Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen Review 

They've pushed a lot about the war in Dragon Lance, and I kinda feel like they should've put that same emphasis on the last war in Eberron.

Thanks for the review! Everything about the book sounds great!... Except about the delayed test. Normally you would take it when you receive your first 3rd level spell or you will become an outlaw to the conclave. I can understand them setting it later to not have the story stop in the middle of a mission, but the Test is extremely important for a wizard to access more spells and items. So what can a spellcaster do? Gain levels in different classes till they get to the city of no names? For me, I'll have them take The Test earlier with my homebrew version for them, AND give them a special magic item.

I can’t imagine why one would expect (or want) a generalized DM screen bundled with a specific adventure in a specific setting. Those are already available in so, so many iterations.

It's really unfortunate WotC limits themselves with such small books when they've put out products like Rime of the Frostmaiden (320 pages). They can and should be including more content. I'm not that upset with lore being omitted, I am fine to check a wiki. But it would be nice if we got MORE.

Honestly I understand what you mean by Lord Soth having stats means the players DO have ability to kill him off. however, I seriously just don't see a group of level 10 players standing a chance against this foe. with all of his resistances, magic resistance, abilities, multi attack, and legendary features I just don't see him losing most, (if any) fights. if all of his melee attacks land then that is enough to take out most players in a single turn. add to that he prevents them from getting up again the next turn from healing spells. he also has great movement and can really close the distance on any healers or spellcasters. add to that, he has rather powerful spell casting. upcasting spells like command and banishment. as legendary actions! making him an absolute terror for even a 19th or 20th level party to contend with. he can literally just force players to lose entire turn with Command, (targets 3 players, and use the command Grovel. listed in commands spell description. Hold Person, (targets two players for advantage on attacks and auto crits) and banishment (plucks up to 3 players and removes them from the fight until Lord Soth loses concentration with his +5 to con saves.) Without either a lot of help from NPC's or a DM really pulling punches. I just can't imagine most players pulling this off against this guy.

Darth Vader as a general comparison to Lord Soth is valid. Especially for people who don't know the lore. That's how I described him to my son and he instantly understood.

They start at Crown, then onto Sword and finally Rose. Knight of the Thorn is something totally different that is one of the Dark Knights order that formed after the War of the Lance.

“Takhisis”, “Solamnia”. I’ve been a DL fan since chronicles first came out. You’re pronunciations sound exactly right to me. Never heard either pronounce any other way.

The fractured start point sounds like how Brennan Lee Mulligan kicks off dimension 20 seasons. I find it can work well, but they need to be short 15 minute scenes, not full hr long affairs. (P.S. Free books ftw!!)

I don’t think I got from this whether i should spend my money. You explained all the bits you like and don’t like but overall? Seems like you like it. If I mostly homebrew campaigns is it worth it to me to shell out on this? Especially the deluxe edition

Did they leave out the part about Soth where he reforms 24 hours after being slain? Because that's a rather important power of his. When he returns, he knows what he's up against and will plan his retaliation accordingly.

Great review! I agree with your pronunciation of Takhisis and Solamnia.

I've never played the Star Wars game you mentioned but I've heard of it and even I was thinking of Darth Vader when you talked about Lord Soth. It is a just don't go there moment lol. This is the first video I've watched of yours and I'm an old school DL book reader where their names exist a certain way in my head too (Our Takhisis is the same!) Introducing my son to d&d and got this set to play after the Stormwreck Isle set.... excited to watch the rest of your content! Thank you!

Awesome review! I'm such a fan of Dragonlance, I wasnt sure if I wanted to spend so much money on this 5e version.

"Narrative justification." I like that phrase. It should be a cornerstone of all rpg design. But it isn't. D&D developers in particular seem to not care about that concept.

Very wonderful job. Thank you.

Dragonlance will also open up in the DMSGuild dec 6 jn release day. So you can write and sell your own Dragonlance material and books.

If you want an EXCELLENT source book for dragonlance buy the 3.5e "dragonlance campaign setting" book. It's on Amazon new for $60, I love the setting and have owned this book since it came out. Also 100% of the hoopak issues would have been solved if they had just given the lender it as a racial proficiency and if I play any lender will be given that. It would have also made it really thematic too because no one else would bother with it which is how it's treated in the novels

I'm currently running a 3.5 game running through the old DL1-DL14 modules. Most of my players play 5e, so there is a lot of interest in the group regarding this book. I don't play much 5e myself, so I'll have to dig in and learn the rules if I'm going to run this for my players. I have two shelves on my bookcase filled with a quarter century of DragonLance gaming material, so the lack of much world detail doesn't bother me much. All this has been out of print though for at least 15 years, so for new DMs trying to track it down, not a great feature.

Can someone refresh my memory in the new book Destina ends up where at the end of the story. I dont want to spoil stuff, but i feel like there is a timeline issue in the new book

Running the board game would be neat!

Idk I feel like I like the Dragonlance weapon is pretty cool. I think it does what it's designed to do. Its a strong weapon (+3) and it does extra damage to dragons. Do wish it was little more damage to dragons but I think level 8-10 parties getting that weapon is fine.

Please play/ review the board game! Your combo of fun/4e/5e perspective will help influence if I get it

I was hoping for a more up-to-date take on Dragonlance, but I'll take the revised Tyranny of Dragons all the same. That appears to be the only dragon-centered campaign out there. While many modules have dragon encounters, your only hope for a dragon focused campaign is the module referenced, and oftentimes you're better off going homebrew lol

I think this adventure would be way more satisfying with a DM that knows the Dragonlance setting.

Enjoyed the video.

Main question I have is does the campaign have the same class restrictions as the world of Krynn should have? Or is it 'oh well, we'll let everyone play every class and heal like always even though the setting should say otherwise?"

