Is there another more D&D month than October? I mean, Ravenloft, undead, were wolves, you name it.
In order to celebrate I have embarked on a mission to read the complete works of Edgar Allan Poe and so far it hasn’t disappointed.
It has been a while
For a while there, I did some fairly decent amount of work in this blog, but then real life hit me, and I ended up with a new job among other things. Despite this minor inconvenience, I have been keeping up on my reading. I ended up reading The Lost Chronicles again, however, this time, I read it in reverse for some reason. That being said, it is still one of my favorite trilogies.
War Wizard is of course the most exciting thing in a long time. There are many reviews outthere so I am not going to do one, but I did enjoy it. If you expect a version Magius that resembles the version we got in the Huma book, you will be disapointed. I really like that version, and I will be using that in my games. Anyway, read it and make up your own mind.
We are also getting a bunch of interesting gaming supplements next year. I for one am really excited about new Dragonlance and Greyhawk material. Luke Gygax will be the main driver of the Greyhawk material, which I find really encouraging.
So, I think we might something to look forward to. Read more here.
Neuromancer treaser trailer
I guess I am getting an AppleTV+ subscription.
Dark Citadel: Adventure Ideas for Fistandantilus’ Legacy
It is not a secret that I think Fistandantilus is one of the best villains in Dragonlance. He is powerful, evil and importantly enigmatic. We don’t really know all that much about him at the end of the day. Yet, he is very present, especially in Chronicles and Legends, albeit behind the scenes. Due to his connection to Raistlin we learn some tidbits and some might argue that he returns in almost full form during Dragons of the Hourglass Mage.
But what if we look at the character before his encounter with Raistlin. He had an unusually long life span, during which he created many spells and magical items. Could that be used in a meaningful way in a campaign set during The Age of Mortals? He must have left things behind. Could there be an arc here, where the players explore some of his former dwellings and find clues to old mage’s dealings throughout the centuries. Maybe they will find more questions than answers. Maybe some his spells can be used to restore the land or fight the Dragon Overlords?
Enter Dark Citadel: The Legacy of Fistandantilus. My very own attempt at writing up an adevnture type storyline where the players explore Skullcap and Ulgaard in search of Fistandantilus’ lost magic.
This is a small snippet of what I have in mind.
In the obsidian ruins of Skullcap, the past is not dead — it’s waiting.
When a forbidden tome penned by Fistandantilus himself resurfaces, Tarsis becomes a battleground of secrets. A silent cabal hunts for lost magic, a silver‑haired sage knows more than he admits, and the shadows of the Dark One coil through forgotten halls beneath the Garnet Mountains.
Adventurers who descend into Zhaman’s shattered depths will find more than undead echoes and twisted iron — they’ll uncover a legacy powerful enough to reshape Ansalon.
Some doors were sealed for a reason. This adventure opens them.
Some legacies refuse to die.
New Greyhawk material on the way
This is old news, but I think I should at the very least mention it here since I think it is a significant move by Wizards of the Coast.
I think there are three key take awas from this announcement:
A classic setting is receiving an update. This could mean that we will see other updates, for instance the Mystara setting deserves an update.
Luke Gygax will be involved. The Gygax name is holy among people my age. Given the history of TSR and Gary Gygax I think this is a small step towards making things right. And to be honest, Luke Gygax seems like a really cool guy and having someone like him involved in Greyhawk going forward would be really good for everyone.
Wizards acknowledged that D&D lost its way. For a long time now, the material relases has been lackluster. Unimaginative rehashing of old material does not make something creative or exciting. Coupled with a lack of respect for the source material – you know where I am going with this.
I hope to see the setting moving forward based on the source material in a fun way. Maybe we can finally find out why Rary decided to attack the Circle of Eight.
