Death Knights of Krynn
Encyclopedia
Death Knights of Krynn is the second in a three-part series of Dragonlance
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons "Gold Box
" computer role-playing games, published by Strategic Simulations, Inc.
The game was released in 1991
.
The story is a continuation of the events after Champions of Krynn
and is followed by The Dark Queen of Krynn
.
. Soth has been raising dead, great warriors and turning them into his own evil undead forces. His primary goal is to possess the body of the legendary hero Sturm Brightblade. He and his vast undead armies now threaten the land. It is up to the party to overcome this threat.
The party's ultimate goal is to storm Dargaard Keep and defeat Lord Soth
. Along the way, it will travel to many towns and face numerous monsters. One particular monster, the Dread Wolf, will taunt the party many times until it finally fights the creature. The party may enlist the aid of the knight Sir Durfey at the Clerist's Tower. He will join and help the party for most of the game.
There are a few optional side quests the party can undertake if desired. The party can gain some extra experience points and usually some extra treasure items can be found.
To play Death Knights of Krynn, one simply needs to create characters and form a party. The available character races are humans, dwarves, elves, half-elves and kender, while the selectable classes are fighter, ranger, knight, mage, cleric and thief. The gameplay basics are identical to all games in the series. Characters can also be transferred from Champions of Krynn
. However, the useful magical items from the previous game will not be retained.
There are some differences in play from the prior goldbox games:
There are only two known versions for MS-DOS:
#173 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 5 out of 5 stars. The game was reviewed by Computer Gaming World
in 1991.
Dragonlance
Dragonlance is a shared universe created by Laura and Tracy Hickman, and expanded by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis under the direction of TSR, Inc. into a series of popular fantasy novels. The Hickmans conceived Dragonlance while driving in their car on the way to TSR for a job application...
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons "Gold Box
Gold Box
Gold Box is the name for a series of computer role-playing games produced by SSI. The company won a license to produce games based on the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game from TSR, Inc...
" computer role-playing games, published by Strategic Simulations, Inc.
Strategic Simulations, Inc.
Strategic Simulations, Inc. was a video game developer and publisher with over 100 titles to its credit since its founding in 1979. It was especially noted for its numerous wargames, its official computer game adaptations of Dungeons & Dragons, and for the groundbreaking Panzer General...
The game was released in 1991
1991 in video gaming
-Notable releases:*Microprose creates Civilization, Sid Meier's most successful game .*Electronic Arts releases James Pond 2 and Road Rash for Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, starting a series of games that were popular in the 1990s....
.
The story is a continuation of the events after Champions of Krynn
Champions of Krynn
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. The highest graphics setting supported in the MS-DOS version was EGA graphics. It also supported the Adlib sound card and either...
and is followed by The Dark Queen of Krynn
The Dark Queen of Krynn
The Dark Queen of Krynn is the third in a three-part series of Dragonlance Advanced Dungeons & Dragons "Gold Box" role-playing video games. The game was released in 1992.-Story:...
.
Plot
One year after the defeat of Myrtani, the party, now stationed at Gargath Outpost, has had little to do. The outpost is soon attacked by undead forces. The party's old colleague, Sir Karl, is revealed to be brought back from the grave as an undead death knight under the command of the evil Lord SothLord Soth
Lord Soth, the Knight of the Black Rose , is a fictional character in the fantasy realms of Dragonlance and later Ravenloft...
. Soth has been raising dead, great warriors and turning them into his own evil undead forces. His primary goal is to possess the body of the legendary hero Sturm Brightblade. He and his vast undead armies now threaten the land. It is up to the party to overcome this threat.
The party's ultimate goal is to storm Dargaard Keep and defeat Lord Soth
Lord Soth
Lord Soth, the Knight of the Black Rose , is a fictional character in the fantasy realms of Dragonlance and later Ravenloft...
. Along the way, it will travel to many towns and face numerous monsters. One particular monster, the Dread Wolf, will taunt the party many times until it finally fights the creature. The party may enlist the aid of the knight Sir Durfey at the Clerist's Tower. He will join and help the party for most of the game.
There are a few optional side quests the party can undertake if desired. The party can gain some extra experience points and usually some extra treasure items can be found.
Gameplay
Champions of Krynn
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. The highest graphics setting supported in the MS-DOS version was EGA graphics. It also supported the Adlib sound card and either...
. However, the useful magical items from the previous game will not be retained.
There are some differences in play from the prior goldbox games:
- Death Knights of Krynn does bear similarities to its predecessor in gameplay and graphics.
- Graphics are about on par with Champions of Krynn and everything is still drawn in 16 colors (DOS/C64). Amiga version has enhanced 32 color graphics.
- The Paladin is once again a playable class. It had been replaced by the Knight in Champions of Krynn, though the Knight is also playable.
- Just like Champions of Krynn, the arrow keys are conveniently usable to select menu options as opposed to using hotkeys. Hotkeys are still available for most options, if one desires.
- If a character has enough experience points to train, the character's name is colored purple as an indicator. This was not the case in past games.
- This was the first appearance of the fireball sprite.
There are only two known versions for MS-DOS:
| OS | Version | Language |
|---|---|---|
| MS-DOS | V1.00 | Turbo Pascal 5.5 (exepacked) |
| MS-DOS | V1.10 | Turbo Pascal 6.0 (exepacked) |
Game credits
- Created by: SSI Special Projects Team
- Game Development: Ken Humphries, Dave Shelley
- Programming: Russ Brown
- Encounter Code: Rhonda Gilbert, Carolyn Bickford, Cyrus Harris, Terrea Thompson, Ken Eklund, Gary Shockley, Alan Marenco
- Graphic Arts: Maurine Starkey, Mike Provenza, Laura Bowen, Cyrus Lum, Fred Butts, Daniel Colon, Jr.
- Playtest: John Kirk, Jeff Shotwell, Mike Gilmartin, Glen Cureton, Phil Alne, Erik Flom
- Music: "The Fat Man", Dave Govett
Reception
Death Knights of Krynn had more substantial tie-ins to the Dragonlance setting than its predecessor, and was well received at the time of its release. The game was reviewed in 1991 in DragonDragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
#173 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 5 out of 5 stars. The game was reviewed by Computer Gaming World
Computer Gaming World
Computer Gaming World was a computer game magazine founded in 1981 by Russell Sipe as a bimonthly publication. Early issues were typically 40-50 pages in length, written in a newsletter style, including submissions by game designers such as Joel Billings , Dan Bunten , and Chris Crawford...
in 1991.
See also
- Champions of KrynnChampions of KrynnChampions 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. The highest graphics setting supported in the MS-DOS version was EGA graphics. It also supported the Adlib sound card and either...
- The Dark Queen of KrynnThe Dark Queen of KrynnThe Dark Queen of Krynn is the third in a three-part series of Dragonlance Advanced Dungeons & Dragons "Gold Box" role-playing video games. The game was released in 1992.-Story:...
- Gold BoxGold BoxGold Box is the name for a series of computer role-playing games produced by SSI. The company won a license to produce games based on the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game from TSR, Inc...
- Strategic Simulations, Inc.Strategic Simulations, Inc.Strategic Simulations, Inc. was a video game developer and publisher with over 100 titles to its credit since its founding in 1979. It was especially noted for its numerous wargames, its official computer game adaptations of Dungeons & Dragons, and for the groundbreaking Panzer General...