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[Let's Read] Dragonlance Campaign Setting
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<blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 6238146" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><p style="text-align: center"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/gIxoxRI.jpg?1" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"><strong>Dragonlance Campaign Setting Part Six: The Dragonlance Campaign</strong></p><p></p><p></p><p>This chapter is dedicated to helping the DM bring out the unique themes of Dragonlance into their game, from variant rules to a timeline of Krynn's history to tips of story-building.</p><p></p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><strong>The Laws of Krynn</strong></p><p></p><p></p><p>The first part talks about the 3 major laws of Krynn, each held by one of the moral alignments: "Good Redeems Its Own," where the champions of Good seek to redeeming and recall the lost, that everyone is potentially worthy of salvation, even the wicked. It also mentions that one of the dangers of being good is arrogance, and that such folk can potentially fall into darkness. This stands in contradiction, actually, with some setting material, as the Kingpriest of Istar was never evil-aligned, nor are the Silvanesti.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Second law, Evil Feeds on Itself." Chaotic Evil people care only for themselves, no loyalty or care for anyone else. They feed off of one another for selfish ambition. Lawful Evil people adhere to a hierarchal system where they believe that Nature rewards the strong who dominate the weak. They have strict laws which dictate how people ought to live, and those who break said laws must be punished to serve as an example to others. Lawful Evil feeds off of itself in a cyclical pattern of obedience and punishment.</p><p></p><p></p><p>The third law, "Both Good and Evil Must Exist in Contrast," that of Neutrality. Basically it is a combination of the common Neutrality interpretations: the belief that light and darkness together bring meaning to the universe and that both sides predominating can be bad. And those who examine all laws and causes carefully and tend to think of their own selves and friends and family first, but aren't wickedly selfish and mean.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Given that alignment is a thorny issue in and of itself, Dragonlance's morality system is subject to a lot of arguing and consternation. Especially regarding the Balance. How does having more evil in the world be an overall benefit? Or too much "Good" being a bad thing?</p><p></p><p></p><p>Well, remember what I said about the Silvanesti Elves, the Istaran Empire, and good's arrogance? Yeah, well turns out being of Good alignment in Dragonlance means that you can be one nasty SOB. It's implied that such examples of "Good" in the book series are that way <em>because of this,</em> and not in spite of this. Slavery, blatant racism, stereotypical religious zealotry? All done by both the forces of Good and Evil in Dragonlance at various points in time. In a weird way, Neurality's stance makes sense, but only by making "Good" no really good, if you get my drift.</p><p></p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Flavor and Tone</strong></p><p></p><p></p><p>We get a broad brush of Dragonlance's themes here. Basically, epic fantasy. Dragons are not mere monsters who skulk in caves, but guide the fate of nations indirectly and choose sides in legendary battles. Most humanoids of Krynn have a sense of greatness beyond their own individual lives: the elves have a great legacy and must struggle with the loss of their homelands; the draconians are now a free people with their own nation, free to make their own destiny; the dwarves re-conciliate old traditions with a changing world beyond their mountain homes. And lastly, the PCs should become embroiled in the fate of nations and embroiled in the gods' affairs, especially at higher levels. A sense of grandness permeates Dragonlance and its people.</p><p></p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Fallen Nations & Ruined Cities</strong></p><p></p><p></p><p><img src="http://i.imgur.com/BOy6APQ.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p></p><p>Weis and Hickman decided to work out much of the setting's history ahead of time before penning the first adventure, to give the campaign a "lived-in" sense and to make dungeon crawls a more exciting affair. Foreboding tombs of kings both great and terrible and the ruins of civilizations past are the dungeons of Dragonlance; in addition to monsters to defeat and treasure to acquire, the dungeon's history is written in its broken tablets and decaying homes. Shards of the past might hold great secrets to help propel adventurers in their quest. It advises to reveal information of the dungeon beyond just Knowledge checks, to show it in the tapestries in the boxed text, the legends written in the books of its library, and in its ancient relics.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Afterwards we get a list of known ruins of Ansalon. The more interesting ones include the corrupted Tower of High Sorcery of Palanthas (in the above picture), the Anvil of Time (home to a magical forge which simultaneously exists in all of Krynn's Ages), the underwater ruins of Istar's capital (home to many of its lost glories and now inhabited by sea elves), the magical fortress of Skullcap (home to the evil archwizard Fistandantalus which was partially consumed in a magical blast in the Dwarfgate Wars), and Xak Tsaroth (an old city of Istar present in the first Dragonlance adventure, from there the Heroes discovered the Disks of Mishakal and brought knowledge of the Gods back to the world).