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Like different adventures, Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen, can have two editions: a mass market version with a canopy by Cynthia Sheppard, and an alternate cowl version that includes Lord Soth, solely out there by means of sport shops. That latter cowl, with artwork by Chase Stone, nearly makes his helmet look three dimensional. The 224-page journey will take gamers from 1st to eleventh stage.
Another of the brand new buy choices is one followers have been clamoring for – bundles of the bodily e-book and a digital copy by means of D&D Beyond. Those who pre-order the bundle will get their digital copy on November 22, two weeks earlier than the bodily e-book is out there. Unfortunately, the digital/e-book bundle solely applies to the usual cowl so for those who purchase various covers by means of your native sport retailer, a digital bundle is not out there.
Additionally, WotC is providing Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen Deluxe Edition, which incorporates:
- The bodily e-book (Cover by Antonio Jose Manzanedo and Anato Finnstark)
- The digital e-book by way of D&D Beyond
- The board sport Dragonlance: Warriors of Krynn
- A DM display
The deluxe version will value $154.98 and contains free delivery for the U.S., UK, France, and Germany.
“Dragonlance is really D&D’s setting for war, for massive conflicts, for these worldwide, sweeping, world-changing battles” Wes Schneider, Senior Game Designer for D&D and mission lead for Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen, stated at a press occasion on August 16. “In this adventure, we’re going to take players back to the storied War of the Lance where the forces of the infamous Tiamat, or Takhisis as she is known in Krynn, is marching her armies of evil dragons and draconian dragon folks and other evil humanoids against the people of Krynn, trying to take over the world.”
“In this adventure we’re going to see the dragon army’s incursion into Solamnia, which is a land of knights and heroes. The players will find themselves at the forefront of this battle in the defense of Solmnia against this evil wave of tyranny,” continued Schneider. “It’s not just the fate of a town, it’s not just the fate of your pocketbook. It’s the fate of the entire world at stake in this.”
Kate Irwin, Principal Art Director for D&D, then talked about demonstrating the expanse of Dragonlance to life by means of the art work.
“It’s not just plucky band of adventurers going off to do something,” stated irwin. “The stakes are very high. So when we were talking about art for this, we asked how do we show that epic expanse of what can happen. Our chapter openers are always a big flashy part of the book so in this case instead of doing a single page piece of art, we’re doing a double page piece of art. The artists who are doing the chapter openers were able to focus then on some personal stories and also that great, big expanse of war and see how this is different from other books.”
“We took aspiration from movies and famous photographs from World War I and World War II. The dragon where the adventurers are on top of the dragon was kind of inspired by ‘oh, we captured a tank and now we’re taking a picture with a tank’.”
“Another thing you don’t often see in D&D stories is people riding dragons, partnering with dragons,” added Irwin whereas speaking about what makes Dragonlance totally different. DLSotDQ options a number of photos of dragon riders, typically main armies.
When speaking a few piece of artwork that includes knights from early within the journey Irwin stated, “I think there’s something really relatable even though it’s showing this big epic. Like I said, we were taking inspiration from movies like Saving Private Ryan or 1917 where you are involved in the characters that are in the movie, but you’re also involved in feeling like a part of something so much bigger.”
That aesthetic ties into the design created by Bree Heiss, Art Director for D&D, for the board sport, Dragonlance: Warriors of Krynn. “That Dragonlance through line, that small group fighting against the odds in a world at war is present in the board game, as well.”
For teams enjoying each the TTRPG and the board sport, there can be locations the place you possibly can swap from RPG to board sport to play out a battle after which return to the RPG. The board sport comes with a couple of “plucky allies” that gamers can select, and one such ally is very expensive to Heiss.
“I’m a huge Dragonlance fan, in case that isn’t obvious, and I always imagined myself as a Knight of the Rose and I got to, as we were making the figures for the game, I got to have a little bit of input,” stated Heiss, “and we wanted our Solamnic knight to be maximum tall, like [Game of Thrones‘] Brianne of Tarth, so strong and so big, and I’m so ready to play this. The horns on her helm, she would place [in real life] at 6’5”, 6’7” – she’s gonna stomp.”
Iconic Dragonlance villain Lord Soth seems within the journey, driving a Death Dragon, a brand new sort of undead dragon. Schneider commented that even when individuals do not know Lord Soth from dozens of tales and adventures that they know him from the Monster Manual.
“Lord Soth is D&D’s iconic Death Knight, and when we knew we were returning to the world of Krynn and the Dragonlance campaign setting, we knew we had to have one of D&D’s most famous villains central to the threat,” stated Schneider.
Draconians had been additionally re-conceptualized for DLSotDQ to obviously distinguish them from dragonborn and different bipedal lizards in D&D. It additionally performs up the truth that in Dragonlance evil chromatic dragons have been stealing metallic dragon eggs, manipulating them with magic, and turning them into Takhisis’ evil foot troopers. This has each weakened the forces of excellent and made the grownup good dragons hesitate as a result of they’d be preventing their very own kids.
DLSotDQ additionally incorporates a gazetteer. The focus is on jap Solamnia, although, so do not count on a deep dive into Krynn. A poster map additionally comes with the e-book. DLSotDQ is an entire story, not beholden to the novels or prior adventures. Schneider in contrast it to the brand new Star Wars TV reveals in that you recognize the beloved heroes are on the market doing issues however DLSotDQ focuses on totally different characters in a special area.
DLSotDQ and DLWoK fall “very early in the War of the Lance, early into the invasion of western Solamnia,”stated Schneider. “Stories have been told about the major offenses from the middle of the continent further to the west. This is a new story about the very first launch the red dragon army does into Solamnia, an early forey with specific plots and goals to bring a devastating weapon to bear.”
“You’re getting not just this massive, epic, D&D narrative adventure in the RPG experience but you also have the Warriors of Krynn board game… and they’re meant to weave in and out of each other,” stated Schneider.
Schneider then clarified that for those who play each, you possibly can take your RPG characters to the board sport after which again to the RPG. “Warriors of Krynn isn’t your usual moving units and strategy. This is more of a strategy game that focuses on those elements but from a D&D perspective. You’re still playing your characters, around the edges of battle, doing what’s important to turn the tide of battle, all of the little things that thousands of lives might be riding on. And then once you’ve played that out you can then take that result back to [Shadow of the Dragon Queen] and have that result affect how your RPG continues.”
However, you do not want DLWoK to play DLSotDQ and vice versa. DLWoK will be performed independently from the RPG DLSotDQ. Similarly, for those who solely need to play the TTRPG, it has directions on how you can deal with the battles as an alternative of switching to the board sport.
Miniatures that include DLWoK are the identical scale as typical miniatures, equivalent to WizKids minis. So if you wish to use the precise mini to your character whereas enjoying the RPG you possibly can deliver it proper to the board sport. The board sport additionally comes with six hero miniatures you should use whereas enjoying if you do not have your personal minis.
Choices that you just make in DLWoK will carry by means of, but it surely’s not a legacy board sport. No playing cards or such are torn up or eliminated, however what you do within the board sport impacts the RPG for those who’re enjoying each.
Dragonlance: Warriors of Krynn is a cooperative board sport designed by Rob Daviau and Stephen Baker. Back in April at D&D Direct, when requested if DLWoK might be used to stage large-scale battles in different iconic D&D settings, Ray Winninger, Executive Producer of Dungeons & Dragons, stated sure, including that if it does nicely they will take into account personalized variations for different settings.
Pre-orders for the bundles will be positioned by means of dndstore.wizards.com.
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