Kobold Press’s Project Black Flag was a response to the D&D OGL drama, and people rallied behind them to leave 5e, or at least reposition it. The publisher’s Black Flag game is Tales of the Valiant, and that’s on Kickstarter now (citing 5e).
The game offers advanced combat, social and exploration rules and is rapidly approaching 4,000 backers, taking it well through the $300,000 funding line. You can see progress on Kickstarter.
The Tales of the Valiant core rules attracted more than 10,000 backers and $1.15m in pledges.
In fact, both the Player’s Guide and the Monster Vault are currently available as pre-orders from Kobold and the alpha release on sale at DriveThruRPG.
For free, you can also download a preview of the Game Master’s Guide.
As the name makes clear, the GM’s Guide for Tales of the Valiant is there for the person running (or tempted to) the game.
Kobold Press has shared the tables of contents in their free sample, so we know it begins by setting out the tenets of the GM, then moving into acknowledging there are different playing styles and on to preparing for a game.
Tales of the Valiant then outlines tiers of play and flavours of fantasy so it can talk about adventures and campaigns. There’s a whole chapter on worldbuilding before the advanced combat rules are revealed.
The book’s second half has advanced rules for exploration and social encounters. Tales of the Valiant Game Master’s Guide finishes with adventuring options, tools for people who want to homebrew, random encounter tables and some inspiration.
Backers who support the project with $29 or more will get the Game Master’s Guide in PDF, plus the Adventure Open call and previews.
At $39, the JPG map pack for VTTs and printing is added. If the map packs are especially alluring, then the $55 tier of the Game Master’s Map Folio, JPG maps, and ongoing previews might tempt you.
The hardcover version appears in the reward pile for backers at $59, and while the maps aren’t included, the Adventure Open Call, PDF, and previews are.
There’s a limited edition that’s added at $79.
Once we hit $99, we’re adding the maps back into the hardcover options, with $139 for the limited edition and $256 for multiple copies.
Kobold Press is running the Kickstarter until February 16 and estimates delivery in September.
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