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Kobold Press
FormerlyOpen Design LLC
Company typePrivate
IndustryRole-playing games, magazines
Founded2006; 18 years ago (2006)
FounderWolfgang Baur
ProductsKobold Quarterly, Kobold Guides, Hoard of the Dragon Queen, The Rise of Tiamat
BrandsMidgard Campaign Setting
WebsiteOfficial website

Kobold Press, also known as Open Design, is an American game company that produces role-playing games and game supplements.

History

[edit]

Wolfgang Baur launched Open Design in 2006. Open Design funded projects using a crowdfunding model dubbed "patronage," with the resulting products available exclusively to backers through PDF releases and limited print runs. The first product published by Open Design was Steam & Brass (2006), a steampunk-themed adventure module using the d20 System. Steam & Brass was also the first product set in Baur's setting of Zobeck, later known as Midgard.[1]

In 2007, Baur launched Kobold Quarterly through Open Design, which filled in the gap in the role-playing industry left by the end of Paizo Publishing's run on the magazines Dragon and Dungeon. Unlike previous projects from the company, Kobold Quarterly was available to the public. Kobold Quarterly ran for 23 issues, with the final issue produced in October 2012.[1]

Open Design began to shift away from a focus on the "patronage" model in 2008, releasing titles such as the Zobeck Gazetteer (2008) to the public, and began publishing products entirely outside the "patronage" model in 2011, including a series of game design guidebooks. In 2012, Open Design began producing books under the imprint "Kobold Press"; by the end of the year, the company had ceased publishing as Open Design and exclusively published products as Kobold Press.[1]

In 2014, Wizards of the Coast commissioned Kobold Press to create the two adventures for the initial Tyranny of Dragons storyline for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, Hoard of the Dragon Queen (2014) and The Rise of Tiamat (2014).[2][3][4]

Leaked documents from Wizard of the Coast in January 2023 suggested that Wizards planned to change the Open Game License (OGL), developed for its Dungeons & Dragons products, to be more restrictive and potentially harm third-party content creators.[5][6] In response to the OGL leak, Paizo announced plans to develop a new license called the Open RPG Creative License (ORC) – this would be an open, perpetual, and irrevocable system-agnostic license stewarded by a nonprofit. Additional publishers, such as Kobold Press, will also be part of the ORC development process.[7][8] Polygon reported that "in the weeks that Hasbro spent publicly flailing, customers spent an extraordinary amount of money investing in its competition".[9] Kobold Press informed Polygon "that its sales quadrupled in January".[9]

Games and products

[edit]

As Open Design, the company's products included the magazine Kobold Quarterly; a line of game design guidebooks, such as The Kobold Guide to Board Game Design (2011) and The Complete Kobold Guide to Game Design (2012); and a number of "patronage"-funded adventures and sourcebooks, many of which were set in the Midgard setting.[1] The Midgard Campaign Setting was originally published in 2012.[10][11]

As Kobold Press, the company continues to produce game design guides and material for the Midgard setting, and has moved to Kickstarter to fund additional projects.[1] In 2017, the company ran a Kickstarter to update the Midgard setting with a new edition of the Midgard Campaign Setting (2018);[10][12] this book is "useable with any fantasy roleplaying system".[10] This Kickstarter also included supplements for specific role-playing game systems such as Midgard Player's Guide for Pathfinder RPG (2018) and Midgard Heroes Handbook for 5th Edition (2018).[10][13] The company has published other titles compatible with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game including Deep Magic, Southlands, and the Advanced Races Compendium.[14][15][16] Kobold Press has released many Midgard projects compatible with Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition such as Midgard Heroes for 5th Edition (2015)[17] and Midgard Worldbook for 5th Edition (2021).[18] Compatible adventures and supplements in the Midgard setting have also been released for 13th Age and the AGE System.[19]

On January 10, 2023, Kobold Press announced that it was developing an "available, open, and subscription-free"[20] ruleset for tabletop role-playing games codenamed Black Flag.[21][22][23] Christian Hoffer, for ComicBook.com, stated that "the announcement is a clear pushback against recent rumored changes to the Open Game License, which provides the framework for publishers such as Kobold Press to make material compatible with Dungeons & Dragons. Kobold Press is one of the largest publishers of third-party D&D 5E material" and "is one of the publishers likely to face the most challenges under the OGL 1.1".[21] In April 2023, Kobold Press announced that this project will be titled Tales of the Valiant and that the game will be built off the Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition portion now under the Creative Commons license. It will launch with a Kickstarter in May 2023 to crowdfund the Player's Guide sourcebook and the Monster Vault sourcebook.[24][25]

