Dragonlance Questions. Please help.

Just had a few DL questions. Curious, 'tis all.

1) When the gods "left" Krynn after the *First* Cataclysm, could arcane spellcasters still cast spells? Because I know that they draw their arcane spells from the 3 moons and the moons are *really* the 3 gods of magic. What was the *official* answer for this?

2) When the gods "left" Krynn after the *Second* Cataclysm, could arcane spellcasters still cast spells? Now there is no gods and no moons! I haven't read any of the novels or source books for this era so I'm not sure what the answer is.

3) If mortals can draw divine power from *within* (ie. the Mystic), then why have gods at all on Krynn? Is this explained anywhere coz I know if I run a DL campaign my players will ask.

4) Can a priest of Solonari/Nuitari/Justarus cast arcane spells?

Thanks.

I'm not that knowledgable with DL myself, but I will try to be as helpful as possible. As for spoiler warnings... I will try not to give to much if I can. But if you want it to be a surprise, you shouldn't read any further k?





1) Yes.
2) No.
3) From what I gather in the DL book, mysticism has only been discovered recently in Kyrnn. As for the gods... they created Kyrnn so were else they gonna go?
4) I believe the gods of magic don't have clerics, only wizards.

dead said:

Just had a few DL questions. Curious, 'tis all.

1) When the gods "left" Krynn after the *First* Cataclysm, could arcane spellcasters still cast spells? Because I know that they draw their arcane spells from the 3 moons and the moons are *really* the 3 gods of magic. What was the *official* answer for this?

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The gods took away their clerics immediately prior to the Cataclysm and stopped responding to appeals and prayers, but they weren't truly gone. The gods of magic continued to supply Krynn with arcane magic, and in fact the Orders of High Sorcery knew this but kept it secret from the rest of the world. They weren't much liked as it was.

2) When the gods "left" Krynn after the *Second* Cataclysm, could arcane spellcasters still cast spells? Now there is no gods and no moons! I haven't read any of the novels or source books for this era so I'm not sure what the answer is.

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No, wizards, clerics, druids, rangers and paladins could no longer cast spells or use abilities which depended upon the gods. This included the gods of magic, whose moons vanished and were replaced with a single moon. In their absence, mortals discovered how to draw upon the ambient magic of Krynn, in both divine (the inherent magic in the lifeforce of Krynn and its people) and arcane (the leftover magic used in the time of creation) forms. There's a lot more behind this, such as why the gods were missing, what was really going on with the ambient magic etc etc, but that's the gist of it.

3) If mortals can draw divine power from *within* (ie. the Mystic), then why have gods at all on Krynn? Is this explained anywhere coz I know if I run a DL campaign my players will ask.

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Mysticism wasn't known about or practiced prior to the Age of Mortals. Its power relied on the infusion of energy from the god Chaos, whose release in the Chaos War enabled ambient energy on Krynn to be accessed by mortals such as bards, sorcerers and wizards. Some individuals had minor access to it before this, but it was minimal (occasional flashes of clairvoyance, etc etc attributed to luck or witchcraft). Both cleric magic and mysticism currently operate on Krynn, which is indeed a cause for some people to wonder why they need the gods at all. The true answer is that cleric and wizard magic each have their own benefits (not the least of which is an immortal patron) and in story terms it's often said that magic with its origin in the gods "feels" better/stronger/richer.

4) Can a priest of Solonari/Nuitari/Justarus cast arcane spells?

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The neutral goddess of magic is Lunitari, not Justarus. And the gods of magic don't have priests or clerics. Wizards of High Sorcery, once they pass their Test, dedicate themselves to one of the three gods and receive additional benefits (an alignment with the moons, for example, enhances their magic). This also prevents them from being clerics of other gods, so there are no multiclassed WoHS/clerics or WoHS/druids. Renegade wizards, those who haven't passed the Test or refuse to dedicate themselves to the gods of magic, may multiclass freely with divine spellcasters if their divine patron has no problem with it.

Cheers,
Cam

Thanks for the answers!!!

As always, Cam is the man.

Cam quick question regarding DL, when can we expect to see that 3rd Age book and what's the hold up on Towers of Sorcery?

I'd love to see a Chaos Age book. I think about the time of the old Dragonlance: Fifth Age SAGA products. You know, shortly after the Second Cataclysm. Is this gonna happen?

I think Age of Mortals has that dead. I know there's a variant rules in there.

(I could care less about the Age of Chaos. It all sucked.)

Nightfall said:

(I could care less about the Age of Chaos. It all sucked.)

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I agree. It was quite contrived and spun DL on its head just for the sake of pumping new life into it.

However, I've got an idea for a campaign with no divine magic and it might be DL! I know they've got the crappy Mystic class but I wouldn't allow it. I'd draw a hardline: No gods; No divine magic!

Well that's okay. I mean if you disallow mystics might hurt...but then again this is Dragonlance. So natural healing/regeneration stuff will still be effective.

dead said:

However, I've got an idea for a campaign with no divine magic and it might be DL! I know they've got the crappy Mystic class but I wouldn't allow it. I'd draw a hardline: No gods; No divine magic!

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Then place such a campaign right after the Cataclysm. I once played in a post-Cataclysm game with no true healing, and let me tell you, it was rough! We went through a ton of characters. However, this gave the game a certain feel to it - as if things were all-too-mortal! Best game I've ever played in.

To answer some questions above...

Jamie Chambers says that he's shooting for Origins for Towers of High Sorcery. However, it is to be noted that this is not a firm set street date. It'll be along soon.

To my knowledge, there isn't a 3rd age (Age of Might) book in the works yet. However, there is a sourcebook called War of the Lance, slated for GenCon this year.

Good stuff coming up, guys!