Dragonlance More DRAGONLANCE Information: Kender, Battles, W&H's Novels, & More!

In addition to the official videos announcing Dragonlance releases for late 2022, I got to talk to talk to the D&D team and get a few more details not in the public D&D Direct event.

• Because Dragonlance is a setting about war, Ray Winninger, Executive Producer of Dungeons & Dragons, was asked if Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen would have large-scale combat rules. He said that they would in an broad abstract form. The board game or battle game Dragonlance: Warriors of Krynn is actually focused on large-scale combat and can be played independently or RPG players could switch to Warriors of Krynn for their big combat scenes, including porting in their characters and then switch back to the RPG after the battle. So the RPG adventure can be played alone, the board game can be played alone or they can be combined, depending upon the group's preference.
• Dragonlance: Warriors of Krynn is a cooperative game.
• When asked if Dragonlance: Warriors of Krynn could be used for large-scale battles in other D&D settings Winninger said it was designed with that idea in mind. However, if Dragonlance: Warriors of Krynn is poplar they'll consider making more customized, large-scale combat board games for other settings.
• Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen is a brand new story, independent of the upcoming novel, Dragonlance: Dragons of Deceit. Winninger said that Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman are telling their own story set in Krynn while Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen is a different story set in Krynn and is blazing a trail to help players create their own stories in Krynn. So Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen and Dragons of Deceit are both set in the same world but different stories.
• There will be some cameos from old Dragonlance characters, especially villains, in Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen.
• Price points for Dragonlance: Warriors of Krynn and Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen are not finalized yet.
• When asked about player races for Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen – especially Kender – Winninger said that Kender have gotten a good reception from the Unearthed Arcana play test but they're making some tweaks. Yes, Kender will be an option. He said the play test material gives hints as to what playable races it will have but would not mention to confirm any specifically beyond Kender.

 

[Stormonu]

Hang on. I seem to recall from the original novels that the dragon armies getting tainted by Kender and having their attacks get completely savaged because of the loss of discipline.

Or am I imagining that?

It has been a really long time.

I do think that taunt is a key kender trait but I think it’s a secondary one behind borrowing.

Are you referring to the defense of Kendermore? It's been years, but as you said I seem to remember the Kender infuriating the dragon forces via guerilla war that (Kron Thistleknot?) was able to trick them into a position where they were easily destroyed/driven into the sea.

 

[Hussar]

Are you referring to the defense of Kendermore? It's been years, but as you said I seem to remember the Kender infuriating the dragon forces via guerilla war that (Kron Thistleknot?) was able to trick them into a position where they were easily destroyed/driven into the sea.

That sounds about right. Like I said, it was a LOOONG time ago. But, the notion that only Tasslehoff could taunt or that kender generally weren't known for taunting seems off. It was a pretty central aspect of the race.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

People object to more things now. Some of it for good reason, but it's undeniable.

I mean objected to the concept that Kender had taunt as a racial. It's not like Kender didn't get discussed a ton from say 1993-2022, this is the first time I'm hearing anyone say "oh Kender shouldn't have taunt, it's not accurate to the books".

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Maybe we need something like the variant races from 3.5 Unearthed Arcana. If you didn't like any racial trait then this to be replaced with other, or a racial feat.

 

[MostlyHarmless42]

Are you referring to the defense of Kendermore? It's been years, but as you said I seem to remember the Kender infuriating the dragon forces via guerilla war that (Kron Thistleknot?) was able to trick them into a position where they were easily destroyed/driven into the sea.

Yes. You are right. I did forget about Kron!

More to the point of my previous comments on the taunting, I'm not argusing that it isn't a fitting or decent ability from a mechanical standpoint, just that in a scenario where it's a choice between two of three options: fear immunity, pouches, and taunting, I'd much rather have fear immunity and pouches. Ideally I'd prefer them to have all three and have a racial detriment like having disadvantage on concentration checks and intimidation (because no one truly is afraid of them) and get all three, but wizards seems hell bent on removing any sort of detriments from racial options anymore sadly.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

More to the point of my previous comments on the taunting, I'm not argusing that it isn't a fitting or decent ability from a mechanical standpoint, just that in a scenario where it's a choice between two of three options: fear immunity, pouches, and taunting, I'd much rather have fear immunity and pouches. Ideally I'd prefer them to have all three and have a racial detriment like having disadvantage on concentration checks and intimidation (because no one truly is afraid of them) and get all three, but wizards seems hell bent on removing any sort of detriments from racial options anymore sadly.

I'm pretty sure the magic pouches didn't get axed because it was too powerful. The probability of actually pulling out the thing you need (1 in 6) was so low that the ability was useless for anything but a joke. It was axed because people objected to it being MAGIC. So it was replaced by the entirely non-magical proficiency in Slight of Hand. Players can still play a kender who takes other people's stuff, but they do it non-magically, and with a chance of getting caught, thereby limiting the ability to grief other players.

 

[pnewman]

I'd actually think the opposite: if they bring Feats into full core rules, the Variant Human may just become "standard Human."

All you would need is a Human Racial Feat that gives +1 to any three stats that you have not already given a bonus too and you would have either a current +1 to all six stats "Standard" Human or maybe a +2 x 1, +1 x 4, +0 x 1 stat with no other feats race.

 

[Knight_Marshal]

I am not too fond of Kenders having taunt. Unless you are making a tanky character, it just screams "GM, kill my character."

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I am not too fond of Kenders having taunt. Unless you are making a tanky character, it just screams "GM, kill my character."

Forcing them to focus on you then hide or run or get cover is very frustrating for your target.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Forcing them to focus on you then hide or run or get cover is very frustrating for your target.

And your DM.