I know the current age is kinda moving to a less murky of a metaplot, but it still has a lot of aftershocks from the War of Souls stuff and little miss Mina's new quests and what not, lol
Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions that I'm over looking?
1. Pick starting time.
2. Disregard everything that happens "officially" after that point.
3. Create your own timeline as the game moves on, keeping in mind how what the players are doing affects what I'm planning.
Am I the only DM who has issues running in this beloved setting because its hard to find a time frame that is without some kind of world shaking events going on in this book or that book?
I know the current age is kinda moving to a less murky of a metaplot, but it still has a lot of aftershocks from the War of Souls stuff and little miss Mina's new quests and what not, lol
Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions that I'm over looking?
I share your opinion. It's not only the extense world-shattering, it's also the extense novel coverage that makes it increasingly difficult to do a By-the-book DL campaign without intensive research.
There are possibilities to launch a *real* homebrew campaign, without too much canon-orientation, though.
- In the Age of Might.
- On Taladas, like I do.
- In the Pre-WotL era.
But basically, IMHO, if you're looking to cook out your own thing and let the players, and not the canon, rule your gaming world, DL is the wrong setting for you. ;)
I took my time this summer to do a massive write-up for the last part of this campaign - after a decisive battle in the dry land, my campaign will be over, as the knights move to the Fisheries.
After that, I fear that my party will leave Taladas and DL alltogether - the boys never really got catched up by the DL atmosphere and want to try something darker and with less *endless novels to read*.
My next campaign for my youthgroup will be set on the *Isles of the Dawn* in the Wilderlands of High Fantasy - at least unless the players absolutely demand DL.
Sad, but after 3 years of Taladas, a change of scene might be quite refreshing... ;) I'll certainly stick with DL in any case, but for another occasion...
Ah, it wasn't that they wouldn't appreciate my work - all to the contrary, they enjoy their games a lot. Still, the problem is that DL offers too few *quiet* places, where one can cook out a campaign all unaffected by the usual global conflicts. I had toyed with the idea of letting the dark knights settle down on the rainward isles, but, judging from the tendencies of players, I think a more *generic* setting without an updating timeline would be better. - My kids there appreciate the fantasy, but they don't really appreciate what has made DL what it is, if you understand what I mean. ;) Still, should SovPress ever release a Taladas book, I'll be among the first who buy it!
Going back to my problem, here is what I'm thinking so far:
-Set 50-100 yrs after the War of Souls.
-The three elf types have settled together in the Qualinesti forest.
-The Desolation has remained a blasted and unlivable land to civilized races, but many monsters have congregated to this area.
-The Academy of Sorcery has been rebuilt
Thats all I can think of at the moment, ideas on changes that might take place in this time frame would be helpfully.
-Set 50-100 yrs after the War of Souls.
-The three elf types have settled together in the Qualinesti forest.
-The Desolation has remained a blasted and unlivable land to civilized races, but many monsters have congregated to this area.
-The Academy of Sorcery has been rebuilt
If it's 50-100 years on Krynn, you're gonna need to add three or four world-shattering events. ;)
Yeah.. thats my only issue with DL is that as a RPG setting it has too much constantly going on.Son of Thunder
The way I've always done it with any setting is this:
1. Pick starting time.
2. Disregard everything that happens "officially" after that point.
3. Create your own timeline as the game moves on, keeping in mind how what the players are doing affects what I'm planning.
This is how to do it, IMHO. Pick your favorite period, make sure you have a good understanding of what's going on at that moment so you can decide what canon to observe, what canon to toss out or alter, and what you'll add of your own invention, then make sure the players know that anything is possible - the canon timeline is out the window and it's their PCs who determine the future.
I think the best in leaving the books behind is to see the acts of your character result in something in the next campaign. Without it, you have the feeling of losing your time.
Our DM is a very good one. Very creative, and even in our late campaign, he knows how to mix some facts of the books and the story we've been playing all this years.
I love to read the books. But playing in a world where the heroes are characters of the book would be like play in the Forgotten Realm CS, and I cant imagine something more boring.
If anyone wants to take a look in the site of our campaign (every campaign we play have one) you can look in www.mendez.eti.br/dl3. Most of the site is in english. We use visual references for the players and NPCs. The XP is online always, and we can discover a lot of things reading the NPC profiles. That`s one of the best things I see in the way our DM plays.
Ok, so I'm thinking just after the WotL, but I'd still like to allow bards, sorcerers, warmages, etc. in my game. Any ideas on how to incorporate Wild Magic without using the SoC?
