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

 

[Maxperson]

And others might end up like Krikkit in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy?

Speaking of which.........improbability drive would also be a good way to get to Krynn!

 

[Kai Lord]

back in 2e I had a friend who played in DL game as a renegade Wizard and the Black Robes found him and basicly said "You want to stay renegade do us 3 favors" and he basicly just became a plot hook 3 times for the DM

That's awesome!

 

[Maxperson]

all it takes is someone (wotc, you, one of the other posters) how it would impact or hurt Krynn if there were Orcs living someone on the planet. Remembering that the 1st 2 years we didn't have any reason to suspect it, and there are half orc assassins in the canon not treated like freaks.

That doesn't answer his question. How does this convince him that adding orcs is a good idea? Half orc assassins in one novel is enough to make it a good idea(nor a bad one).

 

[Maxperson]

then no reason to be mad about players having half orc PCs

Ahh, but that's not true(at least not for lack of canon reasons). While there is no canon, there are still people who would like the setting to be a certain way.

 

[Wolfram stout]

If you allow non-native races via spelljamming/planescaping, then you will also allow them to be clerics of alien (non-Krynnish) gods? As the Krynn gods are not "there" at first, could this not become highly problematic?

Or will there then have to be some meta-explanation as to why No Divine powers work even for alien clerics from off world?

 

[Maxperson]

If you allow non-native races via spelljamming/planescaping, then you will also allow them to be clerics of alien (non-Krynnish) gods? As the Krynn gods are not "there" at first, could this not become highly problematic?

Two things. First, you need more than one person in a "crystal sphere" to allow gods to grant spells there. Second, the Krynn gods ARE there at first. They've just withdrawn from the world and are not listening to the locals. They're still plenty capable of dealing with an interloper god.

 

[DarkCrisis]

I actually don't know how bards were handled in 2e and 3e DL. And in 1e they were such a weird corner case that they would have to be dealt with on an individual basis. Have to look that up...

2E Bards could only cast up 6th level spells, and then their spell list was fairly small. No Fireballs etc. Mostly utility. I would assume the Towers weren't to concerned with them unless they got into to much trouble.

3E, i dont recall

 

[Stormonu]

It feels like the inhabitants of a world knowing that there is life on other planets or across a multiverse (or on another continent even) would be a big deal as far as how the people of that world viewed themselves and possibly their religions.

It says right in Dragonlance Adventures that "the gods came from beyond", and there's evidence they brought beings with them from that place, so it's already sort of built into Krynn.

 

[Velderan]

2E Bards could only cast up 6th level spells, and then their spell list was fairly small. No Fireballs etc. Mostly utility. I would assume the Towers weren't to concerned with them unless they got into to much trouble.

3E, i dont recall

Was there actually a restriction on what schools they could learn spells from? I recall it suggesting they used spells more for entertainment and such, but don't recall anything that actually would prevent them from learning fireball.

 

[DarkCrisis]

Was there actually a restriction on what schools they could learn spells from? I recall it suggesting they used spells more for entertainment and such, but don't recall anything that actually would prevent them from learning fireball.

They had their own spell list in 2E