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[Let's Read] Dragonlance: Legends of the Twins
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<blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 7885595" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Chapter Five: Legendary Wars</strong></p><p></p><p>Dragonlance is in many ways a war story. Large battles took place in the original Chronicles, and said modules and others utilized TSR’s BattleSystem for players to run sieges and skirmishes of their own as part of (or apart from) their more regular dungeon-delving faire. In Legends of the Twins, we look at several notable struggles: the Lost Battles, The Dwarfgate Wars, and the Blue Lady’s War.</p><p></p><p>When this book was released in 2006, there were quite a few fantasy strategy games on the market. Wizards of the Coast was pushing its <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons_%26_Dragons_Miniatures_Game" target="_blank">D&D Miniatures line</a> heavily whose streamlined D20 System rules simulated small-scale warfare. Malhavoc Press published <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/678/Cry-Havoc" target="_blank">Cry Havoc</a> which had high production values for a 3rd party sourcebook. And this is not counting the many independent wargames existing outside of the D20 framework. Instead of committing to one system, Sovereign Press/Margaret Weis Productions opted to let DMs use their own rules of choice. And to help get a feel for proper conversion, Legendary Wars provides outlines for terrain, troop numbers and divisions, and overall abilities of leaders and units in general 3rd Edition terms.</p><p></p><p>The three battles are formulaic in their approach: they outline the time periods, the pretext for how said wars came to be, the stakes at risk for both sides, bird’s eye views of battlefield maps and troop movements for longer campaigns, and the results of the battles as they occurred in the Dragonlance canon. Each major army lists a Commander, its composition listed as the number of Brigades, and Minor Commanders and the average brief stat block (race/class/level/alignment) of the Soldiers comprising individual Brigades. The masses of soldiers are a bit all over the place in terms of scale; light infantry and cavalry tend to be 1st level Warriors, while heavy infantry and cavalry can be 1st or 2nd level Fighters. A few notable exceptions, such as Thorbadin’s dwarves, can go up to 3rd level. Specialized units may have 2 levels in a more unorthodox class, like Cleric for battle-priests or Wizard for arcane defenders of the Towers of High Sorcery, while “elite units” or very rich civilizations often have soldiers in masterwork gear.</p><p></p><p>For those non 3rd Edition players among our readers, the difference between a Warrior and a Fighter is that the former is meant to represent rank and file mooks who only gain more Hit Points and attack bonuses as their major level up rewards; meanwhile, Fighters gain access to lots of bonus feats and are considered a proper PC class. 3rd Edition has been a bit strange in this regard: the PC classes are meant to represent exceptional individuals, while NPC classes like Warrior are meant to portray the common clay of civilization. Higher-powered settings like Faerun subvert this, although Dragonlance post-Age of Might is meant to be a more down to earth low-magic setting.</p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/RPLCwFu.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><strong>The Lost Battles:</strong> This is not a singular event so much as a procession of events. Back during the Age of Might, the Orders of High Sorcery were the other major magical power of Ansalon besides the Kingpriest’s government. However even back then the wizards were stand-offish and more concerned with expanding the knowledge of magic for its own sake than setting up their own kingdoms. Even the villainous Black Robes were more likely to be creepy necromancers, charlatans, and graverobbers than heads of state. Maybe a cult leader, but that’s stepping on the toes of evil clerics.</p><p></p><p>But in spite of their otherwise neutral stance in world affairs, the Kingpriest feared their power. A series of internal dissensions and increase of authoritarian laws against both evil and “evil” races culminated in an assassination attempt of the Kingpriest by a regenade mage. His actions instead took the lives of two Ergothian princes, and the Order of High Sorcery apprehended said wizard to dispense their own punishment as part of a long-standing policy of self-policing. But the Kingpriest whipped up public sentiment against the wizards due to this being a threat to his divine authority, while also gaining the aid of Solamnia and Ergoth in this matter. Once Fistandantilus covertly weakened the defensive groves, Istaran forces marched upon the Towers.