tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post2352417814828602922..comments2024-03-28T14:39:04.452-04:00Comments on The CRPG Addict: Death Knights of Krynn: Good, but Still Second-BestCRPG Addicthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comBlogger93125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-5770044718108444792023-07-18T19:20:47.827-04:002023-07-18T19:20:47.827-04:00The world of Krynn is more strong than FR, the Mag...The world of Krynn is more strong than FR, the Magic Lore, the races , the gods, the setting is less huge that FR but more strong lore.Lord Sothnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-50186022752198422812019-06-12T08:39:05.226-04:002019-06-12T08:39:05.226-04:00It's in Gluten's maze.It's in Gluten's maze.Kishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11456086726407491007noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-19213697432471217042019-06-08T10:46:56.948-04:002019-06-08T10:46:56.948-04:00Ok, I know this is years after the fact. But, I ju...Ok, I know this is years after the fact. But, I just had to say something. Your statement that Death Knights had an overall humdrum feel to it tells me that you clearly missed something. <br /><br />Comparing Pool Of Radiance to Death Knights. Sure, DK doesn't have Pool's quest system or parley system (nice haughty sly meek etc). But DK has something that Pools did not. A well written story element like DK's story of Sir Karl and Maya. The tragic ending of Sir Karl and Maya (a story that started in the first game, Champions) is writing that's almost worthy of the novels. That is why some people say that Death Knights is closer to a true Dragonlance experience than the other 2 games in the series. Think about it. The Gold Box engine is not built for storytelling. It has that small box for text, plus journal entries. So they have to stuff any story writing into condensed form. Yet, how can you not feel at least a little something as you watch the streaks of silver and gold ascend into the sky (symbolizing their souls going to be with the god Paladine). <br /><br />The fact that this was completely missed by you (or you just were unconcerned) tells me that you've possibly played so many CRPGs that you've possibly become too jaded to appreciate a modestly well-told story element (done in the best way they could manage) using a game engine originally made in 1987-88.<br /><br />In Death Knights most areas are an experience (or experien as the game calls it). The experience of a bustling bazaar of Kalaman. The strange, magical, twisty road of Vingaard. The hidden dragons of Cekos. For that matter, Cekos was just something they made up for the game (not in a novel or the like), yet it still even has a little background story behind it. <br /><br />In Pools Of Radiance most areas have a name, but little story or lore, no real "experience" and are just an area to clear out. Thanks. Here's your pay. Next. <br /><br />And, if we're to admit the truth, there's a reason they dropped the parley system from Radiance in subsequent gold box games. Once you've done the "Nice, Haughty, Sly, Meek" thing a couple of times you're pretty much done with it, and you're just wanting to get on to the fight, because you know you're going to. Especially if characters are close to level up. Talking doesn't get you XP like combat does (parley doesn't yield any XP if I'm remembering right). <br /><br />Also, if we were to admit it. The quest system from Pools Of Radiance was a bit stale. In Death Knights it's a little more elaborate. Why is Sir Karl undead? Where did he take the Dragonlance? What's up with the sleepstone? Granted it's not mind blowing. But, it's still more than just "The slums need to be cleared out. Come see me when you're done. Thanks." <br /><br />Despite what I have said here. I still have to agree that Pools Of Radiance is still the better game. But, not by a huge margin. Death Knights is more than just "hundrum" if you actually care about dragonlance anything. But, Radiance is just too good with that "go adventure, fight baddies, find goodies and level up" kind of thing. It's a hard thing to describe. But, few games really have it like POR does. <br /><br />And, if we're to admit it, Lord Soth is not represented well in Death Knights of Krynn. I mean it's nice to even just have Lord Soth in a game. But, his personality in the game is not like the Soth from the novels much at all. Jackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00075709214618738050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-79237737110804325632016-07-23T21:21:30.836-04:002016-07-23T21:21:30.836-04:00I really liked Dragonlance as a kid, but I think t...I really liked Dragonlance as a kid, but I think that had more to do with the books my library had. My Dad had Dragons of Autumn Twilight, and then the library had some of the short story collections. So I got lots of fun little tales of dwarves trying to forge kingswords and such. I encountered more good stories in Dragon magazine, including the Kang stories. <br /><br />I later liked it less as Rastlin became more central, the original cast died or aged into retirement, and they did stupid things with heart magic.<br /><br />I find most D&D stories better when they are on a small scale. Heck, most stories in general. I'd rather read The Hobbit about some dwarves trying to get their kingdom back then LotR about the fate of the world. Or Conan trying to make a back, etc, etc.<br />I think games are the same way. Pool was about the citizens of one city. Each other game has tried to be more epic and thus are harder to connect to and feel different.Canageekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03770924810559440307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-76392731273282471052016-07-23T20:58:14.677-04:002016-07-23T20:58:14.677-04:00My players always find uses for money. We had a pl...My players always find uses for money. We had a player roll maxed out wealth in Call of Cthulhu once, and he wound up chartering a zeplin to talk to Louis Armstrong then holding a theree day street party in New Orleans (oddly enough, both plot-relevant. Funding his run for mayor of the city was less so)Canageekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03770924810559440307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-84141446985796482092015-09-26T18:15:59.833-04:002015-09-26T18:15:59.833-04:00I found the Mace of Disruption, but it was very la...I found the Mace of Disruption, but it was very late in the game (I forget exactly where), and I don't think I identified it until after the main game was over. I just assumed it was another Mace+4 or something.