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Liveing Dragonlance?

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
angal
Sep 14, 2005 14:36:59 I know that this has been brought up many times but I was just woundering if there are any idias about a liveing Dragonlance campain at all cuz I think that would be great, I know Dragonlance has been out of the spotlight since the 80's and I'm not realy sure why as I only read Dragonlance books with a bit of FR. I think that a liveing Campain would help Dragonlance rise back up, and dose anyone know why it lost popularity since the 80's?
#2
frostdawn
Sep 14, 2005 16:26:08
I think that a liveing Campain would help Dragonlance rise back up, and dose anyone know why it lost popularity since the 80's?

That's a loaded question. A good deal of that has been attributed to the events of the Chaos War and what happened afterwards. That turned alot of people away from Dragonlance. There was also some dissention brought about by the SAGA system that drove away more people. And there was some mismanagement by TSR of the property from what I've heard as well.
#3
kalanth
Sep 14, 2005 21:40:32
That's a loaded question. A good deal of that has been attributed to the events of the Chaos War and what happened afterwards. That turned alot of people away from Dragonlance. There was also some dissention brought about by the SAGA system that drove away more people. And there was some mismanagement by TSR of the property from what I've heard as well.

And so far it has not truly recovered. WoTC promoted the DLCS heavily when it was scheduled to be released, even offering quaint little reminder cards for preordering (I still have mine tucked away in the DLCS). Then the book comes out and WoTC basically washed their hands of it, and it showed. That makes it real hard to bring the book back into the lime light, and the fact that the DLCS is now out of print does not help either. I love Dragonlance, and will always pick it first before any other setting, but most players look at me like I am on drugs.

As for a living Dragonlance, I could see that running through Dragonlance.com, but it would unofficial as heck. Would be a blast to do that, but it may be a bit to much for them to tackle at this time.
#4
aravanus
Sep 15, 2005 20:11:00 Color me as under-informed, for I am unsure as to what it means to refer to DL as "living." Any care to spread the joy of knowledge?
#5
angal
Sep 15, 2005 21:21:44 Like Liveing greyhawk and the like, you download offical moduales
#6
frostdawn
Sep 16, 2005 8:45:06
Color me as under-informed, for I am unsure as to what it means to refer to DL as "living." Any care to spread the joy of knowledge?

I could be mistaken, but to my understanding, you create a character in an official venue or what not, and then that character can then be taken anywhere 'living dragonlance' campaigns are played and can be dropped in the on-going adventure. There are some stipulations around things like wealth, exp and the like, but I think that's it in a nutshell. I'm sure there are others that can shine more light on this subject though, as I've never actually participated in something like this.
#7
zombiegleemax
Sep 16, 2005 14:09:54
Color me as under-informed, for I am unsure as to what it means to refer to DL as "living." Any care to spread the joy of knowledge?

Well, I've played in the UK's old Living City for FR, Living Greyhawk, and Living Force (Star Wars), I wrote an adventure for Living Arcanis, and a mate of mine got the fantastic UK-based Lihr Campaign up and running (for Scarred Lands). So I thought I'd have a stab at explaining what a Living camapign is.

First, you devise a character based on a slightly altered set of D&D rules specific to the campaign.

Next, authors kindly volunteer (or, more frequently now, get paid) to write adventures in a story arc defined by the campaign's organisers. These adventures are usually written so that each scene can easily be used to be appropriate for a group of players of set levels (e.g. 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8) by having optional ELs for opponents in each scene.

Then, these adventures are run at conferences with different tables for different levels (e.g. one table is dedicated to players with Level 1 or 2 characters, another for 3rd or 4th level characters, etc.), and the GM chooses the encounters set for the players' appropriate levels as they run the adventure. At the end of the adventure, the characters get XP, and maybe get to level up, so they can play a higher level adventure at the next Con. Players get charged at the Con for playing the games, and this money normally gets used to fund further adventures and organisation.

Any conference can apply to get hold of these adventures from the organisational body, and there is usually some sort of central record kept of character/player details. More frequently now, DMs can also apply to download the adventures online to run for their own players at home and then report back the results to the organisational body. There is (possibly 'was' as I haven't played a Living Campaign now for a few years) also normally a scoring sheet where the players and the DM score each other for things like roleplaying, rules knowledge, etc. and these get fed back to the organisational body too to have player and GM ratings (this has caused some dissension and problems to be honest in the past).

There are also live roleplaying sessions run at conferences where everyone meets up in character and costume, for some of the living campaigns.

The good side of the system is that it means there is often a relatively good adventure for the campaign setting able to be run at a conference you run, and it can be great fun talking about the story development and interaction with some of the bigger characters in the story arc. There is definitely a sense of community with it.

The downside is that it can become a bit cliquey and pretentious, and its a heck of a lot of hard work for the organisers. Which is why its unlikely we'll ever see a Living Dragonlance, considering the core of the people who are most likely to organise it are already working all the hours given to them writing and organising the DL books, let alone trying to do other things in their lives.

I'd love to see it and play in it, but I haven't got the time to run it (never mind I live in Ireland), and my guess is that's true of a lot of people. There may also be a problem for anyone who would contemplate it, getting official sanctioning, etc. But if anyone does do it, count me in for writing adventures for it.

For more information on some of the WotC-linked Living Campaigns, visit this site.

Hope that helps.

