Dragonlance DRAGONLANCE LIVES! Unearthed Arcana Explores Heroes of Krynn!

The latest Unearthed Arcana has arrived and the 6-page document contains rules for kender, lunar magic, Knights of Solamnia, and Mages of High Sorcery.

In today’s Unearthed Arcana, we explore character options from the Dragonlance setting. This playtest document presents the kender race, the Lunar Magic sorcerer subclass, the Knight of Solamnia and Mage of High Sorcery backgrounds, and a collection of new feats, all for use in Dungeons & Dragons.

Kender have a (surprisingly magical) ability to pull things out of a bag, and a supernatural taunt feature. This magical ability appears to replace the older 'kleptomania' description -- "Unknown to most mortals, a magical phenomenon surrounds a kender. Spurred by their curiosity and love for trinkets, curios, and keepsakes, a kender’s pouches or pockets will be magically filled with these objects. No one knows where these objects come from, not even the kender. This has led many kender to be mislabeled as thieves when they fish these items out of their pockets."

Lunar Magic is a sorcerer subclass which draws power from the moon(s); there are notes for using it in Eberron.

Also included are feats such as Adepts of the Black, White, and Red Robes, and Knights of the Sword, Rose, and Crown.

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[Hussar]

/snip
Getting back to Dragonlance, if it's an adventure, I kinda hope Takhisis isn't the big bad (or at least, not the one the PCs fight). Do we need a rematch with Tiamat after Tyranny of Dragons? I know, she's the iconic villain of Dragonlance, but there are plenty of other great choices.

I have to admit, my memory of DL14 is really, really fuzzy. I don't think the PC's ever actually fight Takhisis directly in Dragonlance. It's not like Queen of the Demonwebs where you fight Lolth in the final encounter. Am I remembering wrong?

And, let's not forget, it's been ten years since Tyranny of Dragons (or thereabouts). There's a whole lot of gamers who haven't played that module.

 

[toucanbuzz]

I have to admit, my memory of DL14 is really, really fuzzy. I don't think the PC's ever actually fight Takhisis directly in Dragonlance. It's not like Queen of the Demonwebs where you fight Lolth in the final encounter. Am I remembering wrong?

And, let's not forget, it's been ten years since Tyranny of Dragons (or thereabouts). There's a whole lot of gamers who haven't played that module.

Correct.

The AD&D stats for avatars in Dragonlance were a pointless ridiculous waste of space. The avatar could deal 1 to 1000 damage to you, its choice. Instead, you get a chance to lock a goddess away and stymie her return, a more realistic approach.

 

[Hussar]

Correct.

The AD&D stats for avatars in Dragonlance were a pointless ridiculous waste of space. The avatar could deal 1 to 1000 damage to you, its choice. Instead, you get a chance to lock a goddess away and stymie her return, a more realistic approach.

Right. The whole green gemstone man plot line. Now I remember.

 

[James Gasik]

Technically, I fought Takhisis once. There was a trilogy of adventures, the first one was "In Search of Dragons", that takes place after the War of the Lance. In the climax, you face off against a Demigoddess, who is transformed into a copy of Takhisis's Avatar.

You're not really supposed to win, but amusingly, my Fighter (Cavalier Kit) held her off with a Footman's Dragonlance and killed her three times over before my party solved the puzzle to beat her.

Dealing damage to someone equal to your current hit points is scary when you have multiple attacks per round and an 18 Con!

 

[toucanbuzz]

Right. The whole green gemstone man plot line. Now I remember.

Although, I could see a rewrite similar to the ending of Red Hand of Doom where, the PCs armed with Dragonlances or other MacGuffins, might be able to withstand her avatar/presence and engage in a battle with her shadow. Still epic.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

I guess the right name would "incarnations", and they were in the 3.5 Ed. Miniature Handbook.

And even if you can "kill" an "incarnation" it would be like destroying a sacred symbol, and all the believers of that deity will be really angry with you.

* Will be John-Carter public domain very soon?

* Could we see in Krynn a PC race based in a smaller version of the ursines? Yes, it would be like the cute bears but with a bad temperament. Hasbro would willing to sell toys. Maybe they live in the Feywild. Too cutes? Let's rebember ewoks wanted to eat the main characters of Star Wars.

* What about Jiathuli, the handmaiden of Takishis? She is like the Krynn version of Lolth, but she is not wellcome. Perfect if you want to add a secret Lovecraftian cult.

 

[James Gasik]

The original Tarzan and John Carter books are in public domain, but the characters "Tarzan" and "John Carter" are trademarked, and as I understand it, the rights to the John Carter have reverted to Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.

I think Lolth trying to sneak into Krynn and claim the "Dark Elves" (who are not Drow in any sense) as hers would be a great plot point.

It would mirror Tiamat's efforts to gain more power in Faerun, ironically.

 

[Fifth Element]

The original Tarzan and John Carter books are in public domain, but the characters "Tarzan" and "John Carter" are trademarked, and as I understand it, the rights to the John Carter have reverted to Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.

I think Lolth trying to sneak into Krynn and claim the "Dark Elves" (who are not Drow in any sense) as hers would be a great plot point.

It would mirror Tiamat's efforts to gain more power in Faerun, ironically.

A lot of people don't get this distinction. Many believe that if Steamboat Willie enters public domain everyone will be able to make their own Mickey Mouse cartoons.

 

[Scars Unseen]

The original Tarzan and John Carter books are in public domain, but the characters "Tarzan" and "John Carter" are trademarked

A lot of people don't get this distinction. Many believe that if Steamboat Willie enters public domain everyone will be able to make their own Mickey Mouse cartoons.

IMO this is one of the worst abuses of IP law. Say what you want about copyright term expansions and lazy patent filing; at least they're still serving their intended purposes. Trademark was never meant to be a super copyright, but rather just a way to reserve a distinctive mark or design that sets your products apart from others. There's a reason it falls under the commerce clause instead of the copyright clause in the US Constitution.

 

[James Gasik]

It helps when you have the money to hire the best lawyers. It helps even more when you have the money to buy the worst politicians.

Anyways, weren't we talking about Dragonlance? So let's say you wanted to play in a "classic" Dragonlance game. How would you set up the Cleric class?

Initially, Goldmoon isn't really a Cleric at all, she simply has the ability to use the Blue Crystal Staff, which is basically a Staff of Healing? My memory is foggy, but I thought it wasn't until she lost the staff that she actually gained the ability to cast spells granted to her by Mishakal.