Heroes of the Lance

Overview

Heroes of the Lance is an action-adventure game developed for various home computers and consoles by U.S. Gold and published by Strategic Simulations in 1988. Telling the stories of eight heroes as they traverse across the ruined city of Xak Tsaroth, the game pits players against various enemies leading up to a confrontation with the ancient dragon Khisanth who holds the Disks of Mishakal, an ancient and powerful relic. It is the first in a series of three games developed by U.S. Gold under the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons name.

Gameplay

Differing drastically from Dungeons & Dragons games from the past, Heroes of the Lance's central focus is on side-scrolling action as opposed to role-playing. Although the game would use relevant statistics, spells and rules from the official tabletop game, a difficult to use graphical interface and severe limitation on character use (forcing players to control one at a time, thus limiting creativity) meant that this arcade-like style of gameplay would be short lived for the series as fans rallied against the switch.

Characters

Name	Description	Portrait
Goldmoon	A human cleric betrothed to Riverwind. Uses a Blue Crystal Staff.
Sturm Brightblade	A human fighter. Uses a two-handed sword.
Caramon Majere	A warrior. Uses a spear and longsword.
Raistlin Majere	Carmon's brother. A cunning but weak mage. Uses the Staff of Magius.
Tanis Half-Elven	Master swordsman and archer. Leader of the Companions.
Tasslehoff Burrfoot	A pickpocket who uses a hoopak--a type of sling weapon
Riverwind	Outcast of the Que-Shu tribe and Goldmoon's betrothed. Uses a bow and longsword.
Flint Fireforge	A fearless dwarf strong at smithing. Uses a battleaxe and throwing axes.
Khisanth	An ancient dragon. Holds the Disks of Mishakal.