Dragonlance Campaign Setting: Missed Opportunity?

[DragonLancer]

Sadly I agree as well. The DLCS is missing the nessecary things that make Dragonlance what it is. Ok, sure you have cut some things, enough was cut to lose the nessecary theme and feel.

 

[vrykyl]

Hey everyone!

It's been interesting reading the discussion, so I wanted to you let you know where we were coming from--and where we're going--with the Dragonlance game line for 3.5.

I spearheaded the design of the DLCS and Age of Mortals, with the deliberate intention to set up the post-War of Souls as the new era for Krynn. It's an exciting period, with possiblities for fans of both "old-school" and Fifth Age/SAGA Dragonlance. Though certainly not perfect, I'm proud of the work we did and I feel that we accomplished our mission. Since many of the new novels are being set in the new era, we've got a well-established setting for people to play their games in.

That being said, 2004 is the 20th Anniversary for Dragonlance, and we've got some exciting things planned for this year. First we have The Bestiary of Krynn and Towers of High Sorcery, both era-independent products that provide lots of great resources for both players and DMs. This summer we're releasing the Dragonlance Adventure Game, an introductory product that will go back to an important part of the Chronicles storyline. And at GenCon we premiere the War of the Lance sourcebook, the book many fans have been asking for since the beginning--covering most of the ground of the original modules as source material, not pre-scripted adventures. We're very excited about these releases and hope that you'll check them out at your local game and hobby stores.

Cheers!

Jamie Chambers
Vice President
Sovereign Press, Inc.

 

[Acid_crash]

I don't know if I am a minority, but I liked the feel of the DLCS and the post War of Souls feel it had. For the first time I could actually see myself participating in this world and not feel overwhelmed by the war of the lance series or the war of souls series.

 

[DragonLancer]

Thanx Jamie. I must say that I am really looking forward to the books proposed for this year.

 

[mmadsen]

It comes off as a history lesson of the novel events. After finishing the book, I found myself thinking "now WTF do I do with this?" (as a DM). It feels incomplete. I thought the SAGA set did a much better job of setting up DL as a viable world to game in. Much smaller, but much more useful.
[...]
Whether you love the Realms or not, as someone else mentioned, the FRCS is the textbook example of how to make a setting book. The DLCS, while a well written product, is a poor gaming product AFAIC.

Could you (or anyone else) explain what the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting does so much better than the Dragonlance Campaign Setting?

 

[Kanegrundar]

Could you (or anyone else) explain what the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting does so much better than the Dragonlance Campaign Setting?

The FRCS gives a tremendous amount of information. It details the world and makes good use of the space provided. There is history, but not so much that the book reads like a history textbook. Enough information is given about the world to make it interesting, but not so much that all the details are spelled out. There are bits of information on a nearly overwhelming amount of sites for adventures and such. The DLCS wasted too much space with large fonts and wide margins. There simply wasn't enough information to make the world truly interesting. The FRCS did it's job well in this regard. I never liked the FR setting before the new edition, but this is one well done setting book.

Kane

 

[mmadsen]

The FRCS gives a tremendous amount of information. [...] The DLCS wasted too much space with large fonts and wide margins. There simply wasn't enough information to make the world truly interesting.

A tremendous amount of information isn't always a good thing...

There is history, but not so much that the book reads like a history textbook. Enough information is given about the world to make it interesting, but not so much that all the details are spelled out. There are bits of information on a nearly overwhelming amount of sites for adventures and such.

So, is the key to the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting that it provides lots of evocative bits of information and sites for adventures? Does it provide the right kind of information?

 

[Desdichado]

A tremendous amount of information isn't always a good thing...

It is if that's what you want in a campaign setting. I think for most people that buy settings, that's true. That's always been the FR's strength, and it's source of popularity, as near as I can tell. Nothing else about it is particularly revolutionary, but it's been popular because it's so familiar.

So, is the key to the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting that it provides lots of evocative bits of information and sites for adventures? Does it provide the right kind of information?

I think the 3e FR book certainly does do this; it's a giant book of hooks. Exactly the right thing to do with the setting, IMO. I never really had much interest in the setting until I saw how well the 3e books was done. I still don't think I'd ever want to play it, and I know I'd never want to run it, but I don't mind reading it.

 

[Stormprince]

That being said, 2004 is the 20th Anniversary for Dragonlance, and we've got some exciting things planned for this year. First we have The Bestiary of Krynn and Towers of High Sorcery, both era-independent products that provide lots of great resources for both players and DMs. This summer we're releasing the Dragonlance Adventure Game, an introductory product that will go back to an important part of the Chronicles storyline. And at GenCon we premiere the War of the Lance sourcebook, the book many fans have been asking for since the beginning--covering most of the ground of the original modules as source material, not pre-scripted adventures. We're very excited about these releases and hope that you'll check them out at your local game and hobby stores.

And then, of course, there is the Key of Destiny, the first of an epic trilogy of adventures taking place in Dragonlance, looking to involve the players directly into shaping the world to come. No pregens, not based on any novels or anything that has come before, but an series of adventures meant to take a campaign from beginning to end...

And even for those who don't like published adventures, we made sure to focus on areas that hadn't really been explored before, answering some old questions and opening up new areas to be fully incorporated into the world.

I think there's still life in Dragonlance, as has been said, it's been around for 20 years already and the novels and the game are still going strong. Perhaps it's nostalgia, but I know that I'm glad to have been involved in the attempt to keep Dragonlance alive and kicking for a new generation

Christopher

 

[Kanegrundar]

So, is the key to the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting that it provides lots of evocative bits of information and sites for adventures? Does it provide the right kind of information?

IMO, certainly. The FR 3E book is chock full of information on major political figures, little explored areas, and tons of hooks to use both as well as a wealth of various other sites. It's written in the frame of mind that a player or DM hasn't read much if any of the books or the pervious versions of the setting. It gives just enough background to evoke a feeling for the site/character/region without being dull or long-winded. As for the right kind of information, that depends on person reading it. For me, the FRCS is everything that setting book should be. You could run a myriad of campaigns from that book alone and never get near the same area twice, it literally gives you everything your need to know in order to effectively run a FR game. You really don't even need to buy the expansions, since FR has such a vast feel to it that nearly anything can fit into it. This is an amazing turnaround from previous editions that did nothing for me. In fact, I used to hate to play in FR campaigns just because the setting left such a sour taste in my mouth from being a boring read. (Plus the fact that everywhere we turned the DM would have us meet another famous NPC. Not a problem of the setting per se, but it was annoying nonetheless.) Many of the old problems I had with the setting are gone. Sure, there are still plenty of uber-powered NPC's running around, but the feel of this edition takes much of the emphasis off them and back to giving hints and tips to keep the campaign centered on the players. (Not that too many experienced DM's have that problem, but it's nice for the newbies.) This is should be a template for all other campaign settings. This is what DL should have been closer to.

Kane