Beginner's Guide to Tales of the Valiant

Introduction

Tales of the Valiant is a tabletop roleplaying game from Kobold Press built on the open SRD 5.1 foundation. If you have played a 5e-compatible game, its d20 checks, six ability scores, and class progression will feel familiar. If you have not, the Player's Guide walks you through the same decisions in a clear order.

The game's distinctive pieces are its spell sources and circles, its lineage-and-heritage character choices, and Luck: a small resource that can change a check after the roll. This guide gives you the practical baseline for a first character and first session. Use the linked guides when you want class, spell, lineage, or heritage detail.

Coming from D&D 5e? Check out our full ToV vs. D&D 5e comparison — it covers every meaningful rules difference so you know exactly what changed and what carried over.

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What You Need to Play

The barrier to entry is lower than most people expect. Here's the full list:

• The Tales of the Valiant Player's Guide — One copy is enough for a whole table. Most groups pass it around or use a digital version.
• Dice — A full polyhedral set: d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, and d20. One set per player is ideal, but you can share.
• A Game Master (GM) — One player takes on the role of GM, running the world, portraying non-player characters, and adjudicating the rules.
• Players — Three to five is the sweet spot. Two works; six starts to feel slow.
• Character sheets — Printed or digital. The Player's Guide includes one at the back.
• Something to write with — Pencil works better than pen. You'll be erasing hit points constantly.

Optional but useful: battle maps, tokens or miniatures, and a virtual tabletop (VTT) if you're playing online. None of it is required. Some of the best sessions happen around a kitchen table with nothing but dice and imagination.

Optional sourcebooks can expand your choices, but they are not required for a first game. The Old Margreve is the most relevant add-on if your campaign is about deep forests, fey bargains, ancient nature spirits, hunting, or survival travel. If your GM allows it, the book adds player options marked in our guides as (The Old Margreve).

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The Core Mechanic

Almost every meaningful action in Tales of the Valiant resolves the same way:

Roll a d20 → Add your modifier → Compare to a Difficulty Class (DC)

If your total equals or exceeds the DC, you succeed. If it falls short, you fail. That's it. Everything else in the rulebook is a variation on that loop.

Modifiers come from two places: your ability score modifier and, when you're trained in a skill or task, your proficiency bonus (PB). At 1st level, your PB is +2. It grows with your character level — hitting +6 by 20th level.

Advantage and Disadvantage are the game's main dial for favorable or unfavorable conditions. When you have advantage, roll two d20s and take the higher result. When you have disadvantage, roll two and take the lower. Multiple sources of advantage don't stack — you always roll exactly two dice. And one source of each cancels out, leaving you with a standard single roll.

Difficulty Classes are set by the GM based on how hard a task is. Common benchmarks:

Combat works on the same d20 foundation: roll to hit (attack roll vs. Armor Class), roll damage, track hit points. Saves use the same mechanic — roll d20 + modifier against a DC set by the threat.

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Creating Your First Character

Character creation in ToV follows eight steps. The Player's Guide walks you through each one, and your GM should help on your first build. Here's what each step covers:

Step 1: Concept — What kind of person is your character? Don't stress this. Even a one-sentence idea ("a disgraced soldier who became a cleric") is enough to make decisions from.

Step 2: Choose a Class — Your class is your role in the party. It determines your hit points, what weapons and armor you can use, and your signature abilities. Pick what sounds fun.

Step 3: Determine Ability Scores — Six abilities define your character: Strength (physical power), Dexterity (agility and reflexes), Constitution (endurance), Intelligence (knowledge), Wisdom (intuition), and Charisma (force of personality). You assign scores using one of three methods:

• Rolling — Roll 4d6, drop the lowest, record the total. Do this six times and assign freely.
• Point-Buy — Start with 32 points and spend them according to a cost table (scores range from 8 to 18).
• Standard Array — Just assign 16, 14, 14, 13, 10, 8 wherever you want. Fast and balanced.

