TSR, Inc. released the Dragonlance saga in 1984 after two years of development, as an entirely new game world. The series was both a set of modules and supplements designed for running campaigns, starting with Dragons of Despair, as well as a novel series. The novel series was written by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. The Dragonlance trilogy of novels was a colossal hit; Dragons of Autumn Twilight, the first novel in the series, reached the top of The New York Times Best Seller list, encouraging TSR to a launch a long series of paperback novels.
In 1996, Dragonlance: Fifth Age was released, a diceless role-playing game that departed from the roots of Dragonlance in AD&D.
TSR was sold to Wizards of the Coast in 1997. Wizards of the Coast continued to use the TSR name for D&D products for three years. Wizards also set about the creation of the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons. It was released in 2000 under the Wizards of the Coast brand only.