Tales of the Valiant
Tales of the Valiant (ToV) is the new core RPG from Kobold Press, publishers of such third party 5e compatible content as the various Tomes of Beasts, the Midgard world setting, the City and Town guidebook and so on.
It is designed to be fully compatible with 5e, using the same base system, such that any existing D&D 5e (or third party, such as that produced by Kobold Press) will be completely usable in a mix and match manner.
ToV is a complete system - no need for the PHB, DMG or MM - one core book provides everything needed to play, and a monster book gives you plenty of encounters and trouble to shoot.
So, why would I want this instead of D&D?
It's a bit different.
The Kobold Press products have typically had a little more bite to them than regular D&D. In fact, very much in line with what the revised/updated 2024 D&D release is looking like.
There are a few differences in extra rules - Luck points, for example - a replacement for inspiration. But if you wanted to, you could equally use inspiration as is currently written in the 2014 D&D rules, or whatever it becomes in the 2024 release - your choice.
Darrell played both of the alpha adventures at GenCon last year and really enjoyed them, playing a ranger in one and a druid in the other. Both felt different in play from existing 5e classes, but not so unfamiliar that it was difficult to understand or play at the table.
Does it make my existing 5e content redundant?
No, absolutely not.
It will be possible to play a game using a mixture of current (2014) D&D, the new (2024) D&D, and ToV characters. A small amount of tweaking may need to be done to convert existing content to ToV, but that's going to be the case with the 2024 ruleset anyway.
Nothing you currently own or that exists for 5e will be unusable.
Am I forced to use Midgard, the Kobold Press game world setting?
No.
Deliberately so, Midgard is but one possible game world, linked by the Labyrinth, a maze of portals between worlds. All other worlds are possible as well, by means of this connection.
Want to play in the Forgotten Realms? No problem. Spelljammer? Ravenloft? Your own homebrew worlds? All will work just fine - ToV is setting agnostic.
What's Black Flag roleplaying?
Black Flag was originally the internal code name for the development version of Tales of the Valiant, but has now become the name for both ToV and future game systems to come. There is a Black Flag SRD available under the ORC (Open RPG Creative) License.
Kobold Press D&D 5th Edition Campaign Builder: Castles and Crowns Folio Tales of the Valiant (ToV) GM screen Tales of the Valiant (ToV) Monster Vault Tales of the Valiant (ToV) Players Guide Tales of the Valiant (ToV) Slipcase Gift Set