Close
Close
Please choose which option you would like to add to your cart.
Advanced Search

DLA1 Dragon Dawn (2e)Click to magnify
Quick Preview
/gs_flipbook/flip.php?xml=/demo_xml/209339.xml&w=500&h=331
Full‑size Preview
https://watermark.dmsguild.com/pdf_previews/209339-sample.pdf

DLA1 Dragon Dawn (2e)

ADD TO WISHLIST >
Selected Option:

Venture once more to the world of Krynn, but this time to the continent of Taladas, largely untouched by the war of the Lance.

The dragons here are Othlorx, the Uninvolved, because they remain neutral in the struggle against the evil of Takhisis and her minions. Then why are they being systematically exterminated? Who wants all dragons on Taladas dead?

Your heroes must set on a dangerous trek in pursuit of dragon killers, through the lands of hostile holderfolk and to the mysterious Pillars of the Moon. Along the way they encounter Dragon Knights (warriors with a magic touch!) ancient guardians, and other surprises in the transformed realm of Taladas.

This AD&D® adventure, set in the world of the DRAGONLANCE® saga, is the first of an epic trilogy beginning in the previously unknown continent of Taladas and ranging out to the Astral plane. Players must track down the dragon killers and warn the conclave of the Othlorx, but those are only the first steps in thwarting a dreadful conspiracy aimed at all of Krynn!

Product History

DLA1: "Dragon Dawn" (1990), by Deborah Christian, is the first adventure in the Taladas trilogy for Dragonlance. It was published in February 1990.

Origins: The Taladas Trilogy. The "FRE" trilogy (1989) and the "DLE" trilogy (1989) set a new standard for D&D adventures: they'd be trilogies that created epic stories. The Dragonlance line continued right on with that in 1990 with its second trilogy, the "DLA" series.

However, there was one big change. The previous year had seen the publication of Time of the Dragon (1989), which details the continent of Taladas, the first of TSR's planned sub-settings. The "DLA" trilogy of adventures would be the first to support that sub-setting.

Adventure Tropes. DLA1: "Dragon Dawn" (1990) is a tracking adventure, where players are on the trail of dragon hunters. This results in encounter-based episodic play, moving the players carefully along the plotline (and the trail). That's interspersed with some wilderness encounters and a few location-based encounters, but none of them are extensive.

Metaplotting Along. "Dragon Dawn" has a somewhat surprising backstory. It focuses on evil dragons from Taladas joining the Dragon armies. Now, the Othlorx of Taladas are coming together to decide whether their good members should join as well … resulting in a bounty being place on good dragon heads (ears) in Taladas.

The surprising bit about all of this is that it reveals "Dragon Dawn" as contemporary with the War of the Lance. Dragon #224 (December 1995) would later verify its dating at 348 AC, three years before the traditional starting date of the "DL" Dragonlance Chronicles adventures (1984-1986). This makes the entire Taladas trilogy into a prequel for the Chronicles, revealing a secret history on Taladas before the Companions began their quest.

Expanding D&D. A new very Krynnish class is introduced, the dragon knight, a new warrior-based class for Taladans, complete with Othlorx dragon companions.

There are also character kits for dragon knights, the lizardfolk hurdu, and the minotaur-league legionaries of Erastas. "Dragon Dawn" uses an interesting format for these kits, laying each out on half a page with rules, background, and blank spaces so that players could just fill in their character details right on the kit if they wish.

Exploring Krynn: Taladas. This Taladas adventure ranges from Highvale in the League of Minotaurs through the Conquered Lands. It offers the best detail on various wilderness lands, including Spindle Gap, Deep Forest, and the refuge of Summerhome.

There's a nice full-color map of "The League of the Minotaurs Eastern Frontiers" that offers much more detail than the continental map in Time of the Dragon.

Monsters of Note. "Dragon Dawn" focuses on the Othlorx, the uninvolved dragons of Taladas. It also introduces a new sort of draconian, the sesk, who was an early experiment in Draconian creation, as well as the aforementioned hurdu, a new type of lizardfolk, cousin to the bakali.

