Krynn is at war with the evil Dragon Armies of Takhisis, and it's not going well for the good guys. In order to save the world from the impending doom of being ruled by a not-so-nice dragon-god, a group of heroes is needed to sway the tides! If you're up for the challenge, here's an overview of character options presented in Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen, as well as questions you may ask yourself as you build a character for Dragonlance.

• How has the Cataclysm affected you?
• Where do you stand on the War of the Lance?
• Are you a member of an organization?
• Who are your kin?

Let's Build Your Character Backstory

The world of Dragonlance is full of opportunities for dramatic character backstories. You have the end of the world (known as the Cataclysm), a departure of the gods, a period of mass migration and death, and rumors that an army of dragons are marching across Ansalon—the continent in which the campaign takes place.

When creating a character for your Dragonlance campaign, you'll want to consider how these events shaped your character and their ancestors. Perhaps your great, great grandfather tried to stop the Cataclysm but failed spectacularly. Maybe all that your family has known is the hardship of trying to survive in a healing world, so you haven't had time to learn the history of Krynn. Whichever way you slice it, establishing a deeper connection between your character and the world you're playing in is an effective way to become invested in the campaign to come.

Below, we'll pose some questions you can ask yourself (or your character) to help foster that deeper connection.

How Has the Cataclysm Affected You?

You can brush up on your Cataclysm lore in our Dragonlance primer, but the skinny of that event is this: A few hundred years ago, the ruler of one of Krynn's foremost nations wanted to become a god so that they might forever rule the land in the name of "good." The gods weren't too keen on that, so—pragmatic as gods often are— they dropped a fiery mountain on the continent as sort of a preemptive strike. Unfortunately, this act was just short of an extinction event for the people of Krynn, and those that survived enjoyed the Time of Darkness, 300 years of famine, plagues, and mass migrations. All the while, the gods were absent, as were their most loyal followers.

Presumably, your ancestors survived this era of Krynn's history. If you're playing a long-lived character, such as an elf, you may even have firsthand knowledge of these events. Consider these questions during character creation:

• Why did the gods not spare your family from the Cataclysm?
• How did the Cataclysm affect your family's perception of the gods?
• What scars did the Time of Darkness leave on your lineage?
• How has your family fared since the Time of Darkness ended?

Putting These Questions Into Action

Perhaps your family was once made up of a long line of devoted clerics who, for whatever reason, were not spared from the Cataclysm. This may have led them to turn away from the gods, and perhaps even form a pact with a suspicious new god or evil entity who helped them thrive during the Time of Darkness. As a result, your character was taught from a young age not to trust the old gods. Yet, they come to discover that their well-to-do family maintain a pact with this entity.

Where Do You Stand on the War of the Lance?

Rumors of the Dragon Armies' conquest have been slow to spread out of the east. Yet, your character will be among the few who hear them and learn the truth behind them. What you think of war and how you act on these rumors is important. Do you move to action and call on townsfolk to take up arms against their oppressors? Or do you keep these rumors to yourself out of fear of looking foolish? Perhaps you seek to investigate their validity. Understanding how your character would respond can help you shape how they may approach challenges they'll later face.

Although the Dragonlance adventure pits you against the Dragon Armies of Takhisis, you should understand why your character would oppose them. The Dragon Armies may, in part, be comprised of people you once respected or even fought alongside. How would your character react if offered a solution to their woes in exchange for servitude under Takhisis? Your character may cling to the hope that salvation lies in rejecting the Dragon Queen's rule, or maybe they just have a thing against chromatic dragons.

Decide Why You'll Take Up Arms

The people of Krynn have suffered much in recent centuries. Why then would you take up arms rather than flee from the threat of war? Your character may believe that by helping others and protecting their homeland is a way to redeem themselves after a life of crime. War could also be an opportunity to make a fortune—or just help you win the approval of your overbearing father who won't get off your back about attending bard school instead of joining the Knights of Solamnia.

Are You a Member of an Organization?

