My question is, how accurate is the preview to what was actually released? And is there anything that I, as a DM, should know that isn't covered in the errata or the preview?
Two of my players are thinking of changing their characters, but the other two are sticking with their old ones. As far as I know, we have a kender bard of Habbakuk (using the divine bard variant from Unerthed Arcana) and a civilized human fighter (an aspirant to the Solamnic Knighthood)...Haha, I'm not sure why I thought the character information was pertinent to this post, but there it is!
I'd be very grateful for any help or personal insights offered. Thanks in advance.
New it is $8.50 cheaper than you'll get it for at your local store. I know I'm not answering your question, I'm just giving you an option to purchase the KoD book. Good luck and enjoy your gaming experience in Krynn.
As far as I can recall the preview was reasonably acurate, and it has the first chapter of the adventure.
I'd have thought Branchula was more likely to support the Divine Bard then Hubbakuk.
I wouldn't use the moon tracking locations given in Key of Destiny though. (they don't line up with the dates and what not). Your best bet is to backwards figure it from Spectre of Sorrows or just pick your own starting point and go from there. Or...just use these (this is the positions according to Spectre of Sorrows)
12th of Aelmont: (Chapter 1)
Solinari:
Waxing Crescent, 8th day of Low Sanction
Lunitari:
Waxing Gibbous, 1st day of High Sanction
Nuitari:
Waxing Crescent, 2nd day of Low Sanction
You can also buy the Key of Destiny module as a PDF from DriveThruRPG.
Cool, I just checked out that link, I didn't even know that was around. Not bad if you don't care to own the hardcover book.
Brim, I saw there is a "Serenity" RPG over there, is it based on the movie from your favorite TV Show (Firefly)?
Well, I don't know how old you are or if you've got access to a credit card, but you could always buy it at Amazon.com (here's the link to the product on their site <--click here)
New it is $8.50 cheaper than you'll get it for at your local store. I know I'm not answering your question, I'm just giving you an option to purchase the KoD book. Good luck and enjoy your gaming experience in Krynn.
Ah, thanks for the information! That would be much cheaper and I won't feel too guilty about not supporting our FLGS as my group buys all its Eberron material locally. I don't know why I didn't think of checking Amazon earlier. Thanks again.
I'd have thought Branchula was more likely to support the Divine Bard then Hubbakuk.
Ahh, I meant to type Branchala. Greenpath Beechtopper, Bard of Branchala and naturalist extraordinaire.
And, the preview on-line is pretty much exactly how it ended up in the final product. Pretty much, anyway.
I wouldn't use the moon tracking locations given in Key of Destiny though. (they don't line up with the dates and what not). Your best bet is to backwards figure it from Spectre of Sorrows or just pick your own starting point and go from there. Or...just use these (this is the positions according to Spectre of Sorrows)
12th of Aelmont: (Chapter 1)
Solinari:
Waxing Crescent, 8th day of Low Sanction
Lunitari:
Waxing Gibbous, 1st day of High Sanction
Nuitari:
Waxing Crescent, 2nd day of Low Sanction
Ah! Exactly what I needed. Excellent to know about the moons, especially, as I think the party will have a wizard among their number in no time.
How has everyone else found the module trilogy so far? Any reccomendations for making it run more smoothely? Are there any character classes that will prove greatly useful to the party? Right now Greenpath is looking to be the party's healer, but would a cleric or mystic come in handy? A rogue?
Those of you who have run through the modules (have they all been released yet?), please share your insights and experiences so I can make the most out of this for my group. We're great Dragonlance fans, the lot of us, and love RPing in the world of Krynn. So, I really want to make this the best experience I can.
Spectre of Sorrows is currently available in stores and from most hobby stores online and brick-and-mortar, although you might need to special order it depending on your game store.And I'm a frequent sight around these message boards and the ones over at www.dragonlanceforums.com so feel free to ask away.
Cheers,
Cam
How has everyone else found the module trilogy so far?
Well, my crew is about half way through Chapter 3. Unfortunately, we've had trouble getting together (hurricanes, busted watermains, etc.) so we're not getting in as much playing time as we'd like. I enjoy it, and I think they're enjoying themselves.
Having read through Key of Destiny and Spectre of Sorrows I think they are excellent! The idea of someone pulling the PCs strings and making them do things (and being fairly obvious about it) has made my PCs a little uneasy. And as the game goes on, I think that uneasiness will turn into panic...at which point they'll cut those strings...and then we'll really be on the move.
