Game: Runebound - The Terrors of the Tomb

Thread: Re: Potential stalemate and FF's response

Qslick — 2008-07-12T04:33:52+00:00

DaviddesJ wrote:
The statement in the FAQ that you can be forced to discard Dragon Runes when knocked out does create a problem. It's possible for the number of Dragon Runes in play to be reduced below three, because several adventurers get knocked out repeatedly and discard their runes. If Morgoth is also not in play, then you do have a stalemate.

This, combined with the e-mail response I got, leads me to believe that the main problem with the situation I described was that Margath might never enter the game and that has to be possible, regardless of what happens.

I sent a response e-mail to FF asking if it would get added to the FAQ next time they update it, and they said it would--but not until after "the all-consuming GenCon madness" as they put it.

Thread: Re: Potential stalemate and FF's response

LoneCleric — 2008-07-11T16:33:30+00:00

DaviddesJ wrote:
The statement in the FAQ that you can be forced to discard Dragon Runes when knocked out does create a problem.
Like I said in "that other thread", I don't think that Dragon Runes qualify, because they do not "become items". Only cards which explicitly say things like "...it is now an item..." or "...this card becomes an ally..." would be fully treated as such. Red challenges become "dragon runes", which is another category altogether. (Though they can still be stolen after a PvP battle, like pretty much anything else.)

Thread: Re: Potential stalemate and FF's response

DaviddesJ — 2008-07-11T15:44:59+00:00

The statement in the FAQ that you can be forced to discard Dragon Runes when knocked out does create a problem. It's possible for the number of Dragon Runes in play to be reduced below three, because several adventurers get knocked out repeatedly and discard their runes. If Morgoth is also not in play, then you do have a stalemate.

Thread: Re: Potential stalemate and FF's response

LoneCleric — 2008-07-11T15:13:46+00:00

guzerat wrote:
This seems to contradict the rulebook (as distributed on fantasyflight.com) and leaves open for an interpretation that supports a PvP-solution.

So which is it?
Well, I'll refer you to this thread:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/317056
and more specifically to my argument with Kevin S., at the bottom.

I'm not saying that I have the One True answer, but it'll explain my take on this contradiction. So far, it's been working well for me.

Thread: Re: Potential stalemate and FF's response

guzerat — 2008-07-11T08:08:51+00:00

Octavian wrote:
Is there a reason the response wasn't a forced PvP? You can take a Dragon Rune if you win, can't you? Or am I forgetting something?

-MMM

Depends on how they interpret this rule:

"Sometimes you are instructed to take the Challenge card itself and it becomes an Item or Ally. These rewards are subject to all the rules and text that affect Items and Allies, with one important exception: These cards cannot be sold, dismissed, or lost, either randomly or as a result of being knocked out."

Is there an official answer to this question (whether you can take "reward"-items somewhere? ~~Maybe I should go check the FAQ.~~

The only thing I find in the FAQ is:

"An encounter that becomes an item should be treated as an item with 0 cost. If such an item is the only item a hero has when he is knocked out, it must be discarded since it is his highest cost item, even though its cost is zero. Encounter cards that do not become items do not get discarded."

This seems to contradict the rulebook (as distributed on fantasyflight.com) and leaves open for an interpretation that supports a PvP-solution.

So which is it?

Thread: Re: Potential stalemate and FF's response

gschmidl — 2008-07-11T07:37:23+00:00

Qslick wrote:
That could solve the problem; but it might cause another problem of endless PvP matches if runes change hands a lot.

The game ends when one person has three runes, so that won't be happening.

Thread: Re: Potential stalemate and FF's response

DaviddesJ — 2008-07-11T06:04:55+00:00

Like everyone else said, you can still win---you just have to defeat another player and take their rune.

Thread: Re: Potential stalemate and FF's response

MrSkeletor — 2008-07-11T05:44:42+00:00

FFG screwed this up - as Octavian pointed out there is no stalemate as you can still win via PvP in this situation.

Thread: Re: Potential stalemate and FF's response

Qslick — 2008-07-11T05:32:39+00:00

Octavian wrote:
Is there a reason the response wasn't a forced PvP? You can take a Dragon Rune if you win, can't you? Or am I forgetting something?

-MMM

I hadn't thought of that. And apparently, neither did Fantasy Flight; because they made no mention whatsoever of PvP. That could solve the problem; but it might cause another problem of endless PvP matches if runes change hands a lot.

FF did say that they wanted to be certain that Margath can eventually enter the game. Which makes some sense to me; since it seems kind of stupid to have two different win conditions but potentially have one of them be impossible.

Thread: Re: Potential stalemate and FF's response

Octavian — 2008-07-11T05:13:36+00:00

Is there a reason the response wasn't a forced PvP? You can take a Dragon Rune if you win, can't you? Or am I forgetting something?

-MMM

Thread: Potential stalemate and FF's response

Qslick — 2008-07-11T04:27:33+00:00

I recently bought this--along with the rest of the first "wave"--of expansion packs and while perusing the cards in this set; I discovered a potential stalemate situation that can arise. Granted, the chances of this happening are disgustingly remote; but I wanted to see what sort of response I'd get from Fantasy Flight if I e-mailed them about it.

It goes like this:
If you're using just the base game; there are eight red challenge cards in the game and seven red counters on the board at the start of the game. Since one of those red cards is an event--which leads to another card draw--eventually all the red cards can enter the game provided no one has won the game by that point.

However, each of these two challenge decks add a seventh dragon rune challenge to the game. Combined with the six that come in the base game; it is possible, in a game with at least four players where the "doom track" variant described in the rulebook isn't being used; that the first seven cards pulled from the red challenge deck are all the dragon rune challenges--now numbering seven (the same number of red adventure counters on the board).

If none of the players have at least three dragon runes (for example with four players, 2/2/2/1) when this happens; then no one can win because there are no red adventure counters left on the board. No event replenishes the red counters because none of the red spaces have the sunburst icons. When using just the base game; this wasn't a problem because there are only seven red challenges; eventually Margath would be defeated. But with a seventh dragon rune challenge in the deck, it's possible that his card may never be drawn.

My question to Fantasy Flight was "What happens then?" I suggested that the players at that point assume that they HAVE been using the doom track and enter the "endgame challenge" described in the rulebook. Their response, which came "after lots of internal discussion" was this:

During setup, remove Margath's card from the red challenge deck. Shuffle the remaining red cards, draw six face down, shuffle Margath's card into this stack, place this stack of seven cards on its designated space, and remove the other red cards from the game.

This seems like a rather--I don't know--"brutal" solution to a problem that will probably never come up. I think a better solution would have been to take the original six dragonlord cards from the base game, pick one of them at random and remove it.

But I still like the fact that my question to Fantasy Flight prompted "lots on internal discussion".

Thread: Re: Mordrog and his Axe find a crypt or two (solo game)

Hankroyd — 2008-02-17T17:25:11+00:00

I just started to play Runebound Solo.

Your session was wonderful : Not to 'storytelling' and not to 'technical'.

I hope I'll be able to make some great review on this game soon.

Thread: Re: Questions on Two Cards

perfalbion — 2008-01-16T12:31:29+00:00

It's a powerful card, yes. I'm not sure about too powerful, though. There are many items you can't use any more, and many of the tests you'll run into inflict stamina as the effect of failing. I haven't seen anyone use the card (always been a reason not to).

Look at it this way - most heroes have 4 stamina, which is 2 experience counters. They'll be a net +1 counter after using the card, and really less than that since they really end up taking any future stamina as wounds right off the top.

