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Kobold Press’ 5E Fantasy Game, ‘Tales of the Valiant’ Unveils New Goblins

3 Minute Read
Jan 29 2024
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Kobold Press’s take on “classic fantasy gaming,” Tales of the Valiant, unleashes new and improved goblins upon the 5E landscape.

Kobold Press has unveiled a look at things to come for Tales of the Valiant, the 5E fantasy rpg that launched under the pseudonym Project Black Flag. Born out of the OGL debacle, the game is a deeper iteration on the 5E mechanics, with more character options and feats and talents—all sorts of ways to further customize your heroic character.

Today, we get a glimpse of some of those levers in the form of the new goblin lineage for Tales of the Valiant. Goblins are one of the iconic weird little guys in fantasy RPGs, so this is a great jumping-off point.

The new goblin also gives a deeper glimpse at character creation in general. Let’s dive in.

Tales of the Valiant – Goblins on the Loose

First up, the overview of goblins in general. In the world of Tales of the Valiant, they’re adaptable, unruly, and come with a variety of traits. There’s a lot of the old familiar 5E stuff: goblins are Small, they have a base speed of 30 feet, and darkvision. Nothing groundbreaking, but we do get a glimpse of a new trait, goblin hardiness, which gives goblins temporary hit points after every long rest.

But where the rubber meets the proverbial road is in the Heritages. These fulfill the role that subraces once did in 5E. So instead of a wood elf or high elf, for instance, the Heritage reflects the places and cultures the character was raised among.

There are three heritages that are especially resonant with goblins: Aerobat, Shadowlands, and Wastelander. Each of these comes with its own wildly different set of proficiencies and abilities. Your choice can really change your character. Aerobats, for instance, all learn the feather fall spell and can cast it once per rest, no spell slot needed. They’re also proficient with navigator’s tools or air vehicles, proficient in acrobatics, and get a language.

Shadowlands characters have superior darkvision, gain advantage on Stealth checks, and have special advantage when dealing with fey creatures. Meanwhile Wastelanders are from the fantasy wastes, where mutations are the order of the day.

All things considered, this feels very much like 5th Edition. For better and worse. The options all feel about in line with what the 5E PHB has in mind for characters. Mostly fluff with the occasional ability that’s nothing super wild. No massive risks, but that also means no big flops either.

At any rate, you can check out the full write-up here!

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Tales from the Valiant releases later this year!


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Author: J.R. Zambrano
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