Awards and nominations

[edit]
Year Award Category Work Result Ref.
2012 Origins Awards Best Game-Related Publication The Kobold Guide to Board Game Design Won [26][27]
ENNIE Awards Best Adventure Streets of Zobeck Gold Award [28]
Best Art, Interior Book of Drakes Nominated
Best RPG Related Product Complete Kobold Guide to Game Design Gold Award
Best Writing Your Whispering Homonculous Nominated
2013 Best RPG Related Product Kobold Guide to Wordbuilding Gold Award [29]
Best Writing Gold Award
Best Setting Midgard Campaign Setting Nominated
Best Supplement Dark Roads & Golden Hells Nominated
2014 Best Aid/Accessory Kobold Guide to Magic Nominated [30]
Best Monster/Adversary Midgard Bestiary: 13th Age Roleplaying Game Compatible Edition Nominated
Judges' Spotlight Winners Deep Magic Won
2016 Best Cartography Southlands Campaign Setting Map Nominated [31]
Best Setting Southlands Campaign Setting Silver Award
2017 Best Aid/Accessory Kobold Guide to Plots & Campaigns Silver Award [32]
2019 Best Monster/Adversary Creature Codex for 5th Edition Silver Award [33]
Origins Awards Roleplaying Supplement Nominated [34]
Roleplaying Games Midgard Worldbook Nominated
2022 ENNIE Awards Best Cartography Scarlet Citadel Map Folio Nominated [35]
Judges' Spotlight Winners Kobold Guide to Monsters Won
2023 ENNIE Awards Best Cartography Campaign Builder: Cities & Towns Map Folio Nominated [36]
2024 ENNIE Awards Best RPG Related Product KOBOLD Guide to Roleplaying Silver Award [37]

Publications

[edit]

Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition

Midgard

  • Limited Edition Tales of the Old Margreve for 5th edition (2019)
  • Tales of the Old Margreve for 5th Edition (2019)
  • Necropolis of the Mailed Fist for 5th Edition (2019)
  • Enigma Lost in a Maze for 5th Edition (2019)
  • Courts of the Shadow Fey Handouts
  • Courts of the Shadow Fey for 5th Edition (Limited Edition) (2019)
  • Courts of the Shadow Fey for 5th Edition (2019)
  • 12 Peculiar Towers for 5th Edition (2018)
  • Midgard Sagas for 5th Edition (2018)
  • Zobeck Gazetteer for 5th Edition (2018)
  • Tomb of Mercy for 5th Edition (2018)
  • Midgard Worldbook for 5th Edition and PFRPG (2018)
  • Midgard Heroes Handbook for 5th Edition (2018)
  • Shadows of the Dusk Queen for 5th Edition (2018)
  • Eldritch Lairs for 5th Edition (2018)
  • Wrath of the River King (5th Edition) (2018)
  • Streets of Zobeck for 5th Edition (2017)
  • Demon Cults & Secret Societies for 5th Edition (2017)
  • Grimalkin (5th Edition) (2016)
  • Blood Vaults of Sister Alkava for 5th Edition (2016)
  • Unlikely Heroes for 5th Edition (2016)
  • Last Gasp (5th Edition) (2015)
  • Tomb of Tiberesh (5th Edition) (2015)
  • Cat & Mouse (5th Edition) (2015)
  • Midgard Heroes for 5th Edition (2015)
  • Southlands Heroes for 5th Edition (2015)

Other Sourcebooks & Adventures

  • Tome of Beasts II for 5th Edition (2020) - Upcoming
  • Deep Magic for 5th Edition: A Tome of New Spells & Arcana (2020) - Upcoming
  • Warlock Grimoire for 5th Edition (2019)
  • Creature Codex Lairs for 5th Edition (2018)
  • Creature Codex for 5th Edition (2018)
  • Prepared 2: A Dozen One-Shot Adventures for 5th Edition (2017)
  • Items Wondrous Strange PDF (5th Edition) (2017)
  • Demon Cults & Secret Societies for 5th Edition (2017)
  • Prepared! A Dozen Adventures for 5th Edition (2016)
  • Sanctuary of Belches for 5th Edition (2016)
  • Book of Lairs for 5th Edition (2016)
  • Tome of Beasts for 5th Edition (2016)