Step 4: Choose a Lineage — Your biological ancestry. Lineage sets your size, base movement speed, darkvision (if any), and innate physical traits. Options include dwarves, elves, humans, orcs, kobolds, beastkin, sydereans, and smallfolk. If your table uses The Old Margreve, you may also see Alseid (The Old Margreve), Bearfolk (The Old Margreve), Erina (The Old Margreve), and Piney (The Old Margreve).

Step 5: Choose a Heritage — Your cultural upbringing, layered on top of your lineage. A dwarven character raised in a cosmopolitan city plays differently from one raised in a fireforge enclave. Heritage adds skill proficiencies, languages, and social traits. The Old Margreve also adds forest-region options such as Delver (The Old Margreve), Forest Bastion (The Old Margreve), Hiveheim (The Old Margreve), Moonlit (The Old Margreve), and Old Ways (The Old Margreve).

Step 6: Choose a Background — What did your character do before they became an adventurer? Backgrounds like Scholar, Soldier, Courtier, and Criminal each provide skill proficiencies, a talent, and some starting equipment.

Step 7: Starting Equipment — Either take the default gear from your class and background, or roll for starting gold and buy your own. For a first character, just take the defaults.

Step 8: Fill In the Blanks — Calculate your hit points (class hit die + CON modifier), note your proficiency bonus, pick spells if you're a caster, and give your character a name.

That's a complete character. Your class progression tells you when to choose a subclass, so you do not need to solve every later-level decision before your first session.

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Choosing Your Class

The core Player's Guide has 13 classes. Player's Guide 2 adds Theurge, Vanguard, and Witch, for 16 classes in the full current guide library. Here is what each one does and who it suits:

Barbarian — You rage. While raging, you hit harder, take less damage, and shrug off pain that would drop anyone else. You'll love this if you want to wade into melee and feel unstoppable.

Bard — The party multiplier. You hand out Bardic Inspiration to boost allies, weave Arcane spells, and cover more skills than anyone else in the party. You'll love this if you want to make every person at the table better at what they do.

Cleric — A faithful caster who channels Divine power. You're the best healer in the game, but you're also a sturdy combatant who can wade into a fight when the situation calls for it. You'll love this if you want to keep the party alive while still mattering in combat.

Druid — A nature-attuned Primordial spellcaster who can shapeshift into beasts via Wild Shape. Exceptional in exploration and environmental encounters. You'll love this if nature magic and shapechanging sound more interesting than fireballs.

Fighter — The most reliable combat class in the game. You get the most attacks, the broadest weapon and armor access, and consistent damage every single round. You'll love this if you want to be effective right out of the gate without learning a complex system.

Mechanist — An engineer who crafts arcane constructs and mystic devices. A unique class that rewards creative problem-solving. You'll love this if you want to play a mad inventor who brings gadgets and constructs to every problem.

Monk — A martial artist who channels mystical energy into unarmed strikes and movement. Fast, mobile, and built around a resource called ki. You'll love this if you want to move like water and punch like a freight train.

Paladin — A holy warrior who channels Divine power into devastating smites and strong defensive auras. One of the most durable classes in the game. You'll love this if you want to be a tank who also hits hard and has an oath that shapes your story.

Ranger — A survivalist who draws on Primordial magic to track, hunt, and outlast. Strong in exploration and versatile in combat. You'll love this if you want a self-sufficient outdoors expert who knows every terrain and enemy type.

Rogue — The precision striker. Sneak Attack lets you deal burst damage in the right conditions, and Expertise makes you the best skill user at the table when you focus in. You'll love this if you want to be the clever one — the character who sees the angle everyone else missed.

Sorcerer — Raw Arcane power from within. Fewer spells than a wizard, but Metamagic lets you bend and reshape them in ways no other caster can. You'll love this if you want to feel like magic runs through your blood, not your books.

Theurge — A Player's Guide 2 scholar who combines Arcane and Divine magic through a libram. You'll love this if you want a prepared caster with two source lists and do not mind careful spell management.

