Dragonlance Dragonlance: creatures outside of Dragon/draconic type?

[Tales and Chronicles]

So, I know that Dragonlance background is pretty much set in a Humanoids vs Dragon-adjacent creatures theme. For those with more experience with the setting, what other types of creature would make sense?

Does Ansalon as a huge population of giants? Or a tropical zone in which we could play Tomb of Annihilation? Were the Elemental Princes of Evil were present in one of the books? Doe beholders and mind-flayers have a place in a DL campaign? Does the cosmology of DL would make sense with the whole Blood War theme of Descent? Would running a game of Curse of Strahd Soth be a good idea that make sense in the setting?

Outside of Dragons, dragon-themed creatures, goblinoids and ogre variations, what other creature would you make good use of in your DL campaign?

(please, refrain from the obvious answer: ''your the Dm, you can do want you want!'' )

 

[Seramus]

Taladas has a thriving civilization of Minotaurs who will pile onto boats and come raid your puny Ansalon villages. Gods forbid you actually rouse their full military might, because they are an organized and competent nation of their own.

Taladas also has the Temple of Hith, which are "openly" worshipped necromancer banker priests who will loan you money in exchange for contracts guaranteeing ownership of your body for the purposes of labor at the time of your death. For a while, they became the leading religion of another nation in Taladas before the guy in charge let it go to his head.

Unlike the more comedic gnomes of Ansalon, the gnomes of Taladas have a thriving civilization of their own where they are... not completely successful with their inventions, but on average more successful than their cousins. This has lead to them having quite a military advantage, which they have to frequently use to defend themselves from monsters. In fact, it's not uncommon for a gnomish weapon merchant selling to one or both sides to become an important plot point in any campaign.

And while you did say non-dragon, I have to mention that Taladas is home to the Traags. The failed initial attempts at creating Draconians, and who would probably be closest to actual ordinary brown Dragonborn in the 5E books.

 

[Voadam]

Minotaurs, Goblins, and Ogres are pretty big humanoid factors in the core Dragonlance stuff. There were also aggressive walrus people called Thanoi. No orcs. No dark skinned drow. Outcast normal elves are sometimes called drow. I remember centaurs and a unicorn showing up.

At one point I believe there was a Kith-Kanan historical novel about griffin riding elves.

There is a degenerate jungle mindflayer type thing called a Yaggol in the 2e Dragonlance Monstrous Compendium Appendix but aberrations are not a common monster type.

For the Descent module I would not expect Blood War stuff to match up specifically, while Dragonlance has an Abyss it was pretty much a background of where evil gods lived, with Demogorgon showing up in a cool short story though. I don't remember Hell being a big part of Dragonlance, though you could consolidate all of that into one Abyssal plane and have the Blood War be thematically infighting as "Evil turns upon itself" is a big Dragonlance theme.

 

[Maxperson]

Minotaurs, Goblins, and Ogres are pretty big humanoid factors in the core Dragonlance stuff. There were also aggressive walrus people called Thanoi. No orcs. No dark skinned drow. Outcast normal elves are sometimes called drow. I remember centaurs and a unicorn showing up.

They weren't called drow. They were called dark elves like Tolkien called his emo elves. Dalamar was a light skinned dark elf, but not drow.

 

[Maxperson]

As for what creatures? I'd use most foresty creatures, as the forests of Krynn seemed to hold dangers and treants, fey, creeping vines, etc. would fit right in. Undead were in the books, so lots of room there. Probably constructs.

 

[Tonguez]

there were Giants in Dragonlance and elementals too

some of the more obscure races of Krynn include

• Centaurs
• Kyrie - Hawk people
• Phaethons - copper-toned elves with pheonix wings
• Thanoi - Walrus folk
• Ursoi - Bear folk

 

[Stormonu]

Storm King's Thunder probably wouldn't fit as I don't remember there being giants on Krynn; though you might be able to tweak the Irda to work in their place.

Tomb of Annihilation could easily work by placing in somewhere in Taladas.

Princes of the Abyss should mostly work, though you might have to change some of the demon princes involved to be subordinate to Takahisis.

I don't know too much about Descent, but Hell/Abyss are interchangeable words in Krynn, so again, Takahisis and you're golden.

Dungeon of the Mad Mage could work, just change Halaster to some deranged renegade Wizard or a red/black-robed wizard whose off his rocker.

Dragon Heist I don't see working without serious reworking.

Soth was trapped in Sithicus in Ravenloft, though that realm wasn't mentioned/detailed in the latest Van Richten's guide - you'd have to get the older 2E/3E versions if you wanted to use it.

 

[Voadam]

They weren't called drow. They were called dark elves like Tolkien called his emo elves. Dalamar was a light skinned dark elf, but not drow.

They were usually called dark elves. Sometimes they were called drow though.

 

[Maxperson]

They were usually called dark elves. Sometimes they were called drow though.

Huh! Read the series several times when younger and missed that.

 

[Jer]

Soth was trapped in Sithicus in Ravenloft, though that realm wasn't mentioned/detailed in the latest Van Richten's guide - you'd have to get the older 2E/3E versions if you wanted to use it.

Soth was freed from Ravenloft before third edition and sent back to Krynn. Sithicus might still be around in the mists somewhere, but as a Domain Sithicus without Soth is just a bit meh.

(That reminded me of the controversy about whether Soth was ever in Ravenloft or not and boy did that get ugly. I'd forgotten about that.)