Dragonlance WotC Officially Confirms Takhisis and Tiamat Are The Same

It's been an issue in dispute for decades, over various editions of D&D, but WotC has officially confirmed that - at least in 5E - Dragonlance's Takhisis is, indeed, currently Tiamat. In previous editions, Tiamat has varied from being a big dragon to a minor goddess, while Takhisis has been a greater god on Krynn. At times they've been the same entity, and at others different entities. Today, WotC is putting its foot down and saying that Takhisis and Tiamat are, indeed, the same being.



Of course, this is not an opinion universally held. Dragonlance co-creator Margaret Weis emphatically stated that "TAKHISIS IS NOT TIAMAT, DAMN IT!"

Fizban's Treasuryof Dragons confirms that the beings echo across various settings.

D&D 5E - Is Paladine Bahamut? Is Takhisis Tiamat? Fizban's Treasury Might Reveal The Answer!

According to WotC's James Wyatt, Fizban's Treasury of Dragons introduces a new cosmology for dragon gods, where the same beings, including Fizban, echo across various D&D campaign settings with alternate versions of themselves (presumably like Paladine/Bahamut, or Takhisis/Tiamat). Also... the...

www.enworld.org

 

[Stormonu]

"Oh, you need to kill an evil goddess? That's cute. Try killing two, more or less simultaneously, each with their own armies on war footing."

One with an army of abashai, the other with an army of draconians...

Or go full multiverse and have her trying to take out ALL her echos across ALL the D&D settings in an effort to bring back the First World...

 

[Azzy]

So in WotC lore, what happened to Bahamut and Tiamat in say Faerun when Raistlin killed them on Krynn?

When the Time of Troubles happened in Faerun did Paladine and Takhisis lose power to? Only if they were on Faerun? Why not planeshift over to Krynn and get your power back?

I know it doesnt matter because the only lore that matters is the 5 pages in the mostly adventure book.

The same thing in 2e, under TSR lore, presumably.

 

[DarkCrisis]

The same thing in 2e, under TSR lore.

? So according to 2E era TSR lore, nothing happens cause they are different beings. From Dragon mag #143

 

[Scribe]

I know it doesnt matter because the only lore that matters is the 5 pages in the mostly adventure book.

Just pick one of.

1. There is no canon.
2. Change already happened, just accept it all as 'progress'.
3. Its just fiction, why care.
4. Corporations exist to make money.

If still unsatisfied after such vigorous thought, I'm afraid I cannot help.

 

[Azzy]

? So according to 2E era TSR lore, nothing happens cause they are different beings. From Dragon mag #143

View attachment 267002

So, them being avatars isn't them being the same being? Never mind that Planescape stuff that directly equates them.

 

[Kai Lord]

At the end of the day there is indeed "official" basis in D&D game products declaring Tiamat and Takhisis to be two versions of the same being. But to my knowledge nothing in any Dragonlance products or novels (prior to 5E anyway) makes such a declaration. So if you want Manual of the Planes, Dragon Magazine, Planescape, or some other non-DL publication to be the final arbiter on DL canon then you're certainly free to do so. If you want 5E's reimagining of the canon to be the final arbiter then you're free to do that as well.

But for me since every prior non-DL release that describes the two contradicts what DL says about itself and what the DL authors say about DL then I'm going to defer to the authority of the latter.

 

[Azzy]

At the end of the day there is indeed "official" basis in D&D game products declaring Tiamat and Takhisis to be two versions of the same being. But to my knowledge nothing in any Dragonlance products or novels (prior to 5E anyway) makes such a declaration. So if you want Manual of the Planes, Dragon Magazine, Planescape, or some other non-DL publication to be the final arbiter on DL canon then you're certainly free to do so.

But for me since every prior non-DL release that describes the two contradicts what DL says about itself and what the DL authors say about DL then I'm going to defer to the authority of the latter.

Which is entirely reasonable. I dislike the whole multiverse thing for D&D settings, myself, much preferring all the settings to each be self-contained and not contaminated by each other. And, as such, I DM the settings as unconnected to each other when I do the DM thing that I do (doobie-doobie-doo).

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

? So according to 2E era TSR lore, nothing happens cause they are different beings. From Dragon mag #143

View attachment 267002

Books > Dragon mag

 

[DarkCrisis]

Books > Dragon mag

Still official source material. That’s like saying leeches and bleeding are still good despite updated medical knowledge.

“Well this parchment from 1456 says leeches are great for any ailment! So I’m going with that.”

 

[dave2008]

? So according to 2E era TSR lore, nothing happens cause they are different beings. From Dragon mag #143

View attachment 267002

That to me says they are the same being in a grander sense. Just different parts/facets/faces of the whole. I mean it specifically says:

"Paladine and Takhisis are the avatars or incarnations of Bahamut and Tiamat..."