Does Edition Matter?

Big question, and I don't have a definitive answer (that's your TL/DR), but a few recent things have got me considering the effect of an edition on the play experience.

While I was in Illinois, Dean started a third campaign (still using his fractured fairy tale Eberron setting, I think) but using 4E. Now that I'm back in Korea, he asked if I wanted to join, and I declined because I'm just not that fond of 4E.

Then Jeremy started asking me if I'd play in a 4E game that he wants to run, only instead of using a standard array or point buy for ability scores, adapting my West Marches Classic D&D house rule. My rule is as follows:

• Players may choose one of two methods to roll ability scores: roll 3d6 six times, and place the scores where you want them to go, or else roll 4d6-lowest die, in order.

This forces players to choose between slightly higher stats but not where they might like, or being sure to play the class you want, but having slightly lower scores on average. It doesn't always work out. As dice are random, sometimes a 3d6 PC has better scores than a 4d6-L PC. It happens. But in general, it works.

Now, for 4E, which was carefully crafted to be "balanced" and not easily allow you to make a crappy character, and every PC should be equally useful in a fight, I wonder if Jeremy's switch would break the game. Not enough to play in it, though, but it did help me think of this topic for a blog post.

The edition matters, I think, in this case. 5E could definitely be played that way without much hassle. The online play-by-post West Marches game that inspired my own uses random ability score rolls instead of point buy, and it plays just fine. 4E, though, I think might break down. Maybe not, though, as it does also seem to be designed for each character to rely on only one primary ability score (or at least to allow you that luxury if you choose your powers right). The fact that the game was designed assuming all characters would have equivalent scores (through the standard array or point buy limits) makes me think randomizing it wouldn't work.

Maybe I'll give it a try and see.

The other thing that got me considering the effects of edition choice on the game was my reading through 1E Dragonlance Adventures. The more I read it, the less likely I think I'd be to run a game set in Krynn using 1E. I much prefer Classic D&D over AD&D anyway, but I don't hate AD&D.

But what I would possibly do would be to try and run a game set in Krynn using 5E.

I'd posted about that idea a few years ago, even came up with rules for the white/red/black robe mages and Knights of Solamnia in 5E.

And I'm thinking 5E might be a better fit, especially for the original module series, for a few reasons. First of all, adventures in Krynn don't seem to be strongly "murderhobo." The nations use steel coins, but any ruins or monster lairs are likely to have pre-Cataclysm gold/silver/copper coins, which are pretty much useless to Krynn PCs. And since AD&D relies on treasure for the bulk of XP earned, it's harder to get in Krynn. 5E awards most XP for combat, so that's not a problem there. It actually fits better if you want a game that may actually see mid- to high-level play some day.

Secondly, the more streamlined 5E rule set is probably more suited to the more "narrative" style of an adventure path (or railroad if you prefer that term) series of adventures. Since 1E was designed with streamlining tournament play, IMO it's bogged down with a lot of rules minutia that don't really help make the game better (feel free to disagree, I know some of you will) EXCEPT in the case of tournament play, where exact and consistent rules are needed across multiple, competing tables.

For a home game? Meh.

The only thing that stops me from starting a 5E Dragonlance campaign setting right now is that I really didn't have much fun DMing 5E. But I am considering the following and wondering if it might be fun:

• Play through the original module series
• Using 5E with a few modifications for the setting
• Players who are familiar with 5E and adventure path style games, but not with DL/Krynn

Bipolar Dragonlance

Maybe it's no surprise, seeing how the Dragonlance novels were cowritten, but reading through the Dragonlance Adventures hardback, I can't help but feel how disjointed the setting feels.

I read way too many of the novels back in the day. Even after teenage me noticed the drop in quality, I kept reading, hoping they'd get good again.* As novels, the setting didn't seem so dissonant. It felt internally consistent. But reading the descriptions of things in DLA, I'm really noticing it.

Elements of the setting, like the gods, Knights of Solamnia, Orders of High Sorcery, Order of the Stars clerics, the way half-elves are treated, the histories, etc. all seem to suggest an attempt at a serious setting where you can really get some good drama going from the conflicting elements of the society of Krynn. Especially when you consider that becoming a Knight of Solamnia (at least a Knight of the Crown) gets you nothing mechanically over being a Fighter, but lots of role play options and restrictions. Seems like you'd only sign up for that if you wanted to get into the head of a person trying to live up to the Oath and the Measure.

But then there are the Kender, Tinker Gnomes, Gully Dwarves. Sure, novels need moments of levity to break up the heavier sections of the text. D&D adventures can benefit from them, too. But in the setting, as presented in DLA, these options just seem like they shouldn't fit. Or at least, they shouldn't fit well as player character options. Well, maybe Kender. Despite the nearly universal hatred gamers have for Kender, I still think they could work. And there are examples of more serious Kender, who aren't Tasselhoff clones, that could be worked with, both in DLA and in some of the novels and game books.

