DLR1 Otherlands - DragonLance, Death's Tale

There are few people who play D&D who have not at least heard of Dragonlance  and many have played the series of modules released in the late 1980's. After  the initial release there were many more modules released for the setting.  Most of these occurred in Ansalon or in the area to the northeast where the  minotaurs dwell called Taladas. This module takes you beyond the more  published areas to where the DM might have a little less canon to deal with.

Otherlands was released by TSR in 1990 and was written under the 2e rules. It  has the designation code of DLR1. It was followed by two other modules  Taladas and Unsung Heroes. I understand the second which deals with the land  of the Minotaurs but not the third being in the series but I digress.

Otherlands comes in at ninety-six pages which is good since it deals with  three separate locations on Krynn. Each is separated from the majority of the  other locations that have been described in other modules by either distance  or ease of access or both. The module seems to be evenly divided amongst the  three.

Chorane

The first area the module covers is Chorane. This location is separated by  not only distance and the effort it would take to access it. This is the one  that I might use if I wanted to have a stand alone Krynn campaign not set in  the established world. This could be used very much as a Krynn Underdark campaign.

The setting is a series of deep underground caverns located under the south  pole of Krynn. The bulk of this setting deals with three distinct groups of  humans who all come from an initial group that fragmented over beliefs. They  are now involved in a constant state of war.

The location also features societies of variant races that exist on the main  areas of the world as well. There are the dwarves (Theiwar) and Kenders  (Kendars). It also gives the DM three new monsters of which one (Ursoi) could  be adapted into a new race for them to use.

Selasia

The second area that is described in Otherlands is a large island chain on  the Spine of Taladas. This location is named after the largest island in the  chain, Selasia, which is often the case. In addition to Selasia there are six  other islands that have some level of description in the module. Each of  these other islands provide possible adventure ideas for the DM.

The chain is occupied by two primary races. Both of these race came from Ogre  stock but one was modified in the ancient past and were forced to the island  by other races. These are not your typical Ogres but a more peaceful non- deformed race. The primary race are the Mischta of which the bulk are good  but there is an evil sub-species. The other primary race are the Bolandi  which were modified to be smaller and given a malicious, though I would call  it more mischievous, nature. There were forced to the islands one thousand  years before the Great Cataclysm.

Statistics are given for the two lines of Mischta so that the DM could use  them as player character races if desired. This was not done for the Bolandi  except that some can become illusionists. This was sort of disappointing  since they could provide a whole new type of Kender to play.

Watermere

The third location described is Watermere. This is the underwater realm of  the Dargonesti or as they are more commonly called the sea-elves. This more  so than either of the other two is more of a write up on the race than the  location. The location is described but it is done in reference to how it  affects the sea-elves. There are moderately in depth descriptions of their  history and then their society.

We are then given a description of Watermere and the various location that  comprise it. There are six distinct area that are described. These range from  Takaluras, the capital of the sea-elves, to The Ruins of Watermere, which is  an island that sank during the Great Cataclysm. The latter is occupied by both  the Dargonesti and the a collection of evil underwater races headed up by  Koalinths. There is next a section on the flora and fauna that exist in  Watermere.

The next section begins the bulk of the Watermere potion of the module. It starts with a section named Dargonesti from Cradle to Grave. It is the first of eight sections  that talk specifically about the sea-elves and not Watermere. These section  are listed below. The Relations section and Mahkwahb area a little broader in  scope that just the elves though still focus on them.

Dargonesti from Cradle to Grave
Religion
The Dargonesti Army
Magic
Relations with Undersea Folk
Relations with Surface Folk
The Mahkwahb (Evil Sea-Elves)
Dargonesti Elves as PCs.

The Watermere section is great but walks the line between too much  information and too little information. As part of the idea of different  realms it offers a lot of information and can give the DM a strong headstart  if they want to use this as a setting. It is not enough information though to  use it as race guide. Still the module overall is a good product plus it is  not set in the more common area of Krynn. Good on its own and great to mine  from.

Spell:

Death's Tale

Level: Three
Range: Touch
Duration: Instantaneous
Ares Effect: One Item
Components: V
Casting Time: 1 Round
Saving Throw: None

By use of Death's Tale a magic user can touch an item and see the death event of the person that the item belonged to. This spell can be used on an item or part of a person or beings remains.

The spell will give the caster a clear vision of who the person was though no more than name and place of origin or lair if a beast. They will also see the last few minutes of the person or creatures life. This will allow them to see where the person/beast died and how. The vision is as if the caster were seeing it through the eyes of the victim.

The period of time that the vision can go back is limited by the level of the caster and their intelligence. The vision can only occur if the victim died within 10 years/level of the caster plus an additional 10 years/point of intelligence. There is a 5% chance that when this spell is used it will attract the spirit of the victim. The spirit may respond as the DM sees fit and may request aid, ignore or haunt the caster of the spell.

Disclaimer: The spells that you will see, for how ever long the write ups last, were all written up or conceived of back in the 80's so the terminology may not appropriate for anything other than 1e and depending on how well I did back then it may be slightly off for that as well. If there is any duplication of spells that exist now it is most likely I wrote mine first :) Please feel free to comment on them but try not to be too hard on me. If anyone wishes to use these in anything they print please let me know in advance and all I ask is proper credit.