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Vampires in Krynn?

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
zombiegleemax
Aug 25, 2003 18:31:26 I'm not a thorough Dragonlance initiate yet (read Chronicles a few years ago and am planning to re-read it now that the DLCS is out), so forgive me if this is an unenlightened question!

Seeing that Dragonlance misses a couple of "stock" fantasy creatures like orcs, halflings and lycanthropes, I was wondering - are there any vampires in Krynn? I don't recall reading anything about these undead in any official publications, ever - not in rulebooks, novels, or anywhere else. And if it weren't for the occasional mention in texts about Chemosh or black robe wizards, I'd be doubting if liches exist, too... Apparently, liches do, even if they don't seem to play very prominent roles (unlike, say, in the Forgotten Realms). It seens that the undead, save of course for the famous death knights and spectral minions, play a smaller role in the DL setting than in other fantasy worlds.

Or have I just read the wrong sources, and am missing something?
#2
zombiegleemax
Aug 25, 2003 18:49:14 Vampires do indeed exist as a matter of fact the spell Call Undead from p. 68 of Age of Mortals has the chance to call a vampire.

The big difference in DL is that the gods, epecially Chemosh, have a hand in the creation of any greater undead limiting large numbers.
#3
sweetmeats
Aug 25, 2003 18:54:34 According to the Tales of the Lance (and I read it somewhere else but I forget where), Tika's father was killed by a Vampire.
#4
randpc
Aug 25, 2003 19:01:23 As stated above Vampires do exist upon Krynn, though they don't play a very big role at all and tend to be quite rare.

Lycanthropes, Orcs, and Halflings are all nonexistent on Krynn.
Naturally there is nothing stopping you as a DM from changing that if you wish.
#5
baron_the_curse
Aug 25, 2003 19:17:03 As part of a three year Dragonlance chronicle I’ve been running a Bladesinger player in my game with the aid of a Renegade Silvanesti Dark Elf carrying a very powerful artifact destroyed Kanchelsis, the Blood God of all Vampires presented in the Monster Mythology 2nd book. The Bladesinger and the Dark Elf are mortal enemies, but one of Takhisis demigod daughter’s invited Kanchelsis to Krynn for a much darker plot, which led to the strange alliance to stop the Blood God. Point is, vampires do exist indeed as people have told you, and you can make them as powerful, influential, or as weak and meaningless as you like. Despite appearances Krynn can be very diverse.
#6
zombiegleemax
Aug 25, 2003 23:24:39 Thank you. I don't have the Age of Mortals book, yet. Is there any more info on the influence the gods have on the creation of greater undead? It's an interesting point.
#7
Los_Grak
Aug 26, 2003 8:34:19 I thought I remembered reading a short story in one of the Tales or Tales II books about a werewolf. Am I hallucinating?
#8
jonesy
Aug 26, 2003 8:57:08
Originally posted by Los Grak
I thought I remembered reading a short story in one of the Tales or Tales II books about a werewolf. Am I hallucinating?

It was a werewolf, but not a lycanthrope. The condition was caused by a spell.
#9
ferratus
Aug 28, 2003 14:21:34 On the subject of Vampires, I am very glad that DLCS says "The magically preserved corpse of Waylorn Wyvernsbane. I love the create greater undead spell, and his former (and now current) lover the Ghoul Queen. She just keeps getting nastier and nastier...
#10
cam_banks
Aug 28, 2003 14:38:08
Originally posted by ferratus
On the subject of Vampires, I am very glad that DLCS says "The magically preserved corpse of Waylorn Wyvernsbane. I love the create greater undead spell, and his former (and now current) lover the Ghoul Queen. She just keeps getting nastier and nastier...

Got to love those vampire druids.

Cheers,
Cam
#11
ferratus
Aug 28, 2003 16:31:39 Waylorn was born to be a tortured soul.

Question about his diety though. Chislev is a neutral goddess, and Waylorn is a devout follower. Is it improbable that she would stick with him, in hopes of his redemption, even though he is undead? He is a representation of the feral aspect of nature after all.

I would prefer to keep him as a cleric of Chislev, to give PC's a chance to receive visions and other interventions by Chislev in order to reclaim his soul. Plus, Zeboim doesn't really work for forest druids.
#12
kalanth
Aug 28, 2003 16:44:13
Originally posted by ferratus
Waylorn was born to be a tortured soul.

