DL3, Dragons of Hope, was the first Dragonlance module I ever owned and almost my first module module: a Christmas present from my parents in 1984. I got its two preceding modules DL1-2 from a used comic emporium a full decade later. But I must say DL3 was always my favourite from this series.
Tracy Hickman had submitted it as the second act of his proposal for the campaign Dragonlance. In DL1, Dragons of Despair, the heroes and heroines had discovered tablets of the true religion. In DL3 the heroes herd refugees from the dungeon of Pax Tharkas across a wasteland into a mountainous safety.
There was always something incomplete about DL3, though. The "playground" of DL3 is fenced in by the Kharolis mountains, the Thunder Peaks, and the Newsea. There is no functioning port this side of the Kharolis; and no way through the mountains suitable for refugees. Since finding out about the surrounding geography of that part of Krynn, I have wondered about what other paths the refugees might take if they head outside the confines of the DL3 map. This webpage is an attempt to draw out such scenarios.
Tracy Hickman was a believing Latter-Day Saint, as defined by the current hierarchy in its madinat al-nabi Salt Lake City. The parallels between the events of DL1 and DL3 and the seminal events surrounding the Salt Lake City Mormon prophets Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, respectively, are obvious.
Rather like another Brigham Young adventure, Battlestar Galactica, DL3 features themes of politics, damaging personal feuds, and even treason; all while trying to escape a horde who unanimously believe in their god and in the destruction of the refugees.
I hold that anyone who would expand upon an existent work ought to maintain the intent of that work's original author. This is, I think, the central ethic of fan fiction. The secondary designer could deviate from DL3's path, but at the same time he would be slighting the source material if he ignored its themes, or worse, introduced contrary themes. This expansion will therefore take inspiration from Latter-Day Saint history up to the year 1857, from LDS Temple ritual, from Joseph Smith's interpretation and expansion of the King James Version, and from the Book of Mormon.
(In the interest of disclosure, I must state that I have no affiliation with the Church of Latter-Day Saints; but as the previous paragraph should make clear, this should not matter.)
The aim of DL3 (and DL4) is to transport 800 refugees to permanent safety. In DL3, the party gets the refugees into temporary shelter and finds a way to the only viable hideout in the region: the hidden dwarven city Thorbardin. In DL4 the party prepares that hideout. There is a time limit.
DL3 is organised into Encounter Areas (EA#). There are 31 of these if EA#28 is ignored, described in summary form over pp. 9-13. DL3 then details two of these locations, Agharpost and Skullcap.
DL3's clock starts on the trigger of Event #5. The dragonarmies proper, not just their baaz scouts, enter EA#1 from EA#2 and in four game hours overrun it. The process repeats for an adjacent EA as chosen by the DM - unless it is of the five (because EA#31 repeats) defined in Event #5. There are 26 available EAs: but EA#16 and 29 repeat, and 6, 18, and 26 repeat twice; and arguably 30 repeats too. Crueler DMs might cut the number and more lenient DMs might increase it. By my calculations, all will be overrun from EA#2 in around 6 days. At that point Event #8 kicks in; and if the refugees are in the best of these temporary locations then they get another 108 more game hours (4.5 days) before the dragons take all EAs, attack the refugees, and slaughter the lot.
As a matter of pacing, DL4's introduction holds that seven days is ample time to resolve that module.
If you are running the DL3 module copyright 1984, then there are a few errors to watch out for.
EA#28 is a three-mile-wide valley leading to points north (of DL3?) which belong to ogres and not to the dragonarmies. But EA#28 seems not to exist in this map. The good news is, it was a silly encounter anyway.
The builder of the "Bridge of Dirken" is spelled "Dirken" in DL3; but since then the DragonLance designers have settled on spelling this name "Derkin". He was a king of the mountain dwarves.
The "Hopeful Vale" is officially EA#20 (p.12); however there is confusion elsewhere in the text as to whether this vale was EA#20 (p.7) or 21 (pp.8,27). It was probably 21 in an earlier draft but subsequently renumbered.
