Transcription
DragonlanceWarOf TheDarklanceCampaign SettingSenior Editor, Project Chair, and Continuity: Trampas WhitemanBackground, Historical Reference, Senior Proofreading: Patrick CoppockCore Rules, Game Mechanics, and Assembly: Matthew BlasiBased on a Story Concept by: David MillerCover Art “Icewall” by Ray Morru
Table of ContentsAuthors’ Forewords. 4The World of Krynn. 9Races . 23Classes . 41Prestige Classes . 69Heroes And Villains . 121Pantheon of Krynn . 152Equipment . 165Languages. 178Treasures . 180Moons of Krynn . 191Ansalonian Bestiary . 195War of the Dark Lance-3-
Authors’ ForewordsWords From The “Grand Poo-Bah”By: Trampas WhitemanThe War of the Darklance campaign setting is older than what one mightthink. Its origins can be traced back to a time before the Fifth Age, before Dragonsof Summer Flame, and before the Second Generation. At this time, we all had ourvisions of what the future may yet hold for Dragonlance. This setting is but one ofthose futures.The origins of this setting can be traced back to my good friend DavidMiller. David is the finest DM I have ever had the chance to play under. Healways had a knack for epic story telling, and for proving that your characters werenever too powerful. His vision for the future of Krynn was a harsh one. The timeof the Heroes of the Lance was over, and a new band of heroes would thenchampion the cause.David introduced myself, and my friends Karen Thronebury and Kenneth“Uncle Lockspringer” Reed to many new concepts and adventures. He came upwith the concept of corrupted Dragonlances. He also was inspired by the movie“Fire and Ice”, an animated fantasy movie, which gave him the idea of movingIcewall Glacier north. As with all great campaigns, this one came to a prematureend. Real Life, a thousand HP monster, reared its ugly head and the campaignnever saw its rightful end. I was determined that this campaign would live on.I picked up The Second Generation after it had hit paperback, and wasintroduced to the Knights of Takhisis for the first time. I fell in love with theconcept. Shortly thereafter, I began a new Dragonlance campaign of my own.Being the typical DM I was, I took my material from a variety of sources. Yes, Istole some of Dave’s ideas (with his permission, of course), taking them a stepfurther and adding in the Knights of Takhisis. My campaign had its own twistsand turns, and eventually came to its logical conclusion.In January 2001, the Dragonlance Nexus was born. The Nexus became theofficial Dragonlance gaming website, and was backed by Weis and Hickman. TheDragonlance legend was reborn. The Nexus maintains that all points of view arevalid, whether canon or not.I was working on some campaign journals for what I had named the War ofthe Darklance for the Adventure Portal section, which detailed my adventures ofWar of the Dark Lance-4-
old. Adventure Portal Editor Neil Burton read them over, and said it was quitegood and should be developed. From that came the idea of developing a newcampaign setting for Dragonlance.I knew that I couldn’t do it alone, so I recruited some of the finest talentsthat I know: Pat “Rath” Coppock and Matt “Rooks” Blasi. We also had a greatdeal of help from Tobin “Arek Brimstone” Melroy to get us started. I cannot sayenough good things about my fellow creators. Pat’s creative mind, Tobin’s love ofDragonlance, and Matt’s energy have all been an inspiration to me. As we workedon this project, many new ideas have come to light, and the setting was given newlife.After all of these years, the War of the Darklance lives again, this time as thefirst campaign setting for the Nexus. It is a living tribute to all who had everworked on it, to all who had ever played in it, and to Dragonlance fans everywhere.It is also a tribute to my good friend David Miller, whose path in life has taken himin a different direction. I miss you terribly, Dave. I cannot thank you enough forallowing us to develop your idea.At GenCon 2001, I told Tracy Hickman of the idea for the campaign at theWhitestone Council lunch. He stared into the air, smiled, and said, “I like it.”My friends and fellow companions, I give you a living testament to the veryideals of the Nexus – that all views of Dragonlance are valid, and that Dragonlancegaming lives.I hope that all of you enjoy this setting.I give you – the Darklance!Trampas Whiteman“Dragonhelm”Chairman, Whitestone CouncilDragonlance NexusWar of the Dark Lance-5-
A Word From The Rules GuyBy: Matthew BlasiWell then! Look at this! I actually get my own little space to writesomething! But then, this project has been so rewarding, this seems like a perkthat’s almost too good to be true (ducks flying coffee cups). Seriously, I justwanted to say that this project has been an incredibly rewarding and joyousundertaking. I have had the privilege to work on brand new Dragonlance materialfor the official Dragonlance gaming web site, the Dragonlance Nexus. I wasblessed to be able to work with two of the most respectful and knowledgeable coauthors, Trampas and Pat.A note on the Rules: These rules were constructed with contributions fromall three of us. They are entirely original and draw from some of the most essentialsources available – namely, Dragonlance Adventures, Tales of the Lance, TheSecond Generation, Dwarven Kingdoms of Krynn and The Atlas of theDragonlance World. We realized when we were putting this piece together thatsome of the rules we were creating or instituting were somewhat contradictory towhat some may consider third edition “canon”. This is clear to us. We also realizethat some of the rules, especially the Classes and Prestige Classes may containrules that seem, at first glance, contradictory to the novels that are considered“canon”. And also that the rules presented in this book will be applauded by someand cursed by others. Not everyone, unfortunately, will be completely happy withour vision of Fourth Age rules. Yes, this is very clear to us. However, please tryto understand that as we created this piece, we scrutinized every rule carefully andin many cases, playtested them to make sure the feel and flavor of Dragonlancewas being accurately preserved. We truly sought to make a rules system that couldbe logically applied to either the novels or the games and make perfect sense. Inshort, we tried the best we could. And I feel very confident in saying that this setof rules, while bound not to please everyone, is certainly a fine product of care,labor, and genuine love for Dragonlance.I would like to thank the following: Mike Reed, Gary Ponzo and E – forhelping to keep me sane during the uncountable long nights I spent in front of thecomputer; the Dragonlance Nexus – for providing a home for this labor of love;David Miller – whom I’ve never met, but who created the original story conceptfor this campaign and who without, none of this would have been possible; themusic of Live, Rage Against the Machine, The Cure, P.O.D., I.C.P., System of aDown, Staind, Mudvayne and DMX – for keeping me filled with inspiration andenergy when I needed it most; my family and friends – for being supportive of theproject; Tobin Melroy – for being a great example of a person who knows just howWar of the Dark Lance-6-