Question about his diety though. Chislev is a neutral goddess, and Waylorn is a devout follower. Is it improbable that she would stick with him, in hopes of his redemption, even though he is undead? He is a representation of the feral aspect of nature after all.

I would prefer to keep him as a cleric of Chislev, to give PC's a chance to receive visions and other interventions by Chislev in order to reclaim his soul. Plus, Zeboim doesn't really work for forest druids.

Well, that is all your call as the DM, but I would say that he was taken by the darker gods that control the undead. Afterall, they take very carefull stock in the undead on their planet, why would he not go over. Then again, who is to say that Chislev is not trying to reclaim the soul?
#13
zombiegleemax
Sep 01, 2003 15:21:52 I think that now that the gods have returned that Chemosh would have muuch to do with the creation of creater undead. I think that he and the Dark Queen were the only ones that were really involved in necromacny, of course, Nuitari and the Black Robes must be included in this discussion. I do know that vamires exist in Krynn. They were present in Dargaard Keep in thre World of Krynn module.
#14
baron_the_curse
Sep 01, 2003 15:34:38 Drows where also included in the World of Krynn module, but they don't exist in Krynn. Vampires however do.
#15
zombiegleemax
Sep 01, 2003 22:13:09 What is all this talk about Waylorn? Is he undead now or something?
#16
cam_banks
Sep 02, 2003 7:43:19
Originally posted by Apocalyp$e
What is all this talk about Waylorn? Is he undead now or something?

No. Terry/Ferratus intends to make him so in his campaign, or so I imagine (something to do with Queen Sylvyana, the Ghoul Queen who laid the wichtlin curse upon the elves). In the mainstream DL continuity he's still most likely lying on a bier in the Tower Shalost, mostly dead.

Cheers,
Cam
#17
zombiegleemax
Sep 02, 2003 8:50:13
Originally posted by Cam Banks
In the mainstream DL continuity he's still most likely lying on a bier in the Tower Shalost, mostly dead.

Cheers,
Cam

But being mostly dead means he's still slightly alive....Gotta love The Princess Bride.:D :D :D
#18
zombiegleemax
Sep 02, 2003 9:02:50 I'm glad to hear that vampires are rare.

I'm not sure how I feel about vampire kender running around.

TW
#19
zombiegleemax
Sep 02, 2003 9:12:18 They had those in Ravenloft.... I still have the Monstrous Compendium entry for that one.... Yikes, can you imagine?
#20
kipper_snifferdoo_02
Sep 02, 2003 10:46:57 Last I heard there were kender vampires in the Desolation... but of course that might just be a kender tale. :D
#21
zombiegleemax
Sep 03, 2003 5:24:29 Personally, I'm a big fan of the "intelligent undead", like Vampires or Liches, so I'm glad to hear both exist on Krynn - I can do without orcs, and will take a kender over a Tolkien hobbit any day, but Vampires and Liches I just wouldn't want to miss for some reason... Perhaps it is the old school Ravenloft geek in me.

At the same time, it's good to hear that such powerful undead are rare in the Dragonlance setting - in my view, that's just what they should be. I feel Vampires and, even more so, Liches are hopelessly overused in the Forgotten Realms setting, for example, and when everybody and his brother becomes an undead villain, it only takes away from the mystique of these creatures.
#22
kalanth
Sep 03, 2003 11:38:59 The undead are the greatest part of any D&D world, in my opinion. I utilize the intelligent undead to the greatest extremes, and even more so, the Dracolichs being the second best undead in the world (Lord Soth is solid in his Number 1 spot).
#23
zombiegleemax
Sep 03, 2003 15:49:06 Speaking of dracoliches, do they exist on Krynn? I thought that they were Forgotten Realms, "Cult of the Dragon" creatures... Of course, nothing is stopping a DM from introducing them in any setting he desires, I'm just curious if the official Dragonlance literature mentions undead dragons anywhere?
#24
Matthew_L._Martin
Sep 03, 2003 15:57:00 Dracoliches were featured in The Bestiary, and one showed up in one of the mini-adventures included with the SAGA Fate Deck. They don't appear to be created in the same way that they are on Faerun, though, and sound more likely to be spontaneously occuring undead rather than creations of draconic cults.
A dracolich of a very infamous dragon was hinted at in the Appendix to the hardcover printing of Dragons of a Vanished Moon, but there's no word yet on whether that's official.

