Betrayal at Krondor

About Betrayal at Krondor

Betrayal at Krondor (1993) is Dynamix's RPG set in Raymond E. Feist's Midkemia, structured like a novel in chapters, with use-based skills, riddle-locked chests and a story so faithful that Feist later novelised it as canon.

Betrayal at Krondor in Depth

Presented like a book in chapters, narrated in the third person with a quick-save bookmark, it follows a party of two or three drawn from six characters: the fighters Locklear, James and Gorath, a moredhel chieftain who betrays his people to warn Prince Arutha of Delekhan's planned invasion, and the magicians Owyn, Patrus and Pug. Each chapter's main plot is set in one or two regions, but the player is free to explore within them, taking side quests, earning money and improving gear. Travel is in first-person 3D, with a top-down map that fills in as areas are explored, and the party camps in the wilderness to recover.

Characters have health, stamina, speed and strength; spells and attacks drain stamina before health, and injuries weaken skills. Skills, from weapon accuracy and armour repair to haggling, lockpicking and playing the lute in taverns, improve through use rather than levels, and can be emphasised to grow faster. Party members must eat rations daily, which may be spoiled or poisoned, and weapons and armour need upkeep with whetstones and hammers. Combat is turn-based on a grid, where wounded enemies may flee. Moredhel wordlock chests hold treasure behind riddles whose letter dials must be set to the answer, readable only by Gorath or with Patrus's Union spell.

Making Betrayal at Krondor

Dynamix developed Betrayal at Krondor and Sierra released it for MS-DOS in summer 1993, with photo-based character art and a textured 3D engine. Sales of the floppy release were slow, leading Sierra to sell the Riftwar rights back to Feist, but it became a hit when re-released on CD-ROM in 1994 with CD audio and a video interview with Feist. Computer Gaming World called it "a new high-watermark in RPG design" and "a rare gem" that "actually lives up to, even exceeds, its advance billing", praising its combat as the best in a fantasy CRPG, and Pelit said it was "as big a revolution in turn-based role-playing games as the Underworlds were in 3D". Dragon's Sandy Petersen was less impressed, giving two stars and complaining of slow play and "dull maintenance activities" such as polishing armour. Sierra later gave it away as a free download in 1997, and GOG.com re-released it in 2010. A long-delayed sequel by PyroTechnix, Return to Krondor, was released in 1998 to a cooler reception.