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-20835285328519706072015-09-23T17:23:13.965-04:002015-09-23T17:23:13.965-04:00When I re-played it a few weeks ago after many yea...When I re-played it a few weeks ago after many years, I was slightly disappointed. It's not bad but the main plotline is too straight and too short (just follow Sebas missions and then try to save him) and the side quests seem random and hardly connected at all to the main plot and the undead menace. The Kua-Toa ship is an interesting idea (and can be very tough if unprepared or too early) but it hasn't got anything to do with Lord Soth, Draconians, whatever, just random stuff. Same for that dwarf village etc.<br />And even in the main quest the eponymous Death Knights appear almost only in the last dungeon.<br />I recall that when I played it first with my brother in 92 or so, I found the section with the dream merchant quite evocative but this is fairly short.JRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16342993408695554146noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-33480403267334609182015-09-23T11:02:52.384-04:002015-09-23T11:02:52.384-04:00Chet, in addition to the staff, did you find the M...Chet, in addition to the staff, did you find the Mace of Disruption. A successful hit automatically kills undead. I forgot where I found it, but I remember having my cleric switch in and out with it depending on the monsters we faced. JJnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-37524032248502459132015-08-25T07:08:40.592-04:002015-08-25T07:08:40.592-04:00Are you referring to specific modules?Are you referring to specific modules?Tristan Gallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16769219573533545742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-33977498623656744382015-08-25T05:53:03.094-04:002015-08-25T05:53:03.094-04:00The aquarian adventures in Forgotten Realms and Dr...The aquarian adventures in Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance are laughable. They're usually so weak that I had to mix in a little Lovecraftian mythos to make them a tad more terrible.Kenny McCormickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01553499727945099493noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-44165489573531496192015-08-25T03:07:58.137-04:002015-08-25T03:07:58.137-04:00The Sahuagin made for a good stock 'evil empir...The Sahuagin made for a good stock 'evil empire' for adventures near/on/under the sea.<br /><br />I never really felt the Kuo-toa though. Fat frogs with a strange set of properties - they can hold hands to make a lightning bolt? They're lead by fat frog monks? Nup.Tristan Gallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16769219573533545742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-69436083069293432672015-08-25T00:20:25.347-04:002015-08-25T00:20:25.347-04:00The game's not specific with that part since t...The game's not specific with that part since the damage does not correspond to a spear's damage. That, and you technically can't backstab with a spear, right?<br /><br />Also, the pointed end is functionally used as an anchor for the kender to stab into the ground to convert it into a catapult-artillery, if I recall.Kenny McCormickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01553499727945099493noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-85646666661621246792015-08-25T00:16:16.121-04:002015-08-25T00:16:16.121-04:00@Maldeus: Precisely. F-ing gods. Flooding the worl...@Maldeus: Precisely. F-ing gods. Flooding the world, burning down 2 cities just because they're gay, offing every firstborn in one of the largest civilizations in its time, turning all potable water into bloo- wait. Uh... wow. I think I just saw some parallels there...Kenny McCormickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01553499727945099493noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-11068092532712442932015-08-24T19:39:05.022-04:002015-08-24T19:39:05.022-04:00@Bladed Edge: If you think the story you're de...@Bladed Edge: If you think the story you're describing is anything else but half-assed, you don't know enough about Greek tragedy to understand that this is a paint-by-numbers example of the genre. "Great hero brought low by tragic flaw" is not some groundbreaking shortcut to grand literature, it's one of the oldest storytelling models in recorded history, and Soth's particular version of it is not particularly compelling - the only character with any kind of personality in it is Soth himself, who is a two-dimensional cardboard cutout whose fall from grace is arbitrary. He doesn't have any kind of sympathetic reason for being paranoid and vengeful about women, he just *is*. Which is pretty damning for the protagonist of a Greek tragedy.<br /><br />@Dariel: While the Kingpriest, as a tyrant whose reign of terror affected millions, is probably the worst of the four presented, the proximate cause of the Atlantis nuking is the gods, who for some reason decided the best use of their nearly-limitless power was to indiscriminately slaughter most of those oppressed millions and plunge the survivors into a barbaric dark age/warring states period. Could've just vaporized the one tyrant, assholes.Maldeushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00281269631242362618noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-74579363307225075842015-08-24T13:25:56.842-04:002015-08-24T13:25:56.842-04:00Maybe he found dave's challenge :)Maybe he found dave's challenge :)Borothnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-30254405273750179942015-08-23T20:13:23.944-04:002015-08-23T20:13:23.944-04:00Slight spoilers below...