</p><p></p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Gods and their Champions</strong></p><p></p><p></p><p>This section talks about how the Gods of Krynn keep a vested interest in the affairs of mortals. Their avatars take the disguises of simple folk, bringing indirect advice to people they believe can help further their interests. Still, the deities do not directly control mortals so much as influence them, by appealing to their better or baser natures. It advises that a god who takes an interest in the PC's affairs to be a rare, unique, and special event, but not to make it overt. Rather sprinkle clues in repeat visitations that the NPC might have more to them than meets the eye. A fighter guarding a pass might be Kiri-Jolith in disguise, challenging those who wish to pass to a non-lethal duel. PCs who react honorably and with grace might find themselves on the path of a Solamnic Knight.</p><p></p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Heroes of Mundane Origin</strong></p><p></p><p></p><p>Most heroes in a Dragonlance campaign are not necessarily born and bred to the role. They often stem from humble origins only to find themselves thrust into some greater fate. They might start out as a blacksmith who must take up arms to defend his village from the Dragonarmies, or a traveling knight might embark to search for signs of the Gods with his childhood friends. They become legends through experience, often starting out with a simple and well-intentioned goal which is the further basis for heroism. That blacksmith might go on to learn the secrets of forging the Dragonlance for the forces of Good, and that knight's example in a climatic battle might bring honor back to his order.</p><p></p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Companions & Friends</strong></p><p></p><p></p><p>The following section recommends that PC groups should be friends and know each other, both to create a shared group history and incentive to adventure together, and for character development. Even the best of friends may not get along, and the hard life of an epic quest can strain these bonds. Childhood friends know that they won't abandon each other in a forlorn dungeon, and a slight or wrong against the individual can earn the enmity of the entire group.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Unfortunately beyond these examples there is little information or advice on how one can practice collaborative character-building. It's often done in other RPG systems, but D&D is prone to having people design characters in a vacuum or by the roles of class. A sample selection of questions, like "how did PC 1 meet PC 2?" or "what secret did PC 2 share with PC 3?" would be a good way of doing this.</p><p></p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Secrets and Shadows of the Past</strong></p><p></p><p></p><p>This section advises that DMs should hand out artifacts and magical items with a great history, especially if it ties into a PC's lineage. Not only does this add interesting dimensions to a character's backstory and ties them to the world of Krynn, it adds some spice to otherwise bland magic items. It suggests not making all of the item's powers known, instead having them be activated or accessed through study, completing a great trial, etc.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Campaign Crafting and Adventure Design</strong></p><p></p><p></p><p>Below is a selection of advice for DMs running a Dragonlance Game:</p><p></p><p></p><p><em>Memorable Villains:</em> When creating a villain, make sure that they have good reasons for doing what they're doing. Nobody decides one day to become evil, it is usually a series of events or upbringing which pushes them into it. Also, Lawful Evil villains are more interesting because they're orderly and efficient, and tend to be zealots with overarching visions. Chaotic Evil villains, by contrast, are simple, reckless, and stupid. This is the book speaking, not me. While this may sound biased, 3rd Edition's definition of Chaotic Evil isn't very kind, either, going the Stupid Evil route as well.</p><p></p><p></p><p>The section also recommends giving villains complex personalities and redeeming qualities, as well as a backstory which the PCs might be able to discover and solve over time. It also says that evil people don't necessarily see themselves as being evil (despite there being an Army of Darkness, Gods of Evil, and objective morality in Dragonlance): to an ogre, the elves slaughtering his people are evil. Some of history's greatest villains believed that their actions were of benefit to the world.</p><p></p><p></p><p>This is all rather detailed advice, and seems more fitting for a major villain than an antagonist for a single adventure. The advice for moral relativism ("I'm not really evil!") sort of doesn't gel well with the setting's themes, or what has been established. However, it can oddly work out if you play with some setting tropes, and the books themselves have delved into this. Lord Soth (the archetypical death knight) has expressed regret for his actions but does not have enough faith in himself to move past his own follies. The Dragonarmies killed many people and took over many nations, but the Empire brought order and cohesion to a fractured Ansalon plagued with instability and a loss of magic. The Kingpriest of Istar's alignment has been debated in both the setting and the Dragonlance fandom. I get the feeling that at times Dragonlance has tried to go for a simplistic black and white view while still trying to analyze why evil people act evil. It's been a mixed result at times, as you can tell.</p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>Story Awards in a Dragonlance Campaign:</strong> Remember how in the Key of Destiny Adventure Path I made frequent mention to bonus experience points for good role-playing and acts of heroism? Well, this is where it comes from!