Thread: Re: Questions on Two Cards

theashers — 2008-01-14T23:25:49+00:00

Dmart wrote:
Answers received from FFG (specifically, Jason Steinhurst):

1. Unnatural Transformation: Yes, you cannot use exhaustion in any manner. This card basically turns your hero into a hero with a "0" Stamina. Exhaustion that would have to be taken as a result of failing a test is taken as wounds, just as if the hero had zero Stamina.

Probably a given, but I assume once you use this to get the +2 counters, your hero jumps up 3 levels?

This card seems too powerful, even with it's reduction of Stamina to 0. If you have a character with no "Take 1 stamina to re-roll, etc." skill, it doesn't impact very much...plus you are most likely to try the test when you are ready to hit the Reds, as a quick boost to your Hero. Seems like a guaranteed path to victory once you pass the test - unless you are unlucky enough to draw one of the reds that can give you stamina counters (which would be converted directly to wounds) if you fail the before combat trial.

Of course, we've only played this deck once, and my wife was successful in her "transformation" going on to quickly knock out the reds and win. maybe I'm bitter?

Thread: Re: Questions on Two Cards

Dmart — 2008-01-09T13:07:23+00:00

My wife tends to get carried away with competitiveness in many games, and Runebound is no exception. I risk sleeping on the couch whenever that game is broken out. Her New Year's resolution is to soften her competition streak and she's doing a great job so far.

Thread: Re: Questions on Two Cards

perfalbion — 2008-01-08T12:32:16+00:00

Dmart wrote:
I'll be nice to my wife and refrain from saying, "I told you so."

Nice to your wife? Don't you mean "I'll avoid sleeping on the couch for the next week and refrain from saying 'I told you so?'"

Thread: Re: Questions on Two Cards

Dmart — 2008-01-08T00:40:38+00:00

Answers received from FFG (specifically, Jason Steinhurst):

1. Unnatural Transformation: Yes, you cannot use exhaustion in any manner. This card basically turns your hero into a hero with a "0" Stamina. Exhaustion that would have to be taken as a result of failing a test is taken as wounds, just as if the hero had zero Stamina.

2. The Skeleton of Margath: You do get to collect the adventure counter before the challenge with the High Lord. However, you would not be able to 'cash in' the adventure counter for XP because the Experience Step isn't until Step 5, and the Adventure Step is Step 3.

I'll be nice to my wife and refrain from saying, "I told you so."

Thread: Re: Questions on Two Cards

tazbro — 2007-12-27T18:33:50+00:00

Unnatural Transformation: We have played where the stamina is effectively reduced to zero.
Please post FFG's Reply.

Skeleton of Margath: "immediately" implies that there is no refresh step. So keep in mind any activated items do not refresh.

Thread: Re: Questions on Two Cards

perfalbion — 2007-12-27T07:14:19+00:00

mjtuell wrote:
I'm not sure about this interpretation. On page 6, the rulebook says: "When the number of exhaustion counters exceeds the card's Stamina, the excess exhaustion is immediately converted to wounds." I would say that if you don't take the exhaustion in the first place, it doesn't convert to wounds. Is there an official ruling on this?

Good question. I've played it with "never take" meaning your stamina had effectively dropped to 0. But if you play it as being immune to losses of exhaustion altogether, then your wording works.

I think mine's truer to the wording of the card, though. It doesn't say "you do not take" it says you "cannot." To me, that means that you don't have the physical ability to use exhaustion, not that you now ignore its existence. So if you have to "take" exhaustion from a source and are prohibited from doing so, you'll immediately have to take wounds.

But it's worth asking FFG.

Thread: Re: Questions on Two Cards

mjtuell — 2007-12-27T04:36:28+00:00

Dmart wrote:
My only other quest for clarification regarding the Skeleton of Margath revolves around the word 'immediately' in the reward, which led us to believe that the second adventure is, in fact, part of the first adventure.

Well, I look forward to your posting the official response. Ken and I seem to agree at least that the adventure counter for Skeleton of Margath should be awarded whether or not the subsequent challenge is defeated. I can see where you arrive at your interpretation, but it seems counterintuitive to me because "immediately" pulling High Lord Margath is the reward for defeating the Skeleton. To me, the rules seem to indicate that you get the adventure counter and the reward for defeating a challenge at the same time.

Thread: Re: Questions on Two Cards

Dmart — 2007-12-27T04:24:10+00:00

Well, two somewhat different answers regarding the first card. I'd be curious to know if an official clarification has been made for Unnatural Transformation. Does the 'no exhaustion' restriction translate to 'immediate wounds'? I would tend to think not, since theoretically, a character does not convert exhaustion to wounds unless the character's stamina limit has been reached. My only other quest for clarification regarding the Skeleton of Margath revolves around the word 'immediately' in the reward, which led us to believe that the second adventure is, in fact, part of the first adventure.

I sent both questions to FFG for a formal reply (which I'll post here when received).

Edited for fat fingers

Thread: Re: Questions on Two Cards

mjtuell — 2007-12-27T04:23:59+00:00

perfalbion wrote:
Using this card means that you never, ever take exhaustion from any source. You can't voluntarily do so, and if you're required to take it from an encounter or any other card that exhaustion will immediately become wounds.

I'm not sure about this interpretation. On page 6, the rulebook says: "When the number of exhaustion counters exceeds the card's Stamina, the excess exhaustion is immediately converted to wounds." I would say that if you don't take the exhaustion in the first place, it doesn't convert to wounds. Is there an official ruling on this?

Thread: Re: Questions on Two Cards

perfalbion — 2007-12-27T04:05:30+00:00

Dmart wrote:
1. Unnatural Transformation, following a successful test, adds a +2 experience counter in each of Ranged, Melee, and Magic. The drawback is that "for the rest of the game you cannot take 'exhaustion' from any source, even to activate your own abilities or Items." Does this mean that the player would NEVER take exhaustion (including from a failed Before Combat roll, for example, that instructs the player to take exhaustion as a result of the failed test) or that the 'no exhaustion' restriction only applies to any exhaustion taken voluntarily (such as to use 'Touch of Death)?

Using this card means that you never, ever take exhaustion from any source. You can't voluntarily do so, and if you're required to take it from an encounter or any other card that exhaustion will immediately become wounds.

2 The Skeleton of Margath reward indicates that the player "Take the High Lord Margath card from the red adventure deck. You must resolve that Challenge immediately, and may not escape." Does a player who defeats the Skeleton of Margath (but fails to defeat the High Lord and is knocked out) take the adventure counter after defeating the Skeleton of Margath or must both challenges be defeated (admittedly, defeating the High Lord makes this question irrelevant since the game is over)?

I'd give 'em the experience counter - they beat the encounter that they drew, just not the follow-up.

Thread: Re: Questions on Two Cards

mjtuell — 2007-12-27T02:26:58+00:00

Dmart wrote:
1. Unnatural Transformation, following a successful test, adds a +2 experience counter in each of Ranged, Melee, and Magic. The drawback is that "for the rest of the game you cannot take 'exhaustion' from any source, even to activate your own abilities or Items." Does this mean that the player would NEVER take exhaustion (including from a failed Before Combat roll, for example, that instructs the player to take exhaustion as a result of the failed test) or that the 'no exhaustion' restriction only applies to any exhaustion taken voluntarily (such as to use 'Touch of Death)?

