WotC Dragonlance: Everything You Need For Shadow of the Dragon Queen

WotC has shared a video explaining the Dragonlance setting, and what to expect when it is released in December.

World at War: Introduces war as a genre of play to fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons.

Dragonlance: Introduces the Dragonlance setting with a focus on the War of the Lance and an overview of what players and DMs need to run adventures during this world spanning conflict.

Heroes of War: Provides character creation rules highlighting core elements of the Dragonlance setting, including the kender race and new backgrounds for the Knight of Solamnia and Mage of High Sorcery magic-users. Also introduces the Lunar Sorcery sorcerer subclass with new spells that bind your character to Krynn's three mystical moons and imbues you with lunar magic.

Villains: Pits heroes against the infamous death knight Lord Soth and his army of draconians.

Notes --

• 224 page hardcover adventure
• D&D's setting for war
• Set in eastern Solamnia
• War is represented by context -- it's not goblins attacking the village, but evil forces; refugees, rumours
• You can play anything from D&D - clerics included, although many classic D&D elements have been forgotten
• Introductory scenarios bring you up to speed on the world so no prior research needed

 

[Micah Sweet]

it could have to do with subclass... like in 2e different robes had different schools they were good or bad at.
it could be tied to the moon (I mean it always was) and have something to do with lunor magic
it could just be what side you agree with "Black wants to hunt rogue wizards down and kill them, and white wants to leave them be and red want to try to 'shoot or recruit'"

Sure, there are explanations. The moon thing I don't think would work, since the 5e subclass lets you change the benefit you're getting every day it can't be the basis for a long-term career choice.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Defense of another is when the threat is imminent. In real life if someone was running at a little girl with a knife to stab her and you shot him, that would be a justifiable killing in defense of another.

Where I am no lawyer I have NO IDEA what will or wont pass in a court (heck I am pretty sure if you pay enough for your lawyer you can get out of cold blooded murder and if you get the public defender you are doing time for saving that little girl) but in common parliance I think "I attacked the people who were about to attack the town" works as 'close enough' (like I said like horseshoes)

D&D, though, doesn't work on modern morals or laws. You can kill an undead like that without needing the threat to be imminent and nobody is going to say boo, except maybe their ghost friend...........................................and perhaps the necromancer standing behind you tapping his foot, clearly annoyed.

okay so lets take undead out of it... (a weird case where you can't kill what is already dead anyway)

in your mind is killing an orc attacking the town defense of self/other?
in your mind is being asked by the mayor to track down the orcs that kidnapped towns folk, then you get to there camp, and you attack a guard 'defense'?

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Sure, there are explanations. The moon thing I don't think would work, since the 5e subclass lets you change the benefit you're getting every day it can't be the basis for a long-term career choice.

on krynn there are 3 moons. You can tie your magic to 1 of them and that is the color code. (I am mostly spitballing here) there are lots of options.

 

[Maxperson]

Most books describe the Kingpriest and his followers losing spellcasting ability prior. The general population turning their backs is generally described as a reaction to the Cataclysm occurring.

I don't really buy that, either. I can see people, even huge numbers of people, perhaps even the majority of people turning away, but there would still be true believers. Also, didn't the gods take their clerics away from the world after the cataclysm? I'm pretty sure I read that somewhere, which makes it more the gods turning away than the humans.

 

[GreyLord]

Truthfully, I never bought into that explanation, either. There would have been true believers in other parts of the world. A group that turns away, even a large and powerful group like the Kingpriest and his villainous minions, aren't all of humanity turning away.

It is based on the Latter-day Saint (Mormon) idea of..oh what is that word...trying to recall it. A Falling away.

In their theology they have it that the world fell away from the truth, or the gospel. Ah, I remember it, the Great Apostasy.

In it, they killed the apostles and others who did not have any authority or understanding of the gospel took over. People like Constantine claimed the rights of the Priesthood and the Church for themselves. They claimed to be Christians, but they lacked the authority to perform priesthood ordinances and ceremony (a key item in Latter-day Saint theology) and misunderstood some key parts of the gospel.

To relate it in Dragonlance terms...you have a Priest of Paladine but they are teaching things that go contrary to what Paladine would want. They lack any power or ability from Paladine. He doesn't condone their actions (maybe they are saying that you need to go out and kill all wizards, that the Towers of High Sorcery are offensive and you must get rid of all wizards and have inquisitors to hunt wizards down or something like that). He doesn't answer their prayers because they have it all wrong and aren't really worshipping him or his teachings and ideals, but something else. They claim to worship him but are really doing their own thing and using his name (sort of like WotC did with D&D when they changed all the rules for their own version and slapped the D&D name on it...okay...ignore this comment).

It goes part and parcel in with the basing of some of the original Dragonlance mythos with Latter-day Saint theology (Joseph Smith finding the Gold Plates...ergo...Goldmoon getting the discs...etc,...etc...etc).

 

[Umbran]

Mod Note:
Folks, this is page 123 of the thread.

Can you please accept that, at this point, nobody left discussing whether the gods of Krynn are, in fact, "good" is going to change their minds? Let it go, and move on to something more constructive than beating your heads together like rams vying for dominance.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Sure, and I agree with that. But D&D doesn't say that going around killing people who aren't actively trying to hurt you or other people is a morally good act.

If you don't like the pre-modern explanation, how about thinking of the Kingpriest as the captain of Team Good, who begins taking more and more actions that conflict with Team Good's patrons (the gods of Good), but are still being done in Team Good's name and supported by the majority of Team Good on Krynn? Ultimately, the efforts to get him to stop fail, and the patrons of all the teams resort to the nuclear option collectively in an attempt to clear the board and start the game over on a more even footing, restoring the balance the league commissioner (the High God) originally instituted as the most important of the league rules.

 

[Maxperson]

Sure, and I agree with that. But D&D doesn't say that going around killing people who aren't actively trying to hurt you or other people is a morally good act.

No. The DM has a large say in what acts are good or evil. Not that it matters in 5e. There's no mechanism for the DM to alter a PCs alignment or do anything with it, really. Alignment in 5e is basically just an RP tool for players to help guide their roleplay.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Can I point out that retcon = good when discussing one of the key events of the setting, but retcon = bad when discussing the player options of said setting?

It's like people are okay with retcons they agree with...

I don't think either retcon is particularly good.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

I don't really buy that, either. I can see people, even huge numbers of people, perhaps even the majority of people turning away, but there would still be true believers. Also, didn't the gods take their clerics away from the world after the cataclysm? I'm pretty sure I read that somewhere, which makes it more the gods turning away than the humans.

yes that I remember they took the clerics to heaven