It occurs to me it might be interesting to create a thread devoted to the discussion of the great deeds that your player characters and players have done in the world of Krynn.
Normally these kind of threads are purely braggatory but I thought we might further add a twist to these thread in the fact that by talking about your campaign you also set yourself up for constructive criticism and thoughts about how these games differ from YOUR viewpoint of Dragonlance.
This is a thread thus to share the various contrasting visions we all have for our favorite setting and what we like/disline in portrayals....
While also hopefully giving each other ideas.
I run an extremely long term Dragonlance campaign. Our PCs have remained fairly consistent with a goodly number of causalties and sacrifices over the years against the Forces of the Queen of Darkness and company.
I'm obsessed somewhat with the Mythology of Dragonlance and thus the players more or less take on the roles of Greek style heroes as the daily interfered in servants/rivals of the Gods.
I thus tend to focus "big" and when we finally did hit Epic Level there wasn't really that much difference, though we did cross over editions a few times, save really in statistics.
I prefer more "talky" games anyway to a certain extent.
We've done many campaigns over the years, breaked away several times, and had games where I thought they were overpowered or retired but always we returned to these guys.
The Characters....
Kalos, the Voice of Paladine Cl 23rd level LG Silvastani elf
One of the original characters to survive to the present era Kalos is a trooper in the surest sense. For TEN YEARS game time he played a cleric of the Seeker gods with the reduced penalties and no spells waiting for the time to play a servant of Paladine.
When we finally did get to the War of the Lance I rewarded him generously and took the 'Chosen' concept from Forgotten Realms to apply to him.
A Dark Elf cast out for thievery as a young child, Kalos has transcended the label as the Silvastani must contend with one of the greatest of heroes of the age being one they forsook....also a member of working caste.
I've more or less ruled it's a national embarrassment but the Dark Elf label is irreconvertable.
Valance, the Son of the Black Moon M23rd LE Silvastani Elf
The White Robed Brother of Kalos (half since Valance was born into House Magician and his father seduced a servant girl) Valance took the cast out status onto himself willingly to look for his illegitimate relation as well as to forsake the Silvastani isolation so that he could fight for good.
Dillusionment, hate, and the dark side of war met Valance but his dark soul does not reflect a man without some sense of honor or justice. As the campaign has progressed his bond remains unbreakable with his friends despite his new allegiance and the revelation that he was born of one of Krynn's gods few mortal/divine couplings.
Briefly the student of Raistlin, I've dropped hints Dalamar is actually his son but neither suspect it.
Lord Knight Christos the Grey Champion Paladin 10/Fighter 11 (converted-still haven't decided what or how to use the Prestige classes of the Solomanics) LG
Christos the Grey joined the party somewhat later in life during the War of the Lance after several of the groups companions had died in quick succession. Christos was found by the elven pair in a rather peculiar state as he was a drunkard and a lech whom had been framed for murdering his brother.
The debt he owed the Voice of Paladine and the then White Robe is immense for they restored his courage and honor to fight on and clear his name. Eventually after becoming the greatest general of the War of the Lance and performing truly legendary deeds he would marry the King's niece and serve as his son's regent when Michael Jeoffrey with the aid of Morgion murdered the King and all but the heir in a terrible plot.
Much beloved by all but the most hard line who can't forgive his brief period of disgrace, he is now so old that he must look to passing on his legacy to the heir...
Leena Dragonslayer Thief 3/Illusionist 17 TN
The sporadic companion of the heroes whom was there from the beginning yet dissapeared for long periods of time Leena Dragonslayer has always been something of a comical figure in the epic chronicles given her rather ahem....kittenesque nature and obsession with enriching herself.
The lover of the wizard Valance she has nevertheless had her own dramas including briefly being forced to take the place of the Red Moon Goddess when her divinity was stolen. The experience profoundly changed her and while still somewhat more vibrant than her fellows she is a great protector of the Balance and Red Robed Order.
And before you ask, No she's no relation to the small chested death dealing sorceress...that she admits.
Eliza Half-Elven Mg 15 CN
The half-elven daughter of Leena and Valance she grew up a slave in a Solomanic household and only recently has left the service after her parents put her there hopefully to protect her from their enemies. A bit violently tempered she is happier here than she's been anywhere else.
there are a few other long term NPCs and henchmen but I shan't list them.
Heroic Deeds
Pre-WotL
The Ten years before the War of the Lance we played fairly low key as adventuring goes. Facing hobgoblins, ogre armies, evil wizards ambitions, and a good deal more personal character development. The Five game years before the War of the Lance I made extensive use of foreshadowing though. Ariakus, Verminaard, Dracart (from Dragons of Deceit), and Kithara were all major villains with the later vacilating between loved one/side-kick/and villain.
About the biggest thing we did was go to Taladas, which was so underdeveloped, and discovered Chemosh had begun making his move there by working to establish a kingdom of the Living Dead.
The game ended when the armies of the dead were destroyed and his Lich Chosen Priest was destroyed with the characters breaking up for a time...
WotL
I restarted the game at the war of the Lance itself and ran modified versions of pretty much the entire series. The characters were always aware of the "Other" heroes of the Lance and it was comical sometimes when both occasionally got credit for specific deeds....it was hinted they just missed each other several times.
Notable things therein
* I made a much more bigger to-do about the Dragon eggs and the final showdown with Dracart whom had been a game enemy some 8 years now and whom I made the Black Dragon High Lord at the end
* The players had to actually venture into Lorac's mind and break the curse on the Dragon Orb (which caused the mindspin in this game) placed by Galan Dracos
The players destroyed Dracos's spirit once and for all in the orb as outside the HotL broke Lorac's contact with the orb.