</p><p></p><p></p><p>Story Awards is a new set of house rules and bonus avenues for experience point generation in Dragonlance campaigns. PCs can gain experience points for noncombat awards based upon the challenge type: simple, easy, average, formidable, and difficult. There are no hard and fast examples, only guidelines. An easy task might include a rogue climbing up a wall at night and avoiding sentries (doesn't sound easy to me!), while a difficult challenge might be convincing the Knights of Solamnia and Neraka to work together to fight the forces of a Dragon Overlord. A challenge type awards experience points equivalent to an encounter of a Challenge Rating from -2 (simple) to +2 (formidable) of the Average Party Level.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Mission goals are bonus experience in line with the aims of an individual PC or the party at large. They are separated into Personal and Party Goals, and those are separated into Minor and Major Goals. An exiled dwarf proving to the clan elders that he was falsely accused would be a major personal goal, while the discovery of a hidden mountain pathway into the Dragon Overlord's fortress would be a minor party goal. Experience generated depends upon the current amount of experience points generated during the adventure. A minor personal goal is equal to the current total experience divided by 8, major personal goals divided by 6, minor party goals divided by 4, and major personals divided by 2.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Finally we have Roleplaying Awards, where the DM hands out bonus experience points for when a player has a PC act in accordance with their established characterization but which does not result in a favorable outcome for the character. The experience awards earned are separated into mostly favorable (25 exp per level), unfavorable (50 exp per level), and extremely unfavorable (100 exp per level). This reminds me of the Hero Points rule from Mutants & Masterminds where a player gets a spendable token for when things don't go their way or they accomplish something in line with the character. Now handing out experience to get players to role-play is a very metagame concept, but in D&D it acts as a good incentive for them to do so. Since it's a good baseline for noncombat awards, I heartily recommend it.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Oh, and the experience awarded is for the whole party, so everyone benefits!</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Next section details the languages of Ansalon. It's got the Common tongue, which is a trade language. The predominant human tongues are Abanasinian (spoken in the nation of the same name), Camptalk (mercenary slang), Ergot (Ergothians), Kalinese (Blood Sea Isles), Kharolian (Tarsis, Plains of Dust, Kharolis), Khur (Khur people), Nerakese (Nerakans), Nordmaarian (same nation), Saifhum (Saifhum island), and Solamnic (Solamnia). There is no giant language, instead being Ogre (and its long-dead High Ogre precursor), and Gnome is just Common but with highly-technical sciencespeak which might as well be a new language. Minotaurs speak Kothian, Kender Kenderspeak, Dwarves and Elves have the language of the same name, but Gully Dwarves have Gullytalk (a rapidly evolving language which takes words and dialect from all kinds of cultures) and the sea elves have their own languages (Dargonesti and Dimernesti). Dargoi is a generic trade tongue for underwater cultures, while Draconic is the only living language.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Also, all Wizards speak Magius, a spidery language which magical research notes and spellbooks are often written, and whose spoken form is used as verbal components for spells.</p><p></p><p></p><p>We get to <strong>Coinage,</strong> which mentions that gold fell out of use during the Age of Despair, where the loss of Istar and the Gods made the world a more savage and cruel place. Steel became the valued metal, and steel pieces the standard currency of Krynn. A steel piece is equivalent to one gold piece in other D&D settings, but copper pieces retain their base value. Gold pieces in Ansalson are worth 1/40th of a steel piece, silver 1/20th (why silver's more valuable than gold, I don't know. Lycanthropes, maybe). Platinum pieces are worth 5 steel pieces, and iron/bronze pieces are worth 1/2th a steel piece.</p><p></p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><strong>The River of Time</strong></p><p></p><p></p><p>Our final section details the names of the hours, days, and months of Krynn, as well as a timeline of history.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Basically there are 24 hours in a day, 7 days to a week, 365 days to a year, and 12 months, just like our world. But they all have different names upon the racial and national cultures of Ansalon. The first month is known as Aelmont to Ergothians, Winter Night to the Elves, Snowfun to the Kender, and Famine to the Goblins. There is also a deity associated with each month.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Normally I'd post the tables from the core book, but seeing as how I had computer problems and lost my earlier material, <a href="http://www.dlnexus.com/fan/rules/14337.aspx" target="_blank">I'll instead provide a link at the Dragonlance Nexus.</a></p><p></p><p></p><p>Also, the hours of the day were developed by the city watch of Palanthas, based upon their watches. Midnight is Darkwatch, 6 AM is Morning Watch, 12 PM (lunchtime) is High Watch, etc.</p><p></p><p></p><p><img src="http://i.imgur.com/X88MM8y.