Champions of Krynn

Moby ID: 833
DOS Specs
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Description official description

The War of the Lance is over, the dragonarmies have been defeated. But evil has not left Krynn. In northeastern Ansalon, outposts of the Knights of Solamnia remain to guard the fragile peace. Your party of adventurers is hired to carry out missions for the Knights. On your first mission, you stumble upon Draconians, long believed to have left the area. What are their plans? On your travels you have to face dangers in many dungeons and towns and might even meet some of the legendary Heroes of the Lance.

Champions of Krynn is the first of SSI's "gold box" games set in the AD&D world of Dragonlance, with all the usual features: first-person view and movement in dungeons, towns and outposts, overland travel on a map of the area and tactical turn-based combat from a top-down perspective.

As the first game set in Krynn, it has several features unique to that setting: In character races, one can choose from Kender, Silvanesti or Qualinesti Elves and Mountain or Hill Dwarves in addition to humans and half-elves. Special character classes include Solamnic Knights, clerics of the major deities of Krynn and mages of either the Red or the White Robe. The deities grant special spells and powers to their respective clerics. Red and White mages have access to different spells and the phases of the moons of Krynn affect their spellcasting abilities.

Spellings

  • 克萊恩英豪 - Chinese spelling (Traditional)

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Screenshots

Promos

Credits (DOS version)

38 People (37 developers, 1 thanks) · View all

Based on original story by
Programming
Game Creation
  • SSI Special Projects Group
Project Manager and Developer
IBM Programming
Encounter Authors
Graphics / Artwork
Art Director
Music and Sound Effects
IBM Music Driver
  • Electronic Arts
Director
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 83% (based on 18 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.4 out of 5 (based on 49 ratings with 4 reviews)

Nearly-Timeless Classic

The Good
- The first Title of SSI-RPGs using the same engine, that was also the Base of "Champions of Krynn" was "Pools of Radiance". It was a great breakthrough in ComputerRPG-Gaming: Good use of the AD&D-Licence, Nice graphics (at least for the time it was released) and mainly the still challenging tactical-combat system. "Champions of Krynn" has all of this and more: A very nice story that drives the player to continue, fascinating places to explore and, because of this, a lot of atmosphere.

The Bad
There has always been some limitations to the "goldbox"-games by SSI: The player has to accept, that acting freedom is a bit limited in some spots. Of course the graphics arent good anymore.

The Bottom Line
Classic RPG released by SSI in 1990 containing a good character and a great combat-system.

DOS · by Daniel Martin (12) · 2001

"Welcome to the world of Dragon Lance" -Raistlin Majere

The Good
Everything about this game is good. It was the first of the Dragon Lance series from the SSI Goldbox Sets and it was given a warm welcome by me and my AD&D gaming buddies.

First off, there are two moons that orbit the world of Kyrnn. Depending on how the moons are place in the sky, it effects your mages and magic. Also there is a new currency in Krynn, steel. Any new little changes can be a good one.

Basically this game is very similar to the Forgotten Realms series except for the little differences between the two worlds. The game's gameplay and interface are almost identical to the other SSI Goldbox games. Champions of Kyrnn is challenging enough to keep you busy for a long time. Had a high replay value to it as well. Another cool addition is the new race native to Kyrnn, Kender.

The Bad
Nothing really! I enjoyed the game from start to finish.

The Bottom Line
I felt satisfied after buying it and winning the game. I played it over at least 3 times. Definitely worth a try for SSI Goldbox AD&D game lovers.

Commodore 64 · by OlSkool_Gamer (88) · 2004

One of the best "Gold Box" games.

The Good
As far as the storyline goes, this one is awesome and is reminiscent of the DragonLance chronicles paperback books. This is shortly after the War of the Lance, and your party picks up the pieces, meeting even some of the book characters (Tanis, Caramon, Tasslehoff) along the way, battle draconians, pilot flying citadels, and even find a DragonLance! This game introduced me to gold box games and AD&D computer games in general and will always have a special place in my heart.

The Bad
Well, it's a gold box game. You either like them or you don't.

The Bottom Line
This was the "in-between" period of the Gold Box games - the early kinks were already worked out from Pool of Radiance (eg. the Fix command was implemented and the goofy copy protection wheel was dropped), but it still had EGA graphics and not yet the additional features of Pools of Darkness or Dark Queen of Krynn.

Get this game if you plan to play the Krynn story arc (Champions, Death Knights, Dark Queen) and transfer your characters. At least in this arc your characters keep their items and don't get wimped (unlike the Pools storyline where your characters get completely stripped of anything in between Curze of the Azure Bonds and Secret of the Silver Blades). Well worth a look if you can forgive the outdated graphics and sound.

DOS · by Gothicgene (66) · 2001

[ View all 4 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Fully localized German version? Trypticon (11024) Sep 26, 2015

Trivia

Cover art

The game box's cover features a painting by artist Keith Parkinson (heavily inspired by René Magritte's 1959 painting Le Château des Pyrénées), earlier used as the front cover to Tracy Hickman and Michael S. Dobson's 1984 RPG module "Dragons of Desolation".

Awards

  • Computer Gaming World
    • November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) – #9 Least Rewarding Ending of All Time

Information also contributed by Pseudo_Intellectual

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  • MobyGames ID: 833
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Terok Nor.

Commodore 64 added by Rebound Boy.

Additional contributors: Rebound Boy, Jeanne, Paulus18950, Trypticon, Patrick Bregger, ZeTomes.

Game added February 7, 2000. Last modified March 27, 2024.