Needless to say, I love these adventures!
As far as I know, we have a kender bard of Habbakuk (using the divine bard variant from Unerthed Arcana)...
Good call on the divine bard.
If you don't mind me asking, why Habbakuk for a deity?
Good call on the divine bard.
If you don't mind me asking, why Habbakuk for a deity?
Thanks!
I just wasn't thinking when I typed out my first post, that's all. Greenpath Beechtopper is very much a bard of Branchala and not Habbakuk. I'm looking forward to this character and the knight aspirant, Bastien uth (surname escapes me). They're going to be an interesting duo. Both are extraordinarily well developed and thought out, neither conform to the standard mold expected of the race/class/culture combination...but still perfectly maintain that Romantic, Krynnish mood established first in Dragons of Autumn Twilight.
After all the players work out the details of their characters, I might just have to share the party with everyone here. They're all shaping up very well.
Bastien uth Dain, (LG male [Solamnic] human, Fighter 1)
Bastien was born the youngest son of Wreyliff uth Dain Duke of Estgaard (a fictional dukedom of eastern Solamnia) in the year 21 SC. He aspires to investment as a Knight of Solamnia, though he lives in the ubiquitous shadow of his father and older brother who are both celebrated Knights of the Rose and Sword respectively. Bastien is bright, idealistic, ambitious, more than a little naive, and harbors a secret that if told would disgrace himself and two influential Solamnic noble houses.
Dwyn di Myrddin, (NG female [Solamnic/Qualinesti] half-elf, Fighter 1)
Dwyn di Myrddin, born Isolde Half-Elven in the year 19 SC, has already lived a life worthy of a bard's tale. As a young, unwanted 'half-breed' she was sold into servitude. For many years she lived as an indentured servant, before she escaped under disguise into southern Solamnia. After living the life of a street urchin for several years, she was taken as a squire by a compassionate Knight errant. He adopted Isolde and gave her the name Dwyn di Myrddin so she could begin a new life.
Enduran del Aris, (CG male [Solamnic] human, Sorcerer 1)
Enduran was born to the greatest vassal of Duke Estgaard in the year 19 SC. A good-natured, good-humored fellow, Enduran is always quick with a smile. His interest in sorcery, however, earned him the enmity of his own father, a highly traditional man with no love of arcane magic whatever the form. To gain the approval of his father, he petitioned to join the Solamnic Auxiliary with the reccomendation of Duke Estgaard.
Greenhands Beechtopper, (CG male [Hyloan] kender, Bard of Branchala 1)
Greenhands is a charismatic kender with a great love for nature and the sublime. He is the quintessential Romantic, with a passion for life, love, beauty, and a good story. Ever since he heard the song of a nymph in his youth, Greenhands has felt an impulse to roam the lands in order to himself make the world a more beautiful and happy place. On the return of the True Gods, Branchala empowered the kender to do his work in the world as a Bard.
These are just brief glimpses of the characters that comprise the adventuring party, but I'll post full histories and descriptions as well as stats a while later. Enjoy!
Cool, I just checked out that link, I didn't even know that was around. Not bad if you don't care to own the hardcover book.
Brim, I saw there is a "Serenity" RPG over there, is it based on the movie from your favorite TV Show (Firefly)?
I'm not Brim, but I am the guy who wrote the Serenity RPG -- so yes, it is a show based on the movie of the same name, that followed up the much-loved and much-missed Firefly created by Joss Whedon. The game right now has smashed right past our expectations, with excellent sales and great reviews. You can learn more at the official website. Thanks!
Jamie Chambers
Vice President
Sovereign Press, Inc, & Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd.
I'm not Brim, but I am the guy who wrote the Serenity RPG -- so yes, it is a show based on the movie of the same name, that followed up the much-loved and much-missed Firefly created by Joss Whedon. The game right now has smashed right past our expectations, with excellent sales and great reviews. You can learn more at the official website. Thanks!
Heh heh...oh, sorry about that Rath, I didn't see that part of your post.
Yep, as Jamie said, that is based of that TV show Firefly (did you ever get around to renting those, or seeing the movie?)
The RPG is pretty slick. To me, it feels a lot like SAGA with dice. Very free form rules light system. It's pretty simple and it has a cool Assets and Complications system (good traits and bad traits for your character) that I like a lot...kind of like HackMaster. A friend of mine is going to start running a game for this next week, I can't wait to play!