Gnomes ONLY being allowed to be Tinkers, and Gully Dwarves in general, really seem like they would ruin the tone in an adventuring party otherwise devoted to rallying allies against the remnants of the dragon armies, or rebuilding the various nations ravaged by the wars, which is the presumed setting for the games using DLA (unless you want it as a reference for running the modules).



*Adult me is curious to read the "good ones" again and see if they really are that good or not. I'm guessing probably not.

Uncovering Treasure

Been on vacation. My family spent most of 2019 in the USA while I remained in Korea. I've been in Illinois with the family for the past three weeks, and two more to go before I head back for work. The family's sticking around here for a while longer. It's hard, but it's been great for my wife and our boys.

Back in December, I ordered myself a copy of the AD&D Dragonlance Adventures as a birthday present for myself. Since the seller only did domestic shipping, I had to wait until I visited here to get it. Been reading it in short bursts when I have time.

It's not the best copy, pretty beat up, but it was only $20 or so. I'll have thoughts on Krynn coming soon(ish).

The real story I want to tell tonight is that I met with my second cousin and his wife two weeks ago. They're a generation older than me, and their son was one of my best friends growing up. He died of cancer when he was only 20, during my senior year of college. They mentioned that they still had a lot of his old gaming stuff in their home, and that I was welcome to have any of it that I wanted.

I stopped by a week later and found some long lost treasures. There weren't any of his old character sheets or dungeon notes, and if there had been, I most likely would have gotten really emotional looking through them. A lot of his gaming collection is probably now in the hands of one of his brothers. But I did get some gems. Another copy of the 1E PHB, a Mentzer Basic DM's Guidebook, both books of the Immortals box set (which I had only in PDF form until now), Unearthed Arcana (which I also only had in PDF form and almost ordered instead of DLA back in December!), and his old crayon-fill TSR dice (minus a d6, plus a few other d6s from other games). Also, there are the cards and some tokens from Tom Wham's Mertwig's Maze.

This is some unearthed treasure that I will cherish for a long time. I have so many fond memories from elementary through high school playing D&D, Star Frontiers, and other games with him, not to mention the usual stuff kids did back in the 80's and 90's. People knock nostalgia, but this trip has been full of it, and it's really recharged my gaming batteries. 

I'll have some updates on gaming with my sons soon, too. Some cool developments there as well. 

I may be on to something

Warning -- Spoilers for module DL1 Dragons of Despair (and probably some minor spoilers for the novel Dragonlance Chronicles 1: Dragons of Autumn Twilight).

So today, in my West Marches 5E game, after getting screwed over by the Deck of Many Things last session, the small party (Denis, whose Rogue Ferret Jax got imprisoned by the Donjon card last time, playing a new Gnome Rogue Mervin; Renee, Denis' daughter, playing her Fairy Princess Goldie [reskinned Tiefling Warlock]; Flynn, my son, playing both Calvin the Half-Orc Paladin [current character] and Titan the Dragonborn Cleric [retired character]) entered the 'lost city' for which I'm using the map and key of the ruins of Xak Tsaroth from the first Dragonlance module.

Now, we all know, Dragonlance is a railroad ride of a series of modules. But a long time ago, before I started the West Marches campaign, I had briefly considered making a more sandbox-y game in Krynn using the dungeons from the DL modules. That way I could have all the cool Krynn flavor (which as a teen was my favorite flavor of D&D) without the constraints of having to follow the plot.

But I wasn't sure it would work, and I wasn't sure if the players would dig the Krynn setting (or if I would 25+ years later to be honest) so I dropped the idea. But I've been peppering the West Marches with classic module dungeons, and decided the 'swamp dungeon' would use this one.

So anyway, after last session's debacle before the party had even made it into the ruins really, this time they headed in and things did not go as Tracy Hickman had envisioned.

Just inside the ruins is an ambush of six Bozak (spell-casting) draconians. The new rogue, Mervin, has Expertise in Perception so it's really high, and he easily spotted the ambush. Titan the Dragonborn notices that these "dragonborn" are different, but can't quite figure out what it is that's different. Goldie the Fairy Princess decides to invite them to play. Rolls really well for diplomacy (she's a Charisma caster after all). They come out friendly-like, and invite the party to pray.

The party goes along with this, and is taken to the false wicker dragon plaza, where other draconians are praying. The baaz draconians, at the behest of the bozak priest, give donations of bags of coin. The priest motions for the party to do likewise. Mervin, using his fast hands ability, adds poison to three pouches of gold and hands them over as an offering. The draconian priest takes the coins and gets poisoned (minor damage), and all the draconians rush to his aid.

Not sure if these guys are really friendly or not, the party decides to offer a healing potion to the priest...and notice as they get close that the dragon is a fake. They try to announce this, but the priest shuts them up in time and whispers to them to follow him to meet the real dragon. He leads them to the well where in the book Khisanth appears and blasts Riverwind with acid breath. The priest starts singing a song to call the dragon (Calvin understands, since he speaks Draconic). The party decides to avoid a dragon at this point and heads into the Temple of Mishakal.

