Tips on Running a Chaos War Game

D&D 3e (3.0/3.5) Rules

by Talinthas

The Chaos War, with its backdrop of dramatic and sudden change, heavily driven with an undercurrent of fear and paranoia, is a wonderful time period to run a heroic Dragonlance campaign with a different feel. This article aims to help dungeon masters establish a proper mood for their Chaos War games.

Setting

As we saw in Dragons of Summer Flame and the Chaos War series of books, the events of the Chaos War affected the entire continent of Ansalon in generally the same way. A campaign, then, can be set anywhere the DM desires, as long as certain elements are maintained.

Over the course of the months leading up to the breaking of the Greygem, the Knights of Takhisis solidify their control over the continent, and the forces of Good find themselves hampered and unable to withstand the tides. This is a direct result of the discussions between the Gods as mentioned in Dragons of Summer Flame, but should not be common knowledge to the Player Characters.

Also, the summer leading up to the actual war should be incredibly hot. DMs would do well to play up the idea of extreme heat, using the temperature modifiers from the Dungeon Master's Guide, and giving players penalties for not having adequate water supplies. (See "Climate", below.)

Finally, the attitude of the NPCs should be a sense of complacency. After all, it has been roughly 30 years since the fall of Takhisis; the Gods have returned and reestablished their churches, and the Solamnics safeguard the world. What could possibly go wrong? Below, we will go into specifics of what each of these ideas represent.

The Knights

Any campaign set during the Chaos War is going to heavily reflect the interactions between the knightly orders of good and evil. At this point in time, the Knights of Solamnia, heady from their victory in the War of the Lance, have spent the past thirty years rebuilding their order, flush with new recruits and an upwelling of public support.

The leadership, however, is still made up of very orthodox knights, and they are unwilling to adapt to this new environment, preferring the traditional methods of doing things. They would appear to be very hidebound, and resistant to the idea that an evil order of knights exists, and is not just rumor.

The Knights of Takhisis, still in their formative stages, are an incredibly regimented and highly formalized order leaning heavily on the lawful side of Lawful Evil. Indeed, they are running a shadow public relations campaign, where the dark knights are shown as being rigid law keepers and maintainers of the public order, while the Solamnics are portrayed as lazy and uncaring.

All Knights of Takhisis in the Chaos War era exemplify the Honor-Bound feat, and are very much at the height of their power. Cities controlled by the Dark Knights would be very strictly managed, with everyone needing official documents to enter and exit, hefty taxes on goods and services, curfews, and weapon restrictions. Similarly, wizards and clerics in these cities can expect to have to forfeit their magical items and components.

The Climate

The Chaos War is preceded by the hottest summer in history. The game should reflect this, with lots of subtle hints and imagery. Consider borrowing scenes from early Western movies. For examples, there may be long lines of women at the town well, trying to get their limited quota of water, heat waves rising from the ground, crops turning brown from the heat, and wooden structures warping. Armor should be incredibly uncomfortable to wear, and dehydration should be a constant threat. Even monster encounters should reflect this, with side quests staving off raiding goblins that plunder towns for their water reserves and the like.

Another thing to remember is the omnipresent glow. We are told in Dragons of Summer Flame that the rift into the Abyss happens north of Ansalon, and that the glow of Chaos's fires can be seen all across the horizon.

Eventually over the course of the campaign, the sun stops moving, and sits in the sky. The players should definitely get the feeling that something is seriously wrong with the world.

Magic

Magic should be peaking in this time period. Clerics and Mages, while not completely accepted, are certainly held in higher regard, and should be much more visible in the cities as movers and shakers.

Clerics, however, have a special place in this campaign, as God-blessed items are often the only way to damage Chaos monsters. PC clerics should start to feel their god growing distant as the war progresses, and feel their own power start to wane, perhaps fizzling out at times. At the same time, though, they should also receive much more direct contact with their deity, as the gods take a direct role in the conflict. Magic weapons and items gain a lot more importance as the war progresses.

Mood

Thirty years have passed since the War of the Lance. While the nobles and government heads hashed out peace treaties and trade agreements, the common folk experienced a peace of mind not seen since the heady days before the cataclysm. At this point, most towns have access to a cleric, or at least a lay-priest, and are living healthier and happier than they had in hundreds of years.

Aside from the unreasonable heat, people are generally happy and complacent, even under the rule of dark knights, who are more out for order than evil. This will allow the DM to lull PCs into a sense of ease, making the entrance of Chaos wights and daemon lords even more shocking.

A Chaos War campaign should have lots of moments of paranoia and abject fear. When the PCs are first introduced to the Chaos wights, they should catch glimpses of their shadows peeling off of the floor and walls, or gently quivering out of sync with their movements. Villages that the PCs have recently visited should be revisited and shown as empty ghosts towns, places the PCs have vague recollections of but no details. A large part of the campaign feel should be despair and helplessness, at least until the party learns how to harm the Chaos monsters. The Bestiary of Krynn has many potential encounters to help spice up the game.

These are just some tips to get started on a Chaos War campaign. As the game progresses, there are a lot of opportunities for PCs to make their own choices and judgments, whether to fight the Dark Knights, or aid them against the greater evil, or to find a new way to defeat Chaos on their own. The key is to work with the group and do what they want to do within the setting. Have fun!

Bibliography

There are a few really good resources for Chaos War based games, if you have access. First is obviously Dragons of Summer Flame, which along with The Second Generation, really establishes the image and feel of the era. Also, the Chaos War series of novels, and the Dragons of Chaos anthology (along with many of the anthologies released before the War of Souls trilogy) help give ideas of what else is happening at the time. One place you might not have thought to look is the Dhamon Trilogy, which despite taking place thirty years after the Chaos War, offers a lot of good insight on how Chaos wights act, and gives a nice creepy look at a town infected by these demons.

In game material, the recent books by Sovereign Press are invaluable in a Chaos War campaign. The Bestiary of Krynn has an entire section dedicated to Chaos monsters, without which a real Chaos War campaign can't be played. The geographical information in Age of Mortals is also great as background setting data for the key places in the war.

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