Dragonlance vs. Forgotten Realms

[Cam Banks]

The heroine is not ugly! Sorry, bud, but I've got to trust the dragonne on this one. You... you don't even have a stat block. How can I trust you when I can't even look up your alignment?

She's totally ugly. I wanted to join the ranks of such fantasy luminaries as George RR Martin by having a heroic female character be gods-awful ugly.

Actually, she's probably not THAT bad. My editor kept referring to her as "that Uma Thurman character." Compared to every other woman in fantasy, though, she's a hag.

Cheers,
Cam

 

[hong]

She's totally ugly. I wanted to join the ranks of such fantasy luminaries as George RR Martin by having a heroic female character be gods-awful ugly.

Actually, she's probably not THAT bad. My editor kept referring to her as "that Uma Thurman character." Compared to every other woman in fantasy, though, she's a hag.

Cheers,
Cam

Postpixplskthx

 

[beholdsa]

Dragonlance!

 

[Cam Banks]

Postpixplskthx

Oh right, like I draw pictures of all of my ugly heroines.

Cheers,
Cam

 

[Weyland]

I dunno about regular DL, but I have a sudden desire to try and set up Taladas in 4e.

Assuming I can find or buy the box set somewhere, anyway. I have no idea what happened to my old copy.

 

[lutecius]

I really like DL, except for tinker gnomes and gully dwarves were the exceptions. I found them to be too silly for my taste.

I really like FR, except for all the high level NPCs littering the setting and the fact that adventurer is a licensed profession.

I'm willing to play either, but tinker gnomes and gully dwarves are deal breakers for me as a GM.

I don't like gully dwarves too but tinker gnomes are ok as an npc race, if you don't overplay their quirks.
My first exposure to DL was that old computer game Death Knights of Krynn. There was a gnome village invaded by undead beasts... lots of fun.

The DL race I really hate is kender. I don't know why but i just want to grab them by their topknots and feed them to the first nasty beast at hand.

 

[vagabundo]

Dragonlance is one of the few settings I know, nearly, nothing about. 'Cept they have tamed and ride dragons.


What's the core splurge?

Oh I do know about tinker gnomes and gully dwarves, and I quite like them.

 

[Irda Ranger]

Dragonlance is one of the few settings I know, nearly, nothing about. 'Cept they have tamed and ride dragons.

Ride yes, tamed no.

What's the core splurge?

The main problem with summarizing the "core splurge" is that it has changed too often. There have been too many "Krynn Shaking Events" (IMO) and the setting is kind of all over the place. The era you choose to play in (Age of Might, Age of Despair, War of the Lance, Age of Hope, 5th Age, etc.) will strongly influence the feel of the setting.

Below is how I would sum up the setting as originally presented in the War of the Lance Era, which is when the original modules were released. I haven't really kept up with the setting since the 5th Age came out though, as recent changes were not to my taste. Cam Banks can probably answer your question for recent developments.

War of the Lance
The Pantheon of Gods is divided into three camps: Good, Evil and Neutrality. The Gods of Good and Evil (lead by Paladine and Takhisis, respectively) seek to control the world, while the Gods of Neutrality (lead by Gilean) seek to maintain the balance between them. This war of Gods occasionally spills over into the mortal realm and men and dragons take sides. The Knights of Solamnia always seem to find among their number a Champion of Good who allies men with the goodly Dragons to face the forces of evil. But Takhisis, the Queen of Evil Dragons, never seems to have any trouble finding men of wicked hearts to side with her either.

Age of Might
The Empire of Istar is ascendant over Krynn, and all other realms are backwaters compared to the splendor of the Imperial Capital. In the capital the Kingpriest rules with absolute religious and political authority, like a God among Men. And he has come to believe this to be true.

Age of Despair
The Empire of Istar has been destroyed by the fiery mountain thrown down from heaven, and the sea of blood has rushed in to bury the Kingpriest's folly in a watery grave. The last true clerics of the Gods were taken up into heaven moments before the cataclysm struck, and now the Gods have forsaken the world. The Wizards have retreated from the world to the sole remaining Tower of High Sorcery and the gods answer no prayers. Only steel matters, and the foolish answer the call of prophets promising safety in a world without hope.

Oh I do know about tinker gnomes and gully dwarves, and I quite like them.

This is probably because you know of them but don't really know too much about them.

 

[Dragonblade]

I prefer the Realms because the setting feels more open. I feel like I have more control because their is no meta-plot to deal with.

I like some elements of Dragonlance but I hate the meta-plot of the story. The only DL novel I ever recommend to people is The Legend of Huma. That book pretty much covers what I think is cool about the setting without all the crap. And IMO, is the best DL novel.

I'm not a big fan of the Weis and Hickman books with the exception of Legends, which I actually enjoyed. Unfortunately, you have to slog through Chronicles for it to make sense.

 

[Cam Banks]

The main problem with summarizing the "core splurge" is that it has changed too often. There have been too many "Krynn Shaking Events" (IMO) and the setting is kind of all over the place. The era you choose to play in (Age of Might, Age of Despair, War of the Lance, Age of Hope, 5th Age, etc.) will strongly influence the feel of the setting.

Below is how I would sum up the setting as originally presented in the War of the Lance Era, which is when the original modules were released. I haven't really kept up with the setting since the 5th Age came out though, as recent changes were not to my taste. Cam Banks can probably answer your question for recent developments.

I don't think it's fair to characterize Dragonlance as being constantly hit by Krynn Shattering Events. In terms of the history of the game line itself, there's only been one major world-changing event: the Chaos War, described in the Dragons of a Summer Flame novel. At the end of that, the gods are gone and magic is gone and everything looks bleak. The Age of Mortals starts, with new magic being discovered, although eventually the gods return in the War of Souls trilogy and we learn that Krynn was actually stolen by Takhisis, the Queen of Darkness, and the gods had been looking for it since. The Cataclysm, which took place 350 years before the War of the Lance, had already happened in the game's background story, so it's part of the setting from Day One.

There are two primary eras of play, and those are the original "classic" era (the War of the Lance) and the current era (the Age of Mortals, post-WoS). Like any campaign world, you can play in other time periods as well, such as the Age of Might, which covers a period thousand years of time before the Cataclysm, when the Knights grew fairly strong, the dragons were all banished, and the Empire of Istar starts to gain power. We cover some of these other time periods to a limited degree in the game products, but they're not actually set aside as fully-featured eras. It's a lot like Star Wars being set either in the "classic" movie period or the more recent novel periods with the next generation of Jedi, etc.

While there's a metaplot going on, I think from the very beginning the setting has been open to players and DMs taking the story their own way. Our recent revision of the classic modules (as Dragons of Autumn, Dragons of Winter, and Dragons of Spring) was designed to be played with original characters who fit archetypes, rather than with pregenerated characters from the novels. Our experience has been that players would like their characters to be the stars of the story, and so we've taken steps to ensure that this is the case.

I invite folks to check out www.dragonlance.com, www.dragonlanceforums.com, and www.dlnexus.com for more insight, official web supplements, fan-created rules, message boards, community, and direct conversations with DL designers and authors. Margaret still maintains a strong presence on our forums, and loves to interact with fans.

Cheers,
Cam