D&D’s Dragonlance board game designer reveals its secrets

Wizards of the Coast is trying something different with combat in Dungeons & Dragons. A book called “The Next Major Campaign” will be released by Wizards of the Coast. Dragonlance – Shadow of the Dragon Queen, it’s also releasing a board game — Dragonlance: Warriors of Krynn — at retail for $79.99. But it’s not a spinoff game, and it’s not a merchandising tie-in, either. It’s a separate and complementary experience, a kind of narrative engine dressed up to look like a traditional wargame. This could make it a great way to add homebrew campaign support in the future.

Warriors of Krynn is an abstract battle game — not a traditional wargame — one where tiny rectangular plastic markers stand in for large formations of warriors. It includes cardboard tiles with different terrain, shaped in such a way that they can create a single massive front line or multiple discrete battlefields, called “flanks,” in different undulating shapes — maybe even in a circle. There are also 28 mm heroic scale miniatures standing in for the heroes — representations of the same characters that will be exploring the world of Krynn in Shadow of the Dragon Queen. In fact, there’s nothing stopping players from bringing their own bespoke, personalized miniatures from their D&D game right into the board game.

Co-designer Rob Daviau is quick to point out that players won’t be battlefield commanders in Warriors of Krynn. They won’t be drawing their troops up into ranks and wheeling them left or right to advance or fall back. The battles can actually go on without them.

“When we were playtesting, we’d be like, Let’s assume that characters sit in the command tent and literally do nothing,” Daviau said during a press briefing. “These battles happen so quickly, but how long is it before everything goes wrong? It’s not so long.

“So the characters are important,” Daviau said. They’re just not necessarily leading the charge.

Put another way, Daviau said, “The battle is bigger than you. Each component is a different thing. You aren’t always in command, particularly at the lower levels. […]You are part of the battles happening all around you. [is] going to be doing a special mission.”

[Warning: The next paragraph will spoil the stakes of an early mission in Dragonlance: Warriors of Krynn, the board game from Wizards of the Coast, as well as the opening moments of Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen.]

Consider the following scenario. F. Wesley Schneider (Senior Designer at Wizards of the Coast) stated during the briefing that the first scenario involves the evacuation of a population of non-combatant soldiers, while the players attempt to save a large number of civilians unarmed. A group of hostile forces attacks the town, and it must put up a defense. Random elements on the board game will determine how effective this defense is. The players’ characters will be forced to adapt to the situation, helping where they can. However, their main goal is to rescue the innocent.

Take a look at Warriors of Krynn, therefore, as a novel way to depict what would otherwise be a narrative event in an RPG — a bit of flavor text written inside a box on the page turns into an abstract, evolving set of events in the board game. Wizards also pointed out that Warriors of Krynn won’t be required to run the campaign found inside the Shadow of the Dragon Queen book. The book will include other ways to experience the same battles, and won’t require any additional $79.99 purchase.

Warriors of KrynnAll 12 classes included in this report will have special rules Player’s Handbook — Barbarian, Bard, Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer, Warlock, and Wizard. What will the performance of a group consisting entirely of bards in this board game be? About as well as you’d expect a bunch of troubadours to do in an RPG inspired by old war movies, Daviau said. However, the goal of this design was to give everyone a place in the action. The outcomes of these battles will impact the RPG’s action and narrative, and vice-versa.

“There are 12 scenarios,” Daviau said. “Some of them tie very closely into key moments of the role-playing game, and some of them are a little less defined so the [Dungeon Master] can shape them, or remove them, or put them in as they like.” Ultimately, this collection of different battlefield scenarios should be able to serve as inspiration for novel homebrew campaigns, unlocking an entirely new storytelling tool for DMs and players alike.

Daviau is a board game industry legend for creating legacy board game mechanics. This genre includes his highly acclaimed boards games. Risk Legacy And Pandemic LegacyYou can also find award-winning titles like Gloomhaven Charterstone. As legacy games develop over time, they may include new rules or hidden elements. Some require you to tear apart cards and character sheets, which will permanently remove them from the game.

Warriors of KrynnThis isn’t a fully-fledged Legacy-style game. None of the components will be altered or destroyed, meaning that you’ll be able to reuse the game over and over again. But it will borrow one element from Daviau’s past work: sealed sets of cards that will only unlock once players have leveled up in the RPG. There will be other, more significant surprises as part of the story. Dragonlance – Shadow of the Dragon Queen unfolds.

The campaign book as well as the Campaign Book are available. Dragonlance: Warriors at KrynnOn Dec. 6, a board game will become available. Wizards of the Coast bundles will give groups two weeks of advance notice on the RPG. This RPG launches for consumers early on Nov. 22, but some packages may be available from Wizards of the Coast.