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[Let's Read] Dragonlance Campaign Setting
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<blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 6238150" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><p style="text-align: center"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/gIxoxRI.jpg?1" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"><strong>Dragonlance Campaign Setting Part 9: Other Eras of Play</strong></p><p></p><p></p><p>This is the last chapter of the Dragonlance Campaign Setting. After that we have a short appendix containing two adventures, one of which I already covered in the Key of Destiny Adventure Path. This chapter covers two historical eras in Dragonlance: the War of the Lance, during which the original 1984 Chronicles and modules were set, and the Early Age of Mortals, when the Dragon Overlords first came to Krynn and the gods fell silent again.</p><p></p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><strong>War of the Lance</strong></p><p></p><p></p><p>As detailed in Krynn's history in Chapter 6, the War of the Lance was a 4 year conflict when Takhisis' Dragonarmies set about conquering much of Ansalon, aided by the might of chromatic dragons and the goddesses' priests. The Heroes of the Lance, originally a group of 8 friends reuniting at the Inn of the Last Home, played a vital role in saving Ansalon from the Dark Queen's forces. They helped restore knowledge of the Gods of Light and Balance with the discovery of the Disks of Mishakal, learned how to forge the legendary Dragonlances and united the forces of Good on Krynn under the Whitestone Council, unearthed the deadly secret of the draconians' creation and convinced the metallic dragons to enter into the war, and destroyed the temple of Takhisis in Neraka and killed Emperor Ariakas.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Games set during the War of the Lance are a different affair than the default 5th Age. For one, most of Krynn around this time does not follow any of the Gods, Takhisis' forces notwithstanding. The Wizards of High Sorcery still receive aid from the Gods of Magic, but otherwise the deities are silent, and the Wizards don't go around telling people that they gain their magic with the help of the gods. There is still much resentment over the Cataclysm, when they tossed a giant meteor onto Istar and wrought much death and destruction onto the continent. The Gods of Darkness return first to the world, but they are secretive and trust their aid to a select few clerics. Takhisis is the exception, as she begins recruiting humanoids and monsters to Neraka via divine guidance, to eventually form the Dragonarmies.</p><p></p><p></p><p>We get a detailed write-up of how each of the deities interacts with the world when they return to it. The evil ones had a 200-year head start, with the rest coming very recently (at the beginning of the War of the Lance). Branchala gives his spells to clerics with a knack for music and travel, and directed them to help combat Lorac's Nightmare, the force which is destroying Silvanesti. Habbukuk set about gathering clerics and druids to help heal nature and communities afflicted by the wars. Kiri-Jolith's faithful joined the Knights of Solamnia and helped the Order of the Sword reconnect with the deity. Majere's worship and knowledge was preserved in a few Ergothian monasteries, even if he did not grant spells, so it wasn't hard for them to recover. Mishakal first came when Goldmoon, a Hero of the Lance and daughter of an Abasinian Plains chieftian, discovered the Disks of Mishakal and helped spread the word of the Gods' return to the world along with Elistan. Paladine was instrumental in the spread of knowledge as well, often taking the form of a senile wizard named Fizban to subtly help out the Heroes of the Lance and others to help defeat the Dragonarmies. Solinari foresaw the coming war and instructed the head of the White Robes to find a "sword," or wizardly pupil to train, to help fight the evil. That sword was Raistlin, a Hero of the Lance.</p><p></p><p></p><p>For the deities of Neutrality, there's not really much that hasn't already been said, other than that Lunitari guided Raistlin into joining the Red Robes, Reorx was still worshiped by dwarves (although a lot of it was for show before the War), and Shinare's faith rose quickly during the war.</p><p></p><p></p><p>For the deities of evil, Chemosh's faith flourished in hopeless people willing to do anything to avoid death in this miserable Age, Hiddukel's priests quietly kept to the north, Morgion gained a following among the Zhakar dwarves who hoped that he could cure their fungal plague. As for Nuitari, the Black Robes were traditionally enemies of Takhisis' faithful, but they entered into an alliance with the Dragonarmies and helped them form the ritual to create draconians and flying citadels (airborne castles carrying troops which attack cities from the air) for military dominance. Takhisis, of course, had her faith grow exponentially with the power of the Dragonarmies. Zeboim's faith is small and secret, by fearful sailors placating her wrath.