Tales of the Valiant: Monster Vault 2
The second Monster Vault release for Tales of the Valiant (and D&D 5E) is finally here. Those of you that are clinging to the 2014 D&D rules, or those of you who are actually playing Tales of the Valiant proper are probably asking, is there really anything of value in this book? It’s a fair question. For those of us who are sticking with 2014, there’s certainly no shortage of good monster books already. What could this new book possibly add that hasn’t already been seen before? Well, let’s find out.
To start, I want to specify that this book is actually a little more than just a collection of new monsters. The first two chapters of the book are dedicated to providing options and guidance to Game Masters. For example, the very first thing this book does is expand on the “Doom” rules that were introduced with the Tales of the Valiant system. From here, it also provides tools for generating memorable villains and even provides a number of nefarious factions and groups that can easily be inserted into an existing campaign. This first section of the book also provides guidance for modifying existing monsters so that you can scale their challenge rating. I found all of this to be quite well done and a very welcome addition.
The second section provides a number of sample monster templates. At first glance, these may look like simple monster entries. But in reality, these are meant to be used as a foundation for building your own new creatures. Each template includes a sample monster so that the GM can see an actual example of what a finished monster might look like when based off the provided template. Again, I found this to be a quite clever addition to the book.
This extra content is really good to see. I’m glad that Kobold Press is taking the time to provide this sort of stuff to players and GMs. Creating my own unique monsters is one thing that I personally struggle with as a GM. So, I took my time and studied the information provided here pretty closely. In the end, I found it to be very beneficial. I hope to see more content like this in future monster books.
Now we get to the real meat of the book, the bestiary. The first Monster Vault contained a very familiar set of beasts. This was to be expected, of course. After all, it was designed to be the core monster book for the Tales of the Valiant system. One thing that people complained about with the first Vault was the absence of several classic beasts. It’s important to remember that some of these classic D&D monsters had to be excluded for licensing reasons. Others didn’t make the cut simply due to space constraints. Thankfully, a few of those cut monsters actually find their way here (I’m look at you, Owlbear). When it comes to brand new monsters, I expected to see a lot of recycled stuff from Kobold Press’ previous bestiaries. But surprisingly, only one creature in the Monster Vault 2 has been seen before. The rest of them are completely new.
As you might expect, there are a number of new monster variants included here. There are new versions of angels, demons, dragons, giants, etc. This is pretty standard for any monster collection. But there’s also plenty of entirely new monster concepts to be found. One of my personal favorites from this book its the Kineater, a large reptilian beast with multiple “sandworm-like” heads. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen in a monster book before, and I can’t wait to spring it on my players. This book is packed full of unique one-off beasts like this.
If I’m being honest, some of the monsters in this book seem like duds at first glance. But, when I really dug into the details, I realized that when used under the right circumstances, the majority of them would actually make quite unforgettable encounters. This is a sign that Kobold Press put a lot of thought into this release.
If you’re fully on board with the Tales of the Valiant system, then this book is the perfect addition to your collection. But even if you’re still sticking with the 2014 5E rules, this book is fully compatible and certainly worth a look. I can’t wait to see what comes next.
