Why is Dragonlance Your Least Favorite Setting?

[Zaruthustran]

DL has the same problem as Middle Earth

Have any of you guys ever played Middle Earth Role Playing (MERPs)? It had the same problem as DL: as a player, you felt like an intruder. When you walk into The Prancing Pony as Johan the Ranger, you know that you're no Aragorn. When you see Weathertop on the horizon, you know that if you ever have a fight on the summit, it won't rival Gandalf's or the Ranger's. When you go through Moria, the Balrog is already dead...

The rich fantasy worlds of Dragonlance and Middle Earth already have their heroes. And the worlds are so closely associated with/defined by those heroes that playing in them (as anybody but the heroes) just feels *wrong*.

 

[Bragg Battleaxe]

I am going to second what alot of other people have already said: the setting is far too dependant on the novels. In fact, from what I remember about the RPG releases, it really didn't EXIST without the novels. I have the same problem with Middle Earth and Star Wars too, to a degree. You will never feel that your character is important to the setting nor is there much suspense when you know that at least someone else has already saved the world, so your problems are secondary.

 

[Aaron L]

Re: Re: Re: On the coin issue

I think the problem people have with this concept is that if you're using "simple" steel coins, and steel is abundant (as evidenced by the cost of steel weapons) then counterfeiting would destroy the economy in no time.

What is there to counterfeit? The value of the coin is simply a matter of its steel content. You can't fake that.

I still think the whole idea is silly. Steel is so scarce and precious we will waste it by not using it for what we need it for? Trading raw materials in barter is one thing, wasting a valuable and useful material by making it into coins for currency is another.


On another note, a cataclysmic event that destroys an earlier, better civilizatiuon is a standard feature of fantasy, and is almost a necessity for a good D&D setting. You need an ancient civilization that was more advanced then current civilizations to provide ruins and treasure to adventure for. You also need a reason that said civilization no longer exists, hence: a cataclysm.

 

[JeffB]

Re: DL has the same problem as Middle Earth

Have any of you guys ever played Middle Earth Role Playing (MERPs)? It had the same problem as DL: as a player, you felt like an intruder. When you walk into The Prancing Pony as Johan the Ranger, you know that you're no Aragorn. When you see Weathertop on the horizon, you know that if you ever have a fight on the summit, it won't rival Gandalf's or the Ranger's. When you go through Moria, the Balrog is already dead...

The rich fantasy worlds of Dragonlance and Middle Earth already have their heroes. And the worlds are so closely associated with/defined by those heroes that playing in them (as anybody but the heroes) just feels *wrong*.

I'll agree to a certain extent..but MERP was actually set in a time period about 1400 years before the War of the Ring. I'm not even sure the Balrog had been found yet in 1640 TA (the timeframe MERP is set in)

ICE knew that having the game set in the same timeframe as the War of the Ring could cause problems with what you speak of, so that was their way of dealing with it. Still there are HUGE amounts of adventure potential in this time..whether it's hack and slash, political (The Kin-Strife), exploration, or whatever... I think the problem w/ DL is that there have been no time periods like this in DL for game purposes.

 

[Gargoyle]

Re: Re: Re: Re: On the coin issue

What is there to counterfeit? The value of the coin is simply a matter of its steel content. You can't fake that.

If the design of the coin is difficult to reproduce, that is one step towards the coin becoming trusted as currency. I can't imagine that these are smooth round circles of steel, with no design. The dwarves would probably have an intricate design so that Joe the blacksmith can't make his own coins. The value of the coins and paper in my pocket is greater than the cost of the materials they're made of.

I still think the whole idea is silly. Steel is so scarce and precious we will waste it by not using it for what we need it for? Trading raw materials in barter is one thing, wasting a valuable and useful material by making it into coins for currency is another.

Unless I'm mistaken, no one said steel in DL is scarce. The steel coins have value because (for some reason, this is where I don't quite get it when the coins are described as "simple") people decided they were a better currency than gold. I have a piece of paper in my pocket that is worth $1.00. Why? Not because of the scarcity of paper or the value of paper. It's because of trust, and because it's hard to duplicate. My thoughts are that the steel coins must have been hard to counterfeit.

But really, it's a minor issue and I don't really care so much about the economy of Krynn. One thing I liked about DL was that the dragons were characters, not just monsters. I'm interested in how dragons will be treated in the new book. If DL has a lot of good material on dragons, I may buy it for just that.

 

[Razuur]

I am going to disagree with almost everybody. Time and time again I have heard, a setting is what you make of it. Well that is the truth in my opinion.

I admit that the old DL novels had their problems, and I had trouble during a recent reread, but I have such fond memories, and I love the setting. I don't like 100% of any setting out there. Don't like gnomes, chuck 'em. Don't like kender, change 'em. It will be your world to weave and shape as you like. Your players can be the heroes. You could rerun the war of the lance, but make it different.

All of this talk about the characters in the novels overshadowing any players, or feeling like intruders... blaah. You may feel that way, but I don't. A good GM can overcome those obstacles, and make the players in any setting shine.

As far as I know there has never ever been a 320 full color Dragonlance campaign setting in the style of the FR. This is a dream come true people. You are finally going to have the TOOLS to make it awesome.

Now I haven't read any other Dl books other than the original trilogies, so I am not a fan boy. I am just a GM who has always dreamed of having the tools, the setting in my hand. And I am getting it, deluxe style.

My only real complaint is waiting until next summer!

Dragonlance, like any setting, has only as much baggage as you bring to it. Let the dragons soar, let the lances flare, let the legends begin. I can't wait to import Ansalon to my campaign world!

The best to you all!

Razuur