2 The Skeleton of Margath reward indicates that the player "Take the High Lord Margath card from the red adventure deck. You must resolve that Challenge immediately, and may not escape." Does a player who defeats the Skeleton of Margath (but fails to defeat the High Lord and is knocked out) take the adventure counter after defeating the Skeleton of Margath or must both challenges be defeated (admittedly, defeating the High Lord makes this question irrelevant since the game is over)?

We've always played that...

1. Your character never takes any exhaustion from any source, voluntary or otherwise. When they say "even to activate your own abilities and items", the clear implication is that it covers other circumstances as well.

2. You get the experience for defeating the Skeleton before you begin combat with Margath. Even though one challenge immediately follows another, taking the adventure counter is part of the process of resolving the first challenge. Clearly, however, you cannot spend the experience points until you enter phase 5 of your turn -- that is, until after you have resolved the High Lord Margath challenge.

Thread: Questions on Two Cards

Dmart — 2007-12-27T00:27:21+00:00

1. Unnatural Transformation, following a successful test, adds a +2 experience counter in each of Ranged, Melee, and Magic. The drawback is that "for the rest of the game you cannot take 'exhaustion' from any source, even to activate your own abilities or Items." Does this mean that the player would NEVER take exhaustion (including from a failed Before Combat roll, for example, that instructs the player to take exhaustion as a result of the failed test) or that the 'no exhaustion' restriction only applies to any exhaustion taken voluntarily (such as to use 'Touch of Death)?

2 The Skeleton of Margath reward indicates that the player "Take the High Lord Margath card from the red adventure deck. You must resolve that Challenge immediately, and may not escape." Does a player who defeats the Skeleton of Margath (but fails to defeat the High Lord and is knocked out) take the adventure counter after defeating the Skeleton of Margath or must both challenges be defeated (admittedly, defeating the High Lord makes this question irrelevant since the game is over)?

Thread: The Terrors of the Tomb

Friendless — 2007-12-10T03:57:32+00:00

The Terrors of the Tomb is a Runebound Challenge Card expansion, meaning that it is green, yellow, blue and red cards that you shuffle into your challenge decks. It is one of the earlier expansions and is closely related to the Rise of the Dragon Lords storyline.

The terrors of the tomb are of course the undead, so that's what you get in this deck. Undead always have a hint of horror about them, so it can be fun to make an expansion like this. The green encounters start quite tame - Rotting Hounds are just undead dogs, and the Ceremonial Skeleton barely puts up a fight as you rob him of his jewelry. The Knight Beset By Sorrow is a very nice card - when you rescue him from the shades of the dead he will give his life to save you. Such a lot of theme for such a small amount of text.

As the challenges become more dangerous, so too do the cards become more interesting. The Children of the Maggot is a particular stomach-turner as anyone injured my them is eaten alive, and if you're quick you can become the leader of the Horde of Ghouls yourself.

The blue cards are lots of fun as they're able to have strong special effects without being restricted to being dragon lords. The Medusa, the Death Knight, the Legion of the Dead, the Runestorm, all are formidable opponents with cool powers and pictures. The red cards are something of an anti-climax, I think.

I notice that the red cards in this expansion are the mirror image of the red cards in the Dark Forest expansion - the Unliving Rune compared to the Living Rune, and the Skeleton of Margath compared to the Heart of Margath. I don't see what is gained by the symmetry, but there it is.

The events and encounters in this deck are nothing special, but they do fit the deck's theme. In fact, three of them are very similar - "A Hero of Old Awakens". A hero comes to life and acts to protect you from other heroes. Some of the other cards fit in well with the necromancer Vorakesh from the base game. Indeed, Vorakesh is mentioned by name on one of the cards.

This deck fits the "Rise of the Dragon Lords" scenario very nicely, but that of course makes it not very useful for integration with The Island of Dread or Sands of Al-Kalim or even Scepter of Kyros. You can't have everything.

What FFG has provided here is a nice expansion which fits very sweetly with the campaign from the base game. There is some consideration for player interaction, but not too much, and some very interesting and thematic cards.

Thread: Re: Four quick solo session reports

galvornman — 2007-09-10T16:42:27+00:00

Thanks for these reports Merric.

Someone in the Australia area please play with Merric! Too many solo sessions (I do them too) make me sad!

Thread: Four quick solo session reports

MerricB — 2007-09-10T06:44:38+00:00

I thought about writing these session reports up in the long format that my previous two "Terrors of the Tomb" reports were in, but then I thought, "Why bother?" After a while they get repetitive, boring, and the notes I have to make slow the game down a lot. If I make notes, the game takes 1 hour. When I don't make them, the game takes 30 minutes.

Yes, there'll be longer reports from me in the future, but these aren't them! If you want a long report, go and read The Epic of Mandy Thompson, my most recommended session report. You can find it here:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/167433

As some of you may have picked up by now, Runebound is not my favourite fantasy adventure game. It's not even my third favourite. However, it has one very, very good point about it: you can play it solo. The basic solo rules are bunk, but Mr Skeletor has kindly provided us with an excellent set of solo rules to use. (I don't know what my opinion of Runebound without his work would be, but it wouldn't be pretty).

You can find them here:
http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/122763

My last two games had been successes - quite emphatic ones - so for these following four games I was playing with the Difficulty on 15. That's not easy, especially considering the threat rolls I was making. I really need to do some calculations as to how long such a game should last... my guess is somewhere around 40 turns. Probably shorter, given the results. Read on!

Spiritseeker Mok
One of the problems I have with Runebound is that death is so terrifying. It's a race game, ok, so the idea is to finish the game before someone else does - or the clock runs out in the case of a solo game. Of course, in a solo "threat" game, you don't know how long the clock will take...

Another problem comes when all the items that are available in the markets are useless to your character, or they cost too much. Such was the case with this game. Mok has a pathetic Mind score, so running is rarely an option, and he gets hit quite a bit before his attack gets off... even if it works.

He died once in this game, and that's bad. It set me back about 3-4 turns worth of gathering gold & items. Hmm. What can I say? Mok only reached level 6, and didn't even manage to collect one Dragonrune.

Spiritseeker Mok - Level 6
Mind 2/1; Body 6/1; Spirit 9/2
Chainmail
Great Bow, Black Dagger
Crystal Staff

Allies: Highway Guardian.

This game went for all of about 25 turns. The clock ran down *way* too fast for him to compete.

Sir Valador
It's a pity Sir Valador kept losing his allies. There were nice moments when he had some great allies, but one of the challenges managed to blast them all with one attack. He died a couple of times, and that was that.

Sir Valador - Level 6
Mind 5/1; Body 11/2; Spirit 3/1
Dragontooth Hammer.

Woo... one item! That's how bad it is dying in this game. Please, if you play Runebound multiplay, use the softer KO rules!

Mad Carthos
By this time, I was beginning to think that it was going to be impossible to win with the difficulty at 15. The next game proved me wrong, as Mad Carthos managed to defeat High Lord Margath with the Threat Level at 10 (it is likely the game would have ended in a loss if he'd failed).

The final battle worked like this: he had a Alchemical Flash Bomb, which when combined with his own special ability meant 5 damage in the Before Combat step. He then defended successfully in the Ranged step, sacrificed his Highway Guardian to the High Lord's melee attack, and finally activated the Dragonrune of Abraxus to deal 3 damage in the Magic step and win the game. Sort of a perfect storm of abilities there.

Mad Carthos - Level 9
Mind 8/1; Body 3/1; Spirit 10/2
Bow of Bone, Great Bow
Shield of Light
Ring of Protection
Dragonrune of Abraxus.