</p><p></p><p></p><p>We get a rundown of character classes and how they differ during the War of the Lance. Bards cannot cast spells due to them being of primal sorcery, mystics and sorcerers don't exist (except for fey and dragons), and divine spellcasters could not gain spells until their respective deities come back to the world. The Legion of Steel and Knights of Takhisis/Neraka don't exist yet in this era, and thus cannot be taken.</p><p></p><p></p><p>We also get a brief rundown on some countries and how they differed back during the War. Abanasinia was a theocracy ruled by the Seekers, worshipers of false deities who sought to exploit and control the populace before the Dragonarmies invaded and occupied many of the ruins and towns. Balifor was rugged country, but much more plentiful than the modern Desolation. Blode is an ogre country in the southern Khalkist mountains, and they live in the ruined cities of their ancient empire and view themselves as more "cultured" than their cousins in Kern. The Maelstrom, a giant red whirpool covering much of the open sea in the Blood Sea Isles, makes travel treacherous in the region. Estwilde was one of the first countries to be dominated by the Dragon Empire, and its more evil-inclined tribes joined the Dragonarmies. The kender of Goodlund was under siege by the Black Dragonarmy, but they managed to hold their ground. The ogres of the nation of Kern live lives as scavengers in their mountainous country and united under the Dragonarmies eager to recruit them. Kharolis is a relatively stable country, and some wizards living nearby used their magic to help them, earning them much goodwill among the populace (a rarity during this time). Qualinesti was evacuated during the early War of the Lance when the Red Dragonarmy invaded, and Silvanesti went to war about a decade before the War began. The Silvanesti king Lorac used a Dragon Orb to repel the Dragonarmy, only to unleash his nightmares into the world and turn his forest nation into a monstrous hellscape. The dragonarmies retreated out of Silvanesti along with most of the elven population, due to it becoming virtually uninhabitable. The Taman Busuk region is the heart of the Dragon Empire and home to the capital city of Neraka, which is thriving in this time. Here and in the city of Sanction the Dragonarmy forces are omnipresent, with clerics, draconians, and all manner of monstrous soldiers ready to be shipped off to far-away lands for conquest. Thorbadin's gates are closed off to the rest of the world, and internal politicking almost results in them being invaded by the Dragonarmies as the dark dwarves made a deal with them; the Heroes of the Lance help repel their efforts.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Admittingly, this is really a bare-bones description of the era. The War of the Lance sourcebook by Sovereign Press goes into far more detail on this era, as do the original Chronicles.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><strong>The Early Age of Mortals</strong></p><p></p><p></p><p>This era is set after the devastating effects of the Chaos War, when Takhisis stole away the world and the Dragon Overlords discovered the Material Plane. Once again the gods lose touch with the world, except now even the Wizards cannot gain access to magic. With the appearance of the Dragon Overlords, people are desperate to find new forms of magic hinted at by Fizban in a note before he vanished. This magic was sorcery and mysticism.</p><p></p><p></p><p>There are actually rules which I forgot to cover in the Magic chapter, where a Wizard can become a Sorcerer, or a Cleric a Mystic, and vice versa. Basically spells in a spellbook become spells known and vice versa, and divine casters either gain or lose one domain (or both if a mystic becomes a cleric of a deity whose original domain is not among the selection). It's a process which happens during the next level up, and the convert is saddled with a -20% penalty on experience points gained until the new level.</p><p></p><p></p><p>We also get stast for Beryllanthranox, the Green Dragon Overlord. She is a Challenge Rating 26 dragon with some pretty beefed-up stats (893 hit points, 38 armor class, saving throws in the high 20s to high 30s, a 30d6 acidic breath weapon, and can cast 9th-level spells).