The River of Time cannot be redirected, but it can create branches and be bypassed as we have seen in the myriad of Dragonlance novels. Let’s look a little deeper into the River of Time. Buy Legends of the Twins: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/3252/Legends-of-the-Twins-35?affiliate_id=50797
Transcript
Cold Open
Time is a great flowing river, vaster and wider than any river we know.
Intro
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga episode. My name is Adam and today we are going to talk about The River of Time. 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 links. I am referencing the Legends of the Twins sourcebook for this information. If I leave anything out or misspeak, please leave a comment below!
Discussion
Time in Krynn is not immutable, as proven by Raistlin Majere, but outside of Chaos being introduced to the River of Time, it flows unchangingly. Any single individual’s life is as a tiny pebble, and any change they make, cannot divert the course of the river. In Dragonlance, there are specific laws that outline the concept of time and how, as it’s presented as a river, ever flowing, never stopped or fully diverted, cannot be stopped. All things, the land, the creatures that inhabit it, and even the gods themselves are bound by the concept of the River of Time.
Time has always been an incredibly important aspect of Dungeons & Dragons. If your party returns from a dungeon not cleared, the time it takes to heal and study may be enough for another party to enter that dungeon and reap its rewards. In Dragonlance it is even more important, as the procession of time affects Wizards. How the three moons, Solinari, Lunitari and Nuitari, travel through time across the sky will benefit or hinder the wizard. Keeping track of time is important for the ages of Krynn. A lot happens in a year during the War of the lance. Where your character is located may affect their lives indelibly. Even meeting a friend at The Inn of the Last Home is wrapped up in time. Go at the wrong time and you are too early or late.
The most important aspect of Time Travel when concerning your game is the story. And the story must deal with the concept of paradox. If something has already happened, how can it be changed? As Huma died defeating the Queen of Darkness, could he be saved by a time traveler? And if he could be, how would that affect the future? Do your actions alter the trajectory of the River of Time, or does the river self correct? What about the future? If you decide to go left rather than right, is your action determined by the river itself, or do you have free will to choose, and by choosing, create a new direction for the River of Time to travel?
We have seen this in Dragonlance, again with Raistlin Majere, but also with Tasslehoff Burrfoot. One ultimately led to the other in cannon however. My point being, is the future Raistlin created by defeating the gods, the true intended future, or is the future where Chaos is unleashed the correct future? What about the future Tas finds after Takhisis the Queen of Darkness steals the world away from the River of Time? If characters are able to change the River, is the river truly immutable? Or conversely, has the River always flowed endlessly in the direction that is presented and all other possibilities simply brief ripples in the river, glimpses if you will, that never were?
Time is presented as a river, as one event or moment leads to the next. What you do in one moment, tossing a pebble into the river, creates ripples that are ultimately pushed downstream, impacting the future. The larger the pebble the larger the disruption. The current of the river is impacted by events. One moment creates momentum, a stronger current for the next moment to occur, and so on and so forth until the seemingly inevitable conclusion, like the seemingly inescapable death of a goddess for her manipulations of space and time.
So while we accept that time is a river, then what of the banks? Are these the pillars of the world? Good, Neutrality, and Evil, or are the banks the inevitable expressions of those caught up in the river like love and hate and war? Do the banks represent the possibility of observation of the river, traveling up and down its course without affecting it? The Order of Aesthetics under their patron deity Gilean certainly believe that time is something worth observing and recording. Witnessing it all was even outside Astinus of Palanthas’ ability until Fistandantilus/Raistlin Majere created the Globe of Present Time Passing.
Even the Gods of Krynn are subject to the River of Time. We can imagine them as beings able to stand in the river, feet touching the river bed with their heads above the surface, while the mortals are flowing powerlessly with the current, but even they are subject to the river’s flow. They are not masters of the river, but neither does the river control their motion. In fact the river’s origin must be with the High God, as it was he who called Paladine and Takhisis from Chaos. It was he who pulled Gilean out of Time itself and presented him with the Tobril, the plans of all life on Krynn. Is the Tobril, the book of knowledge and true names, and the record of the High God’s plan of creation, the River of Time itself or merely its road map?
Now what about Chaos? Chaos is like oil to water, it will flow with a current, but it changes the nature of the river downstream. When Chaos was introduced to the world, it created mortal species that never existed in the flow of time before it. And if those Chaos species travel upstream into the river’s past, they inevitably affect the river at the moment of their appearance, changing the river permanently. This is how Raistlin can escape the flow of time as Fistandantilus, because Tasslehoff exists in the same time. That is why Tasslehoff is able to travel to and from time in the Age of Mortals, affecting its flow, arguably making Takhisis plans flawed and pointing Raistlin and the Gods to where Krynn is located in space time. The mark Chaos makes is like a buoy floating in the water.
You can use this metaphor of time as a river in Dragonlance to plan out some incredibly fascinating campaigns. Your players may travel to the past to witness events that will inform the future. How do they find the sealed doors to Thorbardin? Travel back in time to the Dwarfgate Wars and see the gate when they were open. How do they know Huma and Dragons ever existed? Travel back in time to the Third Dragon War and witness the various battles. But when they are there, do they disturb or disrupt events with their presence or actions? How can they correct them? This is part of the theme of the new Dragonlance Destinies trilogy by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Alternatively, perhaps they travel back to protect the past from another event, like Takhisis stealing the world away in the Chaos War.
While the River of Time can be seen as an inevitable course of events, as some players and readers of Dragonlance prefer it to be, almost like a statue or static painting of a river, we observe the entirety of it from the outside but cannot change the events, it is more exciting to see it as a playground. Let your players affect it, and see where their story ends up. Each new campaign can be a new offshoot of the River informed by your storytelling as a Dungeon Master, and your players actions in the game. Don’t simply watch Dragonlance, be a part of it, and take ownership over it. That is where you will find real enjoyment in this setting.
Outro
And that is all I have to say about the River of Time. Do you like time travel in your novels or games? Has time travel been used too much in Dragonlance? And finally, do you have a favorite alternate timeline? 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:
Goblins, boats, lizard men, invisible stags – what’s next?
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