</p><p></p><p>I have to admit that this is an interesting fact as to why the Kingpriest was killing non-evil wizards. It’s not due to some superstitious “book-magic is evil!” but rather a more cynical means of realpolitik to eliminate the only major domestic faction which could challenge his power. The fact he manipulated the assassination attempt to his advantage once circumstances aligned to put another foreign power* on his side makes Istar look even worse than it already could be, what with the whole sparing of Fistandantilus once said archmage revealed his hand in the whole affair.</p><p></p><p>*Ergoth in this case.</p><p></p><p>For army outlines, we have a sample battlemap of the Tower of Lorsacum, which has its own malachite guardians* golem constructs dual-wielding scimitars as major military units with regular D&D stats; and a joint Ergoth-Istaran siege upon the Tower of Daltigoth. The Kingpriest’s forces include a mixture of regular warriors along with Knights of the Divine Hammer and auxiliary clerics, small numbers of mounted Ergothian cavaliers who have masterwork equipment, and the Knights of Solamnia who are heavier on the martial side in comparison to Istar but have some divine casters among the Knights of the Sword. The Orders of High Sorcery are far less in number but should be treated as their own brigades on account that they have many means of using long-duration and AoE spells along with summoned and planar bound monstrous minions to aid them.</p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/8ziaDMm.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><strong>The Dwarfgate Wars:</strong> Although far briefer and with far less casualties than other major battles of Krynn, the Dwarfgate Wars are a vital part of the formation of modern dwarven culture. There isn’t much new things here that weren’t covered in Eras of Legend, but there is mention that the concept of Fistandantilus leading his own army is a bit of a modern myth. He was a popular figure and advisor in times of battle, but his so-called “Army” was a disparate collection of Neidar dwarves, Plainsmen, and mercenaries of various races who followed their own commanders who all happened to share common cause in breaking open the gates of Thorbadin.</p><p></p><p>An interesting thing to note is that dwarven military units are <em>hard as naughty word.</em> The average Neidar heavy infantry are 3rd level Fighters, with light infantry 2nd level Warriors. They and the Plainsmen are worse-equipped than the nations of old in the Lost Battles, more likely to have leader and hide armor and wooden shields instead of the chain shirts, chainmail, and steel shields of prior centuries. Barring Fistandantilus there are no spellcasters of any sorts, not even mercenary mages, although there’s mention of a cleric known as Brother Denubis.* It’s very much a down and dirty war, and the text makes mention that although war gear is plentiful starvation and basic necessities are more likely to be stolen and looted than bartered for or purchased.</p><p></p><p>*who would canonically be a magic-less heathen cleric at this point in history, no matter his patron deity.</p><p></p><p>The mountain dwarves of Thorbadin by contrast are well-equipped. Even their light infantry are 3rd-level fighters outfitted with masterwork gear (all that talk of dwarven craftsmanship isn’t just for show), with only irregular conscripts among the Klar clan and Gully Dwarves having levels in the inferior Warrior.</p><p></p><p>Although taking place over a span of years, there were two major battles. The first was the Siege of Pax Tharkas, where said fortress was not enough to hold back the masses of tens of thousands of desperate starving warriors. This was thanks in no small part to Fistandantilus cutting a deal with the Dewar (evil traitorous mountain dwarves) to kill the gate guards and sabotage the defenses. The war climaxed with the final Battle of Dergoth, where Fistandantilus’ abortive attempt to open a portal to the Abyss in the fortress of Skullcap resulted in a gigantic magical explosion which indiscriminately tore through all sides. The mountain dwarves retreated, and the hill dwarves and human forces were too low in number to carry on the battle. Indeed it was Fistandantilus’ actions that convinced dwarves on both sides never to trust a wizard again. Say what you will about Dragonlance, but it gives actual historical basis for some of its class/race combo restrictions.