In case you didn't know, Dungeons and Dragons (commonly referred to as D&D or DnD) is a Fantasy Tabletop Roleplaying Game that was first published in 1974.
Although it's gone through a fair few rule changes over the years, the core premise has remained the same - a group of players create characters, form a party, and explore the world set out by the Dungeon Master (DM).
Dragonlance was first conceived in 1984 but has been on hiatus since 2011. It's come in the form of D&D gaming modules, novels, board games, and even miniature figures.
The upcoming campaign, Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen, is a 224-page hardcover adventure returning to this classic setting for epic scale, sweeping, world-changing battles.
The campaign is set during the War of the Lance, which is reasonably early on in the history of Dragonlance. In it, the Dragons are marching against the people of Krynn with a plan to bring a powerful weapon to bear, and fundamentally try to take over the world.
The players find themselves in the thick of things in the nation of Solamnia, attempting to defend it against the Draconic Incursion. It's a story of epic proportions, with not just a town or city at stake, but rather the fate of the entire world. Shadow of the Dragon Queen is a new and original story about the very first launch of the Red Dragon Armies.
Because of the sheer scale and epicness of the campaign and setting, the art also needs to be epic. That's why the chapter openers are now double-page spreads of art, which take inspiration from movies and famous photos, as well as the two world wars. Some art shows people partnering with dragons, whereas others show hoards of humans capturing a dragon as though it were some kind of war machine.
As usual, the book comes with one of two covers, the standard cover or the alternative art cover, which features Lord Soth on the cover. In case you didn't know, Lord Soth isn't just a Death Knight, he's THE Death Knight - an absolute icon of D&D. Deviating from the norm however, this campaign also comes with a third cover only available with the Deluxe Edition, which also includes the board game Warrior of Krynn and a DM screen.
In addition, the campaign is the first to come with a Physical and Digital bundle, the digital version delivered via WIzard's newly acquired D&D Beyond. This actually marks a step forward in their aim to merge the physical and digital worlds of D&D, and is something that will excite a lot of fans who have previously had to buy the physical and digital copy separately (at great expense).
As mentioned above, the Deluxe Edition comes with a board game, Warriors of Krynn. The board game is also available separately and is playable in its own right, just like Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen can be played without the board game. That said, the two complements each other very well - you're able to weave in and out from the D&D campaign into the board game and back again.
The basic premise is simple. When you reach a battle in the tabletop campaign, you can place your characters into the board game and play out the battle. You can then return to the Dungeons and Dragons story with the outcome of that battle, and the world of Shadow of the Dragonqueen changes to accommodate this. The result of the board game affects the campaign world, for better or for worse.
Independent of the Tabletop campaign, Warriors of Krynn is a military wargame. in which you control heroes and units in a strategic manner to defeat your enemy and their commanders. Wizards claim it's not a typical grand-scale strategy war game though, stating that it focuses on those things heavily from a D&D perspective, with emphasis on the narrative side of things.
It comes with six classes, although you can also use your own characters. Each class has its own miniature, which is a similar scale and style to standard tabletop minis. In addition, The characters in the board game level up, and it gets harder as you progress.
Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen is an entirely new story, not beholden to original Dragonlance adventures and novels. It's an exciting new take on a well-established setting, and with the addition of the board game, it also has the potential to be a fresh and interesting way to play Dungeons and Dragons. Combine this with the new merging of the Physical and Digital versions, and you're onto something potentially exciting for the future of D&D.
It releases on December 6th, although pre-orders of the Physical and Digital bundle will give you access to the campaign on D&D Beyond 2 weeks early, meaning you can get stuck in from November 22nd.
