Betrayal at Krondor is an MS-DOS-based role-playing video game created by Dynamix and released by Sierra On-Line in the summer of 1993. The game is set mainly in Midkemia, a fantasy world from Raymond E. Feist’s Riftwar novels. The game is designed to look like a book, with chapters and a third-person narrator. It includes a quick-save feature that allows players to mark their progress.
Although Feist did not write the game’s dialogue or story, the game is considered part of the official Riftwar series. A novel titled Krondor: The Betrayal was later written based on the game’s events, and the story was also included in the Riftwar novels.
PyroTechnix made a sequel called Return to Krondor, which Sierra On-Line released in 1998. The game’s development took a long time and faced many delays. The final version was not as well received as the original game.
In 2010, GOG.com released a version of Betrayal at Krondor that works on Microsoft Windows computers.
Gameplay
The game is played mainly from a first-person view while exploring the overworld, dungeons, and caves. During combat, the view switches to a third-person perspective. The user interface is controlled with a mouse, and keyboard shortcuts are used for actions.
The game offers two views: a 3D first-person perspective and a 2D top-down map. In the map view, the player is shown as a triangular marker. The overworld is fully mapped, and other areas are automatically added to the map as the player explores them. Players can also view the complete map of Midkemia and see their location on it.
Each chapter’s main story usually takes place in one or two regions of the game world. However, players have the freedom to explore the world in any order. They can complete optional tasks, improve their characters, earn money, and upgrade weapons and armor. Only certain areas are available in each chapter, but players can explore freely within those areas and take their time with quests. While traveling, the party camps in the wilderness to rest and recover health and stamina, as long as no enemies are nearby.
A unique feature of the game is the Moredhel wordlock chests, which are hidden throughout the world. These chests have combination locks with letters on each dial and a riddle written on them. Solving the riddle opens the chest. Chests may contain valuable items, equipment, or quest items needed to finish the game. If no party member can read Moredhel, the writing on the chest appears untranslated, but the chest can still be opened by trying all possible combinations. The Moredhel alphabet uses letters similar to the A-Z alphabet. Gorath, a Moredhel character, can read it, and the Union spell allows Patrus to read it temporarily. Essential quest chests are usually near roads or revealed through interactions with NPCs. Bonus chests are often hidden in less-traveled areas and require careful searching.
The story is shown through cutscenes that include text, dialogue, and animations. Each chapter begins and ends with a cutscene. Players meet NPCs during their journey. Dialogue is text-based, and some NPCs have pictures. Conversations follow a tree structure, allowing players to choose from different dialogue options. These choices can help gain information, training, or items, sometimes for a cost.
The party includes two or three characters at a time. While players meet non-human characters like dwarves, elves, goblins, and dragons, five of the six main characters are human. The exception is Gorath, a dark elf. Characters are divided into two classes: fighters (Locklear, James, and Gorath) and magicians (Pug, Owyn, and Patrus). Fighters use swords and crossbows, while magicians use a staff. Magicians can only attack from a distance using magic spells.
Each character has attributes like health, stamina, speed, and strength. Speed determines how many steps a character can take in combat. Strength affects how much damage a character deals in close combat. Actions like spellcasting, swinging a weapon, or attacking use stamina first. When stamina runs out, health is used instead. Low stamina or health reduces a character’s skills, such as weapon accuracy, and slows movement.
In addition to attributes, characters have skills shown as percentages. Skills improve faster if used more often and slower if ignored. Unlike many games, skills are improved by using them, not by leveling up. For example, fixing weapons improves the weaponcraft skill, making the character better at fixing weapons later. Skills include defense, crossbow accuracy, melee accuracy, spellcasting, enemy assessment, repair, barding, haggling, lockpicking, scouting for ambushes, and stealth. Some NPCs teach skills, and items can temporarily or permanently increase skills.
Characters can gain status effects that impact health or skills. If a character’s health drops to zero in combat, they are knocked out and gain a “near death” status, making them unable to fight and reducing their health recovery. If all party members lose health, the game ends. Other status effects include faster healing, poisoning, drunkenness, sickness from spoiled food, and plague, which is a severe condition that weakens the party.
Spells are grouped into six categories based on magic symbols. Four groups are for combat, and two are for non-combat use. Spells drain stamina first, then health. Some spells let players choose how much energy they use. Combat spells require the target to be visible to the caster. Spells are learned from scrolls found in caches, on enemies, or bought from shops and NPCs.
The game includes many items, such as equipment, food, treasure, and magical artifacts. Each item has detailed background information that can be viewed by clicking on it. Players can move items between party members. Stacks of items can be shared equally among the party. Money and keys are managed separately.
Weapons and armor have modifiers that affect their performance, such as accuracy, damage, and racial bonuses. After battles, weapons and armor need to be maintained with a whetstone or armorer’s hammer. Some items, like poisonous silverthorn or fiery naphtha, improve weapons and armor.
Players must eat rations daily to keep their health. Rations are sold in taverns, found on enemies, or in caches. Spoiled or poisoned rations can make characters sick. Careful inspection of questionable items helps avoid this.
