Or is This the Future?

First Entry in a New Era in FRP Gaming.
Tales of the Valiant - Preview is not a complete game. It's a teaser and hopefully a promise of (good) things to come. One of the effects of poor management in an open market is an opportunity then exists for new producers to offer something better and the consumer ultimately benefits. (At least that is what I learned in college economics.) The summer heat has begun here in North America, and with it we have the first release in a crop of new FRP titles that have come about in response to, well, lets just move along to my thoughts on "Valiant".

Tales of the Valiant began life as a Kobold Press response to the OGL mess announcement of their "Project Blackflag". Kobold Press has previously partnered with other publishers and I have purchased several of their products written for various systems that all contain the iconic image of a reptilian caster, the "kobold" trademark. As far as independent publishers go, I rank Kobold Press among the top tier. The quality of their writing, their artwork and the originality of their creative ideas all impress me. And I generally enjoy the theme, tone and feeling of their setting materials. So Project Blackflag had my attention from the start.

At some point, Kobold Press dubbed their new core FRP system "Tales of the Valiant". What has been recently released as a free 63 page digital document contains the results of the "playtest" releases and is I believe beyond the rough draft stage, but it is not a finished or complete product. (The full release is being crowdfunded at the time of my writing this post.)

Tales of the Valiant is being built upon the back of a very popular SRD, so it is not entirely reinventing the proverbial wheel. But perhaps Kolbold Press will round off enough of the rough edges to make "Tales..." feel like an improvement and fun (mostly) new system.

What we get in the Preview document are the character creation materials to generate the four classic PC classes, Cleric, Fighter, Rogue and Wizard - all the classes are familiar to a large degree, but the "Valiant" Fighter looks to be a much needed improvement over the SRD version. For starters, our new Fighter has "Martial Action" at 1st level which allows for some round-by-round choice among decent combat abilities including the use of the bonus action to "Aim" your next missile shot, or raise your "Guard" while wielding a shield, and several other options. It's always nice to have tactical decisions to make as a player and I have found that the Fighter class has been a bit lackluster in recent years.

In addition to the four standard classes in the Preview we get a selection of lineages, dwarf, elf, human and the new "beastkin". If you fancy a PC with wings, horns or a tail, the beastkin covers all such features found in the animal kingdom under one PC lineage. Heritage is also included as a separate, but complementary, aspect of character creation along with lineage. For example, the cloud heritage goes nicely with the avian version of the beastkin lineage, but it can also be combined with the elf or human or dwarf lineage. You can choose.

Add Background, Talent and Luck and you round out your character in preparation for some tabletop heroics. Following recent trends in the hobby, Tales of the Valiant PCs begin play already feeling much like a "Valiant" hero. The Preview gives us enough information to generate the PC and also contains a handful of spell descriptions and a smattering of monsters, just enough in total to give us a taste for what the future shall bring when we have a full core rule book and monster book.

The Preview contains no combat mechanics and honestly they aren't essential if we just want to see how the new character classes work. Based on what Tales of the Valiant - Preview does contain, I feel it's a safe assumption the inclusion of the usual list of character statistics, proficiency bonus and the familiar list of spells are suggestive of the author(s) intent to stick fairly close to the source. If it remains consistent through to the final version, there may not even be much need for spelling out the system mechanics in the finished core product. We can always just use Tales of the Valiant as a variant of the familiar system and reference the Standard Reference Document for everything else.

So what do I think of Tales of the Valiant?

The intent is to craft a fresh take on the modern version of the game we all love, this is evident when I read the first few paragraphs wherein the author's "philosophy" of design, their expectations regarding the style of play and the role of the GM are all described. It looks like a natural evolution of a now familiar system that improves on some aspects (Fighter class), introduces some new concepts (spell circles) and yet remains familiar enough to not be off-putting to those who would like to keep playing the game they now love (without all the corporate messiness).

Is This the Future of My Hobby?

The Game I Want to Play.

