Dragonlance is a bit of a mess.
What about the Mess?
It would be difficult to deny it:
- H&W (Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis), essentially neutered Dragonlance by removing all magic and gods, at the end of Dragons of Summer Flame, coining the term "Age of Mortals".
- TSR created the SAGA System and the Fifth Age to salvage the setting without contradicting H&W, adding primal sorcery and giants dragons
- H&W and WotC (Wizards of the Coast) made Dragonlance a viable fantasy RPG setting again by writing the War of Souls trilogy, bringing back most of the gods and magic, dumping the giant dragons, and a D&D3.5 ruleset.
- And now, somehow, H&W and WotC are not BFF anymore, and seem to diverge in their handling of Dragonlance:
- H&W seem to go in a direction where they will retcon everything after the Legends trilogy, by (ab)using Time Magic again so a new timeline can emerge
- WotC seem to go in a direction where they don't really care anymore, producing a watered down, canon-ignoring, version of Dragonlance called Shadow of the Dragon Queen, so they can continue their streak of producing Tiamat-related campaigns, but this time, with a homeopathic Dragonlance touch.
So, of course, the solution is yet another version of it.
This is sarcasm, of course. I'm self-aware enough to understand I'm, at my modest scale, contributing to the "mess".
Fundamentals of Dragonlance
Let's redefine what's canon or canon-friendly, and what is not.
Keeping What's Important
First, we need to agree on what's reason important for Dragonlance to remain Dragonlance:
- The Chronicles trilogy
- The Legends trilogy
These two trilogies embodies what Dragonlance is, from which we can deduce a few things that are important for the setting:
- Heroism: Characters (players, and some non-players) are heroes, or even anti-heroes
- Gods: More than any other D&D setting, Dragonlance's gods have a deep influence on their world, usually through their priests, but sometimes even intervening directly, with catastrophic consequences
- Good vs. Evil: This is the main conflict that, at character level, drives the stories
- Balance: This is the secondary conflict that, at setting level, explains how gods and settings exist and interact. In a nutshell, Good, Evil and Neutrality must co-exist in balance so the world can exist.
- Dragons: These are mythical creatures of Dragonlance, more than other D&D settings, because of their importance in the whole history of the world. This includes Dragonlances, and other related topics
- Personal yet Global: Despite the War of the Lance being all over the continent, some of the most important actions and decisions were done by a few select people, with their hopes, their ideals, and, of course, their flaws. This means relationships are also a large part of the stories
- Monuments and Organizations: Krynn has some setting-specific "monuments", like three moons, constellations, knights of solamnia, dragon highlords, holy orders of the stars, wizards of high sorcery. These need to stay, because they make the setting what it is.
Didn't you forget Time Travel?
Surprisingly, what Dragonlance is not is time travel. Back to the Future was about time travel, and time paradoxes.
Despite time travel featuring heavily in the Legends trilogy, Dragonlance should not be about Marty McFly trying to fix "something wrong", like their father dying on the walls of the High Clerist Tower.
In the Legends trilogy, time travel was a pretext for writers and readers to explore two different eras of Ansalon (when the Kingpriest was in power, and a post-Cataclysm Ansalon): Raistlin never intended to change time, only to acquire power from its source (Fistandantilus) and then enter the Abyss at a time where the gods were at their weakest yet investing for the War of the Lance.
So no, time travel isn't really important, even if the River of Time is.
What about everything else?
Everything happening after the Legends trilogy is out.
Everything described outside the Chronicles or Legends trilogy will be considered.
Rules themselves are not to be kept canon, as rule evolves with editions. What's important is that the "spirit" of the rule remain, if it's worth it. Same for the background and lore. For example, there's a boatload of rules about High Sorcery, how the moons affect magic, etc.. The spirit of this rule is that High Sorcery mages are badasses, they are divided in three orders that feel different, and their magic grows powerful with the moons. The fact they are D&D sorcerers, or D&D wizards, or D&D whatever, is not important. In particular, f*ck Vancian magic.
From there, where should we go?
Evolving with time
It is also important to acknowledge there are good things within D&D5, and that players might want to play some permutation that were unimaginable in AD&D1. As long as it doesn't blatantly contradict the setting and a suitable explanation is found (including the "my half-orc came from a portal, from Faerun" thingy).
Some races are not playable, and might have an equivalent on Krynn. The half-ogre can be used instead of a half-orc. Same for the kender instead of a halfling.
But can we find a way to be more inclusive of the races and classes of D&D5e, but integrating them into the setting to enhance it, not to dilute it?
One easy way is to divorce the actual D&D class and the organization, even if that means tweaking that class. For example, there's no need for a "priest" of a god to be a Cleric (as defined by the rules). Such priest could be a "Druid", or a "Ranger", or even a "Bard", as long as this doesn't contradict the theme of that god. I've already written about some of such customizations here:
Modernizing the Setting
That may not be obvious for everyone, but Dragonlance is heavily biased toward Christianity.
This is not even about the gods having biblical names (which can be immersion-breaking).
This is about having Dragonlance religious dogma heavily inspired by an afterlife where evil souls will be punished (i.e. whatever happens when you are a follower or priest of an evil god).
