Dragonlance Sandbox

I keep thinking about running the classic Dragonlance modules from the mid-1980s as an open sandbox.  I have even done a little planning on how it would work.

When the modules came out, (I think the first was in 1984), they were really something different. First of all, they grabbed your attention with first-class artwork, and more famously, the style was very different and had a focus more on role-playing. I was in the middle of a long B/X campaign so it did not make sense for me to buy them. But I did anyway because of the production values and because of the accompanying books. The modules were not of a style to easily allow you to drop them into another campaign so I never used any of them.

The Dragonlance modules followed a defined plot to an extent that seemed just as odd when they were released as it does today. Even with most of my players loving the books we had no interest in playing the modules if we were going to be held to a plot. This was far more than a railroad. The motivations and to some extent the actions of the player’s characters were controlled. Famously, characters and important NPCs were to die off stage (the obscure death) so they could be brought back when the plot demanded. None of this was a motivation for me to play the modules. What is motivation is the fully realized world, events, and some really cool locations.

Xak Tsaroth and the Dragon Onyx

Locations

There are some pretty neat dungeons scattered through the Dragonlance modules that I have in my possession. Xak Tsaroth which is an underworld greek style ruin in a swamp. Pax Tharkas which an enormous gate to a mountain pass. Skullcap mountain which is the classic skull-shaped mountain with a dungeon. Finally, the floating dwarven tomb is one of my favorites.

Cosmology

One of the things I did borrow from Dragonlance when I was creating a new campaign in the 1990s was the idea of the balanced group of gods. There is no real precedent for this but it is pretty interesting. There are 21 gods, 7 are neutral, 7 are good and 7 are evil. It makes it feel like any outcome from the coming war is possible.

Uniqueness

There are some unique things in the Dragonlance setting. I would set it the game in the same timeline as the modules. Civilization is broken. There are small communities but not much in the way of central authority. The gods have seemingly abandoned the world, and at first, dragons are creatures of myth. I can take or leave the idea of steel coins being the standard rather than gold. I do not think it is central to the idea.

Sandbox How?

First off, if I want to run Dragonlance as a fairly open sandbox, the whole idea of playing the novel has to go. I want to get rid of all of the Heroes of the Lance. The players would just create their own characters as normal. Probably using something simple like the Swords & Wizardry rules. Important villains from the books may exist but there are no reasons characters could not avoid them, never meet, or even kill them. Any character that chooses cleric magic would start without spells or possibly should start as a fighter and if they discover access to a god could multi-class as a cleric.

I would definitely want to start with DL1 Dragons of Despair. I think the idea of having everyone’s origin be in the town of Solace is a good start. I would not have them all off searching for gods and meeting up years later. The idea that a group of friends could spread out into the world for 5 years and all arrive back in Solace on the same day seems pretty far-fetched. I also would not want to put the quest to find the lost gods on all of the players. I would rather everyone create characters and decide what they have been doing and what is their motivation. No matter what they have been up to they are all currently in Solace. They either live in Solace or are passing through.

The Dragons of Autumn compilation module that was released for D&D 3.5 in 2006 actually does provide some of this concept already. The option is laid out for the players to play their own characters. Although these characters are expected to fill archetype roles in the party. Basically, playing the Heroes of the Lance characters in all but name. The module also allows for the characters to drift into Solace separately and provides more than one encounter for separate groups. One of which is the classic DL1 encounter with Fewmaster Toede.

From this start in Solace, I would more or less follow the timeline of the world events laid out in Dragons of Autumn. Other than slowing down the advance of the Draconian army to allow more time to get things done. But this timeline would be background events for the characters. They can interact or not. At some point, in this region of the world, they are going to want to flee south to avoid the Army of Draconians coming from the north.

I am still going to want to provide a hook that will make the players consider heading to Xak Tsaroth. I have not completely worked that out yet. The modules are written with one of the characters having the Blue Crystal Staff.  But I resist that idea somewhat. It could be something as simple as finding a treasure map showing the ruins or a prophecy suggesting a weapon could be found in the ruins. I would have the Blue crystal staff in the temple ruins and information allowing a character to become a cleric of a god.

Once the Draconian army sweeps through Abanasinia the players are going to want to get their characters to the south to avoid the army which kills or enslaves everyone in its path. This will make DL2 and Pax Tharkas an option, but I would like to allow the characters to choose any method of getting to the south. There is the possibility of a ship leaving New Ports.

I do not have it all worked out but I do have some thoughts on running at least a part of the Dragonlance saga.