</p><p></p><p></p><p>During this time the Dragon Overlords (as well as many chromatic dragons) set about stealing the essence of their own kind to gain power. In the Overlords' case it was to solidify their power base, while in the weaker kins' case it was a desperate struggle to find a way to survive. This horrific event resulted in a near-genocide of dragonkind, known as the Dragon Purge. All but one of the metallic dragons had no choice but to go into hiding to avoid death, but even then many died. Eventually Malystryx calls for an end to the purge, and sets up borders with the other Overlords of the land they ruled. The Dragon Overlords ruled entire countries at this time.</p><p></p><p></p><p>The five Dragon Overlords are: Malystryx (Red, ruler of the Desolation region, Khur, and Kern), Khellendros (Blue, ruler of much of Solamnia), Beryllinthranox (Green, ruler of Qualinesti), Onysablet (Black, ruler of Blode, Estwilde, and southern Nordmaar), and Gellidus (White, ruler of Southern Ergoth). All but the last two died by the time the current era came, and Onysablet got slain by a hero in a novel sometime after this book was published. As for Gellidus, well he's the final boss of the Key of Destiny Adventure Path, and has quite an epic showdown (I won't spoil things here).</p><p></p><p></p><p>After her theft of the world, Takhisis was too weak to grant divine spells or exert her influence upon Krynn, and the spirits of the dead could not move on to the afterlife. She promises the dead to free them in return for service, and sends them out to leech what little magic remains in the world. Over time she gains more power, and transfers a semblance of power into Mina, a young orphan girl. Mina originally washed up up on the shores of Schallsea and is adopted by mystics of the Citadel of Light. In reality she is a goddess who was put into a dreaming state around the Age of Starbirth to preserve the divine balance. Possessing the powers of a true cleric, she is a prophet of the One God, a god she claims never abandoned Krynn, who in reality is Takhisis (but she doesn't tell anyone this). She ends up joining the Knights of Takhisis (who are distraught over the apparent loss of their goddess) and quickly ascends to a leadership position. She forms an army of soldiers across Ansalon to fight the Dragon Overlords and kills Khellendros by turning his own breath weapon against him with Divine Retribution spell (mentioned back in Chapter Three), and uses a Dragonlance to slay Malystryx.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Takhisis comes to her end when the surviving Heroes of the Lance use the Device of Time Journeying to restore a connection between Krynn and the Gods. Furious, they punish Takhisis by cursing her with mortality, but Mina is still faithful to her. She is slain by an elf who loved Mina, and Mina takes her goddess' body to parts unknown, swearing vengeance upon elvenkind. Paladine becomes mortal to preserve the balance, and Krynn is once again reunited with its gods.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Naturally, there is also a sourcebook for the Age of Mortals. Unfortunately, it was developed by Fast Forward Entertainment, and wasn't very good.</p><p></p><p></p><p><em>Thoughts so far:</em> This doesn't have much in the way of advice for playing in the era beyond a list of events and how they can be used for stories. Unfortunately, more detailed play will require additional materials to fully understand the era.</p><p></p><p></p><p>I also heavily recommend making your player's original PCs the Heroes of the Lance if gaming in the Age of Despair. Making your own heroes be the stars of the show is quite the rewarding experience, and playing your own characters with their own pasts is overall superior than using another group's pre-designed PCs or playing second fiddle to Raistlin and the gang.</p><p></p><p></p><p>On that note, there is a super-updated 3rd Edition version of the original Dragonlance Chronicles (D&D's very first Adventure Path), which I plan on reviewing after I complete the Key of Destiny. But all will come in due time...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Adventure: The Ghost Blade</strong></p><p></p><p></p><p>Rounding out the book are two adventures. We will cover one of them, the Ghost Blade, a short little dungeon crawl for 4 PCs of 5th level.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Basically in times long ago, a Qualinesti princes named Enarathan wielded a blade which allowed him to stealthily approach his foes. Unfortunately this proved to be his undoing, as the magic of an ogre magic warned of the elf's presence when he tried ambushing an ogre patrol. Enarathan escaped, but was mortally wounded. He died and was buried with honors in a tomb by his people, his blade with him.</p><p></p><p></p><p>The adventure takes place in the village of Chisel in southern Solamnia, near the coast of the new sea.