Mindless speculation, with the new Unearthed Arcana, focused on Draconic Options and containing spells like Fizban’s Platinum Shield is a Dragonlance campaign book around the corner?
Didn't Dragonlance have nothing to do with dragons, save for the namesake magic item? I recall people talking about DL more as an old-fashioned low-magic Sword and Sorcery setting with very problematic shortstacks. Dragons nowhere in evidence, save in Myth and Legend. Was I misled?
Didn't Dragonlance have nothing to do with dragons, save for the namesake magic item? I recall people talking about DL more as an old-fashioned low-magic Sword and Sorcery setting with very problematic shortstacks. Dragons nowhere in evidence, save in Myth and Legend. Was I misled?
Yeah, it had everything to do with Dragons. I'd check out a wiki on Dragonlance or give the first book a try.
Yeah, in the "original" Dragonlance timeline, it starts when Dragons and gods were thought of as largely fairy tale myths, but in short order you have gods walking Krynn and armies with squadrons of dragons. The dragonlances were mythic weapons, which were also resuscitated as the war progressed. Orbs of Dragonkind I think make their first appearances in DL, and I think the 5e lore attached to them basically recounts their Krynn history in a way that can be ported to a lot of fantasy worlds.
Quick skim the new Dragonborn variants aren't quite the Draconians in Dragonlance, also curious how this may play out in their lore revision. In the original Dragonlance the Draconians, which were sort of the "elite" troops of the Dark Queen (Tiamat) army (otherwise consisting of the goblinoids and humans) were actually created by corrupting metallic dragon eggs (who were kept hostage by the Chromatic Dragons as some sort of guarantor to a neutrality pact. This violation is what got the metallic dragons involved in the War of the Lance.
Gem dragons I didn't know were a thing in Krynn, and I think in official 5e we only have the Saphire Dragon, so maybe we're getting those whether retconned to Krynn or a new to 5e Dragon faction.
Maybe because this UA is more diverse in content (races, spells, feats) my first glance is finding this pretty neat. However, I need to reset my table because I flipped it as a consequence of the lack of a Draconic Barbarian with DRAGONRAGE. I don't care what it is, just make it happen.
It could be Dragonlance, or it could be a Draconomicon that just name drops Fizban (Paladine/Bahamut) in one of the spells. Xanathar's Guide to Everything has Tenser's Transformation in it, and even though Tenser is from Greyhawk, that doesn't mean the book has any connection to that setting. Spell names are just spell names, not necessarily any hint to a campaign setting book.
Due to the inclusion of Gem Dragonborn in this UA, I'm guessing this is just a Draconomicon book and not a Dragonlance campaign setting book (especially when including the Draconic Subclasses UA). Gem Dragons don't exist in Dragonlance, neither do Dragonborn (there are Draconians, but they are very different), and Dragon Monks and Drakewarden Rangers also lack any lore-connection to Dragonlance.
I could be wrong, but I'm just guessing that this is a shout out/Easter egg.
Edit: I'm also going to mention Icingdeath's Frost here. Icingdeath is Drizzt Do'Urden's icy scimitar (not sure what connection it has to dragons, besides being used to kill some, though). Drizzt is from the Forgotten Realms (which you probably already knew). This UA contains shoutouts to multiple worlds, which reaffirms my suspicions of this just being a Draconomicon, and not a Dragonlance campaign setting.
Edit 2: Raulothim is an Emerald Dragon from the Forgotten Realms. So, yeah, this also supports my current belief. And Nathair is a Forgotten Realms Fey-Deity of Pseudodragons and Fairy Dragons.
Edit: I'm also going to mention Icingdeath's Frost here. Icingdeath is Drizzt Do'Urden's icy scimitar (not sure what connection it has to dragons, besides being used to kill some, though). Drizzt is from the Forgotten Realms (which you probably already knew). This UA contains shoutouts to multiple worlds, which reaffirms my suspicions of this just being a Draconomicon, and not a Dragonlance campaign setting.
Agree that all signs point to a dragon book rather than a Dragonlance book.
