ToV Game Master's Guide, Part 2

Chapter two, Adventures and Campaigns, has three sections: Flavors of Fantasy, Adventures, and Campaigns. This is a short chapter, and I wanted more from it, so while it is more of an overview, it still lays out the general concepts and lets you five in from there. They couldn't have done this as in-depth as I would have liked since each topic could be a book in itself of information.

Flavors of Fantasy is the first, covering the significant subgenres of fantasy. It positions ToV as "fantasy," a middle-of-the-road genre, and keeps "high fantasy" as a different genre. It is nice to see dark fantasy mentioned here, and including this opens the door for ToV to be more than just a dragons and treasure game. The fact that the genre is in the book opens the game up to play the genre and empowers groups to change the game to meet their needs.

High and low fantasy are discussed, and limiting magic is a huge help. They mention that magic-using characters may not exist, which is a massive help to settings like Primeval Thule, which did not work under 2014 D&D because of "too much magic" in the system. People played it; the caster classes cast flight and zapped people with laser cantrips, and the fighters stood there with broken bone weapons.

Sword and sorcery are kept apart from low fantasy, which is also a fascinating choice. I would love to see guidelines on running the game this way or even an S&S guide with new subclasses for the genre.

The final types covered are portal fantasy, science fantasy, and weird fantasy. I like the discussion here since this "opens the door" to modding the game to play more than just the standard fantasy-setting assumptions. If low fantasy is mentioned as a viable option in the book, then the group is invited to limit magic in the game under that umbrella. Laser rifles appearing in the game are allowed if science fantasy is chosen. We can bring Conan-style tropes and mature themes if sword and sorcery is a supported genre. The door is opened for modding and discussion.

What is my dream for this section? A "how to" for making these happen within the game, including what spells and classes are appropriate for each, discussions on allowed types of magic, and the nuts-and-bolts details of making each genre work in the game. Granted, each one of these genres could be a "how to" book in itself, so my wants for this section are probably way too wide-eyed than what they had room for, and even a chapter a few dozen pages long would not feel adequate. For example, my dream science fantasy section would include technological artifacts, monsters, robots, and themes - which would be a better subject for an entire hardcover.

If you need more information, the Kobold Guide to Plots and Campaigns is a good resource and expands on all the information presented in this chapter. Some of the things discussed here feel like the missing parts of this chapter. There is a good chapter in this book about running evil campaigns, which is admittedly an advanced topic but worth adding to the information in this chapter as additional material and the "201" level of the subject study of Adventures and Campaigns.

The following section is on adventures, which covers tiers of play (thank you), running published adventures, and the elements of adventures. I like the tiers of the game since they remind me of D&D 4E, and they provide a good overview of how your game's "scope" naturally increases as your character gains power. This discussion also suggests advancement progression, and you could forego XP entirely and just use these guidelines as milestones.

The published adventures section is excellent, and reading it inspired me to change things up in published adventures, something early D&D modules often failed at terribly. Room three, 30 kobolds. Room four, 10 tougher kobolds, and 1500 silver pieces. Keep on the Borderlands is a classic adventure, but parts of that get too repetitive and lack story, conflict, plot, or meaning. Wizards, feed that module into AI, and you will get rooms with 50 kobolds created everywhere.

But it was fun back in the day!

The game and player expectations changed.

The chapter ends with campaigns, including advice on building your own and using published settings. The game also says you can modify campaigns, mix and match pieces, or mash two together. This is nice to see since many beginning GMs get intimidated regarding settings and don't feel they have the freedom to make a setting their own.

Don't laugh; the "that isn't in canon!" crowd exists to bully GMs into adhering to someone's preconceived notion of what the "perfect" state of a setting should be. If a town is in a fantasy novel, and the players visit that in the game, then it should live up to the exact ideal of that novel (which everyone should have read), and that one player gets disappointed since the setting isn't perfect and doesn't live up to their expectations. See also: playing in the 1990s Forgotten Realms setting.

The chapter ends with a sample "act structure" of a campaign, which is helpful when considering the larger narrative arc of metaplot. Of course, the players should be driving this and saying where things go, but in a larger sense of "the stakes rising," this is an excellent example of a story arc.

We get a paragraph at the end discussing character deaths, but I would have liked to have seen more discussion here on replacement characters that fit in with the story.

This is a chapter I wanted to see more about, but there are many subjects in which I am very interested. As a result, the chapter fell short for me, reflecting my interest in campaigns and these topics more than most. The Plots and Campaigns book fills in much of the information I wanted. For beginners, this is good information and a worthy chapter. For experts like myself, get the companion book, and that fills in the gaps. Given the size of this subject, this chapter does a good job of introducing the concepts.

ToV Game Master's Guide, Part 1

I started reading the Tales of the Valiant Game Master's Guide (ToV GMG) last night and read the first 30 pages. I also completed the "How to Be a GM" and "Adventures and Campaigns" sections, with some excellent advice here.

The 'How to be a GM' section is a treasure trove of practical advice. It's a 'blue collar' guide that breaks down the nuts and bolts of game mastering, from understanding game dynamics to managing interpersonal issues, maintaining player agency, and even advice on note-taking and pacing. Even if you're well-versed in these areas, the practicality of this section and its ability to set you up for success before gameplay make it a must-read.

It's a common misconception in the hobby that 'being a Matt Mercer equals success.' However, the reality is far from it. YouTube and scripted "let's play" shows can give people terrible misconceptions about gamemastering and make it seem more like TV and play-acting. Success in game mastering involves a lot of preparation, social skills, coordination, and the ability to keep the game engaging and balanced while respecting player agency and keeping stories on track and progressing.

The game master is the movie's director, producer, crew, set builders, supporting cast, special effects people, grips, sound people, and everyone else on set. It isn't a movie since the players are in control, but the metaphor holds regarding building a believable world for the players to play in.