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Now a map to the tomb has been discovered by a group of rogue draconians. While preparing for some tomb-robbing in town, a kender managed to "find" the map laying around; the draconians pursue him, but the kender thinks it's all a game of tag, and the group runs right in to the PCs, and are willing to fight to get it. The draconians are baaz and six in number. Once the PCs kill them or drive them off, the kender introduces himself as Thorn Troublefinder, and shows the PCs the map ("I was trying to return it to its owner when these strange men started chasing me!"). Said map is in Evlish script, and if the PCs are reluctant to go to the tomb, Thorn will mention that the draconians already know where it is and are more than willing to raid and defile it. He will accompany them on the adventure if they so desire (he's a 2nd level Rogue).</p><p></p><p></p><p>Three more Draconians stalk the PCs on the way to the tomb. They will try hiding or ambushing the PCs when it's most convenient, but opposed rolls allow the party to detect their presence.</p><p></p><p></p><p>The tomb itself is located in a heavily overgrown forest, and is unimaginatively named the Ghost Blade Dungeon by the book, and consists of 6 rooms. An entryway covered by a tree's roots which can only be found via searching, an antechamber leading into 4 other rooms (north, south, east, west, last two are secret doors), and a pit trap in the middle. The western way leads to a former purification chamber, where visitors bathed in the waters; it is now home to a gray ooze. The eastern way leads into a shrine to the god E'li (Elven name for Paladine). The statue of the deity is magical, and bathes the room in a consecrate spell if set during an era where the Gods have returned to the world, and can be used to petition the Gods of Light to make a faithful person a cleric.</p><p></p><p></p><p>The northern way leads into a room full of tiles, of depictions of Enarathan in his life battling ferocious enemies (such as that ogre magi). On the far northern side of the room is a secret door leading to the actual coffin, and is sealed with a glyph of warding which scours fire on intruders who don't dispel the runes. Additionally, four wooden statues in the room will come to life and attack the party. They're very weak Challenge Rating 2 constructs, with slam attacks and minor hardness (deducts 5 points of physical damage).</p><p></p><p></p><p>The final room contains Enarathan's preserved corpse, along with Alurashean, the Ghost Blade. His silver breastplate is cursed specifically to deal with tomb robbers. It is a +1 Breastplate of Elven Rage, which grants morale bonuses on attacks against the wearer by elves and a -6 penalty on Charisma-based skill checks with elves. The Ghost Blade is a +1 longsword made of silver which grants a +10 on Hide and Move Silently checks when unsheathed, as it muffles the wearer's sounds and makes them appear shadowy. If the blade is used to strike an opponent, the bonuses are lost until it's sheathed and unsheathed again.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Once the PCs leave the tomb, more draconians, 3 baaz and 1 kapak ambush them. The kapak has a +1 short sword.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Regardles of whether the PCs take Enarathan's possessions or choose to preserve the sanctity of the tomb, the adventure is over.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Overall I feel that the monsters are a little too weak for a party of 5th-level PCs. It also feels out of place in Dragonlance, as a traditional dungeon crawl for loot, especially of a beloved elven prince, doesn't seem in line with earlier themes of the book. An adventure where the PCs have to protect a town from clerics of a deity of darkness, or help a knight's squire on a quest to prove his worth, would be more appropriate.</p><p></p><p></p><p><em>Concluding Thoughts:</em> A wonderful book for a wonderful campaign setting. Dragonlance Campaign Setting does a great job of detailing the world and converting it to the 3rd Edition ruleset. It blends the fluff and crunch together so that they feel seamless and help tell a greater picture, as opposed to other sourcebooks which just dump new spells and prestige classes without giving a wider context to the world they're in. The game mechanics are rusty in parts, with unbalanced options, but overall this is a very comprehensive and entertaining book which really captures the feel of Dragonlance. Dragonlance has not made a resurgence in 4th Edition, and time will tell if D&D Next picks up the setting. Until then, this is one of the most informative and up to date sourcebooks for the world of Krynn and its people.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>There's actually some unused artwork of the book on the Wizards of the Coast page for this adventure, as well as others. Here they are:</p><p></p><p></p><p>Enarathan's Rest:</p><p><img src="http://i.imgur.com/FSzk9Nd.