The Sylvan Veil is a role-playing game adventure published by TSR in 1999 for the Dragonlance: Fifth Age campaign setting using either the rules for the second edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons , or the SAGA System rules.
The Sylvan Veil is an adventure set in the Silvanesti Forest, an area surrounded by a shield to protect its elven inhabitants from the Great Dragons. [1] The shield is retreating, exposing more of the forest's inhabitants to danger. To restore the shield, the player characters are given the task of retrieving an artifact located in an ancient tomb.
The book gives an introduction to the Silvanesti Forest, and the adventure is divided into three acts with an interlude describing the elven city of Sithelnost. [1] Players have a choice of six pre-generated characters, and are also told about the main nemesis of the adventure.
A final chapter gives the gamemaster some adventure hooks and ideas to be able to create more adventures in this setting. [1]
In 1984, TSR moved away from Greyhawk, their original campaign setting for the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons by publishing the first adventures and companion novels by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis for the world of Dragonlance . But after twenty years, Dragonlance had become moribund. Seeking to revivify Dragonlance, Hickman and Weis produced a new line of novels set in the "Fifth Age".
In his 2014 book Designers & Dragons, games historian Shannon Appelcline explained that "When Weis and Hickman's The War of Souls [trilogy] became sufficiently fleshed out, Wizards changed the era of the SAGA games one more time to this new time period — set a full generation later. This was the basis for their last two Dragonlance SAGA adventures, The Sylvan Veil (1999) and Rise of the Titans (2000)." [2] : 149
The Sylvan Veil was designed by William W. Connors, Miranda Horner, Steve Kenson, Duane Maxwell, Steve Miller, and Skip Williams, with cover art by David L. Martin, interior art by James Crabtree, Rebecca Mitchell, Jeff Menges, and Matthew Mitchell, and cartography by David S. LaForce and Robert Lazzaretti. [1] It was published published in February 1999. [3]
While The Sylvan Veil was being developed, WotC was starting to design a third edition of D&D. The Sylvan Veil was one of the final second edition/SAGA products, as well as one of the final products published under the TSR imprint. A few months later, WotC introduced the third edition of D&D under their own trademark, and discontinued making products that used the SAGA System rules.
The German RPG magazine Envoyer liked the background material, including the social structure of the Silvanesti elves, calling it "interesting and well thought out." The magazine strongly recommended using the pregenerated characters to avoid social mishaps. The reviewer also commented "The plot is varied and, what a pleasant surprise, not overloaded with monster slaughter (and the fight scenes finally make sense and don't seem like filler for splatter fans). Social interactions, especially cultural conflicts, are certainly not neglected." The conclusion was positive, noting, "All in all a successful mix; not too overloaded with magic, and the materials included complement the adventure well." [4]
In Issue 15 of the French games magazine Backstab, Michaël Croitoriu thought this product was poorly targeted, asking "How could creative people believe for a second that they could sell a game without dice to AD&D fans?" Despite this, Croitoriu concluded, "All in all, The Sylvan Veil is a good supplement provided, of course, that you are interested in the kingdom of Silvanesti and its future." [5]
In Issue 119 of the French games magazine Casus Belli , Pierre Rosenthal noted that not all the background information in the new Draonglance novels had been published yet, commenting, "But the full background is only described in the Fifth Age game! We are therefore impatiently awaiting the series directly produced by the magical duo [Hickman and Weis], which will allow us to play the War of Chaos, to finally be able to move from the War of the Lance to the Fifth Age. [6]
Dragonlance is a shared universe created by Laura and Tracy Hickman, and expanded by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis under the direction of TSR, Inc. into a series of fantasy novels. The Hickmans conceived Dragonlance while driving in their car on the way to TSR for a job interview. Tracy Hickman met his future writing partner Margaret Weis at TSR, and they gathered a group of associates to play the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. The adventures during that game inspired a series of gaming modules, a series of novels, licensed products such as board games, and lead miniature figures.
Tracy Raye Hickman is an American fantasy author and designer of games and virtual reality (VR) experiences. He co-authored the original Dragonlance novels with Margaret Weis as well as numerous other books. He also designed and created role playing game material while working for TSR and has cowritten novels with his wife, Laura Hickman. He is the author or co-author of over 60 books.