There is more to being a game master than most know, and the first part of the GMG tackles the issue and lays out everything clearly, which is a huge help to new game masters. The hobby still has a game master shortage, and one great GM can sell dozens of players on games and books.

If Wizards thinks they can get an AI to be a DM, just watch those insane AI videos and realize that a machine can't keep a narrative story consistent or even sane for one minute. This takes real, living people, and the ToV GMG's first chapter is akin to a Game Mastering 101 college course. Training current and future GMs is player acquisition and retention since they are the "face" of your business.

If you want the Game Mastering 201 book, check out the Kobold Guide to Gamemastering, which contains about 150 pages of excellent articles and advice. Even if you have been doing this for 40 years, don't think you "know it all" because even I found a lot of great ideas and inspiration for games just by reading these. Reading the experiences and stories of other game masters inspired me in my games, and even if you know it all, their enthusiasm will spark yours and bring that energy to your craft.

Storytelling is an art; listening to other artists discuss the craft is beneficial.

A lot of "how-to game master" books and OSR games skip over the basics or sound "blah blah" when discussing the dirty, gritty, dealing with other people, and "at the table" topics. The ToV GMG dives straight in, lays out all the roles and responsibilities nicely, and creates an environment that lends itself to success when running a game.

Even I, who has been game mastering for most of my life, learned a few things and was inspired to run games by reading this chapter. It is nice to see a company that cares about your success and training the next generation of game masters to enjoy the hobby. It won't just become an "AI-run" activity without a soul behind the story and disappear into the machines. Once you let AI run the show, the hobby is dead.

The tabletop RPG hobby is still "real" and is a form of storytelling between living, breathing, feeling, and thinking people. The competition between D&D 2024 selling its soul to AI and Kobold Press banning AI and going all-in on the traditional game is more significant than just the OGL. This is a battle for the heart of roleplaying.

Next time, chapter two, Adventures and Campaigns...

Mail Room: Tales of the Valiant, Game Master's Guide PDF

Look at what the Kobold Press store dropped into my account today.

Wow, flipping through, this has everything I wanted in a GMG. This is up there with the all-time greats of game master guides, and it feels like it was directly inspired by the Grandaddy, the AD&D 1st Edition DMG. Classic random generators? Random dungeons? Monster and rule options? Magic item tables? Monster creation? Subclass creation? Campaigns? GM advice? It goes on and on!

It has everything. I am so lost in this.

Sorry, D&D, but this is a game-changer. You've just been outdone.

This is epic. Blown away.

Kobold Press: Book of Hexcrawl 1

But Tales of the Valiant (and 5E) needs better exploration rules!

Um, incorrect. More and more, Tales of the Valiant is living up to the original dream of 5E being a "modular rule system" where you could plug in different rule modules and have a game that plays according to your preferences and tastes.

And the game is being built now. This was the genius behind ToV's "not doing anything new" with the rules; they needed a "basic set" to build upon. The game got roundly trashed for being "just a 5E clone," but we never saw the plans for this game, nor could we see how this was shaping up as a modular rules framework.

All that "extra stuff" we wanted them to do?

We are starting to see it now.

The Kobold Press store has an excellent series of "Book of Hex Crawl" games that create a more in-depth hex-crawl system than I have seen in many old-school games. It even includes a "food and water" chart that links to the fatigue system modeled after the original Outdoor Survival game, which inspired the 1974 D&D's overland rules.

These rules include structuring a hex-crawl game, encounters, weather, mapping, landmarks, factions, and every other part you could dream about having in a hex-crawl game. ToV supplies the rules framework, and this supplies the model of play.

Oh. So, ToV has excellent hex-crawl rules. I hope these get compiled into a hardcover someday.

The only other part of the equation here to having a "completely fixed 5E" is in-play options, such as making the game more deadly and old-school. I am sure the upcoming GM's guide will have rules for this, and you could always pull in rules from 5E Hardmode, or even the equally excellent 5E Hardcore Mode rules.

Both books make for a great, old-school feeling game with all the classes and rules you are familiar with. You can choose rules to customize your experience, all while using the core ToV books as the rules engine under the hood.

There is this sentiment that "5E is too easy, " which isn't true. D&D 2014 and 2024, played as-is, have this problem. Level Up A5E is better. ToV isn't as severely affected due to balance and monster fixes. ToV can be fixed quite easily, and is a much better base game due to its simplicity and streamlined nature. But I get it, a lot of people are trying to dump on 5E and make you feel powerless playing it.

But I would not use the above books with D&D. I have walked away from that game, and they do their own thing. What they did during the OGL disaster tells me they don't want open frameworks or communities. The Creative Commons was a good step, but we still need a leadership change and more openness from them, especially with legacy rulesets that people still enjoy. They have a long way to go.

With ToV, my investments in my 5E books are protected and forward-looking with new content.

Would I play a ToV "old school" game using the Book of Hexcrawl and the 5E Hardcore Mode books? You bet I would! I play my games "my way" and I am not beholden to a book.

ToV gives you the base for a modular framework without all the pressure of D&D Beyond to "conform to the rules as written so you can find a game." This is where you lack power, on online systems that force you to conform to one way of playing. This is where the peer pressure is. You are paying a monthly fee to get marketed to and pressured by others to conform.

The dream of Open 5E is still alive. This is a modular, pick-and-choose, mix-and-match, play-it-your-way world where your old 5E books aren't worthless. And you can play 5E "just like old-school games" if you want.

Don't let peer pressure push you back into that relationship with Wall Street. This is the first step in heading down the wrong path, leading you into a relationship where you are pressured to buy things, log in daily, and conform to a crowd of people who don't care about anything else than keeping people in the herd to protect their worthless digital "investments."

You can mix and match and do your own thing outside of that world.

It is a better place.

AI Art Removed

We have gone AI art-free here, and I have removed them all from the blog. AI art was a novelty, but the longer the technology has gone on, the more ethical questions and problems arose. Not to mention putting traditional artists out of work and dissuading anyone in the future from having to learn highly-rewarding art skills. Morally and ethically, it is not something I feel good about.

