Dragonlance Dragonlance Adventure & Prelude Details Revealed

Over on DND Beyond Amy Dallen and Eugenio Vargas discuss the beginning of Shadow of ther Dragon Queen and provide some advice on running it.

Running a Session Zero for Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen

When starting a new adventure, it's a good idea to get on the same page as your party. Here's how to run a session zero for the upcoming Dragonlance adv...

www.dndbeyond.com

This epic war story begins with an invitation to a friend's funeral and three optional prelude encounters that guide you into the world of Krynn. Amy Dallen is joined by Eugenio Vargas to share some details about how these opening preludes work and some advice on using them in your own D&D games.

There is also information on the three short 'prelude' adventures which introduce players to the world of Krynn:

• Eye in the Sky -- ideal for sorcerers, warlocks, wizards, or others seeking to become members of the Mages of High Sorcery.
• Broken Silence -- ideal for clerics, druids, paladins, and other characters with god-given powers.
• Scales of War -- ideal for any character and reveals the mysterious draconians.

The article discusses Session Zero for the campaign and outlines what to expect in a Dragonlance game -- war, death, refugees, and so on.

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[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Wait, whats wrong with Draconians now?

Their backstory plays into the "Good is Dumb" trope that I'm not a fan of. The Metallic Dragons didn't join the war because the Chromatic Dragons stole their eggs and held them hostage. The Good Dragons were dumb enough to believe that the Evil Dragons would keep their word and not destroy the eggs if the Good Dragons chose to stay out of the fight, so instead of trying to do absolutely anything to get their eggs back, the Good Dragons took their word for it and stayed out of the war.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

99% chance this is why those two books (Volo's and Tome of Foes) have been removed from the product line with MotM.

I think it's more likely that MotM replaced them more because WotC/Hasbro wanted another bundle of 3 books to sell, but that could certainly be a part of it.

 

[Scribe]

Their backstory plays into the "Good is Dumb" trope that I'm not a fan of. The Metallic Dragons didn't join the war because the Chromatic Dragons stole their eggs and held them hostage. The Good Dragons were dumb enough to believe that the Evil Dragons would keep their word and not destroy the eggs if the Good Dragons chose to stay out of the fight, so instead of trying to do absolutely anything to get their eggs back, the Good Dragons took their word for it and stayed out of the war.

Initially, yes. Again though unless my old memory is just faulty (and granted it often is) the Metallic Dragons do end up rolling out eventually.

I think it's more likely that MotM replaced them more because WotC/Hasbro wanted another bundle of 3 books to sell, but that could certainly be a part of it.

Have you seen the difference between the 2 books? MotM is night and day different in tone and presentation.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

That was speculation before we knew what was happening. A bit of fun discussion and wonder. Unnecessary now that we know the status of Schrodinger's RPG book.

So, speculation and debates about what parts of the setting are bad before the book is released, but evaluating the morality of the lore isn't fine after the book has come out? I mean, feel free to leave the discussion, but I fundamentally disagree.

One thing I do hate more than anything else in gaming though, is when they decide to change the books in print, especially if its lore. This book actually looks pretty good, so I'll have to buy it before they mess with it.

So you don't like that they changed the Hadozee?

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Initially, yes. Again though unless my old memory is just faulty (and granted it often is) the Metallic Dragons do end up rolling out eventually.

IIRC, that's only after the Heroes of the Lance tell them about the Draconians. And the Metallic Dragons agreed to a truce for hundreds if not thousands of years, unless I'm misremembering. That's why no one had seen them in so long.

Have you seen the difference between the 2 books? MotM is night and day different in tone and presentation.

Because it's smaller than Volo's and Tome of Foes combined and is trying to be setting agnostic, IMO.

 

[overgeeked]

Initially, yes. Again though unless my old memory is just faulty (and granted it often is) the Metallic Dragons do end up rolling out eventually.

The evil dragons stole the good dragons’ eggs and turned them into draconians. When the good dragons found out, they joined the war in earnest.

Have you seen the difference between the 2 books? MotM is night and day different in tone and presentation.

Yeah, they stripped out most of the flavor.

 

[Micah Sweet]

So, speculation and debates about what parts of the setting are bad before the book is released, but evaluating the morality of the lore isn't fine after the book has come out? I mean, feel free to leave the discussion, but I fundamentally disagree.

So you don't like that they changed the Hadozee?

There are always exceptions (Spelljammer certainly qualifies), but most of the time, if the lore is an issue, fix it in a new book.

 

[Scribe]

Because it's smaller than Volo's and Tome of Foes combined and is trying to be setting agnostic, IMO.

Dont think so man, just look at the Orc or Goblin, its fundamentally different in its tone.

IIRC, that's only after the Heroes of the Lance tell them about the Draconians. And the Metallic Dragons agreed to a truce for hundreds if not thousands of years, unless I'm misremembering. That's why no one had seen them in so long.

I want to say, this is fallout from the last time Takhisis had been banished by Huma, that lead to the Dragons of both sides 'leaving' as part of the whole Balance aspect of the setting.

Evil being Evil, then cheats, holds eggs hostage, and if what @overgeeked mentions is correct, when the gig is up, the Good Dragons come out and its all in the open again.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

I want to say, this is fallout from the last time Takhisis had been banished by Huma, that lead to the Dragons of both sides 'leaving' as part of the whole Balance aspect of the setting.

Evil being Evil, then cheats, holds eggs hostage, and if what @overgeeked mentions is correct, when the gig is up, the Good Dragons come out and its all in the open again.

But their inaction allowed the eggs to be turned into Draconians. They didn't even try to get the eggs back and just took the Chromatic Dragons at their word. I remember reacting to their outrage at learning about this in the book as a "well, duh, that's what you get for trusting the people you are evil to keep their word".

 

[Scribe]

But their inaction allowed the eggs to be turned into Draconians. They didn't even try to get the eggs back and just took the Chromatic Dragons at their word. I remember reacting to their outrage at learning about this in the book as a "well, duh, that's what you get for trusting the people you are evil to keep their word".

Well, I mean yeah, but its your unborn children under the gun. Yeah you cannot trust them, but...it didnt seem like there was much of an option there.

A known Evil person has your child under the knife, and you know you cannot get there in time, you do what?

I get it, but yeah.