A new adventure set in the world of Krynn arrives for Dungeons & Dragons in late 2022. Titled Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen, it marks the return of the classic setting first introduced by TSR in the 1980s. Wizards of the Coast made the announcement Thursday during the D&D Direct streaming presentation — and that’s not all. Wizards also introduced a new “battle game” titled Dragonlance: Warriors of Krynn. You can see more in the teaser trailer, voiced by Shohreh Aghdashloo (The Expanse), embedded above.
Originally created by Laura and Tracy Hickman during a cross-country road trip, the Dragonlance setting became a key product line for D&D’s original publisher TSR in the 1980s. Most fans know it best from a series of novels, written by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis — Dragons of Autumn Twilight, Dragons of Winter Night, and Dragons of Spring Dawning. But the companion adventure modules also sold well, with many of them still available for purchase from the Dungeon Master’s Guild.
Wasn’t there a lawsuit, though?
Dragonlance made headlines in late 2020 when Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weiss filed a $10 million lawsuit against Wizards of the Coast, alleging breach of contract. Those issues were eventually smoothed over, paving the way for a new trilogy of Dragonlance novels. The release date for the first book in the trilogy, Dragons of Deceit, is set for Aug. 9.
The subtitle of the adventure is a reference to the Dragon Queen, Takhisis, the evil antagonist working in the background of the entire setting. She is canonically responsible for corrupting the race of chromatic dragons on the world of Krynn, and herself often takes the form of a five-headed dragon.
What makes Dragonlance different from The Forgotten Realms, Wizard’s main setting for 5th edition D&D? There’s the kender, of course, a diminutive and magical fantasy race unique to the world of Krynn. Magic also works a bit differently, with schools strictly divided between the Arcane and the Divine. Then there’s the dragons, which are both sentient monsters and steeds that warriors can ride into battle. Draconians, unlike their cousins the dragonborn, are also distinctly brutish and evil. Overall the narratives found inside are much more epic in nature — more like The Lord of the Rings, less like The Green Knight.
Update: Dragonlance: Warriors of Krynn is a board game that is fully integrated into the new Dragonlance TTRPG campaign. It’s also being designed by Rob Daviau (Risk Legacy) and Stephen Baker (HeroQuest, Battle Masters). Read more in our interview with D&D head Ray Winninger.
Source: Polygon
