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''For the 2001 game by Creator/{{Ubisoft}}, [[VideoGame/DragonridersChroniclesOfPern click here.]]''

''Dragonriders of Pern'' is a 1983 TurnBasedStrategy game for the Platform/Atari8BitComputers and Platform/{{Commodore 64}}, based on the ''Literature/DragonridersOfPern'' series by Anne [=McCaffrey=].

In the lore of the novels, the feudal world of Pern is threatened every few hundred years by The Thread, a deadly alien microorganism that falls onto Pern in the form of long strings. The player is a Weyrmaster, leader of a mountaintop clan that raises dragons to destroy the Thread before it can cause destruction to the surface. The player must use various diplomatic and political tools to form alliances with the various factions of Pern, and at the end of each turn control a dragon to destroy falling Thread.

A sequel for the Commodore 64, ''Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern,'' was planned but never completed.

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!!''Dragonriders of Pern'' provides examples of:

* AllianceMeter: Played with; the player never knows exactly how strong their relationships are, beyond identifying their top three supporters. However, winning the game requires taking actions to acquire more Victory Points with Pern's various factions over the other Weyrs. Each Weyr is ColorCodedForYourConvenience, however, and the map will show if any forts are aligned via color (black being unaligned).
* AltarDiplomacy: One way to influence relationship is by sending (or ''not'' sending) invitations to weddings to other factions.
* CreatureHunterOrganization: The weyrs and their Dragonriders, whose purpose is to fight the dangerous Thread.
* EasilyThwartedAlienInvasion: Played with. In the source novels, Thread can be destroyed by water, fire and cold, and Threadfall can be stopped by a good rainstorm. In the game, the only thing standing between the Thread and Pern are the dragons' fiery breath.
* EnemyToAllLivingThings: The Thread.
* KillItWithFire: The player's only defense against the Thread.
* MultiplePersuasionModes: Players can affect relationships by diplomatic negotiations, offers of alliances, weddings, invitations to hatchings, challenging rivals to duels, or calling conclaves.
* RelationshipValues: A key aspect of the game is building alliances between your Weyr and the other Weyrs, Guilds, and Holds with offers of alliances, diplomatic gestures, and offers to help protect areas threatened with Threadfall.
* ThrowingDownTheGauntlet: When diplomacy fails, you can challenge a leader to a duel. Winning a duel incapacitates the leader for a while, but can jeopardize your status with peaceful leaders.
* TurnBasedStrategy: Despite the arcade-like threadfall sequences, the game is primarily focused on strategy. Each turn represents a year, and a game can be set to last from 1 to 99 turns. During each turn, players make decisions which influence the ongoing negotiations between the various factions.