</p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/EcS7Ax6.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><strong>The Blue Lady’s War:</strong> After the end of the War of the Lance, the gods returned to the world. Takhisis’ Dragonarmies were beaten back by the forces of good, with only Lady Kitiara’s Blue Dragonarmy holding onto territory of any significance in mountainous central Ansalon. The other Dragonarmies were reduced to ever-splitting factions of desperate banditry or consumed in their own civil wars to the point that they could not challenge the free realms again.</p><p></p><p>Lord Soth, in spite of being on the side of evil, was no fan of Kitiara. And Kitiara, once Emperor Ariakas’ virtual second in command, wanted to take his place one day and had dreams of restoring her forces to greatness. When she learned of Raistlin’s desire to amass enough magical power to challenge and kill Takhisis herself, a seed of genuine worry erupted within her. Using Soth as an intermediary to contact Raistlin’s apprentice Dalamar, a series of double agents crossing double agents resulted in Lady Kitiara staging an invasion attempt of Palanthas by using a flying fortress. Both sides had their reasons for victory: Palanthas was more prosperous than ever, its deep-water harbor and surrounding mountains made for great natural defenses, and the High Clerist’s Tower was now stocked with Dragonlance-bearing Solamnic Knights. Meanwhile, the aerial advantage of the Blue Dragonarmy’s forces would render said natural defenses moot, and the Tower of High Sorcery of Palanthas was where Raistlin would allegedly perform said ritual of deicide.</p><p></p><p>This battle’s military units are perhaps the most unique of this chapter’s. The Blue Dragonarmy includes a mix of humans and monsters, ranging from draconians and blue dragons to undead minions under Lord Soth’s command, and an evil-aligned 1st-level gully dwarf by the name of Rounce (who was a character in the books). We even get age categories for the dragons so we can get a sense of their power and how dire things are for the forces of Good.</p><p></p><p>The Knights of Solamnia are the best of the best of Palanthas: while their gear isn’t always masterwork, they have a mixture of Fighter and Warrior levels, and a privileged few have honest to god bronze dragons to ride upon to challenge the Blue Dragonarmy’s aerial dominance. The City of Palanthas has its own militia who while overall worse skill-wise than the Knights (1st- level characters only, no clerics nor dragons) are willing to defend their homes and equipped with masterwork gear thanks to their city’s prosperity.</p><p></p><p>The major battles in the Blue Lady’s war includes a failed defense of the High Clerist’s Tower, and battles in the streets of Palanthas where dragons, undead, draconians, and clerics of Paladine engage in street-to-street battles. On the non-army side of things, Caramon and Tanis undertake a stealth mission onboard the flying citadel and eventually commandeer it by...turning the structure upside-down at the pilot controls and shaking it free of remaining draconians. Meanwhile, Dalamar and Kitiara engage one on one in the Tower of High Sorcery, which is what the cover image of Eras of Legend in an earlier post portrayed.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Chapter Six: A Legends Campaign</strong></p><p></p><p>You may be thinking that this two chapter post is like the opening. Well you’d be half-right: the preceding Legendary Wars is a semi-fair length, but the final main chapter of this book is only <em>five pages long.</em> It’s mostly open-ended advice on how you can flavor your campaign to be more like the Legends trilogy.</p><p></p><p>The <strong>Legendary Campaigns</strong> section posits several styles: <em>Traditional</em> has no time travel elements for the PCs to use but rather manifests in an indirect manner: seers, oracles, other time travelers from Alternate Krynns or elsewhere in the timeline can be used to give hints to things beyond the here and now. Some may even seek to fork the River off course while the PCs do their best to keep the status quo of continuity. This kind of campaign is actually discouraged because the book outright points out it wouldn’t make full use of its own contents!