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e Appelcline, Shannon (2014). Designers & Dragons: The '00s. Evil Hat Productions. ISBN 9781613170878.
  2. ^ Grabianowski, Ed (31 May 2014). "The New D&D Adventures Will Include All the Dragons". io9. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  3. ^ Helton, Christopher (19 May 2014). "The Summer Blockbuster Of Tabletop RPGs: D&D Is Back". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  4. ^ Helton, Christopher (2 June 2014). "Talking D&D's Tyranny Of Dragons With Wolfgang Baur And Steve Winter". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  5. ^ "Dungeons & Dragons' New License Tightens Its Grip on Competition". Gizmodo. January 5, 2023. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
  6. ^ Winfrey, Ivy; Marquez Janse, Alejandra (February 4, 2023). "Fans said the future of 'Dungeons & Dragons' was at risk. So they went to battle". NPR. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
  7. ^ "Paizo Announces Its Own Gaming License Amid D&D OGL Controversy". Gizmodo. January 12, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  8. ^ "Paizo Addresses Pathfinder's Future, Announces New System-Neutral Open RPG License". ComicBook.com. January 12, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  9. ^ a b Hall, Charlie (February 6, 2023). "D&D's OGL controversy turbocharges sales of virtually every other tabletop RPG". Polygon. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
  10. ^ a b c d "Kobold Press Updates 'Midgard'". ICv2. January 26, 2017. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  11. ^ "A Dark and Glorious World: The New Midgard Campaign Setting – Black Gate". 17 November 2012.
  12. ^ Kobold Press [@KoboldPress] (November 20, 2017). "Our final Midgard pantheon preview (for now), and this vile deity is a change from the others. Who is this abominable god... or dare you speak its name? The updated Midgard Campaign setting for #dnd #dnd5e and #pathfinder releases in early 2018! [IMAGE]" (Tweet). Retrieved 2023-01-11 – via Twitter.
  13. ^ Kobold Press [@KoboldPress] (November 20, 2017). "The updated Midgard Campaign Setting for 5e will release early 2018" (Tweet). Retrieved 2023-01-11 – via Twitter.
  14. ^ Grabianowski, Ed (14 June 2013). "Deep Magic brings exotic spells and wizard schools to your RPG". io9. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  15. ^ Grabianowski, Ed (8 October 2014). "Crowdfund These Games: Kaiju, Castles, Glorantha, Southlands and More". io9. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  16. ^ Shearer, Stew (28 April 2015). "Kobold Press Aims to Expand Pathfinder With Advanced Races Compendium". The Escapist. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  17. ^ "Midgard Heroes for 5th Edition Now Available". Kobold Press (Press release). 2015-09-08. Retrieved 2023-01-11.
  18. ^ "Midgard Worldbook for 5th Edition". Kobold Press Store (Product page). Retrieved 2023-01-11.
  19. ^ "About Kobold Press". Kobold Press. Retrieved 2023-01-11. We've created Midgard adventures and supplements for a variety of systems, including 5th Edition, Pathfinder Roleplaying Game,13th Age Roleplaying Game, and the AGE System.
  20. ^ "Raising Our Flag". 10 January 2023. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  21. ^ a b "Kobold Press Announces Core Fantasy Ruleset Amid Dungeons & Dragons OGL Turmoil". ComicBook.com. January 10, 2023. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  22. ^ Law, Eric (2023-01-10). "Dungeons and Dragons Publisher Kobold Press Making New Roleplaying System". Game Rant. Retrieved 2023-01-11.
  23. ^ "DUNGEONS & DRAGONS TV Show Announced Amid Controversy". STARBURST Magazine. 2023-01-10. Retrieved 2023-01-11.
  24. ^ "Kobold Press Reveals Project: Black Flag's Official Title, Kickstarter Launch Window". ComicBook.com. April 8, 2023. Retrieved 2023-04-10.
  25. ^ "Project Black Flag Friday: Bold. Brave. Valiant". Kobold Press (Press release). 2023-04-07. Retrieved 2023-04-10.
  26. ^ "2012 Annual Origins Award Winners". icv2.com. June 5, 2012. Retrieved 2023-01-11.
  27. ^ "Hobby Gaming Celebrated at This Year's Origins Awards Ceremony". MTV. June 4, 2012. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved 2023-01-11.
  28. ^ "2012 Nominees and Winners – ENNIE Awards". Retrieved 2023-01-11.
  29. ^ "2013 Nominees and Winners – ENNIE Awards". Retrieved 2023-01-11.
  30. ^ "2014 Nominees and Winners – ENNIE Awards". Retrieved 2023-01-11.
  31. ^ "2016 Nominees and Winners – ENNIE Awards". Retrieved 2023-01-11.
  32. ^ "2017 Nominees and Winners – ENNIE Awards". Retrieved 2023-01-11.
  33. ^ "2019 Nominees and Winners – ENNIE Awards". Retrieved 2023-01-11.
  34. ^ "Origins Award Nominees". icv2.com. May 1, 2019. Retrieved 2023-01-11.
  35. ^ "2022 Results – ENNIE Awards". Retrieved 2023-01-11.
  36. ^ "2023 Nominees and Winners – ENNIE Awards". Retrieved 2024-10-24.
  37. ^ "2024 Nominees and Winners – ENNIE Awards". Retrieved 2024-10-24.
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