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

 

[GMforPowergamers]

what existing theme in Krynn does it fit?

short lived tribesman that can stand in for native Americans without making them blond hair blue eyed

heroic defenders of nature

 

[Velderan]

short lived tribesman that can stand in for native Americans without making them blond hair blue eyed

heroic defenders of nature

Centaur are typically presented in DL as heroic defenders of nature.

Goldmoon is the only one in her tribe described as blond hair blue eyed, the rest are described like Riverwind.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

That just shows terrible creativity and lack of worldbuilding because should said player/PC looks into the reasons why, then the DM has no choice but to answer.

Wait, a Krynn PC is going to be investigating the lack of orcs on Krynn? Why?

Do people around you in real life investigate the reasons behind the absence of orcs on Earth?

And what's going on in your campaigns that "let's look into the cosmological reasons behind the way this world ended up" is the most pressing issue?

 

[mamba]

so, since the orc niche in 2022 is NOT 'born to be dark lord minion' the CURRENT theme and place of orc/half orc is NOT filled by modern draconians.

there is no orc niche, it's a spot overcrowded with other races

 

[Micah Sweet]

1) tasslehoff on his own in a novel is AWESOME. (i say this as someone that hates the kender write up for games)
2) this is what I mean... in 1985 they thought orc niche was born just to be a minion of the darklord. They MADE a new deadlier minion of the dark lady...

so, since the orc niche in 2022 is NOT 'born to be dark lord minion' the CURRENT theme and place of orc/half orc is NOT filled by modern draconians.

Orcs don't have a current theme. Nothing has replaced what was taken away.

 

[Dausuul]

The topic of why orcs don't exist in Dragonlance is as old as Krynn itself, and has been raised again with the upcoming release of Shadow of the Dragon Queen. The Dragonlance Nexus talked to Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman to get the scoop!

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

No one should ever need an answer to "Why are orcs (or elves, or dwarves, or whatever) not in this fantasy setting?"

The question should be, "Why are they in this setting?"

The vast majority of fantasy settings don't have any of those things. Don't get me wrong, I love the Lord of the Rings, but there is so much more to fantasy fiction than Tolkien and his imitators (and their imitators, and their imitators).

 

[Vaalingrade]

I'd argue the opposite. It's terrible creative to cram everything in just to put everything in. If there's no reason beyond "well some player might be really stubborn and not pick something we did build into the world", why force something into your creative work if it doesn't have a place?

As I said in... I have no idea which of the half dozen DL flamewars I posted, but...

Basically players aren't going to ask for a whole history with settlements and lore for their--I'm gonna say Tabaxi to keep people form fixating on orcs. The lore and DM just need to not obstruct. The player can come up with a justification or... not. They're a weird unique thing in the world like any other PC.

Nothing has to be forced, going either way. People just need to get out of each others' way.

 

[Vaalingrade]

No one should ever need an answer to "Why are orcs (or elves, or dwarves, or whatever) not in this fantasy setting?"

The question should be, "Why are they in this setting?"

The vast majority of fantasy settings don't have any of those things. Don't get me wrong, I love the Lord of the Rings, but there is so much more to fantasy fiction than Tolkien and his imitators (and their imitators, and their imitators).

If we want to defy Tolkien, how about getting rid of elves and finally letting rogues eat rangers and take their stuff instead of the guys we only just started doing interesting things with?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Basically players aren't going to ask for a whole history with settlements and lore for their--I'm gonna say Tabaxi to keep people form fixating on orcs. The lore and DM just need to not obstruct. The player can come up with a justification or... not. They're a weird unique thing in the world like any other PC.

If Tabaxi players are going to be asking any lore questions, I suspect it's going to be "why don't tabaxi have their own language in most worlds?"

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

What about the tarmaks from Ithin'carthia?