This is also about the tension between two opposite design choices: On one hand, the necessary balance between good, evil and neutrality and their contribution to their creation, and on the other, evil being so blatantly stupid and wrong, one can't wonder how they can still have followers (see my takes on Morgion, Chemosh, and Zeboim).
This is also about how gods (at least, the gods of good) to never be wrong, about that concept that "gods should not be blamed for the suffering of mortals", including when their own priests were actually guilty of that (Kingpriest, etc.).
Note: The often repeated "The gods didn't turn away from mortals after the Cataclysm. It's was mortals who turned away from the gods" is particularly obnoxious.
Summary: apparently, the mortals were to blame as they followed the commands of the gods' priests. Gods themselves should not be blamed for enabling these priests by their own inaction.
If you are not a believer in one of the many variants of the judeo-christo-muslim god, this kind of "peculiar" way of thinking does not come naturally.
This is strange because, here and there, you have the "gods can make mistakes, too", but these never go anywhere.
Instead of making the gods of Krynn the stand-ins for the gods and devils of "real religions", the gods of Krynn should be kept grounded in the fundamental guiding principle of Dragonlance, which is the balance between Good, Evil and Neutrality.
Note: Also, wizards of High Sorcery being categorized as Good, Neutral and Evil mages is a bit too cheesy.
Having them instead embrace magic, influenced by the divine power of their respective patrons (vigilance for Solinari, mystery for Lunitari, and ambition for Nuitari) would remove the cheesiness.
It would also justify why they can stick together instead of splitting and joining other Good/Neutral/Evil organisations, or even why the Holy Orders of the Stars and the Knights of Solamnia would distrust them. (You can learn more about this here: Philosophies of the Wizards of High Sorcery).
The Age of Mortals, v2
The Anger of Mortals
Now is begun what will be known on Krynn as the Age of Mortals.
- Dragons of Summer Flame
That one peculiar quote from Dragons of Summer Flame piqued my interest: Without going fully on the "let's destroy the setting", what would be an "Age of Mortals" in Krynn.
After the Cataclysm, there was at least two reasons for divine magic to have disappeared:
- The gods (or at least, the gods of Good) retrieved the last remaining true clerics of the World
- Mortals were too angry against the gods to successfully pray for miracles
The second point, the Anger of Mortals, is an interesting one, because there are historical, factual events to back up that argument:
- Ansalon becomes essentially a theocracy under Paladine
- Then genocides are attempted, under the name of Good
- Then, even neutral races/organizations are targeted
- In the end, even good organizations were targeted, for not being supportive enough
It is important to recognize that, at each step, the gods of good enable this, by providing miracles to their followers and/or not acting decisively nor non-ambiguously to make their disagreement known. ("signs that need interpretation" are not non-ambiguous).
Disagreeing with the governing authority is already difficult in general, but when they have the divine power to back their claims (and eliminate their enemies), this is essentially a choice between life (agreeing) or death (disagreeing).
So, the gods coming back centuries after the Cataclysm with the excuse of "It is not the gods who turned their back on mortals, it was mortals who turned their backs on the gods" seems like gaslighting of the highest order. Even if we ignore that with the gods coming back, Ansalon becomes, again, the battleground for their conflicts.
So it would not be surprising, for some people of Ansalon, to ponder the question: "Weren't we better, without the gods?"
Arcane and Divine Magic
Somehow, at first, mortals couldn't really use magic. There are some mentions of dragons using magic, or even ogres with magic abilities. But unless you prayed for miracles, you would get no magic.
The Reorx, Solinari, Lunitari and Nuitari changed that: Using the essence of chaos, a gem, the Graygem, was crafted, kept on one moon, and then let lose on Krynn. In addition to chaotic effects (like the mutations creating the dwarves, the kenders, the minotaurs, the pegasi, etc.), the gem freed the arcane magic on Krynn, enabling mortals to be able to use it. The gods were horrified, and the three siblings of magic, Solinari, Lunitari, and Nuitari, were punished. They still ended becoming the gods of magic, though.
Yet, divine magic was beyond the ability of mortals to use.
(One thing brought up by the SAGA system, and the D&D3.5 ruleset for Dragonlance was new magic classes, including... the mystic class, which was essentially a sorcerer, but using divine magic instead, without needing to pray for the gods.)
(*) and potentially, other kind of supernatural, like psionics.
What happened to the ogre race?
Let me put in the full context:
The ogre race was created first, by the Evil Gods. They were evil. They created an empire, and enslaved other races (mostly humans). Also, they were evil. Then for some reason, at one point the gods cursed them because they were evil. And the Evil Gods just let that happen.
Of course, history is written by the winners, so, there a reasonable probability it didn't happen exactly that way. But we know it happened, so perhaps, by changing what really happened, and making it relevant to this post.
What if the ogres had attempted a ritual to achieve some form of divine ascension, and failed, irradiating their people with chaos magic, leading to its slow degeneration, generation after generation?
What was the Kingpriest attempting, and how?
By all accounts, the Kingpriest of Istar wanted to become a god.
