Description
Where Did You Come From?
The world of Midgard boasts a plethora of diverse peoples and cultures. Bring your Tales of the Valiant game to Kobold Press’ original dark fantasy setting and start your journey with a character with both feet (or paws, hooves etc.) grounded in the world.
Join us in Midgard as a bearfolk, centaur, ravenfolk, and more! Flesh out your character with an array of heritages and backgrounds in this 16-page PDF. Inside you’ll find:
- 6 new lineages for any campaign.
- New heritages, including Zobecker and Vidim Perch, to give your character a Midgard touch.
- New backgrounds that help fill out your PC’s backstory.
Within the 10,000 worlds of the Labyrinth, there is only one Midgard. Start your adventure there with Midgard Lineages & Heritages!
Hamish Turnbull –
The heritages in this supplement will no doubt be indispensable to those roleplaying in Miðgarð, but since some of them are a bit Miðgarð-specific for those of us who play in homebrew settings, the lineages and backgrounds here will be the real stars of the show. And as we’ve come to expect from Kobold Press, the six lineages in this supplement do not disappoint.
I’ve been looking forward to finally getting Ratfolk, Ravenfolk, and Bearfolk lineages, and their traits are well evocative—I especially love the Ratfolk’s “Compress Skeleton” trait, which allows a ratfolk character to squeeze through any hole they can put their head through.
Ravenfolk have the “Mimicry” trait and advantage on saves against mind-reading. The Bearfolk lineage’s “Wild Heart” trait gives you and your allies advantage against being frightened, and the “Thick Coat” trait prevents hypothermia.
Centaurs are, well, centaurs. All their traits make perfect sense, and I much prefer how they’re handled in ToV over their 5e counterparts. They just feel a lot more… equine, you know?
Shadow Fey provide a great dark foil to the Bright Fey, with a “Fey Whim” trait that contrasts with the Bright Fey’s fascinating “Magical Honesty.”
I just love the new Trollkin lineage, with its “Regeneration” ability that lets you use hit dice as a bonus action—not to mention having 3 sub-lineages to choose from: Ogre, Troll, and Fey.
As I said before, some of the heritages are a little bit Miðgarð-specific, as is the Argent Rats Mercenary background. But the more setting-agnostic ones are well worth the few dollars for this PDF. That said, even something like Hiveheim isn’t hard to make use of in any setting.
Shadow Court is self-explanatory, and Rothenian can be used for any character who’s a steppe nomad. Tribe Keeper is perfect for any character raised in a tribal village, so if nothing else here interests you, I recommend this supplement just for that.
As for backgrounds, with the sole exception of Argent Rats Mercenary, they’re all perfectly applicable to any fantasy setting. Even if you’re in a homebrew setting like my group, Envoy of Winter (as an example) is perfect for anyone serving a Winter Fey court.
My newest player (who’s never played an RPG before but is a huge fan of the Skaven in Warhammer) was hooked as soon as he saw that ToV had a Ratfolk lineage, and he’s now playing a Ratfolk Cleric of Light. Great success.