After debating whether they could get the massive gold doors out through the swamp or not (I hope they don't forget this part, each door weighs more than a ton! The logistical nightmare of dragging them through a swamp and then through 30+ miles of wilderness to get them to town would make a fun session!), they press on. In the temple, they head down the steps and after poking around a little and recovering a box of gems from a ledge in a room with no floor (using Goldie's mage hand), they meet the gully dwarves standing in line to go down the iron pot lift. Ignoring the dwarves for now, they head down the corridor to the pully room, just as the draconians in it snap their whips to summon the dwarves.

In the confusion, the party decides to attack the draconians, but every single attack in the surprise round misses! The draconians, per the module instructions, flee and jump in the pot to head down below. Calvin and Titan, both very strong characters, jump in and stop the wheel from spinning, then crank it back up. After apologies for the sudden attack, the draconians suggest the party leave and let them get back to work ferrying gully dwarves up and down between the upper level and the mines.

Short on session time, the party retreated out of the ruins, was lucky to avoid further encounters (and being invited back by the original ambush guards, who had no idea the party nearly attacked the priest and did attack the draconians at the pulley).
___________________________________________________________

So, things did not go as planned by Hickman, and that was a good thing. The only combat was a surprise round long, and nothing died. Lots of talking, negotiating, and trying to con (by both sides). And as they venture further into the ruins, they can end up playing the draconians, gully dwarves, and spectral minions off each other as they scheme to get the dragon's treasure and hopefully a golden temple door or two.

And I see that indeed, by ignoring the 'quest' to retrieve the Disks of Mishakal, the dungeon works well for general D&D monkeyshines.

Sand in the Box

My son just turned 9, and has been wanting to play D&D with people other than just me. There is a local group with three spots open (playing 5E), but when I asked the DM if he would mind playing with a 9-year-old, he reluctantly said he'd ask his players. I told him don't bother. I figure if he's uncomfortable with the idea, it really doesn't matter what the other players say. So, I'm falling back on my plan to start a new face-to-face group where my son can play.

A while back, I made several posts about running Dragonlance as a sandbox campaign in 5E, thinking I'd run that for my son and whoever else. Dragonlance because the world does have a lot of neat elements to it, and I read tons of the novels when I was a kid, so I know it pretty well. 5E because that will make it easier to attract other players. Sandbox, because I'd rather not introduce my son to playing group games by making him ride the DL module railroad.

But then I thought, why not save myself a lot of time, and just run it with 1E AD&D? It may be harder to get players, but easier to run the game. It would be even easier if I ran it using my BECMI houserules but with race and class separate. But again, getting players might be a problem.

Then, last week, I found a game on RPOL.net with an old school DM running a West Marches game using 5E, and I joined it. And I've decided to copy that rather than set my game on Krynn. Part of the decision was a bed-time discussion with my son, before I got the answer from the local DM, about what sort of character he'd like to play. I gave him a run-down of the 5E races and classes, and he thought a Dragonborn Monk would be fun to play. Not very DL, at least not pre-War of the Lance. So something more open, less defined, and with plenty of options might be in order.

So, I'm thinking how I'd run my own West Marches style sandbox game. There's a bit of a desire on my part to try my saltbox Maritime Campaign from a few years ago, but that's more work for me. With a more standard West Marches type set-up, I can plop down TSR modules, old dungeons I've made, free downloads from WotC/Dragonsfoot/the OSR community, and the like throughout the wilderness, and let the players explore to find them.

I say "West Marches style" because I'm planning to only run it with this one group, meeting regularly. It will be pretty open ended, but since there's only the one group, I'll probably need to lay down lots of rumors and the occasional mission/request for the townsfolk to get them motivated to explore, at least in the beginning.

So now we get to the nitty-gritty of this post. What do I need to run a West Marches style hexcrawl sandbox?

1. A Map: Of course, I need a wilderness hex map. The home town is on the far eastern edge, in the middle, and players have free reign to explore to the west, northwest, or southwest of the town. But if you go east, you're entering into retirement in the civilized settled lands of the Empire.

I'll probably start with a small scale map at 6 miles per hex, with various Basic level dungeons scattered here and there, and a few tougher dungeons and monster lairs. Later, if the campaign lasts long enough, I can create a larger scale map (24 miles per hex).

2. Wilderness Encounter Tables: These are most important, since from the beginning the players will be exploring the wilds trying to find dungeons or monster lairs with treasure. I don't have the 5E DMG yet, just the PHB and MM, and I don't remember if there are wilderness encounter tables in the free Basic Rules DM download, so I may have to just use the Expert Set ones, or make my own custom ones. Custom ones would be a better West Marches fit, so that each area of the wilds can have its own flavor, so I'll probably work up some custom jobbo.

3. A Home Base: In the RPOL game, the home base town is really more of a hamlet, with about 30 residents, not including adventurers. That's easy enough - the town just has the basics needed by adventurers and nothing else. But I may use the "home town" I've been developing for years now, Silverwood, just because I know it and the NPCs there well. I'll likely scale it down in size from around 5,000 residents to merely 500 residents for this game, but the various inns and shops, the mayor and town officials, the temples and thieves' guild, will all remain the same. Like I said, I want this game to be easy for me to run.