</p><p></p><p><em>Time Travel</em> is exactly what it says on the tin: whether by virtue of having or being a high-level Sorcerer/Wizard or falling into possession of the Device of Time Journeying, the PCs can travel through time. It suggests that the Dungeon Master map out and express their desire for certain periods or eras rather than having the PCs go to wherever; time travel should be done with a specific purpose in mind, whether that’s to undo a tragedy,* find the answer to some dilemma which can only be found in prior eras, and likewise. It’s also encouraged for the DM to show that even though Dragonlance has a vague medieval fantasy feel, that different eras have a different feel to them: a Knight of Solamnia from the Age of Might may not be fond of the current order today (and vice versa), and the changing nature of language means that even the same culture has noticeably different accents and dialects centuries one way or the other from now.</p><p></p><p>*which would technically be making a “fork” in the river.</p><p></p><p><em>Alternate Worlds</em> suggests using an Alternate Krynn, either from Chapter Four of this book or of one’s own making. It has the advantage of being different enough from “core Dragonlance” to be novel while not necessarily requiring time travel in and of itself as a plot element. Furthermore, travelers along the branches of the River of Time may cause characters and their doubles from alternate worlds to meet each other in a temporal version of a planes-hopping style of campaign.</p><p></p><p><strong>Legendary Themes</strong> is a series of various questions and conundrums for the Dungeon Master and how they can be answered during the campaign. “Should History Be Changed?” “What is the Cost?” and such. Sadly a lot of the advice is vague and doesn’t really solve common problems that may pop up in play. Such as when dealing with the possibility of PCs time-traveling back before a fight to gain a more favorable outcome, the book just shrugs and goes “that can happen, but what if the bad guys can do that too?”</p><p></p><p>Honestly this part feels like padding meant to extend the book’s length.</p><p></p><p><strong>Thoughts So Far:</strong> I found this chapter of limited use in comparison to the others. The outline of notable battles in Chapter Five is a good concept, but the lack of full-on battle rules and vagueness thereof makes this an uneasy compromise between DMs who need more involved details vs. those who only care about the PCs’ actions and resolve things in a narrative manner. The average level and gear of rank-and-file soldiers won’t matter for the latter type of DM unless the PCs are murderhobos, which is something that Dragonlance does its best to avoid thematically speaking.</p><p></p><p><strong>Join Us Next Time as we finish this book with a new adventure, the Anvil of Time!</strong></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Libertad, post: 7885595, member: 6750502"] [center][b]Chapter Five: Legendary Wars[/b][/center] Dragonlance is in many ways a war story. Large battles took place in the original Chronicles, and said modules and others utilized TSR’s BattleSystem for players to run sieges and skirmishes of their own as part of (or apart from) their more regular dungeon-delving faire. In Legends of the Twins, we look at several notable struggles: the Lost Battles, The Dwarfgate Wars, and the Blue Lady’s War. When this book was released in 2006, there were quite a few fantasy strategy games on the market. Wizards of the Coast was pushing its [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons_%26_Dragons_Miniatures_Game]D&D Miniatures line[/url] heavily whose streamlined D20 System rules simulated small-scale warfare. Malhavoc Press published [url=https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/678/Cry-Havoc]Cry Havoc[/url] which had high production values for a 3rd party sourcebook. And this is not counting the many independent wargames existing outside of the D20 framework. Instead of committing to one system, Sovereign Press/Margaret Weis Productions opted to let DMs use their own rules of choice. And to help get a feel for proper conversion, Legendary Wars provides outlines for terrain, troop numbers and divisions, and overall abilities of leaders and units in general 3rd Edition terms. The three battles are formulaic in their approach: they outline the time periods, the pretext for how said wars came to be, the stakes at risk for both sides, bird’s eye views of battlefield maps and troop movements for longer campaigns, and the results of the battles as they occurred in the Dragonlance canon. Each major army lists a Commander, its composition listed as the number of Brigades, and Minor Commanders and the average brief stat block (race/class/level/alignment) of the Soldiers comprising individual