Help needed with campaign setting - FR or Dragonlance? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Help needed with campaign setting - FR or Dragonlance? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
stockguy1883
02-17-05, 12:24 PM Greetings all!

I am returning to gaming after a 15 year absence. I'm going to be the DM for a group of 3 players and I'm deciding what setting to place the game in. I'm very familiar with Dragonlance, but not with Forgotten Realms.

Can anyone clue me in on the major differences between the two and which works better as a campaign setting? It appears that the forgotten realms has the broadest setting, meaning underdark, forests, deserts, ice and snow, etc.

Are there major differences in the game play between the two worlds?

I know that Dragonlance has a very rich history, does FR as well?

Which has more source material and "canned adventures" (thus making my life easier)?

BTW, one of my players is familiar with DL, the other two have never heard of it. All three players are unfamiliar with FR.

Thanks a bunch!
HVulpes
02-17-05, 02:33 PM Well, both have good points. And they have many similarities. Of course, most of the people in this forum will have a bias for the Realms. But the fact is there are some differences.

The realms, overtime has gather plenty of history and details that are found in the 2ed sources, many which are on the Wizard download page.

It has also been a place for many different styles. Central American/Spanish conqerors setting (On downloads), A couple of Arabian settings, an medevil version of Ancient Egypt, Greece and Mesopotian setting, medevil setting, A pseudo-mongolian setting (On download, think Attila the Hun and Genghis Khan), A far east setting (Out of Print), Celtic setting, Viking setting, an african jungle setting and many others. All with rich histories and the ability to switch from one to another.

It also has multiple gods, variable magic levels from high to low, power NPC and less so ones, plenty of monsters (including ones just for the setting plus it can also house monsters from most other settings), Speical Prestige classes, and plenty of resources.

For adventures, many of the books either have built in adventure, plus story hooks for your own created adventure. (It seems that wizards has put a stop to creating adventure modules for now.) I know the Forgotten Realms Campaign setting has two addventures in it and over 20 hooks in it for new adventures. Plus the Serpent Kingdoms Acessory I have has three adventures settings plus multiple hooks. Even Faith and Pantheons (The detailed gods accessory) has some layout of temples, how to adapt them to other gods and some adventure ideas connected to them.

The choice is up to a few things.

If you want a setting that has some familiarity and would give you help from the one player who knows it, Dragonlance seems to be a good idea. There are also fewer acessories to buy for the setting so that might save you some money.

If you want to try a new setting with details you can find in other books (Which might cost you some change, but should give you info that you can adapt) and you want to give yourselves and the others a fresh start in a good setting, Faerun might be for you.

The best bet is to try the Library, look up both the Dragonlance and Realms novels. Perhaps even some acessories if you're lucky. If you can, just scan the local book store for the series. You can then get an idea of the settings and possible ideas for the adventures. Even if you you decide on one setting you can look at the other one for some pretty good writings.

I've tried to sell the realms, but also tried to give you a good idea at how to look at it.
Faraer
02-17-05, 03:00 PM Your best bet is to get a fair and representative look at the Realms, and see whether you're drawn to it. Discussions of which works better as a campaign setting rarely achieve anything.

The Realms was created as one man's world to tell stories in and later play D&D, while Krynn emerged from a single module-and-novel series and was later broadened. The Realms is heavily influenced by mid- to late-20th-century sword and sorcery fiction, in contrast to Krynn's being heavily Tolkien-inspired. I could try to summarize feel of the Realms, but reading this (http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Castle/2566/wellmet.htm) should give you a decent sense.

Yes, the Realms has a very rich history: download George Krashos's "History of the North" (http://www.ericlboyd.com/dnd/history.html) to get a sense of it. I'm not absolutely sure whether the Realms has more published source material (it certainly has more published sourcebooks); it has more published adventures, though still not a vast array of 3E ones. Significantly, most extant Realmslore is unpublished, existing in Ed Greenwood's notes and brain.

I'd look at the latest Dragonlance game products, specifically the Key of Destiny adventure, before deciding.

Having your players unfamiliar with the Realms is a good position to work from, since false or conflicting expectations can hurt campaigns.

The Earth-analogues HVulpes mentions are artefacts of the treatment (which I would call abuse) TSR subjected the Realms to -- inserting new areas into the world which followed very different design principles from the original Realms. Ed does not use Earth analogues in his writing, and the current WotC designers are following the same tack.
Alac Luin
02-17-05, 06:07 PM here you are likely to to hear people say FR all the way.
ask on these (http://worldsofdnd.com/forum/) boards you will get manr different responces including planescape, and the strange new place known as Eberron.

First thing you need to ask is what kind of game are you looking for?
They are all now d20, so basic play is the same, but each setting has something going for it, well, at least I assume DL has something going for it ;)
(not a DL fan)
Mendicant
02-21-05, 12:41 AM I've played both systems and DM'd both also. Basically speeking (really basic!), the most apparent differences are in how the designers handled the mechanics of magic and the idea of deities. Basically, Dragonlance magic is based on alignment and moon cycles, as well as formal training at the Tower of High Sorcery vs. rogue magic user. To me, I always kinda liked this system (though it is very complicated). As far as the deities are concerned, I prefer FR. There are also diffeences in regards to races and classes to consider.

If I were someone without a limit on money or time, I'd start playing in FR in order to get the feel for roleplaying (also because of more resources) and then try Dragonlance after a few notches in my belt.

Also, ask what type of adventures you might play. FR is geared towards exploring ruins, questing after forgotten artifacts (ie Forgotten Realms), whereas Dragonlance provides for truly epic adventures including Dragonriders questing for a Dragonlance, time travel, restoring magic and the gods, etc...