It's no small feat to go up against Dragon Armies. If you're lucky—and have the DM's approval—you might just make some friends along the way in the form of the Knights of Solamnia and the Mages of High Sorcery. Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen provides the option of joining these organizations through the use of backgrounds and feats, which we cover in another article. Membership in these organizations can further shape your character and even help provide an outlet for your morals and motivations. Below, I'll give you the lowdown on these organizations and pitch some classes that I think will pair well with them.

Knights of Solamnia

The Knights of Solamnia—or as I like to call them, the Knights of Salami—is an honorable organization devoted to protecting the common people and upholding justice. They're comprised of three orders: the Crown, the Sword, and the Rose. Your order is determined by your tenure with the organization and the ideals you would like to uphold. For instance, Knights of the Crown may be tasked with aiding any knight who calls on them, whereas the Knights of the Sword may be charged with protecting the defenseless. Your character's backstory and future goals can influence which order they join. For example, if your hometown was occupied by a gang of bandits, you may be drawn to the Knights of the Sword.

If you choose the Knight of Solamnia background, you'll start with the Squire of Solamnia feat. This feat could influence your character build. First, the feat reduces the amount of movement mounting and dismounting costs to 5 feet. Second, it allows you to make weapon attack rolls at advantage a limited number of times and deal extra damage when they hit.

Building a Knight of Solamnia

No two knights are the same, even if you share an order. You might lean hard into mounted combat, choosing the Cavalier fighter subclass, which helps you guard others against enemies and makes you a menace in open fields. Or you may lean into the politicking that comes with being a figure of honor and loyalty, taking up bardic training and choosing the College of Swords to back up your words with your blade. The Mastermind rogue subclass would be an interesting option as well, allowing you to play both tactician and spy and spend time behind enemy lines, learning their next move and sabotaging them.

For a classic feel, choose the paladin class. Your oath will flesh out your character's approach to their order.

Here's the Tea on the Knights of Solamnia

Look, I'm not one to gossip, but the Knights of Solamnia don't exactly have a spotless record. Remember how a whole continent was ruled by a succession of kingpriests? Yeah, the Knights of Solamnia may have allied themselves with the kingpriests, allowing them to create a continent-spanning empire. That's left some folks kind of bitter. If you choose to become a Knight of Solamnia, you're going to have to contend with the organization's shortcoming, and a good number of people who simply don't trust its judgement. You're likely going to clean a lot of eggs and tomatoes off of your armor. But hey, that's character development!

Mages of High Sorcery

Honoring tradition and three gods of magic—the good god Solinari, the neutral god Lunitari, and the evil god Nuitari—the Mages of High Sorcery is what happens when all the spellcasters get together and start a super exclusive club of magic. Except their version of "You can't sit with us!" is barring you from ever practicing magic again. Oh, also, in order to fully join their club, you must pass a very deadly test. But no worries! If you want access to all the knowledge and power that comes with joining the Mages of High Sorcery, just make sure you don't die!

When creating a character that would join the Mages of High Sorcery, think about why you practice magic. Your answer will help you decide whether you don white, red, or black robes. Typically, mages that follow Solinari aim to do good with their magic; those that follow Lunitari aim to maintain balance and may further their own goals; and those that follow Nuitari put their needs before pretty much everything else, including their own order.

When you choose the Mage of High Sorcery background, you gain the Initiate of High Sorcery feat, in addition to other benefits. The feat grants your choice of two spells out of four based on your order.

Building a Mage of High Sorcery

If you're an ambitious spellcaster looking to join a like-minded organization, the Mages of High Sorcery is the place to look. Accepting magic wielders from all walks of life, the ranks of the Mages are filled with a wide variety of arcane aficionados. Naturally, wizards, warlocks, and sorcerers are the most likely to join the organization. However, College of Lore bards and Arcana and Knowledge Domain clerics could undoubtedly find themselves dedicated enough to learning to risk their lives by taking the Test of High Sorcery. 

In the world of Dragonlance, the aforementioned gods of magic are also associated with the red, white, and black moons that circle the skies of Krynn. This connection between moons and magic makes the Lunar Sorcery subclass introduced in Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen a strong thematic pick for spellcasters looking to devote themselves to a god of magic. 