Icingdeath is the name of the white dragon Drizzt got the scimitar from.
I don't think you're necessarily wrong, Third, though given other publications I think a lot of folks are pretty sure a Dragonlance sourcebook will be in the cards. That's not to say a book giving broader attention can't be published as well (and I'd say almost necessarily because dragons as they're portrayed in Krynn are ... not always the brightest IMHO. My own game has them much more three dimensional chess players than the dragons' sorta checkers style intellect exhibited in Krynn). Frankly the Drakewarden and Draconic Monk from past UA didn't really say "Krynn" at all to me, so there's more ammo there. It's just that with "three classic settings revisted" and a novel tie in trilogy already announced, Dragonlance seems really likely.
I think I've mentioned this before but maybe 2022 will be some sort of "Year of the Dragon" where Dragonlance is brought in alongside the novels, the Gemstone dragons are fleshed out, maybe celestial or elemental dragons etc. And finally, less I destroy more furniture through table flipping, WotC will unleash a path of the Dragon with !!!DRAGONRAGE!!!
That the UA talks about Bahamut and Tiamat gives further credence to non-setting specific dragon book, as on Krynn that's not their names, or at least the names used by their obvious stand ins (Queen of Darkness and Paladine, though apparently there's a debate on whether Bahamut and Paladine are one in the same while the consensus that Queen of Darkness and Tiamat are ... and to add more fodder to that other thread: in Krynn The Queen of Darkness dwells in The Abyss, though it's unclear whether there's as strong a Abyss/Hells distinction at least in the Dragonlance lore I'm familiar with.).
Yeah, reading it more I have serious doubts they'd try to wedge gem dragons into Dragonlance, and they'd probably just straight up have draconians as a race option as 4e did. This is looking more like a Draconomicon, which sounds great to me.
Mindless speculation, with the new Unearthed Arcana, focused on Draconic Options and containing spells like Fizban’s Platinum Shield is a Dragonlance campaign book around the corner?
No, this actually shows that Dragonlance isn't what these last few UAs have been for. These new Dragonborn don't resemble Draconians from Dragonlance in either fluff/lore or mechanics. 4e actually did playable Draconian Dragonborn variants, and they are nothing like this. For one thing there are no Chromatic or Gem Draconians, secondly the Metallic Dragonborn's mechanics are very different from Draconians, it doesn't seem to be tainted Metallic Dragons, but rather regular Dragonborn related to Metallic Dragons.
Also of the post Tasha's UAs all setting lore has been for Ravenloft (Gothic Lineages and Undead Patron/College of Spirits), or the Forgotten Realms (FR is mentioned in the Folks of the Feywild Fey Hobgoblins section and 3 of the spells are named after Dragons (or Fey Dragon God) in the Forgotten Realms, and Saridor/Tiamat/Bahumet are Forgotten Realms Gods are also mentioned in the UA.
Fizban is the odd man out, the single exception (being from Dragonlance) and that could simply be explained by the upcoming AFR MtG set. Fizban and Mordenkainen could both be Planeswalkers in the set, if it has Planeswalker at all. Tradition is that 1 or more of the Planeswalkers in an MtG set since they started doing Planeswalker cards, is from another Plane/World/Setting then the one where the set itself is taking place. The first set with a Planeswalker was Lorwyn I believe and the Planeswalker in it was Nissa who is actually from Zendikar. Tomorrow Strixhaven is being release (set on the Plane of Arcavios), and NONE of the 5 planeswalkers in the set are from Arcavios, surprisingly not even Kasmina (who is from an unknown plane), Will and Rowan Kenrith twins are from Eldraine, Lukka is from Ikoria, and Lilianna is from Dominaria. They can't use the regular MtG Planeswalkers in this set, its not MtG canon (it might be D&D canon), so if they do Planeswalkers for this AFR set, most of them need to be D&D characters capable of "planeshifting" that ARE NOT ACTUALLY FROM THE FORGOTTEN REALMS, to be visiting Planeswalkers. That could mean Fizban is on Toril now, just like Mordenkainen already is and maybe Tasha/Iggwilv (a guess I've heard from some).