4. A Few House Rules: Just exploring for the sake of exploring may not really interest the players. Like I said above, unlike the original West Marches campaign, I'll need to bait the hooks with rumors and missions to get the players out of town and where the action is. Old school games do this well by giving XP for gold. 5E, however, has a very very fast progression rate compared to BECMI or AD&D, so I'll need to tinker either with the amount of treasure worth 1 XP or else with the advancement table.

I think 5E works well getting PCs to level 3 quickly, so that everyone can choose their specialization early on. I'd like to keep that. So I'm thinking I'll give out 1 XP for every 1pp (10gp) in treasure, plus use monster XP from BECMI. That might actually give more XP for higher level monsters, I'd better check on that. Also, the old school "no more than one level per adventure" rule must be implemented.

5. A Jeff's Gameblog style Triple Secret Random Wilderness Fate Chart of Very Probable Doom: Even though I'm only going to be running this game with one party, I'd rather not leave them out in the wilderness between sessions. There will be "safe haven" locations on the map, which can be used to rest and recuperate, resupply and maybe get a bit of information, and of course the players may set up more of their own if they attempt such. If they don't get back to town or to one of these safe havens by the end of the game session, I'll roll and see what happens to them.

6. Dungeons (and dragons, too!): I've still got the Caves of Chaos 5E conversion from the Play Test, and the Isle of Dread, and maybe there was another adventure in there? So I have some stuff already with 5E stats and the like to use. I've got plenty of old TSR era and 3E WotC era modules/adventures on the computer that can be easily converted to 5E, I think. And it's not hard to whip up a few 5 to 10 room ruins, caves, and the like. So I can scatter those around the map, plus leave clues/rumors to other locations in each. I'll also need to decide on a few "pockets of danger" like dragons, undead, or other tough beasties who have a known (or easy to recognize as a more dangerous place) lair in some of the easier areas closer to the home base.

Goodman Games is apparently releasing classic modules with 5E conversions soon, but I'll likely just do the work myself instead of waiting for them to get around to it. The good thing is that I can put a few things I already have near the town (like the Caves of Chaos...in fact, maybe I should use Castellan Keep instead of Silverwood as the home base...), and work up or convert other stuff, as the players get closer to them in their explorations. I could even use those Dragonlance dungeons I was planning to convert to 5E anyway!

That should do it!

Monsters in Dragonlance

I was searching online for a list of all the monsters that appear in the various Dragonlance modules (or at least the original DL series). I couldn't find one. So I made my own. Below are all the monsters that appear in DL 1 through DL 12, at least according to the "Combined Monster Statistics" pages of the compilation versions of the modules (four per compilation, I forget off hand what their coding was, I think DLC1-3 for Dragonlance Classics?).

Monsters in bold are ones that are in 5E, or could very easily be used just by renaming a creature in 5E, as far as I've checked. There are some of those weird late 1E/early 2E era monsters (or maybe they originated here in DL? My first encounter with many like the Crimson Death, Margoyle and Wemic was the 2E MM, but some must have been from the Fiend Folio or modules before 2E came out) that I'd need to double check before deciding what 5E monster stat block could easily stand in for it.

Aarakocra

Apparition

Aurumvorax

Axe Beak

Badger, Giant

Baluchitherium

Banshee

Baricuda, Giant

Basidirond

Bat, Normal, Giant

Bear (Cave, Ice, Polar)

Bee, Giant (worker, soldier, queen)

Beetle, Boring

Beholder

Bloodthorn

Boar (Giant, Wild)

Bodak

Brownie

Buffalo

Bulette

Carrion Crawler

Caryatid Column

Catoblepas

Cave Cricket

Centaur

Centipede, Giant

Chagrin

Choke Creeper

Coffer Corpse

Cooshee

Crayfish, Giant

Crocodile, Giant

Crypt Thing

Crysmal

Crystal Ooze

Death Knight

Death Statue

Death, Crimson

Demilich

Displacer Beast

Dog, (War, Wild)

Dolphin

Draconian (Baaz, Bozak, Kapak, Sivak, Aurak)

Dragon, (any chromatic or metalic)

Dragon Brood

Dragon Turtle

Dragon, Amphi

Dragon, Faerie

Dragon, Sea

Dragon, Shadow

Dragon, Skeleton

Dreamshadow

Dreamwraith

Drelb

Dryad

Dwarf (various)

Eagle, Giant

Eel, Giant

Elemental (air, earth, fire, water)

Elf (various)

Elf, Sea

Elk

Ettin

Fawn, White

Fetch

Fireshadow

Forestmaster Unicorn

Frog, Giant

Froghemoth

Fungi, Violet

Galeb Duhr

Gargoyle

Gas Spore

Gelatinous Cube

Ghast

Ghost

Ghoul

Giant, Hill

Goat

Goblin

Golem (Clay, Iron, Stone)

Gorgon

Green Slime [Is this a "hazard" in the DMG like it was in 3E?]