Matthew L. Martin

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax Aug 25, 2003 18:31:26	I'm not a thorough Dragonlance initiate yet (read Chronicles a few years ago and am planning to re-read it now that the DLCS is out), so forgive me if this is an unenlightened question! Seeing that Dragonlance misses a couple of "stock" fantasy creatures like orcs, halflings and lycanthropes, I was wondering - are there any vampires in Krynn? I don't recall reading anything about these undead in any official publications, ever - not in rulebooks, novels, or anywhere else. And if it weren't for the occasional mention in texts about Chemosh or black robe wizards, I'd be doubting if liches exist, too... Apparently, liches do, even if they don't seem to play very prominent roles (unlike, say, in the Forgotten Realms). It seens that the undead, save of course for the famous death knights and spectral minions, play a smaller role in the DL setting than in other fantasy worlds. Or have I just read the wrong sources, and am missing something?
#2 zombiegleemax Aug 25, 2003 18:49:14	Vampires do indeed exist as a matter of fact the spell Call Undead from p. 68 of Age of Mortals has the chance to call a vampire. The big difference in DL is that the gods, epecially Chemosh, have a hand in the creation of any greater undead limiting large numbers.
#3 sweetmeats Aug 25, 2003 18:54:34	According to the Tales of the Lance (and I read it somewhere else but I forget where), Tika's father was killed by a Vampire.
#4 randpc Aug 25, 2003 19:01:23	As stated above Vampires do exist upon Krynn, though they don't play a very big role at all and tend to be quite rare. Lycanthropes, Orcs, and Halflings are all nonexistent on Krynn. Naturally there is nothing stopping you as a DM from changing that if you wish.
#5 baron_the_curse Aug 25, 2003 19:17:03	As part of a three year Dragonlance chronicle I’ve been running a Bladesinger player in my game with the aid of a Renegade Silvanesti Dark Elf carrying a very powerful artifact destroyed Kanchelsis, the Blood God of all Vampires presented in the Monster Mythology 2nd book. The Bladesinger and the Dark Elf are mortal enemies, but one of Takhisis demigod daughter’s invited Kanchelsis to Krynn for a much darker plot, which led to the strange alliance to stop the Blood God. Point is, vampires do exist indeed as people have told you, and you can make them as powerful, influential, or as weak and meaningless as you like. Despite appearances Krynn can be very diverse.
#6 zombiegleemax Aug 25, 2003 23:24:39	Thank you. I don't have the Age of Mortals book, yet. Is there any more info on the influence the gods have on the creation of greater undead? It's an interesting point.
#7 Los_Grak Aug 26, 2003 8:34:19	I thought I remembered reading a short story in one of the Tales or Tales II books about a werewolf. Am I hallucinating?
#8 jonesy Aug 26, 2003 8:57:08	Originally posted by Los Grak I thought I remembered reading a short story in one of the Tales or Tales II books about a werewolf. Am I hallucinating? It was a werewolf, but not a lycanthrope. The condition was caused by a spell.
#9 ferratus Aug 28, 2003 14:21:34	On the subject of Vampires, I am very glad that DLCS says "The magically preserved corpse of Waylorn Wyvernsbane. I love the create greater undead spell, and his former (and now current) lover the Ghoul Queen. She just keeps getting nastier and nastier...
#10 cam_banks Aug 28, 2003 14:38:08	Originally posted by ferratus On the subject of Vampires, I am very glad that DLCS says "The magically preserved corpse of Waylorn Wyvernsbane. I love the create greater undead spell, and his former (and now current) lover the Ghoul Queen. She just keeps getting nastier and nastier... Got to love those vampire druids. Cheers, Cam
#11 ferratus Aug 28, 2003 16:31:39	Waylorn was born to be a tortured soul. Question about his diety though. Chislev is a neutral goddess, and Waylorn is a devout follower. Is it improbable that she would stick with him, in hopes of his redemption, even though he is undead? He is a representation of the feral aspect of nature after all. I would prefer to keep him as a cleric of Chislev, to give PC's a chance to receive visions and other interventions by Chislev in order to reclaim his soul. Plus, Zeboim doesn't really work for forest druids.
