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

 

[Maxperson]

Cool. I can't play a healing cleric. I'll play a divine soul sorcerer. Or a redemption paladin. Or a Celestial warlock. Or a shepherd druid. Or a mercy monk. Or just a lore bard with a bunch of healing spells. Maybe I'll do an aasimar and take the Magic Initiate feat...

Shall I keep going or are going to ban the whole Player's Handbook?

Divine magic, magical healing abilities, and spells are completely unavailable in Krynn until the gods return.

 

[mamba]

I can opt to go to a different game and play an orc there. The DM cannot keep me from playing an orc or force me to play something other than an orc. He can only say no orcs in his game, which doesn't force me to do anything.

obviously at this DMs table, not at all. I assumed this is blatantly obvious

 

[Maxperson]

He ‘forced’ you to not play an orc, he did not force you to play an elf instead, he did not even force you to play at all.

He didn't force me not to play an orc since I went to the next table at the convention and played my orc there.

But if you want to get into real semantics like that, I forced the DM to say no orcs to me, so the players can force the DM!

 

[Maxperson]

obviously at this DMs table, not at all. I assumed this is blatantly obvious

Yes, as is the fact that the DM didn't force me to do anything. I can opt to play a different race there or opt to play the race I want elsewhere. Nobody can force me to make either choice.

 

[Remathilis]

I didn't look at the players guide. In the campaign setting it talks about the races of Eberron and those two are not among them. The player's guide also came out 2 years later so it's essentially a retcon of Eberron and allows races not allowed previously.

So then continuity is now established only by the original book or box set? Because buddy, you just made every supplement and subsequent setting guide a retcon. And if they are all retcons, then continuity is fluid and there is no reason why adding orcs is any more of a retcon than adding urda or Thanoi or mad gnomes.


The word you're looking for is "oops." Just say "oops" and get out.

 

[Remathilis]

A setting is a setting is a setting. So first, we can eliminate Star Wars, World of Darkness and Doctor Who from that list, since I said fantasy for a reason. Sci-fi and modern are different genres, so you can't just toss fantasy rules into one of those settings and expect them to easily work.

As for the rest, do you really think that I can't grab literally any of those settings and run a D&D game in it with no problems?

A setting is a setting is a setting. Official support is not required for my statement to be true.

All of those settings have had d20 compatible rules. Some made WotC themselves. They are as legit as your amateur homebrew.

 

[Remathilis]

Divine magic, magical healing abilities, and spells are completely unavailable in Krynn until the gods return.

Good thing "the gods return" is literally day 0 of this module then.

 

[Faolyn]

That's not a relevant difference. We're discussing how the settings play with the various systems and if design affects it. While my design and WotC's design differed and one is official and one isn't, to the players playing in the two games, there is no difference as far as whether they are D&D settings or not.

It's a tremendous difference. I'm really surprised you can't see it.

Both Theros and my game are using D&D rules with zero issues. Both mesh perfectly with said rules. Play runs smoothly and enjoyably. Where the Theros setting originated vs. my D&D originating settting just doesn't matter. It's literally a distinction without a difference.

Right--because you wrote your game to work in D&D.

How does the magic failure of GURPS change anything with the Realms setting? Would there still be Elminster? Yes. Would he be a chosen of Mystra? Yes. Would there be gods? Yes. Would the history remain the same? Yes.

No actually, it wouldn't. The way that magic works is incredibly different. Spell failure is but one small aspect of those differences. The fact that there's no such thing as "wizard magic" or "cleric magic" is another. All spellcasters work the same way, and the mere fact that any old wizard can cure your wounds, and any old cleric could fireball you, changes the face of the world. Unless, of course, you're using yet another type of GURPS magic, but most divine magic there is still totally different than D&D magic. The facts that there are very few permanent spells in GURPS, and enchantment is a lot harder and more time-consuming (and more dangerous, because of demons) is yet another difference. GURPS simply isn't equipped for the type of magic that runs willy-nilly throughout Faerun without resorting to a lot of GM handwaving. It's built for a more "realistic", lower-fantasy world. It's very well-known that GURPS tends to fail in high-power, splashy settings, whether that's high magic or super heroes.

Plus, going by requisite count and mana cost, it is literally easier and cheaper to use magic decapitate a foe (Decapitation) than it is to use magic to pull arrowheads and porcupine quills out of a person (Cleansing). That is also going to affect the world.

You can play a GURPS fantasy game with little or no magic far more easily than you can in D&D--even if you get rid of all the spellcasting classes and archetypes, the system simply assumes more magic in the world.

And that's just magic. Even character building is quite a bit different. Unless you're enforcing Dungeon Fantasy-style templates, you're not going to get the neat little boxes that D&D has, which means that your party is going to have a much different composition.

And again, I say this as someone who has, played, run, and worldbuilt for both D&D and GURPS. For that matter, I've run Ravenloft games using D&D5e, GURPS 4e, Fate, and, once, Prime Time Adventures (never again; that system does not work for me). They all were very different in how the game felt and played out.

Heck, this very thread shows how huge a difference you get just running the game in different editions of (A)D&D. Dragonlance with orcs, sorcerers, warlocks, bards that aren't multiclassed, and no racial limitations on class or level is a very different beast than it was back in AD&D.

 

[Veltharis ap Rylix]

While there is nothing wrong with holding that view, it is in direct contradiction to 5e's default stance on clerics.

"Clerics are intermediaries between the mortal world and the distant planes of the gods. As varied as the gods they serve, clerics strive to embody the handiwork of their deities. No ordinary priest, a cleric is imbued with divine magic."

"Divine magic, as the name suggests, is the power of the gods, flowing from them into the world. Clerics are conduits for that power, manifesting it as miraculous effects. The gods don't grant this power to everyone who seeks it, but only to those chosen to fulfill a high calling."

"When a cleric takes up an adventuring life, it is usually because his or her god demands it. Pursuing the goals of the gods often involves braving dangers beyond the walls of civilization, smiting evil or seeking holy relics in ancient tombs."

Rightly or wrongly(and I think wrongly), 5e has gone back to divine power coming from the gods and clerics specifically serving a god to get that power.

And that is a change I choose to ignore for a number of reasons, not the least of which being that it runs counter to a number of canonical Eberron religions that have nothing to do with the gods (the Blood of Vol, elven ancestor worship, the Paths of Light and Inspiration, etc.).

I feel no need to hold myself to whatever changes WotC decides to make for their official 5e release of any particular setting or material. I'm a Planescape fan that managed to live through 4e chunking the Great Wheel into the garbage, and I can still swipe a good idea or two from the World Axis, or Eberron's unique cosmology, or Pathfinder's Great Beyond, etc. when it suits me.

Change is not always bad. If they put out something that works for you, great. If not, give them your feedback and either put in the effort to make it work for you or use the material from other editions/settings/systems that do.

 

[mamba]

But if you want to get into real semantics like that, I forced the DM to say no orcs to me, so the players can force the DM!

you caused it, you did not force it