Dragons of Autumn Review
By John Grigsby, Staff Reviewer
Initiative Round
Dragons of Autumn is a Dragonlance d20 adventure from Sovereign Press. This 176-page softcover is based on an original design by Tracy Hickman, Harold Johnson, Douglas Niles, and Michael Dobson, and is adapted by Clark Valentine and Sean Macdonald. The cover art by Larry Elmore depicts the black dragon Onyx rising from a well to confront Sturn Brightblade, Raistlin Majere, and Flint Fireforge in the ruins of Xak Tsaroth. Lindsay Archer, Daniel Bryce, Larry Elmore, Dennis Cramer, Chris Dien, Jeff Easley, Alan Gutierrez, Jennifer Meyer, and Chris Tackett all contribute to the interior art. Dragons of Autumn retails for $29.99.
I can clearly recall the day I first discovered Dragonlance. I’d been a D&D player for about seven years, and in the back of a Toy Store at a mall, I found a D&D module labeled DL1 Dragons of Despair. The cover had a black dragon in a ruined city battling a quartet of adventurers. For a high school student working a summer job, the $10.95 price tag was dear (this was, after all, 1984), but it would be worth it. The cover alone assured me of that.
Dragons of Autumn takes us back to those early days of the Dragonlance saga, when no one had heard of Raistlin, or Caramon, or Tanis, or Laurana. This mega-adventure reprints the four classic Dragonlance adventures that started it all—Dragons of Despair, Dragons of Flame, Dragons of Hope, and Dragons of Desolation. If you have any idea what I’m talking about, then you already know the gist of this review. If not, read on, and I’ll try not to spoil anything for you.
Rumors of war move across the lands of Ansalon and strange creatures come down from the northern lands. Friends meet in the tree-town of Solace after many years apart, to reminisce about old times and adventures past. But a mysterious stranger with a blue crystal staff hearkens the return of the ancient gods to Krynn, along with creatures of myth to fight in their battles! The dragons have returned! An adventure like no other calls the heroes to re-discover the greatest gift given to the mortal races, to find a safe haven for hundreds of desperate refugees, and unearth the first secrets that might lead to the power of the dragonlance.
Those familiar with the original series of modules or the novel Dragons of Autumn Twilight know that the story centers around the Companions of the Lance, a band of eight heroes that feature prominently in the storyline. It can be fun to play established characters, and the stats for the Heroes of the Lance are provided in this work so that you can do just that. Even if you have only four players, there are options to involve all of the familiar characters.
But suppose you want to see how your own heroes would have handled the story? Well, there’s that option as well. The adventure very clearly details each of the major archetypes found in the story, their role within the storyline, the character from the novel that represented this archetype, and suggestions for a character that might replace them. If you play using the original characters or with eight participants, characters begin at 5th level, but there is an option for four characters, rather than eight (if your group is a more moderate size).
Those familiar with the original series will find that Dragons of Autumn carries the adventure all the way through the original DL4 Dragons of Hope. In terms of the novels, this adventure closes with the exit from Thorbardin (if all goes well). Though the adventure follows pretty closely the original plots of the modules (and the novel), there are enough difference that even a group that has experienced the original adventures would be wise to keep on their toes. Assuming that events will play out exactly as written can be detrimental. Of course, all statistics have been updated to 3.5 edition and the maps have been redrawn.
Critical Hit
The Dragonlance series of modules is a classic, a part of the past of D&D that gave major influence to what came after, and it’s good to see it preserved for future generations. My players, several of whom were children when Dragonlance premiered, never had the chance to play through this fabulous series, and now they can. A huge thank you to Margaret Wise for bringing she and Tracy Hickman’s fabulous adventures back to us!
Critical Fumble
Overall, the adventure looks beautiful, with plenty of new artwork and a shiny new statblocks, but gone is the beautiful isometric cartography that graced the originals. It isn’t that the new maps aren’t well-drawn or useful, but they cannot match the sense of wonder you felt looking at the original map of the depths of Xak Tsaroth from DL1.
On a similar note, all of the music from the original modules has been left on the cutting room floor. I realize that kids today aren’t into the arts as much as in my day, but one of the best memories I had from Dragonlance were the pieces of music written to accompany the adventures. For those who haven’t had the pleasure, these were actually musical compositions for guitar and/or piano, complete with lyrics, printed right in the adventure! It was simply awesome, especially if you had someone who could read music and accompany the player who sang “in character.” I actually sang Goldmoon’s Song for a talent show competition, once! (Though written for the character of Goldmoon, the lyrics were gender-neutral.) In this version, the lyrics to the songs are printed, but the songs themselves are lost to the ages.
Finally, I haven’t actually run the adventure yet, but it seems to me that the characters will need to be very careful in some of the combats. While the characters haven’t changed overmuch (I believe they started at 3rd level, rather than 5th, in the originals), dragons have changed extensively in the interim, going from average hit points in the double digits to those in the triple digits (with damage and armor class to match)! Even with a troupe of eight 5th-level characters, facing down a dragon can be extremely dangerous.
Coup d’Grace
Despite a few minor shortcomings, this is a worthy reprinting, and I anxiously await the release of Dragons of Winter and Dragons of Spring. Whether you are a Dragonlnace sage, or a newcomer to the world of Krynn, you’re sure to find some enjoyment in this update of a classic series of adventures. If you don’t care much for Dragonlance, this adventure can still be put to use, but you’ll need to do some extensive retooling to make it fit your campaign. Why not give it a try as written? You might find that what you thought wasn’t that interesting turns out to be just what you’re looking for.
Only one score, as this is a module, and much of our usual rating criteria doesn’t apply. This score reflects the fact that this is a classic restored, but missing some of the goodies that made it so great to begin with.
Final Grade: A-
