Tales of the Valiant Starter Set Review - The Perfect Start

Most roleplaying starter sets offer players, and those who run them, known as Game Masters or Dungeon Masters, an introduction to the system the starter set is for, with tips and tricks for playing and running games. Rarely do these sets start from the extreme basics for players or a group of players who are entirely new to the roleplaying experience, and this is where Steamforged Games and Kobold Press have stepped up and produced the Tales of the Valiant Starter Set. In this article, we'll have a look at who this set is for, what it contains, and what it's like.

While this is our first foray into Kobold Press' Tales of the Valiant system, we've been covering Steamforged Games' roleplaying boxed sets for a while, from the very first Epic Encounters boxed sets, up to the recent Local Legends and Palace of the Drow Queen.

For Starters!

As mentioned above, the Tales of the Valiant Starter Set takes you from zero understanding of rolepalying games, up to and through your first few adventures, building up your confidence as a player, or Games Master (depending on which role you see yourself playing), along with introducing you to the Tales of the Valiant system and setting.

This introductory journey takes place across 4 books that delightfully draw you in and explain step by step how to play. Most beginner roleplayers usually start their journey by joining a group with an experienced GM, who guides them through their first few adventures, but it's easy to forget how daunting it can be for a new player joining an established group, or take for granted with the abundance of digitals tool there are for running games now that it's not always possible or appealing for new players. But this boxed set allows a group of entirely new players to take the journey together, with the GM working through the books first before the players join in (this is also good practice for the person taking on the GM role, as they will always have to do preparation before running the adventure).

The first book in the box, Welcome to Roleplaying Games, is a primer for roleplaying games in general, taking players through the basics of terms, giving an example of a roleplaying game, and some great tips on how to be a good player and GM. Players then move on to the second book, Introductory Adventures, which takes a solo gamer through their first adventure, allowing the GM to play through an adventure, familiarise themselves with the introductory rules, and the flow of a game, before moving on to the 2 adventures they'll run for players.

While working through the Introductory Adventures, GMs have access to the Rules Reference Book, which acts like a mini Players Guide (a book you can pick up later to expand your games) and builds upon the details in clear terms, those introduced in the adventures, so if something comes up that players want to do, you can easily find the rule that covers it and continue the flow of the game. Finally, the Advanced Adventures book contains 2 further adventures that add extra elements the GM will need to manage and more advanced rules for the players.

Getting Into The Game

The books in the starter set are just part of the experience. The Tales of the Valiant Starter Set also includes other components to make your first games much easier. The set includes 4 pre-generated character sheets (5 if you include the one used for the solo adventure), with all the stats required to play them, and level them up after each of the adventures. 3 of these characters are actually available for free on the Kobold Press site (along with 3 others) and Cannit Cragwalker, the Beastkin, is brand new for this set.

These 4 characters offer a great introduction for first-time players and include a fighter, barbarian, wizard, and warlock, a nice balance of magic and combat prowess. For those who might have some experience with roleplaying, it's noticeably lacking a healer or a rogue, but this seems like a conscious choice because of the complexity of those types of characters (in play-style and motivations).

Each of the characters also has a miniature to use on the included game maps, of which there are 2 double-sided maps (1 for each adventure), a set of dice, and tokens for the monsters. It's all kept in a tidy, compact box that makes transporting it convenient. 

The Start Of The Beginning

The rules system that Tales of the Valinant uses is the Black Flag Roleplaying system, which works seamlessly with the Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition system. The starter set works as the perfect jumping on point for any roleplay system (although you may have to learn some new rules and mechanics for a different system), and I think it speaks volumes that SFG and Kobold Press haven't used this to push their own system. There's a leaflet for the 3 Tales of the Valiant books (Player's Guide, Game Master's Guide and Monster Vault) to show you where you can go next, but nothing is pushed on players. The adventure isn't left on a hook (although some continuation ideas are provided), but it feels like a standalone box, and a powerful one at that.

I really hope that this box is a huge success, and following SFG's Epic Encounters style boxes, we get adds ons for it with new characters and new adventures.

What Are Our Final Thoughts On The Tales Of The Valiant Starter Set?

The Tales of the Valiant Starter Set is the perfect combination of roleplaying introduction, great adventure (which we didn't go into too much detail on to avoid spoilers), and solid components, all in an awesome compact box. The set works extremely well for players who are brand new to roleplaying or those who want to try being a Game Master for the first time. If everyone in your group is super experienced, then it's still a nice set to play through, but the adventure might not be challenging for experienced players. I really hope SFG picks this up as part of their Epic Encounters style boxes and expands further.

The copy of the Tales of the Valiant Starter Set used to produce this guide was provided by Steamforged Games.