2010: Is it Dragonlance? (hint)

[Dausuul]

Well, Brom rules, but...they have used others before who did great DS art, Baxa did a lot, but this guy did work for Dragon mag and it looks great to me

Dark Sun Witch detail by ~namesjames on deviantART

Ooh, nice! There's a clear Brom influence, but he's got a good style of his own going too.

 

[Kzach]

The only way I'd buy a Dragonlance setting book was if it was a complete and total reboot from the very start of the setting when it was still cool and awesome. In other words, nothing but the six Chronicles and Legends books and the 15 or so modules.

They could do it by sending Raistlin's cousin's brother's sister back in time in a revenge arc after Fistandantilus failed to stop Nuitari from being destroyed by a magical explosion that threatens to engulf all of Krynn. Then, 25 years later, when Fistandantilus reappears through the wormhole...

 

[M.L. Martin]

Of course when FR was being worked up for 4e, WotC went to a policy of not releasing any more novels set prior to the 4e time-jump. Perhaps not having any announced novels for DL for next year is only a prelude to a future announcement of novels set in some 4e DL after either a time-jump or a massive retcon/reboot of core DL setting elements or history. I could see it.

DL may have a time-jump or a partial reboot, but a total reboot simply Will Not Happen, IMO. Chronicles and Legends are just too big for that. I strongly suspect that even DoSF and the War of Souls are too much of a perennial for WotC to risk killing the cash-cow with a limited reboot.

There was one time in the setting's history I expected a partial reboot--during the War of Souls--but that was due to a confluence of factors no longer present. DL is what it is; I expect that any future DL line will be either 'back to the basics' or will pick up where the MWP line and the novels left off. Given that the novels are being put on pause--the novels which have been much more successful than the game line ever was--I still don't think it's likely to be the 2010 release.

As for the 'hype,' so far it appears to be
1) one draconian miniature--and draconians are one of the elements (along with Lord Soth ) that have traction outside of DL.
2) Raistlin in the Character Builder--and Raistlin's been an iconic figure even when DL was dead or a non-D&D line.
3) The "Ultimate Dragonlance Fan" contest--which is arguably just as much about the latest Last Weis & Hickman Dragonlance Novel and the 25th Anniversary. (And if Shivam "Talinthas" Bhaat [EDIT: or Weldon Chen or another of the 'Old Guard'] doesn't win that contest, I will be surprised. )

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

I probably won't even get the Player's Guide, unless the new class is really good. If it's just a handful of nice feats, well, that's what I have DDI for.

Indeed. If it is the 2010 campaign setting, I'll have to thank WotC for sparing me the need to buy the book.

Brad

 

[Jhaelen]

A DDMspoiler user has found some miniatures from the next set. One of them seems to be an Aurak.

Is it a sign of Dragonlance being the next setting?

Nope. There were also several DDM minis for the Dragonlance setting without there being a campaign setting (from WotC) for it in 3E.

I'm pretty sure the next official WotC setting is going to be Darksun. And that's a good thing, too.

 

[Chris Knapp]

Nope. There were also several DDM minis for the Dragonlance setting without there being a campaign setting (from WotC) for it in 3E.

You mean other than this one?

 

[M.L. Martin]

You mean other than this one?

True--but the only reason that came about (after being announced as a 3E line and then unannounced) was because Sovereign Press (now MWP) was willing to pay for the license and provide support for it. Given that 'setting support' is now a dirty word to WotC, it may be evidence that they're willing to do another one-shot . . . but I don't think even the 3.5E version did that well by WotC standards. (The 3.5 material did well enough for SP/MWP, as I understand, but well enough for a small company is a far cry from well enough for WotC.)

 

[jsaving]

Dragonlance might be really, really tricky through. I can't see it doing well at all! Mostly because which Dragonlance do you do?...
I expect lots of new contradictions and breaks from canon.

Most of the discussion thus far has focused on where in the canonical timeline the 4e setting will be placed and which aspects of canon it will most emphasize. The more important question in my view is whether canon can or even should be preserved if the setting is to regain the prominence it once enjoyed.

Getting at the answer raises some very tough issues about the extent to which designers, WotC, and even Weis and Hickman themselves have contributed to the setting's descent into relative anonymity. Has the evolution of the setting after the original trilogy made Ansalon a more interesting place in which to adventure, or has it eroded the qualities that originally made Dragonlance so attractive to the gaming public? Are the radically different eras in which one can now adventure a selling point for the setting, as some in this thread have claimed, or a liability? Has the rapid accumulation of "Krynnlore" enriched the setting without driving away prospective newcomers, or has it merely complicated the setting and discouraged people from trying it out?

I think there's something to be said for both points of view, but what I expect to see is a "Star Trek" style reimagining of Dragonlance that preserves the essential feel of Chronicles and perhaps Legends while erasing or at least blurring most aspects of canon. Such a revamp would surely provoke a visceral reaction from those who are strongly vested in past versions of the setting as well as those who think the MWP material should remain inviolate, just as anti-movie Trekkies/ers recoiled at violations of previously established canon and saw the various eras in which one could adventure (and their accompanying "Treklore") as enrichments to the setting rather than barriers to entry. But the bottom line is that the Star Trek revamp successfully reinvigorated the cash cow, and the hope will be that a well-executed revamp could do the same for Ansalon.

 

[Scribble]

How about this:

So You Think You Can Dragonlance

 

[Dausuul]

I think there's something to be said for both points of view, but what I expect to see is a "Star Trek" style reimagining of Dragonlance that preserves the essential feel of Chronicles and perhaps Legends while erasing or at least blurring most aspects of canon. Such a revamp would surely provoke a visceral reaction from those who are strongly vested in past versions of the setting as well as those who think the MWP material should remain inviolate, just as anti-movie Trekkies/ers recoiled at violations of previously established canon and saw the various eras in which one could adventure (and their accompanying "Treklore") as enrichments to the setting rather than barriers to entry. But the bottom line is that the Star Trek revamp successfully reinvigorated the cash cow, and the hope will be that a well-executed revamp could do the same for Ansalon.

First of all, it remains to be seen whether Star Trek has in fact been reinvigorated, beyond the immediate revenue from the movie. When they launch a successful new Star Trek series, one which substantially outperforms Enterprise and Voyager, then I'll agree there has been reinvigoration going on. Until then, it is very much up in the air whether the reboot was a good idea or not. (I think it was, but my opinions may not be representative.)

Second, to be very blunt, the Star Trek fan community is vastly bigger than the Dragonlance fan community, and Star Trek has a much higher profile in the public consciousness. It also had a big-budget movie to pull in fresh blood. These things give Star Trek a lot more leeway to risk fracturing its existing fan base.

Third, because an RPG setting does not require a new story, Dragonlance has an option which Star Trek didn't: Put the new setting at a particular point in the franchise's history (my money would be on the start of Chronicles, the start of Legends, or the end of Legends), reissue the original series in a 25th Anniversary Edition, and quietly disregard everything that came after. There's no need to alienate a chunk of the fanbase with an "official" reboot. Those who like the post-Chaos War material can regard it as the "official" future of the setting. Those who don't can pretend it never happened. Everybody's happy.

For new novels, they can just keep doing what they've been doing more and more of - filling in the gaps in the setting's past. I'm sure there are at least twenty-nine minutes of Raistlin's life that haven't yet been made into a novel.