Seeds of Chaos (2e/SAGA)
When the Storms of Chaos rage¸ even gods seek safe harbor." -- Augury readings in Palanthas¸ 383AC (Anonymous) Krynn swelters in the grip of unnatural heat--a summer so dry and scorching the very world seems ready to burst into flame. Across this baked landscape¸ Lord Ariakan's armies of Dark Knights sweep unchecked. Finally¸ the great city of Palanthas¸ the jewel in Ansalon's crown¸ awaits the onslaught of unstoppable legions. In Seeds of Chaos¸ players have their choices of roles: - The proud Knights of Takhisis¸ dark paladins who have sworn a blood oath to their lord. Adhering to strict codes of honor and discipline¸ they lead the attack against pristine Palanthas; or - Defenders drawn from the populace of that imperiled city¸ waging the battle with whatever tools and tactics come to hand. In either case¸ the characters ultimately learn of their true enemy--a horde of chaos creatures lurking unseen beyond the northern horizen¸ poised to render every worldly conflict obsolete. Seeds of Chaos uses the AD&D game rules and provides information suitable for running the adventure using the SAGA rules as well. It is the start of a new adventure series that details the epic battles of the Chaos War¸ described in the novel Dragons of Summer Flame by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. This series can serve as a stand-alone campaign or as a crossover to introduce classic DRAGONLANCE players to the current FIFTH AGE setting. Product History Seeds of Chaos (1998) is a Chaos War adventure for the Dragonlance: Fifth Age RPG. It was published in October 1998. Origins (I): A Changing of the Guard. By the time that TSR breathed its last¸ in early 1997¸ Dragonlance creators Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman had long ago left the building. They initially departed in the late '80s¸ to pursue their own fiction careers. Though they returned to write new Dragonlance novels in the mid '90s¸ it appears that returned wasn't too satisfactory: their intended trilogy got compressed down to a single book¸ Dragons of Summer Flame (1995)¸ then they weren't part of the Fifth Age design team¸ who decided where Dragonlance was going next. This all changed with Wizards of the Coast's purchase of TSR. In Spring 1997¸ Weis and Hickman were invited to speak with Wizards¸ as part of an outreach program to major creators that had parted from TSR for various reasons. And as it happens¸ Weis and Hickman had ideas for big new changes to the Dragonlance world … Origins (II): And 'Lo¸ There Shall Come a Summit. However¸ Wizards needed to do more than just bring Weis and Hickman back into the fold. They also needed to bring them together with the Fifth Age development team to chart a cooperative path forward. The result was the Dragonlance Summit¸ held during a week in the Winter of 1997-1998 in Renton¸ Washington. Hickman reports that there were "misgivings on both sides going into the meeting"¸ but that they came together well. And¸ "the result was staggering". This may be because the authors and designers planned the future of Dragonlance together ¸ rather than either group taking control. A second summit would follow in June 1998¸ and for this one we have a full attendee list: Tracy Hickman¸ Margaret Weis¸ and Don Perrin represented the authors; Sue Cook¸ Stan! Brown¸ Miranda Horner¸ and Steve Miller represented the Fifth Age team; and Pat McGilligan¸ Peter Archer¸ and Mary Kirchoff represented TSR Books. The fact that a third of the summit members were members of the book department¸ including executive editor Kirchoff and managing editor Archer¸ shows how important Dragonlance was to Wizards' fiction publication. So perhaps i'ts no surprise that the plans that came out of that second summit¸ the big ideas that had been percolating since Spring 1997¸ w