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p></p><p>The Ghost Blade:</p><p><img src="http://i.imgur.com/3c7WHtV.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p></p><p>Tag and Chase:</p><p><img src="http://i.imgur.com/jkoHxGV.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p></p><p>Gnome Work Crew:</p><p><img src="http://i.imgur.com/Q9nUtQ8.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p></p><p>Mobile Bookshelf with Selector Arm (Gnome invention):</p><p><img src="http://i.imgur.com/9MjZXQS.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p></p><p>Dragon Mountain Monument:</p><p><img src="http://i.imgur.com/WzbB8Ko.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p></p><p>Untitled (Looks to be a Gnomish Contraption):</p><p><img src="http://i.imgur.com/WwWaHqP.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Libertad, post: 6238150, member: 6750502"] [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/gIxoxRI.jpg?1[/img] [b]Dragonlance Campaign Setting Part 9: Other Eras of Play[/b][/center] This is the last chapter of the Dragonlance Campaign Setting. After that we have a short appendix containing two adventures, one of which I already covered in the Key of Destiny Adventure Path. This chapter covers two historical eras in Dragonlance: the War of the Lance, during which the original 1984 Chronicles and modules were set, and the Early Age of Mortals, when the Dragon Overlords first came to Krynn and the gods fell silent again. [center][b]War of the Lance[/b][/center] As detailed in Krynn's history in Chapter 6, the War of the Lance was a 4 year conflict when Takhisis' Dragonarmies set about conquering much of Ansalon, aided by the might of chromatic dragons and the goddesses' priests. The Heroes of the Lance, originally a group of 8 friends reuniting at the Inn of the Last Home, played a vital role in saving Ansalon from the Dark Queen's forces. They helped restore knowledge of the Gods of Light and Balance with the discovery of the Disks of Mishakal, learned how to forge the legendary Dragonlances and united the forces of Good on Krynn under the Whitestone Council, unearthed the deadly secret of the draconians' creation and convinced the metallic dragons to enter into the war, and destroyed the temple of Takhisis in Neraka and killed Emperor Ariakas. Games set during the War of the Lance are a different affair than the default 5th Age. For one, most of Krynn around this time does not follow any of the Gods, Takhisis' forces notwithstanding. The Wizards of High Sorcery still receive aid from the Gods of Magic, but otherwise the deities are silent, and the Wizards don't go around telling people that they gain their magic with the help of the gods. There is still much resentment over the Cataclysm, when they tossed a giant meteor onto Istar and wrought much death and destruction onto the continent. The Gods of Darkness return first to the world, but they are secretive and trust their aid to a select few clerics. Takhisis is the exception, as she begins recruiting humanoids and monsters to Neraka via divine guidance, to eventually form the Dragonarmies. We get a detailed write-up of how each of the deities interacts with the world when they return to it. The evil ones had a 200-year head start, with the rest coming very recently (at the beginning of the War of the Lance). Branchala gives his spells to clerics with a knack for music and travel, and directed them to help combat Lorac's Nightmare, the force which is destroying Silvanesti. Habbukuk set about gathering clerics and druids to help heal nature and communities afflicted by the wars. Kiri-Jolith's faithful joined the Knights of Solamnia and helped the Order of the Sword reconnect with the deity. Majere's worship and knowledge was preserved in a few Ergothian monasteries, even if he did not grant spells, so it wasn't hard for them to recover. Mishakal first came when Goldmoon, a Hero of the Lance and daughter of an Abasinian Plains chieftian, discovered the Disks of Mishakal and helped spread the word of the Gods' return to the world along with Elistan. Paladine was instrumental in the spread of knowledge as well, often taking the form of a senile wizard named Fizban to subtly help out the Heroes of the Lance and others to help defeat the Dragonarmies. Solinari foresaw the coming war and instructed the head of the White Robes to find a "sword," or wizardly pupil to train, to help fight the evil. That sword was Raistlin, a Hero of the Lance. For the deities of Neutrality, there's not really much that hasn't already been said, other than that Lunitari guided Raistlin into joining the Red Robes, Reorx was still worshiped by dwarves (although a lot of it was for show before the War), and Shinare's faith rose quickly during the war. For the deities of