D&D General Tales of the Valiant Starter Set

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

It was designed specifically to poach the existing 5e fanbase.

Also an inaccurate assumption.

Work on what became ToV began before WotC put the 5E SRD into Creative Commons.

ToV was designed to present an alternative way to sell 5E-compatible books in perpetuity if the OGL fiasco had gone a different way. (Those books just have to have compatibility with ToV and, therefore, 2014 D&D more or less.)

That doesn't require poaching anyone and it certainly doesn't preclude people coming to RPGs through Kobold Press' door.

I teach a lot of people to play RPGs and the OGL fiasco was widely covered in non-nerdy media. While the majority of people don't care, a not-insignificant number of newbies start off with a lot of skepticism about WotC and are interested in learning how to play 5E without necessarily putting money in WotC's collective pocket.

Also, the new D&D starter set, using 2024 rules, won't be in stores until October, insanely, so there's definitely room for other companies in the interim.

 

[SpellObjectEnthusiast]

I don't think that's an accurate assumption at all.

People come to RPGs through all sorts of entry points nowadays and since the OGL fiasco, lots of them are intentionally coming in through doors that aren't owned by WotC. Paizo can't keep their Pathfinder starter set in stock, for instance.

I don't think there's very much overlap between "informed enough about WOTC to want to avoid buying their products", "Specifically wants to play 5th edition d&d", and "has never played a ttrpg before".

I'm not saying nobody but WOTC should make starter sets, just that it doesn't make sense for ToV, an explicit 5e clone, to make one, since their playerbase shouldn't need a starter set.

 

[mamba]

I don't think there's very much overlap between "informed enough about WOTC to want to avoid buying their products", "Specifically wants to play 5th edition d&d", and "has never played a ttrpg before".

probably true, but a new group does not need to form from just new players, it would be enough for the DM to not like WotC and start playing with his kids and their friends, or other scenarios where not everyone is playing for the first time

 

[Reynard]

I don't think there's very much overlap between "informed enough about WOTC to want to avoid buying their products", "Specifically wants to play 5th edition d&d", and "has never played a ttrpg before".

I'm not saying nobody but WOTC should make starter sets, just that it doesn't make sense for ToV, an explicit 5e clone, to make one, since their playerbase shouldn't need a starter set.

Staerter sets are not just for people who accidentally discovered the game at Target or whatever.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I don't think there's very much overlap between "informed enough about WOTC to want to avoid buying their products", "Specifically wants to play 5th edition d&d", and "has never played a ttrpg before".

I'm not responsible for your worldview. I'm just saying, in the wild, this is happening.

 

[Zaukrie]

Looks like a great starter set! If I knew someone that wanted to start playing, I'd buy it for them. As it is, I'm swamped with stuff and might not have much income next year, so not getting it for me, but I think it will be worth the money.

 

[Black Dougal]

Big fan of KP and ToV. Own almost everything but not this. The minis look really nice. Might make a nice gift for myself this Xmas.

 

[Weiley31]

It's all backwards compatible anyways.

 

[Marc Radle]

Big fan of KP and ToV. Own almost everything but not this. The minis look really nice. Might make a nice gift for myself this Xmas.

Awesome!

The minis are super nice!!

 

[Clint_L]

I teach a lot of people to play RPGs and the OGL fiasco was widely covered in non-nerdy media. While the majority of people don't care, a not-insignificant number of newbies start off with a lot of skepticism about WotC and are interested in learning how to play 5E without necessarily putting money in WotC's collective pocket.

I run beginner campaigns constantly, and I have yet to meet a single newbie who knows or cares who publishes the game we are playing. Not one. Why would they? They've maybe heard that D&D is a kind of social game with dice - maybe they saw it on Stranger Things - and if they've played computer RPGs they have a general framework for the idea of playing a character who progresses, and that's about it. Certainly none of them would understand the term "5e," let alone differentiate it from D&D or ask if we could play a 5e game not published by WotC.

So I am very skeptical about your claim that "a not-insignificant number of newbies start off with a lot of skepticism about WotC." That is contrary to my experience, and also seems completely counterintuitive. To me, that is a bizarre claim. Unless you start by filling them in on your perspective, of course. But the notion that people are coming in from outside the hobby with strong opinions about WotC? That is very, very hard to believe and illogical.

Edit: over the past year, a fair few of my newbies have shown up with a bit more context for the game because of BG3, but that's for the setting and basic concepts like character classes, not for its publisher.