Next   Contents

Cloak and Dagger

By Steve Miller

Table of Contents
 
Chapter One: Roguish Roles
  Defining Roles
  Using Roles
  Lower-Class Roles
    The Barmaid
    The "Loyal Servant"
    The Street Performer
    The Street Urchin
  Middle-Class Roles
    The Guild Thief
      Sidebar: Thief Guilds
    The Merchant
    The River Pirate
  Upper-Class Roles
    The Ambassador
    The Fop
    The "Staunch Supporter"
  Other Roles
    The Bard
      Sidebar: The Bard College
    The Con Artist
    The Displaced Noble
    The Handler
    The Healer
    The Legionnaire Scout
    The Qualinesti Rebel
    The Spellfilch
    The Thug
  False Roles

     Chapter Two: A Land Defiant
  Creating Intrigue
  Underground Ansalon
    Map: Land of Defiance

Chapter Three: Optional Rules
  Gully Dwarves as a Hero Race
  False Demeanors
  Hidden Agendas
  Putting It All Together

Chapter Four: Northern Ergoth
  Geography
  Empire of Ergoth
    Ergoth Proper
    Actal Province
    Ogaral Province
    Sikk'et Hull Province
      Sidebar: Ergoth's Gods
  Hylo (Kenderhome)

Appendix
  Roles Quich Reference

Hidden Agenda Sheet

Credits

Editor: Sue Weinlein Cook
Proofreader: Cerrie A. Bebris
Creative Director: Harold Johnson
Typographer: Angelika Lokotz
Cover Illustrator: Jeff Easley
Map Illustrator: James A. Crabtree
Graphic Designer: Shan Ren
Cartohrapher: Rob Lazzaretti
Interior Illustrators: Jason Burrows and Storn A. Cook
Graphic Coordinators: S. Daniele, Paul Hanchette, and Dawn Murin
Special Thanks To: Duane Maxwell and Steven Brown for their good ideas; Mike Oldfield for The Songs of Distant Earth, to which much of Heroes of Defiance was written; and John Maddox Roberts and Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, whose novels provided this book with descriptive quotes to begin eaxh chapter.

Author's Foreword:

Generally, when we think of the DRAGONLANCE Saga, we see in our mind's eye vast armies clashing while dragons wheel overhead. But actually, very few escapades of the Heroes of the Lance involved open confrontation. By and large, their early adven- tures were tales of survival through stealth. The famous, grand battles came much later and most cases emerged amid great loss, such as the death of heroes like Sturm Brightblade, Tanis Half-Elven, and Steel Brightblade. Some say a heroic end is worth the example it sets for others, but more pragmatic individuals believe it's better to live to fight another day.

This sourcebook is about the latter group. It is about heroes who consider personal glory - even personal honor - far less important than surviving to see the struggle end in victory for their side. Their belief in their cause is as strong as that of knights boldly bearing the crest of their lords into battle. These heroes just have dif- ferent priorities: survival for themselves, their loved ones, and their people. This is a book about spies, freedom fighters, and even dark-cloaked assassins, the Saga's unsung heroes and villains.

As Narrators and players, you can use Cloak and Dagger to build a DRAGONLANCE: FIFTH AGE campaign with a different flavor. Chapter One spotlights new roles, from street urchins to displaced nobility. In Chapter Two, you learn how to create an intrigue-laced campaign, as well as glimpse the array of underground and resistance activity sweeping Ansalon. Chapter Three offers new rules for creating roguish heroes who keep secrets from even trusted comrades, as well as optional guidelines for playing one of the most downtrodden races ever to skulk or thieve: the gully dwarves. Finally, Chapter Four discusses Northern Ergoth, a land whose ancient history ties it to the bards and rogues of the world; this is the first time this island has been treated in detail anywhere.

Suggested Reading

To create fantasy adventures full of intrigue and duplicity for your FIFTH AGE campaign, you can draw from a variety of DRAGONLANCE novels, such as:

- Dark Heart by Tina Daniell (Meetings sextet Vol. 3).
- Murder in Tarsis by John Maddox Roberts.
- Lord Toede by Jeff Grubb (Villains series Vol. 5).
- The Dark Queen by Michael and Teri Williams (Villains series Vol. 6).
- The Reign of lstar, an anthology (Tales series Vol. 4).

Also, for those with Usenet access through online service providers, the newsgroup alt.fan.dragonlance provides an Internet forum to exchange ideas about the Saga.

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