Most of the Whitestone Council arrived on Wednesday, although I didn't arrive until Thursday. I traveled with my friend Kenneth (the other Dragonhelm), who got me into Dragonlance and D&D to begin with.
Friday morning began with Killer Breakfast. This year was X Side Story. It had mutants, it was a musical, and...it had the great and powerful Pooh! Don't ask on that one. Andre' and I were two of the last group up there, and we had a blast.
Friday was busy between working the Sovereign Press booth and running demo games! It was a blast, between frying knights with dragon breath and signing autographs. I had a great time meeting all the DL fans who showed up, including Alzrius and Eidolon.
Friday night saw the Dragonlance Q&A session. The Whitestone Council was up front with such greats as Chris Pierson, Richard Knaak, Douglas Niles, Jamie Chambers, Chris Coyle, Peter Archer, Ernst Dabel (from Roaring Studios), Margaret Weis, and Tracy Hickman.
Various things discussed included the following:
1. Elven Nations - My friends, WotC listened to the petition, and the Elven Nations will be back! No definite news on Dwarven Nations yet, although WotC is considering this as well. Thanks to Peter Archer for the time and consideration on this one.
2. Legend of Huma comic - Roaring Studios has the license to do a comic book limited series (and I believe a subsequent trade paperback) based on The Legend of Huma. The guys at Roaring Studios are really great. They're nice, friendly, and are interested primarily in making a good product. I'm very glad to have these guys as part of the growing Dragonlance family. Look for this series by Roaring Studios, and published by Image Comics.
3. Wizard's Conclave - It appears that First Conclave has been renamed as Wizards Conclave. This book by Douglas Niles will be focusing on the state of magic in the world of Krynn.
Yours truly got a chance to speak about a few things, including where the Whitestone Council has been and where we are today.
Back to the Con...
Saturday was busy as well, with the Bronze Canticles seminar by Tracy and another demo game in the afternoon for me. Guys, be sure to check out Mystic Warrior, first book of the Bronze Canticles, due out in 2004 (April, I believe). Tracy and Laura have an amazing world for you guys.
Various other things...
I got the chance to speak with Stan!, who was working with The Game Mechanics for Green Ronin. Stan! was a blast to speak with. Also got to meet Mark Jindra from WotC's web team, who some of you might know from WotC's monthly Mind's Eye section on their site. We had a great discussion on psionics.
Also, I picked up Arcana Unearthed (Monte Cook's alternate player's handbook). I've had the chance to peruse it today, and I'm going to see if there's anything that can be used for DL.
That's about it. I'll open this up for other people's GenCon experiences in regards to Dragonlance.
It's been a blast, guys!
3. Wizard's Conclave - It appears that First Conclave has been renamed as Wizards Conclave. This book by Douglas Niles will be focusing on the state of magic in the world of Krynn.
I take it this is a sourcebook and not a novel?
the book that's coming out soon that will deal with magic as a "source book" is the "tower of high socery."
1. Elven Nations - My friends, WotC listened to the petition, and the Elven Nations will be back! No definite news on Dwarven Nations yet, although WotC is considering this as well. Thanks to Peter Archer for the time and consideration on this one.
FINALLY!!!! Now I can finally read these books, I have heard so much about them and have been badly wanting them for a while. And it has nothing to do with the fact that the elves are my favorite race on Krynn.
3. Wizard's Conclave - It appears that First Conclave has been renamed as Wizards Conclave. This book by Douglas Niles will be focusing on the state of magic in the world of Krynn.
Troy bad want, Troy bad WANT!!!!
When I go next year you have to sign my copy of DLCS.
*chirp* *chirp* *chirp*
darn crickets..
Hey, I had a good time at Gencon. I got to hang out with Trampas, Cam, Matt and Andre and their friends and wives (Hello Jess, Clark and Kenneth!). Plus I got to meet Eidolon and I even met the guy that runs Raistland!
Plus I had breakfast with the SP crew. Made a general nuisance of myself around the SP booth. Rene Chambers (hope I spelled that right) braided my beard. I was told I look more like a dwarf than a kender (which I do I guess, heh) and I got to run some Dragonlance Demo Games.
In one of the games the half-kender ended up riding on the back of a wyvern like a bucking bronco above a pool of lava while the rest of the party was trying to save themselves from another enemy on a ten foot ledge over the pit. It was a load of fun!
I also got to play a gnome hunter (type of ranger) in another game of 4 halflings a dwarf and a gnome. (Man halfling monks sure can kick butt!)
The art for the new Legend of Huma book was awesome! (Although I'm not sure the nipple ring on Kaz will make it to the final printing hee hee.) Ernst and those guys over at Roaring studios are really cool!