AI art was very inspiring and mind-opening, but after a while, it got repetitive, and you could start to see how it copies and spits out the same thing at you time after time. It can't draw hands. It can't do a side-shot of a figure. It is just dumb, a remix machine that isn't art. It is not owned or copyrightable. There is great potential in the future of AI, just - not this way.

Today's artists need jobs.

Future artists must know investing years in their skills will not lead to a dead end in life.

Wizards of the Coast is doubling down on AI in D&D. Considering their statements on the topic, I would not be surprised to see them reverse their earlier anti-AI stance for art and book content.

Chaosium, Kobold Press, and Legendary Games have announced that their games and books will not include AI content. If this matters to you, consider supporting your beliefs with your gaming budget.

https://koboldpress.com/state-of-play-kobold-press-issues-the-no-ai-pledge

Tales of the Valiant: Simple & Clean Design

When designers fix 5E, they often make it more complicated by adding layers. This trend is evident in Level Up Advanced 5E and the 2024 D&D books. I see more and more layers and ways to regenerate resources (outside of the short rest, which should be the de-facto way of combat encounter resets), and the entire 5E game feels like this "advanced" version that feels hard to play. Some parts of D&D 2024 feel like "Homer's Car" additions to the game, making it needlessly complex.

It takes more game design skills to simplify and streamline a game than to make it more complicated.

Adding junk is easy.

Taking it out is hard.

The overabundance of 'gimmes' in 2024 D&D, especially the easy resets for resources like inspiration and wild shape, has thrown the game off balance. We're playing a CR+1 or CR+2 game, with players repeatedly resetting these limited-use powers. It's a worrying sign for the game's fairness and challenge.

Also, in every review I watch, there seem to be all these "special case tweaks" to the 2024 D&D rules here and there, meant to patch a flaw in gameplay. This creates many exceptional cases during play to keep track of. The team they brought in seems to be a "rules team" more focused on fixing and writing new rules than simplifying and streamlining the game. I suspect this "advanced 5E" D&D 2024 will be a more challenging game to master, and the exceptional cases will turn many new players off.

Shadowdark proves the opposite; you can take most everything out of 5E and still have a classic game.

One of the design goals of Tales of the Valiant was to make the game easy to learn and teach new players. If the ToV team was forced to make a patch for a class feature (and write a few extra paragraphs of rules) or simplify the feature and focus on fun, they chose the latter.

Time after time, making class features more straightforward to use will speed up play for everyone. I suspect ToV will be the faster and more streamlined version of 5E to play than either 2024 D&D or Level Up A5E.

I returned to Tales of the Valiant, and the game feels like a simplified version of 5E, closer to Shadowdark than either Level Up or 2024 D&D. It is a strange feeling since this is the same game at its core, but ToV just feels more streamlined and more straightforward to grasp and master than the other games. I felt the ToV version was more accessible with my 3rd party books than either 2024 or Level Up.

Level Up sticks to the CR+0 2104 balance, and I love that "level" feeling to the 5E rules. The game is almost new compared to 5E; this is a 2014 fork from the main rules, like how C&C is a D&D 3.0 fork.

Tales is a CR+1 game; the monsters and characters hit harder.

With 2024, we have yet to see since there are no monsters out yet.

I was not juggling so much "extra junk" and "add-on fixes" in ToV, which allowed me to focus on the third-party book's powers and abilities and enjoy that designer's work better. You get a lot of YouTubers who equate "more" with "better," which is not always true. I could "improve" chess by adding subclasses, spells, special powers, stamina bars, short rests, and all sorts of cruft that require 1,000 pages to explain - but the game isn't chess anymore. It is "mutant chess" and loses the ability to be a universal, cross-culture, no-language-needed game that anyone can enjoy.

I can go to anyone and play chess with them, even though I don't know how to speak with them.

I can teach it to someone else without knowing their language. This piece moves this way, and that one goes that way. This is a capture. I go, then you. This is winning.

We can play in 10 minutes, showing things and giving examples.

Shadowdark gets that design philosophy.

Tales of the Valiant leans towards the "simple design ideal" more than any other current-day version of 5E. Once you set ability scores, you never go back to them again. Ability scores are not modified after creation. ToV's systems never force you to go backward. Even the luck system is forward-looking.

A lot in ToV is "designed in" with this "stealth mindset" to make things flow very nicely. You never even see it, but the game's rules and character creation flow are exponentially better than Level Up or 2024 D&D. You don't see it if you are a 5E veteran; you skim through and go, check, check, check.

But pretend you don't know 5E and reread the book.

Like Shadowdark, this game's natural and comfortable design makes it best for new 5E players. Parts of this book remind me of the BECMI presentation; it is that good.

The game is like my old-school Nintendo Entertainment System for 5E; I can plug any third-party book into that as the core system, and it works. I am not messing with 2014/2024, and I own the PDFs of the core books. I am not adding in Tasha's or any other expansion. I don't have to think about a subclass introduced in an add-on book. There are no "outside systems" in the game which cause incompatibilities.

If I have a fantastic setting book like Svilland, I will play that with my base ToV book. Yes, we will use luck rather than inspiration, but luck is much better. What I love about ToV is that "NES" feeling, where I can grab my ToV book, grab this one, and play without distractions or piles of books weighing me down. Yes, I can do that with 2014, but I own my ToV PDFs and do not need an online service to play.

Again, simplicity and clean designs win.

Short Rests in Combat

Like many of you, I have a deep appreciation for 5E. It is a clean, modern implementation of D&D 4E, born out of 4E's Essentials line of books and revised by some legendary designers.

But a class feature allowing you to take a short rest in the middle of combat is just...

This means the system is so broken that nobody cares about what happens past the 10th level. You can't die; combat is auto-win-press-the-button, and now you get to press a button, heal up, and teleport out of the dungeon with all your loot.

