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Tasslehoff's Pouches of Everything Revised/Champions of Krynn, Chapter 1 |
$13.95 |
Average Rating:4.7 / 5 |
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I was really looking forward to the release of this revised version of Tasslehoff's Pouches of Everything. Ever since the release of Shadow of the Dragon Queen, which is a fine enough product for what it is, I'd been wanting a more thorough sourcebook for Dragonlance in 5E, one that wasn't afraid of what makes Dragonlance unique and getting into the weird details of the lore and detailing information from beyond the War of the Lance time period. I figured the Dragonlance Nexus, the official fansite for the setting since Wizards' buyout of TSR, would be the ones to deliver.
I had already downloaded the earlier free version of the book from the Dragonlance Nexus website some years ago, but I figured this more official and revised edition would be worth it, especially in print. It does an all right job, but there was some things I was disappointed in. One was the reliance on Monsters of the Multiverse for some of the races presented, like minotaurs, instead of a more unique Krynn version - while insisting on not using official versions for other races, like kender. There are so many different elves and gnomes presented, but not noble draconians.
More frustrating for me was that the book's timeline only goes up to the aftermath of the War of Souls, making it only slightly more advanced than the timeline in the Dragonlance Campaign Setting from 2003! There were seven more years of books after that and it's so hard to find a good summary of what the current state of the setting is, since most folks are so concerned with the War of the Lance time period. Did no one read any of the books after War of Souls?
The book, minus the included Champions of Krynn, Chapter 1 adventure is 107 pages long. A book I quite appreciate, the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide is often maligned for its short length of 157. Tasslehoff's Pouches contain much more "crunch" - 74 pages of races, subclasses, factions, backgrounds, weapons, magic items and monsters compared to about 54 in the SCAG, leaving 23 pages for lore compared to the SCAG's 92. Unfortunately lore is what I need the most, given Shadow of the Dragon Queen's very surface level exploration of Dragonlance as a setting. But I understand crunch sells better than fluff.
I think the biggest disappointment in the whole book is the map on pages 106-107. In the print book it's spread over too pages with the names of cities and the text of the legend far far too small to read. But hey, I'd purchased the PDF! I could zoom in on that, right? But it looks like a very low resolution version of the map was used for the book, because zooming in on the PDF gives only blurred and pixelated messes that I can't read either. Now, you can find a good hi-res version of the map on the Dragonlance Nexus website, and Jared Blando and Francesca Baerald both did excellent maps of Ansalon recently for the official new novels and adventures, but it was still frankly a big irritation that this fan-made map that presumably goes above and beyond the Blando and Baerald maps in detail is, essentially, impossible to use in the book.
Obviously a lot of love and care for the Dragonlance setting went into this book, but I was hoping for more from this POD revised edition compared to the earlier free release. The biggest addition is the first chapter of a new adventure path, but I would've loved those pages to actually be filled with more lore and details about the setting in its current state, post 430 AC.
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Creator Reply: |
Hi there, thanks for your purchase. Due to the printing and pdf restrictions of the site, the detailed map was never going to work. This was our first foray with the DM's Guild publishing, and we've learned a lot in the last two years. We have since made sure not use maps that have that much text on them for these types of projects. Apologies. We ended up doing a deep dive on minotaurs in The Journals of Kaz the Minotaur: The Lost Colony. You can find all the ancestral stats, and everything you'd need for a seagoing campaign there.
In as far as lore goes, there is a large schism in the fandom with anything past the Chaos War. You can find a complete year-by-year breakdown on the Dragonlance Wiki, which we maintain. The free version of Tas' Pouches had 78 pages, compared to 107 you have here, not including CoK 1. With COK, the page-count is 140. Sorry your experience wasn't as great as you wanted it to be. |
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Shadow of the Dragon Queen was a jumpoff point for a Dragonlance campaign, but if you need a primer on the setting to expand on the bits and peices Wizards gave us, Tasslehoff's gives you all of the building blocks to succeed. AND it has a fantastic adventure devoted to the Goldbox classic, Champions of Krynn! Love it!
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Big fan of DL Nexus work for a long time, I was waiting for this one, and I'm not disapointed !
I had the previous version from dl nexus, but I'm more than happy to contribute by buying this one, and if it get gold, I'd love to get the printed version.
Cheers to the team.
Edhil
DL fan since 1989
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This book is a fantastic utility for all things Dragonlance, and the adventure included seems extremely promising. One of the greatest benefits is the extended lore sections, which really help to be able to provide excellent snapshots of the world to players that may not be as experienced with the world of Krynn. The alternative stat blocks for Draconians are also fantastic, and immediately lead me to thinking this wis a fantastic way to add even more diversity to combat encounters by mixing in multiple possible stat blocks.
On top of a fantastic resource, you get a bonus adventure included that will lead on to a series of further modules. Serialized gameplay returns!
It would also be doing the book a great disservice to not mention the outstanding art throughout, whiuch hybridizes more modern art styles with the classic fantasy style fans of the original novel covers and comics will adore.
Tasslehoff's Pouches of Everything manages to balance nostalgia, without being an immovable servant to the ideals of the AD&D modules. An invigorating breath to the life of Dragonlance in Fifth Edition, where the passion of the creators shines through on every page!
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A wonderful resourse, jam packed with useful information. Very much looking forward to using it in my games
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a wonderful amount of content for both new players to the world of krynn. has lots of lore and excellent features including the system for the mages of high sorcery.
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An excellent addition not to just to any Dragonlance fan, but to anyone who is currently playing 5e. This book offers an exemplary overview to the world of Krynn. I would consider this THE sourcebook for Dragonlance 5e. It offers so much backstory and an indepth look into all the peoples of Krynn that makes the setting so special. It has numerous dwarven ancestories (subraces) that really emphasis how much love and effort this group put into it. How often is there a book where the dwarves have as much options as elves if not more? There are even multiple types of Kender in here, playable draconians and half-ogres. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. There's several useful and Dragonlance specific feats, ontop of interesting spells and magical items. And not just magical items, but ITEMS proper. Finally a chance to add more of the different mundane objects that Krynn is abundant in. A few monsters to help round out the bite.
This book oozes a lot of the care and consideration to the setting while pushing the boundaries to what people know of the setting. Theres deep cuts, from the gold box video games to the old 80s comics! There's a little bit of everything in here. The lunar tracking is updated for 5e and makes a lot of sense, incredibly helpful for those of the Towers of High Sorcery. Plus they do an EXCELLENT job explaining the ambient magicks of Krynn and how one can adapt and use pretty well any option 5e offers to the setting. And my favourite part of the book has to be the Factions, an of unused aspect of 5e presented in the DMG. You build reputation and similar to old Dragonlance sourcebooks and modules you have very clear guidelines to advance and progress as a member of High Sorcery, a Solamnic Knight, and a member of the Legion of Steel. Theres so many hooks just built into it it screams to be played by DM and player alike. There's a lot here to easily use and adapt for your own settings and not just those in Krynn. The book feels inclusive to everyone.
The adventure I havent yet had the chance to run, but it's heavily inspired by Gold Box and seems like a proper classic romp. Exploring a time oft unused in the Dragonlance books and modules, taking up right after the War of the Lance. The encounters look engaging and varied. Theres even another race and some more spells at the end. For a first chapter it looks interesting enough to excite me for the rest to come.
The art is amazing, it's all unique pieces and each feel very much like the world many of us have come to love. There's a variety of scenes and peoples presented, its all very pleasing.
This book has basically everything you could ask for.
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