Plus I was really surprised at the number of people that clapped for the Kencyclopedia at the Dragonlance Reception. I'm still wondering where the applause sign was. (BTW, when I stood up I took a picture of the audience I'll post that on my site once I get the pictures developed.)
I also want to say Thanks to Jamie Chambers for driving off to Chicago to rescue the AOM from the clutches of some villian called "Areoport Kustomes" (sounds like a dark elf to me). He made it back to Indy in the nick of time. heh So I managed to get a copy of the DLCS and the AOM. Maybe I can finally scrape a group together to play now. :D
Ok that's it for me for now!
Wish you coulda been there. I must say your book sure seemed to have the most signatures I have ever seen. And the little sketches from Elmore, Stan! and uhm... that other artist rock. I should have thought of doing that. Uhm... getting sketches... not putting one in your book.. hee hee.So did the sound go out when they turned off the microphone on the webcast? I guess I should watch it and find out...
Thanks to everyone that went to it. It was really nice to see so many people supporting Dragonlance! (Yes, even the ONE guy that raised his hand saying that he wouldn't buy a Taladas novel.
) hehin the events they have the dragonlance reception streaming video.
everyone at the SP booth was great and I got to talk to Jamie Chambers, Chris Coyle and Dragonhelm (thanks again for the great game!).
I had a great time and, of course, picked up a copy of the DLCS and the Age of Mortals (thanks for snatching it away from customs in Chicago, that must have been a long and tiring day).
All in all it was great, what more can I say?
Originally posted by Silvan_of_Eldamar
My first Gencon ended up being a fantastic experience. I played a half-kender in one of the DL demos, and I ended up sliding down some mud slides, convincing our dwarven cleric to join me and then moo-ing at a minotaur until he jumped down the mudslide after me. Baeorn, the half-kender, also got a draconian prisoner in big trouble after he (Baeorn) posed as a half-elven child and told some Solamnic knights that the "mean draconian was scaring me and saying bad things about Paladine....sniffle"
everyone at the SP booth was great and I got to talk to Jamie Chambers, Chris Coyle and Dragonhelm (thanks again for the great game!).
Not a problem! I enjoyed having you as a player. You have a great knack for playing kender-type characters. That's not always easy to pull off.
If anyone is wondering about the demo games, the demo that was run was Return to the Dragon Peak of Palanthas (hope I got the title right). However, this wasn't always the demo being run. Chris ran some different scenarios from time to time, and I decided I didn't want to do the same adventure two days in a row.
So, I decided to run Knight's Sword, which I had to do by memory alone. We had a great time, including knightly investigations, and a boar hunt. The boar hunt landed up with a mudslide. By the time everything was done, everyone who went on the mudslide was covered in mud.
Enter in a group of gnomes and a turncoat knight, and you have the makings of a great adventure.
Anyone else here play in a demo game?
...just like I was after taking red dragonbreath to the face. Darn saving throws.
Cheers,
Cam
Originally posted by talinthas
will the demo be made available anywhere?
I had heard a rumor that it might make an appearance in Games Unplugged magazine at some point, but that's just a rumor. You never know.
And I was disappointed... in the 2nd demo game I ran, I only managed to kill half the party
. The most fun was having the dragon breathe on the Red Robe, who failed his save and ended up with -22 HP. ;)As the other guys have posted the highlights of the trip so far, I'll only add that it was an honor to be sitting on stage at the DL Q&A session with all the other authors and designers. Other than that, it was a blast and I really enjoyed meeting some of you... and I also met WizO_Jedi, who is a pretty cool guy and (from what I hear) did a good job portraying Luke Skywalker during the d20 "Celebrity Deathmatch" play on Saturday night.
There's just something wonderful about people enthusiastically going on about how it was the most fun total party kill they've ever played in.
I don't know what it was, but I couldn't kill a thing with my dragon.. in either game. The first time around I was reading from the white dragon charts in the MM, which might have been the problem. But the second time around the party was just really well defended and spread apart. *shrug*
Originally posted by Kipper Snifferdoo
The dwarven cleric of Reorx tried to "turn" my red dragon... uhmm yeah. The dragon was just as baffled as you are. Then he engulfed the cleric in flames.
Clerics of Reorx can, in fact, attempt to command red dragons if they've taken the Fire domain. They don't have much of a chance unless they're higher level, since the turning effect is based on Hit Dice and dragons have a lot of those. In the context of the adventure, I don't think there's any way Garnet the dwarf cleric can manage it. Nice try though!