Vanguard — A Player's Guide 2 martial leader who coordinates allies and controls the battlefield. You'll love this if you want armor, tactical choices, and a party-facing turn.

Warlock — A Wyrd-source caster who made a deal with something powerful. Fewer spell slots, but you recover them on a short rest — so you cast more often than any other spellcaster. You'll love this if you want a caster with a compelling patron, a dark aesthetic, and a sustainable resource loop.

Witch — A Player's Guide 2 Wyrd caster who uses Hexes and rituals to control a fight. You'll love this if you want a spellcaster whose decisions reward timing and setup.

Wizard — The broadest magical toolkit in the game. You prepare spells from a spellbook and get access to more Arcane spells than any other class. You'll love this if you want to solve every problem with the exactly right spell and have an answer for everything.

Browse the full class guides hub for deep dives on every class.

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Choosing Your Lineage & Heritage

Most RPGs handle ancestry as a single choice. Tales of the Valiant splits it into two: lineage and heritage.

Lineage is your biology — the physical traits you were born with. It sets your size, speed, and innate abilities like darkvision or natural armor. ToV lineages include Beastkin, Dwarf, Elf, Human, Kobold, Orc, Syderean, and Smallfolk.

Heritage is your upbringing — the environment, culture, and community that shaped you. Even two dwarves can play very differently depending on whether one was raised in a Fireforge enclave (combat-focused, weapon traditions) versus a Cosmopolitan city (languages, social skills). Heritage options include Anointed, Cloud, Cosmopolitan, Cottage, Diaspora, Fireforge, Grove, Nomadic, Salvager, Slayer, Stone, Supplicant, Vexed, and Wildlands.

This two-layer system means your character's background isn't one box — it's an intersection. A Human raised in a Nomadic heritage plays completely differently from a Human raised in a Scholar-heavy Cosmopolitan setting. Mix and match freely; the game doesn't restrict lineage and heritage pairings.

Explore the full lineage guides hub to see all options in detail.

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Should Beginners Use The Old Margreve?

The Old Margreve is excellent, but it is not mandatory. Think of it as a focused expansion for campaigns where the forest is not just scenery. It adds player options for characters shaped by old woods, fey courts, predator traditions, hidden villages, insects, owls, roses, living trees, and wilderness magic.

For a first character, use The Old Margreve when one of these is true:

• Your GM says the campaign takes place in or near the Margreve Forest.
• You want a forest-native character instead of a generic adventurer who happens to travel through woods.
• You are playing a Druid, Ranger, Warlock, Bard, Cleric, Rogue, Sorcerer, or Wizard and want sourcebook subclasses or spells that match a hunting, fey, shadow, plant, or animal theme.
• Your table is comfortable adding optional sourcebook material during character creation.

For brand-new players, the cleanest Old Margreve additions are:

The more advanced Old Margreve material is still good, but better after a few sessions. Spells like Looping Trail (The Old Margreve), Killing Fields (The Old Margreve), Storm of Wings (The Old Margreve), Spy My Shadow (The Old Margreve), and Forest Sanctuary (The Old Margreve) shine when you understand positioning, travel, scouting, and campaign-scale consequences.

Hot Take: The Old Margreve is better as a second-session expansion than a session-zero requirement. Let beginners learn the core sheet first, then offer the forest book once they know whether they care more about combat, exploration, spell tricks, or character flavor.

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Understanding Spellcasting

This section is for players who want to play a spellcasting class. If you're going Fighter, Barbarian, or another martial class, feel free to skip ahead.

The biggest structural difference between ToV and 5e spellcasting is spell sources. Instead of one undifferentiated "magic," spells in ToV belong to one of four source lists:

Your class determines which source list you draw from, and you can only access spells from your source (with some exceptions like the Bard's cross-list picks and Magical Secrets).

Spell Circles replace "spell levels." Circle 1 is the most basic, Circle 9 is the most powerful. The term is functionally identical to what you might know as "spell levels" — just a different name.

Spell Slots are expended to cast spells. Ordinary spell slots return after a long rest, though individual class features can use different recovery rules. Higher-circle slots can power lower-circle spells at enhanced effect when the spell says they can.

