Tales of the Valiant: Rituals

I am happy to see the 4E-like rituals for caster classes return to the game. Rituals were one thing 4E got right, making those "big spells" with the long casting times separate from the main spell lists. If they take a long time to cast and aren't for encounters, make them a ritual and keep the spell list clean.

Animate dead, magic mouth, identify, and summon familiar? All rituals. Long casting times, they don't clutter the spell list and are off in the ritual section where they belong. More and more, I like the decisions made in this game. This is like, 5E: Sanity Edition.

A considerable part of the appeal of Tales of the Valiant is nostalgia. For 5E? Well, yes, playing the game as it came out, from the beginning, and watching it slowly expand and take on its own identity. Honestly, Wizards should have made 6th Edition a thing since the nostalgia would be there - but a 5.5 clean-up for VTT play will inspire only a few to begin again. Plus, all the old 5E exploits are valid, so it may be split between the few who try things from fresh again and a bunch not wanting to give up their still-supported power gaming builds.

But with ToV, I feel that nostalgia pull again.

The game is fresh and new and has that innocent feeling.

I can toss all the broken stuff out and focus on classic dungeon crawling.

I can play a single world again and ignore the planar circus of randomness.

If you want, pull the old stuff in. But you don't have to.

You bet this plays to nostalgia even more than One D&D does. ToV is a new beginning based on the well-loved classic rules. Preserving 5E is a noble cause and needs to be more than "the original 5E books."

It needs to be a caretaker who will invest in new content, make the needed fixes to keep the game alive and engaging and support a community that supports them. I expect One D&D to be focused on making the game support the VTT, and given the money they poured into that project, it is both a smart thing - and one that could hurt the game by making the tabletop feel secondary.

I have high hopes for ToV, since I know how great the OSR is. This is 5E entering that world as a system preserved and expanding for this generation and all who are to come.