Dragonlance WotC Officially Confirms Takhisis and Tiamat Are The Same

It's been an issue in dispute for decades, over various editions of D&D, but WotC has officially confirmed that - at least in 5E - Dragonlance's Takhisis is, indeed, currently Tiamat. In previous editions, Tiamat has varied from being a big dragon to a minor goddess, while Takhisis has been a greater god on Krynn. At times they've been the same entity, and at others different entities. Today, WotC is putting its foot down and saying that Takhisis and Tiamat are, indeed, the same being.



Of course, this is not an opinion universally held. Dragonlance co-creator Margaret Weis emphatically stated that "TAKHISIS IS NOT TIAMAT, DAMN IT!"

Fizban's Treasuryof Dragons confirms that the beings echo across various settings.

D&D 5E - Is Paladine Bahamut? Is Takhisis Tiamat? Fizban's Treasury Might Reveal The Answer!

According to WotC's James Wyatt, Fizban's Treasury of Dragons introduces a new cosmology for dragon gods, where the same beings, including Fizban, echo across various D&D campaign settings with alternate versions of themselves (presumably like Paladine/Bahamut, or Takhisis/Tiamat). Also... the...

www.enworld.org

 

[cbwjm]

Better to just keep them separate in my opinion, both the old planescape rational and Fizban's are a little convoluted to me. Fizban's also doesn't take into account non-draconic dieties. Honestly, the more I think about the whole echoes in fizban's the less i like it.

 

[Remathilis]

Yeah, this is over-convoluted. I much prefer Fizban's explanation of them just being "echoes" of the same entity from the First World. It's way simpler, easier to explain/understand, and helps explain why gods of the same name can have different personalities in different worlds.

It's the American Gods method. If you're familiar with the book (not sure about the show). Shadow (the protagonist) meets the American version of Odin and later the Old Norse one, and they are very different Odins. (No spoilers). You can call that echos, different aspects, variants, etc. All that matters is both are Odin but they aren't dependent on each other to survive.

 

[Aldarc]

Heh, and that book was written by Jeff Grubb, who is basically up there with Weis and Hickman when it came to creating Dragonlance...

Jeff Grubb is probably one of THE most influential designers when it came to the development of D&D lore and settings.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Weis didn't write Dragonlance . . . on her own. While she co-wrote the original Chronicles trilogy with Tracy Hickman, the setting, the story, and everything else was a design by committee. Tracy and Laura Hickman had the original idea of a series of modules prominently featuring dragons, but the DNA of what we now know as Dragonlance comes from many parents, Weis being only one of them.

somehow everyone involved but M weis Tracy and Laura Hickman somehow gets swept under the rug on these discussions.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Yeah, this is over-convoluted. I much prefer Fizban's explanation of them just being "echoes" of the same entity from the First World. It's way simpler, easier to explain/understand, and helps explain why gods of the same name can have different personalities in different worlds.

Simpler and easier to understand are not virtues for me where lore is concerned.

 

[Rabulias]

Jeff Grubb is probably one of THE most influential designers when it came to the development of D&D lore and settings.

Especially considering that his home campaign's pantheon formed the basis for the Dragonlance pantheon, including Takhisis.

 

[Umbran]

So how does this work, considering as per the Dragonlance novels, Takhisis is dead as a dodo in Kyrnn and has been for quite some time? Tiamat though is very much alive.

Note: Time travel exists in Krynn, and my understanding is that the new novel trilogy involves time travel. That may result in a different end to the War of the Lance than we remember.

Also, you can play a setting in whatever era of that setting you want. If you play an adventure set during the War of the Lance, or before the Cataclysm, Takhisis is alive and well and willing to charbroil and eat you, per usual.

 

[darjr]

Especially considering that his home campaign's pantheon formed the basis for the Dragonlance pantheon, including Takhisis.

And his home campaign also informed a lot of the Forgotten Realms, FYI. Including the planets name from the names of his home world in his campaign, Toril.

 

[Rabulias]

Note: Time travel exists in Krynn, and my understanding is that the new novel trilogy involves time travel. That may result in a different end to the War of the Lance than we remember.

So for those looking to not use the pregens and use your own PCs, you can say that a future Takhisis sent Lord Soth back in time and he killed Goldmoon before she found the Disks of Mishakal. Thus the PCs need to fill the void and save the world. Where have I heard this plot before...?

 

[Storyteller Hero]

So for those looking to not use the pregens and use your own PCs, you can say that a future Takhisis sent Lord Soth back in time and he killed Goldmoon before she found the Disks of Mishakal. Thus the PCs need to fill the void and save the world. Where have I heard this plot before...?

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