Moving forward; Dragonlance v. Next
For a while now, I have been wanting to write a blog post about how one could move Dragonlance forward in the timeline, without destroying what came before. I think the Greyhawk community did a pretty good job of doing this on their own, after the setting was abandoned by Wizards of the Coast, however, the Dragonlance community has not really done the same thing. Truth be told, I wonder if there really is a Dragonlance gaming community around?
The starting point should be the end of the Dark Disciple trilogy, as that was the last published work on Dragonlance that moved the setting forward. Obviously Dragonlance Destinies opened the possibility of a different timeline, one in which Chaos is never released, but let’s not assume it will have an impact on any future releases.
So, if we stick to the published work, there are several constraints we need to consider:
- Takhisis and Paladine are dead.
- The other gods are back
- The elves have been driven from their homelands and now reside in the valley of The Blue Phoenix.
- High Sorcery is being rebuilt
- Sorceres and mystics excist
- There are still a few Dragon Overlords around
- The minotaurs have conquered Silvanesti
- Lord Golgren is trying to rebuild the ogre nations with one hand
- The Tower of Palanthas is now located in Nightlund
- Lord Soth has left the building
- The knights of Takhisis/Neraka are still around to some extent
- Mystics and sorcerers are around
- Mina excists now
There has been a tendency to build the storyline around grand wars, so maybe the future should take a different turn, and make the storyline more focused on rebuilding the world. However, this could sow the seeds for new conflicts. Conflicts that start small with the potential to develop into something much bigger.
Maybe the future conflicts are less about what the gods want, and more about what the peoples of Krynn want? Here’s a list of random ideas that could be developed:
- Lord Golgren wants to expand Ogre culture and Ogre territory and decide to attack the minotaurs in Silvanesti.
- The Knights of Neraka try to re-establish a powerbase in the valley of Neraka but must be covert.
- The Wizards of High Sorcery attempt to secure the Tower of Knightlund but seeking to appoint a new master of the tower.
- The elves create a new homeland in the valley The Blue Phoenix but plan to go back to Qualinesti and re-establish that kingdom.
- Since the minotaurs have invaded Silvanesti, maybe they are vulnerable to attacks at home.
- Tarsis is being rebuilt. After the forest of Qualinesti has expanded Tarsis has a new opportunity to rekindle its economic future. Maybe there are various factions in the city vying for control of tis future. And let’s not forget about the library of Khrystan.
I believe there are many more ideas that could be explored here, but these are just some of the ones I have been toying with. There could be many great campaigns still to be had in Krynn all one needs to do is to dream a little and come up with some good ideas.
War Wizards incoming
Planning my reading for 2026
In an attempt to rid myself of all the social media brain rot, I have decided to contiue my reading routine. However, since I am getting older, and I have read pretty much all the D&D novels, I figured it is time to diversify a bit. I am going back to my academic roots, so this year I plan to read more non-fiction. Actually, I haven’t read non-fiction since grad school, so actually I will start reading non-fiction again.
Here’s reading list for 2026, so far:
Master of Evil (Star Wars) by Adam Christopher | Goodreads
Eisenhorn (Eisenhorn, #1-3) by Dan Abnett | Goodreads
Obviously, I will buy Dragonlance Legacies when it is published, but I expect that it will reach European shores this summer, so hopefully I can finish these three before that.
In addition to these books, I am rebuilding my Blureberry collection, so I will get my grubby hands on the rest this year too.
Year in books 2025
Our good friends at Goodreads just sent me the annual overview. There’s not much interesting there, but I tend to post it every year, so here we go.
#GoodreadsYearInBooks
More of the Good Stuff – HOMM3
I guess the algorithm actually works for me for once. Since I was looking at the new HOMM game, I have stumbled across a bunch of Youtube channels that have made an AI generated real life version of aspects of the game.
Yeah, it’s AI generated, which I am not sure how I feel about, but the results are stunning. The amount of work the creator has put in to this is impressive. I have put one of the snippets in this post, but if you are into Heroes of Might and Magic 3, I can highly recommend this channel.
Way to go Echoes of the Past