Kobold Press CEO and Kobold-in-Chief, Wolfgang Baur, is here to give you some insight on the state of the industry!
There’s this wonderful flexibility to the word “compatible.” On one level, it’s clear as diamond: stuff that works with other stuff is compatible. Stuff that doesn’t align with other stuff is fine for hacking into place if you want, but it’s not compatible.
However, there’s a big “however.” As ever, and especially in roleplaying games, the devil is in the details. Is Pathfinder 2E compatible with Pathfinder 1E? Yes, if you work at it a little. Is D&D 2014 compatible with D&D 2024? Well yes, it is, to some degree.
Is Tales of the Valiant compatible with 5E D&D? Absolutely, 100%, because there’s proof of D&D 2014 and TOV being played literally on the same VTT platform, on a single map. One VTT with 5E characters and monsters, right next to Tales of the Valiant characters and monsters from the Black Flag Roleplaying core rules.
Two rules sets meant to work together—behold, 100% pure compatibility in action!
Talking ‘Bout My Generation
So what does this mean for the hobby? The reason many players keep an eye out for compatibility is because players often master a single, particular rules set as they enter the hobby. Once that master is achieved, they stick with it.
Historians and long-time followers of the tabletop field know that this comes in waves of popularity reflecting the strength of a particular rules set; the classic most-popular rules sets include AD&D in the 1980s, 3rd Edition D&D in the ‘00s, Pathfinder from 2009 to the mid-2010s, and (most of all) 5E D&D in the last decade since 2014. Some of the players who mastered those particular frameworks still don’t want to leave it. This is normal over gaming generations. This is how the field works.
Why are there waves like this? Why do some people stick with an existing framework when there’s a new and shiny thing? Some of it is the comfort and familiarity of a known ruleset. More concretely, there’s a financial and personal investment in books, time, and crafting a group and a campaign over months, years, or decades. It’s not surprising when people stick with what they know, even if it goes out of print. You can still find people playing AD&D, 3E, and Pathfinder 1E out there. The entire Old School Renaissance exists to support older rules sets. They’re playing what they love, and more power to them.
Kobold’s Place at the Table
What does this mean for Kobold Press? Well, the kobold bet with the Tales of the Valiant RPG is simple: people who don’t want to move to the D&D 2024 edition can continue to play with all their 5E D&D books. It’s worth noting here that this isn’t a matter of hostility or antagonism to D&D 2024 (it’s a new edition, not an enemy). The goal here is not to declare the new thing is bad or unwelcome (yes, we’ve played it). The goal here is to extend the functional, working life of 5E D&D, and to keep that community alive and thriving for years, possibly decades.
For example, right now ToV is keeping the 5E core rules set in print, at a time when D&D 2014 is going out of print. At the same time, ToV is also adding new dozens of new adventures and adventure paths, new setting expansions like The Old Margreve and wrap it all in the Labyrinth. Fifth Edition D&D players can even grab all new 5E-compatible monsters from Monster Vault 2, new player options from Book of Blades, or new lineages from the Labyrinth to their games.
My home table, and most of the Kobold team’s home tables, are filled with all the great options from Wizards of the Coast meshed seamlessly with brand-new Tales of the Valiant content. Yes, there’s a compatibility document for converting, say, a 5E ranger to a ToV ranger—but the whole point of compatibility makes that unnecessary.
Take a look at that conversion document. It’s all of 10 pages long. The tl;dr is “Swap Luck in for inspiration,” and you’re done. Or just keep using your 5E ranger sheet.
We’ve made it literally as easy as it can be to continue playing D&D 2014 using Tales of the Valiant rules—and continue to get new options, new creatures, and new adventures compatible with the 2014 ruleset. Senior designer Celeste Conowitch and her team have a lot to be proud of, because they updated terminology, added new expansions for rituals and reactions, and they tweaked the crustier bits of 2014, but Tales of the Valiant is also incredibly familiar. And that’s no accident.
Take a look at the Player’s Guide and you’ll feel right at home. Or keep your Player’s Handbook until such time as you want to roll up something new—and then find out why the ToV take is a bit flashier, and slightly upgunned if you happen to be a ranger.
But Will It Blend?
Which leaves us with the last hurdle of compatibility: can you still use WotC 5E material with ToV today? And the answer is: “Yes, of course! Run Tomb of Annihilation! Run Curse of Strahd! Run Ghosts of Saltmarsh or Scarlet Citadel with the Tales of the Valiant RPG. It all just works.”
Is that compatibility bridge enough to keep the 5E flame alive at game tables and conventions in the face of D&D 2024? I believe it does. And the Kobold team has shown that it absolutely can be done.
Join us in the well-made, well-tested, happily compatible 5E world!