So I suggest looking for a Fizban planeswalker and Mordenkaiken Planeswalker cards when AFR previews start.
Yeah, reading it more I have serious doubts they'd try to wedge gem dragons into Dragonlance, and they'd probably just straight up have draconians as a race option as 4e did. This is looking more like a Draconomicon, which sounds great to me.
Its 5e policy not to reuse names from prior editions for books (the PHB, MM, and DMG are exempt from this policy as they predate it).
So no Draconomicon. Either its a VGTM/MTOF style book with a Dragon section (and possibly a Feywild section) or its a Faerun Campaign World Guide Book tied into the up coming MtG Forgotten Realms set with Fizban a visiting Planeswalker from Krynn.
Yeah, reading it more I have serious doubts they'd try to wedge gem dragons into Dragonlance, and they'd probably just straight up have draconians as a race option as 4e did. This is looking more like a Draconomicon, which sounds great to me.
Its 5e policy not to reuse names from prior editions for books (the PHB, MM, and DMG are exempt from this policy as they predate it).
So no Draconomicon. Either its a VGTM/MTOF style book with a Dragon section (and possibly a Feywild section) or its a Faerun Campaign World Guide Book tied into the up coming MtG Forgotten Realms set with Fizban a visiting Planeswalker from Krynn.
Considering Fizban is actually a god in disguise, I really doubt he will show up anywhere outside a Dragonlance book beyond just a casual mention.
Yeah, reading it more I have serious doubts they'd try to wedge gem dragons into Dragonlance, and they'd probably just straight up have draconians as a race option as 4e did. This is looking more like a Draconomicon, which sounds great to me.
Its 5e policy not to reuse names from prior editions for books (the PHB, MM, and DMG are exempt from this policy as they predate it).
So no Draconomicon. Either its a VGTM/MTOF style book with a Dragon section (and possibly a Feywild section) or its a Faerun Campaign World Guide Book tied into the up coming MtG Forgotten Realms set with Fizban a visiting Planeswalker from Krynn.
Considering Fizban is actually a god in disguise, I really doubt he will show up anywhere outside a Dragonlance book beyond just a casual mention.
Yeah, that’s why a Draconomicon book actually makes more sense. It’s typically a setting agnostic book about dragon lore that can be used in any setting.
The argument that this must be a Dragonlance book because Fizban is an avatar of a Dragonlance God can be flipped back around considering that Nathair, another name used for one of the spells in this book, is the Forgotten Realm God of faerie dragons and psuedodragons. Icingdearh is also a known dragon of the Forgotten Realms, same as Raulothim. Fizban is the outlier here.
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"Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup."
Yeah, reading it more I have serious doubts they'd try to wedge gem dragons into Dragonlance, and they'd probably just straight up have draconians as a race option as 4e did. This is looking more like a Draconomicon, which sounds great to me.
Its 5e policy not to reuse names from prior editions for books (the PHB, MM, and DMG are exempt from this policy as they predate it).
So no Draconomicon. Either its a VGTM/MTOF style book with a Dragon section (and possibly a Feywild section) or its a Faerun Campaign World Guide Book tied into the up coming MtG Forgotten Realms set with Fizban a visiting Planeswalker from Krynn.
I mean sure, they'll call it Dumpo's Dragon Depot or some other alliterative nonsense, but if this is not a book entirely focused on dragons I'll eat my dice bag. There's just too much here for the dragon content to be side material in a bigger book. You don't introduce gem dragonborn without rolling out a whole slew of gem dragons, and there's UA for dragon-flavored subclasses.
There's no way it's a Faerun book with like one chapter on dragons and 9 more with content we haven't seen a shred of. This UA would absolutely be more of a mixed bag instead of 100% dragon-themed content. Dragons are far too iconic and a dragon-focused book is widely known to be something people want.
Yeah, reading it more I have serious doubts they'd try to wedge gem dragons into Dragonlance, and they'd probably just straight up have draconians as a race option as 4e did. This is looking more like a Draconomicon, which sounds great to me.
Its 5e policy not to reuse names from prior editions for books (the PHB, MM, and DMG are exempt from this policy as they predate it).