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p></p><p>Dragonlance has a large timeline of Five Ages; instead of listing each event, I'll do an abbreviation of the major events here:</p><p></p><p></p><p>The world's history is divided into Five Ages by scholars. The <strong>Age of Starbirth</strong> was before the rise of civilization, beginning with a conclave of primordial entities known as deities working together to create the world of Krynn. During this era the spirits are given physical forms, creating the first dragons, elves, ogres, and humans. The Gods of Light grant them the ability to enjoy life's pleasures, the Gods of Darkness ambition and desire, and the Gods of Balance free will.</p><p></p><p></p><p>The <strong>Age of Dreams</strong> details the beginning of recorded mortal history, and sees the rise of the earliest civilizations. Lots of stuff happens in this era. Ogres, elves, and humans founded the first civilizations; the Graygem of Gargath (housing Chaos' essence) is cracked and unleashes wild magic into the world, resulting in the creation of many new monsters and races; elves war with dragons in the First and Second Dragon Wars, and the first mages use their magic against the serpents. The horrific loss of life from unrestrained magic leads to them forming the Order of High Sorcery, to act as a stewardship and regulator of those gifted with arcane magic to ensure Ansalon's safety. Takhisis attempts to conquer the continent with an army of dragons during the Third Dragon War, but is banished from Krynn by the legendary knight Huma Dragonbane and the silver dragon Heart.</p><p></p><p></p><p>The <strong>Age of Might</strong> sees the rise of the human nation of Istar, protected by the clerics of Paladine during the Third Dragon War. The elven nations impose an isolationist policy, while the dwarves forge underground kingdoms and war with the ogres. Istar becomes a theocracy and Ansalon's major power. In the Kingpriests' zeal to wipe out Evil, the church enacts increasingly oppressive measures, from enslaving "evil" races to outlawing arcane magic and worship of the Gods of Balance, and even managing an order of mind-reading inquisitors to punish those thinking evil thoughts. The Gods of Light become increasingly disgusted with this state of affairs, withdrawing their divine aid and spells, but they do not change. Eventually the Kingpriest views the Gods themselves as tolerating evil and sets forth on a magical ritual to ascend to godhood himself. Paladine sends thirteen prophetic warnings to the people of Istar, all of which are mistaken as the work of Evil. Istar's crimes are punished when the Gods of Light send a meteor down upon their capital city. Landmasses are torn asunder, freak weather spreads across the continent, innumerable lives are lost, and all the Gods withdraw their affairs from the world. This horrific tragedy becomes known as the Cataclysm.</p><p></p><p></p><p>The effects of the Cataclysm are felt for nearly four centuries in an era known as the <strong>Age of Despair.</strong> The Empire fractures into independent nation-states, plague and famine is endemic, governments and infrastructures disintegrate, banditry is rampant, and starvation among the dwarven nations leads to the Dwarfgate War as a significant portion of the above-ground population is denied entry into the nation, as food supplies are low. These exiled dwarves are now known as the Neidar (Nearest), or hill dwarves.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Takhisis brings the sunken temple of Istar to the surface and uses its Foundation Stone as a divine conduit to the world. As it is not whole, she cannot manifest on Krynn. She is the first deity to bring divine magic to mortals in this era, and her forces bring law and order to significant sections of eastern Ansalon under the banner of the Dragon Empire. Supplemented by magic, monsters, and dragons, they become an international power and set about conquering the rest of the continent. This event, which comes to be known as the War of the Lance, is part of the original Dragonlance Chronicles. The Heroes of the Lance bring knowledge of the Gods of Light and Balance back to Krynn and discover the secrets to forging the mighty Dragonlances. Eventually the Heroes lead an army against the Empire, kill Emperor Ariakas, and prevent Takhisis' summoning into the world.</p><p></p><p></p><p>The Empire dissolves, but the Blue Dragonarmy manages to hold onto a significant portion of territory. Ariakas' son creates an order known as the Knights of Takhisis and begin conquering much of Ansalon. The Irda ogres break open the Graygem of Gargath in desperation, unleashing Chaos into the world. Forces of good and evil alike are destroyed the primordial gods' spawned minions, and they unite against the monsters in an event known as the Chaos War. Eventually Chaos is banished from Krynn, and Takhisis moves the Material Plane away amid the confusion. Now she is the only deity with a connection to Krynn, beginning the Age of Mortals.</p><p></p><p></p><p>The <strong>Age of Mortals</strong> sees the absence of divine and arcane spellcasting, now that the Gods are gone. New forms of magic are discovered after Chaos' release, which draw upon one's inner power. They are primal sorcery and mysticism, respectively. No longer are mortals dependent upon deities for magic. Five titanic dragons from a neighboring plane enter Krynn and begin conquering significant sections of it. Takhisis takes the form of the One God and instills her power in a mortal named Mina, who joins the Dark Knights as a cleric and leads their forces against the Dragon Overlords and kills two of them with the aid of divine magic and a dragonlance. Raistlin Majere uses a time-traveling device to form a link to Krynn and help the Gods return. They strip Takhisis of her divinity, making her mortal, but so too to Paladine to keep the Balance. Takhisis attempts to kill Mina in anger but is killed by an elf in love with Mina. Mina takes the goddess' corpse in her arms and leaves, swearing vengeance upon the elven race. Clerical and wizardly magic return to the world (although primal sorcery and mysticism still remain), and only two Dragon Overlords yet live.