My group's only gotten a little bit into Spectre of Sorrows, but I think the series is great! A cleric or other undead-basher is pretty much a must, so it's looking like you might be in some trouble. The Kender character may want to go into a nonspontaneous variant of the Kender Nightstalker (if you don't know how/don't want to convert it, then I will for you) so that he gets power from Branchala. Speakign of which, the divine bard from UA is for a mystic bard. Those who cast from faith in the gods don't cast spontaneous. I made a bard of faith variant on the Nexus, right here http://dl3e.com/fan/rules/12294.aspx. Hope it helps!
Hmmm, getting a cleric or other positive-energy-wielding character may prove quite difficult. Greenhands is far too interested in the beauty and wonder of the natural world and pursuing his music to take any special interest in undead. Bastien, the knight aspirant, is quite pious but not enough to join the clergy. His player is actually planning on having his character go rogue (Rogue Knight, that is), after it's discovered that he's having an affair with his step-mother(!).
The other characters are very far removed from joining the clergy or discovering the Power of the Heart, so the group might just get stiffed in this area unless anyone has suggestions...
Ah! Thank you for the link to your Bard of Faith variant, I hadn't thought of the fact that the Divine Bard from UA would be representative of the Mystic Bard. We had planned on just working with the flavor of the class, rather than the actual mechanic: but the Bard of Faith variant will do even better. Thanks again.
As before, full histories, stats, and descriptions of the party are forthcoming!
Speaking of the Silvanesti, is there an in-game explanation for the significant stat differences between Silvanesti and Qualinesti elves? I've never been very fond of subraces that don't have substantial reason for existing. As far as I can tell, the Qualinesti and Silvanesti should be the same race...but I may be missing something.
Thank you, I'm glad somebody got some use out of my articles. I'm thinking about writing some more, covering my other non-Dragonlance books (Complete series except for Complete Arcane, Draconomicon, Heroes of Battle, and Unearthed Arcana).
Also, there are a couple divine bard prestiges classes. Goodfellow of Branchala from HOotS for one, and I think Chorister from WotL is divine too. Those might help.
For this campaign, I'm proposing that there are no stat differences outside of the skill bonuses between the Qualinesti and the Silvanesti, and no difference in physical appearance either. As they are effectively the same race, with no huge generational gap to account for evolutionary differences, this seems more appropriate than having them be so different from one another. How does that sound?
I'm very excited, I'm going to work on an NPC cleric today so (s)he can be ready before my group gets together to play tonight. Thanks again for the help! I'll still get the characters up for everyone to take a look at, and maybe I'll start a campaign log on another thread. Perhaps I'm a little overexcited about all this, but it's good to be running a Dragonlance game after being away for a while.
Or, if you prefer, leave them the same, it *IS* your game afterall, and not mine.
Jacen, I would be very interested in seeing what you came up with for the differences between the Silvanesti Houses. That could be very useful, thanks again.
In the Key of Destiny preview, Shaylin shows the heroes to a tent where this is a chest, a bedroll, a fire, and one or two other items. My question is, what is supposed to be in the chest? I cannot find any description of its contents or whether or not it is locked. Does the actual module clear up this missing bit of information, or is it simply left up to the DM's imagination. If left up to the DM's imagination, what would any of you suggest?
In the Key of Destiny preview, Shaylin shows the heroes to a tent where this is a chest, a bedroll, a fire, and one or two other items. My question is, what is supposed to be in the chest? I cannot find any description of its contents or whether or not it is locked. Does the actualy module clear up this missing bit of information, or is it simply left up to the DM's imagination. If left up to the DM's imagination, what would any of you suggest?
A chest is used to store things that people don't want sitting out. It probably has clothing or cloaks or other mundane items inside of it.
Cheers,
Cam
Jacen, I would be very interested in seeing what you came up with for the differences between the Silvanesti Houses. That could be very useful, thanks again.
Okay, I can't find it, so I think I'm gonna have to re-write it. That's cool, it took me a whole 15 minutes to write it the first time, so it should be shorter now.
House Royal: +1 Knowledge (nobility and royalty) and Diplomacy, Favored Class Noble
House Mystic: Same as standard Silvanesti Elf
House Cleric: +1 Knowledge (religion) and Spellcraft, Favored Class Cleric
House Protector: +1 Knowledge (nature) and Survival, Favored Class Ranger
House Servitor: +1 Knowledge (local) and Move Silently, Favored Class Rogue
Various Craft/Profession Houses (such as House Woodshaper and House Mason): +1 Knowledge (any one) and either Craft (any one) or Profession (any one), Favored Class Master