It Is Not Enough

The Tales of the Valiant 5E books stand out with their unique features, making them a great version of 5E. They are a labor of love, establishing a non-Wizards of the Coast baseline that I find more appealing.

But...

While some areas could be improved, such as the character art, which is a bit cartoony and plastic-looking, the monster art is stunning. The rules are solid, and the game is rebalanced around the Kobold Press CR levels. The monster book is an excellent Monster Manual replacement, with the monsters being suitably nasty. I'm pleased with the Tales of the Valiant 5E books.

Most people are either sold on 2024 D&D or left for other games. The biggest "D&D killer" in this generation of 5E clones is Wizards of the Coast since they killed their own game. It is still big enough to wobble for another 5 to 10 years, but the excitement is fading quickly.

But both ToV and 2024 D&D are nothing to leave Level Up A5E for. The designers over at EN World got lambasted for "changing too much" about 5E with Level Up—and it turns out they were right. They added old-school mechanics, made death a threat again, and included the best parts of 4E. They took a wrench and screwdriver to all the math and tightened it up. They made martial classes and rangers worth playing. There are fun changes like rare and unique spells.

They focused like a laser on making their classes support the three pillars of play:

• Dungeon Crawling
• Exploration
• Social

EN World rewrote the entire game, so it did not need the SRD or OGL.

The combat and balance of the game feel tight and have that original, great "dry" feeling of early 5E. This isn't the slippery balance of later editions, post-Tasha's, where you can get and give inspiration on anything and blow out to-hit rolls because "Missing isn't fun!" The combat in Level Up feels like classic B/X, that live or die, one die roll, classic dice on paper dry feeling I love about old-school gaming.

And there are nods to the old-school here, too, like needing to track supplies and needing rangers to get you to the dungeon safely. Exploration is fully supported, with unique terrain encounters and types that force you to make survival rolls. Even the dungeons are enhanced by giving the environment a special place in the turn order to handle traps, machines, environmental effects, and other hazards. Old-school fans helped playtest and design this game.

ToV recreates 5E.

Level Up rebuilds 5E.

People thought they were stupid or crazy. They roasted the game for breaking compatibility with 5E in areas. People wanted this to be a "5E expansion" instead of a standalone. You changed too much! This is Boutique 5E! Why play this when we have D&D?

In the end, EN World was right.

They delivered their own game free of license issues and kept supporting it through years of community neglect. They kept shipping products and believing in what they did. They kept the game compatible with 5E adventures but did their own thing on classes and rules.

A few of their decisions were strange, like their steampunk world Zeitgeist, which did not resonate with me. However, their after-release support is solid, and the Gate Pass Gazetteers are outstanding. The fan-released content is also excellent. The number of character options and classes this game has is jaw-dropping.

Subclass and option support from 3rd party products is its only weakness, but only in the area of these options not supporting some of the custom rules in the game. For example, a supply system in A5E tracks things like rations and water. If a 3rd party subclass allows you to replenish supply like the ranger does in A5E, then you will need to tweak it to include these rules.

It is not impossible to use third-party subclass and character options, but it does require a higher level of rules knowledge and familiarity with the differences. You will need to tweak them in a few critical cases. Overall, it is for the better.

I still like ToV a lot. It is an excellent game as a clean-room 5E. The support from Kobold Press is outstanding. The design and care put into the game are top-notch. I am still supporting them as my second-best 5E implementation. It is a great "low-level emulator" that replaces Wizards 5E perfectly. ToV and Level Up work well together, so you can support both without wasting money.

We are blessed to have two incredible games to choose from.

And Tales of the Valiant may get a lot better! I am in early to see where things go. We will likely get more in the future, plus there may be old-school options in the GM's Guide that elevate this to the level of A5E. You can't go wrong by having both games.

But Level Up is still my 5E, the one I come home to. It runs my campaigns, such as my classic 4E-era Nerrath game. It is, in many ways, a different game that caters to old-school and 5E players equally, and it is a much grittier, deadly, and balanced game. Death means something. Exploration is not easy. The social play has support in character options. Martial characters are fun and have resource tracking. The resting game is fixed. Pop-up healing is fixed. Supplies are meaningful. The little stupid problems 5E has had for years have been fixed. The exploits are mainly addressed.

To me and my campaigns, Level Up Advanced 5E is the winner.