evil, Chemosh's faith flourished in hopeless people willing to do anything to avoid death in this miserable Age, Hiddukel's priests quietly kept to the north, Morgion gained a following among the Zhakar dwarves who hoped that he could cure their fungal plague. As for Nuitari, the Black Robes were traditionally enemies of Takhisis' faithful, but they entered into an alliance with the Dragonarmies and helped them form the ritual to create draconians and flying citadels (airborne castles carrying troops which attack cities from the air) for military dominance. Takhisis, of course, had her faith grow exponentially with the power of the Dragonarmies. Zeboim's faith is small and secret, by fearful sailors placating her wrath. We get a rundown of character classes and how they differ during the War of the Lance. Bards cannot cast spells due to them being of primal sorcery, mystics and sorcerers don't exist (except for fey and dragons), and divine spellcasters could not gain spells until their respective deities come back to the world. The Legion of Steel and Knights of Takhisis/Neraka don't exist yet in this era, and thus cannot be taken. We also get a brief rundown on some countries and how they differed back during the War. Abanasinia was a theocracy ruled by the Seekers, worshipers of false deities who sought to exploit and control the populace before the Dragonarmies invaded and occupied many of the ruins and towns. Balifor was rugged country, but much more plentiful than the modern Desolation. Blode is an ogre country in the southern Khalkist mountains, and they live in the ruined cities of their ancient empire and view themselves as more "cultured" than their cousins in Kern. The Maelstrom, a giant red whirpool covering much of the open sea in the Blood Sea Isles, makes travel treacherous in the region. Estwilde was one of the first countries to be dominated by the Dragon Empire, and its more evil-inclined tribes joined the Dragonarmies. The kender of Goodlund was under siege by the Black Dragonarmy, but they managed to hold their ground. The ogres of the nation of Kern live lives as scavengers in their mountainous country and united under the Dragonarmies eager to recruit them. Kharolis is a relatively stable country, and some wizards living nearby used their magic to help them, earning them much goodwill among the populace (a rarity during this time). Qualinesti was evacuated during the early War of the Lance when the Red Dragonarmy invaded, and Silvanesti went to war about a decade before the War began. The Silvanesti king Lorac used a Dragon Orb to repel the Dragonarmy, only to unleash his nightmares into the world and turn his forest nation into a monstrous hellscape. The dragonarmies retreated out of Silvanesti along with most of the elven population, due to it becoming virtually uninhabitable. The Taman Busuk region is the heart of the Dragon Empire and home to the capital city of Neraka, which is thriving in this time. Here and in the city of Sanction the Dragonarmy forces are omnipresent, with clerics, draconians, and all manner of monstrous soldiers ready to be shipped off to far-away lands for conquest. Thorbadin's gates are closed off to the rest of the world, and internal politicking almost results in them being invaded by the Dragonarmies as the dark dwarves made a deal with them; the Heroes of the Lance help repel their efforts. Admittingly, this is really a bare-bones description of the era. The War of the Lance sourcebook by Sovereign Press goes into far more detail on this era, as do the original Chronicles. [center][b]The Early Age of Mortals[/b][/center] This era is set after the devastating effects of the Chaos War, when Takhisis stole away the world and the Dragon Overlords discovered the Material Plane. Once again the gods lose touch with the world, except now even the Wizards cannot gain access to magic. With the appearance of the Dragon Overlords, people are desperate to find new forms of magic hinted at by Fizban in a note before he vanished. This magic was sorcery and mysticism. There are actually rules which I forgot to cover in the Magic chapter, where a Wizard can become a Sorcerer, or a Cleric a Mystic, and vice versa. Basically spells in a spellbook become spells known and vice versa, and divine casters either gain or lose one domain (or both if a mystic becomes a cleric of a deity whose original domain is not among the selection). It's a process which happens during the next level up, and the convert is saddled with a -20% penalty on experience points gained until the new level. We also get stast for Beryllanthranox, the Green Dragon Overlord. She is a Challenge Rating 26 dragon with some pretty beefed-up stats (893 hit points, 38 armor class, saving throws in the high 20s to high 30s, a 30d6 acidic breath weapon, and can cast 9th-level spells). During this