D&D General What Are Dragonlance's Weis & Hickman, and Actor Manganiello Cooking Up?

Actor and D&D superfan Joe Manganiello and Dragonlance co-author Tracy Hickman have both posted a cryptic image on their respective social medias showing themselves, along with Margaret Weis standing together in front of a large dragon statue at Wizards of the Coast's offices in Renton, Washington.

Hickman's image was accompanied by the words "Something is coming...", and in Manganiello's case "WE'RE BACK", to which Wizards of the Coast replied "Welcome back to the table!" A later photograph from Weis also included Laura Hickman and Dan Ayoub, who was named head of Dungeons & Dragons back in July of this year.

The posts have sparked speculation as to what they might mean, with guesses ranging from a revival of Manganiello's Dragonlance TV show project--which was no longer in development after he stated in February 2024 that "Dragonlance is not a property WotC are interested in developing further currently"--to a new Dragonlance-based D&D adventure.

Weis and Hickman co-wrote a new Dragonlance trilogy in recent years following a legal dust-up with Wizards of the Coast which was ultimately dismissed without prejudice, so it would seem that any bad blood from the dispute has been left in the past.

The question now remains--what are they all cooking up this time?

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

You're going to have a tough time avoiding it if you want to adapt Chronicles, as it's pretty foundational to the premise of the first book at least. And Legends introduces its own issues in that regard, although I seem to be one of the only people who notices it and finds it obnoxious.

I noticed it and, as I’ve stated before, that stuff is part of why I’m not a fan of Dragonlance as a book series or campaign setting. When I thought about the changes I would make to geb setting to remove that stuff, dumb writing/world building, and the problematic elements, I came to the conclusion that it would no longer be Dragonlance. At least, dedicated Dragonlance fans wouldn’t like it and would say it’s not Dragonlance.

 

[mamba]

Excellent. Then we agree at least one race swap is necessary for a modern audience.

I do not consider having a native remaining a native to be a race swap...

 

[Sacrosanct]

Is only a white could save these natives a good story? Because that's what the lack of changing Goldmoon's story is

She doesn't really save them. In fact, her village is wiped out. The survivors help out with the rescued prisoner flight to the Dwarven mountain, but they aren't really important to the story. Really, her only purpose is to be the main plot hook, then show Elistan the disks and prove the gods are back. Then she and Riverwind go live happily ever after.

 

[pukunui]

I want a new show, with new production values, a great budget, and actors which reflect accurately the characters of the books as is, and as per the Elmore art/covers, we grew up with.

I get that you want to see the characters exactly as you remember them. That’s nostalgia for you.

The thing is, no new adaptation can ever be the same as the version in our heads anyway. Casting, budget, writing style: something will always differ. So if it’s going to be different no matter what, why not let the differences reflect the world we live in now? That way new fans can see themselves in the story, and your version still lives untouched in the books / in your head.

Elmore's art itself is an interpretation.

Let's ignore the art for now and go by what Weis and Hickman actually wrote. (I'm restricting myself to the main characters.)

• Tika is a tall 19-year-old girl with curly red hair, green eyes that "dance with fun" and freckles lightly smattering her nose and cheeks.
• Flint is an ancient dwarf with "old dwarven bones" and “thick, overhanging white eyebrows”. (That's the extent of his physical description within the first few chapters!)
• Tanis walks with elvish grace, but his body has "the thickness and tight muscles of a human". He has "tanned skin" and a "brownish-red beard". He wears soft leather "carefully tooled in the intricate designs the elves loved" with a green hood.
• Tas is a slight, small-boned fellow with a "perpetually childlike face". He is about the same height as Flint (whatever that is). He wears "bright blue leggings", a fleecy fur vest, and a "plain, home-spun tunic". He has brown eyes, pointy ears, and his signature tassle of long brown hair.
• Caramon is a "big warrior" with a brightly polished, winged dragon helm. He is 6 feet tall, and his chest is "twice as big around" as Riverwind's, while his arms are "three times as big" as Riverwind's.
• Raistlin had white skin and blue eyes, but these have both turned golden, and his pupils are shaped like hourglasses. He's lost weight, causing his face to look like "a gruesome mask" with "cheekbones outlined in dreadful shadows". He has long, nervous, claw-like hands with a cold touch, and his voice is soft, wheezing, and barely above a whisper.
• Sturm is a "straight-backed" man wearing antiquated armor. He has "great, thick moustaches" that are "as long and sweeping as ever". His eyes are first described as calm and cold, then sad, then "just as warm when he saw his friends". He has brown hair streaked with more gray than Tanis remembers.
• Riverwind is "heavily cloaked in furs" in the style of the Que-shu tribe of Plains barbarians. Riverwind is "the tallest man" Tanis has ever seen, taller even than Caramon, who would come only to Riverwind's shoulder. Riverwind is "dark-skinned" with a "pale cast" from illness or great suffering.
• Goldmoon has a "fur-trimmed cape and hood". Her face is like a marble statue - "classic, pure, cold". Unlike other Plainsmen, who are "usually dark-haired and dark-skinned", Goldmoon has "silver-gold hair" that "no jeweler spinning molten strands of silver and gold could have created". She is later described as a "beautiful barbarian".