Brigades. The masses of soldiers are a bit all over the place in terms of scale; light infantry and cavalry tend to be 1st level Warriors, while heavy infantry and cavalry can be 1st or 2nd level Fighters. A few notable exceptions, such as Thorbadin’s dwarves, can go up to 3rd level. Specialized units may have 2 levels in a more unorthodox class, like Cleric for battle-priests or Wizard for arcane defenders of the Towers of High Sorcery, while “elite units” or very rich civilizations often have soldiers in masterwork gear. For those non 3rd Edition players among our readers, the difference between a Warrior and a Fighter is that the former is meant to represent rank and file mooks who only gain more Hit Points and attack bonuses as their major level up rewards; meanwhile, Fighters gain access to lots of bonus feats and are considered a proper PC class. 3rd Edition has been a bit strange in this regard: the PC classes are meant to represent exceptional individuals, while NPC classes like Warrior are meant to portray the common clay of civilization. Higher-powered settings like Faerun subvert this, although Dragonlance post-Age of Might is meant to be a more down to earth low-magic setting. [img]https://i.imgur.com/RPLCwFu.png[/img] [b]The Lost Battles:[/b] This is not a singular event so much as a procession of events. Back during the Age of Might, the Orders of High Sorcery were the other major magical power of Ansalon besides the Kingpriest’s government. However even back then the wizards were stand-offish and more concerned with expanding the knowledge of magic for its own sake than setting up their own kingdoms. Even the villainous Black Robes were more likely to be creepy necromancers, charlatans, and graverobbers than heads of state. Maybe a cult leader, but that’s stepping on the toes of evil clerics. But in spite of their otherwise neutral stance in world affairs, the Kingpriest feared their power. A series of internal dissensions and increase of authoritarian laws against both evil and “evil” races culminated in an assassination attempt of the Kingpriest by a regenade mage. His actions instead took the lives of two Ergothian princes, and the Order of High Sorcery apprehended said wizard to dispense their own punishment as part of a long-standing policy of self-policing. But the Kingpriest whipped up public sentiment against the wizards due to this being a threat to his divine authority, while also gaining the aid of Solamnia and Ergoth in this matter. Once Fistandantilus covertly weakened the defensive groves, Istaran forces marched upon the Towers. I have to admit that this is an interesting fact as to why the Kingpriest was killing non-evil wizards. It’s not due to some superstitious “book-magic is evil!” but rather a more cynical means of realpolitik to eliminate the only major domestic faction which could challenge his power. The fact he manipulated the assassination attempt to his advantage once circumstances aligned to put another foreign power* on his side makes Istar look even worse than it already could be, what with the whole sparing of Fistandantilus once said archmage revealed his hand in the whole affair. *Ergoth in this case. For army outlines, we have a sample battlemap of the Tower of Lorsacum, which has its own malachite guardians* golem constructs dual-wielding scimitars as major military units with regular D&D stats; and a joint Ergoth-Istaran siege upon the Tower of Daltigoth. The Kingpriest’s forces include a mixture of regular warriors along with Knights of the Divine Hammer and auxiliary clerics, small numbers of mounted Ergothian cavaliers who have masterwork equipment, and the Knights of Solamnia who are heavier on the martial side in comparison to Istar but have some divine casters among the Knights of the Sword. The Orders of High Sorcery are far less in number but should be treated as their own brigades on account that they have many means of using long-duration and AoE spells along with summoned and planar bound monstrous minions to aid them. [img]https://i.imgur.com/8ziaDMm.png[/img] [b]The Dwarfgate Wars:[/b] Although far briefer and with far less casualties than other major battles of Krynn, the Dwarfgate Wars are a vital part of the formation of modern dwarven culture. There isn’t much new things here that weren’t covered in Eras of Legend, but there is mention that the concept of Fistandantilus leading his own army is a bit of a modern myth. He was a popular figure and advisor in times of battle, but his so-called “Army” was a disparate collection of Neidar dwarves, Plainsmen, and mercenaries of various races who followed their own commanders who all happened to share common cause in breaking open the gates of Thorbadin. An interesting thing to note is that dwarven military units are [i]hard as naughty word.