Simon Collins
#8
aravanus
Sep 18, 2005 15:04:20 Ah...all has been made clear now. Thank you for your time.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 angal Sep 14, 2005 14:36:59	I know that this has been brought up many times but I was just woundering if there are any idias about a liveing Dragonlance campain at all cuz I think that would be great, I know Dragonlance has been out of the spotlight since the 80's and I'm not realy sure why as I only read Dragonlance books with a bit of FR. I think that a liveing Campain would help Dragonlance rise back up, and dose anyone know why it lost popularity since the 80's?
#2 frostdawn Sep 14, 2005 16:26:08	I think that a liveing Campain would help Dragonlance rise back up, and dose anyone know why it lost popularity since the 80's? That's a loaded question. A good deal of that has been attributed to the events of the Chaos War and what happened afterwards. That turned alot of people away from Dragonlance. There was also some dissention brought about by the SAGA system that drove away more people. And there was some mismanagement by TSR of the property from what I've heard as well.
#3 kalanth Sep 14, 2005 21:40:32	That's a loaded question. A good deal of that has been attributed to the events of the Chaos War and what happened afterwards. That turned alot of people away from Dragonlance. There was also some dissention brought about by the SAGA system that drove away more people. And there was some mismanagement by TSR of the property from what I've heard as well. And so far it has not truly recovered. WoTC promoted the DLCS heavily when it was scheduled to be released, even offering quaint little reminder cards for preordering (I still have mine tucked away in the DLCS). Then the book comes out and WoTC basically washed their hands of it, and it showed. That makes it real hard to bring the book back into the lime light, and the fact that the DLCS is now out of print does not help either. I love Dragonlance, and will always pick it first before any other setting, but most players look at me like I am on drugs. As for a living Dragonlance, I could see that running through Dragonlance.com, but it would unofficial as heck. Would be a blast to do that, but it may be a bit to much for them to tackle at this time.
#4 aravanus Sep 15, 2005 20:11:00	Color me as under-informed, for I am unsure as to what it means to refer to DL as "living." Any care to spread the joy of knowledge?
#5 angal Sep 15, 2005 21:21:44	Like Liveing greyhawk and the like, you download offical moduales
#6 frostdawn Sep 16, 2005 8:45:06	Color me as under-informed, for I am unsure as to what it means to refer to DL as "living." Any care to spread the joy of knowledge? I could be mistaken, but to my understanding, you create a character in an official venue or what not, and then that character can then be taken anywhere 'living dragonlance' campaigns are played and can be dropped in the on-going adventure. There are some stipulations around things like wealth, exp and the like, but I think that's it in a nutshell. I'm sure there are others that can shine more light on this subject though, as I've never actually participated in something like this.
#7 zombiegleemax Sep 16, 2005 14:09:54	Color me as under-informed, for I am unsure as to what it means to refer to DL as "living." Any care to spread the joy of knowledge? Well, I've played in the UK's old Living City for FR, Living Greyhawk, and Living Force (Star Wars), I wrote an adventure for Living Arcanis, and a mate of mine got the fantastic UK-based Lihr Campaign up and running (for Scarred Lands). So I thought I'd have a stab at explaining what a Living camapign is. First, you devise a character based on a slightly altered set of D&D rules specific to the campaign. Next, authors kindly volunteer (or, more frequently now, get paid) to write adventures in a story arc defined by the campaign's organisers. These adventures are usually written so that each scene can easily be used to be appropriate for a group of players of set levels (e.g. 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8) by having optional ELs for opponents in each scene. Then, these adventures are run at conferences with different tables for different levels (e.g. one table is dedicated to players with Level 1 or 2 characters, another for 3rd or 4th level characters, etc.), and the GM chooses the encounters set for the players' appropriate levels as they run the adventure. At the end of the adventure, the characters get XP, and maybe get to level up, so they can play a higher level adventure at the next Con. Players get charged at the Con for playing the games, and this money normally gets used to fund further adventures and organisation. Any conference can apply to get hold of these adventures from the organisational body, and there is usually some sort of central record kept of character/player details. More frequently now, DMs can also apply to download the adventures online to run for their own players at home and then report back the results to the organisational body. There is (possibly 'was' as I haven't played a Living Campaign now for a few years) also normally a scoring sheet where the players and the DM score each other for things like roleplaying, rules knowledge, etc. and these get fed back to the organisational body too to have player and GM ratings (this has caused some dissension and problems to be honest in the past). There are also live roleplaying sessions run at conferences where everyone meets up in character and costume, for some of the living campaigns. The good side of the system is that it means there is often a relatively good adventure for the campaign setting able to be run at a conference you run, and it can be great fun talking about the story development and interaction with some of the bigger characters in the story arc. There is definitely a sense of community with it. The downside is that it can become a bit cliquey and pretentious, and its a heck of a lot of hard work for the organisers. Which is why its unlikely we'll ever see a Living Dragonlance, considering the core of the people who are most likely to organise it are already working all the hours given to them writing and organising the DL books, let alone trying to do other things in their lives. I'd love to see it and play in it, but I haven't got the time to run it (never mind I live in Ireland), and my guess is that's true of a lot of people. There may also be a problem for anyone who would contemplate it, getting official sanctioning, etc. But if anyone does do it, count me in for writing adventures for it. For more information on some of the WotC-linked Living Campaigns, visit this site. Hope that helps. Simon Collins
#8 aravanus Sep 18, 2005 15:04:20	Ah...all has been made clear now. Thank you for your time.