Black Flag [KOBOLD PRESS] Tales of the Valiant KS is Live!

[Marc Radle]

Passed 8000 backers.

Yep!
$958,732 pledged so far
8,106 backers
4 days to go!!

 

[Marc Radle]

Want to get in on Tales of the Valiant but don't know which tier is the best bang for your buck?
We got you! Cash out on the most savings with the $99 tier!

 

[Marc Radle]

Project Black Flag Comes To Life As Tales Of The Valiant - FORBES​

 

[Marc Radle]

Almost there ...
Stay on target ...

 

[Zaukrie]

It's a lock at this point......Hoping we get lots of monster previews (don't' even know if that's a thing), as I look forward to using them.

 

[deganawida]

Sooooo close!

 

[Marc Radle]

It's a lock at this point......Hoping we get lots of monster previews (don't' even know if that's a thing), as I look forward to using them.

Oh, have no fear!
The Alpha Release PDF that will get released shortly after the KS closes with have plenty of monsters to try out!

 

[Retreater]

I've been following the promotion (albeit with waning interest) since the project announcement in the early days of the OGL Crisis. I'm still on the fence. I haven't seen anything that has convinced me that TotV has really addressed what I dislike about 5e - and if those issues aren't cleared up, I shouldn't bother backing this Kickstarter - since it will sit on my bookshelf in the same way Level Up has.

I severely dislike 5e for the following reasons:

• lack of meaningful tactical decisions
• "dead" levels
• boring monster design
• pathetic encounter creation guidelines
• bad official adventures
• no (or "broken") magic item economy
• easily overpowered PCs

Is there a place I can go to get more information to see if TotV is rectifying these issues? What role does it play when compared to 2024 D&D and Level Up?

 

[Zaukrie]

I've been following the promotion (albeit with waning interest) since the project announcement in the early days of the OGL Crisis. I'm still on the fence. I haven't seen anything that has convinced me that TotV has really addressed what I dislike about 5e - and if those issues aren't cleared up, I shouldn't bother backing this Kickstarter - since it will sit on my bookshelf in the same way Level Up has.

I severely dislike 5e for the following reasons:

• lack of meaningful tactical decisions
• "dead" levels
• boring monster design
• pathetic encounter creation guidelines
• bad official adventures
• no (or "broken") magic item economy
• easily overpowered PCs

Is there a place I can go to get more information to see if TotV is rectifying these issues? What role does it play when compared to 2024 D&D and Level Up?

I think the early monster preview is still out there. Every monster seems to get a unique thing, and these are actually interesting monsters.

 

[Marc Radle]

I'm still on the fence. I haven't seen anything that has convinced me that TotV has really addressed what I dislike about 5e - and if those issues aren't cleared up, I shouldn't bother backing this Kickstarter - since it will sit on my bookshelf in the same way Level Up has.

I severely dislike 5e for the following reasons:

• lack of meaningful tactical decisions
• "dead" levels
• boring monster design
• pathetic encounter creation guidelines
• bad official adventures
• no (or "broken") magic item economy
• easily overpowered PCs

Is there a place I can go to get more information to see if TotV is rectifying these issues? What role does it play when compared to 2024 D&D and Level Up?

Hey there Retreater - just curious, have you read any Kolbold Press books? You can check out Tome of Heroes, Tome of Beasts 3, and Tome of Beasts 1 (2023) for an idea of our general class and monster design and to get a sense of our more recent design directions

To your specific points, Kobold Press monsters definitely aren’t boring (our Tome of Beasts books are very popular!), and our published adventures are quite well-received (and in my completely unbiased opinion, pretty darn awesome )

As for the dead levels, that’s something that is absolutely being addressed in the class design, as is better class balance.

A rather meaty and helpful encounter creation section will absolutely be included in the Monster Vault book!

Things like more meaningful tactical decisions are also absolutely going to be incorporated into Tales of the Valiant!

For examples and more info on ToV, please visit the Tales of the Valiant website and check out the the free 64-page Tales of the Valiant Preview PDF to see lineages and heritages, 4 classes, 8 subclasses, the spellcasting rules, and 8 monster previews.

There are also publicly available design diaries that have some excellent insight, particularly the most recent:
Valiant Design Diary #6 Creatures
Valiant Design Diary #5 Compatibility
Valiant Design Diary #4 Preview

Hope that helps!