Get a sneak peek into the secret origin of the vanguard class for Tales of the Valiant!

The highly anticipated Player’s Guide 2 Kickstarter campaign has launched and reached its funding goal in just 45 minutes!

As a preview of what’s to come, download a free PG2 Preview PDF. This document showcases a full table of contents, new lineages, a sneak preview of the new base-building rules, and the first four levels of the new Vanguard Class, crafted by designer Marc Radle.

Whether you’re a seasoned player or just beginning your adventure, this preview is a fantastic way to explore the mechanics and abilities of the vanguard, which is quickly becoming a fan favorite.

Kobold Press Art Director and the vanguard class designer, Marc Radle, shares the behind-the-scenes origin story of how Bannon Blackrose, the vanguard iconic, started as the unexpected Man of War.

“Kobold Press had been secretly working on what would become Project Black Flag for some time before the Great OGL Kerfuffle—that’s just when we finally announced it to the public. Shortly after the announcement, artist William O’Brien (a Kobold and fan favorite!) sent me a fantastic painting. We hadn’t commissioned him to do it, he was just so filled with emotion over the OGL situation and excitement over our Project Black Flag announcement that he felt inspired to paint it.

“He said we could do whatever we wanted with it. The piece was of a mighty armored warrior valiantly raising a tattered black flag. We loved the painting and were extremely touched by the gesture. We loved it so much, in fact, we paid William to use it on the cover of the game’s Alpha Preview PDF, as well as on shirts in our merch store.

Cut to a year or so later. We were working on material for Player’s Guide 2, and I was getting art briefs together for my vanguard class. As I thought about what our iconic vanguard should look like, my mind quickly went back to that black-flag-raising warrior, and I realized HE was our vanguard! It was one of those special moments of creative synchronicity when art and design influence each other unexpectedly.

A few months later, I was working with our amazing senior game designer Celeste Conowitch during the development phase for the vanguard. She suggested that the class could use one more cool ability.

I pondered for a while and then told Celeste that we had commissioned William O’Brien to do new iconic class art for the vanguard based on that original unsolicited art. He’s holding a black flag in the art, I said, “What about a class feature that actually uses that?”

It was a Eureka! moment for Celeste and me, and yet another case of creative synchronicity between art and design! Not only would the vanguard raise the black flag in the new art from O’Brien, the class would actually have a class feature that revolved around flags and war banners. There is even a War Banner class feature literally called Black Flag!”