Dragon Knight - Dragonlance AD&D Module Review

I've had this module sitting in my collection for a long time.  I got it when I was a kid and the whole thing was a little over my head.  However now that I have a bit more respect and experience with the game, I finally sat down and read thru it.

First things first, this is the 2nd module in a series, I did not get a copy of the first one.  The bonus is they write in how to either continue the adventure or start from this adventure, so you really don't have to play the first one to play this one.

Because this is a dragonlance module, there are a lot of creatures and the world in general are very specific to dragonlance, it would be helpful to have some of the Monster Manuals, or Dragonlance setting to reference, although its not totally needed.  Thankfully I have wikipedia at my disposal to double check some stuff.

The one thing I really enjoyed about this module is that its all about role playing, there are a lot of opportunities for it within the text.  The beginning however would be a lot of DM talk till something happens, so depending on how your players do you may have to move that along a bit.  The whole thing is basically a map crawl, using 1 inch measurements basically.  Some of it was a bit confusing for me.  If I was going to run this I would almost convert the whole thing to a actual hex crawl with a new map.

What I liked best about this was the "Phases of the moons" part of the adventure, basically everyday you need to check the phases against a chart, and there are benefits or disadvantages depending on how the moons align for the PC's.  Kinda neat.

Another thing that is detailed quite well is the inordinate amount of little towns within the map, (not the features of the town themselves) but what happens when the PC's get there.  They can get arrested in each town, and there is a random table of possible events for each place.

Another note this is a deadly adventure! total TPK if you don't have some either high level PC"s or experienced players.  The pre generated characters are levels 5 to 8, but If I ran this, I would probably start everyone around 8th level, just for the sake of argument.

Of course the whole thing ends in a cliffhanger, so that's fun.  I think I'll be grabbing atleast the 3rd module when I get some time.

All in all not a bad module, but I highly doubt I'll run it.  I did however pull lots of great ideas for my own campaigns and module designs.  So good stuff.

Here is a list of all the Dragonlance Modules & Sourcebooks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Dragonlance_modules_and_sourcebooks

And here is the whole series

DLA1: Dragon Dawn[edit]

• Rules required: AD&D 2nd Edition
• Author: Deborah Christian
• First published: 1990; DLA1 Dragon Dawn was written by Deborah Christian, with a cover by Larry Elmore, and was published by TSR in 1990 as a 64-page booklet with a large color map and an outer folder.^[3]
• Description: Dragon Dawn, is the first of an adventure trilogy which begins in the League province of Highvale. This adventure 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! In this adventure, the player characters must stop neutral dragons from being killed.^[3] The module includes a map of Taladas.^[3]

DLA2: Dragon Knight[edit]

• Rules required: AD&D 2nd Edition
• Author: Rick Swan
• First published: 1990
• Description: Dragon Knight is the second of three modules in an epic DRAGONLANCE series set in Taladas, the previously unknown continent on the opposite side of the planet Krynn. The players assume the roles of dragon hunters to discover the identity of the "master" behind the plan to wipe out the Othlorx (Uninvolved) dragons of Taladas.

DLA3: Dragon's Rest[edit]

• Rules required: AD&D 2nd edition
• Author: Rick Swan
• First published: 1990
• Description: Dragon's Rest is the third and final module in an epic DRAGONLANCE series set in Taladas, the previously unknown continent opposite of Ansalon on the planet Krynn, where the heroes must strive to thwart the extraplanar invasion plans of Erestem, Queen of Evil, also known as Takhisis. Failure means doom for all of Krynn!