Astrophysics of Krynn, part 1

One would assume that, by default, Krynn would be a Earth-like planet.

Not so fast...

The Sources

There are conflicting information around. One, from the Atlas of Dragonlance, gives a 4-hours offset between the Tower of the High Clerist and Silvanost. Another, using a globe of krynn, instead gives a 2-hours offset for the same locations.

I choose the last source, because it would roughly make Krynn twice as large as the first one would make.

Also, to measure distances, I used Sean Macdonald's map of post-Cataclysm Ansalon.

Using the Globe and the Map

One interesting detail in this globe is the following line:

Indeed, this line is 50° long over the globe, and is situated at the latitude -30° (which is the same, for all our current purposes, as +30°)

And if we look at Sean Macdonald's map, it does from Mount Nevermind, to the very eastern edge of the Misty Isle, which is a distance I measured to be as 1,796km (sorry for the imperialist, I will be using international units system, here).

And with all that information, and a bit of geometry, I can calculate the radius of Krynn.

Let's do it.

Using Geometry

Assuming the following...

From the Mount Nevermind to the right edge of the Misty Isle:

• On Sean Macdonald's map, I measure 1,796km. Let's call this length SMD.
• On the 3D globe, I count 5 longitudes (each longitude being 10°), at lattitude -30° (which is the same than at lattitude 30°)

This means, the perimeter of the globe at lattitude -30° is:

P(30°) = SMD * 36 / 5

P(30°) = SMD * 7.2

What I want, is the radius of the globe at lattitude 0°, because it will be the radius of the sphere itself.

So, first, I need to transform the perimeter into a radius, which is done with the formula:

R = P / 2π

So:

R(30°) = P(30°) / 2π

R(30°) = SMD * 7.2 / 2π

R(30°) = SMD * 3.6 / π

Now, I want R(0°), which can be deduced from R(30°) because:

R(30°) = R(0°) * cos(30°)

... with cos(30°) = (3^0.5) / 2

So we have:

R(0°) = R(30°) / cos(30°)

R(0°) = R(30°) / (3^0.5) * 2

R(0°) = SMD * 3.6 / π / (3^0.5) * 2

R(0°) = SMD * 7.2 / π / (3^0.5)

We then replace the variables/constants with their values:

R(0°) = 1,796km * 7.2 / 3.14159 / 1.73205

R(0°) = 12,931.2km / 3.14159 / 1.73205

R(0°) = 4,116.13km / 1.73205

R(0°) = 2,376.45km

So, the Radius of Krynn is 2,376.45km...

That's small...

For comparison:

• Earth: 6,371.00 km (mean radius)
• Krynn: 2,376.45 km (radius)
• Luna (Earth's moon): 1,737.4 km (mean radius)

I mean, Krynn is barely larger than Luna (Earth's moon).

In the next part, we'll calculate the radius of each of Krynn's moon orbits.

And  yet, it changes nothing...

Apart from less space to put continents and seas (Ansalon is the same size as Western Europe...

Yeah, it's centered on France. Deal with it... 😝

... or 4 times the surface of Ukraine)...

... it doesn't really change anything because it is clear in the novels our heroes are dealing on a 1G gravity planet, which means Krynn's mass is the same as Earth's mass.

In other words, to have exactly the same gravity as Earth, if Krynn is smaller, it is also much denser.

And for the next physics calculations, this detail will make things much simpler.

P.S. Does it really change nothing?

From the simple calculations I intend to do later, it changes nothing.

First, if Krynn is more dense than Earth, then it makes sense its core is much more dense than Earth's core. We can imagine exotic metals, instead of the mix of nickel and iron that is the inner and outer core of Earth. Dragonmetal? Starmetal? Denser material would mean heavier than iron, which means, probably, more radioactive material than on Earth. Fun fact, the radioactive material of Earth's core is what gives the planet its heat. Would Krynn be warmer?

Also, from storytelling perspective, this changes a lot, because there isn't a lot of room on Krynn. It becomes a "small world", and relatively, it makes Ansalon larger, and thus, more important. Remember that the gods of Krynn seem obsessed with Ansalon, up to the point of sucker-punching it with a meteor.

If you are building a campaign where only the 2 first trilogies, it means the rest of Krynn can be explained as you want, and you won't need to spend a lot of time on it, because the overall surface is small. And it might be easy to repurpose the other continents (e.g. Taladas and Adlatum) into very exotic continents.

For example, one might be a land of dinosaurs, where the dragons reign supreme. Another might be a land of chaos, ravaged by the Graygem, where inhabitants are monstrous mutant-like creatures (this would let us repurpose the fiends, and more particularly, the demons, to inhabit this continent).

Another might be a wasteland where life isn't possible anymore, having been ravaged eons ago, and possibly the destination of my players a few campaign by now, to discover the first apostasis. Who knows?

😉