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)

Groups +

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)

A true classic.

The Good
Champions of Krynn was my first entry into the Dragonlance world. It was also one of my first Gold Box games. Even though I didn't have prior Dragonlance experience, the game got me RIGHT into the world, enough so that when I did get around to reading the Dragonlance novels, I kept thinking "Hey, they took this from Champions of Krynn. Er, wait." The included manual and rulebook were superb.

The real meat of the game is very nicely balanced, I never had a really difficult area where I had to pass in order to progress the game. The characters can be fairly detailed and some parts of the game allow the character to have their own encounters, such as a Knight Of Solomnia meeting the ghost of an ancient knight, or a elven character meeting kin. This adds a lot of character to the game, as well as spark the imagination. Also included is the chance to meet characters from the novels, not just as cardboard-cutouts, but as actors in the same grand quest.

The storyline is quite good, if a little formulaic, and well-fleshed out throughout the entire game - each step (and corresponding city) is original and different from the others, so that each one is a great experience and a joy to play through.

The engine used is fairly powerful, with good menu-driven options in most areas that don't interfere with what you're trying to do at the moment. Combat is, for such a combat-heavy game, surprisingly fun. Even random encounters were resolved fairly quickly and enjoyably.

The Bad
The storyline to follow is rather linear, as opposed to the select-a-quest system in Pool of Radiance. This can be a little restrictive at times, but as I said, the storyline is quite well-rounded.

My only other quibble with Champions of Krynn is that some areas simply threw random encounter after random encounter at the player, which bogged down play and can make one very easily frustrated with trying to make progress in the story.

The Bottom Line
I knew, maybe halfway through Champions of Krynn, that I would love it forever. And I was right. It's the kind of game that immediately becomes a classic, with oodles of character and Dragonlance elements, plus an epic story that kept you guessing, and when you were done, got you to play it all over again.

DOS · by George Shannon (113) · 2000

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

"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

[ 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

Analytics

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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.