[/i] The average Neidar heavy infantry are 3rd level Fighters, with light infantry 2nd level Warriors. They and the Plainsmen are worse-equipped than the nations of old in the Lost Battles, more likely to have leader and hide armor and wooden shields instead of the chain shirts, chainmail, and steel shields of prior centuries. Barring Fistandantilus there are no spellcasters of any sorts, not even mercenary mages, although there’s mention of a cleric known as Brother Denubis.* It’s very much a down and dirty war, and the text makes mention that although war gear is plentiful starvation and basic necessities are more likely to be stolen and looted than bartered for or purchased. *who would canonically be a magic-less heathen cleric at this point in history, no matter his patron deity. The mountain dwarves of Thorbadin by contrast are well-equipped. Even their light infantry are 3rd-level fighters outfitted with masterwork gear (all that talk of dwarven craftsmanship isn’t just for show), with only irregular conscripts among the Klar clan and Gully Dwarves having levels in the inferior Warrior. Although taking place over a span of years, there were two major battles. The first was the Siege of Pax Tharkas, where said fortress was not enough to hold back the masses of tens of thousands of desperate starving warriors. This was thanks in no small part to Fistandantilus cutting a deal with the Dewar (evil traitorous mountain dwarves) to kill the gate guards and sabotage the defenses. The war climaxed with the final Battle of Dergoth, where Fistandantilus’ abortive attempt to open a portal to the Abyss in the fortress of Skullcap resulted in a gigantic magical explosion which indiscriminately tore through all sides. The mountain dwarves retreated, and the hill dwarves and human forces were too low in number to carry on the battle. Indeed it was Fistandantilus’ actions that convinced dwarves on both sides never to trust a wizard again. Say what you will about Dragonlance, but it gives actual historical basis for some of its class/race combo restrictions. [img]https://i.imgur.com/EcS7Ax6.png[/img] [b]The Blue Lady’s War:[/b] After the end of the War of the Lance, the gods returned to the world. Takhisis’ Dragonarmies were beaten back by the forces of good, with only Lady Kitiara’s Blue Dragonarmy holding onto territory of any significance in mountainous central Ansalon. The other Dragonarmies were reduced to ever-splitting factions of desperate banditry or consumed in their own civil wars to the point that they could not challenge the free realms again. Lord Soth, in spite of being on the side of evil, was no fan of Kitiara. And Kitiara, once Emperor Ariakas’ virtual second in command, wanted to take his place one day and had dreams of restoring her forces to greatness. When she learned of Raistlin’s desire to amass enough magical power to challenge and kill Takhisis herself, a seed of genuine worry erupted within her. Using Soth as an intermediary to contact Raistlin’s apprentice Dalamar, a series of double agents crossing double agents resulted in Lady Kitiara staging an invasion attempt of Palanthas by using a flying fortress. Both sides had their reasons for victory: Palanthas was more prosperous than ever, its deep-water harbor and surrounding mountains made for great natural defenses, and the High Clerist’s Tower was now stocked with Dragonlance-bearing Solamnic Knights. Meanwhile, the aerial advantage of the Blue Dragonarmy’s forces would render said natural defenses moot, and the Tower of High Sorcery of Palanthas was where Raistlin would allegedly perform said ritual of deicide. This battle’s military units are perhaps the most unique of this chapter’s. The Blue Dragonarmy includes a mix of humans and monsters, ranging from draconians and blue dragons to undead minions under Lord Soth’s command, and an evil-aligned 1st-level gully dwarf by the name of Rounce (who was a character in the books). We even get age categories for the dragons so we can get a sense of their power and how dire things are for the forces of Good. The Knights of Solamnia are the best of the best of Palanthas: while their gear isn’t always masterwork, they have a mixture of Fighter and Warrior levels, and a privileged few have honest to god bronze dragons to ride upon to challenge the Blue Dragonarmy’s aerial dominance. The City of Palanthas has its own militia who while overall worse skill-wise than the