The only consistent aspect of Dragonlance is that it changes with the game. Let’s discuss the history of Dragonlance Changes. Buy Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen: https://amzn.to/3EbbJ9f
Transcript
Cold Open
Dragonlance is nothing if not consistent in its inconsistency
Intro
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga episode. My name is Adam and today we are going to talk about how Dragonlance has and is Changing with Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition in its Dragonlance: Shadows of the Dragon Queen release. I would like to take a moment and thank the members of this channel, and invite you to consider becoming a member by visiting the link in the description below. You can even pick up Dragonlance gaming materials using my affiliate link. If I miss any salient points, or you happen to disagree with mine, please leave a comment below!
Discussion
Since the release of DL1 Dragons of Despair for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons by Tracy Hickman in March of 1984, and the novel Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman in November of 1984, we have believed we know what Dragonlance as a campaign setting is. As the modules continued to be released, the first sourcebook DL5 Dragons of Mystery by Michael Dobson in December 1984 would flesh out and reinforce the campaign world that had been released piecemeal till now. We had the story of Huma and the defeat of the Queen of Darkness in ancient history. This created a wonderful back story and added depth to the world of Krynn. But all of that changed when Richard A. Knaak wrote The Legend of Huma in 1988. Lord Soth’s story would even change from the early legends and Chronicles versions to the release of Edo Van Belkom’s Lord Soth from The Warriors series in 1996. Raistlin Majere’s own test of high sorcery and his introduction to his first wizards school changed from the original versions written by Margaret Weis in Dragon Magazine #83 from March 1984 with Test of the Twins to Terry Phillips’ The Soulforge Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Gamebook released in September 1985 all the way to Margaret Weis’ The Soulforge released in 1998.
But it’s not just the lore that seemed to have been in constant flux throughout the ages, the game world itself changed. Upon completion of the Dragonlance game products in 1987 with the released of Dragonlance Adventures by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis, The Atlas of the Dragonlance World by Karen Wynn Fonstad, The Art of the Dragonlance Saga edited by Mary Kirchoff, and Leaves from the Inn of the Last Home edited by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman fans were sure they knew the entirety of this war torn world of Krynn. But as the popularity in the novels continued, and TSR saw diminished returns in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game products, they thought it was time to switch it up. In 1989 they released Time of the Dragon, an Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition boxed set by David “Zeb” Cook. This saw the creation of a whole new continent on Krynn and the seeming abandonment of Ansalon, the continent Dragonlance had been set on up till now. TSR pushed this new Dragonlance flavor with its computer games with Dark Queen of Krynn by SSI and its DC Comics series with the adventures of Riva Silvercrown in Taladas. They all but abandoned Ansalon, turning many Dragonlance fans away from their familiar stomping grounds to a new unfamiliar setting which they largely ignored.
When TSR realized their mistake, they attempted a course correction with the release of the Tales of the Lance boxed set in June of 1992, but that just highlighted the misunderstanding of the setting and even a constant accrual of minor canon changes throughout from the origin of some races to how and when certain events occurred. If you were a Dragonlance superfan in 1992, you noticed massive schisms between the fanbase, which up until then was unknown. But the changes made to Dragonlance from Advanced Dungeons & Dragons to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition paled in comparison to TSR’s last ditch effort to squeeze money out of this dying franchise with the SAGA System and Dragonlance: Fifth Age Dramatic Adventure Game by William W. Connors, Sue Weinlein Cook, and others in August of 1996. Yes, Dragonlance jumped game systems, gone were dice, hit points and levels, but it also moved the timeline in Dragonlance from the Age of Despair to the Age of Mortals. Magic changed with the absence of the gods. Everything about Dragonlance had changed from the timeline, to the mechanics to the world itself. There was no worse time for Dragonlance than during the SAGA days. The authors and the gaming company were at odds throughout its history and that only continues till today. It wasn’t just the game system and world updates through the systems but the player options continued to change in order to highlight the different systems, and none of that was more apparent than in Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition.
The Dragonlance Campaign Setting by Margaret Weis and Don Perrin with Jamie Chambers and Christopher Coyle was released in August 2003 and attempted to course correct all of the disparate histories and game world details that had just gone wild between the novels and the myriad of game system products. It is widely believed that the sourcebooks released by Margaret Weis Productions/Sovereign Press were the now defacto complete campaign source materials. They took nearly everything from the novels and source materials that preceded it and distilled it into this new version of Dungeons & Dragons game system. It opened up player options previously unheard of. You could play draconians and goblins, Wizards and Sorcerers, travel back to the Age or Might or forward to alternate timelines. It was truly groundbreaking, but with the inclusion of the original author’s participation, the fanbase was finally satiated and never was there a fan base split again…. Riiiight?
Well, with Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition released in June 2008, Dragonlance was conspicuously absent. They had brought out new campaign worlds, but the die hard Dragonlance fans haven’t seen any love from now IP owner Wizards of the Coast since the Fifth Age game products. Sure we homebrewed our own rules, but there’s nothing quite like official game products released in the current game edition to build on the established fan base. This edition lasted a while but it didn’t connect with many of the Dungeons & Dragons players, so WotC released Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition in 2014. Now, here was a system that felt closer to old school D&D with a more modern sensibility, so when would they release a Dragonlance campaign book? Well, after Ravenloft and Spelljammer, fans began to worry, not that they wouldn’t release one, but that they would! And in early 2022 WotC announced Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen to build on the hype and attention with the release of Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman’s first novel in the Dragonlance Destinies trilogy, Dragons of Deceit.
But the Unearthed Arcana game materials riled up the fanbase. WotC is trying to make universal game mechanics across all of its multiverse settings, but this is anathema to the Dragonlance setting itself, or is it? It is in stark contrast to the AD&D version of Dragonlance, yes, but since then, Dragonlance has done nothing BUT change and evolve away from its origins. Not just in the game system but timeline and options. This is just another iteration and change of a long history of changes. We can hold our breath and stomp our feet until we are blue in the face, but is Lord Soth commanding the Dark Queen’s forces really more shocking than the Fifth Age was? Is it really the end of Dragonlance, clickbaity YouTube creators fein it to be? Can it even be called Dragonlance if it’s not your version of Dragonlance, whichever version that may be?
The sad truth is that we want nostalgia over anything. Even when the system cannot support it. But the truth is, we HAVE that nostalgia. The Chronicles and Legends are there, waiting to be reread. The game system version of Dragonlance you love best, is still here, and will always be there for you to roll up a character and play in. You don’t have to buy or play in this newest changed version of Dragonlance if you don’t want to. But I am going to. I have played every version of Dragonlance from Tabletop Roleplaying Games, to gamebooks, video games, board games and even Dragonlance stories in unsupported game systems. My passion for this amazing fantasy world is not diminished by its change, because I can always return to my favorite version whenever I want. And so can you.
Outro
And that is all I have to say on the uncomfortable truth about Dragonlance’s changes. What do you think of the coming Campaign sourcebook/adventure and board game? What is your favorite game system and era to play Dragonlance in? And finally are we capable as a fanbase in evolving with Dragonlance? Leave a comment below.
I would like to take a moment and remind you to subscribe to this YouTube channel, ring the bell to get notified about upcoming videos and click the like button. This all goes to help other Dragonlance fans learn about this channel and its content. Thank you for watching, this has been Adam with DragonLance Saga and until next time, remember:
Dragonlance is a story of love and friendship set against a backdrop of war.
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