Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Dragonhelm Mar 07, 2004 21:58:24	Originally posted by DmJoeSolarte To me, it is kinda one of those CATCH-22 positions. On the one hand, the DragonLance novels have by far been more popular then Forgotten Realms ever was, at least as far as sales goes. Yet when it comes to the RPG, things in DragonLance are so static that no one REALLY wants to go against the history of it. I am always struggling on that, as I love DragonLance so much, that I want to keep thigns in line with the novels but still want to continue on with my campaign.
#2 zombiegleemax Mar 07, 2004 22:10:19	Im kinda walking a fine line here, but here goes.....I agree with what you say DH, cuz youre right. However what about the flipside of the coin? Any advice for those who want a game with the canon fully intact?
#3 zombiegleemax Mar 07, 2004 22:58:44	Originally posted by Serena DarkMyst Any advice for those who want a game with the canon fully intact? Set your campaign 200 years in the future, on another continent, or make sure your games feature events not depicted or fleshed out in the novels. With a little creativity you can run a fine campaign with the latter approach, even rubbing shoulders with some of the Companions from time to time.
#4 zombiegleemax Mar 07, 2004 23:14:25	I feel I have done a good job in my campaigns at staying within the Spirit of the DragonLance world, even while I try to maintain continuity while producing original adventure ideas. Some of this has been easier because of mistakes I have seen made in continuity/Timeline I have seen in the early DragonLance novels to recently. Some of it,yes, you have to go all out and pretty much elaborate certain events. For example, the main campaign that I am currently using in two of my last three DL campaigns have been set in or around the KinSlayer wars (granted using my original thesis on Krynns timeline, which the DragonLance Sourcebook completely screwed up).
#5 Dragonhelm Mar 07, 2004 23:14:36	Originally posted by Serena DarkMyst Im kinda walking a fine line here, but here goes.....I agree with what you say DH, cuz youre right. However what about the flipside of the coin? Any advice for those who want a game with the canon fully intact? That's tough. You're always good to go on historical time periods, as you know what happens. Sometimes, a book will fill in details on the time period, but one should be able to figure which areas are safe. Note that players will always find a way to throw a wrench in things, so be careful. The hard part is the modern era. One can run just behind the current era to a degree, but eventually you catch up to the current timeline. You can localize your game to a smaller area. Then again, that's limiting. What do you guys, think? How can one maintain continuity with novels in their own games?
#6 ferratus Mar 07, 2004 23:29:26	That'd be me. ;) To me, the whole point of playing in a shared universe is a good canon. Otherwise, why not a homebrew world? Heck, dragonlance is pretty vanilla when it comes flavour, and is really very traditional romantic fantasy D&D world. Now it isn't impossible to run a canon-friendly dragonlance game. The Forgotten Realms does so, by abiding by three simple rules: 1) Have a setting that can include many stories rather than one single one and its prequels. 2) Make the setting detailed enough that it has many interesting details (NPC's, geographical sites, organizations) that innumerable adventures can spring from a common source. If you make the individual stories and adventures up whole cloth, they are not likely to fit together well later. 3) Have a strong editor's hand, and authors who want to work together rather than tell "their" story. That's something that really sunk the Thieves' World universe, and looks to do it again. Dragonlance seems to be on the right track now, but it is all a question whether or not they'll learn from their past mistakes. But then again, many feel that Dragonlance was perfectly exciting having alternate rules as the bulk of its content, so what do I know? ;)
#7 zombiegleemax Mar 07, 2004 23:41:34	Well ,the main thing I try to remember is that the whole world does not revolve around certain things or events (most of the time anyway). I had no proble, for example, in my Knights of Solamnia campaign set around the KinSlayer war, having the Knights sent down to reinforce the Solamnic Garrison in Tarsis, in the event tensions got out of hand. It was not that hard to make some reasonable interactions with the people of the KinSlayer war fame (Sithel, Kith Kanan, Emperor Bestel IV, General Giarna, etc).
#8 ferratus Mar 07, 2004 23:45:27	Originally posted by Dragonhelm That's tough. No it isn't. I ran a dragonlance game just fine in continuity 20 years after the War of the Lance during the time of "Second Generation". I ran a couple games in the Forgotten Realms with a much more established canon than Dragonlance does. If you want to deliberately try to replace key campaign elements as a matter of course, then yeah you'll break canon. So if you want to start a reformist movement within the Knights of Solamnia which will culminate in a civil war, then yes you will quite quickly go out of canon in the campaign world. If you want to smash Gellidus' skull totem (and who doesn't) then yes you will break canon. However, having a long term campaign where a revolution of Nerekan ideals occurs in Kaoylin, where you defend Tarsis against seiging goblins, where an assassin and would-be highlord arises and rallies the an army of red spawn from the desolation... that's all stuff that can happen within continuity. Those are big important stories with major plots, but because it doesn't try to outdo the established continuity, but exist alongside it, you don't mess up continuity. If the novel and game writers aren't blowing up the world every two books that is. But heck, maybe you want to do something that alters a key component of dragonlance through a campaign, namely a civil war among the Knights of Solamnia or the killing of a monster whose grandiose evil plans involve making more ice. CANON IS STILL USEFUL. It is useful for these reasons: 1) It saves you a lot of time, something which designing D&D adventures takes a lot of by providing maps, NPC's, cities, etc. 2) It spurs creative thought by adding details you wouldn't have thought up on your own, such as local cultures, customs, architecture, politics etc. 3) It makes that major campaign look and feel like dragonlance, which is why you want to play in dragonlance by providing recognizable features. So there you go, a way to run dragonlance adventures with good canon. I'm afraid it isn't very difficult.
#9 Dragonhelm Mar 08, 2004 0:03:43	Originally posted by Dragonhelm When I look at Dragonlance, I approach it in a certain way. Novels are the tales told in the world of Krynn. Games are your own adventures in the world of Krynn. Sorry for quoting myself here, but I forgot one piece to this. Dragonlance (or any setting) can be viewed as sort of a backdrop for the adventures that happen in it, whether that be novels or games. The same background as what one finds in the novels can also apply to the games, so in that sense, continuity is a bit easier. There is a lot one can do that doesn't involve the iconic characters or locales. There's much of Ansalon that hasn't been explored or developed yet. I guess it all depends on the intent of the DM as well. If you're looking to have a few adventures, that's easier. If you're looking to be the current generation of heroes, then you have a harder time. I guess it all depends on what you want to do with your campaign. The goals each DM has will shape how his campaign affects continuity.