And that's it for the first few chapters! Flint gets the least amount of description, and Raistlin gets the most ... until we meet Laurana much later:

Laurana's appearance makes Caramon's mouth sag open and Riverwind's eyes widen. Even Raistlin stares because he finally sees beauty. Her hair is "honey pouring from a pitcher" and reaches below her waist. Her skin is "smooth and woodland brown". She has the "delicate, refined features of the elves" but also has the obligatory "full, pouting lips" and large anime eyes that change color "like leaves in flickering sunshine". Sturm swears, on his honor, that he's never seen a woman "so lovely" before. Tika, meanwhile, feels "dumpy and half-dressed" and adjusts her clothing to hide her "full bosom". Tas proclaims that she "walks like a tree bending in the wind". Laurana's voice is like a "clear stream rippling among the trees". She moves with "childlike grace", with everyone looking at her admiringly.

Don't get me wrong, Laurana is my favorite DL character ... but man, that's quite the intro!


And I dare say a fair few of those descriptions do not match what Elmore painted. (He certainly never painted Laurana as having "woodland brown" skin!)

Thing is, it doesn’t need to he all that forced. Not exactly a tall order, Stargate SG-1 was doing it 25 years ago no problemo.

Heck, Star Trek's been doing it since the 60s!

 

[mamba]

You're going to have a tough time avoiding it if you want to adapt Chronicles, as it's pretty foundational to the premise of the first book at least. And Legends introduces its own issues in that regard, although I seem to be one of the only people who notices it and finds it obnoxious.

I do not need much real world religious stuff at all. The gods have disappeared centuries ago, there was no healing magic since. A group of adventurers finds some ancient texts in a ruin that tell of the long forgotten gods and as it so happens bring back that knowledge along with healing magic, showing that the gods 'have returned'. And all that just in time to fight off the evil god and her dragon armies that stealthily had returned somewhat earlier and started conquering the world without much opposition until then.

There, that is all I need, and none of it is all that close to real-world religious stuff.

 

[Scribe]

Laurana's appearance makes Caramon's mouth sag open and Riverwind's eyes widen. Even Raistlin stares because he finally sees beauty. Her hair is "honey pouring from a pitcher" and reaches below her waist. Her skin is "smooth and woodland brown". She has the "delicate, refined features of the elves" but also has the obligatory "full, pouting lips" and large anime eyes that change color "like leaves in flickering sunshine". Sturm swears, on his honor, that he's never seen a woman "so lovely" before. Tika, meanwhile, feels "dumpy and half-dressed" and adjusts her clothing to hide her "full bosom". Tas proclaims that she "walks like a tree bending in the wind". Laurana's voice is like a "clear stream rippling among the trees". She moves with "childlike grace", with everyone looking at her admiringly.

Yes, see, Elves as Elves should be.

We have lost our way as a society if this is somehow wrong.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

deleted

 

[Scribe]

Eww

Elves have, since the dawn of D&D, been 'otherworldly' in their beauty/grace. Is this honestly questioned among your generation?

I mean have you WATCHED LotR/The Hobbit? Notice anything?

 

[Parmandur]

none of it is all that close to real-world religious stuff.

Well...it actually is, and it isn't a secret which ine, but let's just leave it at that.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Elves have, since the dawn of D&D, been 'otherworldly' in their beauty/grace. Is this honestly questioned among your generation?

I mean have you WATCHED LotR/The Hobbit? Notice anything?

Edit: I misread the passages and combined them. Dragonlance definitely as cringy fanservice, though.