time the Dragon Overlords (as well as many chromatic dragons) set about stealing the essence of their own kind to gain power. In the Overlords' case it was to solidify their power base, while in the weaker kins' case it was a desperate struggle to find a way to survive. This horrific event resulted in a near-genocide of dragonkind, known as the Dragon Purge. All but one of the metallic dragons had no choice but to go into hiding to avoid death, but even then many died. Eventually Malystryx calls for an end to the purge, and sets up borders with the other Overlords of the land they ruled. The Dragon Overlords ruled entire countries at this time. The five Dragon Overlords are: Malystryx (Red, ruler of the Desolation region, Khur, and Kern), Khellendros (Blue, ruler of much of Solamnia), Beryllinthranox (Green, ruler of Qualinesti), Onysablet (Black, ruler of Blode, Estwilde, and southern Nordmaar), and Gellidus (White, ruler of Southern Ergoth). All but the last two died by the time the current era came, and Onysablet got slain by a hero in a novel sometime after this book was published. As for Gellidus, well he's the final boss of the Key of Destiny Adventure Path, and has quite an epic showdown (I won't spoil things here). After her theft of the world, Takhisis was too weak to grant divine spells or exert her influence upon Krynn, and the spirits of the dead could not move on to the afterlife. She promises the dead to free them in return for service, and sends them out to leech what little magic remains in the world. Over time she gains more power, and transfers a semblance of power into Mina, a young orphan girl. Mina originally washed up up on the shores of Schallsea and is adopted by mystics of the Citadel of Light. In reality she is a goddess who was put into a dreaming state around the Age of Starbirth to preserve the divine balance. Possessing the powers of a true cleric, she is a prophet of the One God, a god she claims never abandoned Krynn, who in reality is Takhisis (but she doesn't tell anyone this). She ends up joining the Knights of Takhisis (who are distraught over the apparent loss of their goddess) and quickly ascends to a leadership position. She forms an army of soldiers across Ansalon to fight the Dragon Overlords and kills Khellendros by turning his own breath weapon against him with Divine Retribution spell (mentioned back in Chapter Three), and uses a Dragonlance to slay Malystryx. Takhisis comes to her end when the surviving Heroes of the Lance use the Device of Time Journeying to restore a connection between Krynn and the Gods. Furious, they punish Takhisis by cursing her with mortality, but Mina is still faithful to her. She is slain by an elf who loved Mina, and Mina takes her goddess' body to parts unknown, swearing vengeance upon elvenkind. Paladine becomes mortal to preserve the balance, and Krynn is once again reunited with its gods. Naturally, there is also a sourcebook for the Age of Mortals. Unfortunately, it was developed by Fast Forward Entertainment, and wasn't very good. [i]Thoughts so far:[/i] This doesn't have much in the way of advice for playing in the era beyond a list of events and how they can be used for stories. Unfortunately, more detailed play will require additional materials to fully understand the era. I also heavily recommend making your player's original PCs the Heroes of the Lance if gaming in the Age of Despair. Making your own heroes be the stars of the show is quite the rewarding experience, and playing your own characters with their own pasts is overall superior than using another group's pre-designed PCs or playing second fiddle to Raistlin and the gang. On that note, there is a super-updated 3rd Edition version of the original Dragonlance Chronicles (D&D's very first Adventure Path), which I plan on reviewing after I complete the Key of Destiny. But all will come in due time... [center][b]Adventure: The Ghost Blade[/b][/center] Rounding out the book are two adventures. We will cover one of them, the Ghost Blade, a short little dungeon crawl for 4 PCs of 5th level. Basically in times long ago, a Qualinesti princes named Enarathan wielded a blade which allowed him to stealthily approach his foes. Unfortunately this proved to be his undoing, as the magic of an ogre magic warned of the elf's presence when he tried ambushing an ogre patrol. Enarathan escaped, but was mortally wounded. He died and was buried with honors in a tomb by his people, his blade with him. The adventure takes place in the village of Chisel in southern Solamnia, near the coast of the new sea. Now a map to the tomb has been discovered by a group of rogue draconians. While preparing for some tomb-robbing in town, a kender managed to "find" the map laying around; the draconians pursue him, but the kender thinks it's all a game of tag, and the group runs right in