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[Let's Read] Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen
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<blockquote data-quote="Steel_Wind" data-source="post: 8848370" data-attributes="member: 20741"><p>Some are worse than others. DL1 is the one that is the worst for this, and it continues in DL2. It gets <em>much</em> better after that.</p><p></p><p>It's not perfect by any means. I think it is possible to add to DL1 (a <strong><em>lot</em></strong>, actually) to make the whole thing flow very differently -- and <em>reasonably,</em> too. The stuff where NPCs march the characters to the Forest Master at arrow point is just heavy-handed nonsense. You can get around that easily. The most important thing is to put two concepts together:</p><p></p><p>1 - <strong>Add stuff: </strong>Add a LOT of stuff and leave it up to your players which way they go: You can add an entire lengthy chapter to Haven, in particular, that makes everything seem utterly and totally different (for the good reason that it will be) and have the PCs escape the Lord City by riverboat -- which leads them pretty much where you want them. You can also add elements to the Que-Teh, Que-Shu and Que-Kiri -principally as prisoners to be rescued from a camp (think something like the Raider's Camp in HotDQ) and change the feel of DL1 completely.</p><p></p><p><strong>2 - Free Your Mind:</strong> This is the hardest part, to be honest. The impetus for both the DM and the players to remake scenes from the novel is what needs to change. These are not design elements of the module as much as they are <em>mental chains</em> that all people involved need to shed. It can be <em>hard</em>. But when combined with adding new elements to the module, it works the best I think (I did run a re-worked version of DL1 summer before last for my family during Covid). That certainly seems to be the after campaign reports from those who have done it successfully.</p><p></p><p>The biggest issue with the perceived railroady nature of things is that for both DMs and players, the existing module elements that are railroady (and there are some elements, <em>especially </em>in DL1 that no modern designer would ever write now) can largely be addressed with <em>modest consistent changes</em>. It's just a matter of making some design choices to remove those more offensive elements. Not a big deal, really. Traditional XP points would turn this approach into an arithmetical impossibility - but milestone levelling fixes all of that with a wave of your hand and a <em><strong><em>POOF</em> </strong></em>of magic dust. Long rest - and even short rest - healing rules for 5e, when combined with the powers of the <em>Staff of Mishakal</em> allow a reasonable party of 4-6 PCs in 5e to have the resources to survive all of this in a way that a party pf PCs could not easily do under 3.x or PF1.</p><p></p><p>The later elements of the campaign are <em>really cool modules</em> though -- and they have for the most part, never been spoiled in novel form. They can benefit from some design changes and updating the maps (for VTT play) and encounters - but they are very worthwhile playing. There were some really great authors and designers in TSR in the mid-80s. The largest amount of time and money that TSR devoted in its heyday in the 80s was to DragonLance -- <em>and it still shows</em>. The artwork was outstanding and the maps remain phenomenal. The premise is still cool AF. But in order to get there, you have to pass through the initial gauntlet of DL1 and DL2 - and that's hard for many to do.</p><p></p><p>The biggest challenge is getting through DL1 and DL2 with a group of players who are engaged and want to play. After that? It's <em>easy peasy.</em> And totally worthwhile.</p><p></p><p>By way of my own assessment after reading SotDQ - does it look like it will be fun? Sure. I look forward to running it, admittedly after several changes of my own that I will make to it.</p><p></p><p>Does SotDQ look like it will be as great and sweeping as the original classic modules? No, <strong><em>Hell No</em></strong>, even. The DL Classic campaign is still the best form to consume the War of the Lance - you just need to approach it (re)visiting that with great care.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Steel_Wind, post: 8848370, member: 20741"] Some are worse than others. DL1 is the one that is the worst for this, and it continues in DL2. It gets [I]much[/I] better after that. It's not perfect by any means. I think it is possible to add to DL1 (a [B][I]lot[/I][/B], actually) to make the whole thing flow very differently -- and [I]reasonably,[/I] too. The stuff where NPCs march the characters to the Forest Master at arrow point is just heavy-handed nonsense. You can get around that easily. The most important thing is to put two concepts together: 1 - [B]Add stuff: [/B]Add a LOT of stuff and leave it up to your players which way they go: You can add an entire lengthy chapter to Haven, in particular, that makes everything seem utterly and totally different (for the good reason that it will be) and have the PCs escape the Lord City by riverboat -- which leads them pretty much where you want them. You can also add elements to the Que-Teh, Que-Shu and Que-Kiri -principally as prisoners to be rescued from a camp (think something like the Raider's Camp in HotDQ) and change the feel of DL1 completely. [B]2 - Free Your Mind:[/B] This is the hardest part, to be honest. The impetus for both the DM and the players to remake scenes from the novel is what needs to change. These are not design elements of the module as much as they are [I]mental chains[/I] that all people involved need to shed. It can be [I]hard[/I]. But when combined with adding new elements to the module, it works the best I think (I did run a re-worked version of DL1 summer before last for my family during Covid). That certainly seems to be the after campaign reports from those who have done it successfully. The biggest issue with the perceived railroady nature of things is that for both DMs and players, the existing module elements that are railroady (and there are some elements, [I]especially [/I]in DL1 that no modern designer would ever write now) can largely be addressed with [I]modest consistent changes[/I]. It's just a matter of making some design choices to remove those more offensive elements. Not a big deal, really. Traditional XP points would turn this approach into an arithmetical impossibility - but milestone levelling fixes all of that with a wave of your hand and a [I][B][I]POOF[/I] [/B][/I]of magic dust. Long rest - and even short rest - healing rules for 5e, when combined with the powers of the [I]Staff of Mishakal[/I] allow a reasonable party of 4-6 PCs in 5e to have the resources to survive all of this in a way that a party pf PCs could not easily do under 3.x or PF1. The later elements of the campaign are [I]really cool modules[/I] though -- and they have for the most part, never been spoiled in novel form. They can benefit from some design changes and updating the maps (for VTT play) and encounters - but they are very worthwhile playing. There were some really great authors and designers in TSR in the mid-80s. The largest amount of time and money that TSR devoted in its heyday in the 80s was to DragonLance -- [I]and it still shows[/I]. The artwork was outstanding and the maps remain phenomenal. The premise is still cool AF. But in order to get there, you have to pass through the initial gauntlet of DL1 and DL2 - and that's hard for many to do. The biggest challenge is getting through DL1 and DL2 with a group of players who are engaged and want to play. After that? It's [I]easy peasy.[/I] And totally worthwhile. By way of my own assessment after reading SotDQ - does it look like it will be fun? Sure. I look forward to running it, admittedly after several changes of my own that I will make to it. Does SotDQ look like it will be as great and sweeping as the original classic modules? No, [B][I]Hell No[/I][/B], even. The DL Classic campaign is still the best form to consume the War of the Lance - you just need to approach it (re)visiting that with great care. [/QUOTE]
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