Knights (1st- level characters only, no clerics nor dragons) are willing to defend their homes and equipped with masterwork gear thanks to their city’s prosperity. The major battles in the Blue Lady’s war includes a failed defense of the High Clerist’s Tower, and battles in the streets of Palanthas where dragons, undead, draconians, and clerics of Paladine engage in street-to-street battles. On the non-army side of things, Caramon and Tanis undertake a stealth mission onboard the flying citadel and eventually commandeer it by...turning the structure upside-down at the pilot controls and shaking it free of remaining draconians. Meanwhile, Dalamar and Kitiara engage one on one in the Tower of High Sorcery, which is what the cover image of Eras of Legend in an earlier post portrayed. [center][b]Chapter Six: A Legends Campaign[/b][/center] You may be thinking that this two chapter post is like the opening. Well you’d be half-right: the preceding Legendary Wars is a semi-fair length, but the final main chapter of this book is only [i]five pages long.[/i] It’s mostly open-ended advice on how you can flavor your campaign to be more like the Legends trilogy. The [b]Legendary Campaigns[/b] section posits several styles: [i]Traditional[/i] has no time travel elements for the PCs to use but rather manifests in an indirect manner: seers, oracles, other time travelers from Alternate Krynns or elsewhere in the timeline can be used to give hints to things beyond the here and now. Some may even seek to fork the River off course while the PCs do their best to keep the status quo of continuity. This kind of campaign is actually discouraged because the book outright points out it wouldn’t make full use of its own contents! [i]Time Travel[/i] is exactly what it says on the tin: whether by virtue of having or being a high-level Sorcerer/Wizard or falling into possession of the Device of Time Journeying, the PCs can travel through time. It suggests that the Dungeon Master map out and express their desire for certain periods or eras rather than having the PCs go to wherever; time travel should be done with a specific purpose in mind, whether that’s to undo a tragedy,* find the answer to some dilemma which can only be found in prior eras, and likewise. It’s also encouraged for the DM to show that even though Dragonlance has a vague medieval fantasy feel, that different eras have a different feel to them: a Knight of Solamnia from the Age of Might may not be fond of the current order today (and vice versa), and the changing nature of language means that even the same culture has noticeably different accents and dialects centuries one way or the other from now. *which would technically be making a “fork” in the river. [i]Alternate Worlds[/i] suggests using an Alternate Krynn, either from Chapter Four of this book or of one’s own making. It has the advantage of being different enough from “core Dragonlance” to be novel while not necessarily requiring time travel in and of itself as a plot element. Furthermore, travelers along the branches of the River of Time may cause characters and their doubles from alternate worlds to meet each other in a temporal version of a planes-hopping style of campaign. [b]Legendary Themes[/b] is a series of various questions and conundrums for the Dungeon Master and how they can be answered during the campaign. “Should History Be Changed?” “What is the Cost?” and such. Sadly a lot of the advice is vague and doesn’t really solve common problems that may pop up in play. Such as when dealing with the possibility of PCs time-traveling back before a fight to gain a more favorable outcome, the book just shrugs and goes “that can happen, but what if the bad guys can do that too?” Honestly this part feels like padding meant to extend the book’s length. [b]Thoughts So Far:[/b] I found this chapter of limited use in comparison to the others. The outline of notable battles in Chapter Five is a good concept, but the lack of full-on battle rules and vagueness thereof makes this an uneasy compromise between DMs who need more involved details vs. those who only care about the PCs’ actions and resolve things in a narrative manner. The average level and gear of rank-and-file soldiers won’t matter for the latter type of DM unless the PCs are murderhobos, which is something that Dragonlance does its best to avoid thematically speaking. [b]Join Us Next Time as we finish this book with a new adventure, the Anvil of Time![/b] [/QUOTE]
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[Let's Read] Dragonlance: Legends of the Twins
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