His reasons where to lead the gods of good in a holy war and cleanse what evil remained in the world.
What if the Kingpriest learned about the ritual enacted by the ogres? What if the Kingpriest somehow wanted to power his ascension using, not the Graygem, but the Miceram, to power his ambitions with the faith of the believers and the faithful around him?
Other Continents
... but certainly not Taladas. As written before, Taladas is not considered canon, for two reasons:
- Taladas brings nothing new: It is essentially another Ansalon.
- Same races, same civilizations (humans, elves, minotaurs, gnomes)
- The Burning Sea is a good idea, but it would be better as the exit wound of the Cataclysm's meteor, instead of the result of a second meteor, falling on the planet at the very same time as the first
Other lands are also ignored, for now.
This leaves much needed place for very specific continents, as well as other continents, to discover, explore, but also...
The main objective of having new lands/continents is using them as the origin of races/species/ancestries and also original civilizations, until now unknown to Ansalon.
What were the neutral gods doing?
This is the last item in the list.
For eons, Goods and Evil Gods have been somehow working to "conquer" Ansalon. There was the Third Dragon War, when Takhisis really really wanted in. Then the Age of Might, when Paladine and friends favored the rise of Istar, until it went horribly wrong, and the gods had to reset it all by smashing a meteor on the face of Ansalon.
But what about the neutral gods? We don't see a lot of them doing things, actually. One answer would be they are keeping the balance by allying themselves with the weaker side of a conflict.
But this doesn't give them much agency. It does even contradict the idea of the "triangle" design of Dragonlance:
Three were the pillars upon which this universe was forged: Good, Evil, and Neutrality. This was the great triangle upon which all the universe was brought to be.
- Dragonlance Adventures
Neutrality is not the referee, here. It's another "active force", as are Good and Evil. Let's take a look at the gift of the gods to the souls:
The Gods of Good, Evil, and Neutrality would each be allowed to bestow one gift upon the spirits.
The Gods of Good gave the spirits life and physical form. Thus, the spirits gained control over the material world and became more like the Gods themselves. The Gods of Good hoped the spirits would bring peace and order to the worlds and lead them along the path to righteousness.
The Gods of Evil decreed that these physical beings would hunger and thirst and have to work to satisfy their needs. The Gods of Evil hoped that through hunger and suffering they could subjugate the races.
The Gods of Neutrality gave the spirits the gift of free will, to choose freely between Good and Evil. Thus did they preserve the Balance.
- Dragonlance Adventures
I emphasized the parts where the gods "do" things, instead of "hoping".
The gods of neutrality's gift was free will.
But is free will really "free" when your choice is limited by coercion?
For example: "You are free to speak against me, but if you do, I will kill you and your family". Or "If you follow my rules, you will be given miracles, but if you don't, then I'll leave you alone against the others, who already have access to their own miracles, and have been commanded to enslave you".
So, after so many godly-inspired conflicts, what if the neutral gods finally decided to actively enforce their gift to the souls, and remove the exclusivity of divine magic to gods and empower mortals by letting them use it?
Putting all this together
Let's keep the setting from the Chronicles and Legends, modernize it, and usher a new Age of Mortals!
After the Cataclysm, the gods of neutrality had enough.
Again and again, good and evil pantheons were fighting through proxy wars, devastating Krynn, and the mortals had no choice but follow, or they would be subjugated by those who served the gods.
So the pantheon enacted a plan, to give the mortals a choice between leaving things as they are, or obtain more freedom from the gods by freeing divine magic (thus, in rule terms, enabling the mystic class).
But for this quest to succeed, a selected group of mortals will have to uncover history that would be considered as heretical by the current churches of all pantheons, recover the graygem, acquire the power to enact the ritual that would free divine magic, learn the knowledge necessary to succeed, when others had failed, and the will to do the right thing, by using this power for all souls, even at the cost of one's soul. Which would result in a true Age of Mortals.
This would put them in danger, both from the forces of Evil, and the forces of Good, who, understandably, would not want mortals to acquire such power (and independence).
Conclusion
This is not the first time I mention this on this blog, but I believe this is the first time I ever summarized the whole thing before, in one post.
This is the subject of the campaign I'm currently storytelling to my players, aptly named:
- Prelude of Heroes: Where a group of individuals become heroes of a small barony by ousting a local tyrant
- Test of Heroes - War of the Blue Lady: Where each hero is tested, and what the hero will do during the War of the Blue Lady
- Requiem of Heroes: How the heroes will react to an invasion of undead, shambling into Solamnia, and how they must stop Lord Soth from finishing a ritual that would give him absolute power over half Ansalon. This campaign will also unearth a few secrets considered heretical by the churches, among them, the Cycle of Souls.
- Apostasy of Heroes: How the heroes embrak in a journey, to learn about secrets the gods would not want anyone to know. And what the heroes will to with that knowledge.
One of the core philosophies of these campaign is telling stories, all the while offering explicit points of choices and consequences, where the characters (and their players) must decide between the multiple options, with a good idea of the direct consequences of these options.
One of these choices will be to free the divine magic, or to exile the graygem, ending any possibility (to their knowledge) to do the same attempt, again.