So no Draconomicon. Either its a VGTM/MTOF style book with a Dragon section (and possibly a Feywild section) or its a Faerun Campaign World Guide Book tied into the up coming MtG Forgotten Realms set with Fizban a visiting Planeswalker from Krynn.
Considering Fizban is actually a god in disguise, I really doubt he will show up anywhere outside a Dragonlance book beyond just a casual mention.
Yeah, that’s why a Draconomicon book actually makes more sense. It’s typically a setting agnostic book about dragon lore that can be used in any setting.
The argument that this must be a Dragonlance book because Fizban is an avatar of a Dragonlance God can be flipped back around considering that Nathair, another name used for one of the spells in this book, is the Forgotten Realm God of faerie dragons and psuedodragons. Icingdearh is also a known dragon of the Forgotten Realms, same as Raulothim. Fizban is the outlier here.
Well, Fizban is Paladine, who may or may not be Bahamut (it's not as spelled as The Dark Queen = Tiamat), though Fizban's schtick does resemble lore about Bahamut among the humanoids. I think letting Fizban simply be a point of reference to known D&D lore makes a lot more sense than some sort of contortion of it through MtG. "How would this fit in Krynn?" has a paragraph in almost every 5e book, so no need to go through planeshift mechanics to justify something that's already sorta in 5e's margins already. I mean y'all knew why Fizban's shield was platinum, right?
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Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Yeah, reading it more I have serious doubts they'd try to wedge gem dragons into Dragonlance, and they'd probably just straight up have draconians as a race option as 4e did. This is looking more like a Draconomicon, which sounds great to me.
Its 5e policy not to reuse names from prior editions for books (the PHB, MM, and DMG are exempt from this policy as they predate it).
So no Draconomicon. Either its a VGTM/MTOF style book with a Dragon section (and possibly a Feywild section) or its a Faerun Campaign World Guide Book tied into the up coming MtG Forgotten Realms set with Fizban a visiting Planeswalker from Krynn.
Considering Fizban is actually a god in disguise, I really doubt he will show up anywhere outside a Dragonlance book beyond just a casual mention.
Yeah, that’s why a Draconomicon book actually makes more sense. It’s typically a setting agnostic book about dragon lore that can be used in any setting.
The argument that this must be a Dragonlance book because Fizban is an avatar of a Dragonlance God can be flipped back around considering that Nathair, another name used for one of the spells in this book, is the Forgotten Realm God of faerie dragons and psuedodragons. Icingdearh is also a known dragon of the Forgotten Realms, same as Raulothim. Fizban is the outlier here.
Well, Fizban is Paladine, who may or may not be Bahamut (it's not as spelled as The Dark Queen = Tiamat), though Fizban's schtick does resemble lore about Bahamut among the humanoids. I think letting Fizban simply be a point of reference to known D&D lore makes a lot more sense than some sort of contortion of it through MtG. "How would this fit in Krynn?" has a paragraph in almost every 5e book, so no need to go through planeshift mechanics to justify something that's already sorta in 5e's margins already. I mean y'all knew why Fizban's shield was platinum, right?
As far as Avatars go Fizban is weird, he seems more seperate then regular D&D avatars are from their deities. He's human wizard for one thing, he might even have been born instead of simply created like most D&D Avatars. I think he is weaker then regular Avatars.
And if the rumors are right and Paladine is Bahumet's Dragonlance aspect, it explains why Fizban can visit FR (AO tends to restrict Gods from Realmspace when they don't have his permission to be present there, but Bahumet is already an FR God ).
The Chosen of Mystra like Elminister could argueably called Avatars of Mystra given that she's invested them with chunks of her own divinity and memories, making them immortal. I meantion this because Fizban seems like the Elminister of Dragonlance.
So Fizban is a human wizard, but he's also an Avatar of Paladine.
I still think Fizban is going to be a Planeswalker in AFR, Dream of the Blue Veil spell in Tasha's seems like it was made for the expressed purpose of justifying "Planeswalkers" in D&D, with the spell specifically mentioning Toril, Oerth, and Krynn, I think that was intended as foreshadowing for AFR set.
