What's the deal with Dragonlance?
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Ranger REG
Explorer
As long there is sufficient game material to play in the 4th Age, in the time period after the War of the Lance, I'm friggin' content.jonesy said:
You do realize that the War of Souls is still a part of the fifth age,
and that the upcoming sourcebooks will contain information for
playing in any of the previous ages?
Zenon said:
For me, this would be playing a generic fantasy adventure plopped randomly down into the world of Dragonlance. Part of Krynn's appeal is that it is not just a massive amalgamation of every little cliche-able fantastic concept, including the presence of vampires, or Illithids, or Beholders, or any of that other stuff. You have some death knights (Soth and his men), a (ONE) lich-like being (Fistandantilus), but not roving bands of wacked-out creatures for no reason. Dragonlance isn't just Forgotten Realms with different gods and a different history, thankfully.
Alzrius
The EN World kitten
Don't forget the novel Darkness & Light where Sturm and Kitiara go to the red moon together!
Personally, I like the way Weis & Hickman handled these more outrageous depictions of those characters: they turned those events into apocrypha of a sort; in the beginning of one story, Caramon exasperatedly rolls his eyes about bogus legends told about him and the other Heroes, such as the one where Sturm and Kitiara went to the red moon.
It's little things like that that made all the difference (in most cases anyway...sometimes it backfired...)
I, personally, liked the Fifth Age as a concept. It has an extremely high nostalgia-factor. To me, the entire point of the Fifth Age was for a "return to the Fourth Age" plotline, since the feel of it was always "I want the gods/High Sorcery to come back again". Jean Rabe's Dragons of a New Age trilogy was beautifully done in that regard, showing an epic (but ultimately futile) struggle to turn back the clock in several ways, trying to regain what was lost. The crescendo of the Fifth Age, the War of Souls, was perfectly done because it does just that (though things aren't exactly the same, just mostly).
Personally, I like the way Weis & Hickman handled these more outrageous depictions of those characters: they turned those events into apocrypha of a sort; in the beginning of one story, Caramon exasperatedly rolls his eyes about bogus legends told about him and the other Heroes, such as the one where Sturm and Kitiara went to the red moon.
It's little things like that that made all the difference (in most cases anyway...sometimes it backfired...)I, personally, liked the Fifth Age as a concept. It has an extremely high nostalgia-factor. To me, the entire point of the Fifth Age was for a "return to the Fourth Age" plotline, since the feel of it was always "I want the gods/High Sorcery to come back again". Jean Rabe's Dragons of a New Age trilogy was beautifully done in that regard, showing an epic (but ultimately futile) struggle to turn back the clock in several ways, trying to regain what was lost. The crescendo of the Fifth Age, the War of Souls, was perfectly done because it does just that (though things aren't exactly the same, just mostly).
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Tsyr said:
Yeah, Bast, a flat ripoff of the Egyptian God.
Just one of the many reasons why Wiess/Hickman's vision of Dragonlance is the only palatable one for me. Ripoffs of Egyptian gods belong in Forgotten Realms or Greyhawk or whichever of those other WotC worlds have such things
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Dragonblade
Adventurer
I have always had a soft spot for Dragonlance. The characters are great.
But if you want to get the feel of Dragonlance without reading tons of books there is really only one book you ever need to read:
The Legend of Huma by Richard Knaak.
Hands down, one of the best stand alone fantasy novels I've ever read. Its epic, tragic, and inspiring at the same time. And gives a pretty good feel for the essence of the Dragonlance setting. Ordinary people who achieve extraordinary things.
But if you want to get the feel of Dragonlance without reading tons of books there is really only one book you ever need to read:
The Legend of Huma by Richard Knaak.
Hands down, one of the best stand alone fantasy novels I've ever read. Its epic, tragic, and inspiring at the same time. And gives a pretty good feel for the essence of the Dragonlance setting. Ordinary people who achieve extraordinary things.
Geoff Watson
First Post
I don't like the Dragonlance setting much. Most of the Weis and Hickman novels are great though.
Problems:
Nothing for the PCs to do: The Heroes of the Lance have done everything of note that is important to the setting. So the PCs are either the HotL, or do things that have little to do with the setting, and could be done just as well in FR or greyhawk.
Stupid Comedy Races:
Kender, Tinker Gnomes, and Gully Dwarves are incredibly lame and silly. Most Dragonlance DMs love them and insist on including as many as possible. And you can't do anything to get rid of them as that would be evil and you're supposed to be the good guys.
Or a player plays a kender just so he can be a totally annoying ******* 'in character'.
That's the main two problems.
Geoff.
Problems:
Nothing for the PCs to do: The Heroes of the Lance have done everything of note that is important to the setting. So the PCs are either the HotL, or do things that have little to do with the setting, and could be done just as well in FR or greyhawk.
Stupid Comedy Races:
Kender, Tinker Gnomes, and Gully Dwarves are incredibly lame and silly. Most Dragonlance DMs love them and insist on including as many as possible. And you can't do anything to get rid of them as that would be evil and you're supposed to be the good guys.
Or a player plays a kender just so he can be a totally annoying ******* 'in character'.
That's the main two problems.
Geoff.
Tsyr
Explorer
Actualy, I don't have a problem with Kender...
That's partly because I dock XP *big time* for people who play a kender "wrong".
How is wrong?
Wrong is any way other than how Tas was wrote, basicly, to my mind. And only wies-n-hickman Tas, at that.
Tas was *not* just comedic releif. Tas could be a coldblooded killer at times. Read the opening to DoAT again. Those first few pages are how I see kender having the potential to be.
Why do I dock XP so badly? I don't with most things. Only with Kender... to prevent people irritating the party with kender doing whatever the heck they feel like.
That's partly because I dock XP *big time* for people who play a kender "wrong".
How is wrong?
Wrong is any way other than how Tas was wrote, basicly, to my mind. And only wies-n-hickman Tas, at that.
Tas was *not* just comedic releif. Tas could be a coldblooded killer at times. Read the opening to DoAT again. Those first few pages are how I see kender having the potential to be.
Why do I dock XP so badly? I don't with most things. Only with Kender... to prevent people irritating the party with kender doing whatever the heck they feel like.