Griffon

Grim (cat, dog, owl)

Groaning Spirit

Hag, Sea

Harginn

Harpy

Hell Hound

Hobgoblin

Ice Folk

Ildriss

Invisible Stalker

Jellyfish

Kech

Kender (various)

King of the Deep

Kingfisher

Koalinth

Kobold

Lamia Noble

Leech, Giant

Leucrotta

Lich

Lion, (Mountain, Spotted)

Lizard, Suberranean

Lurker Above

Margoyle

Mastiff, Shadow

Mastodon, Skeleton

Men (various)

Mermen

Mihstu

Mimic, Killer

Minotaur

Mobat

Mold (brown, yellow)

Moon Dog

Mummy

Naga, Spirit

Nightmare

Nixie

Ochre Jelly

Ogre

Oliphant

Para-Elemental (smoke)

Pedipalp, Huge

Pegasus

Phantom

Piercer

Porcupine, Giant

Prickleback

Pudding, Deadly (dun)

Quasi-Elemental (light)

Ram, Giant

Rat (Normal, Giant)

Ray, Manta

Remorhaz

Revenant

Roper

Salmon School

Satyrs

Scrag

Sea Serpent, Giant

Shadow

Shadowpeople Warriors

Shrieker

Sirme

Skeleton

Skeleton Warrior

Skyfisher

Slig/Ghaggler

Slug, Giant

Snake (Constrictor, Poisonous)

Snow Leopard

Spectral Minion (Berserker, Guardian, Reveler, Philosopher, Searcher, Warrior)

Spectre

Spider, (Huge, Giant, Whisper)

Sprite

Stag (Giant, Normal, White)

Stirge

Stone Guardian

Storoper

Sylph

Taer, (normal, Forest)

Takhisis (Dream)

Thanoi

Tiger

Treant

Troll

Umber Hulk

Undead Beast

Vampire

Varrdig

Vulture (Giant, Ordinary)

Warthog

Water Weird

Wemic

Wight

Will-o-Wisp

Willow, Black

Wolf (normal, Dire, Winter)

Wolverine, Giant

Wooly Rhinocerous

Wraith

Wyvern

Yellow Musk Creeper

Yeti

Zombie

Knight of Solamnia (5E class) Trial Balloon

Here is a first (and hopefully last) attempt at a Knight of Solamnia class for 5E. Anyone with a bit more experience in 5E, if something looks too powerful, or too weak, or just generally useless feel free to chime in in the comments. If this class goes over well, I'll have the player-side rules ready to go for a 5E sandbox game in Krynn. After that, I'll just need to modify the modules to fit 5E stats for monsters and I'll be ready to rock.

Class: Knight of Solamnia
The Knights of Solamnia are the defenders of that nation, but they are also known to travel the world, seeking to defend the weak, provide justice to the wronged, and stamp out evil where they find it. Knights of Solamnia follow the Oath and the Measure, which guides their actions. The Oath, “Est Sularus oth Mithas” (My honor is my life), is the general guiding principal of all Solamnic Knights. The Measure is an extensive set of rules, devised in ages past but still updated today, which regulates the three orders of knighthood.

Quick Build: You can make a Knight of Solamnia quickly by putting your highest ability score into Strength, followed by Wisdom. Second, choose the Noble background or the Knight variant.

The Knight of Solamnia

Level	Proficiency Bonus	Features
1	+2	Fighting Style, Bravery
2	+2	Focused Strike
3	+2	Knightly Orders
4	+2	Ability Score Improvement
5	+3	Extra Attack
6	+3	Honor
7	+3	Knightly Order feature
8	+3	Ability Score Improvement
9	+4	Focused Strike (2)
10	+4	Knightly Order feature
11	+4	Fighting Style (2)
12	+4	Ability Score Improvement
13	+5	Extra Attack (2)
14	+5	Hearty
15	+5	Knightly Order feature
16	+5	Ability Score Improvement
17	+6	Dedicated
18	+6	Focused Strike (3)
19	+6	Ability Score Improvement
20	+6	Knightly Order feature

Class Features

Hit Points

Hit Dice: 1d10 per Knight of Solamnia level

Hit Points at 1^st Level: 10 + your Constitution modifier

Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d10 (or 6) plus your Constitution modifier per KoS level after 1^st

Proficiencies

Armor: All armor, shields

Weapons: Simple weapons, martial weapons

Tools: none

Saving Throws: Strength, Wisdom

Skills: Choose two from Animal Handling, Athletics, History, Insight, Intimidation, Persuasion, and Religion

Equipment

You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:

• (a) scale mail and shield or (b) chain mail
• any two martial weapons
• (a) shortbow and 20 arrows or (b) any simple weapon
• (a) a diplomat's pack or (b) an explorer's pack

Fighting Style

You may select any Fighting Style (PHB p. 72) except for Archery. You gain a second fighting style when you reach 11^th level.

Bravery

You have advantage on all saving throws against fear effects.

Focused Strike

Starting at 2^nd level, when you succeed on a melee attack, you may choose to have the attack deal an extra 1d8 damage. You may use this a number of times equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum 1). You regain uses of focused strike after a short or long rest.

