WotC Dragonlance: Everything You Need For Shadow of the Dragon Queen

WotC has shared a video explaining the Dragonlance setting, and what to expect when it is released in December.

World at War: Introduces war as a genre of play to fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons.

Dragonlance: Introduces the Dragonlance setting with a focus on the War of the Lance and an overview of what players and DMs need to run adventures during this world spanning conflict.

Heroes of War: Provides character creation rules highlighting core elements of the Dragonlance setting, including the kender race and new backgrounds for the Knight of Solamnia and Mage of High Sorcery magic-users. Also introduces the Lunar Sorcery sorcerer subclass with new spells that bind your character to Krynn's three mystical moons and imbues you with lunar magic.

Villains: Pits heroes against the infamous death knight Lord Soth and his army of draconians.

Notes --

• 224 page hardcover adventure
• D&D's setting for war
• Set in eastern Solamnia
• War is represented by context -- it's not goblins attacking the village, but evil forces; refugees, rumours
• You can play anything from D&D - clerics included, although many classic D&D elements have been forgotten
• Introductory scenarios bring you up to speed on the world so no prior research needed

 

[AnotherGuy]

Typically you could make the DL setting grittier than the pulpier settings by removing some of the core PHB. We have an entire thread advocating for low-level magic campaigns. Removing some of the spell-casting classes and supernatural playable races you can certainly bend towards a gritty campaign - of fighters, knights, lances. Also as a DM for DL, I'd prefer the players to play characters with a vested interest in the setting. What is the point of playing DL, when half the team is from the stars.
I don't need to make headspace for tieflings who have just wandered through and are now suddenly interested in saving not-their-homeworld. Those are my preferences.

I can and have run a pulp-anything-goes adventures.
Not every DM wants to run the Green Lantern Corps for every setting.

 

[humble minion]

I have to admit I'm curious - is there a huge demand from people who actually want to play (for instance) half- or full orcs in Krynn?

If so ... why? When your DM says 'roll up your new PCs, we're playing Dragonlance!' what motivates you to decide to play a half-orc in a world where there's no interesting half-orc history or gods or culture to base your PC on? What sort of story are you intending to tell, what is your PC history? Is it just the attraction of playing The Only Half-Orc In The World, or is the assumption that players like this are mostly going to be new to DL and just roll up a character from PHB options without knowing/caring about the lore from previous editions?

Edit: I suppose there's a game mechanical niche for 'big bruiser race', and given the unique setting role that draconians/dragonborn play in the setting, that really only leaves half-orcs out of the PC races for people wanting to play that sort of character. But if you're using custom racial ability adjustments (or if you allow minotaur PCs, which would be entirely lore-appropriate) then even that rationale largely evaporates.

 

[Alzrius]

I have to admit I'm curious - is there a huge demand from people who actually want to play (for instance) half- or full orcs in Krynn?

I'm just guessing here, but I think it's an issue of principle, in that there's a current line of thinking that player choices shouldn't be restricted (or at least, not without "good reason," which tends to vary wildly as to what fulfills that criteria).

 

[Twiggly the Gnome]

The Player's Handbook is just another book. The "If you don't include every option, you're not really playing D&D" gatekeeping here is weird af.

 

[bedir than]

I don't need to make headspace for tieflings who have just wandered through and are now suddenly interested in saving not-their-homeworld. Those are my preferences.

I can and have run a pulp-anything-goes adventures.
Not every DM wants to run the Green Lantern Corps for every setting.

This feels like a lack of conversation with the players and DM, not a failure of any setting rules.

 

[Remathilis]

The Player's Handbook is just another book. The "If you don't include every option, you're not really playing D&D" gatekeeping here is weird af.

I've always said: "The DM is free to restrict whatever they like for their table as long as their players agree. WotC, however, should make their published settings as open as possible and compatible with the core books."

So a DM fully has the right to say "no elves, tieflings and clerics in my game", but an Official Dungeons & Dragons[emoji769] setting should try and incorporate as much of the Player's Handbook it claims it's compatible with. I don't need an official book telling me what isn't allowed in my campaign. I need one that tells me how those things fit in that particular world or genre.

 

[AnotherGuy]

This feels like a lack of conversation with the players and DM, not a failure of any setting rules.

Ah, perhaps then we are speaking cross purposes. Nvm then.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

3rd level, he explicitly mentioned being unable to cast fireball. In the original module they were 3-5th, I think. Raistlin was 3rd.

In addition the original novel, there are druids "Gilthanas paused, clearing his throat. “Druids in the woods tended my injuries. From them, I learned that many of my warriors were still alive and had been taken prisoner. Leaving the druids to bury the dead, I followed the tracks of the dragonarmy and eventually came to Solace.”

I never took 'not being able to cast fireball' as 3rd level spell but okay

 

[Alzrius]

I never took 'not being able to cast fireball' as 3rd level spell but okay

I vaguely recall that Raistlin says something to the effect of "I'm not yet powerful enough to cast that spell."

 

[GMforPowergamers]

I have to admit I'm curious - is there a huge demand from people who actually want to play (for instance) half- or full orcs in Krynn?

I doubt it... I bet it will come up but not a lot...

If so ... why? When your DM says 'roll up your new PCs, we're playing Dragonlance!' what motivates you to decide to play a half-orc in a world where there's no interesting half-orc history or gods or culture to base your PC on?

my bet would be the player had a cool orc/half orc idea and wanted to play it and when told dragonlance was the setting got a two-five minute primer and nothing in that primer said "but limited races" and pitched it...