Here we come to Dragonlance, the High Fantasy world created by Tracy Hickman for TSR. Today, I'll be reviewing the Dragonlance Adventures book for Advanced Dungeons and Dragons first edition. Dragonlance is a world of war shaped by love. At least I'm paraphrasing what Dragonlance is about. The setting of Dragonlance is the world of Krynn. A world smaller than our Earth. Although I wish it could have been bigger. Dragonlance Adventures was originally written by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis. It was published in 1987 by TSR, inc. I borrowed the book from a friend, fell in love with the setting. Now years later, I bought my own copy of the game world (I'll be working on a review of the DLCS (3.5e) later).
Dragonlance began as a series of modules, starting with Dragons of Despair and ending with Dragons of Triumph. That was forty years ago.
What it contains
Dragonlance the book is separated into chapters. The first part of it deals with the Universe of Dragonlance as the people of Ansalon see it. The dragonlance world is on three philosophic pillars: Good, Evil, and Neutrality. There are three philosophies of these pillars are: Good Redeems its Own, or the law of Paladine, the supreme Lawful Good god; Evil Feeds Upon Itself, or the law of Takhisis the Dark Queen; and Both Good and Evil Must Exist in Contrast, which is the law of Gilean, the supreme Neutral God. A fourth law exists that is important: The Law of Consequence: which was given by the High God himself. A proper Dragonlance campaign is built around these four laws. Promoting the power of truth over injustice, good over evil, and granting good consequences for good acts, and bad consequences for evil acts.
The next section talks about one's lot in life. There are three new classes in Dragonlance that are discussed: the holy orders of the stars, the knights of Solamnia, and the Wizards of High Sorcery. A member of the Holy Orders of the Stars worship one of the eighteen true gods of Krynn. Which are manifested as constellations in the sky. The knights of Solamnia is an order of knights dedicated to Paladine, Kiri-Jolith, and habakuk. The Wizards of High Sorcery gain their power from one of the three moons that orbit Krynn.
Besides the dragons, which are divided into good and evil dragons; there are three races of Krynn created by the Gods to represent an ideal. The first of these are the Elves, which are created by the good gods of Krynn. For them, they can choose good or evil, but mostly choose good. Ogres, which used to be the most beautiful of all the races, were created by the evil gods of krynn. They allowed their abuse of power to warp their minds and bodies. The last of the races to be created where the humans, created by the gods of neutrality. They were given the right of free agency, to choose good or evil themselves. After these races came all the others. Gnomes, goblins, hobgoblins, dwarves, kender, and so on. Some of these came about because of the Greygem of Gargath. Others are offshoots of the original races. The draconians, however, are a perversion of Good dragons. Although late in the War of the Lance, the ritual that created the evil draconians was performed on evil dragon eggs, creating good draconians instead.
As we continue with going into Dragonlance Adventures, one learns that alignment has a definite effect on what is available. A Wizard of High Sorcery, for instance, has his or her spells chosen from different schools based on his or her alignment. A White Robe is limited to certain spells which are considered good. A Black Robed wizard is also limited to certain spells which are considered to be evil. A Red Robed wizard has the greatest amount of spells to choose from. Alignment is also tracked in the game based on the players' choices. In one dragonlance game I was in, I played Raistlin and he eventually became a good guy in the game.
The new classes are eventually discussed after races. Each new class is renumerated. Beginning with the Knights of Solamnia. There are three orders of knights, beginning with the Knights of the Crown, then the Knights of the Sword, and finally the Knights of the Rose. The knights of Solamnia are three orders of knights for good on Ansalon.
The Tinker gnomes come next. Most, if not all, Gnomes are tinkers. They constantly love to make new contraptions. Their technology rivals that of Victorian England; and they have never seem to advance higher. Their contraptions also prevent the other nations of Ansalon from developing technologically past the Steel age.
After that is my favorite class on Krynn, the Wizards of High Sorcery. Basically they are magic users, but they draw their powers from the three moons of Krynn. The Orders of High Sorcery are also divided into three: the White Robes of Solinari, the Red Robes of Lunitari, and the Black Robes of Nuitari. Those wizards that wear the white tend to be good, those that wear red tend to be neutral, and those that wear black make wickedly evil choices. Of course, the Wizards of High Sorcery may choose their order, and the color of their robes, after taking the Test. After that, a few new spells are described according to the D&D game.
After that, the Holy Orders of the Stars are discussed. There are three orders of clerics on Ansalon. There are the good clerics, which represent the gods of Good. Then there are the neutral clerics, which represent the gods of Neutrality. And finally the evil clerics, which represent the gods of Evil. Each draw their magic from these gods of their order.
Next, the races are given statistics. But the races' origins are explained in this section of the book. I have already mentioned their origins before in detail. But there are some differences that should be noted.
Character skills are discussed as a final on the Character chapter. After that we get into the unique Creatures of Ansalon. The first of these creatures are the draconians. Starting with the spell wielding Auraks, then the Baaz, and the rest. Each of them a perversion of Good dragon eggs. After that, we get AD&D stats of the other creatures of Krynn. Of course, most of these new creatures are described in more detail in later products. Of important note are the dragons. Each of the dragons of Krynn are noted, and each are power incarnate. After that, two of the Gods are described as dragons, Takhisis and Paladine.
Ah, so much material packed. We go on to the world that was. This chapter describes the world of Krynn in the past. There is even a map provided as Ansalon as it was during the Age of Might. This chapter goes into detail about Huma, Magius, and Fistandantilus. It also talks about Astinus (who looks like Gilean for some reason). After that comes a section of magical items in Krynn. Included are potions, scrolls, medallions of faith, and other items.
Then comes the chapter on the War of the Lance. Here, the heroes of the lance are described, and along with the world of the Dragonlance Saga. While these characters are also introduced in the Dragonlance modules (and yes, I bought them from Drivethru), their older and more powerful versions are given here. Also given is a map of the continent of Ansalon during the War of the Lance. After that are appendices given of what AD&D monsters are in Ansalon, a race chart, a character alignment tracking chart, and other important tables and charts.
In Conclusion
In one hundred twenty-eight pages we get the whole lands of Krynn and everything you need to run a game for AD&D. And both Tracy and Margaret has packed a lot of information about the world of Krynn and how to run it for the AD&D game. However, the material in this book is, rather, dated. Of course, the DM's Guild supports the world of Krynn for D&D 5th Edition. And people have been putting out works for Dragonlance for D&D 5th. However, with the new direction Wizards has going for 5th Edition onwards, Dragonlance seems dated and packaged for a different audience.
So, what about Dragonlance in the future? Well the future is uncertain. It really seems that Wizards isn't taking care of their brands very well. They are probably changing them for their new vision of D&D. One thing is for sure, Dragonlance classics, as this book, are available on Drivethru for print and digital. I suggest buying a copy of both. After all, Wizards won't change the old books (including the DLCS, which will be reviewed later.)
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