Sir Valadir
The final game of the series went back to the regular refrain of "I don't have enough time!" Mind you, Sir Valadir did a lot better this time. He actually collected two Dragon Runes, and would have defeated the next one... if he'd managed to reach it before the clock ran out. I think in my next series of games, I'll run the Endgame as described in the original rules rather than just say, "I lose"!

What was incredible about it was Sir Valadir wasn't really high level - he just had an excellent set of items. He just needed armour, and that wasn't available anywhere, alas!

Sir Valadir - Level 6
Mind 1/1; Body 9/2; Spirit 9/1
Greatbow; Lightning Mace
Immolate
Dragonrunes of Droxor and Death.
follower: Ingan the Bold

The rest of my weekend? Three sessions of roleplaying games: Star Wars Saga edition; Iron Heroes; and D&D 3.5e. More boardgames next weekend!

The Terrors of the Tomb didn't enter the game incredibly much. They added a little colour - and my characters had to keep escaping those threats that aren't possible for them to defeat. This caused awful problems for some characters with low Mind scores. Well, death!

The next series of Runebound solo games will probably be with the Wild expansion; after that, I'll see what Mr Skeletor makes of the adventure variants!

Oh, please excuse my erratic spelling of the character names. My notes tend to be a bit... messy.

Image

Urtur — 2007-09-05T14:44:44+00:00

Polish edition by Galakta. Contains Terrors of the Tomb, Relics of Legend, Scepter of Kyros.

Thread: Re: Mordrog and his Axe find a crypt or two (solo game)

MerricB — 2007-09-04T03:27:02+00:00

GeneSteeler wrote:
Is +2 per level part of Mr Skeletor's solo variant?

No, it's one of the 2nd edition changes.

Cheers,
Merric

Thread: Re: Mordrog and his Axe find a crypt or two (solo game)

GeneSteeler — 2007-09-04T03:24:34+00:00

Is +2 per level part of Mr Skeletor's solo variant?

Thread: Mordrog and his Axe find a crypt or two (solo game)

MerricB — 2007-09-04T01:19:06+00:00

This is the second of two session reports of Runebound 2e that included the Terrors of the Tomb challenge cards in the deck. For those unaware of the contents of this pack, it adds 30 new Adventure cards that are shuffled into the existing decks: 2 Red, 8 Blue, 8 Yellow and 12 Green adventure cards. These cards have a definite undead theme to them.

The game was played with Mr Skeletor's solo variant (Threat Track).
http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/122763

The Threat Level for this game was 16. The game would end in a loss if the Threat Rating ever went above 10.

Codes used in the text:
(G) (Y) (B) (R): encounter levels - Green, Yellow, Blue, Red
BC: R: M: Mg: combat phases - Before Combat, Ranged, Melee, Magic.
(TT): indicates a Terror of the Tomb encounter

TR#+# (T#): Threat Roll (Threat reached)

R:2 indicates Mordrog dealt 2 damage to the monster in Ranged combat.
M:-2 indicates Mordrog took 2 damage from the monster in Melee combat.
A code Mg:3(rs) indicates an ally (Runesmith Shan) did 3 damage in the Magic combat.

Mordrog
He has an axe! He looks like an orc! He's an orc with an axe!

I haven't played Mordrog before. A lot of health (6), less fatigue (3), and interesting stats: Mind 1/1; Body 5/2; Spirit 1/1. Take a hit in ranged and hit back hard in melee seems to be how he'd go - so get an ally to use as a human (or elven) shield. Arrow fodder!

1) Mordrog made his way north along the Thelsvan Highway, where he discovered a (G) Nest of Bane Spiders. Mordrog did this in the typical barbarian way... by falling into their nest! BC:-1. (Does anyone remember the spell Find Traps 1/2?) His axe then sliced them into little pieces, M:2, and he took 1 gold. TR6+0

2) Further north along the highway found him subject to an (G) Ambush!, taking damage from arrows. R:-1. He then ran at the bandits with an axe. M:2, and 2 gold loot. TR13+1

3) Finding the highway too dangerous, he made his way into the Crimson Forest. There, Mordrog discovered (G) The Sky Full of Wasps. They stung him R:-1 before he could react, and then the battle was truly on. M:2; R:0; M:2. 2 gold was looted from their hive. TR15+2 (T1)

4) South into the plains, and a strange creature... the Vingolen. It looked like some weird plant creature, but Mordrog was able to hide from it and thus defeat it. TR15+0

5) Mordrog stomped into the town of Nerekhall, where he grudgingly paid for the 3 healing he required, and then hired a Runeseeker and a Highway guard. TR6+1

6) South into the hills, and there Mordrog found the (G) Lair of the Rakkon. Swimming was one thing Mordrog could do well, and he swum out to its lair easily. R:0(hg), M:-2, Mg:1(rs); R:0; M:-2; Mg:1(rs). Obviously, Mordrog needed to oil his axe! However, he gained a level from the experience, and gained +2 Body. TR17+2 (T2)

7) Into Tamalir, where he could only afford 1 healing. TR4+0

8) The Garden of Tarn was being besieged by a (Y,TT) Spectral Razorwing. R:0(hg), M:2, Mg:-2(rs); R:0, M:2. Three gold was looted from it, but now the Rune Seeker was wounded as well!. TR12+1

9) South to the Smokeblue Hills went Mordrog. There he disrupted the (Y,TT) Rite of the Necromancer by failing his Sneak check - the participants fled - and then faced Farrow's Legions. R:1(hg), M:2, Mg:1(rs). 4 gold looted, and a good night's work. TR14+2 (T3)

10) Back north to the highway. (G) Atavax! What's an Atavax? No idea! R:1(hg), M:-3, Mg:1(rs). 2 gold looted, but Mordrog was wondering something: why was his Axe abandoning him? He gained a level again, and took +2 Body. TR11+0

11) Into Riverwatch, where Mordrog healed 2 wounds, and bought the Shield of Light - one of the best items in the game. TR17+1 (T4)

12) Then he stomped north, finding nothing of interest. The board was rather bare around here. TR9+0

13) Further north into the plains, where he encountered (Y) Lord Vorakesh. R:1(shield), M:2. 2 gold, and from Vorakesh's body, Mordrog looted the Staff of Light! That was exceptional luck! TR4+1

14) East into the Broken Crags, where a (Y) Skeletal Horde awaited our hero. R:1(hg), M:2. 3 gold loot. TR9+2

15) South he crept through the Crags, and encountered the (B,TT) Legion of the Dead. They were horrific, ignoring the first 2 damage from every non-Explosive attack. Mordrog, his axe, and his cohorts had no chance, and so fled from the legion. TR11+3

16) East to the River of Sleep, where Mordrog discovered a (Y,TT) Subterraean Razorwing. R:1(hg), M:2, Mg:1(shield). 4 gold looted, and Mordrog gained a level, this time taking +2 Mind. TR11+4

17) The Velvet Plains brought many challenges to Mordrog. (Y) Bound for Suffering allowed Mordrog to wave to the slaves as he failed to make a Tinker check; Doom at the Crossroads added all these fun ghouls to travelling by road (and restocked the board somewhat), whilst Sir Vylen the Fallen finally gave Mordrog a fight. He was getting bored by all of this! R:1(hg), M:2, Mg:0(rs); R:0, M:2. 4 gold looted. TR5+5

18) Southwest to Riverwatch, where finally he found a weapon to buy - a Lightning Mace. +4 to melee attacks. The board really was free of great items, so Mordrog was gaining a lot of money and little worthwhile to spend it on. TR18+6 (T5)