Cheers,
Cam
Originally posted by ferratus
That's pretty cool... dragon turning that is. Are there any other dragons that might be affected given the Domains of the dieties? For example, is there a diety with the air domain that can turn silver dragons?
Actually, yes. And this is something that's always been the case for clerics in D&D3E, since the creature's subtype (if elemental) makes them a (insert element) here creature for the purposes of those domains.
Here's the breakdown in case you're interested:
White and silver dragons (cold) are unaffected as no domain allows a cleric to turn, destroy, rebuke or command cold creatures.
Red, gold and brass dragons (fire) can be turned/destroyed by clerics of Habbakuk and Zeboim with the Water domain. They can be rebuked, bolstered or commanded by clerics of Reorx, Sirrion or Sargonnas with the Fire domain.
Blue and copper dragons (earth) can be turned/destroyed by clerics of Chislev with the Air domain. They can be rebuked, bolstered or commanded by clerics of Chislev or Reorx with the Earth domain.
Green dragons (air) can be turned/destroyed by clerics of Chislev or Reorx with the Earth domain. They can be rebuked, bolstered or commanded by clerics of Chislev with the Air domain.
Black, bronze and sea dragons (water) can be turned/destroyed by clerics of Reorx, Sirrion or Sargonnas with the Fire domain. They can be rebuked, bolstered or commanded by clerics of Habbakuk and Zeboim with the Water domain.
As you can see, there's a little imbalance with Fire and Water domains having influence over 6 dragons, while Earth and Air have influence over only 3. A cleric of Chislev with both the Air and Earth domains is in the unique position of being able to either turn or rebuke blue, copper and green dragons.
All of this depends on the cleric being high enough level and the dragon in question being very young. Once you get to young adult or adult, most dragons have around 18-22 HD and it gets bigger after that. Still, comes in handy when you're trying to deal with a dragon's infants.
Cheers,
Cam
It makes a silver dragon and a red dragon very evenly matched. The cold based attack of the silver dragon's breath weapon does double damage to the red. The red dragon's flame breath however... only does normal damage because the silver dragon has the air, rather than cold, subtype. So even though red dragons are slightly larger, they have a good reason to fear silver dragons.
Originally posted by ferratus
Thanks Cam. Just a little correction. Silver dragons have the air subtype, not the cold subtype.
Silver dragons in the revised 3.5 Monster Manual have the Cold subtype. For reference, check the SRD online at http://www.wizards.com/D20/article.asp?x=srd35.
Cheers,
Cam
It would have suited dragonlance well, since the metallic dragons always kick the stuffing out of chromatic dragons, even when they don't have dragonlances.
Originally posted by ferratus
Ah, I guess someone noticed that and decided that they didn't like the fact that silver dragons were just as powerful as red dragons. Pity.
It would have suited dragonlance well, since the metallic dragons always kick the stuffing out of chromatic dragons, even when they don't have dragonlances.
What would have made an interesting and more logical switch would be to make blue dragons Air creatures. Lightning and air seem a lot more likely a combo than lightning and earth. However, the subtype is based on the preferred environment of the dragon, not the dragon's breath weapon (though this doesn't quite explain the Green dragon's Air subtype.)
Cheers,
Cam
Originally posted by Cam Banks
What would have made an interesting and more logical switch would be to make blue dragons Air creatures. Lightning and air seem a lot more likely a combo than lightning and earth.
Yeah, you're right there.
However, the subtype is based on the preferred environment of the dragon, not the dragon's breath weapon (though this doesn't quite explain the Green dragon's Air subtype.)
It doesn't really explain silver dragons either. They live on solid clouds or on mountain peaks, not in arctic regions.
If they based their subtype on their breath weapon, you'd have something like this:
Red Dragons: Fire
Green Dragons: Air
Black Dragons: Acid
Blue Dragons: Air
White Dragons: Cold
Brass Dragons: Fire
Copper Dragons: Acid
Bronze Dragons: Air
Silver Dragons: Cold
Gold Dragons: Fire
Originally posted by ferratus
If they based their subtype on their breath weapon, you'd have something like this:
Red Dragons: Fire
Green Dragons: Air
Black Dragons: Acid
Blue Dragons: Air
White Dragons: Cold
Brass Dragons: Fire
Copper Dragons: Acid
Bronze Dragons: Air
Silver Dragons: Cold
Gold Dragons: Fire
That'd be fine if acid was a subtype for creatures! Replace Acid with Water and you'd be on the right track.
In general, though, I'm comfortable with the way it's been established in the Monster Manual. It's just interesting that certain domains will give you more influence over the dragons than others.
Cheers,
Cam