Yeah, reading it more I have serious doubts they'd try to wedge gem dragons into Dragonlance, and they'd probably just straight up have draconians as a race option as 4e did. This is looking more like a Draconomicon, which sounds great to me.
Its 5e policy not to reuse names from prior editions for books (the PHB, MM, and DMG are exempt from this policy as they predate it).
So no Draconomicon. Either its a VGTM/MTOF style book with a Dragon section (and possibly a Feywild section) or its a Faerun Campaign World Guide Book tied into the up coming MtG Forgotten Realms set with Fizban a visiting Planeswalker from Krynn.
I mean sure, they'll call it Dumpo's Dragon Depot or some other alliterative nonsense, but if this is not a book entirely focused on dragons I'll eat my dice bag. There's just too much here for the dragon content to be side material in a bigger book. You don't introduce gem dragonborn without rolling out a whole slew of gem dragons, and there's UA for dragon-flavored subclasses.
There's no way it's a Faerun book with like one chapter on dragons and 9 more with content we haven't seen a shred of. This UA would absolutely be more of a mixed bag instead of 100% dragon-themed content. Dragons are far too iconic and a dragon-focused book is widely known to be something people want.
The only Settings that this style of Gem Dragons have a major presence in is the Forgotten Realms and Planescape (I believe Mystara a has its own different version of Gem Dragons, with different types).
What makes you think they are going to pile tons of different Dragon lore into an entire chapter of this upcoming book?
So far we have some player options with Dragon flavour and we know Gem Dragons are likely getting a write up, but that could fit in an FR beastiary. Notice that this UA, outside of the 5 main Gem Dragon types, only refers to already published Dragon types (White, Red, Black, Blue, Green, Copper, Gold, Brass, Bronze, and Silver Dragons, with a reference to the God of Persudeodragons and Fairy Dragons, all of which are already published).
Seriously a Faerun Campaign Guide would likely have a fair sized Beastairy where you could put Gem Dragons in it and a fair sized character options section that could fit both the Dragon themed options and Feywild character options.
Look at Eberron's Campaign Book, it had 8 races (4 Iconic Eberron races Warforged, Kalastar, Changelings, Shifters, and 4 Gobliniod/Orc races, Goblins, Hobgoblins, Bugbears, and Orcs), an entire class Artificer with 3 subclasses, feats, Dragonmark house subraces, and party patrons.
So a FRCG type book could have a character options chapter with Metallic Dragonborn, Chromatic Dragonborn, Gem Dragonborn, Kobold Variant, Owlfolk, Rabbitfolk, Fairies, and Feywild Hobgoblins (FR actually has a nation of Feywild Gobliniods attacking parts of the Moonshae Isles), the Draconic Subclasses/Spells/feats and in the Bestiary in Gem Dragons, plus maybe even stats for a couple Famous Dragons. That is still less then the space that Eberron: Rising from the Last War spent on Character options and Monsters.
5e doesn't hyper focus in books except adventures like they did in previous editions.
It could still be part of VGTM/MTOFs style book with a Dragon and Feywild style chapters, but things really add up for an Faerun Campaign World Book.
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Mindless speculation, with the new Unearthed Arcana, focused on Draconic Options and containing spells like Fizban’s Platinum Shield is a Dragonlance campaign book around the corner?
https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/unearthed-arcana/draconic-options
Yes, that is already the suspected 2nd old school campaign setting that they will be reviving after Ravenloft.
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Didn't Dragonlance have nothing to do with dragons, save for the namesake magic item? I recall people talking about DL more as an old-fashioned low-magic Sword and Sorcery setting with very problematic shortstacks. Dragons nowhere in evidence, save in Myth and Legend. Was I misled?
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Yeah, it had everything to do with Dragons. I'd check out a wiki on Dragonlance or give the first book a try.
First book is basically "the legends are true!" And it goes from there.
