2010: Is it Dragonlance? (hint)

[C_M2008]

As I mentioned earlier, I think we are being played...

Most certainly. I wouldn't count out the possibility that it'll come out of left field and be something totally unexpected.

I think the dragon lance anniversary is being played up to see if there is enough interest to warrant a CS in the next few years or not.

 

[Ktulu]

As I mentioned earlier, I think we are being played...

While that's possible, I don't think so. It's not like they have to be extra sneaky because the game might get leaked or something. They're just waiting on the big official announcement. They're peppering the site with occasional nods to the system and, while it could be a different one, that doesn't make sense from what they said.

They've said that hints will be coming. There are clear links to DragonLance being the next setting, yet no clear hints to any other setting (an "a" doesn't really help).

The best way to drum up talk for something is to let the rumors leak and deny until you announce. Right now, everyone's looking for any possible hint, talking, at length, about what a 4e verson of setting X would be (most specifically DL), and debating nonstop. What would WotC gain by saying, "Fooled you! It's actually Red Steel!"??

 

[Dausuul]

It's called an opinion I think.

As I mentioned earlier, I think we are being played...

I want to agree, but it feels too much like clinging to desperate hope in the face of mounting evidence. If it were purely the Rouse's decision, it might be such a trick, but with all due respect, I can't believe he'd be calling the shots on this one. This is the big announcement for WotC in 2009, and it makes no sense to build a lot of buzz around Dragonlance and then turn around and announce Dark Sun.

All the signs point to Dragonlance. It's the smart, safe move from a business standpoint, and the hints are coming thick and fast. Count me among those who consider it a lock. Ah well.

Here's what I'd like to see: They set 4E Dragonlance at the start of (or a few years prior to) Chronicles, then release a new sequence of modules based on the original series, with emphasis on allowing the PCs to chart the course of the War of the Lance. The continuity established in the novels can stay - no need to de-canonize anything - but players and DMs are not tied to it and are free to take things where they like.

I think this is a reasonable hope, based primarily on the fact that Raistlin Majere is statted out in the Character Builder as a heroic-level Red Robe rather than an epic-level Black Robe. Although it would require some very clever adventure design to keep the story fresh and new, so players who've read the novels don't anticipate everything.

 

[Henrix]

You might be thinking of this quote from Ryan Dancey:

No, no, it was much more recent, and specific.
I'd hasard that it was less than a year ago, I'm fairly certain it was in a discussion about 4e and campaign worlds - could be here, or perhaps in one of the podcasts (one of the Noonan-Mearls Q&As?).

 

[danir]

Well,
Another option which no-one mentioned is that they will publish Dark-Sun or another setting for 2010.
And,
release a new (stand-alone) Dragonlance adventure (similar to against the giants?) to celebrate the 25th years of the original DL adventures. In the same vain of expedition to... series from 3.5, which were good.

This will both allow them to get a new / revised setting out, without the weight that DL has (lots of fractured storylines, great 3.5 product line) - and lets them assess the interest for DL in 4e & address the 25th year celebration

Just another guess

 

[Dausuul]

Well,
Another option which no-one mentioned is that they will publish Dark-Sun or another setting for 2010.
And,
release a new (stand-alone) Dragonlance adventure (similar to against the giants?) to celebrate the 25th years of the original DL adventures. In the same vain of expedition to... series from 3.5, which were good.

This will both allow them to get a new / revised setting out, without the weight that DL has (lots of fractured storylines, great 3.5 product line) - and lets them assess the interest for DL in 4e & address the 25th year celebration

Just another guess

Ugh. Damn you. I had just resigned myself to no Dark Sun in 2010, and started considering the possible bright sides of a Dragonlance setting, and then you had to go and shine down a ray of brutal crimson hope.

You, sir, are a cruel, cruel person.

 

[Dragonhelm]

Looks like Dragonlance is a lock for the 2010 setting.

A lock? A contender, maybe, but a lock is a bit much. If it was a lock, WotC would be announcing a major new trilogy. Beyond one anthology in January, we're not seeing any Dragonlance novels for next year. In fact, every Dragonlance trilogy that was unfinished wraps up by the end of this year.

