Dragonlance: The Epic Setting That Changed RPG

Picture this: it's 1984, a group of TSR designers are sitting around a table discussing how to create something no one had ever seen in an RPG before. Not just a dungeon to loot, not just a generic villain to defeat — but a world with real history, gods who genuinely intervene, heroes with human flaws, and dragons that choose their sides.

The result was Dragonlance — and the world of fantasy was never the same again.

If you've never heard of Krynn, prepare yourself for one of the most epic introductions in RPG history. And if you already know the setting, you're probably going to want to call your Game Master right now.

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What is Dragonlance and why should every RPG setting fan know it?

Dragonlance isn't just an RPG setting. It's a trilogy of novels (the Chronicles), an entire line of adventure modules, then a second trilogy (Legends), a series of short stories — and, at the center of all that, one of the most elaborate game systems ever created for AD&D.

What sets Dragonlance apart from any other fantasy world of its era? Actions have real consequences.

The gods aren't decorative names in a forgotten pantheon. They have families, ancient grudges, centuries-long plans — and when they're angry, they hurl mountains of fire from the sky. Literally. The Cataclysm, the central event of Krynn's history, was exactly that: the gods punished mortal arrogance by destroying the most powerful city in the world.

There was no going back after that.

If you want to understand why this setting still has passionate fans decades later, the answer lies in the worldbuilding: every detail exists for a reason, every race has a mythological origin, and every conflict reflects a larger battle between cosmic forces that never stop moving.

Practical tip: If you're new to Dragonlance, the best entry point is still the first volume of the Chronicles. It's where everything begins.

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The creation of Krynn: how a hammer made the stars

Everything begins in Chaos.

Before Krynn existed, there was only the void — and gods coming from Beyond, children of a High God who decreed that a new age needed to exist. Reorx, the Forging God, brought his hammer down upon Chaos. The sparks became stars. From the stars were born the spirits that would one day inhabit the world.

Then the trouble started.

The Gods of Good wanted to nurture these spirits. The Gods of Evil wanted to enslave them. The Gods of Neutrality wanted to give them the most dangerous of gifts: free will.

The result was the All-Saints War — and the Great Triangle that defines the moral structure of the entire Dragonlance universe. Good, Evil and Neutrality aren't just alignments on a character sheet. They are the pillars upon which all of Krynn was built.

Every race reflects one of these poles. The elves are favored of Good — long-lived, wise, slow to change. The ogres are creations of Evil — they were once the most beautiful race of all, until their own appetites destroyed them from within. And humans? They are called Maran, the Free-Willed. They are not fixed to any pole — and that is exactly what makes them the most precious and most dangerous race in the setting.

It is humans who give the universe its motion. They are the ones who move history forward.

(See our post on the races of Krynn to dive deep into elves, dwarves, kender and minotaurs.)

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The four laws of Krynn — and why they make Dragonlance unique

This is where the setting gets philosophically heavy in a very good way.

There are four fundamental laws in Krynn, decreed by the gods themselves — and they explain why the stories of this world carry so much weight:

1. Good Redeems Its Own — Good advances through compassion, not conquest. It seeks to recover those who are lost, not destroy those who disagree.

2. Evil Devours Itself — Evil believes in power through the elimination of the weak. The problem? That logic always finds an enemy within itself. Takhisis, the Queen of Darkness, is eternally fighting against her own allies.

3. Good and Evil Must Coexist — Neutrality is the guardian of contrast. A world entirely of light or entirely of darkness would be a world without choice. It is conflict that gives meaning to any decision.

4. The Law of Consequence — the most important of all: every action returns. Blessing or punishment. Not necessarily immediately — but inevitably.

This is why Dragonlance produces stories with real weight. Raistlin Majere, the most powerful mage in the setting, achieved absolutely everything he desired — and discovered that selfish victories are hollow when you've destroyed everything that mattered to get there.

This isn't generic fantasy plot. This is Greek tragedy with twenty-sided dice.

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How to play Dragonlance today: from classic AD&D to D&D 5e

For decades, the official setting was tied to AD&D — the original Dungeons & Dragons, with rules far more complex than current D&D 5e.

But in 2022, Wizards of the Coast brought Krynn back with Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen, a campaign book for D&D 5e that revisits the War of the Lance — the central conflict of the Chronicles — with modern rules. It's the perfect entry point for anyone who wants to play in this fantasy world today, without needing to master 1980s AD&D.

If you have a group and want an epic campaign featuring chromatic dragons, Knights of Solamnia and robed mages, this book is your starting point.

For the Game Master who wants to go deep into worldbuilding, reading the Chronicles before running the campaign is almost mandatory. The original trilogy by Weis and Hickman defines the tone, the characters and the iconic moments in a way no sourcebook can replicate on its own.

Practical tip: Dragon-themed dice look absolutely fantastic at a Dragonlance table. For that initiative roll with atmosphere, a dragon-themed dice set already solves the table's entire aesthetic.

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Why Dragonlance still matters — and what's coming in this series

There are other rich fantasy worlds in RPG — Forgotten Realms, Eberron, Golarion. Why does Dragonlance still occupy a different place in the hearts of those who played it?

The answer has two parts.

First: the mythology of Krynn is complete and coherent in a way that few RPG settings manage to be. The gods aren't generic — each has their own personality, family and conflicts. Paladine, the father of Good, had to disguise himself as a bumbling old mage named Fizban the Fabulous in order to interfere in mortal conflicts without breaking the cosmic balance. This isn't decorative fluff. It's divine politics with consequences that last centuries.

Second: the heroes of Dragonlance are human in the truest sense. Tanis Half-Elven doesn't know if he belongs to the world of elves or humans. Raistlin sacrificed his own health for power and carries that in every scene. Caramon loves a brother who clearly doesn't deserve that love. These aren't perfect heroes — they're people trying to do the right thing in a world that makes nothing easy.

That's the formula. And it still works.

In the next posts of this series we'll dive into the factions, the races, the heroes and the villains that made Krynn an unforgettable world. Knights with impossible codes of honor. Mages divided by the color of their robes. A queen of darkness who never gives up.

And dragons. Many dragons.

(See our post on Dragonlance's iconic characters and find out why Raistlin Majere is one of the most complex mages in fantasy history.)

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Tell us in the comments: did you already know Dragonlance? Did you arrive through the Chronicles, through D&D 5e, or are you discovering it for the first time right now? Share it with that table-friend who still doesn't know what they're missing.