The map also has two locations for EA#20: one in the centre of the mountains adjoining various EA#18 regions, and another on the opposite side of "The Bog" in the Plains of Dergoth. It's also missing an entry for EA#19. It's likely that the former "EA#20" is the original EA#20... which means that the map should now list that former locale as EA#19. I suspect that Hickman at first intended the lost dwarven city to be in that western area, but moved that city and the Hopeful Vale south as his scope for the project expanded and as his creativity improved. Anyway, he's given us an Agharpost in that original region instead.
It follows that Karen Wynn Fonstad's map of Kharolis in Tales of the Lance, which she likely drew up in 1987 for her Atlas of the Dragonlance World, has Hopeful Vale in the wrong place. (It's otherwise perfect for those areas of DL3 in which the party will travel.) And if you have The Gates of Thorbardin (1990) or its derivative Dwarven Kingdoms of Krynn (1993), you need to remember that the Vale of Respite is not Hopeful Vale. This means explaining away the Vale of Respite's name and DKoK's commentary on its preternaturally lush nature. In fact you might want to transplant some of its properties to the real Hopeful Vale.
Incidentally: This is another instance of Fonstad getting hammered by inconsistencies in the source material. See also Atlas of Middle-Earth ed. 1991 and based on the Silmarillion. However true to what was currently in print from Tolkien's estate, the Silmarillion itself was based on several manuscripts: successively better organised but successively stopping shorter and shorter of the end of the epic. For the Easterlings' route westward, the last treatment in the Silmarillion is based on that as printed in History of Middle Earth, Christopher J Tolkien: v.9. The Silmarillion, and so Fonstad's map, implied that the Easterlings crossed the Ered Luin. But "The Grey Annals" in HoME v.10 clarified that the Easterlings went around, to their north; avoiding unfriendly Elves and skirting the fringes of Angband. Had Tolkien carried the next edition of Silmarillion up to that year in "history", he would have added that to his account. But Christopher Tolkien edited his father's work without due attention to the Grey Annals, and published the latter in 1993. In 1991, Fonstad did the best that anyone could who lacked direct access to CJT's notes.
There is plenty of room for a DM loyal to the text of DL3 to expand the adventure.
In the years after publishing DL3, the Dragonlance team agreed to expand the map of the region to the east. That waterfall in the easternmost of the #26 EAs is now a headwater of a "Blood Creek", and that creek forms the northern border of a hill country (for Fonstad) or a nondescript plain (for DKoK) extending some forty miles northeast of the Plains of Dergoth. Unfortunately for the PCs, it doesn't lead anywhere helpful. The DM may as well leave that part of DL3's original map as is.
More relevant to DL3 is the new area east of the (real) Hopeful Vale. In DKoK, on which instance I see no reason to dispute, the northern sector of this is the Hillhome Highway, leading through Hillhome and then Salmonfall. However there is no ship in Salmonfall capable of transporting hundreds of refugees in time; besides, the Newsea isn't safe. The refugees could also turn south of Hillhome or south of Salmonfall. This means more vale-hopping and another crack at entering Thorbardin through the side doors. We should consider this the PCs' escape route from EA#20 and the DM's "Plan B", for occasions when the PCs have not met with the DM's limits.
DL3 offers multiple means by which the PCs might discover the place of ultimate safety, but pushes the party to find them in Skullcap: the map (which DL4 implies is the main prize), the Helm of Grallen, and certain of the monsters. Outside Skullcap, DL3 says that the Neidar don't remember and it (literally) went without saying that the Aghar and Draconians wouldn't remember either. But the dwarven artifact in Agharpost probably does remember, and DL4 has it that Fizban remembers too.
A true black-diamond slope of DMing would be to allow the players to take their characters off the map entirely. This is how I did it. As you can see, I reject all attempts at the overall geography except Fonstad's. I'm adding some labels from DKoK while removing the "Hopeful Vale" label.
Dwarven Kingdoms of Krynn and Karen Fonstad are in stark disagreement over the geography here. Here I side with the one who did best at following DL3. Fonstad did brilliantly in following DL3 where it mattered, with the mislaid Vale as the only (and forgivable) exception. DKoK on the other hand looks like the work of someone who didn't read DL3 and who relied primarily on Parkinson's map in The Gates of Thorbardin, perhaps glancing at Fonstad's map in passing. Parkinson for his part seems to have used Fonstad's map as a Saint Patrick's Day beer coaster. For instance, where Fonstad accurately depicted the bog covering the Plains of Dergoth, and labeled "The Bog" upon it, TGoT - and DKoK afterward - took most of the Plains as "Plains" except for that portion which Fonstad had labeled, which became a separate swamp called "The Bog". DKoK also misplaced DL3's lakes, and mistook the glacial chute for a river.