I can go over to the dragon's treasure horde and shove it into my bag of holding. It is a short rest. After we are done, teleport us out. We have what we came for, including the captured princess. The divine pause button has been pressed. Even if this is patched to allow "no hostile actions," it is insanely, grossly, game-endingly overpowered.

Being able to "freeze frame" your enemies at the 10th level is so broken narratively that this insanely overpowered power will circumvent every end boss fight.

Here is another scary thought.

Evil 10th-level clerics with the same power.

The evil cleric walks up to you, divine intervention is cast, takes all your stuff, and your party does not wake up, ever. No one even finds your character's bodies.

It's just dumb.

I am sticking with Level Up and Tales of the Valiant.

At least with these 5E implementations, a community of testers was consulted, and their input and feedback were considered. You don't get these "game killers" dropped on you in the official rulebook, with little or no testing or input. More house ruling and more "not in my game" lists of broken content.

The ink is already on the page. They will likely have to patch this and invalidate your hardcovers again. Trust me, every 4E book was like this, too. With their processes, this has always been a systemic problem at Wizards, with the only exception being the original 2014 D&D and the all-star team that worked on the original 5E, who are all gone now.

It is a mess, and I bet it will be patched soon.

Guide to the Labyrinth

This PDF, a key component of the Tales of the Valiant Kickstarter campaign, introduced a remarkably flexible 'universe support' model for the upcoming 'Kobold-verse.' This model empowers creators and backers, giving them the freedom to shape their own worlds within the 'Kobold-verse.'

All campaign worlds are intricately linked to the Labyrinth, a mysterious, magical pathway of doors and passages that traverse between these worlds, realities, dimensions, times, or what have you. It's a concept that has been explored in many fantasy novels, such as Alice in Wonderland, the Dark Tower, Narnia, and many others. However, the 'Kobold-verse' offers a unique and diverse take on this theme, promising an exciting journey for all.

Since most people create their own worlds, this is an ideal setup for supporting old and new campaigns and any existing world you may want to port into the system. I like this better than D&D's planar model, where there isn't much difference between an "outer plane" and another world. Here, the outer planes are set apart, different, and unique; you have much less reason to visit them if needed.

This feature allows you to traverse other worlds without needing high-level spells, ensuring you can explore and visit new places even at the lower levels of play. While you can always 'say this is so' in games like D&D, having the model officially laid out, supported, and integrated as part of the 'universe model' is a fascinating and inclusive addition.

It reminds me of The Strange, a fascinating game set in a universe of alternate realities, some based on fiction, some on themes, and others perhaps movies or TV shows. These universes spawn, come and do, get devoured by a malign force, get lost, found, change to a new form, or thrive as long as people believe in them. They can be crossed over into or escaped, or the fabric of reality can start breaking down as some in them "awaken" to what is really going on and gain sentience outside the system.

While the Labyrinth does not have that "denial of the simulation" thing going on, most never know a world is a part of this network, and the worlds in them go on as usual. One of these can be "your campaign world" or a version of one that you ported into the system, and while the underlying 5E rules may have changed to ToV, life goes on.

Also, since ToV is so close to 5E, characters created in the base D&D (or any other 5E-based system) rules can visit, play alongside, and interact with those in the ToV-verse. This is a genius "guerrilla" tactic of absorbing other 5E content, worlds, adventures, characters, monsters, and any other content made for 5E but is easily compatible with ToV. Unlike Pathfinder, ToV does not need to create its world (but they have one), and being like a vacuum and sucking up every world and game as compatible content works very well.

Do you have an old game world where you "played out" D&D and need a rule system that works with it? ToV and the Labyrinth are here to inject some new life into the books you already own. You are not waiting for an "update" to 2024; it works with all your 2014 content. Granted, 2024 D&D also does, but many want to avoid D&D Beyond and the drama there.

I remember when ToV was harshly criticized for "sticking too close" to 5E and not "offering much new." It turns out this was part of a larger strategy of backward compatibility and emulation, giving people tired of D&D but with sizable 5E investments an off-ramp into ToV. The only three Wizards game books I have are my three 2014 core books. Everything else of mine in 5E is third-party.

I have been converting third-party subclasses to ToV using their free conversion guide, and there are not too many problems with this. Again, "replacing D&D" with the ToV system is brilliant and signals 3rd solid party support for Open 5E.

The Labyrinth is another step on this stairway, creating a framework for importing entire campaigns into the system and linking other 5E games to the Koboldverse. I can make a portal to my Esper Genesis universe and have a space explorer drop into a fantasy world for a few adventures. They can be in a party of ToV characters, and since ToV stays close to the 5E core, there are very few compatibility issues.

Or a portal to a world like the (zombie-free) post-apocalypse setting of The Ruin (the hardcover is back in print!), and it has crossovers here.

I love Level Up Advanced 5E, an evolution of the 5E game into something new. But there are more compatibility issues between characters and worlds here. It makes fantastic additions to the rules, and starting a new world here with all the systems is compelling and gives a deep, rich, and old-school experience. You can "play alongside" other 5E characters, but they will miss out on some A5E features needed for supply, encounters, destiny, and other new systems in the game.

ToV is a direct drop-in replacement for D&D. The math is rebalanced, and the game is presented in a way that makes it easy to learn and understand. You don't need an electronic character sheet, which also helps third-party support.

The Labyrinth concept and framework are built as the next layer of support. It may seem like a "so what" concept when you have gate spells and the outer planes, but it is a powerful world model that lets you link, create new worlds, and constantly visit new places while all staying in the same 5E reality. You could even drop in ToV versions of Greyhawk and the Realms in here, too, at any point in time and in any version of the worlds, and things will work just fine.