One of the positive things on my horizon this year is my hope to be bringing the revised Swords & Wizardry rules to my game table. I have a familiarity with previous versions of S&W as a version of an older system and of course also with the original version of the rules upon which S&W has been based. The author, Matthew J. Finch, has been a great contributor to my enjoyment of our hobby in recent years. A quick list of Mr. Finch's work in the hobby includes OSRIC, S&W, Tome of Adventure Design and A Quick Primer for Old School Gaming. 

Mr. Finch has been a leader in promoting and supporting the hobby, and especially a classic style of play, for decades and has recently revised his most popular rule system, Swords & Wizardry. This revision came as a response to certain recent licensing issues and has involved a successful crowdfunding campaign. As a backer, I received a digital version of the new edition rules and I am quite impressed with the changes. 

A principal reason for my enthusiasm for using the new edition of S&W with a gaming group is some specific wording which I find reflects my comfort level with the game's underlying assumptions about how to approach the S&W game and the general use of its rules. This attitude can be summarized by looking at a statement I find at the beginning of its referee section.

As the Referee of a game of Swords & Wizardry, you do not have a character; instead, you are the player who is in charge of the game. You create the adventure, you run the monsters, and you are the one who decides the results of all the decisions made by the players for their characters. You don’t get to tell the players what the characters do — that is their part of the game — but you referee the results according to the rules, and you interpret what the rules mean.

This statement definitely sounds familiar (and comfortable) to me because it is the way I have always approached tabletop adventure (roleplaying) games and it is the way I would like to play them going forward. I am finding that this assumption is not universally acceptable and that not everyone that describes themselves as "FRP gamers" (or "roleplayers") are open to a referee with this approach to running the game.

Things evolve and I consider myself an advocate of progressive change. I wish to be on the record as fully supporting the variety of gaming styles and preferences that make up our tabletop gaming hobby today. Not every game is going to be a favorite for everyone and that is okay - it's actually more than okay, it's as it should be in my opinion.

My advice is for each of us to "play the game that you want to play, and play with people who are agreeable to that choice". And let's all try to be a littler nicer to each other. This is a fun hobby.

Stumbling in the Dark

Bring a Light!

As my infrequent attention to this blog can attest, I recently have found my interest in our tabletop gaming hobby at a nadir of sorts. In all probability this is a personal transition thing peculiar to myself alone, but with the possibility that others may be feeling the same malaise that I do, I will pursue sharing of my thoughts on the present somewhat troubling matter of our collective hobby future.

From where I sit and ponder, it appears that the TTRPG hobby in America has become divided against itself. The debate between fans of the Most Popular FRP game and the so-called "old school" players (some of whom enjoy the current version of said game) are an obvious example, but even among the divisions there are divisions. Old school gamers (such as myself) don't always agree on what constitutes an "old school" game! If I ask ten gamers what they think roleplaying is, I will likely get at least ten different answers. And if we dare discuss what the game SHOULD be, the discussion is likely to become heated.

One need not look far afield on the internet to see evidence of this trend. Venture into the friendly local game store and I am likely to encounter something less than friendly as the division plays out in real time. The art of "getting along with others" seems to be in steep decline.

Division within the tabletop gaming hobby is not a completely new phenomenon. I can recall during the early days of our hobby when the then new "fantasy games" started to invade gaming spaces previously devoted exclusively to historical themes. And yes, there were heated opinions expressed about that. It made for some unpleasantness at times and the fantasy folk were sometimes rudely treated, but believe it or not, those were more polite times and the rancor had its limits. I am starting to think that we may be returning to the days when gamers were a rare breed and we were on the look-out for anyone who might share our interests. 

I am also starting to wonder if the halcyon days of my little hobby interest being a part of the wider popular culture may be over. It is increasingly difficult finding like-minded gamers who readily embrace the games I would like to play and I am increasingly uninterested in playing the most popular game. The idea of returning to the Underground as part of a niche hobby is something I find ever more appealing.

All is not darkness, however.