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Yeah, it's a repost from my Dragonlance 101 section from Key of Destiny, but it's a good and useful one.</p><p></p><p></p><p><em>Thoughts so far:</em> This section of the book is more a series of generic information of varying quality and miscellaneous stuff which doesn't fit into the other chapters. Still, it's Story Awards system is top-notch, one surprisingly absent from many other D20 products during and after its time. It's really the only "non-combat experience" house rule I've seen which isn't entirely ad hoc by DM Fiat.</p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>Next time, Chapter 7, Creatures of Ansalon!</strong></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Libertad, post: 6238146, member: 6750502"] [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/gIxoxRI.jpg?1[/img] [b]Dragonlance Campaign Setting Part Six: The Dragonlance Campaign[/b][/center] This chapter is dedicated to helping the DM bring out the unique themes of Dragonlance into their game, from variant rules to a timeline of Krynn's history to tips of story-building. [center][b]The Laws of Krynn[/b][/center] The first part talks about the 3 major laws of Krynn, each held by one of the moral alignments: "Good Redeems Its Own," where the champions of Good seek to redeeming and recall the lost, that everyone is potentially worthy of salvation, even the wicked. It also mentions that one of the dangers of being good is arrogance, and that such folk can potentially fall into darkness. This stands in contradiction, actually, with some setting material, as the Kingpriest of Istar was never evil-aligned, nor are the Silvanesti. Second law, Evil Feeds on Itself." Chaotic Evil people care only for themselves, no loyalty or care for anyone else. They feed off of one another for selfish ambition. Lawful Evil people adhere to a hierarchal system where they believe that Nature rewards the strong who dominate the weak. They have strict laws which dictate how people ought to live, and those who break said laws must be punished to serve as an example to others. Lawful Evil feeds off of itself in a cyclical pattern of obedience and punishment. The third law, "Both Good and Evil Must Exist in Contrast," that of Neutrality. Basically it is a combination of the common Neutrality interpretations: the belief that light and darkness together bring meaning to the universe and that both sides predominating can be bad. And those who examine all laws and causes carefully and tend to think of their own selves and friends and family first, but aren't wickedly selfish and mean. Given that alignment is a thorny issue in and of itself, Dragonlance's morality system is subject to a lot of arguing and consternation. Especially regarding the Balance. How does having more evil in the world be an overall benefit? Or too much "Good" being a bad thing? Well, remember what I said about the Silvanesti Elves, the Istaran Empire, and good's arrogance? Yeah, well turns out being of Good alignment in Dragonlance means that you can be one nasty SOB. It's implied that such examples of "Good" in the book series are that way [i]because of this,[/i] and not in spite of this. Slavery, blatant racism, stereotypical religious zealotry? All done by both the forces of Good and Evil in Dragonlance at various points in time. In a weird way, Neurality's stance makes sense, but only by making "Good" no really good, if you get my drift. [center][b]Flavor and Tone[/b][/center] We get a broad brush of Dragonlance's themes here. Basically, epic fantasy. Dragons are not mere monsters who skulk in caves, but guide the fate of nations indirectly and choose sides in legendary battles. Most humanoids of Krynn have a sense of greatness beyond their own individual lives: the elves have a great legacy and must struggle with the loss of their homelands; the draconians are now a free people with their own nation, free to make their own destiny; the dwarves re-conciliate old traditions with a changing world beyond their mountain homes. And lastly, the PCs should become embroiled in the fate of nations and embroiled in the gods' affairs, especially at higher levels. A sense of grandness permeates Dragonlance and its people. [center][b]Fallen Nations & Ruined Cities[/b][/center] [img]http://i.imgur.com/BOy6APQ.jpg[/img] Weis and Hickman decided to work out much of the setting's history ahead of time before penning the first adventure, to give the campaign a "lived-in" sense and to make dungeon crawls a more exciting affair. Foreboding tombs of kings both great and terrible and the ruins of civilizations past are the dungeons of Dragonlance; in addition to monsters to defeat and treasure to acquire, the dungeon's history is written in its broken tablets and decaying homes. Shards of the past might hold great secrets to help propel adventurers in their quest. It advises to reveal information of the dungeon beyond just Knowledge checks, to show it in the tapestries in the boxed text, the legends written in the books of its library, and in its ancient relics. Afterwards we get a list of known ruins of Ansalon. The more interesting ones include the corrupted Tower of High Sorcery of Palanthas (in the above picture), the Anvil of Time (home to a magical forge which simultaneously exists in all of Krynn's Ages), the underwater ruins of Istar's capital (home to many of its lost glories and now inhabited by sea