Do you prefer the AD&D version of the Forgotten Realms or the D&D 3.5 version? The 2E version with all the unkillable GMNPCs? The 4E version? The Baldur's Gate 3 version? Whatever one you want is in here. They all are, and you can cross between them - if you wish. Why? We won't know, or you have a metaplot. Simplify your life and make all the Realms versions follow ToV.

Miss the old-school wicked Drow dark elves of Greyhawk? The ones who were evil incarnate and not ashamed of it? Over there, through those gates, take a left at the pylon to get to OG Greyhawk. Have fun in the Tomb of Horrors. Make it all follow ToV to keep your life simple, and include a few hardcore play rules in that world.

Oh, yes, since these are standalone worlds, you can introduce optional rules that apply to everyone in there with one of these fantastic hardcore rules options books. Make OG Greyhawk play more like AD&D with a few optional rules, and you don't have to change your characters when using the 5e Hardmode rules. Just toggle a few on for a world and keep playing your ToV characters. Worlds can use optional rules for any number of systems if they don't touch the character sheets.

Now, you are starting to see the strength of this framework.

Off the Shelf: Midgard

As we get closer to shipping the Tales of the Valiant Game Master's Guide, I have been pulling my Kobold Press books out and giving them another look. I suspect the GMG release will change many people's minds about ToV, and finally, having a complete three-book core set is what many are waiting for. Given the excellent guides for GM-ing that Kobold has put out, this book promises to be one of the better GM Guides we have seen in the last few years.

I don't need 2024 D&D books. I own these and the PDFs, and they are fine.

Also, I am looking forward to the rules and options Kobold has in the book to compete with some of the excellent systems in Level Up A5E. I would like hardcore play guidelines, supply, survival, hex-crawls, and other game rules to add to these parts of the game. I can pull from other games, but I would love to see their take on these systems.

Midgard is, in its own unique way, the Forgotten Realms of the 2010s and 2020s. It may not match the depth of lore or the wealth of fiction, but it captures the essence of the original Forgotten Realm's boxed set as a "setting for adventure." The tonal and dramatic shift it offered from Greyhawk was enough to captivate us back then.

This was before the setting was taken over by the novels! We never really got into those back in the day. Still, we kept the Forgotten Realms as a low-magic setting (yes) and ended our run here with AD&D. Unlike today, where Baldur's Gate 3 has starships flying around and magic and planar things wandering around everywhere. Today's setting is like a Star Wars with high magic everywhere, and our Realms back in the day were wonderfully low-magic, gritty, and dangerous.

Greyhawk was our high magic setting.

High magic settings are typically the last phase of a setting's lifecycle before it dies or gets rebooted. Back then, we could not stand high-magic Greyhawk, and it became a joke in our games as a place where high-level characters sat around bored and caused trouble for each other. Power corrupted everyone like superheroes with nothing to do but fight among themselves.

To me, Midgard feels like the early Realms. It has moderate magic, not really high, and the art still has a lower-level, gritty, dark-world feel. It does not feel modern, like 2024 D&D, which feels like "2024 in D&D" with all the distractions in the art and the loss of the classic feeling of adventure. And while we may get updates for the Realms and other classic settings, I don't have much hope for them, given what we saw with Spelljammer, Ravenloft, and other recent updates.

They will be what we love, modernized, and worse for it.

Midgard still has a chance of keeping its original dark fantasy feel. The art is consistent and follows a Middle Ages to Renaissance theme, with some steampunk you can take or leave.

Midgard keeps that fantasy feeling. It allows me to explore a strange world, different from our own, and experience living without modern conveniences in a world filled with magic and danger. I think this is where modern D&D "misses the mark" terribly. The entire game is dead set on transporting the contemporary world into a high-magic fantasy setting, and it comes off as lazy, lame, and boring. If I wanted "today's world," I would play in a modern setting.

I want my fantasy! I want to take my players to another world! Not this one. I am sick of it. The Wizards' art team breaks immersion with every character design and art piece they showcase.

If I wanted this world, I would walk outside.

With a half-shelf of monster books, a vast 800+ spell magic expansion, and another shelf full of adventures, Midgard delivers on a level only Traveller or Pathfinder compares to, but for 5E and fantasy. They seriously outdo Wizards at this game, having a complete, supported setting with adventures and expansions? It feels like the world support in AD&D, but for 5E, without the tacky modern veneer and persistent and reoccurring "AI infections" of D&D.

And they have their own 5E version.

There are very few downsides here.

If I have favorite characters, it is time to port them to Midgard and move them into a world I can enjoy. I was going to say, "Walk away," but I am done walking away. There is a point where you stop, settle down, and pick a home. The closest third-party competitor to this is the Frog God "Lost Lands" setting, which has fantastic adventures and mega-dungeons. I am playing that with Level Up A5E since that game feels more old-school than ToV.

Midgard stands above that, with a more profound history, current support, maps, options, and a fantastic world with room to make it your own. Combined with ToV, you have the holy grail of system plus setting, which D&D gave us in the old days.

They also have an excellent Southlands sourcebook, which I still need to dive into, complete with character options books. The world is fantastic, filled with adventures and space to explore and expand. In a way, this is what we always wanted for D&D 4th Edition, a fun world filled with people, places, conflicts, and things to do - without overly relying on nebulous planar content.

This is a world I am happy with, and one I wish I had gazetteers for all the wonderful places here. Another part of me is satisfied with not having them and having a lot of things to fill in for myself.

BattleZoo Hardcovers for 5E

The Roll for Combat 5E books are a delightful blend of Pathfinder 2E and 5E options and ancestries, monsters, and quirky settings. They offer a lighthearted, more kid-friendly view of 5E and character options, making them a unique and exciting addition to your RPG collection. Whether you want to play as a dragon or a mimic, these books have got you covered. And while you might become a bit overpowered in some aspects, a simple adjustment to the adventure challenges will keep the game balanced and enjoyable.

