Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax Apr 09, 2005 21:36:12	I'm seriously considering using "Dragonlance" for my first campaign. I just have a few questions first. 1. Are there any of the novels I absolutely must read before starting my campaign? 2. Can I have Mindflayers in my campaign and still be completely faithful to the original material?
#2 cam_banks Apr 09, 2005 23:04:47	I'm seriously considering using "Dragonlance" for my first campaign. I just have a few questions first. 1. Are there any of the novels I absolutely must read before starting my campaign? The original trilogy, Chronicles, is probably a must. So much is explained and introduced in that series that any other books you read will be the better for it. The Legends series comes next, then Dragons of Summer Flame, the Dragons of a New Age trilogy, the War of Souls trilogy, and then you're more or less up to date. Of couse, given that there are more than a hundred novels and short story collections, it's unlikely that you'll ever run out of stuff to catch up on. 2. Can I have Mindflayers in my campaign and still be completely faithful to the original material? Completely faithful? Not so much. You could still work them in, however. Psionics doesn't quite exist as it is presented in the Expanded Psionics Handbook, but many creatures do possess psionic-like powers, spellcasters make use of magic which does what psionics can, and there are even mind flayer-like creatures known as yaggol on the continent of Taladas which are essentially devolved illithids (or proto-illithids) lacking most of the subtleties and finesse of the mind flayer in favor of being larger, stronger, and blunt. Cheers, Cam
#3 zombiegleemax Apr 10, 2005 1:47:09	I would say that you would need to read at least the Chronicles Trilogy to get the feel and flavor of Dragonlance. Next, obviously, the Dragonlance Campaign Setting. That would give you the basics to start a campaign, and the other books mentioned by Cam Banks I would also suggest so you get a better idea of the world in which you are adventuring. Now, about mindflayers... Officially, mindflayers do not exist, but I have found that the most memorable enemies are ones that are not supposed to exist. It gives them a gigantic edge because any powers that they have have never been encountered before, and thus there is no real way to defend against them. All you need to do is come up with a backstory, preferable an interesting one, to explain how a creature like a mindflayer who is not supposed to exist in the Dragonlance world found himself there. Once you've done that, you can get started.
#4 ranger_reg Apr 10, 2005 2:42:48	1. Are there any of the novels I absolutely must read before starting my campaign? It is not mandatory, but if you want to get a non-gaming insight of the world your PC is going to be living in, then by all means, go ahead. Be forewarned: some gamers felt that after reading the novels, they felt their PCs can do no better than the iconic characters. It's not about whose deeds is grander and epic, it's all about having fun in the world of Dragonlance. 2. Can I have Mindflayers in my campaign and still be completely faithful to the original material? If you CHOOSE to be faithful to the original setting, then a mind flayer would be uniquely one of a kind. I strongly suggest not to always adhere to the original default setting. Make Krynn your world, not WotC's, not Sovereign Press's, not even Weis's & Hickman's.
#5 wolf72 Apr 10, 2005 8:47:56	Taladas ... Yaggol ... basically retarded mind flayers ... still very deadly though.
#6 zombiegleemax Apr 10, 2005 16:28:10	Wait... werent there mind flayera in one of the stories in the Dragons at war anthology? Or am i mistaken? The one about the gnome and the technojammer and the dragon... I may be thinking of something else... I'll go look it up, or someone please correct me if i'm wrong.
#7 wolf72 Apr 10, 2005 17:38:33	you may be right ... probably written when SpellJammer was still an active setting