Kobold Press has returned to Kickstarter with a campaign designed to make your table tremble. Night Hunters brings gothic horror to both 5th Edition and the publisher’s own Tales of the Valiant system, offering a world where heroes must become monsters to defeat them.
We’ve got until Friday, February 13th, a fittingly ominous date, to back the campaign.
The premise of Night Hunters is not just about fighting things that go bump in the night; it is about the cost of that battle. The book introduces “Dread Villains,” a new tier of antagonist designed to span entire campaigns. One such example is Doctor Baila Luminada, a grieving mother willing to stitch together the dead (and the living) to restore her lost sons.
These villains are supported by the “Shadow Token” mechanic, a risk-and-reward system that lets players accept power now in exchange for terrible consequences later. For those who want to push the atmosphere further, the campaign also offers a physical “Spirit Board” playmat and a “Shadow Oracle” tarot deck to determine just how grim things will get.
The book provides plenty of tools for players to fight back, though they may lose their humanity in the process. The new Gravewrought lineage allows you to play as a Frankenstein-esque construct of stitched flesh, while the Hexen lineage lets you take on the role of a hero born from hag magic. New subclasses include the Nemesis Fighter, who swears vengeance on specific creature types, and the Cursebreaker Cleric, who specialises in undoing the worst effects of the setting.
Kobold Press has already smashed its funding goal. They have kept the pledge structure relatively straightforward, though readers in Canada will see the native currency:
- Pledge CA$35 (about £19): The Night Hunters PDF. This gets you the core rules and horror options in digital format.
- Pledge CA$69 (£27): The PDF Bundle. This includes Night Hunters and the companion adventure book, Night Terrors.
- Pledge CA$79 (£43): The Night Hunters Hardcover. A physical copy of the main book plus the PDF.
- Pledge CA$129 (£70): The Hardcover Bundle. Physical and digital copies of both Night Hunters and Night Terrors.
For those who want to try before they buy, a free preview is available on DriveThruRPG that showcases the Cursebreaker and Nemesis classes.
The estimated delivery for the digital rewards and physical books is July 2026.