The art here is more suitable for kids, and I prefer this to the current modern-style art in many books, which comes across as defensive, ham-fisted, and a bit silly. I love old-school art, but this all-ages style is an excellent second place, and I prefer this to the modern people in fantasy D&D 2024 art. The art team here is careful not to interject "their ideas of what your game should be" in the imagery, and they just illustrate and inspire instead of screaming a viewpoint at you. It is a good, middle-of-the-road art direction suitable for all ages, and I appreciate the effort to maintain tone and consistency - and the art is super high-quality throughout.

When the designers create ancestries, they do "ancestry feats" that increase power as you level, like in Pathfinder 2E. I would love to see this team rebuild the core races with these leveled feats, but then again, if you want that, play Pathfinder 2E. Still, I would love to see them remake elves, drow, dwarves, halflings, humans, and dragon-born races with their own "spin" on things.

These books, mixed with a neutral 5E system, such as Tales of the Valiant, make for a great combination. ToV makes for a perfect "books plus" game for most 3rd party content; it keeps 99% of 2014 compatibility, the books are self-contained, and it stays far away from the mess of Wizards and the paywall walled garden.

I just want PDFs, books, and a stable, sane version of the 5E rules without a dramatically new system added to the game. Level Up A5E is impressive, but for third-party books like BattleZoo, having a clean-room core system makes playing them all the better.

ToV does the job of being that clean room. 2014 version, 5E core system, without the baggage or controversy.

This team does a lot of fantastic stuff, and while the art is more for kids than the 'edgy mature crowd' or 'old school purists' - I appreciate the quality and strong consistency here. The art isn't "too modern" because D&D 2024's self-referential art feels like looking at people from a gaming convention rather than adventurers in a fantasy world. Here, the art stays "in character" and "in the world," and the feeling of "looking into a strange world" is powerful.

They have a campaign adventure, a battle pets book, and many books covering alternate ancestries, and they are really one of the best "imagination-themed" books out there for both 5E and Pathfinder 2 right now. If you had a kid at your table "wanting to play a dragon," you could make it work with these books. And instead of making "everything the same" as the current version of D&D tends to do, this leans into making every ancestry "different and special" - which is a far more laudable goal than giving up and saying "anyone is anything and it is all the same."

In one of the books, you can play a dungeon. It is hilarious, but the idea of a sentient dungeon improving and gaining levels to create deeper levels and more challenges is fantastic and creative. The level one Tomb of Horrors was probably a giant rat in a 20x20 room, with a puzzle about 'sand and time' on a locked chest with 200 silver pieces.

That's it! Come back next time; one of the first halls may be ready!

These are highly imaginative books where choices have meaning, and the options are all equally good. Parts of these books are silly, stupid, and hilarious - which is what a lot of gaming is missing. The fun is back with these books. Some choices will likely cause "imbalances," but who cares when you are having fun? Just tweak your encounters or toss in enemies that can fly, too.

Highly recommended if you are into very imaginative play where who you are matters, and the theme of your adventures revolves around the progression of yourself and how the world around you reacts to that.

The Case for Tales of the Valiant

Tales of the Valiant is still a go-to game for me.

But why? I have the fantastic Level Up Advanced 5E?

When I don't want the lengthy (but wonderfully in-depth) character creation of Level Up A5E, I have ToV as my "drop-in" 5E replacement. ToV means you can turn your back on 2024 D&D and walk away. You won't be using D&D Beyond, but who cares? If you do character sheets by hand, character creation in ToV is more straightforward, streamlined, and faster than 2024 D&D.

Frankly, doing sheets by hand helps me learn and appreciate the game more.

With ToV, there's no need to consult an incomplete 5E SRD to incorporate a third-party book or play something like BattleZoo and enjoy it. Porting subclasses is a breeze, and most require no additional work - you simply take them. Any other book that delves into character options or subclasses fits seamlessly into the game.

It is as close as possible to a 5E-like core book, with no added flash or extra rules. The rules are so close that they are interchangeable with the SRD. The classes are different, improved, and solid, like fixed 2014 versions of those classes designed to play well.

Like early Pathfinder 1e, the game did not need to change much to do its job; that game was essentially D&D 3.5 repackaged. This is repackaged, drama-free, 5E.

While Level Up has the depth and options I crave, ToV is the accessible version of 5E. It works with my third-party books and is not changing. The fact that it isn't that different is its strength; you don't need to learn much here to play. The look and feel of the game is slightly newer, but it nods to the classic styles. It doesn't look silly or too modern, and have Concord-style art in there to distract you and take you out of the world.

I don't want the modern world.

I want the world I make to be the one that I imagine.

You also get a clean start, and you don't have to port in 10 years of legacy 5E books - just your third-party books that you love. I am not sorting through endless options on a website. I can play with the core books and have fun. The game is less about optimization and min-maxing and more about the adventure. More about the characters. More about the story.

This is why I like OSR games; there aren't many rules to get between you and the story. Granted, this is a 5E framework, but there are far fewer rules and options to worry about here than in 2024 D&D or Level Up. I love Level Up, but when I want "SRD 5E" - ToV is my game.

My mind is free.

I have a core set of books again with a unified set of rules.

Mail Room: Esper Genesis Master Technician's Guide

What in the...?

I pre-ordered this about two years ago and gave up hope a year ago. Then, I forgot about it and felt I would never have the third hardcover for this very "Mass Effect"-inspired 5E sci-fi game.

And to my excitement, it's finally here.

I thought this was the A5E sci-fi book when I opened the box.

I like EG. It is a stand-alone 5E sci-fi game with plenty of space monsters, evil humanoid aliens, and high-tech action to fill an entire space gaming campaign. It feels like a 5E Mass Effect RPG and captures the no-magic sci-fi aesthetic nicely. There are "esper and cyber" powers to fill the mystical power gap, so this isn't a psi-only game like Traveller, where most characters are average humans without special glowing bolts coming out of their hands and eyes.

This is a happy surprise alongside a whole box-load of Traveller books I am engaged with.