Regardless of your FRP preference, there is light on the horizon. The corporate giant is marketing (and miss-stepping) in anticipation of the next big version of their IP/Brand/Lifestyle product dropping from the digital either sometime next year. The current popularity of the hobby and the proliferation of its points of entry made possible through a combination of  the easy accessibility of desktop publishing and the marketplace provided by various digital vendors and independent game producers has all meant there is no shortage of great "alternative" products from which to choose if "popularity" is not your idea of everything. 

I particularly look forward to what our hobby may soon produce including the revised versions of several favorite games scheduled to release later this year. Pathfinder 2, Swords & Wizardry, and Basic Fantasy are all undergoing revisions in light of the threat to the OGL and together with new FRP products like Shadowdark, I remain excited for our dungeon delving future. 

The onus is really on us as gamers to get along. We all need to step up our personal friendliness game and become the change we want to see. Maybe that means trying a little harder to tolerate our differences. Maybe it means agreeing to disagree, and much like the historical gamers and the fantasy gamers of the 1970s, we go our separate ways to our mutual satisfaction. A shared space is not always the right answer. Fences can make good neighbors.

I am starting to think that perhaps I am fine going back to a time when I am constantly vigilant for signs that I may be speaking to someone with whom I have a shared interest, and who may possibly be a like-minded (future) gamer. Sometimes we appreciate the things that require a little more effort.

2023

To be, or not to be. That is the question.

The current year has started with a bit of controversy in the TTRPG hobby. The corporate giant, exercising their considerable muscle and throwing their weight about, has somewhat carelessly stumbled, "apologized", stepped on sensitive toes, "made excuses", covered their electronic ears, "apologized" again and released something that was already in the public domain as a token of "good faith". All while not making any promise to "not do it all again". 

Concerning another popular IP tabletop game brand, also controlled by the same corporate giant, who accidentally shipped new product before its time and then sent "agents" to retrieve THEIR property - property that was legally purchased by and in possession of a private citizen and customer, the mess continues. All the while the corporate executives have been asking us to "get on board" with their 2024 release of their new and improved popular TTRPG.

Well, that is how I see the year to date. (Please accept my apologies for the cynicism and realize that I am no expert on anything, these are my opinions and that obviously others will see things differently.)

So you may ask, where is this rambling and generally negative post heading? Where is it heading and what does it all mean for me? That is precisely the question which I have struggled with for several weeks now and has prompted my recent silence. (Well that and my reluctance to join in on the current trend to "take sides" on virtually every issue, but here I am taking sides.)

To get to the point, vis-a-vis the tabletop gaming hobby - I find myself at a crossroads, if I may borrow the often overused travel metaphor. Putting aside the Corporate Giant's Tabletop Gaming issues, I confess that the World's Most Popular Role-Playing Game has not interested me in some time. Furthermore, the games that do interest me seem to be of little interest to the gaming groups that in recent months I have been a part of, and I wonder if I shouldn't "broaden my field" a bit. Or perhaps just find a new hobby.

Reading of both fiction and history has been a large part of my interests and forms the basis of the attraction I have had to the tabletop gaming hobby since the beginning. I generally enjoy reading - reading about games, about settings, about the history connected with the games and about gaming as a hobby. Simply put, I enjoy reading on a number of various topics, discussing those topics with others, and occasionally writing about some of my thoughts on same. 

Reading novels, history and game materials has recently filled much of the time I would have previously spent gaming at the table with friends. The drawbacks to reading is that it is largely a solitary activity, and is a mostly passive experience. In other words it is poorly suited for meeting my very human desire for socialization and for creative expression. 

I write this post today as an exercise in organizing my thoughts and putting them into a coherent statement with a hope that doing so will help me see my way forward. Also, I share these thoughts in some hope that by reading it, another person may find some benefit in knowing about the struggles I have, my attempts to deal with the current events and may find some relief in knowing that should they find themselves feeling something similar, they are not alone. 

Finally I suggest that Life can be viewed as a journey, and we don't always know what lies ahead. Finding out where our chosen road will lead is part of the fun.

Happy trails!