At 9^th level, your focused strike improves to deal an extra 2d8 damage. At 18^th level, your focused strike becomes so powerful that you deal an extra 3d8 damage.

Knightly Orders

At 3^rd level, as soon as you can prove your worth to a Knightly Council, you join one of the three orders of knighthood. Choose from Crown Knight, Sword Knight and Rose Knight. These three knightly orders are detailed below.

Ability Score Improvement

When you reach 4^th level and again at 8^th, 12^th, 16^th and 19^th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two abilities of your choice by 1. As normal, you can't increase the ability score above 20 using this feature.

Extra Attack

Starting at 5^th level, when you use the Attack action, you can make two attacks instead of one. This feature improves at 13^th level, allowing you to make three attacks when you use the Attack action.

Honor

At 6^th level, as long as you keep to the Oath and Measure, you have advantage on all saving throws against enchantment magic.

Hearty

At 14^h level, your intense physical training regimen makes you better able to resist certain types of attacks. You gain proficiency with either Dexterity or Constitution saving throws.

Dedicated

At 17^th level, your dedication to the Oath and Measure make you better able to resist certain types of attacks. You gain proficiency with either Intelligence or Charisma saving throws.

Knightly Orders

A Knight of Solamnia must choose one of three orders upon reaching 3^rd level, and their special abilities at certain levels are determined by their choice of order.

Crown Knight

The most common order of knighthood, Crown Knights have no special requirements for entry. Any Knight who fails the requirements for the Sword or Rose Orders must become a Crown Knight. Crown Knights are dedicated to the principles of Loyalty and Obedience. They are also the best warriors among the Knights of Solamnia.

Weapons Training

At 3^rd level, select one of the following weapons: battleaxe, lance, longsword, spear, trident, or warhammer. If you select lance, you do not suffer disadvantage when attacking foes within 5' of you. If you select any other weapon, you deal its versatile (2 handed) damage when wielding it one handed.

Bonus Proficiency

At 3^rd level, you gain two skill proficiencies from the following list: animal handling, insight, performance, or persuasion. Instead, you may choose to gain a tool proficiency in place of one of the skill proficiencies.

Reserves of Strength

At 7^th level, when you take a short rest, if you do not spend any hit dice for healing, you regain up to two spent hit dice.

Power Strike

At 10^th level, when you use your Focused Strike ability on a target of large size or smaller, the target must make a Strength saving throw (DC8 + your proficiency bonus + your Str modifier) or be knocked prone.

My Honor Is My Life

At 15^th level, when you are the target of an attack that would reduce you to 0 hit points, you may make a Constitution saving throw (DC5 + the damage done). If you succeed, you retain 1 hit point. You must complete a short or long rest before you can use this ability again.

Lord Warrior

At 20^th level, the Crown Knight becomes one of the Lord Warriors of the Knights of Solamnia, charged with leading their forces in battle, and is eligible to be elected as High Warrior, the leader of the Knights of the Crown and one of the three High Knights that rule over the organization.

The Lord Warrior also gains advantage on all saving throws against any spell effects, and resistance to necrotic damage.

Sword Knight

Sword Knights are less common than Crown Knights due to their strict requirements. This order is dedicated to the ideals of Heroism and Good, and strive to serve as living examples of a true hero. However, their mystical abilities sometimes cause them to be accused of witchcraft.

Restriction

To become a Sword Knight, you must be of a Good alignment. If your alignment ever changes, you may no longer advance as a Knight of Solamnia until such time as you regain your Good alignment.

Spellcasting

At 3^rd level, you gain some limited ability to cast spells. See Chapter 10 of the PHB for the rules for spellcasting, and Chapter 11 for the list of cleric cantrips and paladin spells.

Cantrips: You learn two cantrips of your choice from the cleric list when you gain your spellcasting ability. At 10^th level, you gain a third cleric cantrip of your choice. Until the true gods return, this is the limit of your spellcasting ability.

Spell Slots: Once the true gods return (if they return), you gain the ability to cast spells from the paladin spell list. The Sword Knight Spellcasting table shows you how many spell slots you have to cast your spells of 1^st level or higher. To cast a spell, you must expend a spell slot of the spell's level or higher. You regain all used spell slots when you finish a long rest.

Spells Known of 1^st level or Higher: You know three 1^st level spells of your choice from the paladin spell list. As you gain levels, you can learn more spells, as shown on the Spells Known column of the Sword Knight Spellcasting table. When you gain a new spell, it must be of a level for which you have spell slots. Each time you gain a level, you may choose to replace a single spell you know for another spell for which you have spell slots.

Special Note: For all paladin spells that augment or modify divine smite, you may use these spells to augment or modify your focused strike ability. You must expend both a spell slot and a use of focused strike in order to do so.