I like this game and setting more than Starfinder since it isn't "fantasy in space." This game isn't as "trader and commerce" focused as Traveller, so if you want to earn credits running cargoes, this isn't your game. This is more of a "blast things with star powers in a space dungeon" sort of science-fantasy game.

Oh, and all the art here looks pre-AI, which is incredible. I have to love that pre-AI art. I experimented a few times with AI art but found it hollow and lacking in soul. As a result, I no longer use it here and see huge downsides (and potential ethical issues). The art here is consistent, looks fantastic, and blows my mind.

Damage relies on you making more attacks and your class abilities making the weapons more deadly, which is nice (and mirrors 5E's design). Starfinder's fault is its "leveled gear," where you can find a level 20 laser pistol and one-shot anything in sight. The whole system is too "console RPG" for me and feels like a video game.

Again, I am shocked this was in the mail today.

This game has a future, which makes me happy.

YouTube: One Night with Level Up Advanced 5e

A great video on A5E today and some excellent points on how skills work in A5E versus D&D. A5E gets it right, while D&D gets it wrong and reinforces that with the official character sheet.

Excellent stuff and this is why A5E is my 5E of choice.

Mongoose Traveller 1E vs. 2E

When I first delved into Mongoose Traveller 1E, I was struck by the sense of community it fostered. The game felt much more 'out there' with the 1E Psionics book, which mentions time travel. There were even fantasy crossover elements in the tables. It was as if the game was searching for what Traveller meant to us, the community, and a larger market of sci-fi enthusiasts. It was a shared journey, a collective exploration of the unknown.

Despite that, the game didn't know what it wanted to be.

The second edition of Mongoose Traveller focuses more on the Imperium setting, and the 2022 revision further emphasizes this point. It turns the game into a semi-generic sci-fi setting that can absorb many sci-fi concepts. Your Imperium is yours, and you can take it however you want. Stick to canon or have your custom races and civilizations appear. This adaptability means your ideas are welcomed and can become integral to the game.

It feels much more accessible than Star Wars and Star Trek, and those games are dying a "heat death" of too much lore as it is and no freedom for your own ideas. You can never introduce your race in Star Wars without people looking at you funny and saying, "Well, then, why didn't you just use X?"

Traveller has room. And every universe is a blank slate set to a default starting point. You can even create your own sector maps and ignore canon. I feel freer in Traveller than in the licensed settings of Star Trek or Star Wars. Part of me feels I can't tell "my stories" in those universes, and they eventually devolve into guest-star appearances of licensed characters.

1E felt more like a generic sci-fi game wearing a Traveller skin. That edition had the rules, but it felt strangely divorced from the setting, and 1001 ideas were in there that were searching for a campaign setting. It is still very inspirational for a sci-fi game, trying to cover many genres and do everything.

I have the 1E pocket rulebook, and the art is something out of a cyberpunk or Aeon Flux game.

Now, Cepheus Engine drives all the 2d6 experimental concepts with community-made games, and Mongoose 2E returns to the game's roots. If you want generic sci-fi, any community-developed Cepheus Engine games are great. What I like about them is "no Imperium included." I don't need the battle-dress armor and scout couriers if I try to do a "Buck Rogers" setting. That "clean room" aspect is what I want.

If I am playing in the Imperium setting, it is Traveller all the way. I like the 2E setting; the Imperium feels like a "Greyhawk" setting, gigantic, with room for everything, and most of its ideas will be your creations. You can fall back on "what is there" if you have no ideas, but this is space, and space is infinite.

The setting has tentpole adventures and campaigns, just like AD&D, but you are free to ignore those.

Want to take a slice of the world and make it yours? That's fine. Import Star Frontiers and use a 2d6 ruleset (Cepheus Deluxe EE works best for this). If you want, put it in the Foreven sector. 2E is remarkably malleable, but it avoids over-the-top and crazy.

The 1E universe had demons and angels running around in it. Time travel. All sorts of crazy.

The 2E universe doesn't - but leaves it up to you.

The Potterization of D&D

They are modern people in a fantasy world, a delightful contrast that never fails to amuse!

The 2024 D&D PHB art has sparked a debate, with some labeling it as 'corporate stock photos' masquerading as fantasy art. The scenes depict groups of modern-looking, happy people enjoying 2024 fast food. It's a stark contrast to the traditional fantasy settings we're used to. But this modern twist on D&D has certainly got us all thinking about the influence of contemporary culture on our beloved fantasy genres.

We're witnessing a significant shift in audience preferences. In this day and age, Harry Potter captivates the younger generation, not the likes of Lord of the Rings, Leiber, Howard, Moorcock, Conan, or any of the Appendix N greats. For 95% of kids today, 'fantasy' is synonymous with 'self-insert YA stories of modern folks in fantasy settings.' This change is shaping the future of fantasy literature.

Look at that art again.

Let that sink in.

Harry Potter killed D&D as we knew it.

In fact, D&D feels like it is trying to "take that mantle" by adopting that theme and art style as its default "look and feel" of the game and its universes. D&D is trying to displace Potter as the next generation's "bible of self-identity." In some ways, this form of Potterism is a religion that D&D is fighting to supplant. If they ever remake Dark Sun, it will be happy Harry Potter YA characters in a Disney theme park sanitized version of the setting, eating fast food from cross-promoted chains like Chipotle.

Remember, the faith has to be safe enough for Wall Street to cross-promote in.

Back in the 1980s, during the Satanic Panic, there used to be hyper-religious types who preached against the dangers of "too much fantasy." It wasn't really D&D's occult roots that bothered them but about tying your identity too much to a fantasy that you could never attain and would spend your entire adult life chasing and living an unfulfilled life with no faith, children, legacy, and you would forever be the tool of crass manipulators trying to "sell you the dream again."

