NOTE: This article contains SPOILERS for Dragons of Eternity. Turn back now, lest ye be spoiled!
With the finale of Dragons of Eternity, we are given the possibility that the Chaos War and everything that followed may or may not happen. This has several repercussions, of course, and possibilities for the future.
Consider that every novel and game product set in the Chaos War or Age of Mortals is now just a possible future. In essence, this era is akin to the former Expanded Universe of Star Wars, now termed Legends. Disney and Lucasfilm do not consider them to be canon, but they definitely borrow the best ideas from the old timeline. Likewise, the same could happen for Dragonlance.
When one looks at Dragonlance, one has to look at it in terms of myths and legends. There are no hard core “facts” and stories may contradict each other. Yet that doesn’t mean they are any less enjoyable.
This is a great time for D&D players as well. Firstly, the buy-in to get up to speed is now a lot less than it used to be. One could simply read Chronicles and be ready to jump right into the action. Dungeon Masters have a lot of freedom to create a world that is wholly theirs, with no worries of authors contradicting them. Likewise, they can take elements from the former timeline and alternate timelines to create their own vision of Dragonlance.
Dragons of Eternity returns us back to that post-Legends era, leaving the future timeline as an uncertain. Novel and game fans can each read and utilize materials from the Chaos War on if they wish, or choose to ignore it. In the end, the world of Krynn is now yours.
Well, some of the best DL products (IMHO) are about alternate timelines after all, e.g. Legends of the Twins, your own War of the Darklance, and the Anvil of Time adventure that came out in Dungeon Magazine (I think, it was a long time ago!)
Bold of you to assume you can get player’s to read anything about a setting Trampas.:)
I think this is less a tabula rasa as it is a useful tool for DMs to have a canon excuse to remove undesired content from their campaigns’ timelines. Personally, I’ll be keeping the Legends series and the Chaos War, ejecting most else outright.