Nice to see an upgraded dragon breath, but I'd prefer a weaker one as a bonus action over slightly strengthening it as an action.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
Yeah, in the "original" Dragonlance timeline, it starts when Dragons and gods were thought of as largely fairy tale myths, but in short order you have gods walking Krynn and armies with squadrons of dragons. The dragonlances were mythic weapons, which were also resuscitated as the war progressed. Orbs of Dragonkind I think make their first appearances in DL, and I think the 5e lore attached to them basically recounts their Krynn history in a way that can be ported to a lot of fantasy worlds.
Quick skim the new Dragonborn variants aren't quite the Draconians in Dragonlance, also curious how this may play out in their lore revision. In the original Dragonlance the Draconians, which were sort of the "elite" troops of the Dark Queen (Tiamat) army (otherwise consisting of the goblinoids and humans) were actually created by corrupting metallic dragon eggs (who were kept hostage by the Chromatic Dragons as some sort of guarantor to a neutrality pact. This violation is what got the metallic dragons involved in the War of the Lance.
Gem dragons I didn't know were a thing in Krynn, and I think in official 5e we only have the Saphire Dragon, so maybe we're getting those whether retconned to Krynn or a new to 5e Dragon faction.
Maybe because this UA is more diverse in content (races, spells, feats) my first glance is finding this pretty neat. However, I need to reset my table because I flipped it as a consequence of the lack of a Draconic Barbarian with DRAGONRAGE. I don't care what it is, just make it happen.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
It could be Dragonlance, or it could be a Draconomicon that just name drops Fizban (Paladine/Bahamut) in one of the spells. Xanathar's Guide to Everything has Tenser's Transformation in it, and even though Tenser is from Greyhawk, that doesn't mean the book has any connection to that setting. Spell names are just spell names, not necessarily any hint to a campaign setting book.
Due to the inclusion of Gem Dragonborn in this UA, I'm guessing this is just a Draconomicon book and not a Dragonlance campaign setting book (especially when including the Draconic Subclasses UA). Gem Dragons don't exist in Dragonlance, neither do Dragonborn (there are Draconians, but they are very different), and Dragon Monks and Drakewarden Rangers also lack any lore-connection to Dragonlance.
I could be wrong, but I'm just guessing that this is a shout out/Easter egg.
Edit: I'm also going to mention Icingdeath's Frost here. Icingdeath is Drizzt Do'Urden's icy scimitar (not sure what connection it has to dragons, besides being used to kill some, though). Drizzt is from the Forgotten Realms (which you probably already knew). This UA contains shoutouts to multiple worlds, which reaffirms my suspicions of this just being a Draconomicon, and not a Dragonlance campaign setting.
Edit 2: Raulothim is an Emerald Dragon from the Forgotten Realms. So, yeah, this also supports my current belief. And Nathair is a Forgotten Realms Fey-Deity of Pseudodragons and Fairy Dragons.
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Agree that all signs point to a dragon book rather than a Dragonlance book.
Icingdeath is the name of the white dragon Drizzt got the scimitar from.
I don't think you're necessarily wrong, Third, though given other publications I think a lot of folks are pretty sure a Dragonlance sourcebook will be in the cards. That's not to say a book giving broader attention can't be published as well (and I'd say almost necessarily because dragons as they're portrayed in Krynn are ... not always the brightest IMHO. My own game has them much more three dimensional chess players than the dragons' sorta checkers style intellect exhibited in Krynn). Frankly the Drakewarden and Draconic Monk from past UA didn't really say "Krynn" at all to me, so there's more ammo there. It's just that with "three classic settings revisted" and a novel tie in trilogy already announced, Dragonlance seems really likely.
I think I've mentioned this before but maybe 2022 will be some sort of "Year of the Dragon" where Dragonlance is brought in alongside the novels, the Gemstone dragons are fleshed out, maybe celestial or elemental dragons etc. And finally, less I destroy more furniture through table flipping, WotC will unleash a path of the Dragon with !!!DRAGONRAGE!!!
