Champions of Krynn

Champions of Krynn

Cover art
Developer(s) Strategic Simulations, Inc.[1]
Publisher(s) Strategic Simulations, Inc.[1]
Composer(s) John Halbleib
Series Gold Box
Engine Gold Box
Platform(s) Amiga, Apple II, C64, MS-DOS
Release date(s) 1990
Genre(s) Role-playing video game, Tactical RPG
Mode(s) Single player

Champions of Krynn is the first in a three-part series of Dragonlance Advanced Dungeons & Dragons "Gold Box" role-playing video games. The game was released in 1990.[2] The highest graphics setting supported in the MS-DOS version was EGA graphics. It also supported the Adlib sound card and either a mouse or joystick. The game can still be run with an MS-DOS emulator such as DOSBox.[3]

Plot

After a prologue set at the Inn of the Last Home in Solace, the adventure begins at an outpost near Throtl, the capital city of the Hobgoblins. The party soon meets a group of Baaz Draconians ambushing some good settlers. After the battle, a greater Aurak Draconian named Myrtani shows up, and steals an ancient book. Myrtani teleports away, ignoring the party. The party then reports the events to Sir Karl. Sir Karl realizes that the evil forces are not at all weakened as was believed, and the party sets out to investigate and defeat Myrtani and his forces.

Gameplay

To play Champions of Krynn, one simply needs to create characters and form a party. The gameplay basics are identical to all games in the series, with combat employing a cavalier projection view of the battlefield. There is no character-transferring system in this game, as it is the first. Characters from Champions of Krynn may be transferred to the sequel, Death Knights of Krynn.

Game differences

Clockwise from upper left: overland map; the party in combat; final cut scene; the party is camping.

In terms of its gameplay and graphics, Champions of Krynn has similarities to the Forgotten Realms series of goldbox games. Thus the graphics are about on par with Secret of the Silver Blades, and everything is drawn in 16 colors.[3] The arrow keys are conveniently usable to select menu options as opposed to using hotkeys, which was the only way in two of the earlier Forgotten Realms titles, though the hotkey option is still available for many menus. An innovation with this release was the LEVEL difficulty selector.[4]

Champions of Krynn offers additional races players may choose, including Kender, Qualinesti Elves, Silvanesti Elves, Hill Dwarves, and Mountain Dwarves. In this setting the Mages may benefit from the phases of the moons. Thus, good-aligned mages benefit from the phase of Solinari, for example. Clerics can choose one from a handful of deities in this game, and may receive varying bonuses depending on the choice. Instead of the Paladin, the Knight of Solamnia is an available class. This class begins the game equipped with plate mail, a shield and a long sword, but they must give up some of their gold each time they enter a city because of their vow of poverty.[4]

Draconians are very common enemies in the game, and all five types are seen. The game faithfully implements their death-throes, as they appear in the Dragonlance novels and RPG supplements. In the PC version of the game, any weapons encased in a dead Baaz will be available after combat in the character's inventory screen. The player must then re-equip the recovered weapons.

There are two known versions for MS-DOS:

OS Version Language
MS-DOS V1.1 Turbo Pascal 5.5
MS-DOS V1.2 Turbo Pascal 6.0 (exepacked)

Reception

The game was reviewed in 1990 in Dragon #156 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 5 out of 5 stars.[5] Computer Gaming World's Scorpia in 1990 approved of the non-combat activities, but criticized several aspects of the game such as the lack of experience points for unconscious players during combat. She concluded that "Champions of Krynn is a pretty good game overall, but you do have to be aware of its failings".[6] In 1993 she called the game "standard fare for the most part", approving of cameo appearances of characters from the books but criticizing the final battle as "wearisome rather than exciting".[7]

According to GameSpy, while "there's little to find fault with in Champions of Krynn [...] the major criticism was that the game's graphics were becoming hopelessly dated".[8]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Champions of Krynn". Game Profiles. IGN. Retrieved 2009-06-24.
  2. ↑ Barton, Matt (February 23, 2007). "Part 2: The Golden Age (1985-1993)". The History of Computer Role-Playing Games. Gamasutra. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
  3. 1 2 Kohler, Chris (2005). Retro gaming hacks. O'Reilly. pp. 329–332. ISBN 0-596-00917-8.
  4. 1 2 Barton, Matt (2008). Dungeons and desktops: the history of computer role-playing games. A. K. Peters, Ltd. pp. 153–155. ISBN 1-56881-411-9.
  5. ↑ Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia; Lesser, Kirk (April 1990). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (156): 89–95.
  6. ↑ Scorpia (April 1990). "The Scorpion's View". Computer Gaming World. p. 18. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
  7. ↑ Scorpia (October 1993). "Scorpia's Magic Scroll Of Games". Computer Gaming World. pp. 34–50. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  8. ↑ Rausch, Allen (August 15, 2004). "A History of D&D Video Games". GameSpy. Retrieved November 17, 2012.

External links

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