Sovereign Press announces new 3.5 revision of the original Dragonlance modules

[Kai Lord]

http://www.dragonlance.com/products/SVP-4204.aspx

Not just reprinted with converted 3.5 stats, but a total rewriting of the War of the Lance for official game play. Three part adventure trilogy taking characters from 1st to 20th level, rewritten with today's rules and style of play in mind.

Any suggestions on how to update this classic campaign series?

I recommended on the WOTC DL boards that they include two sets of pregenerated Heroes of the Lance, one set being the classic versions and the other being a Marvel comic style "Ultimate" version for completely different group dynamics. IOW, a standard Raistlin and another sickly mage of perhaps different race or gender (and name) that a PC or the DM could include instead that fulfills Raist's niche in the story but can provide a completely new dynamic than the classic version.

Also, only suggest the PC's use the pregens to pad out a party, and just as a sidebar, don't write the modules with that as the default method of play. Have it geared toward original heroes.

*Totally* shake up the encounters and villains (have all new monsters in Xak Tsaroth, etc.) so veterans of the story can be surprised, even if they think they already know the outcome.

Have multiple paths the PC's can take to reach each goal to reduce the infamous railroading of editions past.

Include sidebars on customizing and replacing the NPC's (Verminaard, Laurana, etc.) to give DM's even more templates for tailoring the story to the PC's and moving away from the novels, if the players so desire.

Any other ideas? This is your chance to be heard....

 

[Crothian]

THis is a cool thing, tjhey have done a good job on DL products I've seen so far.

 

[DaveMage]

Any suggestions on how to update this classic campaign series?

Any other ideas?

Yes.

REMOVE the pregenerated heroes of the lance. Don't even mention their existence. It should be all about new PCs, not pre-conceived notions of how they should progress.

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

AWESOME!!! Finally!!!

And it will absolutely have the original characters fully statted out; that's been one of the most frequent requests from DL fans. Players and DMs who don't want to use them don't have to.

All I can say is, I'm happy to see they've finally gotten around to revising the classic series.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I agree with most of your suggestions. I think that some encounters (the black dragon is Xak Tsaroth, for one) and NPCs should stand unchanged, as these are pivotal events.

Make sure that the modules enable and even encourage players to diverge from the books.

I think it's a bad idea to even include the pre-gen Heroes of the Lance at all.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

I had a great time running the original, and an awful time playing it. The DM didn't want us to read the books, and then complained that we weren't doing what the characters in the book did... I played Raistlin, and turned Good instead of Evil, telling Fistandantalus to go pound sand. But the DM complained about it.

But dang! The battle with the black dragon was fun! (Both to run and to play.)

So, make sure that it is not a railroad ride! Make sure the DM knows that PCs are not clones of the characters in the novels, that they will do things in a completely different manner.

The Auld Grump

 

[Ry]

Having run this one to a very different branching plot, I'd have to say I'd like to see a web enhancement or appendix with some alternate paths or alternate endings.

 

[TerraDave]

There was some thread on this very thing a while back, where it was said, or strongly implied, that something like this was coming out.

If they keep the spirit and a lot of the details, but have more then a single set of train tracks, this could be a big thing. I know some of the other DL 3.5 stuff has gotten pretty wide distribution...it will be interesting to see if these have an impact beyond the hardcore DL nostalgics

 

[Cam Banks]

The original modules were full of alternate paths and alternate endings. They aren't nearly as railroaded as you think. Strong plot elements were of course included to make each adventure part of a larger story, but many of the details were variable.

I am personally a big fan of some degree of variety, modularity, and choice in a campaign adventure module. I like set pieces and drop-in events and encounters, and overarching plots that are flexible enough to accomodate varying parties. But I don't see any problem with forcing the story at points just to get something across.

Cheers,
Cam

 

[Arnwyn]

Have multiple paths the PC's can take to reach each goal to reduce the infamous railroading of editions past.

This is your best suggestion.

Any other ideas? This is your chance to be heard....

Good maps, and lots of them. Don't skimp here!