That the UA talks about Bahamut and Tiamat gives further credence to non-setting specific dragon book, as on Krynn that's not their names, or at least the names used by their obvious stand ins (Queen of Darkness and Paladine, though apparently there's a debate on whether Bahamut and Paladine are one in the same while the consensus that Queen of Darkness and Tiamat are ... and to add more fodder to that other thread: in Krynn The Queen of Darkness dwells in The Abyss, though it's unclear whether there's as strong a Abyss/Hells distinction at least in the Dragonlance lore I'm familiar with.).
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Yeah, reading it more I have serious doubts they'd try to wedge gem dragons into Dragonlance, and they'd probably just straight up have draconians as a race option as 4e did. This is looking more like a Draconomicon, which sounds great to me.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
Dragonlance really does have a special place in my heart.
Altrazin Aghanes - Wizard/Fighter
Varpulis Windhowl - Fighter
Skolson Demjon - Cleric/Fighter
No, this actually shows that Dragonlance isn't what these last few UAs have been for. These new Dragonborn don't resemble Draconians from Dragonlance in either fluff/lore or mechanics. 4e actually did playable Draconian Dragonborn variants, and they are nothing like this. For one thing there are no Chromatic or Gem Draconians, secondly the Metallic Dragonborn's mechanics are very different from Draconians, it doesn't seem to be tainted Metallic Dragons, but rather regular Dragonborn related to Metallic Dragons.
Also of the post Tasha's UAs all setting lore has been for Ravenloft (Gothic Lineages and Undead Patron/College of Spirits), or the Forgotten Realms (FR is mentioned in the Folks of the Feywild Fey Hobgoblins section and 3 of the spells are named after Dragons (or Fey Dragon God) in the Forgotten Realms, and Saridor/Tiamat/Bahumet are Forgotten Realms Gods are also mentioned in the UA.
Fizban is the odd man out, the single exception (being from Dragonlance) and that could simply be explained by the upcoming AFR MtG set. Fizban and Mordenkainen could both be Planeswalkers in the set, if it has Planeswalker at all. Tradition is that 1 or more of the Planeswalkers in an MtG set since they started doing Planeswalker cards, is from another Plane/World/Setting then the one where the set itself is taking place. The first set with a Planeswalker was Lorwyn I believe and the Planeswalker in it was Nissa who is actually from Zendikar. Tomorrow Strixhaven is being release (set on the Plane of Arcavios), and NONE of the 5 planeswalkers in the set are from Arcavios, surprisingly not even Kasmina (who is from an unknown plane), Will and Rowan Kenrith twins are from Eldraine, Lukka is from Ikoria, and Lilianna is from Dominaria. They can't use the regular MtG Planeswalkers in this set, its not MtG canon (it might be D&D canon), so if they do Planeswalkers for this AFR set, most of them need to be D&D characters capable of "planeshifting" that ARE NOT ACTUALLY FROM THE FORGOTTEN REALMS, to be visiting Planeswalkers. That could mean Fizban is on Toril now, just like Mordenkainen already is and maybe Tasha/Iggwilv (a guess I've heard from some).
So I suggest looking for a Fizban planeswalker and Mordenkaiken Planeswalker cards when AFR previews start.
Its 5e policy not to reuse names from prior editions for books (the PHB, MM, and DMG are exempt from this policy as they predate it).
So no Draconomicon. Either its a VGTM/MTOF style book with a Dragon section (and possibly a Feywild section) or its a Faerun Campaign World Guide Book tied into the up coming MtG Forgotten Realms set with Fizban a visiting Planeswalker from Krynn.
Considering Fizban is actually a god in disguise, I really doubt he will show up anywhere outside a Dragonlance book beyond just a casual mention.
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Yeah, that’s why a Draconomicon book actually makes more sense. It’s typically a setting agnostic book about dragon lore that can be used in any setting.
The argument that this must be a Dragonlance book because Fizban is an avatar of a Dragonlance God can be flipped back around considering that Nathair, another name used for one of the spells in this book, is the Forgotten Realm God of faerie dragons and psuedodragons. Icingdearh is also a known dragon of the Forgotten Realms, same as Raulothim. Fizban is the outlier here.
"Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup."