19) In the Smokeblue Hills, (Y) Lady Cathori tried to charm Mordrog out of his companions. The Highway Guard was ensorcelled, but the Rune Seeker stood firm and aided Mordrog against the witch. R:1(shield), M:2. 3 gold taken, and another level. +2 Mind. TR11+0

20) Across the mountains to the Bitter Downs. (Y) Farrow's Outriders were no match for Mordrog. R:1(shield), M:2, Mg:1(rs). 4 gold. TR6+2

21) East to the Guardian Hills, where Mordrog discovered a (B,TT) Runestorm!. There's nothing worse than something only runes can affect, when your a big nasty warrior like Mordrog. Flee from the hills! TR9+2

22) A horrible turn - trapped in the mountains with all terrain dice useless. Mordrog spent the turn unable to move and sulked a lot. TR5+3

23) To the town of Vyrelvale, where Mordrog spent his money on the Eyes of Auros - thus allowing him to reroll movement dice - and the Ring of Protection. TR13+4 (T6)

24) Back to the Guardian Hills, and (B) Horodax the Terrible. Mordrog was terrified, taking -4 penalty to combat rolls. Rg:1(shield), M:2, Mg:-2(rs); R:-2, M:2. 6 gold reward, and the wounded party limped on. Mordrog gained a level: +2 Spirit. TR12+0

25) Crossing the road, Mordrog defeated the Ghoul patrol and discovered the (G) Temple of Margath. It proved to be trapped, and Mordrog just used his barbarian abilities to trigger them. BC:-2f; M:2, Mg1(sh). 2 gold looted. TR12+1

26) The Applewood Forest, and the first (R) challenge: Dragonlord Baraxis. Mordrog failed to sneak up on it, and took 7 fatigue (or 3 fatigue and 4 wounds). Overwhelmed, he fled. TR13+2.

27) North to the River of Sleep, where Mordrog encountered (Y) Kral the Bone Lich. R:0, M:2, Mg:0, R:1(shield). 3 gold. TR9+3

28) North to the Whispering Forest, which was (B) No Safe Haven. Mordrog failed to resist the flames and took BC:5 fatigue (3 fatigue, 2 wounds). R:0, M:2, Mg:1(rs); R:0, M:2. An Alchemist's Flask Bomb was the spoils, and the level gave Mordrog +2 Stamina - at this point, he was taking so much Fatigue by failing checks, he needed the boost! TR9+4

29) North to the north-east forest. (R): Guardians of Doom had to be defeated - Mordrog took one wound in ranged - before the (TT) Unliving Rune could be faced. With the aid of the Flask Bomb, and his Mace, Mordrog faced it down easily. BC:3(fb), R:0, M:2, Mg:0; R:0, M:2. 5 gold, and Mordrog had his first Dragon Rune: the Dragon Rune of Death! A level was gained, and +2 Spirit thereby. TR:12+5 (T7)

30) West to Blind Mur Forest, where a (B) event caused refills, but due to the existence of a Red event, had no further effect. Then Mondovar the Cruel was seen flying about a crag. Mordrog easily climbed to its lair, and a hard battle was fought: R:1/-2 (shield), M:2, Mg:1(rs). 6 gold taken, as well as some wounds. TR4+0

31) Back onto the River of Sleep. (Y) Ghoulish Mission. Mordrog made his BC:Spirit check, battled the ghouls: R:1(hg), M:2, Mg:0; R:0, M:2. 2 gold looted, and another level: +2 Spirit. TR4+1

32) Rumours of a powerful artifact in Greyhaven drover Mordrog north into the hills, but he couldn't reach Greyhaven this turn. TR9+2

33) In Greyhaven, Mordrog bought the fabled Ghost Armour, and a cheap potion of strength (just in case). TR10+3

34) Northwest into the hills, where Mordrog faced a... (G) Death Witch. Surprisingly, Mordrog got the villagers to tell him of where her lair was using his skills of Diplomacy, and then faced the witch. R:0, M:2. 1 gold looted. TR13+4 (T8). Time was running out!

35) The Crimson Ford was the lair of (R) Dragonlord Fromax. Mordrog activated his Ghost Armour for 3, reducing Fromax's damage to 0 for 3 rounds. Guess what happened in the combat? R:0, M:2, Mg:1, R:0, M:2, Mg:0, R:0, M:2. Mordrog gained another level, and +2 Spirit (the better to activate the armour). The healing from the Staff of Light was really proving useful now. The Dragon Rune of Fromax was added to Mordrog's collection. TR13+0

36) South brought Mordrog to the aide of a (B) Caravan Besieged. R:1/-1 (shield), M:3(dr), Mg:1(rs). 6 gold as reward. TR8+1

37) The Hanging Woods, and the last encounter? Perhaps not. In front of Mordrog reared the (R,TT) Skeleton of Margath! First he'd have to defeat the skeleton, and then Margath with no hope of escape. Perhaps... no. Flee from the woods! TR16+2 (T9)

38) Mordrog hobbled east, using his staff for healing. TR13+0

39) In the Whispering Forest, (R) Dragonlord Carnovax was waiting for Mordrog. Mordrog failed his Tinker check, and saw his Shield of Light rust away to nothingness. Then he failed to activate the Ghost Armour, taking 4 fatigue in the process!

R:-5(hg) - the Highway Guardian was flayed by the breath, and should have died, yet the Rune of Death kept him in the battle, undying.
M:3 (dragon rune)
Mg:-3(rs) - The Rune Seeker died valiantly, saving Mordrog as he attempted to win the day.
R:-5 (hg) - the rune was exhausted and the Highway Guardian went to his ashy rest.
M:2... and Carnovax was slain.

With the three Dragon Runes, Mordrog was able to seal away Margath forever (or at least until the next game!)

MORDROG - LEVEL 10
Health 6; Stamina 5
Mind 5/1; Body 9/2; Spirit 9/1
Lightning Mace
Ring of Protection, Eyes of Asvar; Staff of Light; Potion of Strength; Ghost Armour.
3 Dragon Runes: Death, Fromax, Carnovax
15 gold!

Notes:
7 Terror of the Tomb encounters of 33. Not bad. Once again, the Terror encounters tended to be more interesting - both Red challenges came up, and they were really interesting. Fleeing is required in Runebound at certain times, even with Mordrog's pathetic Mind score it was possible. His Spirit was raised to very high levels to activate the Ghost Armour rune in the final battle... pity it didn't work.

Thread: Re: Ronan of the Wild enters the Tomb (solo game)

MerricB — 2007-09-03T23:37:38+00:00

Blackfusca wrote:

A captivating read.

Runebound is one on my favorite solo games next to Arkham Horror. I must try my next game using Mr Skeletor's solo variant.

Keep up the reports MerricB, good job.

Thanks!

It's funny - I find Runebound and Arkham Horror to be so much better solo than multiplayer. In multiplayer, I find they drag horribly.

Next session report coming soon!

Cheers,
Merric

Thread: Re: Ronan of the Wild enters the Tomb (solo game)

Blackfusca — 2007-09-03T16:08:29+00:00

A captivating read.

Runebound is one on my favorite solo games next to Arkham Horror. I must try my next game using Mr Skeletor's solo variant.

Keep up the reports MerricB, good job.

