Today, we have an oldie but goodie video, especially for those interested in the game and deciding whether they want to jump in. Please watch the video all the way through, and don't forget to like and subscribe! This is another of my "best of the best" channels, and the coverage of various games is always a welcome sight.
This is the best video for explaining what the game is and isn't, and presents everything in a positive, fun, and informative light. This is top-quality work, and hugely helpful for new players and those interested.
One he hits on is "Tales of the Valiant is not a setting." This is why I love the game: it's setting neutral 5E, all the way down to the planes and metaverse structure. I am not tied to the Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, the Great Wheel, all the planes of existence, all the planar product identity, the MtG imported fluff, the cartoon references for toy sales, and all the tie-ins and nostalgia baiting.
A clean-room fantasy 5E without Wizards is precisely what I want.
There are times when I feel obligated to play in the official worlds, and I get the feeling that "my ideas are not welcome" in D&D unless they fit into the established framework of the product identity. I can't come up with a world that changes too much, alters the structure of the planes, or even limits what classes and linages are available. I must adhere to the Wizards' standard set of everything, and my ideas must align with theirs.
This is also why ToV is so much better for indie settings like Lost Lands. There is no "Tenser the Wizard" and no "Tenser's Floating Disc" to remind players that "we are not in an official setting, but his name is still here." There are no reminders stuck in here to pull people out of the world and the immersion I want to create. A version of 5E with all the product identity stripped out is the best "neutral base" of a system you can use for anything.
And Wizards is strip-mining and ruining its classic settings, along with leaving them unsupported. Greyhawk does not need to be modernized, and if you do, you ruin it. The Forgotten Realms were pronounced dead back in D&D 4E after they collapsed the Underdark, and with the newest changes, it feels too much like Baldur's Gate 3, a fantastic game, but that is not the Realms I grew up with.
Tales of the Valiant feels like a generic game where you can do anything, but it remains true to its 5E core.
Most importantly, my ideas come first.
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