to the PCs, and are willing to fight to get it. The draconians are baaz and six in number. Once the PCs kill them or drive them off, the kender introduces himself as Thorn Troublefinder, and shows the PCs the map ("I was trying to return it to its owner when these strange men started chasing me!"). Said map is in Evlish script, and if the PCs are reluctant to go to the tomb, Thorn will mention that the draconians already know where it is and are more than willing to raid and defile it. He will accompany them on the adventure if they so desire (he's a 2nd level Rogue). Three more Draconians stalk the PCs on the way to the tomb. They will try hiding or ambushing the PCs when it's most convenient, but opposed rolls allow the party to detect their presence. The tomb itself is located in a heavily overgrown forest, and is unimaginatively named the Ghost Blade Dungeon by the book, and consists of 6 rooms. An entryway covered by a tree's roots which can only be found via searching, an antechamber leading into 4 other rooms (north, south, east, west, last two are secret doors), and a pit trap in the middle. The western way leads to a former purification chamber, where visitors bathed in the waters; it is now home to a gray ooze. The eastern way leads into a shrine to the god E'li (Elven name for Paladine). The statue of the deity is magical, and bathes the room in a consecrate spell if set during an era where the Gods have returned to the world, and can be used to petition the Gods of Light to make a faithful person a cleric. The northern way leads into a room full of tiles, of depictions of Enarathan in his life battling ferocious enemies (such as that ogre magi). On the far northern side of the room is a secret door leading to the actual coffin, and is sealed with a glyph of warding which scours fire on intruders who don't dispel the runes. Additionally, four wooden statues in the room will come to life and attack the party. They're very weak Challenge Rating 2 constructs, with slam attacks and minor hardness (deducts 5 points of physical damage). The final room contains Enarathan's preserved corpse, along with Alurashean, the Ghost Blade. His silver breastplate is cursed specifically to deal with tomb robbers. It is a +1 Breastplate of Elven Rage, which grants morale bonuses on attacks against the wearer by elves and a -6 penalty on Charisma-based skill checks with elves. The Ghost Blade is a +1 longsword made of silver which grants a +10 on Hide and Move Silently checks when unsheathed, as it muffles the wearer's sounds and makes them appear shadowy. If the blade is used to strike an opponent, the bonuses are lost until it's sheathed and unsheathed again. Once the PCs leave the tomb, more draconians, 3 baaz and 1 kapak ambush them. The kapak has a +1 short sword. Regardles of whether the PCs take Enarathan's possessions or choose to preserve the sanctity of the tomb, the adventure is over. Overall I feel that the monsters are a little too weak for a party of 5th-level PCs. It also feels out of place in Dragonlance, as a traditional dungeon crawl for loot, especially of a beloved elven prince, doesn't seem in line with earlier themes of the book. An adventure where the PCs have to protect a town from clerics of a deity of darkness, or help a knight's squire on a quest to prove his worth, would be more appropriate. [i]Concluding Thoughts:[/i] A wonderful book for a wonderful campaign setting. Dragonlance Campaign Setting does a great job of detailing the world and converting it to the 3rd Edition ruleset. It blends the fluff and crunch together so that they feel seamless and help tell a greater picture, as opposed to other sourcebooks which just dump new spells and prestige classes without giving a wider context to the world they're in. The game mechanics are rusty in parts, with unbalanced options, but overall this is a very comprehensive and entertaining book which really captures the feel of Dragonlance. Dragonlance has not made a resurgence in 4th Edition, and time will tell if D&D Next picks up the setting. Until then, this is one of the most informative and up to date sourcebooks for the world of Krynn and its people. There's actually some unused artwork of the book on the Wizards of the Coast page for this adventure, as well as others. Here they are: Enarathan's Rest: [img]http://i.imgur.com/FSzk9Nd.jpg[/img] The Ghost Blade: [img]http://i.imgur.com/3c7WHtV.jpg[/img] Tag and Chase: [img]http://i.imgur.com/jkoHxGV.jpg[/img] Gnome Work Crew: [img]http://i.imgur.com/Q9nUtQ8.jpg[/img] Mobile Bookshelf with Selector Arm (Gnome invention): [img]http://i.imgur.com/9MjZXQS.jpg[/img] Dragon Mountain Monument: [img]http://i.imgur.com/WzbB8Ko.jpg[/img] Untitled (Looks to be a Gnomish Contraption): [img]http://i.imgur.com/WwWaHqP.jpg[/img] [/QUOTE]
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