elves), the magical fortress of Skullcap (home to the evil archwizard Fistandantalus which was partially consumed in a magical blast in the Dwarfgate Wars), and Xak Tsaroth (an old city of Istar present in the first Dragonlance adventure, from there the Heroes discovered the Disks of Mishakal and brought knowledge of the Gods back to the world). [center][b]Gods and their Champions[/b][/center] This section talks about how the Gods of Krynn keep a vested interest in the affairs of mortals. Their avatars take the disguises of simple folk, bringing indirect advice to people they believe can help further their interests. Still, the deities do not directly control mortals so much as influence them, by appealing to their better or baser natures. It advises that a god who takes an interest in the PC's affairs to be a rare, unique, and special event, but not to make it overt. Rather sprinkle clues in repeat visitations that the NPC might have more to them than meets the eye. A fighter guarding a pass might be Kiri-Jolith in disguise, challenging those who wish to pass to a non-lethal duel. PCs who react honorably and with grace might find themselves on the path of a Solamnic Knight. [center][b]Heroes of Mundane Origin[/b][/center] Most heroes in a Dragonlance campaign are not necessarily born and bred to the role. They often stem from humble origins only to find themselves thrust into some greater fate. They might start out as a blacksmith who must take up arms to defend his village from the Dragonarmies, or a traveling knight might embark to search for signs of the Gods with his childhood friends. They become legends through experience, often starting out with a simple and well-intentioned goal which is the further basis for heroism. That blacksmith might go on to learn the secrets of forging the Dragonlance for the forces of Good, and that knight's example in a climatic battle might bring honor back to his order. [center][b]Companions & Friends[/b][/center] The following section recommends that PC groups should be friends and know each other, both to create a shared group history and incentive to adventure together, and for character development. Even the best of friends may not get along, and the hard life of an epic quest can strain these bonds. Childhood friends know that they won't abandon each other in a forlorn dungeon, and a slight or wrong against the individual can earn the enmity of the entire group. Unfortunately beyond these examples there is little information or advice on how one can practice collaborative character-building. It's often done in other RPG systems, but D&D is prone to having people design characters in a vacuum or by the roles of class. A sample selection of questions, like "how did PC 1 meet PC 2?" or "what secret did PC 2 share with PC 3?" would be a good way of doing this. [center][b]Secrets and Shadows of the Past[/b][/center] This section advises that DMs should hand out artifacts and magical items with a great history, especially if it ties into a PC's lineage. Not only does this add interesting dimensions to a character's backstory and ties them to the world of Krynn, it adds some spice to otherwise bland magic items. It suggests not making all of the item's powers known, instead having them be activated or accessed through study, completing a great trial, etc. [center][b]Campaign Crafting and Adventure Design[/b][/center] Below is a selection of advice for DMs running a Dragonlance Game: [i]Memorable Villains:[/i] When creating a villain, make sure that they have good reasons for doing what they're doing. Nobody decides one day to become evil, it is usually a series of events or upbringing which pushes them into it. Also, Lawful Evil villains are more interesting because they're orderly and efficient, and tend to be zealots with overarching visions. Chaotic Evil villains, by contrast, are simple, reckless, and stupid. This is the book speaking, not me. While this may sound biased, 3rd Edition's definition of Chaotic Evil isn't very kind, either, going the Stupid Evil route as well. The section also recommends giving villains complex personalities and redeeming qualities, as well as a backstory which the PCs might be able to discover and solve over time. It also says that evil people don't necessarily see themselves as being evil (despite there being an Army of Darkness, Gods of Evil, and objective morality in Dragonlance): to an ogre, the elves slaughtering his people are evil. Some of history's greatest villains believed that their actions were of benefit to the world. This is all rather detailed advice, and seems more fitting for a major villain than an antagonist for a single adventure. The advice for moral relativism ("I'm not really evil!") sort of doesn't gel well with the setting's themes, or what has been established. However, it can oddly work out if you play with some setting tropes, and the books themselves have delved into this. Lord Soth (the archetypical death knight) has expressed regret for his actions but does not have enough faith in himself to move past his own follies. The Dragonarmies killed many people and took over many nations, but the Empire brought order and cohesion to a fractured Ansalon plagued with instability and a loss of magic. The Kingpriest of Istar's alignment has been debated in both the setting and the Dragonlance fandom. I get the feeling that at times Dragonlance has tried to go for a simplistic black and white view while still trying to analyze why evil people act evil. It's been a mixed result at times, as you can tell. [b]Story Awards in a Dragonlance Campaign:[/b] Remember how in the Key of Destiny Adventure Path I made frequent mention to bonus experience points for good role-playing and acts of heroism? Well, this is where it comes from! Story Awards is a new set