Dragonlance Pitch Dragonlance to new players

[The Glen]

Going to do one of these for each of the main settings that isn't Forgotten Realms. Most new players only know about the Forgotten Realms because that's where almost all the modules take place. So asking for the veterans and the grognards to help show some of the better parts of other settings. So for those that grew up with Tanis, Raistlan and Caramon, Tasslehoff, Lord Soth and the rest, what made Dragonlance a fun place to play and what set it apart from the other settings?

 

[hastur_nz]

Well, it was initially like Lord of the Rings, translated into a D&D game. Except it suffered from the obvious problems of Novel vs Game.

As to the cool stuff that set it (the setting) apart:
* a halfling race (Kender) that wasn't just a Hobbit
* a monster race (Minotaur) that wasn't just a monster
* relatively simple and black and white Good vs Evil, from the Gods down through to the Adventures
* a decent back-story to Magic and Wizards, tied into the cosmology (moons) and Gods
* Knights that had back-story and a place in the world (although, technically, you could argue Greyhawk had that first)

Obviously the novels were cool, because they actually had interesting characters that were more than just stat blocks, but actually a lot of that was in the adventures to some degree, and the books were written after the initial four adventures had been play-tested quite a bit.

Damn, those initial four adventures were some of the coolest dungeon-crawl heavy, exploration and bit of role-play while riding the railroad and pretending it's sandbox ever... Chock full of flavour and interesting stuff, and still inspirational today if you go back and re-read them.

 

[Valetudo]

Dragonlance has alot of baggage with it. OG DL was great for my earl teens but weis and hickman should have left it alone. Too many hands in the cookee jar. Taladas was pretty cool, but all the later versions are garbage. Maybe areboot kinda like 4th edition darksun.

 

[Raunalyn]

I'll give you the same pitch I gave my players when we first started playing DL...

Dragonlance is a high-fantasy, epic world with a rich history and a very specific theme. The theme around stories set on Krynn (the world that Dragonlance takes place in) centers on groups of ordinary people who grow into heroes who do extraordinary things. Most stories that take place in Dragonlance have to do with strong moral elements of good vs. evil, so parties tend to be good aligned (though, there are reasons for evil characters).

The Gods of Krynn play very important roles in the world, constantly maneuvering to gain dominance (for the Gods of Evil), to protect their lands and peoples (for the Gods of Good), or to maintain the balance (for the Gods of Neutrality). This is reflected in the three major “laws” that rule the Gods of Krynn:

Good Redeems its own

Evil turns upon itself

The balance must always be maintained

Thousands of years ago, the Queen of Dragons, the 5 headed Dragon Goddess Takhisis, broke the balance. Her brood, the chromatic dragons, wreaked havoc on Ansalon (the main continent that most Dragonlance stories take place on). The Gods of Light were losing, until a lowly knight known as Huma gained the trust of the Metallic Dragons and forged the mighty Dragonlance, a weapon that turned the tide of the great Dragon War. With this weapon, Huma pierced the breast of the 5 headed dragon, forcing Takhisis to withdraw from the world along with her brood. The metallic dragons, to maintain the balance, also withdrew. And dragons became the thing of myth and legend.

Just over 350 years ago, a great civilization sprawled across the eastern portion of Ansalon. This nation was known as Istar, and it was ruled over by the Kingpriest of Istar, a man devoted to the God of Light known as Paladine (also known as the Platinum Dragon). He began eradicating the evil races of Krynn, killing off Ogres and Goblins, forcing many of the “impure” races (like Dwarves, Gnomes and Kender) into hiding, and forcing a war against the orders of Sorcery. As the Kingpriest’s laws became more and more forceful and sterile, priests began to lose their powers. Those who were still able to heal began disappearing. The Kingpriest, thinking that it was some evil plot, demanded that the Gods eradicate all evil from the world.

The Gods answered in a most spectacular fashion.

Because the balance had swayed too far toward good, and because the Kingpriest was so arrogant that he felt he was equal to the Gods and that he could demand anything of them, the Gods retaliated. What was described as a fiery mountain fell from the sky, striking the nation of Istar, sinking it beneath the sea. What was left was a swirling vortex known as the Maelstrom in the center of a great sea known as the Blood Sea of Istar (the water here is as red as blood).

This was known as the Cataclysm. All time from this point forward is recorded using A.C. (After Cataclysm).

The face of Ansalon was changed forever. War, sickness, and death ravaged the land. The Gods of Krynn left the people of Ansalon to their own devices…not that the people of the world would pray to them, anyway…not after the death and destruction of the Cataclysm.