Mage on the Run

Whether you fail your Test of High Sorcery (and survive) or put in your two weeks' notice with the Mages of High Sorcery, don't expect an amicable departure. Without the organization's permission, you won't be allowed to use magic once you've left their ranks. If you ignore this rule and practice magic anyways, you better hope that a member of the organization doesn't witness you performing magic. Members of the Mages of High Sorcery are duty bound to report "renegade mages" to their overseeing body, the Conclave. 

Who Are Your Kin?

The people of Krynn have faced unique—and let's face it, back-to-back—catastrophes that have shaped them and caused them to adopt different customs than brethren on other worlds. Let's take a walk through the most common folk you'll run into during your adventures on Krynn. Just keep in mind your DM has the final say on available player options. (So keep that harengon monk in your back pocket!)

Kender

Curious, inventive, and at times legendary knick-knack collectors, the kender are a new player option in Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen. These folk have ancestral ties to gnomes and can be found throughout Krynn—though they can be found elsewhere in the multiverse thanks to their tendency to fall through portals to other realms.

When building a kender character, it's important to note their Taunt trait, which allows them to protect allies by drawing danger to themselves. This trait can force a nearby creature to make attack rolls at disadvantage if they're aimed at targets other than you. Kender with big pools of hit points can use Taunt to act as a buffer between enemies and squishier allies, or, if your kender prefers to stay at a distance, the ability's 60-foot range could make an enemy waste an entire turn dashing toward you!

Dwarves

Both mountain dwarves and hill dwarves exist in the lands of Krynn, though they share a dislike for one another that stems back to a battle between their clans around the time of the Cataclysm. The mountain dwarves closed the gates of their underground kingdom after the fiery mountain devastated the continent of Ansalon, leaving the hill dwarves—who worked the land and traded with other surface folk—high and dry.

Since then, mountain dwarves have become a reclusive people, with only some venturing to the surface since the Cataclysm 300 years ago. Hill dwarves, on the other hand, have learned to survive in harsh lands and among other folk.

Elves

 Aloof and enigmatic, elves have formed several distinct clans on Krynn:

• Silvanesti is said to be the original elven kingdom and was the elves' center of power for untold generations. Recently, however, the land has been sieged by the Dragon Armies. Seeing no way to win against the might of Takhisis, an elven leader used a powerful magic item that unexpectedly warped Silvanesti into a nightmarish land. As a result, the people of Silvanesti have journeyed to the homes of other elves in seek of aid.
• Qualinesti elves are another group of high elves that follow more relaxed societal practices. They are less hierarchical than the Silvanesti, which has resulted in better relationships with outsiders.
• Kagonesti wood elves descended from elves that departed the lands of Silvanesti and sought a more harmonious relationship with nature. Unfortunately, this departure from the Silvanesti ways has been made a little bit awkward by the Silvanesti showing up on their doorstep, hoping to crash on their couch until they can sort out the situation in their homeland.

Gnomes

Gnomes on Krynn are typically associated with Mount Nevermind, a hollow, dormant volcano that houses the gnome's many experiments. Here, rock gnomes devise, create, and tinker with countless wondrous (and dangerous) inventions. While forest gnomes exist, they are rarer than their rock gnome cousins and prefer to seek harmony between nature and science rather than pursue endless innovation.

Humans

The most ubiquitous people of Krynn, humans have formed several nations on the continent of Ansalon and make up the primary military might through sheer strength of numbers. Ranging from the nomadic Plainsfolk of northern Abanasinian to the more prosperous people of Solamnia, the humans of Krynn have survived, adapted, and thrived throughout all of the terrible events that have marred their history.

Journey to Krynn

Now that you've got some character ideas percolating, it's time to book your trip to Krynn! Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen releases on December 6th, but for those that preorder a physical + digital bundle, the book can be accessed on D&D Beyond on November 22nd!

Michael Galvis (@michaelgalvis) is a tabletop content producer for D&D Beyond. He is a longtime Dungeon Master who enjoys horror films and all things fantasy and sci-fi. When he isn’t in the DM’s seat or rolling dice as his anxious halfling sorcerer, he’s playing League of Legends and Magic: The Gathering with his husband. They live together in Los Angeles with their adorable dog, Quentin.