Spellcasting Ability: Wisdom is your spellcasting ability. Use your Wisdom modifier any time a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. Wisdom also affects the DC of saving throws against your spells and your spell attack bonus:

Spell Save DC = 8 + proficiency bonus + Wis modifier

Spell Attack modifier = proficiency bonus + Wis modifier

Sword Knight Spellcasting

Knight	Cantrips	Spells	Spell Slots
level	Known	Known	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
3rd	2	3	2	–	–	–
4th	2	4	3	–	–	–
5th	2	4	3	–	–	–
6th	2	4	3	–	–	–
7th	2	5	4	2	–	–
8th	2	6	4	2	–	–
9th	2	6	4	2	–	–
10th	3	7	4	3	–	–
11th	3	8	4	3	–	–
12th	3	8	4	3	–	–
13th	3	9	4	3	2	–
14th	3	10	4	3	2	–
15th	3	10	4	3	2	–
16th	3	11	4	3	3	–
17th	3	11	4	3	3	–
18th	3	11	4	3	3	–
19th	3	12	4	3	3	1
20th	3	13	4	3	3	1

Channel Divinity

At 3^rd level, you gain the ability to channel divine energy (regardless of whether the true gods have returned or not). You have two choices of how to use this divine energy. Once you use it, you cannot use it again until you finish a short or a long rest. You have the following powers:

Champion Challenge: You issue a challenge to your enemies. Any enemies you choose that you can see within 30' of you must make a Wisdom saving throw (DC equals your spell DC). Those that fail cannot willingly move more than 30 feet from you. This effect ends if you are incapacitated, die, or if the creature is moved more than 30 feet from you.

Turn the Tide: As a bonus action, you can bolster other creatures with your Channel Divinity. Each creature of your choice that can hear you within 30' of you regains hit points equal to 1d6 + your Wisdom modifier (minimum 1) if it has no more than half of its hit points.

Divine Shield

Starting at 7^th level, if an ally within 5' of you is struck by an attack, you can use your reaction to shield the ally from the blow. Your ally takes no damage, and you suffer the damage of the attack instead.

Heroic Swordplay

At 10^th level, you gain the ability to undercut the resistance of your enemies to your spells. When you hit a creature with a weapon attack, that creature has disadvantage on any saving throws made to resist a spell you cast before the end of your next turn.

Unyielding Spirit

At 15^th level, you gain advantage on saving throws to avoid becoming paralyzed or stunned.

Lord Clerist

At 20^th level, the Sword Knight becomes one of the Lord Clerists of the Knights of Solamnia, charged with leading their forces in battle, and is eligible to be elected as High Clerist, the leader of the Knights of the Sword and one of the three High Knights that rule over the organization.

The Lord Clerist is an inspiration to all allies on the battlefield. You can use your action to gain the following benefits for 1 hour:

• you have resistance to damage from bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons
• your allies have advantage on death saving throws while within 30' of you
• you and all allies within 30' of you have advantage on all Wisdom saving throws

This effect ends if you are incapacitated or dead. Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.

Rose Knight

Rose Knights are less common than Crown Knights due to their strict requirements. This order is dedicated to the ideals of Justice and Honor, and strive to right wrongs and act as champions of order. However, their dedication to laws and rules sometimes leads them to excess.

Restriction

To become a Rose Knight, you must be of a Lawful alignment. If your alignment ever changes, you may no longer advance as a Knight of Solamnia until such time as you regain your Lawful alignment. In the past, royal or noble blood was needed, but that restriction has been relaxed.

Rallying Cry

At 3^rd level, you gain the ability to inspire your allies to fight through their injuries. As an action, you regain 1d10 + your level hit points, and up to three allies within 60' regain a number of hit points equal to your level. Once you use this ability, you cannot use it again until you complete a short or a long rest.

Solamnic Envoy

Starting at 7^th level, you gain the persuasion proficiency if you do not already have it. If you have it already, you gain one skill proficiency from the following list: animal handling, history, insight, or intimidation. In addition, your proficiency bonus for the persuasion skill is doubled, whether you gained it from this ability or not.

Inspiring Surge

At 10^th level, as a bonus action, up to two allies within 60' that can see and hear you can each make a melee or ranged attack as a reaction. Once you use this ability, you cannot use it again until you complete a short or a long rest.

Bulwark

At 15^th level, when you have to make an Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma saving throw and are not incapacitated, you can use your reaction to gain advantage on the saving throw, and one ally within 60' also gains advantage on the saving throw. After using this ability twice, you cannot use it again until you complete a long rest.

Lord of Justice

At 20^th level, the Rose Knight becomes one of the Lords of Justice of the Knights of Solamnia, charged with leading their forces in battle, and is eligible to be elected as High Justice, the leader of the Knights of the Rose and one of the three High Knights that rule over the organization.

Your Rallying Cry, Inspiring Surge and Bulwark abilities all improve, being able to affect double the number of allies. Rallying Cry now affects up to six allies, Inspiring Surge now affects up to four allies, and Bulwark now affects up to two allies.

5E Dragonlance: How to do a Solamnic Knight?

Lots of options.

You don't need to be a stick in the mud like Sturm to be a Solamnic Knight, but it sure helps.