I still say that the re-release of the Prism Pentad is no coincidence. Nor should we discount that psionics will be in PHB3. If I was going to do Dark Sun, I would make certain that it happened right as psionics was released. Plus, Dark Sun fits the points of light theme quite well and it stands out from various "vanilla" settings.

As much as I love Dragonlance, I maintain that Dark Sun is more likely.

Mostly because which Dragonlance do you do?
Do you do the classic Dragonlance of the War of the Lance and the original novels? But that does tend to lock the future into what's already happened.
Or do you do the SAGA Dragonlance of the Dragon Overlords?
Or do you do the modern War of the Souls Dragonlance? But it's completely different from the classic novels new fans will likely start with?

Dragonlance is kind of like Star Wars in that it is a setting of settings. There are multiple eras to play in, all of which with their own draw. MWP saw this, and so they focused primarily on the Age of Mortals and the War of the Lance. Eventually, they would have tackled the Chaos War as well.

Does the brand new official books acknowledge what has happened in that line (such as the death of the last Dragon Overlord)? Can they use the fluff from those books for shared continuity? Will the writers from that line have input in the new books or will it be generic WotC staff?

I envision the latter with Wizbro using in-house writers, which might annoy fans of the MWP line and its writers (who are quite active and popular in that community). I expect lots of new contradictions and breaks from canon.

Which is why I think they'll let Dragonlance have a wee rest. Let some time go on, give some separation, then fans will be even more hungry for a return.

 

[Shemeska]

A lock? A contender, maybe, but a lock is a bit much. If it was a lock, WotC would be announcing a major new trilogy. Beyond one anthology in January, we're not seeing any Dragonlance novels for next year. In fact, every Dragonlance trilogy that was unfinished wraps up by the end of this year.

Of course when FR was being worked up for 4e, WotC went to a policy of not releasing any more novels set prior to the 4e time-jump. Perhaps not having any announced novels for DL for next year is only a prelude to a future announcement of novels set in some 4e DL after either a time-jump or a massive retcon/reboot of core DL setting elements or history. I could see it.

 

[Dausuul]

As much as I love Dragonlance, I maintain that Dark Sun is more likely.

Heh. Maybe we're both just trying to manage our expectations down.

I will say this much with confidence: Whatever the 2010 setting may or may not be, the buildup of buzz around Dragonlance is building up to something. You don't stir up the pot like that and then not serve the stew.

I'll go further and predict that a Dragonlance adventure will be announced, perhaps even released, as part of the 25th anniversary celebration at Gen Con. Maybe it'll be a big single adventure (on the scale of Red Hand of Doom), maybe it'll be a series or even a whole adventure path. Or maybe it will be simply Dragons of Despair* updated to 4E, with an option to issue more if it proves popular. There may or may not be a Dragonlance setting to go along with it, but an adventure there will be.

If the 2010 setting is in fact Dragonlance, I predict a totally new adventure, either set in a later era or (in the case of a reset) running in parallel with the events of the original Chronicles. If the 2010 setting is not Dragonlance, then I think the balance of probability favors a re-issuing of the original modules, with the Heroes of the Lance statted up for 4E.

What say you?

[SIZE=-2]*For those not familiar with it, Dragons of Despair was the very first module in the original Dragonlance adventure series, covering the journey of the Companions to Xak Tsaroth and the recovery of the Disks of Mishakal.[/SIZE]

 

[Silverblade The Ench]

Well, there's a clue we could look for. If we hear that someone from WotC has been talking to Brom or Larry Elmore, we'll know which setting to expect.

(Actually, Brom would only narrow it down to Dark Sun or Planescape, since he established the visual styles of both. And Larry Elmore is all over the place in old-school D&D. But if it's between Dark Sun and Dragonlance, there you are.)

Well, Brom rules, but...they have used others before who did great DS art, Baxa did a lot, but this guy did work for Dragon mag and it looks great to me

Dark Sun Witch detail by ~namesjames on deviantART