Thread: Ronan of the Wild enters the Tomb (solo game)

MerricB — 2007-09-03T13:32:38+00:00

This is the first of two session reports of Runebound 2e that included the Terrors of the Tomb challenge cards in the deck. For those unaware of the contents of this pack, it adds 30 new Adventure cards that are shuffled into the existing decks: 2 Red, 8 Blue, 8 Yellow and 12 Green adventure cards. These cards have a definite undead theme to them.

The game was played with Mr Skeletor's solo variant (Threat Track).
http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/122763

The Threat Level was 17. The game would end in a loss if the Threat Rating ever went above 10.

Codes used in the text:
(G) (Y) (B) (R): encounter levels - Green, Yellow, Blue, Red
BC: R: M: Mg: combat phases - Before Combat, Ranged, Melee, Magic.
(TT): indicates a Terror of the Tomb encounter

TR#+# (T#): Threat Roll (Threat reached)

R:2 indicates Ronan dealt 2 damage to the monster in Ranged combat.
M:-2 indicates Ronan took 2 damage from the monster in Melee combat.
A code Mg:3(rs) indicates an ally (Runesmith Shan) did 3 damage in the Magic combat.

Ronan of the Wild
Once again, my randomly-determined hero was Ronan of the Wild. What was a ranger doing in the tombs? No idea. Let's see what happened!

1) Ronan made his way to the Hanging Woods, where he encountered a (G) Ghoul Search Party. BC: Ronan spotted the ghouls, R:2, and they were defeated. Looted 1 gold. TR5+0

2) With his total of 4 gold, Ronan tramped into Greyhaven and bought a Greatbow. One can only say this was a lucky start... activate for +1 ranged damage is excellent in the early game. TR9+1

3) South along the highway, and encountered some (G) Night Wolves. Ronan climbed a tree, got a free Ranged atack, and slaughtered the wolves. 1 gold looted. TR18+2 (T1)

4) Southwest into the plains, where Ronan found a tomb, which he looted for 1 gold, but received the (G,TT) Curse of the True Name, as he failed to resist it. -2 to Spirit rolls until he defeated a Yellow challenge. Ouch!

Then he discovered (G,TT) The Drowned. BC: He had to swim before he could do anything, and took 2 fatigue before finally making the check. As the Drowned were immune to ranged damage, Ronan decided that discretion was the better part of valour and ran for it. The Drowned failed to pursue. TR14

5) Southeast into the hills, and (G) Razorwing Raiders attacked! Ronan managed to sneak into an advantageous position. R:-1; R:3. 1 gold looted. TR9+1

6) To the plains north of Dawnsmoor, where (G) Hungry Worms erupted from the earth! BC: made a Body check, R:3. 2 gold looted. TR 13+2

7) Into Dawnsmoor, discarding the last of the fatigue, and Ronan visited the healers to return to full health. He also bought a Westrian Shell Shield (1 gp). TR6+3

8) East to the plains, where (G) Giant Beetles proved no match for Ronan. R:3. 2 gold, and a level gain: +2 Mind. TR16+4 (T2)

9) Into the Smoke Blue Hills, and the first (Y) challenge: (TT) Horde of Ghouls. R:3, M-1 (shield discarded to prevent 2 of 3 damage), R2. 3 gold taken, but they were scary! TR17+0 (T3)

10) Riverwatch provided healing, and allowed Ronan to hire the Highway Guardian for 3gp. TR4+0

11) Into the Garden of Tarn, and my old friend (Y) Kral the Bone Lich threw fire at Ronan. BC: He jumped successfully, and then R:3 skewered Kral. 3 gold looted. TR9+1

12) The plains near Forge gave an encounter with the (Y) Ferrox of the Wild. Nasty things. Ronan missed with his first shot, but the Highway guard hit the Ferrox for 2 damage in melee, and Ronan didn't miss with his second. 3 gold looted, and a level-gain: Another +2 Mind. TR11+2

13) Into Forge, and the hiring of Runesmith Shan (8). Fantastic! Ronan now had strong allies for both melee and magic - exactly what he needed. TR8+3

14) The travel roll was dire, and Ronan headed north-east into the hills, but couldn't reach an encounter. TR15+4 (T4)

15) In the Broken Crags, Ronan met (Y) Sir Vykon the Fallen. R:3, M:-3(hg), Mg 4 (rs). 4 gold looted, and the Highway Guardian was hurt badly, but not unto death. TR13+0

16) The River of Sleep, that wonderful place, and (Y) Lord Vorakesh came looking for Ronan. One wonders why? R:3. 2 gold and a Potion of Strength. Another level gain, this time +2 Body. TR10+1

17) South along the river, and a bunch of encounters and events! (Y): Bound for Suffering - Ronan freed the captives of the slavers, but gained no reward in doing so. Calling Down the Inferno saw Ronan's beloved forests set on fire! Path of the Refugee saw one of the captives ask Ronan to escort him to Dawnsmoor, and finally a Skeletal Horde attacked. R:3. Not much of a threat! 3 gold looted. TR14+2

18) Upriver went Ronan, with no encounters worth his while anywhere in sight. TR3+3

19) Further upriver, Ronan encounted (Y) Lady Cathori, whose wiles distracted both of Ronan's allies and meant Ronan had to face her alone! R:3. As if that was a threat! 3 gold looted. TR14+4 (T5) The threat level was rising - time to do some blue challenges!

20) First, into Frostgate, where the best healers restored the Highway Guardian to full health. TR7+0

21) Ronan entered the Shadow Peaks, where he discovered the lair of (B) Mondovar the Cruel. The climb to his lair proved no trouble at all, but Mondovar's ranged attack gave even Ronan pause. The Highway Guard stepped in front of the blast: R-4(hg) and perished. Using his Potion of Strength, Ronan damaged Mondovar for M:1, and then his Runesmith did the final Mg:3 damage for victory. 6 gold, and another level. +2 Mind... obviously Ronan wasn't accurate enough with his bow! TR11+1

22) In Greyhaven, Ronan bought the Bow of Bone for 6 gold. Now, +4 on ranged attacks... very nice! TR8+2

23) Into Tamalir, and a purchase of some very much needed Chainmail Armour! TR6+3

24) Ronan was hitting the markets. This time he reached Dawnsmoor, delivered the refugee (from Round 21, before), and gained 5 gp for his trouble. He used it to buy a Cloak of Deception. TR5+4

25) To Blackthorn Grove, taking 2 fatigue from the forest fires. There, Ronan faced his first (R) challenge: (TT) Unliving Rune! This horrible creature was far too difficult for Ronan to defeat, so he escaped back the way he came. TR6+5

26) Back to Dawnsmoor, and Ronan was healed of his fatigue. TR7+6

27) Into the Bitter Downs, and no encounter in sight. TR19+7 (T6)

28) Well, except for the (B) Caravan Besieged right next door. R:3; M-; Mg:3 (rs). 6 gold reward, and another level. +2 Body. TR10+0

29) Ronan took a fatigue to reroll a die, and travel east to a hills where he encountered a (Y) challenge: A Question of Honour. No luck with the melee roll to defeat the worthy knight, so no ally gained there. Alas! The next encounter was with the (TT) Dance of the Dead, where Ronan witnessed the horrific sight of the undead dancing unstoppably; somehow this gave him a new zest for life, and a +2 Stamina counter. (Cool!) Plagues and Pestilence afflicted Forge, so if Ronan ever could stop by a marsh, he might be able to cure them. Finally Farrow's Outriders rode up. Ronan managed to hide from them, whilst his Runesmith ally did BC:3 to them. R:-1, R:3. A minor wound, and 4 gold looted. TR20+1 (T7)

30) Ronan took a fatigue to reroll one of his movement dice, but got nowhere interesting. TR15+0

31) Into the Guardian Hills, and a (B) Hybrid Skystalker. It has a great ranged attack, but Ronan's was better. R:3, and 3 gold looted. Another level gained, +2 Body. TR14+1

32) East into the hills. (B, TT) Runestorm - this horrific unnatural creation can only be fought with rune magic, of which Ronan had none! No choice but to run, but he was very, very good at that. Call him Rincewind! TR12+2

33) Into Vyrelvale, where a Staff of Light was for sale for 10 gp. Fantastic - one of the best items in the game. TR17+3 (T8) Time was running out!