About the Creators. Deborah Christian (aka Terry Randall) wrote for TSR and Mayfair in the late '80s and early '90s. She's probably better known for her extensive work on Mayfair's revised City-State of the Invincible Overlord under the Randall pen-name. This was her only Dragonlance work and her last supplement for D&D.

About the Product Historian

The history of this product was researched and written by Shannon Appelcline, the editor-in-chief of RPGnet and the author of Designers & Dragons — a history of the roleplaying industry told one company at a time. Please feel free to mail corrections, comments, and additions to shannon.appelcline@gmail.com.

We (Wizards) recognize that some of the legacy content available on this website does not reflect the values of the Dungeons & Dragons franchise today. Some older content may reflect ethnic, racial, and gender prejudice that were commonplace in American society at that time. These depictions were wrong then and are wrong today. This content is presented as it was originally created, because to do otherwise would be the same as claiming these prejudices never existed. Dungeons & Dragons teaches that diversity is a strength, and we strive to make our D&D products as welcoming and inclusive as possible. This part of our work will never end.

pixel_trans.gif
pixel_trans.gif
 
 Customers Who Bought this Title also Purchased
pixel_trans.gif
pixel_trans.gif
Reviews (0)
Discussions (3)
Customer avatar
Anatoliy S August 15, 2022 1:25 pm UTC
PURCHASER
As mentioned by Zia M below - Adventure Map included in the book will suffice for the play.

Additionally, Time of the Dragon (2e) could be bought here as well. It has detailed world map, which includes the region League of Minotaurs, on border of which scenario is taken place. Plus very good description of the region.

But the Adventure Map of this book still contains more details of the region than Talos world map from Time of the Dragon (2e).
Customer avatar
Lawrence J C June 02, 2021 3:57 am UTC
PURCHASER
Please keep your opinions to yourself.
Customer avatar
Zia M April 12, 2017 1:57 am UTC
PURCHASER
The Poster Map showing the Eastern Frontiers of the League of Minotaurs is missing from this release. This is a detail map of lands to the east of the League of Minotaurs Poster Map from the Time of the Dragon set. There is an adventure map in the module that can be used for the adventure itself and referenced against the larger maps from Time of the Dragon, so it is possible to run the adventure without it.
Narrow Results
$ to $
 Follow Your Favorites!
NotificationsSign in to get custom notifications of new products!
 Recent History















Product Information
Electrum seller
Author(s)
Rules Edition(s)
Pages
64
File Size:
8.2 MB
Format
Original electronic Click for more information
Scanned image
These products were created by scanning an original printed edition. Most older books are in scanned image format because original digital layout files never existed or were no longer available from the publisher.

For PDF download editions, each page has been run through Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software to attempt to decipher the printed text. The result of this OCR process is placed invisibly behind the picture of each scanned page, to allow for text searching. However, any text in a given book set on a graphical background or in handwritten fonts would most likely not be picked up by the OCR software, and is therefore not searchable. Also, a few larger books may be resampled to fit into the system, and may not have this searchable text background.

For printed books, we have performed high-resolution scans of an original hardcopy of the book. We essentially digitally re-master the book. Unfortunately, the resulting quality of these books is not as high. It's the problem of making a copy of a copy. The text is fine for reading, but illustration work starts to run dark, pixellating and/or losing shades of grey. Moiré patterns may develop in photos. We mark clearly which print titles come from scanned image books so that you can make an informed purchase decision about the quality of what you will receive.
pixel_trans.gif
Original electronic format
These ebooks were created from the original electronic layout files, and therefore are fully text searchable. Also, their file size tends to be smaller than scanned image books. Most newer books are in the original electronic format. Both download and print editions of such books should be high quality.
File Information
Watermarked PDF Click for more information
Watermarked PDF

These PDF files are digitally watermarked to signify that you are the owner. A small message is added to the bottom of each page of the PDF containing your name and the order number of your purchase.

Warning: If any files bearing your information are found being distributed illegally, then your account will be suspended and legal action may be taken against you.

Here is a sample of a page from a watermarked title:

File Last Updated:
April 10, 2017
This title was added to our catalog on April 11, 2017.