Dragonlance Canticle #50 - Interview with Richard Knaak and Rebooting Dragonlance!

[Jester]

DL8 does have a drawback, as it's strength is that of a dungeon crawl in the Clerist's tower and open adventuring. That tends to be opposite of story, where you end up "on rails". In fact that rends to be the general opinion of the Dragonlance series.

I was not particularly impressed by DL8 and it's "dungeon crawl through the HCL and find the win button!" in the form of the dragon orb or one of the undead armies.

Had I had more desire to re-write and re-imagine the adventures I would have had build-up quests where you gather troops in Sancrist and Palanthus and then ready and repair the tower while making allies of NPCs, which helps determine success.
There's lots of ways to completely rework the adventures. It'd be interesting to make the post-Autumn section non-linear where the party can decide which order to tackle Icewall, Southern Ergoth, Sancrist, and Silvanesti.

There's so much that could be done to modernize the adventures, now I really want to see it done.

[DaemonAngel]

An verrrry rough draft in the form of an incomplete timeline. Done after listening to the Canticle. Been anti-reboot for awhile but if it is done post Legends is the way to go I guess. I'll work more on this.

Retcon: Dragonlance 382 AC
Post Legends 253-382
The War of the Lance Ends
The Heroes of the Lance and the Whitestone Council forces defeat the Dark Queen's armies in her center of power in Ansalon, Neraka. Her armies turn upon themselves when her champion, Emperor Ariakas dies and the Temple is destroyed.
Draconian Flight: In the aftermath of the fall, a group of draconians flee with a number of dragon eggs and flee to the southeast.

353-357 AC - Harrying the Foe
Liberation of lands held by the now broken dragonarmies continues as they try to regroup and solidify their hold in central, eastern and southern Ansalon. Gradually over the next few years, Whitestone forces systematically work to destroy these remnants (the lands in and around the Khalkist Mts become the most resilient however).

355 AC - The Knighthood Evolves
Gunthar uth Wistan becomes Grand Master of the Knights of Solamnia, the first since the Cataclysm. He soon pushes and passes the revised Measure to help revitalize the Orders.

356 AC - Master of the Past and Present
Heroes of the Lance Raistlin and Caramon Majere journey to the past, accompanied by cleric Crysania and Tasslehoff Burrfoot. They reach corrupted Istar, and later too the Dwarfgate Wars. Where Raistlin and Crysania, journeys through time to the Abyss, hoping to destroy the Dark Queen.

357 AC - The Blue Lady’s War
The Blue Lady, Kitiara, and her ally death knight Lord Soth, lead the surviving core of the Blue Army from Sanction and using a flying citadel, attack northern Solamnia, including Palanthas. However, her army is defeated and she is killed, and Lord Soth disappears with the body. Skie, Kitiara's blue dragon vanishes right afterward.
Sealing the Portal: In the Abyss, Raistlin Majere sacrifices himself to hold off the Dark Queen while Caramon saves Crysania. Caramon quickly seals the portal of the Abyss, eliminating another opportunity for Takhisis to enter the world.
Dark Scion: The Solamnic Knights release Lord Ariakan (son of Emperor Ariakas) from captivity. Following a vision he receives from the Dark Queen, he decides to form a new knighthood, a dark mirror to the Solamnic Knights, one dedicated to the Queen of Darkness. He quietly seeks out candidates, primary among the young to be raised to the philosophy of Takhisis.

358 AC - Abyssal Liaisons
A new larger generation of tieflings (Prince of Lies, Sargas??)

360 AC - Children of Dragons
On a group of isles to the west of Ansalon, a nation of humans (that revered martial combat, honor and dragons) are sterilized by a plague created by Morgion. Now facing extinction with nothing to leave behin. Prayers answered by Krynn's deities lead to the first generation of dragonborn allowing the souls of dragons denied entry to Krynn by the creation of the draconians. However, since the first chromatic draconians tended to evil and metallic draconians tended toward good, these dragonborn have the freedom the choose much like humanity.
(Note: I know this risks “over doing” the dragon theme of Dragonlance, but I'm doing it anyway. Sides, chromatic draconians are sterile and once the current population is depleted they are likely gone from the world for good).

Que-Shu Reborn: Survivor of the plains tribe elect Heroes of the Lance Goldmoon and Riverwind to lead their nation at the rebuilt village of Que-Shu.

362 AC - A Union of Elves
Porthios Kanan and Alhana Starbreeze marry in hopes of reunifying the Qualinesti and Silvanesti elves.

367 AC
ACHTUNG PANZER - Warforged Rumors??

370 AC - Knights of Takhisis Founded
Lord Ariakan officially invests the first Knights of Takhisis. All knights receive the Vision show each their own personal roles in the Dark Queen’s plans.
Azure Flight: Blue dragons holding out in the northern Khalkist and Planes of Dust begin to vanish. Some seen flying out into the North Sirrion Ocean, their numbers mysteriously declining for some years now, however few on the continent know the truth.

374 AC - Second Exodus of Elves
A faction of elves unwilling to return to the homelands unsatisfied with Southern Ergoth, decide to remigrate again, this time to the smaller isles Cristyne and Nostar.

377 AC - Goldmoon's Last Odyssey
Dreams Goldmoon believes is from Mishakal, sends her the Silver Stair on the Isle of Schallsea. After claiming the stair she receives a vision from the Blue Lady to establish what will become the Citadel of Light dedicated to Mishakal and the new home of the Holy Disks and a center of spiritual enlightenment.

378 AC - A Journey of Honor
Tanis Half-Elven and Caramon Majere journey to Storm’s Keep and meet Steel Brightblade, the son of Sturm Brightblade and Kitiara uth Matar. Tanis reports the existence of the Knights of Takhisis to the Knights of Solamnia, the Temple of Paladine, and the Orders of High Sorcery, but many ignore his warnings.

381 AC- Mages Storm the Keep
Wizards sent by the Orders of High Sorcery attack Storm’s Keep, seeking to wipe out the wizardly Knights of the Thorn. Justarius, Red Robe Master of the Conclave, is among those lost in the attempt. Dalamar the Dark becomes leader of the Conclave.

382 AC - Elven Succession
While Porthios, the Qualinesti Speaker of the Sun, successfully ends Lorac’s 20-year Nightmare of Silvanesti, Gilthas, son of Laurana and Tanis Half-Elven, is unwillingly placed on the throne of the elven kingdom of Qualinesti through a coup led by General Konnal, who simultaneously steals away the Silvanesti throne as well. Porthios and Alhana are named dark elves and are forced to flee from both elven kingdoms.
Changes in Solamnic Knighthood: Gunthar uth Wistan retires as Grand Master of the Solamnic Knights and Sir Thomas of Thelgaard is elected the new Grand Master. His first act is the knighting of the Tanin and Sturm Majere (sons of Tika and Caramon Majere) as the first non-Solamnics to enter into the knighthood.

Goliaths. Descendants of High Ogres that never bowed to the Dark Gods and later transformed by the Greygem. Beyond Icewall??

Devas. Godshome? Periphery of the Blood Sea?

What lays over the horizon?