34) North only allowed him to find a (G,TT) Doppleshadow. Guess what? No threat at all. R:3. No loot, unfortunately - it does something only in multiplayer games. TR13+0

35) Into the Velvet Plains, Ronan tramped. (Y) Doom at the Crossroads put ghouls on every road to annoy Ronan, but the Hunting Party wasn't so much of a threat. R:3, M:0, Mg:3(rs). 4 gold loot, TR15+1

36) Into the Applewood Forest, and the (R) challenge of Dragonlord Droxar. Unlike the Unliving Rune, Ronan thought he could face this one! BC: He hid easily from the first attack of Droxar, and the Runesmith dealt BC:3 to Droxar. R:3, and it was all over - the first of the three Dragon Runes was Ronans! TR17+2 (T9) Could he do it before time ran out?

37) North, into the Whispering Forest, but not quite enough to get to the next red challenge. TR5+0

38) (R) Dragonlord Eregax was waiting for Ronan, and Ronan failed the Resist check he needed to make... suddenly he couldn't activate any items in the conbat! R:2, M:0, Mg:-2(rs); R:2, M:0, Mg:3(rs). Success! Another level gained - this time +2 Spirit - and two Dragon Runes were in Ronan's possession. TR6+1

39) Ronan struggled closer to his goal, finding (b) Lorantis the Savage waiting for him in the mountains. R:3 (dragon rune) R:3 and all was over for Lorantis. TR15+2 (T10) Unfortunately, time was almost out. A single bad threat roll, and the game would be lost!

40) Ronan moved into the plains, taking fatigue to reroll a die, but could quite reach the last red encounter. The Threat Roll was a 13... not quite enough to lose Ronan the game.

41) The final challenge proved to be (R) Dragonlord Carnovax. Ronan passed his Tinker Check, and so didn't have to discard anything. The Runesmith did 3 damage in before combat; then Ronan activated his Dragon Rune to deal 3 damage in the first ranged step. Suddenly, it was all over. Ronan collected the third Dragon Rune, and the land was saved from the High Lord!

Ronan of the Wild - level 10
Health 4; Stamina 6
Mind 11/2; Body 8/1; Spirit 4/1
Chainmail armour
Bow of Bone; Great Bow
Cloak of Deception; Staff of Light

Allies:: Runesmith Shan

Dragonrunes: Droxor, Eregax, Carnovax.

Ronan had almost failed on his quest - if the Threat Level had been 16, the game would have ended after round 39. For the next game, the Threat Level would be 16.

The Terrors of the Tomb adds a few very nice encounters - Ronan had to flee a few times from things his Ranged attack wouldn't be enough to defeat. Of the 31 encounters, 7 were TT encounters - about a quarter, which isn't a bad ratio.

Thread: Re: Supply Problems in the United Kingdom!

Yugblad — 2007-02-28T11:02:38+00:00

Thanks again, everyone.

The friendly chap at Shire had all the expansions I needed, which was nice.

I'm a happy bunny!

Thread: Re: Supply Problems in the United Kingdom!

itchyrichy — 2007-02-27T22:10:06+00:00

Yup.

Thread: Re: Supply Problems in the United Kingdom!

RecklessJester — 2007-02-27T21:27:51+00:00

FFG is currently reprinting the original 6 expansion decks, which should be out around June. They are also reprinting Island of Dread for July.

Thread: Re: Supply Problems in the United Kingdom!

Yugblad — 2007-02-27T16:54:21+00:00

Thanks for everyone's help! Much appreciated.
I'll try Shire Games.

Hey, Rich, fancy a game of Runebound sometime?

Thread: Re: Supply Problems in the United Kingdom!

Grimwold — 2007-02-27T16:50:45+00:00

I'll second Shire games, who also have it in stock:

http://www.shiregames.com/khxc/index.php?app=gbu0&ns=prodsho...

Thread: Re: Supply Problems in the United Kingdom!

itchyrichy — 2007-02-27T16:43:42+00:00

Mark, I second that - Spirit Games is the absolute best shop around here, being close enough for us to get there with minimum hassle.

I'm always up for a road trip if you want to go, but remember to take lots of cash since the temptation is huge!
(It's like standing in an ultimate games geek list!)

Thread: Re: Supply Problems in the United Kingdom!

emmersonpoole — 2007-02-27T10:43:29+00:00

Shire games had one in stock last time I looked, and I recently got my copy from spirit games in Burton on Trent. Both shops do mail order over the internet

Thread: Supply Problems in the United Kingdom!

Yugblad — 2007-02-27T10:08:58+00:00

Where the hell can I buy, in the UK, any of the card expansion packs?

I can find the character packs with no effort at all; the additional items, challenges, and event packs are an entirely different beast altogether!

eBay has none. My regular interweb shops are dry of stock. All the games shops in Nottingham have bare shelves where hordes of expansions should be lying, ready for me to buy.

Anyone point me in the direction of stock residing in sunny England?
Are they all out of print?

Image

EndersGame — 2006-12-29T21:02:33+00:00

Artwork on card reverse: Level 1 Challenge

Image

EndersGame — 2006-11-08T04:37:53+00:00

Expansion: Level 1 ENCOUNTER cards

Image

EndersGame — 2006-11-08T04:22:59+00:00

Expansion: Level 3 ENCOUNTER cards

Image

EndersGame — 2006-11-08T04:22:54+00:00

Expansion: Level 2 ENCOUNTER cards

Image

EndersGame — 2006-11-08T04:12:16+00:00

Expansion - reverse of actual game box

Image

EndersGame — 2006-11-08T00:02:33+00:00

Expansion: All the new Level 1 Challenges

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EndersGame — 2006-11-08T00:02:26+00:00

Expansion: All the Level 3 Challenges

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EndersGame — 2006-11-07T23:36:43+00:00

The two Level 4 Challenges

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EndersGame — 2006-11-07T23:36:30+00:00

Level 2 Challenges

Thread: Re: Review of the 4 small item, ally, and challenge expansio

Konwacht — 2006-07-20T17:30:57+00:00

Please check my comment on the copy of this thread here at "Relics of Legend"-Expansion:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/94274

Thread: Preserving Event/Non-Event Adventure Card ratio

Dinky_Gnatbane — 2006-02-06T00:40:46+00:00

One of the problems with the Dark Forest and Terrors of the Tomb expansions is that they do not contain Event Adventure cards so if you just add them in with the Base Game Adventure Cards the Event cards will be diluted and the Adventure Counters won't be refreshed as often. If you follow the steps below during game setup you can preserve the ratio of Event/Non-Event Adventure Cards which should return the frequency of Adventure Counter refreshes to that of the Base Game. (The # of cards non-Event Adventure cards listed in Step 3 is the number of non-Event Adventure cards in the Base Set Adventure deck).