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A nice bundle of ...Slight spoilers below...<br />.<br />.<br />.<br />.<br />A nice bundle of Darts of Hornets Nest would be a worthwhile investestment, because...<br />.<br />.<br />.<br />...they are the the ultimate weapon against the most annoying enemy in Dark Queen.<br /><br />BTW, surprised by no Victory! posting yet, since DKK is a rather short CRPG.PetrusOctavianusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-64990591751450645442015-08-23T19:21:53.737-04:002015-08-23T19:21:53.737-04:00Okay, the "magic shop" consists entirely...Okay, the "magic shop" consists entirely of Arrows +2 and Darts of the Hornets Nest. If the latter stacked, it would be a really good money sink. I guess based on Nathan's comment below, I'll buy a bunch of the arrows.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-22058726662015082752015-08-23T15:50:50.220-04:002015-08-23T15:50:50.220-04:00My kender has the hoopak. I thought that hoopaks w...My kender has the hoopak. I thought that hoopaks were like staff-slings but with pointed ends so that the backstab was more like a spear.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-57760623438683933112015-08-23T15:50:08.881-04:002015-08-23T15:50:08.881-04:00What you describe in the last paragraph is somethi...What you describe in the last paragraph is something that I don't do enough. If my fighter has a +2 mace and finds a +3 long sword, I typically drop or sell the mace. I ought to keep it for skeletons.<br /><br />I've been doing a better job in this game than usual.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-55092611038873840502015-08-22T16:27:45.864-04:002015-08-22T16:27:45.864-04:00I was excited to see these. I've been in the m...I was excited to see these. I've been in the mood to relive some old favorites, but never liked going to abandonware sites. I was just about to anyway, when this announcement came out. Happy to buy them instead. Though I've had to reload three times and I've only won maybe three fights. Once I died by stumbling into a bar and getting into a fight while trying to find an equipment store. Bard's Tale gets a bad rap for being tough on beginners, but in my experience this is just as brutal. (Or would be, if not for being slightly easier to save/reload.)Quirkzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16409671254311123117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-6770259000832289452015-08-21T16:46:43.271-04:002015-08-21T16:46:43.271-04:00Whoa, GREAT find there!
I would have never though...Whoa, GREAT find there! <br />I would have never thought that there would be any interesting stuff for the CP/M mode of the C128 outside of Wordstar, dBase & Co...:)dahaunshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02098585704891226776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-75527231869418911492015-08-21T16:32:39.628-04:002015-08-21T16:32:39.628-04:00Copper dragons can breathe either acid or a cloud ...Copper dragons can breathe either acid or a cloud of gas that acts like a Slow spell IIRC.Jonathonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12424548045152722964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-26897267153138015972015-08-21T16:20:10.813-04:002015-08-21T16:20:10.813-04:00A workaround for this would be to interrupt quick ...A workaround for this would be to interrupt quick combat again when he has his next turn. If you have the correct timing it should work.BastyCDGSnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-67966368100845666422015-08-21T15:21:28.977-04:002015-08-21T15:21:28.977-04:00I can't speak to tabletop D&D, but Gnoman ...I can't speak to tabletop D&D, but Gnoman gave what would have been my answer. Getting rewarded with gold--and then having something useful to buy with it--is one of the things I enjoy about CRPGs. Hence, I complain when the system is broken.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6162314467762792782.post-8231964119758527612015-08-21T15:19:30.279-04:002015-08-21T15:19:30.279-04:00Sure, that would probably work, but then I wouldn&...Sure, that would probably work, but then I wouldn't be controlling him. I wanted to both control him AND breathe....whatever copper dragons breathe.CRPG Addicthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01238237377918550322noreply@blogger.com