Dragonlance Is Trending Over The Woke Dungeons & Dragons Controversy, But Hugo Award Nominated Cirsova Magazine Says It's "The Thing That Sent D&D Down This Road In The First Place"
As modern Dungeons & Dragons is embroiled in controversy, many fans began voicing their opinions on how to take back the hobby from woke activists. The result was Dragonlance getting into trending results and many advocating for Dragonlance to return to popularity. However, a Hugo Award nominated editor took exception saying, Dragonlance is “the thing that sent D&D down this road in the first place.”
Dragonlance is a D&D setting developed by Laura and Tracy Hickman, along with Margaret Weis. The setting is one of the most prolific for different gaming modules and spinoff games. However, the series is best known for its series of novels which began with dragons of Autumn Twilight in 1984, which included illustrations by Larry Elmore, one of the most famous fantasy artists still alive.
The giant success of the setting and novels led to more than 190 being written in the universe.
However, like many, creators Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis also have had problems with the current iteration of Dungeons & Dragons under the tenure of Wizards of the Coast. The creators filed a lawsuit in 2020 regarding a breach of contract from the company when the new owners refused to publish a new trilogy by the pair which a large portion of which had already been written.
The lawsuit was resolved, but there as a weird situation where many fan speculated that WotC made it difficult for the creators because of new initiatives to become more progressive in publications after recent Magic: The Gathering novels came under fire from woke activists for not being inclusive enough. Hickman and Weis’s editors were removed according to the filing, with new editor Nick Kelman added who was rumored to be there simply to kill the project.
The lawsuit was dropped by the authors, and they began releasing new Dragonlance books in 2022, which appeared to end the controversy.
While that trilogy of books is about all that’s come out of the setting, which doesn’t have much traction anymore, TTRPG fan Kevin Lamb went viral, posting two images saying, “TSR Dragonlance versus WOTC Dragonlance. Good Lord.” His post was accompanied with two images showing the difference.
Cirsova Magazine is known for its Hugo Award nomination for hard-hitting fantasy and loyal adherence to the pulps that spawned Dungeons & Dragons listed in the Appendix N of the original work. The magazine originally started as a roleplaying adventure setting and has some of the finest in modern fantasy publishing through its quarterly efforts.
The editor posted to X as Dragonlance began to trend, “Dragonlance is trending because people are saying ‘we must retvrn (to the thing that sent D&D down this road in the first place)’”
“Look, I get it. I, too, loved the Dragonlance books when I was a little kid, but the modules sent the game down a very rigid story-driven path while the books and setting itself stripped out almost all of the weird kitchen-sink elements that were baked into 1e.”
The result was worse gaming and a far blander fantasy genre in general due to its overwhelming popularity and influence.
Also, having read a baker's dozen Dragonlance books, the picture on the right looks pretty fucking Dragonlance to me [probably Tales II Trilogy, tho]
He followed up on the thread later, saying, “If you don't understand how making the game entirely about very special characters who play out a very special story is what led to everyone playing Tiefling twinks making meaningless dice rolls and everything else you're complaining about in modern D&D, then we can't help you.”
The posts caused controversy among those who loved the original books. However, Dragonlance does mark the beginning of an end for AD&D as it was the beginning of a host of products meant to be read and not played at the table, which watered down the RPG as the Cirsova editor said.
What do you think of Cirsova Magazine’s comments on Dragonlance and Dungeons & Dragons? Become a paid member to support our journalism and leave a comment.
If you enjoy great fantasy fiction with great worldbuilding and a classic D&D feel, read The Adventures of Baron von Monocle six-book series and support Fandom Pulse!