Combat happens in turns on a grid, like in tactical games. Characters move and attack in the same turn if they reach an enemy. Attack options include a thrust (default) or a swing (more damaging but less accurate). Fighters can use crossbows, and magicians can cast spells if no enemies are nearby. Players can rest to recover health and stamina, defend against attacks, or assess enemies.
Injured enemies may flee and escape unless killed or stopped. Defeated enemies stay on
Plot
Ten years after A Darkness at Sethanon, Seigneur Locklear is working at a northern Kingdom garrison when he saves Gorath of the Ardanien from an assassin. Gorath brings a warning about an invasion planned by Delekhan, leader of the moredhel. Locklear agrees to take Gorath to see Prince Arutha in Krondor. After being hurt in many attacks, they ask for help from Owyn Beleforte, a young magician from Tiburn. The story begins in their camp north of LaMut.
Owyn is helping treat Gorath and Locklear’s injuries when they are attacked by a moredhel assassin. Gorath defeats the attacker before they continue their journey south. After surviving many assassination attempts, they reach Krondor. Finding the palace gates damaged, they enter the palace through the sewers with help from Seigneur James. When Prince Arutha meets them, another moredhel assassin tries to kill Gorath, but Pug stops the attack.
Gorath tells Arutha about Delekhan’s plans, but Arutha does not trust him because he does not know where the attack will happen. Gorath suggests they find out by intercepting Delekhan’s Nighthawk spies in Romney. Arutha arranges for James to escort Gorath to Romney to meet with soldiers investigating Nighthawk activity. Arutha will prepare his army and wait for news about the attack’s location. James, Owyn, and Gorath leave the city through the sewers and travel east. At a tavern in Romney, they discover that the soldiers have all been killed.
Two clues were left at the murder scene: a magic spyglass and a silver spider. James, Owyn, and Gorath follow the clues north to Cavall Keep, where they find the leader of the Nighthawks, Navon du Sandau. After killing him, they enter the Nighthawks’ hideout in the caverns beneath Cavall Keep. There, they learn Delekhan plans to attack Northwarden. They split up: James goes to Northwarden, while Owyn and Gorath head south to warn Arutha. Before they reach Arutha, Owyn and Gorath are captured by Narab, one of Delekhan’s chieftains.
Gorath and Owyn are taken to Sar-Sargoth, where Narab presents them to Delekhan. Delekhan is angry that Narab ruined his plans and tells him his life is in danger. Narab turns on Delekhan and, without them knowing, frees Owyn and Gorath. They escape Sar-Sargoth and go south to the Inclindel Gap, where they meet a Kingdom patrol and are taken to Arutha’s camp. Learning about the attack on Northwarden, Arutha prepares his army and sends Owyn and Gorath to Krondor to get help from Pug.
James and Locklear arrive at Northwarden and are sent by Baron Gabot to find his magical adviser, Patrus. They help Duke Martin prepare for the attack by poisoning moredhel food, finding a minstrel named Tamney, stealing moredhel battle plans, and killing six moredhel magicians hiding near Kingdom lines. When they return to Northwarden as the moredhel siege begins, they learn Baron Gabot was murdered by Nighthawks, leaving James in charge. The battle goes poorly until Arutha arrives with his army and drives off the moredhel.
Makala visits Pug in Krondor and tells him that Gamina is considered an abomination by the Assembly of Magicians and that she has been imprisoned. Pug is angry and vows to find Gamina, writing "The Book Of Macros" on a wall. When Katala cannot find Pug or their daughter, she sees his message and tells Owyn and Gorath. Following clues from libraries, Owyn and Gorath go west to Elvandar, where Gorath completes his "Returning" and pledges loyalty to Queen Aglaranna and Prince Consort Tomas. Tomas shows them The Book Of Macros, a gift from Pug. Tomas, recently injured by a poisoned blade, asks Owyn and Gorath to go in his place. They read the book, which teleports them to an unknown location.
In Northwarden, a moredhel raiding leader is captured and reveals they plan to use a rift machine in the Dimwood to bypass Arutha’s army, enter Sethanon, and free Murmandamus, whom they believe is alive and imprisoned there. Arutha realizes the attack was a distraction by Makala and orders his troops to Sethanon. He tells James, Locklear, and Patrus to find and destroy the rift machine. After learning the machine can be disrupted by a Tsurani device called a Waani, they find the machine and disable it. As the rift collapses, it pulls everything nearby before exploding. James and Locklear grab onto trees, but Patrus is sucked into the rift and appears to be killed. At the same moment, three figures appear in a flash of purple light.
Owyn and Gorath are teleported to Timirianya, where Owyn realizes magic does not work and Pug would be powerless. They find Pug, who learns Makala lured him away from Midkemia and Arutha’s army to free herself and enter Sethanon to find the Lifestone. Using the Cup of Rlnn Skrr, Owyn restores Pug’s powers. They find Gamina trapped in a crystal cage in the ruins of the Temple of Dhatsavan. Gorath breaks the cage, and using a special pattern stone from Pug, the four return to Midkemia.