#12 kalanth Aug 28, 2003 16:44:13	Originally posted by ferratus Waylorn was born to be a tortured soul. Question about his diety though. Chislev is a neutral goddess, and Waylorn is a devout follower. Is it improbable that she would stick with him, in hopes of his redemption, even though he is undead? He is a representation of the feral aspect of nature after all. I would prefer to keep him as a cleric of Chislev, to give PC's a chance to receive visions and other interventions by Chislev in order to reclaim his soul. Plus, Zeboim doesn't really work for forest druids. Well, that is all your call as the DM, but I would say that he was taken by the darker gods that control the undead. Afterall, they take very carefull stock in the undead on their planet, why would he not go over. Then again, who is to say that Chislev is not trying to reclaim the soul?
#13 zombiegleemax Sep 01, 2003 15:21:52	I think that now that the gods have returned that Chemosh would have muuch to do with the creation of creater undead. I think that he and the Dark Queen were the only ones that were really involved in necromacny, of course, Nuitari and the Black Robes must be included in this discussion. I do know that vamires exist in Krynn. They were present in Dargaard Keep in thre World of Krynn module.
#14 baron_the_curse Sep 01, 2003 15:34:38	Drows where also included in the World of Krynn module, but they don't exist in Krynn. Vampires however do.
#15 zombiegleemax Sep 01, 2003 22:13:09	What is all this talk about Waylorn? Is he undead now or something?
#16 cam_banks Sep 02, 2003 7:43:19	Originally posted by Apocalyp$e What is all this talk about Waylorn? Is he undead now or something? No. Terry/Ferratus intends to make him so in his campaign, or so I imagine (something to do with Queen Sylvyana, the Ghoul Queen who laid the wichtlin curse upon the elves). In the mainstream DL continuity he's still most likely lying on a bier in the Tower Shalost, mostly dead. Cheers, Cam
#17 zombiegleemax Sep 02, 2003 8:50:13	Originally posted by Cam Banks In the mainstream DL continuity he's still most likely lying on a bier in the Tower Shalost, mostly dead. Cheers, Cam But being mostly dead means he's still slightly alive....Gotta love The Princess Bride.:D :D :D
#18 zombiegleemax Sep 02, 2003 9:02:50	I'm glad to hear that vampires are rare. I'm not sure how I feel about vampire kender running around. TW
#19 zombiegleemax Sep 02, 2003 9:12:18	They had those in Ravenloft.... I still have the Monstrous Compendium entry for that one.... Yikes, can you imagine?
#20 kipper_snifferdoo_02 Sep 02, 2003 10:46:57	Last I heard there were kender vampires in the Desolation... but of course that might just be a kender tale. :D
#21 zombiegleemax Sep 03, 2003 5:24:29	Personally, I'm a big fan of the "intelligent undead", like Vampires or Liches, so I'm glad to hear both exist on Krynn - I can do without orcs, and will take a kender over a Tolkien hobbit any day, but Vampires and Liches I just wouldn't want to miss for some reason... Perhaps it is the old school Ravenloft geek in me. At the same time, it's good to hear that such powerful undead are rare in the Dragonlance setting - in my view, that's just what they should be. I feel Vampires and, even more so, Liches are hopelessly overused in the Forgotten Realms setting, for example, and when everybody and his brother becomes an undead villain, it only takes away from the mystique of these creatures.
#22 kalanth Sep 03, 2003 11:38:59	The undead are the greatest part of any D&D world, in my opinion. I utilize the intelligent undead to the greatest extremes, and even more so, the Dracolichs being the second best undead in the world (Lord Soth is solid in his Number 1 spot).
#23 zombiegleemax Sep 03, 2003 15:49:06	Speaking of dracoliches, do they exist on Krynn? I thought that they were Forgotten Realms, "Cult of the Dragon" creatures... Of course, nothing is stopping a DM from introducing them in any setting he desires, I'm just curious if the official Dragonlance literature mentions undead dragons anywhere?
#24 Matthew_L._Martin Sep 03, 2003 15:57:00	Dracoliches were featured in The Bestiary, and one showed up in one of the mini-adventures included with the SAGA Fate Deck. They don't appear to be created in the same way that they are on Faerun, though, and sound more likely to be spontaneously occuring undead rather than creations of draconic cults. A dracolich of a very infamous dragon was hinted at in the Appendix to the hardcover printing of Dragons of a Vanished Moon, but there's no word yet on whether that's official. Matthew L. Martin