in the novel "Kendermore", the assassin Denzil is a half-orc
Thanks, it turns out I had read it, I read all six of the preludes, but I have no real memories of it specifically other than thinking the preludes in general were not particularly good.
Looking Kendermore up on Wikipedia under continuity errors it also mentions mislabeling Fint as a mountain dwarf instead of a hill dwarf, and including a werewolf even though lycanthropes are not a Krynn thing.
agin lets say it's a mistake... and 3 people who work on krynn know the theme and feel of krynn not only MADE the mistake but went through months of rewrites and never notices a problem...
Dragonlance Adventures 1987, page 49. "There are no halflings or half-orcs in Krynn. Halflings who enter this world are considered kender and gain the special abilities (and obnoxious personalities) of kender in this world. Half-orcs would be considered magical freaks or aberrations as
there are no orcs in Krynn."
I think a bunch of their adjustments of people going in and out of Krynn are pretty nonsensical, but I feel that it was established in the setting book that the setting does not have half-orcs or orcs so the one novel including them is the outlier mistake.
For me this was reinforced in the 3.5 era with the
Dragonlance Campaign Setting book, page 212 "The continent of Ansalon is home to strange and fantastic creatures—some merely interesting, others undeniably deadly. Almost all the creatures in the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS Monster Manual are appropriate for a DRAGONLANCE campaign, with
a few notable exceptions (primarily driders, drow elves, halflings, lycanthropes, mind flayers,
orcs and half-orcs, and titans)."
others who have read it said if you changed it to a half oger or hobgob it would be fine... if simply switching out the title of the race makes the book work then the book shows the orcs are not an issue.
I think that shows that
half-races of native Dragonlance races are not an issue in Dragonlance, not orcs. Tanis Half-Elven comes to mind as iconic Dragonlance. Half-Ogres are an established canonical race in Dragonlance RPG books.
correct, and you can tell when something stands out... when superman is killing, when batman is useing a gun, when something shakes the theme and feel of the story. the orc being there and treated like just another character didn't for the people who were in charge... so again I ask how it is possible for that to be true for a novel but at your game just letting a player make his half orc would 'ruin krynn'
And orcs in Dragonlance stand out for many.
For me as a D&D player who read the specific novel it was true for the novel because the novel was generally forgettable for me.
Things of that era like the fantastic Weasel's Luck stuck out in my mind much more.
Having read the main trilogy of novels, the 1e setting book, and the 3e setting book, I can see orcs ruining part of the Dragonlance feel of Krynn for many.
As for how is it possible for those in charge not to have caught the setting canon violations? It seems plausible that the author and editor were familiar with TSR D&D novels, AD&D elements, and Dragonlance generally, but not those specific three aspects of the setting that were continuity errors in the novel.
TSR also put out
DL16 World of Krynn which contains four adventures, including one that goes nuts with drow, lycanthropes, and the tarasque in Lord Soth's castle.
I see rare one off canon mistakes squeaking through the process as par for the course with TSR's broad mostly consistent Dragonlance portfolio.