Kender are a type of fantasy race first developed for the Dragonlance campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role playing game published by TSR, Inc. in 1984. The first kender character was created by Harold Johnson as a player character in a series of role-playing adventures co-authored by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis. Weis and Hickman's Dragonlance shared world novels introduced the kender to readers and players alike, largely through the character Tasslehoff Burrfoot, who became one of the main protagonists in the series.
Werewolf: The Wild West is a tabletop role-playing game in the World of Darkness series, published by White Wolf Publishing on May 30, 1997. It is a spin-off from their 1992 game Werewolf: The Apocalypse, and is set in the Wild West in the 19th century. Players take the roles of werewolves, warring to defending the Pure Lands from corruption in the form of the mighty Bane called the Storm-Eater.
Dragonlance Adventures is a 128-page hardcover book for the Dragonlance campaign setting for the first edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.
Dragons of Autumn Twilight is a 1984 fantasy novel by American writers Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, based on a series of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) game modules. It was the first Dragonlance novel, and first in the Chronicles trilogy, which, along with the Dragonlance Legends trilogy, are generally regarded as the core novels of the Dragonlance world. Dragons of Autumn Twilight details the meeting of the Companions and the early days of The War of the Lance. The novel corresponds with the first two Dragonlance game modules, Dragons of Despair and Dragons of Flame, but with a different ending. It introduces many of the characters that are the subject of later novels and short stories.
The DL series is a series of adventures and some supplementary material for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons role playing game. These modules along with the Dragonlance Chronicles trilogy of novels, which follow one possible adventure series through the modules, were the first published items that established the Dragonlance fictional universe. The original DL series was released from 1984 to 1986, with the final two modules added to it in 1988. In the 1990s these roleplaying adventures from the original series were collected and revised for 2nd Edition AD&D as the three DLC Dragonlance Classics modules. There were also versions of the module series released in 1999, 2000 and 2006.
Dragons of Despair is the first in a series of 16 Dragonlance adventures published by TSR, Inc. (TSR) between 1984 and 1988. It is the start of the first major story arc in the Dragonlance series of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) role-playing game modules, a series of ready-to-play adventures for use by Dungeon Masters in the game. This series provides a game version of the original Dragonlance storyline later told in the Dragonlance Chronicles trilogy of novels. This module corresponds to the events told in the first half of the novel Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Its module code is DL1, which is used to designate it as the first part of the Dragonlance adventure series.
The Player's Guide, also known as the Greyhawk Player's Guide or the Player's Guide to Greyhawk, is a sourcebook for the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. Written by Anne Brown, the work was published by Wizards of the Coast under its TSR imprint in 1998.
Dragonlance Classics is a series of adventure modules for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.
The Dragonlance Chronicles is a trilogy of fantasy novels written by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, which take place in the Dragonlance setting. This series is the first set of Dragonlance novels, and is followed by the Dragonlance Legends series.
Heroes of Steel is a supplement to the 2nd edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.
Ashes to Ashes is an adventure module published in Q3 1991 by White Wolf Publishing for use with their tabletop role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade.
The Kingdoms of Kalamar is a fantasy role-playing game campaign setting published by Kenzer & Company in 1994 that is compatible with the second edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons published by TSR. Several other editions of the game were subsequently released as new editions of Dungeons & Dragons were published.
The Bestiary is a role-playing game supplement published by TSR in 1998 for the campaign setting Dragonlance: Fifth Age using the SAGA System of rules.
Jakandor, Isle of Destiny is a role-playing game supplement published by TSR for the second edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. It is the second of three supplements about the Isle of Jakandor.
The Shattered Circle is a fantasy role-playing game adventure published by TSR in 1999 using the rules of the second edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D).
Wrath of the Minotaur, subtitled "An Underground Adventure for Starting DMs", is a fantasy role-playing game adventure published by TSR in 1999, designed to introduce new players to the rules of the second edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D).
Dragonlance Classics 15th Anniversary Edition is a 1999 role-playing game supplement published by TSR for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons that recalls the Dragonlance series of adventures and novels published fifteen years before, and also celebrates the 25th anniversary of D&D itself.