Dragonlance Dragonlance Creators Reveal Why There Are No Orcs On Krynn

Talking to the Dragonlance Nexus, Dragonlance creators Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman revealed why the world of Krynn features no orcs -- in short, because they didn't want to copy Tolkien, and orcs were very much a 'Middle Earth' thing.

Weis told Trampas Whiteman that "Orcs were also viewed as very Middle Earth. We wanted something different." Hickman added that it was draconians which made Krynn stand out. Read more at the link below!

Why are there no Orcs in Krynn? Weis and Hickman give us the answer! - Dragonlance Nexus

Dragonhelm gets the scoop from Weis and Hickman on why there are no orcs in Krynn. Read More

dragonlancenexus.com

 

[Remathilis]

There were no assassins in 1e Krynn, either.

No assassins? That's got to be convenient for Kings, priests, and other nobility. Nobody trying to kill you and all...

 

[Velderan]

Not Orclandia. Zoolandia. The island ruled by Zoolander, where the guy who only plays orcs, the guy who only plays vampires, the guy who only plays beholders and the guy who only plays sentient oozes live.

People that rare don't need to be taken into consideration by the books. They're a case by case DM makes the decision thing, like playing an unusual race in Theros.

"This is Bob the orc, he was born in Neverwinter. When he came of age, he came upon a Spelljammer ship captain and joined their crew. They then Spelljammed (someone please tell me if this word is actually a verb or if there's something else I should be saying) their way off of Faerun and encountered pirates. Their ship was damaged in a fight and crashed on Krynn, landing in the sea near Kalaman. Washing up on the shore as the only survivor, he was found by a Kender who wanted to show him Kalaman because they had the best thing that Kender likes. On the way there, they come upon a draconian patrol attacking some refugees fleeing towards Kalaman and jump in to save them. Victorious, they escort the refugees back to Kalaman, who tell stories of Bob's valor. While the Knights are suspicious of the outsider, they can use any fighting man they can get and take Bob in."

Player gets to play orc, orc doesn't need to be explained in Krynnish lore.

No assassins? That's got to be convenient for Kings, priests, and other nobility. Nobody trying to kill you and all...

At least they have male trollops!

 

[mamba]

No assassins? That's got to be convenient for Kings, priests, and other nobility. Nobody trying to kill you and all...

assassin <> murderer (for hire)

 

[Fifth Element]

As a total aside, lots of things are defined by what they lack though, right? Vegetarian (no meat), vegan (no animal products except probably accidental insect parts), non-binary, non-metric scaling, non-Abelian rings, non-sectarian, NGO, etc...

These are all non-sequiturs, since they refer to very different things to fantasy worlds. You're also largely confusing labels for definitions.

 

[darjr]

Joe Manganiello has said he has a Dragons of Autumn Twilight script he's been trying to get made for a few years now. He was hopeful there might be interest with the success of GoT and the Peter Jackson LotR movies, so yeah, hopefully he has some luck if the new D&D movie does well.

Yup, it’s why I mentioned him. Note they’ve officially started work on the documentary.

 

[Cadence]

These are all non-sequiturs,

Hence the "As a total aside,"

since they refer to very different things to fantasy worlds. You're also largely confusing labels for definitions.

Vegetarian, for example is "a person who does not eat meat" which felt like a definition based on what is excluded. Which of the ones I gave do you think missed the mark.

 

[Maxperson]

discussions with 0 ability to change someones mind makes it an odd way to have a discussion. If wotc comes out and says "Hey we didn't want to limit players" would that do it? I bet not cause they already said that about class...

I for one don't buy that argument in the slightest. The entire game is about limits. I don't have the option to choose 3 races and 4 classes for my level 1 PC. I don't have the option to set his move to 90 and give him 300 hit points if I feel like it. I can't decide that my fighter casts spells like a wizard of the same level just because I think it would be cool. Limits are built into the game all over the place and race/class isn't/shouldn't be an exception.

A setting should include the races and classes that make sense for what the writers are trying to achieve, and exclude the rest with the language that Theros uses.

 

[Maxperson]

This.

At my table, only 1 player has a D&D Beyond subscription. No one owns any books (legally), but me and 1 player. They couldn't care less about the noise that happens online about this or that issue. What matters is when is the next play date and what occurs at the table.
But at least half know the lore of DL

Yep. I'm the only one at my table who follows D&D online. One of my players, though, watches a lot of Youtube videos on D&D lore for the various editions, which I don't do. That's it.

 

[mamba]

If wotc comes out and says "Hey we didn't want to limit players" would that do it? I bet not cause they already said that about class...

Would that do what? Convince me that adding orcs was / is a good idea?

If they list the races of Krynn and orcs are not included (or specifically called out as excluded), does that convince you that they made the right decision (and that Krynn is better off without them) ?

What would it take to change your mind? If the answer is it cannot be changed, then you are a hypocrite.

 

[Maxperson]

No assassins? That's got to be convenient for Kings, priests, and other nobility. Nobody trying to kill you and all...

That prohibition never made sense to me. I'm pretty sure I would have ignored it back then had anyone wanted to play one. A race not being there could make sense. Ki(monk power) not working right could make sense, though that one stretched it more than a bit for me. No one being trained to kill people? That one I didn't buy at all.