Today Kobold Press opened up the Kickstarter for thier Player’s Guide 2. While Kobold Press has already done a couple Kickstarters that are going to dramatically expand Tales of the Valiant when they come out later this year (Enter the Labyrinth - both a campaign book and a setting book; Monster Vault 2 - an expansion of their bestiary), Player’s Guide 2 is a huge expansion to the Tales of the Valiant ruleset. I, for one, am very excited about this update. Actually, I’m not the only one - at the time that I am writing this (end of the first day of the Kickstarter) there are 1461 backers that have pledged $114,000 against a $50k goal. This means after just about 8 hours they’ve almost reached 3/4 of their stretch goals.

The Adventure

As the crew sails towards the Astral plane they suddenly see tons of flowers in the water as well as lots of sea creatures. Thomas checks the flowers, but they are normal. (ie not magical) Suddenly the current seems to “grab” the ship and start pulling it to an island. The Captain has everyone head to various stations where they can help with navigation and they help avoid any damage to the ship. The current carries the ship far up the shore and it’s beached. Thomas attempts to push the ship, but it’s way too heavy and too far ashore.

The Adventure

The living star, which takes the shape of a turtle, is named Shelly by the crew. It becomes over-excited while playing with the crew and causes some of the wood on the ship to sprout leaves and branches and attracts the attention of a squid-like sea monster. After the heroes get rid of the sea monster, the Oahtu who joined the journey a while ago help repair the ship.

I will start off with the book review, followed by my thoughts on the adaptation. The adaptation part will have TONS of spoilers.

Book Review

Mickey7 by Edward Ashton

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

First off, the production values on the audiobook are great! The main narrator does the many voices very well, especially Mickey7 and Marshall. The female narrator mostly narrates for a computer system. Chats have radio static behind them so that you know they are chats and not the narrator speaking to someone in person.

Cold Iron Task by James J. Butcher

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This series has really grown on me. It helps that the characters within have grown and now have a relationship based on a respectful working relationship. This book seems to have addressed most of the loose ends from the first two books. You learn a lot more about The Huntsman and a bit of Grimsby’s backstory. Mostly it’s a pretty straightforward mystery. As with many mystery books I’ve read there are two simultaneous storylines that had me wondering when they would intersect. One of them is a heist, although it thankfully avoids most of the annoying tropes - especially the crew assembly. Most of the crew is already pre-assembled and there was just need for one more. Like any good mystery, I saw some of the twists coming (the author had laid the bread crumbs) and others were just beyond my reach, but not out of left field.

Suffer a Sea-Change by Seanan McGuire

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This novella picks up a little before the end of the previous book. It deals with the main new consequence of that book. Therefore we get to have lots of time with one of my favorite characters - The Sea Witch! McGuire does a good job alternating between the abstinence of the the main character and McGuire using the Sea Witch’s power and might to move the story along. Definitely one of my favorite novellas in this series.

Night and Silence by Seanan McGuire

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book seems to answer most of the leftover questions at this point in the series. It also continues to spiral out consequences from October’s actions. If McGuire has one consistent theme for this series it’s that even the heroes trying to do their best have consequences that echo out that aren’t always positive. It’s one of those things that is much easier to do with a long-running series. There have been a few books (especially in the last five years) that explore the afterlife of being The Hero. Some of them are funny, some are more serious, and some are cozy. But with a series we get to see things spiral out from the inciting incident. And some of these consequences spiral into other consequences causing further complications.

Thud! by Terry Pratchett

My rating: [4 of 5 stars][https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/160777971]

This is my second time reading this book

Although by this point in my first read-through I was already a fan of Sam Vimes, this second read-through is definitely cementing the idea. Most of these are essentially fantasy police procedurals and, although we have Colon and Nobby for humor, these are the stories I believe that Pratchett took most seriously. The plot are full of less silliness and have aged better on this second time around.

Back in October I made a post about the TTRPG kickstarters I’d backed. Here’s an update:

Backed in 2025

• Humblewood: Beyond the Canopy by Hit Point Press - Part 2 of the Humblewood story. My kids are very excited that this kickstarter is due to be fulfilled this year (for Digital items). While I’m glad we don’t have to wait until next year to play and while it means that maybe the USA tariff issues will be done by then, the fact that digital delivery is 6+ months after digital kept me from ordering the whole physical item she-bang.

It’s literally been years since I went into a Barnes and Noble. Ever since I went fully digital (or MOSTLY fully digital) with my books, I haven’t really had the occasion. But today we were in the vicinity of a B&N and the kids wanted to go inside. As I was wandering around I came to the Dungeons and Dragons table and happened to find a packet of Misfit dice. As you guys know, I have no further need of dice, but at $11 it was an easy impulse buy. I was actually really happy with the dice that came in the package.