* I always felt Ariakus died too easily in Dragons of Spring Dawning so I ruled it was actually his "body double" in there while he was planning a coup de'tat to directly take command over all the forces
The players sent an assembled army of elves, dwarves, men, in something all too similiar to the Books of the Rings.
Ariakus was killed in a massive duel with the Voice of Paladin and the Black Moon leader with his death demoralizing the entire army as Takhasis inside's defeat caused the entire army in his service to be affected....
and scatter to the winds/start civil war in the battle field as they were struck by her despair at being banished again.
Again the heroes parted ways
Pre-ToT
* An elaborate conspiracy to determine the King of Solomnia occurs with the Knightly houses giving the Borgias and Medicis a run for their money in intrigue.
The Voice of Paladin and Elistan find themselves suddenly the head of a church whose priests of Paladine include many, especially elves, with more interest in the new 'power' than the new god.
Hiddukuel and Morgion were prominent players here both as they supported their own candidates for King and Palantiff (Bishop of Palanthas)
At the end all turns out well but I had a tragic seen where Khalos's daughter ended up poisoned and cradled by Crystania as she died.
* The Dragon Highlord Crusades were a series of fun adventures where the PCs went back to some fairly straight forward adventuring.
They were called a Crusade because the Voice of Paladine constantly was raising armies with the other players to go forth and smite the remaining Dragon armies while Valance the Black Robe took frequent breaks from his studies at the Black Tower to help.
I think in total the players killed 15 would be Dragon Highlords including a ressurected Verminaard (twice), an undead Ariakus, A Lich student of Fistandanalius, and the Council of Five (the highest priests of each head of Takhasis)
They even forced Soth into an oath never to become a High Lord after he made his play.
Kithara was the only one really left alone and it took some elaborate convincing by the Black Robe who was sweet on her to get the players to avoid her in some funny scenes. Leena the Red Robe hated her really :-)
In any case I ruled that the civil wars between the High Lords and the Crusades more or less were what defeated the Dark Queen's ambitions more than anything else after Nekara.
* The Triad adventures were the final really big adventure before the Test of the Twins Chronicles
This was a blatant attempt to steal other campaign adventures types and during it I used a number of modules from Throne of the Blood Stone pass, Queen of the Demonweb pits (inspirational only), and quite a bit of Planescape material
The game followed the plot by Takhasis and Chemosh to birth three new evil gods on the Earth (the Tiamat in the books, Orcus in the Books, and a Krynnized Lolth) that would gather power unto themselves and when the time is right would each kill a god of neutrality before Raistlin achieved godhood and would serve as her new general
The game followed the players epic battles and spell duels and we lost a White Robed wizard of great power along with a beloved cleric PC among other henchmen tracking down each Demon Prince/Demigod as the players gathered the tools necessary and destroyed each
(supported by the gods of good and neutrality who weren't as stupid as Taky thought)
The Final Confrontation with Orcus had him about to use the Grey Gem in a bit of serendipity before "Dragons of Summrer Flame" to take all the world's natural ambient magic and allow him to destroy the gods of Magic to plunge the word into an undead paradise. The PCs of course destroyed him and Nuthari was given by Valance the power
which advanced him to Intermediate God status
ToT
* Raistlin sent the players back to the Age of Dreams and Might in a time travelling quest to stop Fistadantanlius's spirit from altering time and reality so he ruled the world of Krynn forever.
They got to fight beside Magius, Huma, and Kas along with the original Three High Wizards and were involved in the Kinslayer wars and briefly rise of Ishtar (though that game had some sucky moments and didn't turn over very well)
Eventually the players defeated Fist and forced his weakened half-destroyed form into a box that they gave to Raistlin for safekeeping....Raist sent it back in time to the Tower of Waywreth where his youngerself found it during the Test.
* The players foiled a plot by Takhasis to take the Torbil even as Kithara's armies made their last march
I wonder how they'll react to her death at Dalamar's hands.
But they also cast out people who wear the neutral robes of red magic as well.
Years later I once asked the Player about that and he said it probably also had to do with a certain degree of politics as well. His father was an important man, his father's wife (not his mother) an important woman.
Getting his mother and him cast out could have been done for any number of reasons. His mother might have had charges done up against him and the thievery simply shown that he was 'bad seed' too
I've also run a few "flashback" games in my time so occasionally things listed in backgrounds arnt the full story by far. My players are usually very hesitant about them since they naturally restrict freedom.
Keep in mind also by young child I mean 25-80 years old. Longievity varid alot between editions but in my games since elves usually dissapeared into Paladin's realm around 700-1000
At the minimum elves were usually 120 when they started adventuring and that's elvish adolescence.
Originally posted by Charles Phipps
Briefly the student of Raistlin, I've dropped hints Dalamar is actually his son but neither suspect it.
Are you one of those "Raistlin is a woman" guys? ;)
Raistlin really shouldn't have taken on the character as a student given he was one of the most powerful wizards in the world then but I played Raistlin as near-godlike in power himself from my own biases.
Then the Legends Trilogy came out/I got it and there WAS a Silvastani Black Robe wizard elf in Raistlin's service.
Instead of removing Dalamar we just incorporated him and played on their differences in personality and situation.
Dalamar was a much younger elf than Valance, Dalamar had never "fallen" but "jumped", and there was an unspoken hatred between the two that Dalamar always hinted was personal.
***
Besides girls with gold skin and hourglass eyes? This isn't anime you know!