The simplest way would be to make Squire of Solamnia a special Background. Fighters with that background then get access to three special martial archetypes, one for each order of Knighthood. Knights of the Sword are like Eldritch Knights, except their spell list is the Paladin's, while Knights of the Crown and Knights of the Rose get custom (or cribbed) martial archetypes.

Of course, then I also need to consider what happens when other classes take that Background. I suppose they remain "squires" and serve a support capacity for the Knights. 

Option 2, also fairly simple, is to have all Knights be Paladins, but only those that take the Knights of the Sword path get spells. Crown and Rose get other abilities (or maybe give them feat selections) to make up for the lack of spells. But then I need to worry about balancing out spell casting with other abilities.

Option 3 is to just make a new class that fits between Fighter and Paladin. It's the most work for me, but may be the simplest way to go for the players. And in the end, it would probably look a lot like Option #1, just without the need for a specific Background.

Knowing myself, I'll probably go with Option 3.

As I mentioned before, I'll probably be borrowing some ideas from other places. The Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide suggests using the Fighter archetype Purple Dragon Knight for Knights of the Rose. And I agree, it looks good. They have some good abilities to boost allies, which is a bit different from other Fighter types.

For Knights of the Sword, they suggest the Paladin with Oath of the Crown. Again, not bad. If it can be ported onto the Fighter, along with Eldritch Knight style spell-casting from the Paladin list, it would work well.

I'd thought about the Unearthed Arcana Cavalier path for the Knights of the Crown, but while it's got some interesting things, it's very lance combat focused. A Knight of the Crown with a dragonlance would be a force to reckon with using this path, but there's no guarantee in a sandbox version of Krynn that a dragonlance would ever become available. Lances are also less than ideal weapons in many dungeon environments. So I may need to borrow a few ideas here and there and make up my own Knight of the Crown martial archetype.

Oh, and just for the record, Dragonlance Adventures lists Barbarian, Cavalier, Paladin and Monk as available classes in the setting, so I will be allowing the 5E Barbarian, Paladin and Monk as options, and if I don't give the Cavalier powers to Knights of Solamnia, it will be available for Fighters.

Paladins, like Clerics, will need to wait until the gods have been rediscovered before they get all their cool powers, though...

5E Wizard of High Sorcery

I just spent a few minutes (didn't take long) comparing the eight magical traditions in 5E with the various spell schools in 1E, and how in Dragonlance, your wizard's robe color determines which spell schools you can know/cast. And it turns out they easily map together, giving five of 5E's eight groups to each robe color. Also, the influence of the three moons seems like it will be pretty simple to apply to 5E's Wizard class.

Class: Wizard of High Sorcery
Except as noted below, identical to the basic Wizard class.

2nd Level: Arcane Tradition
Wizards of High Sorcery have limits on which arcane traditions they can choose from, based on their alignment. Wizards of Good alignment can select from Abjuration, Conjuration, Divination, Enchantment, and Evocation. Wizards of Neutral alignment can select from Conjuration, Divination, Evocation, Illusion, and Transmutation. Wizards of Evil alignment can select from Conjuration, Divination, Enchantment, Illusion, and Necromancy. [Note that the Law/Chaos axis does not matter for this choice, only the Good/Evil axis.]

3rd Level: Robes
After achieving 3rd level and before gaining 4th level, the wizard must pass the Test of High Sorcery, which is pass or die. The wizard who passes joins one of three orders, White (good), Red (neutral) or Black (evil) and is issued appropriately colored robes. From this point forward, they may only cast spells of the spell schools allowed as valid choices for their Arcane Tradition. Spells of prohibited schools in their spellbook are unusable, and the wizard may select any one such spell, if any, to be removed and replaced with another spell by the Conclave of Wizards upon completion of the Test.

3rd Level: Moon Influence
After passing the Test of High Sorcery, the wizard's magic is influenced by one of Krynn's three moons: Solinari (White), Lunitari (Red) or Nuitari (Black). When the wizard's influencing moon is in High Sanction (full), the wizard gains a +1 bonus to their Spell Save DC and Spell Attack Bonus. They also gain one additional spell slot that they can cast, of the highest level of which they can cast 2 or more spells. When the influencing moon is in Low Sanction (new), the wizard suffers a -1 penalty to their Spell Save DC and Spell Attack Bonus. They also lose one spell slot of the highest level of which they can cast 2 or more spells.

For example, at 7th level, a Wizard has 1 4th level spell slot and 3 3rd level spell slots. At High Sanction, the Wizard would gain an extra 3rd level spell slot, for a total of 4. During Low Sanction, the Wizard would have only 2 3rd level spell slots. Once the Wizard advances to 8th level and has 2 4th level spell slots, the Wizard would have 3 4th level slots at High Sanction and only 1 4th level slot at Low Sanction.

Renegade Magic Users
A Wizard who continues to advance in level beyond 3rd without having taken the Test of High Sorcery is considered a renegade. The renegade may cast spells of any spell school regardless of alignment, and the moons have no influence on the renegade's spells. Any Wizard of High Sorcery who encounters a renegade is bound by the Conclave of Wizards to attempt to capture or kill the renegade.