The Gates of Thorbardin concerned the sector from Waykeep to Sky's End, telling nothing of the regions north of the pass to Underbluff. Where Fonstad has absence of evidence west of DL3, TGoT has evidence of absence west of DL3 and south of the Bridge of Dirken. Therefore I must put whatever appears in DKoK outside TGoT's line of march unless it is explicitly mentioned in TGoT.
The map of Krynn claims that there is a town called "Hillow" in the northerly parts of this region, which Tales of the Lance explains became a hill dwarf colony of Thorbardin in 948 PC. But 948 PC is over a millennium before the Cataclysm and the Dwarfgate War; and no trace of Hillow may be found in any work subsequent to TotL - and relevant here, Hillow is conspicuously absent from DKoK. I expect that Hillow is a hill dwarf legend now, like Aurim among the Stryllians in Time of the Dragon. But its original site was on the northern edge of the mountains to the west of the midpoint between Pax Tharkas and Skullcap.
DKoK has it that west of EA#7 is not a mountain range, but a thick deciduous forest. The best path climbs up gently for 20 miles. In the meantime there is enough game for 800 food units a day. At the end of the path is an icy plateau. The track across the plateau is 10 miles. Blah Blah Blah.
Fonstad doesn't allow room for all this; besides, it contradicts DL3. If you want to indulge DKoK, then put Winterhome high on the mountain west of EA#7. This journey will take the refugees twice the usual time to make it, but it will be similarly hard on the reptilian draconians. At the end of the road is the Vale of Ice and Winterhome. But Winterhome will likely drive out the refugees and tell them to return whence they came, or (if pressed) point them toward the south. At any rate, if the refugees go there, the dragonarmies will have to treat it as another encounter area even if the refugees double back, which will give the refugees precious more game hours.
The Bridge of Dirken (EA#13) is played for laughs in DL3, until refugees get killed (thanks, Fizban); but the DM can just have the bridge work normally. Or, the party can be driven across the pass south of Winterhome. From east or from north, ultimately the party will end at an intersection. The PCs can travel west to Underbluff, or they can chance the trackless, wide, raptor-infested valley to the south.
Underbluff is this sector's primary location. Note that DKoK has a mountain range between "Herdlinger" (i.e. the Bridge of Dirken) and Underbluff, and Fonstad does not. Also, TGoT puts its "sheer cliffs" at the beginning of its narrative: the west bound of the main vale by Waykeep. But TGoT knows nothing of a hill dwarf town here. Besides, by now I've had quite enough of their crazy cartography. Fonstad did well enough drawing in steeper cliffs by the Bridge than by the more western range. Take Fonstad's map, and set Underbluff to guard the high pass opposite the Bridge. Sheercliff is, then, that part of the range adjacent to Underbluff.
Underbluff will be more hospitable than Winterhome (which isn't saying much) but their leader is part-Theiwar. She'll try to enslave the refugees until she can sell them off to Verminaard. The PCs will quickly find out here that the way further west is impractical; but they can also find out about the port of Tarsis and the Waykeep Valley. The latter is just around the bend of the mountains to the south. (If DKoK, east bend; but I side with Fonstad, so west bend on her map.)
As of now, this vale seems to be trackless. Since its western edge is the Sheercliff, there are raptors here; making life particularly hazardous for refugees. Admittedly the draconians won't like it here either.
Away from the cliffs (far east for DKoK, south of the mountain for Fonstad and for me) the vale is the primary stomping ground of the TGoT narrative. It starts by nameless cliffs of the Anviltops and continues through Waykeep to the Sky's End Peak.
While TGoT didn't detail this vale outside Waykeep, it seems to be wilderness intercrossed with rivers. TGoT and DKoK stock the area full of black-furred mountain lions.
The Tales of the Lance map points out that there are Healing Waters in one of these southern valleys. But that map was unclear as to which valley, had Skullcap further west than strictly allowed by DL3, and had the Waters a bit to the west of Hillow's latitude. So for users of Fonstad's map, I have left its location ti DM discretion: either the Great Vale or else the greater one across the Anviltops.
