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Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen is the first officialDungeons & Dragonsproduct to introduce the setting of Dragonlance. The Dragonlance setting is home to some of the most popular fantasy novels — a total of over 190 novels have been written using this setting. As far as Shadow of the Dragon Queen is concerned, this adventure takes place during an event known as the War of the Lance.
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While the popular War of the Lance novels take place in one part of the world of Krynn, the events of Shadow of the Dragon Queen occur in a separate region entirely. Over the course of this adventure, you will face some of the Dragon Armies fiercest forces including draconians, dragonnels, a dragon army general, and the infamous death knight Lord Soth.
Setting Background
The War of the Lance was a worldwide conflict spurred on by the Dragon Queen Takhisis, commonly known asTiamatin other worlds, where she sent forth her Dragon Armies to conquer the world and, hopefully, one day usher in her return. The backdrop of the Dragonlance setting is an event known astheCataclysm, during which a kingpriest attempted to ascend to godhood, eventually leading the gods to rain down divine wrath. This upended the whole of Krynn and destroyed the kingpriest’s plans as well as countless civilizations.
Then,the gods all but disappeared from the world. As you may be able to tell already, the Dragonlance setting isa deep and nuanced worldhome to popular fictional figures, interesting factions, and an incredible and heroic story. Introductions aside, let’s dive in.
Understanding The Adventure
Shadow of the Dragon Queen is an adventure that takes place overcharacter levels 1 to 11, during which players will face off against the terrible threat that the Dragon Armies of Takhisis pose to the Kalaman region of the world. During the adventure, player characters can expect to face off against dastardly new foes in the form of draconians and dragonnels. They also might become friends or rivals with well-developed factions including theKnights of Solamnia, theMages of High Sorcery,or folk unique to the setting such as the mischievouskender.
Ultimately, player characters will try their hand at thwarting the Dragon Armies takeover of Kalaman. This adventure has a unique spin as well in that it presentsthe opportunity to be playedalongside a board gamecalled Dragonlance: Warriors of Krynn.
Playing the board game alongside running this module is not required, but doing soprovides additional contextto the players regarding the larger movements of the war and the part their characters play in turning the tide in Kalaman’s favor.
The scenarios presented in the board game can be played out during the campaign in order to represent the larger battles of the War of the Lance that you take a smaller part in. Depending on the results of the board game scenarios played, player characters mightreceive rewardssuch asmagic items, hear of the deaths of certain allies, or face other consequences that the Dungeon Master deems worthy.
How To Use Shadow Of The Dragon Queen For One-Shot Adventures
Due to the worldwide war-based nature of the book,it’s simple enough to cut and paste different parts of the adventure into distinct one-shotsfor your players to enjoy. Struggles in the adventure such as the invasion of Vogler, delving into the raided catacombs, and making an offering for the sea elves at the Blue Phoenix Shrine all provide the perfect basis fora succinct one-shot adventure.
If you plan on using events from Shadow of the Dragon Queen as a one-shot, verify to understand the significance of the one-shot to the overall setting. This way, you can provide your players with an understanding that their adventureplaysa small partin a much larger conflict. For example, players who take part in the invasion of Vogler as a one-shot should be aware that the destruction of the village is only a prelude to the threat that the Dragon Armies pose to the world at large.
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How To Use Shadow Of The Dragon Queen As A Module
On the module side of things, Shadow of the Dragon Queen offers a lot of lore for players both familiar and unfamiliar with the Dragonlance setting to enjoy. For example, the events of the Cataclysm as a whole, which happened hundreds of years before the War of the Lance, present an intriguing story that explains whythe presence of the gods is rarely felt across Krynn.
Speaking of the gods, the setting has a whole slew of gods good, neutral, and evil for characters to learn about. However, much about the worship of and service to these deities haslong been lost.
The book’s unique factions should befeatured heavilyif you decide to run the adventure as a module.
Additionally, Both the Knights of Solamnia and the Mages of High Sorcery introducecompelling twistson what it means to be a hero in Dungeons & Dragons. While each of these factions is already featured in the adventure, Dungeon Mastersshould not shy away from homebrewing additional sessionswhere their player characters can interact with the factions and rise through their ranks on a more personal level.
For instance, spellcasters across Krynn are expected to complete an oftentimes lethal test of high sorcery to earn their robes from the Mages of High Sorcery and become officially inducted as a registered mage. Spellcasters who fail the test and survive or choose not to take it all are considered renegade mages and banned from using magic by the organization.
New Backgrounds And Feats
To the end of highlighting these factions, the adventure presentsnew backgrounds and featsthat reward player characters for choosing to interact with theKnights of Solamniaor theMages of High Sorcery. Make no mistake:these are some of themost powerful featsto ever be introduced to the fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons. However, they do come at the high cost ofrequiring certain codes of ethicsfrom player characters who take them.
The backgrounds and feats presented in Shadow of the Dragon Queen suggest that theyshould only be allowed within a Dragonlance campaign,and it’s for exactly the reasons just mentioned. The power that these feats offer characters is offset by the roleplaying responsibilities and moral quandaries that the campaign enforces upon characters who take them.
Of course, every Dungeon Master is welcome to run their games however they like. That being said, westrongly suggestkeeping these feats and backgrounds inside of the setting for which they were designed.
Alternatively, you could offer the feats and backgrounds in your own setting while alsohomebrewing organizationssimilar to the Knights of Solamnia and Mages of High Sorcery for players to contend with.
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Closing Tips For Dungeon Masters And Players
Shadow of the Dragon Queen is a wonderful addition to the ever-growing line of fifth-edition Dungeons & Dragons products. That being said,there are some things to understandabout this module before jumping right into it. As with the similarly themed module Tyranny of Dragons, Shadow of the Dragon Queenis not a sandbox-style adventure. There are events in this adventure that the playerscannot preventno matter what actions they take.
There are tons of opportunities for player choice to have a lasting impact on the campaign in all of its chapters, butthe overarching plot of the campaign does necessitate certain events.
There are story beats that have to happen in order for the module to properly progress, and nothing the players say or do will change this. Players and Dungeon Masters who desire total control over the events occurring in their campaigns may struggle with these realities, soit’s better to come to grips with this before starting the campaign or choose to run a different module entirely. Nonetheless,this is not to say that the choices players make over the course of the adventure don’t have consequences.
There are justcertain outcomesthat they won’t be able to avoid. All of this is simply to explain that it’s necessary for your players to understand this before stepping into the game world; otherwise, they’re likely to get themselves TPK’ed (total party killed) in an attempt to do the impossible.
