Tales of the Valiant</a> and could you provide a rules example of how that theme was implemented?WB: Oh, for the very best rules examples you really want to talk to Celeste Conowitch, the senior designer for Tales of the Valiant! And absolutely yes, heroic fantasy is the tone and design goal for the game, as TOV is 5th Edition compatible--we're not making a horror game or a sci fi engine out of it. In the particular case of the Luck system rules, the idea was to give players a resource that is created only when you fail an attack or a saving throw--bad luck with your dice turns into a bonus when you need it. That gives players the option to spend a little luck and turn a failure into a success. Better still, if they don't spend it, players can lose all their stored luck--it really pays not to let it stockpile, but to do heroic things with it.CD: What advice would you give a GM wanting to run <a href="https://www.talesofthevaliant.com/" target="_blank">Tales of the Valiant</a> for the first time? Where do they start and if you had to pin down your best bit of advice to them, what would it be?WB: My advice would be to gather up some 5E-centric players and try out the new options, like the eonic or the goblin lineages from the Kobold blog, and take a quick look at the Luck system. The first time I read it I feared it would be clunky but thousands of playtests have shown it plays like a dream (because players are responsible for tracking that benefit, it's super-smooth at the table). The best tools for running Tales of the Valiant for the first time include the <a href="https://koboldpress.com/kpstore/product/tales-of-the-valiant-form-fillable-character-sheet-preview-pdf/" target="_blank">free form-fillable character sheet</a>, which shows you just how 5E-compatible it is. Then spin up some characters and dive into adventure like <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/446412/caverns-of-the-spore-lord?affiliate_id=6138" target="_blank">Caverns of the Spore Lord</a> or one of the <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/browse?ruleSystem=1000164" target="_blank">pre-launch adventures</a> by Kobold Press that are already out (originally for use with the <a href="https://koboldpress.com/kpstore/product/tales-of-the-valiant-alpha-release-pdf/" target="_blank">Alpha Release rules</a>). Then get the dice fired up, and tell your own tales of high adventure!CD: The last question leads us into the next one. The <a href="https://steamforged.com/blogs/steamforged-news/sfg-kobold-announce-tov-starter-set" target="_blank">Tales of the Valiant Starter Set</a> was recently announced. No news out yet on what will be included. Any hints of contents and/or how it will tie into other future releases for <a href="https://www.talesofthevaliant.com/" target="_blank">Tales of the Valiant</a>?WB: Indeed, that TOV Starter Set is looking like a fantastic introduction to tabletop roleplaying! It's fully playable out of the box and will be a great gift for fantasy-interested players of all kinds. Steamforged Games has some clever plans for how they will make it easy to jump right in to high-fantasy tabletop, and of course their miniatures are always stunning. I'll be sending copies of the Starter Set to some of my tabletop-curious friends and relatives when the time comes![ATTACH=full]367418[/ATTACH]CD: What kind of Kobold Press and third party adventure support are planned beyond the current PDFs of <a href="https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/457883/black-flag-roleplaying-adventure-pack-bundle" target="_blank">Black Flag Roleplaying adventures</a>? Will self-contained small adventures be the norm, larger adventure paths, a mix, or something different and in print, PDF, and/or for online RPG platforms?WB: Kobold Press will release new Tales of the Valiant support every month, and in fact that support has started ahead of the game's print release with small adventures like the three first-party adventures released so far (<a href="https://koboldpress.com/kpstore/product/caverns-of-the-spore-lord/" target="_blank">Caverns of the Spore Lord</a>, <a href="https://koboldpress.com/kpstore/product/trouble-at-mossbeard-mill-pdf/" target="_blank">Trouble at Mossbeard Mill</a>, and <a href="https://koboldpress.com/kpstore/product/hidden-tomb-of-nargoth-pdf/" target="_blank">Hidden Tomb of Nargoth</a>). Third party support has been amazing! In addition to the Steamforged Games Starter Set, there's support already available from companies like Ghostfire Gaming, virtual tabletop support from Roll20 and Shard Tabletop, official Fanroll dice, adventures from Lazy Wolf Studios, and a dozen more. Alchemy, Demiplane, World Anvil, and Foundry have all stepped up in the VTT and character creation space, and I'm sure I'm forgetting someone. There's also support for convention play, retailers, and more in the works. The very biggest support coming up is the free <a href="https://www.enworld.org/Koboldcon" target="_blank">KoboldCon</a> event, May 10 to 12, where we'll reveal a lot of additional information about upcoming releases, and have TOV games running all weekend with StartPlaying Games. Because of course people are eager to try it out!CD: <a href="https://koboldpress.com/midgard/" target="_blank">Midgard</a> is a sprawling dark fantasy setting with PCs struggling to bring light to a broken world. Will Midgard be updated to <a href="https://www.talesofthevaliant.com/" target="_blank">Tales of the Valiant</a> and are there any additional details on what products might be upcoming for the setting in conjunction with the new rules?WB: Well, <a href="https://koboldpress.com/midgard/" target="_blank">Midgard</a> is a 5th Edition D&D setting, so it is already compatible with Tales of the Valiant rules. There's not a pressing need to do a new printing, though I'm sure we'll update the setting appendix or provide specifics on the Kobold Press <a href="https://discord.com/invite/koboldpress" target="_blank">Discord</a>. As