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

 

[MonsterEnvy]

It really blows my mind that people cant play in a world that has established lore.

I am completely fine with playing in a world with established lore. I also don’t mind if that established lore has been altered, if I don’t like a change I can just use the older version.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

To me, Ravenloft wasn't ruined (ended, really) until VRG.

I forgot, how did it ruin it to you again?

 

[Xamnam]

I am of the opinion changing settings is fine for rereleasing them. The old books are still around.

It's a real bummer when updated versions of things excise components you think contribute unique aspects to the experience, and you know that that will be what the vast majority now think of as the thing. The amount of people who will seek out the old content will likely be a minute fraction, and that can mean people who might like the old version more might never see it. They might! But the conversation is already split by the new edition, and those sorts of changes exacerbate that wildly.

I'm not saying updates can't be improvements, or that they can't end up being better received than the original. Not every change is detrimental to every setting. But I'm not personally a fan of the attitude that the existence of the prior means the new can feel very free to make defining changes.

Though, I do think it's probably worth stating, in this particular context: I've never played with Dragonlance, and have no particular feelings on the exclusion of orcs from the setting.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I forgot, how did it ruin it to you again?

Because it changed the history of the setting in a way that can't be reconciled with previous work. I basically have to ignore it. And it was created by the IP holder as the new version of the setting, so the story I cared about is essentially over.

 

[Faolyn]

You think the changes are tiny, and you think playability for people unfamiliar to the setting is more important than narrative fidelity. I disagree.

OK, this is gatekeeping--you want the game to be unplayable for people who aren't familiar with the setting. That's not cool.

Dragonlance's narrative exists in one place and one place only: the novels. Everything else is entirely up to the table. Let's say you decide to run the very first module, Dragons of Despair, for your group--and have a TPK. Whoops! You broke the narrative fidelity. What if the PCs decide to keep the Blue Crystal Staff, or destroy it? What if the PCs don't care about finding a "true cleric"? Heck, the first chapter of the module is called "The Road Travels East." What if the players go west instead? All of that breaks the narrative.

There is literally no such thing as narrative fidelity in an RPG. All there is is background lore which may or may not have any actual meaning to the players, and the player's actions can and often should change that lore. Demanding that the game follow the novels or a set path is railroading to the extreme.

 

[Faolyn]

Eberron doesn't have a story. It has a state of affairs that pretty much never changes.

It's designed to change because of the PC's actions.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

It's a real bummer when updated versions of things excise components you think contribute unique aspects to the experience, and you know that that will be what the vast majority now think of as the thing.

Only if you're insecure in enjoying the things you like. If you just like them as they are and don't pay attention to what other people are doing, this isn't a problem.

But I'm not personally a fan of the attitude that the existence of the prior means the new can feel very free to make defining changes.

I'm a fan of the philosophy that all things are flawed and change is necessary for improvement. I'm not saying that all or even most changes are good . . . just that they're necessary, especially for older things that haven't aged well (original Ravenloft and Dragonlance).

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Because it changed the history of the setting in a way that can't be reconciled with previous work. I basically have to ignore it. And it was created by the IP holder as the new version of the setting, so the story I cared about is essentially over.

Ahh. So you would rather something never be updated over it being rebooted.

 

[mamba]

I think that the fact that people have made a big deal about the possibility of Orcs being added since (spends a few minutes looking) page 4 confirms my view.

I don't think anyone really argued much about whether orcs should be added, I certainly do not really care either way. The discussion was about 95% on whether they existed in canon all along.

 

[mamba]

You can have campaign plots without metaplots. You can have setting-specific novels without metaplots. You can have setting-specific novels that do those setting-specific adventures without metaplots. Metaplots just introduce the possibility of the setting being ruined.

You can, DL and DS simply didn't