Cantrips are free spells — no slot required, unlimited use. Every spellcasting class gets them.

Rituals are spells that take at least 10 minutes to cast but don't consume a spell slot. Excellent for utility outside of combat. ToV decouples rituals from your spell count entirely — your known rituals are tracked separately.

For deep dives on specific spell lists and optimization, visit the spell guides hub.

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Your First Session

Here's what to expect when you sit down to play for the first time.

Before Combat

Most of the session will be roleplay and exploration. Your GM describes a scene; you say what your character does. You don't need to talk in a funny voice (though you can). You just need to engage: ask questions, make decisions, and stay curious about the world.

When the GM calls for a check, they'll name the ability and set a DC. You roll d20, add the relevant modifier, and see what happens. That's the whole engine.

Combat Flow

When a fight breaks out, the game shifts to a structured sequence:

1. Initiative — Everyone rolls d20 + DEX modifier. Higher results go first. The GM rolls for enemies.
2. Turns — On your turn, you have a Movement (up to your speed in feet), an Action (attack, cast a spell, dash, help an ally), a Bonus Action (only if a feature gives you one), and a Reaction (once per round, triggered by specific events, like casting Shield when an attack hits you).
3. Rounds — After everyone has taken a turn, a new round begins. Repeat until the encounter ends.

Key combat terms:

• Attack roll — d20 + ability modifier + PB vs. the target's Armor Class (AC)
• Saving throw — d20 + ability modifier (+ PB if proficient) vs. a DC set by the attacking effect
• Damage — Rolled separately after a hit lands; type depends on the weapon or spell

Resting

• Short rest — About an hour. Spend Hit Dice to recover hit points. Some class features recharge.
• Long rest — About 8 hours. Recover all hit points, all spell slots, and most class features.

Don't underestimate short rests. Warlocks, Monks, and some Fighter features are specifically built around them.

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Top Tips for New Players

1. Ask your GM before you roll. A lot of new players roll dice first, then say what they're doing. It should be the reverse. Describe the action first; the GM decides if a roll is needed and what ability applies.

2. Track your resources. Spell slots, Bardic Inspiration uses, Rage counts — these don't refresh automatically mid-encounter. A good habit: note what you used at the start of each turn so you never blow a resource you didn't have.

3. Think about the whole turn, not just damage. Helping an ally, moving into a useful position, or using a class feature can do more for the party than one large attack roll. Think about what your turn enables for everyone, not just for you.

4. Your character sheet is a menu, not a textbook. You don't need to memorize every feature before session one. Keep your sheet in front of you, read relevant bits when they come up, and learn as you play.

5. Fail forward. A failed roll doesn't mean "nothing happens." It means the situation got more complicated. Engage with failure creatively — it generates better stories than constant success.

6. Talk to your party between sessions. The best groups coordinate builds, decide who covers healing, and discuss what kind of game they want to play. Fifteen minutes of out-of-game conversation prevents hours of table confusion.

7. Don't wait to feel ready. There is no complete understanding of the rules that precedes your first game. Play is how you learn. Session one will be messy and that's exactly right.

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Where to Go Next

Organized by what you want to do:

Build your character:

• Class Guides Hub — Full optimization guides for all 13 classes
• Lineage Guides Hub — Every lineage and heritage analyzed

Learn spellcasting:

• Spell Guides Hub — Best spells by class, circle, and strategy

Understand how ToV differs from 5e:

• ToV vs. D&D 5e Comparison — Every mechanical difference explained

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Hot Take: The biggest mistake new players make isn't picking a suboptimal class or forgetting a rule — it's spending three hours agonizing over their first character. Your first character is a learning vehicle, not a monument. Pick the class that sounds the most fun to you right now, accept that you'll learn things mid-campaign that you wish you'd known earlier, and play anyway. The player who built the "wrong" character and showed up to session one will have more fun than the one who spent a month theorycrafting and never started. Start. Adjust as you go.