of house rules and bonus avenues for experience point generation in Dragonlance campaigns. PCs can gain experience points for noncombat awards based upon the challenge type: simple, easy, average, formidable, and difficult. There are no hard and fast examples, only guidelines. An easy task might include a rogue climbing up a wall at night and avoiding sentries (doesn't sound easy to me!), while a difficult challenge might be convincing the Knights of Solamnia and Neraka to work together to fight the forces of a Dragon Overlord. A challenge type awards experience points equivalent to an encounter of a Challenge Rating from -2 (simple) to +2 (formidable) of the Average Party Level. Mission goals are bonus experience in line with the aims of an individual PC or the party at large. They are separated into Personal and Party Goals, and those are separated into Minor and Major Goals. An exiled dwarf proving to the clan elders that he was falsely accused would be a major personal goal, while the discovery of a hidden mountain pathway into the Dragon Overlord's fortress would be a minor party goal. Experience generated depends upon the current amount of experience points generated during the adventure. A minor personal goal is equal to the current total experience divided by 8, major personal goals divided by 6, minor party goals divided by 4, and major personals divided by 2. Finally we have Roleplaying Awards, where the DM hands out bonus experience points for when a player has a PC act in accordance with their established characterization but which does not result in a favorable outcome for the character. The experience awards earned are separated into mostly favorable (25 exp per level), unfavorable (50 exp per level), and extremely unfavorable (100 exp per level). This reminds me of the Hero Points rule from Mutants & Masterminds where a player gets a spendable token for when things don't go their way or they accomplish something in line with the character. Now handing out experience to get players to role-play is a very metagame concept, but in D&D it acts as a good incentive for them to do so. Since it's a good baseline for noncombat awards, I heartily recommend it. Oh, and the experience awarded is for the whole party, so everyone benefits! Next section details the languages of Ansalon. It's got the Common tongue, which is a trade language. The predominant human tongues are Abanasinian (spoken in the nation of the same name), Camptalk (mercenary slang), Ergot (Ergothians), Kalinese (Blood Sea Isles), Kharolian (Tarsis, Plains of Dust, Kharolis), Khur (Khur people), Nerakese (Nerakans), Nordmaarian (same nation), Saifhum (Saifhum island), and Solamnic (Solamnia). There is no giant language, instead being Ogre (and its long-dead High Ogre precursor), and Gnome is just Common but with highly-technical sciencespeak which might as well be a new language. Minotaurs speak Kothian, Kender Kenderspeak, Dwarves and Elves have the language of the same name, but Gully Dwarves have Gullytalk (a rapidly evolving language which takes words and dialect from all kinds of cultures) and the sea elves have their own languages (Dargonesti and Dimernesti). Dargoi is a generic trade tongue for underwater cultures, while Draconic is the only living language. Also, all Wizards speak Magius, a spidery language which magical research notes and spellbooks are often written, and whose spoken form is used as verbal components for spells. We get to [b]Coinage,[/b] which mentions that gold fell out of use during the Age of Despair, where the loss of Istar and the Gods made the world a more savage and cruel place. Steel became the valued metal, and steel pieces the standard currency of Krynn. A steel piece is equivalent to one gold piece in other D&D settings, but copper pieces retain their base value. Gold pieces in Ansalson are worth 1/40th of a steel piece, silver 1/20th (why silver's more valuable than gold, I don't know. Lycanthropes, maybe). Platinum pieces are worth 5 steel pieces, and iron/bronze pieces are worth 1/2th a steel piece. [center][b]The River of Time[/b][/center] Our final section details the names of the hours, days, and months of Krynn, as well as a timeline of history. Basically there are 24 hours in a day, 7 days to a week, 365 days to a year, and 12 months, just like our world. But they all have different names upon the racial and national cultures of Ansalon. The first month is known as Aelmont to Ergothians, Winter Night to the Elves, Snowfun to the Kender, and Famine to the Goblins. There is also a deity associated with each month. Normally I'd post the tables from the core book, but seeing as how I had computer problems and lost my earlier material, [url=http://www.dlnexus.com/fan/rules/14337.aspx]I'll instead provide a link at the Dragonlance Nexus.[/url] Also, the hours of the day were developed by the city watch of Palanthas, based upon their watches. Midnight is Darkwatch, 6 AM is Morning Watch, 12 PM (lunchtime) is High Watch, etc. [img]http://i.imgur.com/X88MM8y.jpg[/img] Dragonlance has a large timeline of Five Ages; instead of listing each event, I'll do an abbreviation of the major events here: The world's history is divided into Five Ages by scholars. The [b]Age of Starbirth[/b] was before the rise of civilization, beginning with a conclave of primordial entities known as deities working together to create the world of Krynn. During this era the spirits are given physical forms, creating the first dragons, elves, ogres, and humans. The Gods of Light grant them the ability to enjoy life's pleasures, the Gods of Darkness ambition and desire, and the Gods of Balance free will. The [b]Age of Dreams[/b] details the beginning of recorded mortal history, and sees the rise of the earliest civilizations. Lots of stuff happens in this