Dragonlance Stat the Dragonlance heroes


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Pauln6

Hero
I took another look at the Heroes of the Lance and they are a bit trickier than I first thought. Firstly, the versions in the modules are not consistent with the way they are portrayed in the initial trilogy and secondly, with so many fighters you feel the need to make them distinct while retaining the spirit of the characters.

The level imbalance seems OK as it should equalise fairly quickly in play. Tasslehoff's low intelligence makes him hopeless at finding traps but the Dungeon Delver feat seems to fit and mitigate against that somewhat. The 5e sneak attack rules may mean that the hoopack needs a rethink.

Tika looks fun with the Tavern Brawler feat and her frying pan but when standing next to Caramon and Sturm, it may feel like she needs something else in her tool kit if she is built as a melee focused champion. Two weapon fighting, while fun, would require a second feat and would make it harder for her to grapple. One level of Rogue makes her more interesting but risks squeezing out her frying pan as a viable weapon.

Goldmoon works quite well with 2 levels of Bard though, if her spells are ones that could easily be fluffed as barely magical such as Friends, True Strike, Animal Friendship, Bane, Healing Word, Heroism, much of which can be fluffed as her almost magical Charisma before clerical magic was restored. Song of Rest feels appropriate.

Raistlin is pretty easy by comparison and far more fun to play in 5e.

Flint's light armour with no dex modifier and hand axes with a shield potentially makes an underwhelming character. Even upgrading him to ring mail would help as would the UA Fell Handed feat although I think the playtest weapon feats need work .
 
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cbwjm

Seb-wejem
If I were to stat the heroes of the lance at the start series, I would first normalise the levels. Using the 2e box set character cards, most of them are 4th level so I would make all of the heroes level 4.

I would stick with the classes they were given back in the day, most of the fighters would I would probably make champions, I might make Sturm a cavalier though. I would also upgrade some of the equipment, Flint would instead have chainmail instead of studded leather, for instance. Raistlin, having just joined the red robes I would limit his subclass choice to conjuration, transmutation, illusion, or evocation (I'm thinking back to the available schools in 2e and the specialisations available for wizard of high sorcery in 3e). I would be tempted to make him an invoker but I could see conjuration or transmutation easily fitting him.

Tika is probably the only one that I'm a little on the fence on how I would divide up her classes. Either a rogue/fighter or single classed in either and just use the urchin background for her proficiency in thieves tools.
 

Pauln6

Hero
If I were to stat the heroes of the lance at the start series, I would first normalise the levels. Using the 2e box set character cards, most of them are 4th level so I would make all of the heroes level 4.

I would stick with the classes they were given back in the day, most of the fighters would I would probably make champions, I might make Sturm a cavalier though. I would also upgrade some of the equipment, Flint would instead have chainmail instead of studded leather, for instance. Raistlin, having just joined the red robes I would limit his subclass choice to conjuration, transmutation, illusion, or evocation (I'm thinking back to the available schools in 2e and the specialisations available for wizard of high sorcery in 3e). I would be tempted to make him an invoker but I could see conjuration or transmutation easily fitting him.

Tika is probably the only one that I'm a little on the fence on how I would divide up her classes. Either a rogue/fighter or single classed in either and just use the urchin background for her proficiency in thieves tools.

Not all the characters start in the same adventure so like for like levels are a bit more complicated than they look on paper. I think Tanis as a Battlemaster and Laurana as a Banneret work well, and Sturm as a knight, cavalier, or samurai could work.

In some ways, starting equipment is illusory, except for magic items, since the players will quickly upgrade to better armour and weapons. I gave Tika a mithral shirt rather than the leather in the module because Laurana's mother gives it to her in the book. Technically, Laurana should start in leather as per the book.

The elves are a bit tricky too. I think they are high elves, which means Laurana would get a cantrip (Friends works as barely magical and thematic as in the books, she starts of as quite spoiled and manipulative). Both the elves have high dex and should probably wear chain shirts to avoid losing out on that AC bonus, although Laurana ended up in plate armour.

The problem with Tika is that the frying pan is the most fun thing about her so going full Rogue makes that far more sub-optimal that a dip. In the modules , she was a much needed thief so that Tas' absence didn't doom a group without him. She might still be needed to fill that role in 5e so maybe a level 1 dip is needed. In the books, she never once displays any thief skills and defers to Tas to pick locks.

I think the trick with the champions is to use weapons and feats to make them feel more distinct. Caramon and Raistlin should be built to synergise as a double act, Tika has her Tavern Brawler, and Flint should be a bag of hit points. Would giving Flint a level of Barbarian be taking it too far? He always seemed ready to explode .
 
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Pauln6

Hero
It was a joke but I certainly wouldn't give it more than a 1d4 damage, or similar to a sap

In the original modules it was a heavy frying pan, more akin to a mace or warhammer, doing 1d8 damage. Short sword and frying pan as a two weapon combo certainly gives her a style that's different to the other fighters. It would give her two fighting styles: short sword and sneak attack plus frying pan off-hand or frying pan and grapple.

Gilthanas works as an eldritch knight if you focus on acid splash and melee cantrips that don't rely on his intelligence score to hit. I went for 6th level since multiclass in 1e required the PC to double the xp they needed. This certainly gives him more hp.

For Laurana, I decided to forfeit her feat to assume that her above average stats were as a result of boosting her scores.
 


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