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
stockguy1883 02-17-05, 12:24 PM	Greetings all! I am returning to gaming after a 15 year absence. I'm going to be the DM for a group of 3 players and I'm deciding what setting to place the game in. I'm very familiar with Dragonlance, but not with Forgotten Realms. Can anyone clue me in on the major differences between the two and which works better as a campaign setting? It appears that the forgotten realms has the broadest setting, meaning underdark, forests, deserts, ice and snow, etc. Are there major differences in the game play between the two worlds? I know that Dragonlance has a very rich history, does FR as well? Which has more source material and "canned adventures" (thus making my life easier)? BTW, one of my players is familiar with DL, the other two have never heard of it. All three players are unfamiliar with FR. Thanks a bunch!
HVulpes 02-17-05, 02:33 PM	Well, both have good points. And they have many similarities. Of course, most of the people in this forum will have a bias for the Realms. But the fact is there are some differences. The realms, overtime has gather plenty of history and details that are found in the 2ed sources, many which are on the Wizard download page. It has also been a place for many different styles. Central American/Spanish conqerors setting (On downloads), A couple of Arabian settings, an medevil version of Ancient Egypt, Greece and Mesopotian setting, medevil setting, A pseudo-mongolian setting (On download, think Attila the Hun and Genghis Khan), A far east setting (Out of Print), Celtic setting, Viking setting, an african jungle setting and many others. All with rich histories and the ability to switch from one to another. It also has multiple gods, variable magic levels from high to low, power NPC and less so ones, plenty of monsters (including ones just for the setting plus it can also house monsters from most other settings), Speical Prestige classes, and plenty of resources. For adventures, many of the books either have built in adventure, plus story hooks for your own created adventure. (It seems that wizards has put a stop to creating adventure modules for now.) I know the Forgotten Realms Campaign setting has two addventures in it and over 20 hooks in it for new adventures. Plus the Serpent Kingdoms Acessory I have has three adventures settings plus multiple hooks. Even Faith and Pantheons (The detailed gods accessory) has some layout of temples, how to adapt them to other gods and some adventure ideas connected to them. The choice is up to a few things. If you want a setting that has some familiarity and would give you help from the one player who knows it, Dragonlance seems to be a good idea. There are also fewer acessories to buy for the setting so that might save you some money. If you want to try a new setting with details you can find in other books (Which might cost you some change, but should give you info that you can adapt) and you want to give yourselves and the others a fresh start in a good setting, Faerun might be for you. The best bet is to try the Library, look up both the Dragonlance and Realms novels. Perhaps even some acessories if you're lucky. If you can, just scan the local book store for the series. You can then get an idea of the settings and possible ideas for the adventures. Even if you you decide on one setting you can look at the other one for some pretty good writings. I've tried to sell the realms, but also tried to give you a good idea at how to look at it.
Faraer 02-17-05, 03:00 PM	Your best bet is to get a fair and representative look at the Realms, and see whether you're drawn to it. Discussions of which works better as a campaign setting rarely achieve anything. The Realms was created as one man's world to tell stories in and later play D&D, while Krynn emerged from a single module-and-novel series and was later broadened. The Realms is heavily influenced by mid- to late-20th-century sword and sorcery fiction, in contrast to Krynn's being heavily Tolkien-inspired. I could try to summarize feel of the Realms, but reading this (http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Castle/2566/wellmet.htm) should give you a decent sense. Yes, the Realms has a very rich history: download George Krashos's "History of the North" (http://www.ericlboyd.com/dnd/history.html) to get a sense of it. I'm not absolutely sure whether the Realms has more published source material (it certainly has more published sourcebooks); it has more published adventures, though still not a vast array of 3E ones. Significantly, most extant Realmslore is unpublished, existing in Ed Greenwood's notes and brain. I'd look at the latest Dragonlance game products, specifically the Key of Destiny adventure, before deciding. Having your players unfamiliar with the Realms is a good position to work from, since false or conflicting expectations can hurt campaigns. The Earth-analogues HVulpes mentions are artefacts of the treatment (which I would call abuse) TSR subjected the Realms to -- inserting new areas into the world which followed very different design principles from the original Realms. Ed does not use Earth analogues in his writing, and the current WotC designers are following the same tack.
Alac Luin 02-17-05, 06:07 PM	here you are likely to to hear people say FR all the way. ask on these (http://worldsofdnd.com/forum/) boards you will get manr different responces including planescape, and the strange new place known as Eberron. First thing you need to ask is what kind of game are you looking for? They are all now d20, so basic play is the same, but each setting has something going for it, well, at least I assume DL has something going for it ;) (not a DL fan)
Mendicant 02-21-05, 12:41 AM	I've played both systems and DM'd both also. Basically speeking (really basic!), the most apparent differences are in how the designers handled the mechanics of magic and the idea of deities. Basically, Dragonlance magic is based on alignment and moon cycles, as well as formal training at the Tower of High Sorcery vs. rogue magic user. To me, I always kinda liked this system (though it is very complicated). As far as the deities are concerned, I prefer FR. There are also diffeences in regards to races and classes to consider. If I were someone without a limit on money or time, I'd start playing in FR in order to get the feel for roleplaying (also because of more resources) and then try Dragonlance after a few notches in my belt. Also, ask what type of adventures you might play. FR is geared towards exploring ruins, questing after forgotten artifacts (ie Forgotten Realms), whereas Dragonlance provides for truly epic adventures including Dragonriders questing for a Dragonlance, time travel, restoring magic and the gods, etc...