Characters for Tenebris Sine Fine
RoughCoronet's Greater Wills
I mean sure, they'll call it Dumpo's Dragon Depot or some other alliterative nonsense, but if this is not a book entirely focused on dragons I'll eat my dice bag. There's just too much here for the dragon content to be side material in a bigger book. You don't introduce gem dragonborn without rolling out a whole slew of gem dragons, and there's UA for dragon-flavored subclasses.
There's no way it's a Faerun book with like one chapter on dragons and 9 more with content we haven't seen a shred of. This UA would absolutely be more of a mixed bag instead of 100% dragon-themed content. Dragons are far too iconic and a dragon-focused book is widely known to be something people want.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
Well, Fizban is Paladine, who may or may not be Bahamut (it's not as spelled as The Dark Queen = Tiamat), though Fizban's schtick does resemble lore about Bahamut among the humanoids. I think letting Fizban simply be a point of reference to known D&D lore makes a lot more sense than some sort of contortion of it through MtG. "How would this fit in Krynn?" has a paragraph in almost every 5e book, so no need to go through planeshift mechanics to justify something that's already sorta in 5e's margins already. I mean y'all knew why Fizban's shield was platinum, right?
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
As far as Avatars go Fizban is weird, he seems more seperate then regular D&D avatars are from their deities. He's human wizard for one thing, he might even have been born instead of simply created like most D&D Avatars. I think he is weaker then regular Avatars.
And if the rumors are right and Paladine is Bahumet's Dragonlance aspect, it explains why Fizban can visit FR (AO tends to restrict Gods from Realmspace when they don't have his permission to be present there, but Bahumet is already an FR God ).
The Chosen of Mystra like Elminister could argueably called Avatars of Mystra given that she's invested them with chunks of her own divinity and memories, making them immortal. I meantion this because Fizban seems like the Elminister of Dragonlance.
So Fizban is a human wizard, but he's also an Avatar of Paladine.
I still think Fizban is going to be a Planeswalker in AFR, Dream of the Blue Veil spell in Tasha's seems like it was made for the expressed purpose of justifying "Planeswalkers" in D&D, with the spell specifically mentioning Toril, Oerth, and Krynn, I think that was intended as foreshadowing for AFR set.
The only Settings that this style of Gem Dragons have a major presence in is the Forgotten Realms and Planescape (I believe Mystara a has its own different version of Gem Dragons, with different types).
What makes you think they are going to pile tons of different Dragon lore into an entire chapter of this upcoming book?
So far we have some player options with Dragon flavour and we know Gem Dragons are likely getting a write up, but that could fit in an FR beastiary. Notice that this UA, outside of the 5 main Gem Dragon types, only refers to already published Dragon types (White, Red, Black, Blue, Green, Copper, Gold, Brass, Bronze, and Silver Dragons, with a reference to the God of Persudeodragons and Fairy Dragons, all of which are already published).
Seriously a Faerun Campaign Guide would likely have a fair sized Beastairy where you could put Gem Dragons in it and a fair sized character options section that could fit both the Dragon themed options and Feywild character options.
Look at Eberron's Campaign Book, it had 8 races (4 Iconic Eberron races Warforged, Kalastar, Changelings, Shifters, and 4 Gobliniod/Orc races, Goblins, Hobgoblins, Bugbears, and Orcs), an entire class Artificer with 3 subclasses, feats, Dragonmark house subraces, and party patrons.
So a FRCG type book could have a character options chapter with Metallic Dragonborn, Chromatic Dragonborn, Gem Dragonborn, Kobold Variant, Owlfolk, Rabbitfolk, Fairies, and Feywild Hobgoblins (FR actually has a nation of Feywild Gobliniods attacking parts of the Moonshae Isles), the Draconic Subclasses/Spells/feats and in the Bestiary in Gem Dragons, plus maybe even stats for a couple Famous Dragons. That is still less then the space that Eberron: Rising from the Last War spent on Character options and Monsters.
5e doesn't hyper focus in books except adventures like they did in previous editions.
It could still be part of VGTM/MTOFs style book with a Dragon and Feywild style chapters, but things really add up for an Faerun Campaign World Book.