Champions of Krynn

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

'Champions of Krynn'
Champions of Krynn title screen
Developer(s) Strategic Simulations, Inc.
Publisher(s) Strategic Simulations, Inc.
Engine Gold Box
Release date(s) United States of America 1990
Genre(s) computer role-playing game
Mode(s) Single player
Platform(s) Amiga, Apple II, C64, MS-DOS
Media 5¼" and 3½" floppy disk

Champions of Krynn is the first in a three-part series of Dragonlance Advanced Dungeons & Dragons "Gold Box" computer role-playing games. The game was released in 1990.

Contents

[edit] Story

The adventure begins at an outpost near Throtl. 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.

[edit] 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. 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.

For more detailed information on how controlling characters and other aspects of the game work, see the Gold Box gameplay article.

[edit] Game differences

Champions of Krynn does bear similarities to the Forgotten Realms series of games in its gameplay and graphics.

Graphics are about on par with Secret of the Silver Blades, and everything is drawn in 16 colors.

The game offers additional races one may choose, including Kender, Qualinesti Elves, Silvanesti Elves, Hill Dwarves, and Mountain Dwarves.

Mages may also benefit from the phases of the moons. Good mages benefit from Solinari, for example.

Clerics can choose one from a handful deities in this game, and may receive varying bonuses depending on the choice.

Instead of the Paladin, the Knight of Solamnia is a class one can choose.

Draconians are very common enemies in the game, and all five types are seen. The game does a pretty faithful job in implementing 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 re-equip the recovered weapons.

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.

[edit] Game credits

  • Based on an original story by: Jim Ward, Victor Penman, and Dave Shelley
  • Game created by: SSI Special Projects
  • Project Director: Victor Penman
  • Graphic Arts: Tom Wahl, Fred Butts, Mark Johnson, Cyrus Tom, Susan Manley
  • Programming: Russ Brown, Scot Bayless
  • Encounter Design: Dave Shelley, Michael Mancuso, Ken Humphries
  • Playtest: Rick White, Don McClure, Mike Bench, Cliff Mann, Rick Wilson, Erik Flom, James Young, Graeme Bayless
  • Musical Score: John Halbleib
  • Musical Driver: Electronic Arts

[edit] See also

[edit] External link