 |
 |
| Champions of Krynn PC game box, 1989 |
Released in 1989 by Strategic Simulations, Inc. The first "gold box" game set in the Dragonlance setting, by 1991 over 125,000 copies had sold.[1]
"Champions of Krynn improves on the award-winning game system used in SSI's mega-hits Pool of Radiance and Curse of the Azure Bonds. Now, for the first time on your computer, the Dragonlance Saga unfolds in a spectacular AD&D fantasy role-playing adventure!
"The War of the Lance is over, but Evil is a BAD loser..."
-- 1991 SSI advertisement [5]
Game Information
Cover Art
The painting featured on the game box is Dragons of Desolation by Keith Parkinson, the noted fantasy artist who worked at TSR, Inc. in the 1980s. The painting depicts riders on horseback galloping furiously toward the viewer. In the background a flight of red dragons wheels around an immense flying citadel haloed by lightning and mist. Jeff Grubb, a longtime friend and former coworker of Mr. Parkinson, notes of the original painting that "on one of the ledges, Keith had painted in a TARDIS, Doctor Who, and K-9". [3] The majestic quality of the painting -- the striking and vividly imagined flying citadel, the dramatic urgency of the riders on horseback -- combined with the high level of realistic detail given to the clouds, rocky formations, grasses, and red sky make this an iconic example of Parkinson's art and the Dragonlance setting.
The painting depicts an event that was incorporated in the game. Following the main events in Sanction, the party fights its way across two flying citadels (one of them, presumably, depicted in the painting) in order to protect messengers of the Good Dragonarmies. The painting was also included as a folded poster with the Apple II version of the game.
The painting was used several times by TSR for Dragonlance products and advertisements. It was featured on the cover of the fourth Dragonlance game module of the same name, Dragons of Desolation (DL4), published in 1984. In the module, however, the flying citadel is not a citadel at all, but the tomb of the dwarven hero Derkin. The party "escape[s] on magical horses as the tomb begins to sink". [4] The painting was also included in the 1985 Dragonlance calendar and used as the cover of the book The Art of the Dragonlance Saga, which contains the original pencil sketch of the painting. [2]
Manuals and documentation
Technical Information
 |
| Adventurer's Journal, cover |
Input Method
- Keyboard
- Mouse (optional)
- Joystick (optional)
Available Platforms [1][2]
- IBM PC (512K)
- PCs, XTs, ATs, PS2s and Tandy 1000 Series
- Video supported: CGA, EGA, Tandy 16 Color
- Sound supported: C/MS, Roland LAPC, AdLib
- Available on 5-1/4" or 3-1/2" floppy disk
- Required a hard drive or two floppy drives; no installation required
- Commodore 64/Commodore 128 (64K)
- Amiga (1Mb)
- Apple II (128K)
- 128K Apple IIe/IIc and IIGS compatible
External Resources
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.