era. Ogres, elves, and humans founded the first civilizations; the Graygem of Gargath (housing Chaos' essence) is cracked and unleashes wild magic into the world, resulting in the creation of many new monsters and races; elves war with dragons in the First and Second Dragon Wars, and the first mages use their magic against the serpents. The horrific loss of life from unrestrained magic leads to them forming the Order of High Sorcery, to act as a stewardship and regulator of those gifted with arcane magic to ensure Ansalon's safety. Takhisis attempts to conquer the continent with an army of dragons during the Third Dragon War, but is banished from Krynn by the legendary knight Huma Dragonbane and the silver dragon Heart. The [b]Age of Might[/b] sees the rise of the human nation of Istar, protected by the clerics of Paladine during the Third Dragon War. The elven nations impose an isolationist policy, while the dwarves forge underground kingdoms and war with the ogres. Istar becomes a theocracy and Ansalon's major power. In the Kingpriests' zeal to wipe out Evil, the church enacts increasingly oppressive measures, from enslaving "evil" races to outlawing arcane magic and worship of the Gods of Balance, and even managing an order of mind-reading inquisitors to punish those thinking evil thoughts. The Gods of Light become increasingly disgusted with this state of affairs, withdrawing their divine aid and spells, but they do not change. Eventually the Kingpriest views the Gods themselves as tolerating evil and sets forth on a magical ritual to ascend to godhood himself. Paladine sends thirteen prophetic warnings to the people of Istar, all of which are mistaken as the work of Evil. Istar's crimes are punished when the Gods of Light send a meteor down upon their capital city. Landmasses are torn asunder, freak weather spreads across the continent, innumerable lives are lost, and all the Gods withdraw their affairs from the world. This horrific tragedy becomes known as the Cataclysm. The effects of the Cataclysm are felt for nearly four centuries in an era known as the [b]Age of Despair.[/b] The Empire fractures into independent nation-states, plague and famine is endemic, governments and infrastructures disintegrate, banditry is rampant, and starvation among the dwarven nations leads to the Dwarfgate War as a significant portion of the above-ground population is denied entry into the nation, as food supplies are low. These exiled dwarves are now known as the Neidar (Nearest), or hill dwarves. Takhisis brings the sunken temple of Istar to the surface and uses its Foundation Stone as a divine conduit to the world. As it is not whole, she cannot manifest on Krynn. She is the first deity to bring divine magic to mortals in this era, and her forces bring law and order to significant sections of eastern Ansalon under the banner of the Dragon Empire. Supplemented by magic, monsters, and dragons, they become an international power and set about conquering the rest of the continent. This event, which comes to be known as the War of the Lance, is part of the original Dragonlance Chronicles. The Heroes of the Lance bring knowledge of the Gods of Light and Balance back to Krynn and discover the secrets to forging the mighty Dragonlances. Eventually the Heroes lead an army against the Empire, kill Emperor Ariakas, and prevent Takhisis' summoning into the world. The Empire dissolves, but the Blue Dragonarmy manages to hold onto a significant portion of territory. Ariakas' son creates an order known as the Knights of Takhisis and begin conquering much of Ansalon. The Irda ogres break open the Graygem of Gargath in desperation, unleashing Chaos into the world. Forces of good and evil alike are destroyed the primordial gods' spawned minions, and they unite against the monsters in an event known as the Chaos War. Eventually Chaos is banished from Krynn, and Takhisis moves the Material Plane away amid the confusion. Now she is the only deity with a connection to Krynn, beginning the Age of Mortals. The [b]Age of Mortals[/b] sees the absence of divine and arcane spellcasting, now that the Gods are gone. New forms of magic are discovered after Chaos' release, which draw upon one's inner power. They are primal sorcery and mysticism, respectively. No longer are mortals dependent upon deities for magic. Five titanic dragons from a neighboring plane enter Krynn and begin conquering significant sections of it. Takhisis takes the form of the One God and instills her power in a mortal named Mina, who joins the Dark Knights as a cleric and leads their forces against the Dragon Overlords and kills two of them with the aid of divine magic and a dragonlance. Raistlin Majere uses a time-traveling device to form a link to Krynn and help the Gods return. They strip Takhisis of her divinity, making her mortal, but so too to Paladine to keep the Balance. Takhisis attempts to kill Mina in anger but is killed by an elf in love with Mina. Mina takes the goddess' corpse in her arms and leaves, swearing vengeance upon the elven race. Clerical and wizardly magic return to the world (although primal sorcery and mysticism still remain), and only two Dragon Overlords yet live. Yeah, it's a repost from my Dragonlance 101 section from Key of Destiny, but it's a good and useful one. [i]Thoughts so far:[/i] This section of the book is more a series of generic information of varying quality and miscellaneous stuff which doesn't fit into the other chapters. Still, it's Story Awards system is top-notch, one surprisingly absent from many other D20 products during and after its time. It's really the only "non-combat experience" house rule I've seen which isn't entirely ad hoc by DM Fiat. [b]Next time, Chapter 7, Creatures of Ansalon![/b] [/QUOTE]
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