After the debacle that was the unleashing of the new Dungeons and Dragons content licensing system a lot of independent game companies are jumping in to put out their own game systems. The latest is Kobold press who is currently running a kickstarter for Tales of the Valiant, a system based on the fifth edition of D+D, which greatly expands the options. We got a chance to check out a preview of it and I say WOTC might need to be worried.
The rules allow for all the basic options and can be used readily easily with any published 5E content. A few of my favorite ways that it adds to that is by changing how a lot of background options are able to be taken. When you roll for your attributes, you can add bonus to any stats of your choice regardless of your lineage. You can also pick a background that does not correspond to your lineage so if you want to have an orc that was raised in an elven city and knows sorcery, that is no problem. You also get to pick a talent (roughly comparable to feats) at first level making your character noteworthy from the beginning.
The magic system is also expanded allowing casters access to more spells and envisioning the levels as a concentric circle of power making casting more flexible. They also promise a larger group of lineages and classes to pick from when the core books come out in 2024. Plus, the works are licensed through creative commons allowing people to make adventures and supplements to support the work.
All in all, I have to say I am looking forward to checking out the full set when it is released.
The kickstarter grants you The Player’s Guide and the Monster Vault.
The Player’s Guide includes 13 base classes, lineages, and heritages from classic fantasy roleplaying, and all the rules you need to be a player or GM—all in one book.
The Monster Vault includes every dungeon-crawling and fire-belching fantasy creature you need to craft compelling fantasy encounters.