Good Job!

The coolest pronunciation of Tahkisis I've heard - incorrect thought it may be - was Toxsis.

YES for gameplay of the board game!!

Also as an old fan, i wish they would have got Larry Elmore to do a special edition screen or cover, all the new art in my opinion is dark fantasy and very generic. None the less im buying it.

How are people getting this already? I preordered as soon as this was announced, and haven't received mine yet. I checked the order page and it says it won't even release until 6 December, and will ship then. So, what gives? Are these preview copies sent out to certain people by the publishers?

I want a book just found your channel.

i stopped watching after the review of classes and backgrounds cos spoilers. i've been a fan of the novels since the eighties. i absolutely hated the first modules of dragonlance because you were basically railroaded into following the plot of the novels slavishly without deviation. do the new scenarios allow for a less rigid playstyle?

Feel there will be a need of a lot of homebrewing to fill the campaign gap

According to original Dragonlance, Lord Soth cannot be killed as long as Takhisis exists and grants him her blessing. If destroyed, Takhisis can just re-spawn him as his soul belongs to her. This derives from the original curse that was bestowed onto him, to live in suffering (undeath) one life for each life that was lost in the Cataclysm. I have not seen the details yet but according to the WIS difference (original WIS was 9 not 16 and fitted the character better) it seems that they are taking a lot of the flavour out for mainstreaming reasons.

This gets me excited, but it's not what they seemed to be selling in the official interviews, which made it sound like a world book. It's a campain set in a very specific time and place. There's a pronunciation guide in chapter 2 with no mention on Majere! 😳 Also, we didn't have a Sorc class in the olden days, so High Sorcery made sense. We've added Sorcs, Warlocks, Dragonborn, Tieflings, and Artificers that we need to retcon in. That was part of the difficulty they faced in 3e.

Interesting you compared Lord Soth to Darth Vader, considering that’s who he was based on… in fact, “Soth” is only one letter from “Sith”. Come to think of it, you should probably play the Imperial March when he appears.

id love a little coverage on any large scale battle rules... To my knowledge, it seems like that just doesn't exist in this book other than "go play the board game"

Dec 6 is Thanks A Lot Day a Kender day of thanks for the things they have “found”

I want too play a Monk The Way of the Ascendant Dragon in the Dragonlance: The Shadow of the Dragon Queen.

Yo. While I don't play a lot of D&D the War of the Twins series was my first foray into fantasy outside of children's books. Dragonlance is Dungeons and Dragons to me and forgotten realms being the primary setting has always made me a little Meh on the game. Your video is fantastic and I actually agree with a lot of your points while disagreeing with them at the same time. Narrative play and advancement in something like the Knights shouldn't be feats, or If so than properly spaced out and prerequisited in order. Cool. The extra feats they get on top of all that.... No one said it was a balanced game. Knights are better trained than the average warrior and a bunch of wizards in a tower constantly popping by to kill of the weak ones tend to breed a stronger class of wizard. All that being said, my preferred setting is Legend of the Five Rings. If you've looked at the new D20 system I'm curious about your thoughts. If your not familiar it was used as the 3rd edition Oriental Adventures setting when wizards owned the property for a hot minute.

I am very sad that they destroyed The Kendar completly.. that is One thing i am going to House rule

Hi, Your D & D Videos are amazing & wonderful. I'm so jealous. How do you have these books already? The release date as you know is Dec 6th. My Goodness, you are so lucky. You are also very articulate & have a great voice! Love & adore your videos! Wishing you a Truly Wonderful & Happy Thanksgiving....👽👽👻😉

Please play Warriors of Krynn!

don't want dragonlance stuff on a dragonlance screen? hmm

If I chose to use them, I'd run Lv 1 & 2 preludes as side games for suitable players, if at all, or tweak them to make them fit the party. Knight and sorcery feats work with PCs starting at higher levels, and might be worked in at any time, especially after a suitable story beat or downtime, but possibly even as boons for players. Whatever makes the most interesting story for your players.

4 minutes in. . . Alright, that DM screen actually is not versatile. I agree with this human.

I was a fan of the original Dragonlance, Spelljammer, and Planescape and the 5E Spelljammer boxed set was underwhelming and disappointing (no ship combat rules for a campaign setting based on around space ships...). I preordered the 5E Dragonlance despite being disappointed it's an adventure and not a proper campaign setting (it seems like WotC has been avoiding doing full campaign setting books ("Those are for DMs only!") and adding campaign setting-lite in the adventures instead (see Radiant Citadel)) so after the 5E Spelljammer I may still cancel it but have been watching the reviews.

Backgrounds giving feats? Characters gaining more feats as they level up (and not by trading ability score improvements)? Next they’ll be referring to “race” as “ancestry” and splitting magic into arcane, divine, primal, and occult (oh, whoops, D&D One is already adding primal). Welcome to Pathfinder 1.75 folks!! It’s not quite PF2 but it’s moving that way. WotC should produce a softcover book for these releases that includes just what a Player needs to know. I know, that won’t make them the big money so it will never happen but a girl can dream.

The campaign will have good maps (Tombs of Annihilation maps style, which are really well designed). Just for those who are interested

Does anyone remember REAL Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and how the different settings had really awesome logos, and then a terrorist organization called Wizards of the Coast bought it all and threw all of the game rules in the trash and slapped "D&D" onto an entirely different game and then appropriated AD&D names, characters, titles, settings for that different game? Pepperidge Farms remembers. As the years went on and the game became more terroristic and political, WotC decided to further ruin the legacy of (A)D&D by releasing stupid books with sterile-looking titles on the covers rather than cool-looking, artistic, and unique logos?