The world descended into savagery and barbarism.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I think Dragonlance definitely appeals more to those that want to play in the heroic mode rather than as murderhobos. It is a setting with a clear enemy, an epic fight against the forces of evil.


While morally grey PCs seem to be the in-thing these days, I’d honestly much rather a group of noble heroes fighting for good than a band of amoral looters barely a step above the monsters they kill.


It’s the only D&D setting that has its own cookbook. I still think the time is right for a D&D cookbook…

I'll give you the same pitch I gave my players when we first started playing DL...

Dragonlance is a high-fantasy, epic world with a rich history and a very specific theme. The theme around stories set on Krynn (the world that Dragonlance takes place in) centers on groups of ordinary people who grow into heroes who do extraordinary things. Most stories that take place in Dragonlance have to do with strong moral elements of good vs. evil, so parties tend to be good aligned (though, there are reasons for evil characters).

 

[discosoc]

Dragonlance is an amazing setting that doesn't translate too well into an actual game. In a way, that's ironic because the original books came from early game sessions. Anyway, the first thing you have to clear up is what era you're playing in, and recognize that the most popular era (War of the Lance) is the hardest and most restricted to run. The later eras are easier, but lack almost everything that makes the original books so great. You could play in an earlier era, or maybe a 30 years before the War of the Lance, but then you'd have to restrict basically every class that uses divine power.

Dragonlance is weird like that.

 

[Eltab]

If you give the players the first trilogy to read, they should get excited.
Then you have to let them down: YOU are not going to follow that path. You have to go deal with the dangling threads that Tanis &c. leave behind, or take care of other stuff entirely.

I can see a successful campaign set near Solamnia, defending the nation against draconic attacks both covert and overt.

One of the trilogies has Raistlin travel back in time a bit, before the War of the Lance. That period sounded like it had potential for adventures, much like the IRL Fall of the Roman Empire.

DragonLance does have potential, but you have to figure out how to get away from the iconic plot line to do it.

 

[Raunalyn]

Dragonlance is an amazing setting that doesn't translate too well into an actual game. In a way, that's ironic because the original books came from early game sessions. Anyway, the first thing you have to clear up is what era you're playing in, and recognize that the most popular era (War of the Lance) is the hardest and most restricted to run. The later eras are easier, but lack almost everything that makes the original books so great. You could play in an earlier era, or maybe a 30 years before the War of the Lance, but then you'd have to restrict basically every class that uses divine power.

Dragonlance is weird like that.

It's actually a bit easier than you'd think.

Fun thing about DLance is that time travel and alternate timelines are kind of baked into the setting. I ran an alternate version of the War of the Lance that played out a bit differently, causing the Chaos God to be freed sooner than expected. It worked well.

 

[akr71]

If you give the players the first trilogy to read, they should get excited.
Then you have to let them down: YOU are not going to follow that path. You have to go deal with the dangling threads that Tanis &c. leave behind, or take care of other stuff entirely.

I've thought about doing it this way too. DL4-DL6 deal with the gap between Dragons of Autumn Twilight and Dragons of Winter Night which could be a fun starting point.

If memory serves, DL9 & DL14 are not covered by the original 3 books either. So if your party really wants to play The War of the Lance, there are options even if they have read the books. Wikipedia refreshed my memory on what each module covers...

 

[discosoc]

It's actually a bit easier than you'd think.

Fun thing about DLance is that time travel and alternate timelines are kind of baked into the setting. I ran an alternate version of the War of the Lance that played out a bit differently, causing the Chaos God to be freed sooner than expected. It worked well.

Yes, but then you start going against the stuff that most people love about Dragonlance. People don't generally associate time travel with the setting, even though it's a common plot point within the side books (and post-WotL books). Anyway, I didn't say you couldn't use the setting or that it was impossible -- just that it can be misleading in when/where you'll play compared to the books that most likely got you interested.

It's like, you can go read a Drizzt novel and get all inspired by Forgotten Realms and go start a game up without much problem. Those book happen within the setting and certainly work as inspiration for adventures, people, places, and things. But with Dragonlance, the Trilogy *is* the setting for many people, and if they go buy one of the source books for it, they'll find the post-trilogy version lacks so much of what made the books interesting.

One of the best compromises I've done was a 2e group years ago. I used the original DL modules as source material, and ran the campaign that took place over the course of the Trilogy, but the group wasn't The Companions. Instead, their adventures would often take them to some of the same locations either before or after the Companions did in a way that wove the two stories together. It was pretty fun with some cool moments like piecing together the aftermath of what happened in Xak Tsaroth.