You can trace it back to 9/11 and a generation of parents trying to hide their children from a world nobody wanted to live in. Harry Potter became the "safe place" for parents to shove their kids into. D&D adopted some of these "safe space" concepts, such as the world not being too deadly, giving everyone too much power, and deemphasizing things that are not a part of the world of children (money, sex, politics, nations, laws, war, death, and responsibility). Classic games will dip into that "adult world" where the Potter reality shies away from them.

I come from the 1980s and have a healthy respect for the line between fantasy and reality. I can play these games safely and endlessly follow the advice the books gave us in the 1980s. I can mix in mature themes without needing handrails and safety tools. The Gen-X safety tool?

You are not your character and never put yourself in the game.

I look at games like Dungeon Crawl Classics, and there is a general love and appreciation for pre-Harry Potter fantasy works. You even see that "never put yourself in the game" theme here with funnels and random generation concepts. For me, DCC has replaced D&D, and I hope they will always retain their canonization of the classic writers and authors.

Those classic works are the heart of the hobby and genre.

Some people say D&D died when Wizards took over, but I am hesitant to say that these days, especially not in this light. D&D during the Harry Potter years was trying to hold on to that classic experience and traditional influence. But D&D could not keep the tidal wave of "never die YA fantasy fiction" out for very long, and in 5E, "classic D&D" eventually succumbed and left us forever in 5.5E.

Do not just look at today to find out where these pictures of "modern people in a fantasy setting" came from. It is easy to blame what we see as "the last outrage" as the cause. It never is.

Trees grow from seedlings and have roots that run deep.

Look at the books that today's generation grew up with.

Cepheus Deluxe (EE) vs. Traveller, part 2

Cepheus Deluxe (Expanded Edition) is a modernized pulp sci-fi version of the Traveller game. With their stamina and lifeblood system, the combat rules allow characters to shrug off minor wounds, adding a sense of resilience and tension to the game. On the other hand, the talent system brings characters to life with its cinematic feeling, offering a deeper level of customization and engagement.

Cepheus Deluxe (Expanded Edition) is a versatile powerhouse, designed to seamlessly fit into any generic sci-fi setting. This adaptability empowers you to create your own unique universe, play established IPs, or even convert other sci-fi settings. It's a game engine that can fuel a 2d6-based Star Frontiers conversion or a hybrid mix of Star Frontiers, Space Opera, and Traveller, giving you the creative freedom to craft the sci-fi experience you desire.

Cepheus also does Star Wars, Star Trek, and other IPs just fine as a rules system. The pulp additions to characters and combat ensure you get that tension and danger in combat while brushing off light wounds and not needing medical attention for minor wounds and punches to the face. In Traveller, all wounds require medical attention. In Cepheus, there are some you can just shake off and get on with the action. The talent system helps give characters a "larger than life" feeling and allows for deeper specializations.

To me, Traveller has moved out of the "generic sci-fi game" space (which Mongoose Traveller 1E was in) and has become a very strong setting-based game for the mind-blowing Imperium setting. This version embraces the setting and merges the rules with it, just like Runequest 7th does, and gives you a great starting point for any sci-fi campaign. The key word here is starting point since the universe is designed in that Harnquest-style "one starting point" that you can take in any direction and then reset for your next campaign.

Want to do sort of a "space alien" game? Do that in one campaign, then wipe the slate clean the next. Time travel? It is not canon, but it is sci-fi, but those stories can be told here. When the campaign is done, the universe resets to "year zero," and you have a fresh slate for the next story. Time travel and space monsters may not exist in future games, but every playthrough is unique, and you make the universe "yours" every time you play it. Dimensional travel and magic? Fine, it is in your current game.

I love these "single starting point" games far more than the "constant canon" games where new metaplots, lore, and characters are added to the world with every book - like the old Forgotten Realms was in the 1990s. You would make one unused part of the world your own, and a novel would come in and overwrite everything. Players will go there and expect to see "the novel stuff" like tourists; your contributions mean little and are marginalized.

Runequest is done the same way, just like Call of Cthulhu - you get the campaign world set as the single starting point, and any direction you take from it is excellent. This is the only way to do deep game worlds these days since updating the universe for new events invalidates old books, steps on player contributions, and creates a mess of lore and dependencies, where X had to happen for Y, and all of a sudden you need to play at the "tail end" of history to have any fun.

Cepheus does generic sci-fi the best. It is free from the iconic Traveller ships and lets you create your own without scout couriers flying around reminding you that you are in "not Traveller" again. The pulp- elements create a high-action sci-fi experience, and it does a 2d6 experience for these genres just about the best. Traveller is a more realistic game.

What I love about Traveller is being able to pick any map and any star and drill down into it to read about "what is there" and dream of all the adventures that can occur there. I can't do that in D&D. I get a greater sense of wonder about a sci-fi universe where characters are relatively ordinary and discover the extraordinary than I do the "high magic Avengers" of most fantasy gaming these days. I can put an unexplained phenomenon in Traveller, and players will ask, "What is that?"

In D&D, players know the page number of what just happened.

Magic is no longer magic if it is pedestrianized.

D&D magic is just "power"—not magic. There is a massive difference between being amazed by what a stage magician does, watching the same thing, and "knowing the trick." Magic assumes wonder, not knowing how it happened, and feeling that sense of shock and amazement at something happening before your eyes that you can't explain.

The same is true for Traveller. I can set up an anomaly in which a ship "teleports" between stars using some unknown drive, and the players race around trying to find where it goes next and what it shall do. That drive isn't in the rules or the books, it is in my imagination. The players will likely only partially understand it, only the parts they need to give them an edge. I will never need to write a "technical manual" explaining how it works. Players will never be able to "replicate it" by gaining access to "high-level engineering powers."

The ship will likely never appear in another campaign. This is it. If it gets destroyed, that is the end. It is not in the "Mega Tech Guide" book. The players will never know anything else about it, its origin, or its purpose. There is no page in a book you can flip to for an answer.

It is what it is, the unexplained.

And we need space for that in our games and our imaginations.