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The previous edition of DragonLance, SAGA, wanted to change things up, by changing the world (the disciplines of magic were gone, replaced by sorcerors and mystics), and even the fiction underwent a major sea change, as the Gods have left Ansalon, to avoid the world being destroyed by Chaos.
While that attempt had good intentions, we all know what the road to hell was paved with. The system never took off, and then Dungeons and Dragons 3rd edition came out. And tens of thousands, if not more, wondered, would there be a new version, and if so, how would they resolve the issues of the storyline, to keep consistency while restoring the sense of high adventure the previous games had.
The cover of the book is quite frankly, awe-inspiring, covering both the front and the back cover with the battle between two dragons and their riders, the hulking warlord riding his lightning-breathing blue dragon on the back cover, and the heroic gold dragon rider hunkering down, dragonlance in hand as her gold dragons attacking with a burst of fire.
There is a number of color illustrations inside, but while some of them are good, they seem to suffer from the "washing-out" effect that you would see in other WotC 3rd edition and 3.5 books. While the book does not add any core classes, (DragonLance, of course, being a staple of D&D for many years, has all the core classes), the game comes with a number of prestige classes.
Personally, I do think the Dragon Rider class is a bit overpowered, and a GM who allows this better be ready for the Hero and Dragon team to quite possibly out shine the other characters in the party. But I can see the necessity for such a prestige class, there have been a number of such battles through Ansalon's history.
Also, I think that the game could quite possibly allow characters to rise through the ranks of the Solmanic Knights (one of the major forces for Good in the Dragon Lance World), by stating that a character may advance from the Knights of the Crown, to Knights of the Sword and eventually becoming a Knight of the Rose, by picking up one level in each class, even though a number of extra checklist items have to be completed (a long journey, defeating a character of equal or higher level without any help, etc.). Once again, a GM has to be ready to take care of business.
The races presented are good as well, with your usual smattering of humans (Civilized and Rural), Dwarves (Mountain, Hill, Gully and Dark Dwarves), elves (too many flavors to list), and the oddball races, such as the DragonLance iconic race (kender), and the minotaurs and gnomes. Making their debut as a playable race are the different types of draconians, created by the corruption of dragon eggs. But maybe that's where it should have stopped, as the game also introduces the irda (who I believe were wiped out by Chaos when they cracked the Greygem in the prelude to the Chaos War), half-ogres, and Centaurs as playable races.
Even with the nits I've picked here, the prestige classes and races are very nicely done, and give the DragonLance world a unique feel, that seperates it from the ultra-high-powered (almost munchkinistic) fantasy that the Forgotten Realms has come from, and the more gritty feel that I associate with Greyhawk.
One VERY nice thing they've brought back is the three moons of magic. With a little extra effort of the GM to track this, it brings a very unique flavor to the world. The three orders of Magic each pay homage to a god, and the god's moon reflects that wizard's power, and as it waxes and wanes, so will the wizard's power.. (not greatly, but enough to provide a true sense of impact without overwhelming the game)
The maps in this book are functional and uncluttered, and provide a good resource for prospective GM's. While they do not completely go into detail on the time periods of the DragonLance book (seperate worldbooks apparently will be published for the War of the Lance and the Age of Mortals), the information provided is functional, and besides, there's so much written in and about the DragonLance world (say, the Annotated Chronicles), that there is a wealth of information already available in the world.
To show how flexible this game is, I'm planning on running two games, first of all an IRC game based in the time of the War of The Lance (based off the old Krynn gold box series), and a tabletop Age of Mortals game, with the heroes taking on the Knights of Neraka (the old Knights of Takhisis before that worthy's death at the end of the War of Souls).
This book invigorates the DragonLance world, and breathes new life into one of D&D's most cherished worlds. So, is it worth $30? Completely. Even as a person on the fence when it comes to d20. I'm enthralled by this book and what they have done. They've fixed the mistakes they had made in Fifth Age (SAGA), and provided a world where heroes can again make a difference. The journey back into Ansalon has begun, don't miss out on a magical trip.
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