to keep on trucking; and of course, Trampas Whiteman and Pat Coppock – forbeing respectful, kind, courteous, insightful, resourceful, compassionate,understanding and supportive of both me and this project, for truly, they have notonly been my co-authors, they have become my dear friends. Thank you forallowing me to work on this project. Much love and good will to you two. And toeveryone - Enjoy!Matthew Blasi“Rooks”Co-Creator, Game Mechanics and RulesWar of the DarklanceWar of the Dark Lance-7-
Words From The “Historian / Spell Checker”By: Patrick CoppockOK, I’m not very good at this. I can make up all kinds of stuff when itcomes to the creative writing aspect, but when it comes to the real world stuff Idon’t know what to write.Let me first reiterate Trampas and Matt’s sentiments by saying that it hastruly been a joyful experience working on this project. I’ve never even consideredsubmitting anything to the Nexus, let alone helping to produce a project of thissize, especially since I knew next to nothing about D&D 3rd Edition.I joined the Dragonlance message board around May this year and havelearned tons about a world I thought I was well versed in. I became friends with afew of the people there, namely Trampas, Matt and Tobin. So, when Trampasapproached me and asked me to help create this product, I was honored, but reallywasn’t sure I had a lot to contribute.As time progressed I found that this was truly an awesome product, and washaving a great time working with these two highly creative people. I have oftenfound myself sitting and thinking about how we have changed Krynn and hopingthat everyone who at least checks this world out enjoys reading or playing it asmuch as I have enjoyed helping create it.I’d like to thank everyone on the DL MB, who put up with my rants, helpedme learn more about Krynn, and planted the seeds for some of the ideas used inthis creation. I’d also like to thank Trampas and Matt for having faith in me, andbelieving that I could contribute to this amazing piece of work. A special thanksgoes to Matt for helping me to understand the 3e rules. I was a die-hard 2e player,but since I was involved in a 3e product I needed to know what all this new stuffmeant. Matt made it very easy for me to transition to 3e in a very short time. Andlastly, thanks to Tobin Melroy, your insight and input to some of my original ideaswas greatly appreciated. Many thanks to you for cultivating those ideas andchallenging me to make the game that much better. Keep ‘em flying Tobin.Again, I hope you enjoy playing in our alternate reality of Krynn.Patrick Coppock“Rath the Ranger”Co-Creator, Historical Background, Proof ReaderWar of the DarklanceWar of the Dark Lance-8-
The World of KrynnThis section brings to light many of the elements that make the War of theDarklance unique. It contains descriptions outlining the state of Ansalon’s variousnations and lands, peoples, and legends. Also contained in this section are somebackground stories regarding a few of the antagonists who play a major role in theWar of the Darklance.Since The War of the LanceIt has been 30 years since the War of the Lance, a war that brought aboutgreat change to the world of Krynn. For many years peace has ruled the land, traderoutes have opened up into and out of Thorbardin. There is finally reconciliationbetween the elves of Qualinost and Silvanost; of course the peace is a strained, asis always the case with the Qualinesti and Silvanesti nations. The tribes ofplainsmen are united under the rule of Goldmoon and Riverwind, two of theHeroes of the Lance. All across Ansalon people of every race and class exist in amore trusting and less prejudiced land. That is, until recently.Over the last couple of years things have begun to change, tending moretoward the dark and gloomy. Rumors of a new Knighthood dedicated to QueenTakhisis have arisen, the weather has been erratic and the sun doesn’t seem toshine as brightly from one day to the next. Scholars, sages and magic-users allover the continent have been researching this phenomenon in an effort to answerthe oft-asked question: “What is happening to our world?” Their studies and testshave thus far come up empty. Whatever changes are occurring, they have nothingto do with the land itself; there is a power at work here creating problems that seemto have no solution.The Approach of DarknessOne fateful day all the people and creatures of Ansalon awaken to find thatwhat was supposed to be the first day of summer has dawned more like a lateautumn morn. Frost covers the land, crops are wilting and dying due to theunseasonable cold, and chimneys everywhere breathe to life in an effort to chaseaway the chill. This is definitely the work of dark and fell magic, all signs point toan evil never before known on Krynn. To change the actual weather patterns andextend a glacier hundreds of miles, if rumors are to be believed, would take greatand mighty magic only a madman would release. There are no answers to any ofWar of the Dark Lance-9-
the questions, only more questions being asked. The only thing that can be done isto try and continue with day-to-day life and hope the problems can eventually befixed.The populace of Krynn begins to pull back into itself again. The gates ofThorbardin are sealed, the borders of the elven lands are closed, and a generalsense of distrust begins to spread across Ansalon once again. Things are about tobecome worse, when a day that began like any other over the l
Dragonlance, and Matt’s energy have all been an inspiration to me. As we worked on this project, many new ideas have come to light, and the setting was given new life. After all of these years, the War of the Darklance lives again, this time as the first campaign setting for the Nexus. It is a living tribute to all who had ever worked on it, to all who had ever played in it, and to .