This is just an idea but the Scions could come back and play some part.
Yeah after reading Blades of the Tiger, I'd be very eager to buy a Taladas book.
Going back to my problem, here is what I'm thinking so far:
-Set 50-100 yrs after the War of Souls.
-The three elf types have settled together in the Qualinesti forest.
-The Desolation has remained a blasted and unlivable land to civilized races, but many monsters have congregated to this area.
-The Academy of Sorcery has been rebuilt
Thats all I can think of at the moment, ideas on changes that might take place in this time frame would be helpfully.
Northern Ergoth rise to power. Have the PC's either assist or hinder the Northen Ergoth rise. Also Southern Ergoth would be a highly saught prize for Northern Ergoth. Heros that slay the mighty White Dragon Overlord would be paid well. Northern Ergoth has been pretty much untouch since chaos wars. Would be a great storyline idea possiblity.
Ok, so I'm thinking just after the WotL, but I'd still like to allow bards, sorcerers, warmages, etc. in my game. Any ideas on how to incorporate Wild Magic without using the SoC?
Wave your magic DM wand and say "Thus Shall It Be".
I have actually set just about all of my DL campaigns in the timeframe between the WotL and the Blue Lady's War (Kitiara somehow ends up dead in about a third of them). A few decades after the Cataclysm is also good, since nobody really cares about clerics (and then they wonder why they keep dying--heh).
Oggie
Anyway, my current one starts from the new timeline. That way, there's rich history, much like in our own world (ie: Dragon Wars, Cataclysm, War of the Lance, Raistlin destroys the world and then changes his mind, Chaos War, War of Souls, etc.). All of this is behind the players, and therefore doesn't make up the bulk of the setting. Furthermore, while there are metaplots transpiring (ie: Blood Wars, Mina starting cults, Elves in exile, etc.), they don't have much of an effect on the players. In our own world, there are things going on all over the place, and while we are aware of most of them--thanks to modern technology--they don't necessarily change the way we live our lives. The same can be applied to your Dragonlance campaign; especially since there aren't any televisions to tell you what's going on in Silvanesti today while you're hanging out near Nightlund. The best thing is to let the past be the past; forge your own story. The past is so intriguing because it's viewable in hindsight.
I just wish that there would be more sourcebooks on location-specific details in Dragonlance; or one giant sourcebook dedicated solely to this purpose. Otherwise it's almost "too-blank" of a canvas. Maybe I'm nuts.
The Dragonlance Adventures book does tell you how to do it though. DL has always had alternate timelines. The War of the Souls trilogy has a whole arc dealing with this where Palin goes back with the Device of Time Travelling and sees the world disolve away after the Chaos War and Tas remembers Caramon's funeral from another timeline.
This allows campaigns to pick up at any time in the history of Krynn and alter it. It is an alternate timeline. Who is to say it is less correct than the one presented in the novels?
As for metaplots, remember that as a DM, you can create a feeling of authenticity if your campaign takes place in the backdrop of big events like the War of the Lance or the time leading up to the Cataclysm (especially if they have foreknowledge of said event.)
I've been DMing for 20 odd years now and I have never stuck to the timelines that comes along with the setting. I've always been an advocate of making the campaign world yours. It does not matter wether its DL, FR or recently Eberron.
I'm currently running a campaign set in the aftermath of the War of Souls, which bears no resemblence to any of the novels that have come out. Personally I feel this allows my group to stamp their own mark on the setting and have the potential to be the movers and shakers in the world. I have also heavily modified the recent Key of Destiny and Sceptre of Sorrows to fit my vision of Ansalons future.
When the original Dragonlance Adventures came out my groups characters where the Heroes of the Lance, not the characters from the Novels. They became the masters of their own destiny. I can't wait for the updated 3.5 Dragons of Autumn to come out so I can run the next generation of the Heroes of the Lance (my son is 14 and an avid gamer).
I know I ranted slightly, but my point is that once you start running a campaign, the future of the world is yours to control.
However, look at the time period following the 2nd Dragon War: Big dragon war, Thorin practically abandoned, Thorbardin formed, Silvanesti wars with Ergoth, Ergoth fends off attack from Bakali, War of the Mountain, Wizards of High Sorcery formed. Granted these were spread out over a time period of about 200 or 300 years but it's still a lot.
I share the 'too much metaplot' feeling when I look at the events following the legends period. Within 60 years (I think I'm being generous) we have the Chaos War, the Coming of the Dragon Overlords and the War of the Souls. Up until this very busy century I found that the progression of events in Dragonlance was very realistic. Perhaps this will settle down now.