The first module in the Dragonlance campaign, Dragons of Despair is a completely new concept for an adventure module. Heavily focused on story it straddles the line between roleplaying game and interactive fiction, and where you fall in terms of opinion on the module completely depends on what experience you want from the game.

The interactive fiction element of the module is underlined by the fact that the module strongly advises, right from the start, that the party uses the pre-rolled characters included in the module. If you are familiar with Dragonlance these aren’t just any characters, these are Tanis, Raistlin, Caramon, Tasslehof, Flint, Goldmoon and so on, these are central pieces of the story being told. Most central of all is Goldmoon who carries her Staff of Mishakal, an artifact of the gods that are supposedly gone from the world of Krynn. The module’s main objective is to take Goldmoon to the Disks of Mishakal with which she will be able to restore Clerical powers to a world long abandoned by the gods. 

The story is essentially the basis for the first book in Dragons of Autumn Twilight, so if you know that novel, it’s up to finding Khisanth or Onyx, the black dragon in Xak Tsaroth in whose hoard the Disks can be found.  With a beautiful and iconic cover by Clyde Caldwell and interior art by Jeff Easley, it’s a revolutionary module, love it or hate it. Plenty more to come in the DL series!