In a flash of purple light, Pug, Owyn, and Gorath appear before James and Locklear in the Dimwood and tell them to wait for Arutha and inform him there is no magical threat to his army. Makala will be waiting for Pug at Sethanon. They travel to the caverns beneath Sethanon and kill the Tsurani Great Ones protecting the Lifestone Chamber. Gorath stays to protect the Oracle of Aal, which Makala had disabled, while P
Development
The game was licensed from Raymond E. Feist, but a common belief was that Feist created the game's story and text. In his afterword to Krondor: The Betrayal, Feist explained that he was writing The King's Buccaneer during the game's development. The game's plot, text, and new characters were created by designers Neal Hallford and John Cutter. Feist had the final say on changes to the game, but most of Hallford and Cutter's work remained unchanged.
The game uses 256-color 320×200 VGA mode. Its graphics engine draws terrain with textured 3D graphics and uses sprites for detailed objects. The engine does not support multiple levels of terrain, but hills and mountains are included as obstacles. Large areas like shops, inns, and cities are navigated through pictures with clickable areas called hotspots, while smaller towns feature 3D buildings.
NPC and character art is based on photographs. Environments mix captured images and hand-drawn illustrations. In combat and puzzle scenes, all characters are animated except for movement—characters do not move their legs while walking. The game includes some lighting effects: the overworld shows day and night changes, and underground areas require a torch or light spell to see.
The game runs in protected mode using Borland C++'s Ergo DPMI/RTM DOS extender. It is compatible with Microsoft Windows up to the 9x series and works well in DOSBox and VDMSound. A playable version for Mac OS X using DOSBox is also available.
Commercial editions of the game include:
• 1993: Original 3½" floppy disk release.
• 1994: CD-ROM edition with CD-audio music, a 5-minute video interview with Feist, and a Windows hint program.
• 1996: Re-release of the CD-ROM in Sierra's budget line.
• 1997: Free download on Sierra's website to promote Betrayal in Antara (no longer available).
• 1998: CD-ROM edition with a hardcover book, PDF manual, video interview, and promotional materials for Return to Krondor.
• 2010: CD-ROM re-release on GOG.com as a downloadable file.
Vivendi Universal Games confirmed that the game is not free to redistribute.
Feist later wrote Krondor: The Betrayal, a novelization of the game and the first book in The Riftwar Legacy series. He credited Hallford and Cutter as co-authors of the original story and dedicated the book to both.
The game and book take place halfway between A Darkness at Sethanon and Prince of the Blood. Minor differences exist, such as Owyn's last name being Belefote instead of Beleforte, and towns named Tanneurs and Eggley changed to Tannerus and Eggly. The novel follows the game's main plot closely and skips most sidequests.
The game introduced Lysle Rigger, Jimmy the Hand's long-lost twin brother, and Kat and Abbot Graves, whose granddaughter is Katherine "Kitty" Graves. Both Lysle Rigger and Kitty Graves appear in Feist's Serpentwar novels.
Reception
The original 3½" floppy disk version of the game sold slowly, so Sierra returned the Riftwar rights to Raymond Feist. However, the game became popular when it was released again on CD-ROM.
Jim Trunzo reviewed Betrayal at Krondor in White Wolf #38 (1993) and gave it an "Excellent" rating. He said the game had an easy-to-use interface that handled trading, magic, and combat. He praised the graphics, sound, character development, and combat animation, stating he found no flaws in the game.
Pelit gave the game a 94% score, calling it a game with a strong system, few bugs, and a story-like atmosphere. It compared Krondor to the Underworld series, saying it was a major change in turn-based role-playing games. Computer Gaming World in October 1993 called Krondor "a fantasy role-playing game unlike any other" and said it set a new standard for RPG design. While noting the graphics were not overly impressive, the magazine praised the combat as the best in fantasy CRPGs. It called the game a "rare gem" that met and exceeded expectations.
Sandy Petersen reviewed the game in Dragon magazine #199 (November 1993) and gave it two stars out of five. He said the graphics were sometimes well-made and the plot was entertaining, but he criticized the slow gameplay and repetitive tasks, such as polishing armor. He also found some quests confusing.
Quandary gave the game a 4.5/5 in 1996, calling it a complex and immersive experience with traps and riddles instead of typical dungeon obstacles. They said the turn-based combat was satisfying but needed time to learn.
Betrayal at Krondor was named the best role-playing game and "Game of the Year" in 1993 by Computer Games Strategy Plus. In June 1994, it won Computer Gaming World's Role-Playing Game of the Year award. The editors said it was a perfect example of how to build a game from a fantasy novel and praised its creative risks and non-linear story. The magazine ranked Krondor #43 on its list of the 150 best games of all time in 1996 and added it to its Hall of Fame in 2001. They noted it was the first RPG to use a 3D environment and digitized images effectively.
In 1994, PC Gamer US ranked Betrayal at Krondor as the 31st best computer game ever, calling it an important step in RPG development. It later included it on its 1997 "Best 50 Games of All-Time" list. In 1998, PC Gamer US named it the 44th-best computer game ever, calling it a classic that would last for many years.