it stands, there's a LOT of Midgard material available from Kobold Press, and there's more every week in the free Midgard Mondays series. Moving forward, we're continuing to offer new Midgard material frequently. Plus maybe an announcement at KoboldCon. Remains to be seen.CD: Looking back on your experience working on TSR RPGs and now closing in on almost two decades running your own RPG company, what do you look back on that you’ve learned and can apply moving forward or that you don’t want to forget in the context of creating RPGs and running an RPG company?WB: It has been 18 years with Kobold Press, and they've all taught me something. First and foremost, any game company needs to know what its audience loves, and what is mainstream and what is an indie or minority taste (still worthy! just smaller!). The other thing to note about a long run in the industry that I'd like to share is just that the hobby has always been about a community that loves adventure in a wide range of flavors, from Mythos-driven horror to epic high fantasy to the new weird and the old and familiar. It's always been about homebrewing when you have an itch for making your own, and pulling some high-gloss adventure and battle maps off the shelf when you want a classic crawl. It's an incredible range of tastes and options, and all too often we don't try more than 1 or 2. I've taken to running one-shots and short arcs for time reasons, but also as a way to explore more of what's out there. It's worth plundering the vaults, in other words. I try to remember both what it's like to be a jaded veteran and a fresh-eyed newcomer, but remembering that long-ago feeling can be tough when you're in the word mines and publishing trenches. Fortunately, I ran a game for my in-laws, who aren't big gamers, not that long ago. It was fun for them, but also for me to see that they immediately got the classic roles (fighter, wizard, cleric) and the need to help someone in trouble--storytelling and heroics come pretty naturally to people. It's a great hobby, and the best way to keep it thriving is to invite more people to join in. Try to remember that there's always people to whom it is all new, fresh, and exciting.CD: Wow, 18 years old? Congrats! With the change for so many RPG companies from support for D&D 5E directly to each company using a house system (including Kobold Press), how do you see the future of table top RPG support for D&D going now that adventurers and support will all be using slightly different rule versions? Will it make a new version of Fifth Edition play that is stronger and more robust despite the differences or do you think something else may happen?WB: Thank you, the company has come a long way in that time! While I'm not sure it is entirely accurate to call Tales of the Valiant a house system (it is clearly a compatible branch of 5E D&D), I take your point. And it's not an easy question. We're in a period of larger audiences and more experimentation than the tabletop field has seen in a while, with newcomers arriving full of new ideas and energy. That makes me optimistic for tabletop gaming!CD: What does the future of table top RPGs look like to you, beyond just D&D and looking at the entire hobby. Does the future shine bright or do you see some challenges ahead?WB: I think we're frankly in a golden age for TTRPGs, with more cultural weight and references than ever (Rick & Morty! Stranger Things! YE GADS we're so spoiled for geeky things!). People who grew up with D&D, Star Wars, and Lord of the Rings are being joined by people who grew up with Warcraft, Harry Potter, and Skyrim. That's all good news for us, because games like <a href="https://www.nobleknight.com/P/2148029666/Avatar-Legends-Core-Rulebook?awid=1086" target="_blank">Avatar Legends RPG</a> from Magpie or <a href="https://www.nobleknight.com/P/2147767855/Cypher-System-Rulebook-Second-Edition?awid=1086" target="_blank">Cypher System</a> from Monte Cook Games are stretching tabletop in new directions. Heck, I think the Fallout show on Prime is likely to bring some new players to the <a href="https://modiphius.net/en-us/pages/fallout-the-roleplaying-game" target="_blank">Modiphius game</a>. The rising tide is very obviously celebrating geeky tabletop things! My main concern or challenge is the way that worlds and games are increasingly drawn from and controlled by large corporate enterprises rather than garage-based groups. I think it's fine that the tabletop field does license and celebrate mainstream things like Star War, Fallout, or Marvel comics. At the same time, I want people to know about great homegrown games like <a href="https://www.delta-green.com/" target="_blank">Delta Green</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/starfinder/" target="_blank">Starfinder</a>, or <a href="https://pelgranepress.com/nights-black-agents/" target="_blank">Night’s Black Agents</a> or <a href="https://www.chaosium.com/runequest-rpg/" target="_blank">RuneQuest</a>, that come from the tabletop field instead of being imported from somewhere else. My hope and dream is that someday, we'll see RPGs big enough to make the leap into the wider world that way. And maybe Tales of the Valiant will be one of them.CD: Thank you so much for sharing your experience and thoughts with us. Any final thoughts you’d like to share with the readers of EN World?WB: It's a social hobby, so be kind to your GM. GMs, remember to give the players exciting loot as well as exciting foes. And at the end of the day, if you aren't having fun with your current game--try something new!Charlie Dunwoody participates in the OneBookShelf Affiliate Program and the Noble Knight Games’ Affiliate Program. These programs provide advertising fees by linking to DriveThruRPG and Noble Knight Games respectively. If you like the articles at EN World please consider supporting the EN World <a href="https://www.patreon.com/enworld" target="_blank">Patreon</a>.</blockquote>

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