That vale can be made the home of roving tribes ethnically distinct from those of DL1. I advise reading up on the Ute and Shoshone for specific details. If this is the Great Vale, then assume they were roving away from the party of TGoT.
These waters are sure to be consecrated by Mishakal. In keeping with DL3's Mormonism, there should be a means for the party to build a temple around these waters. Such a feat would allow Mishakal to change the weather, keeping out the dragonarmies for years (as the weather kept Buchanan out of the Salt Lake during the 1857 "Mormon War").
In TGoT and DKoK, the Sky's End Peak forms the main valley's northeast border with the southernmost vales of DL3. Fonstad has a pass here instead. Both agree that the border may be crossed, either around the peak or through the pass. Put Sky's End Peak athwart Fonstad's pass, and create an adventure out of crossing it, if you are so inclined. Note though that refugees will refuse this passage.
DKoK reports that south of Underbluff, in the "Anviltops", there is a series of three mines. A road leads from them south across the mountains to the Promontory Pass highway, toward Thorbardin. The mines themselves are worked, from north to south, by distinct tribes of the mountain dwarves of Thorbardin. Security here is heavy; treat the dwarves according to the rules of DL4 but with more wariness.
Since these mines are owned by Thorbardin directly with no connection to Underbluff, and since DKoK labels the range not "Sheercliff" but "Anviltops": we may disassociate these mines from Underbluff. Put them on the west side of the large vale south of Waykeep.
TGoT points out that sorcerous magic is unreliable here, although it says nothing about divine magic. Given the themes of DL1 and DL3, the heathen energies of this place will be no match for the true divinities.
A few centuries ago, Fistandantilus cast three spells here, against the armies of mountain dwarves who were attacking his allies, the hill dwarves. This vale is also the location of one of Gargath's cities. Ruins of that city, and of the gnomish engines which breached it, scatter the place. One such engine was the Spellbinder, which appears to be absent from this place now.
There are Irda here, who deliver exposition in TGoT; you'll likely want to give them more character.
The Tower of Gargath itself may be here; if so, Verminaard and Ember will have to stop short of the Valley's entrance. Which is not to say that the refugees - or PCs! - will be any safer. A very hardworking DM could make of Waykeep Valley this sector's answer to DL4.
The "Healing Waters" location also enables the party to start with the priestcraft independently of DL1. In effect, the pivot of this part of the DL epic becomes Pax Tharkas (DL2). An alternate beginning could be some adventuring around Qualinost and then the battle described in that first Battlesystem box.
This section is sufficient a detour for the party, that it justifies a climactic end for Verminaard and Ember. If these two villains should die here, the dragonarmies will have to return to Pax Tharkas to sort out the succession, and Thorbardin will be open.
With this diversion off DL3's map, and an alternate end for the leader of the Red Dragonarmy, the PCs will find themselves on the southwest flank of Thorbardin. They can then find their way around Ansalon without DL4 and DL6. For instance, they might try striking westwards: for the town of Barter (mentioned in TGoT) and the Promontory Road, or else Meadowfair (DKoK) and thence the Tower of High Sorcery at Wayreth.
If the PCs want to create Dragonlances, then they will still need something like the Hammer of Kharas; but this way, they can find out that they need it and go get it themselves, without finding it just because it happened across their path through the mountain.
Or, this could be the beginning of a Western campaign. DL1-4 and DL6 are postapocalyptic. In DL7-9, the players join the continent-wide Dragonlance epic. Heroes can join that epic from anywhere else in Ansalon. Likewise, for our purposes here local players may want nothing to do with that epic. Players might prefer the role of the Magnificent Seven, or of Mad Max.
Hopefully you find this webpage to be a springboard for an enriched experience in playing the first section of DragonLance.
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zimriel@sbcglobal.netThis page was created 14-17 March 2006 and posted on St. Pat's Day. 26 March, I found a used copy of The Gates of Thorbardin for $2.50 and incorporated more of its comments into this page. It also led me to finalise the map and upload it. 27 March, further reading of DKoK inspired further updates, including adding in the Gemfathers. 30 March, moved the map to an independent HTML and made maintenance.