1. Remove Event Cards from Adventure decks and set aside for now.
2. Add the non-Event Cards from the expansion(s) to the base set non-Event Cards and shuffle.
3. Count out 32 Green, 22 Yellow, 13 Blue, and 7 Red from the non-Event Cards and place the excess non-Event Cards to the side for now.
4. Shuffle the Event Cards back in with the shuffled non-Event Cards.
5. Place the non-Event cards that were set aside on the bottom of each Adventure Card deck.
6. Game on!

Thread: Review of the 4 small item, ally, and challenge expansions

Mishenka — 2006-01-11T05:14:58+00:00

Here I will review the 4 small challenge and market deck expansions for Runebound 2nd edition: The Dark Forest, Terrors of the Tomb, Relics of Legend, and Artifacts & Allies. Since these expansions have many characteristics in common and since most people who own Runebound would probably choose to buy all of them at once, it makes sense to me to review them together.

First a general comment on all of these decks. Almost all of the new cards add some new mechanic or aspect to the game. So rather than just selling more of the same types of cards already found in the basic game, FFG has put out something that will, in various subtle ways, modify the feel of the game. This aspect alone makes the expansions a worthy buy.

I’ll start with the two challenge deck expansions: The Dark Forest and Terrors of the Tomb. As the names suggest, the former adds forest creatures and encounters, while the latter adds undead. First of all, the cards in both decks use skill checks much more heavily than the basic game. This is a welcome change, since skills were really underused in the base game. Next, a number of cards in both decks encourage player interaction – either by hurting the other player in some way, stealing their stuff, sending a monster after them, or hindering their movement. One fun card is “Toll Collector” from TDF, which make all other heroes pay you 2 gold if they fail a Sneak check on a road space with a green jewel. Note that none of the cards in these two expansions encourage direct PvP conflict (the two Market deck expansions described below do however), but more of a “take that” kind of interaction. Both decks also add challenges that are either immune to certain types of damage, get bonuses in certain phases, or can only be hurt by certain types of items, thereby discouraging the players from focusing on only one of their attributes to the detriment of others. Good examples of this are the “Dire Ferrox” from TDF which will attack in multiple melee phases in a single round, “Needle Wight”, also from TDF, which automatically inflicts a wound when attacked in melee, “Shadow Ferrox” from TotT which can only be hurt by magical damage, and “Legion of the Dead” from TotT who ignore the first 2 damage from any attack not done with an “Explosive” item. TotT especially has a pretty large number of card of that type. Each deck also adds one “Transformation” type card (“Primal Transformation” in TDF and “Unnatural Transformation” in TotT) which give you a choice to transform into a half-plant creature in one case and an undead in the other. It’s a little disappointing that the two cards, aside from their name, are basically identical (you get +2 in all your stats, but can’t take fatigue damage for the rest of the game). It would have been nice if there were some different aspects to being a plant vs. being undead. These two cards may also be a bit overpowered, since you essentially gain 3 levels, and the downside of not being able to take fatigue damage, while preventing you from using the character’s special abilities, also protects you from challenges that deal fatigue damage. Another two red cards that are essentially identical in the two sets are “Heart of Margath” and “Skeleton of Margath”. Both of these, once defeated, allow you to immediately fight Margath himself. These are fun cards, but it would have been nice if there were some unique aspects to each of them.

The Dark Forest by itself adds a few unique mechanics. One is cards that “Reward” the player with advantages or disadvantages when fighting on forest and swamp spaces. As an example, “Avatar of the Woods”, a blue challenge, gives you a -3 penalty to all rolls on forest and swamp spaces until you defeat a red challenge on one of these type of terrain, after which point you get a +3 to all rolls on swamp and forest. There are also similar green and yellow cards. Another interesting new aspect is cards that give you a weapon, armor, or relic as a reward. Some of these are green challenges, which give you a basic weapon or armor, which can be extremely useful in the early phase of the game.

The one interesting mechanic in Terrors of the Tomb are cards that “resurrect” unused heroes (“A hero of Old Awakens”), allowing you to control them and use them to harass the other players.
One thing missing in both of the above expansions are new event cards. These would have added some variety to the game, however, their omission in these packs is understandable since events in Runebound are generally tied to a certain scenario (i.e. Margath in the base game, Giants in the Kyros expansion, etc.), and the designers apparently wanted to keep these expansions relatively generic. In fact only one non-red card’s flavor text mentions anything related to the any scenario (“Vorakesh” in this case), and I’m guessing that was probably an oversight.

Now on to the two Market deck expansions – Artifacts & Allies and Relics of Legend. Each of these expansions provide new items and allies for the market deck. As with the challenge expansions, most of items & allies bring some new and generally fun mechanic to the game.
Artifacts & Allies once again introduces cards that encourage player interaction – some in non-confrontational ways such as borrowing an ally or trading items (ex. “Cloak of Useful Items”, “Cloak of Time and Space”), others in direct PvP confrontational ones (for example the ally “Sister of Vengeance” becomes stronger every time you defeat another player, but there’s also a counterparts “Sister of Mercy” ally that gets stronger every time her hero is attacked). There are also cards that allow you some control over how the adventure cards are revealed. For example, “Lantern of Revealing” allows you to keep a green or yellow adventure card you draw instead of resolving it and then replace a later green or yellow challenge with it. The other new mechanic introduced in A&A is Familiars. They are basically like allies, except the first one you get doesn’t count towards your ally limit of two, and they are generally not strong in combat but rather have some useful ability. For example, “Healing Toad” takes wounds for you, “Fetch Imp” can fetch items from a nearby town market effectively allowing you to do a Market phase even when not in town). Some familiar are definitely more useful than others though, so some (like the “Demonic Cat”) would probably rarely be bought. The other allies in this expansion do things like get and give bonuses on certain types of terrain or against certain color challenges, or allow you use an additional weapon or armor. The combat items in this set give you both an offensive and defensive capability (and cost more to compensate).

Relics of Legend introduces Banners to the game. These are items that are “charged” by certain actions (defeating a challenge on specific terrain type, inflicting high damage, defeating another hero, etc.), and for each “charge” token you use from these cards you get a certain bonus (receive +2 bonus on “Before Combat” roll, swap your experience counters, prevent discarding of an item or ally when knocked out, etc.). Most banners also give you some additional boon when they’re charged with at least two tokens. There are also some interesting weapons and allies in this deck, which, while not really changing the game mechanics, generally have some interesting effects. For example “Sword of Frostgate” reduces all of the opponents attributes by 1 for every inflicted wound, “Longbow of Tamalir” inflicts +3 damage for each previous round in which your hero did not attack. Although one particular item, “Waraxe of Dawnsmoor” seems somewhat useless – it allows you to defeat a challenge by passing 3 consecutive Body checks, but doesn’t give you the reward. Since you really need the reward most of the time, it seems like you would really only want to use this item against Margath in the endgame, and since it occupies a weapon slot, it’s really not worth buying it just for that.

Overall, each of these expansion adds something new to the game, and in a game like Runebound variety is the spice of life. It makes the game more exciting, adds more player interaction, thereby reducing the “downtime” complaint some people have with this game, and generally enhances the game experience. With their price being in the $4-6 range per expansion, I don’t see any reason for anyone who likes the base Runebound game to not get them all.

Thread: The Terrors of the Tomb Review

PSXfile — 2006-01-03T08:49:03+00:00

In writing this review, I assume the reader already knows how to play the basic Runebound.

This expansion introduces 30 new cards: 9 new Encounter cards and 21 new Challange cards. These cards can be intruduced seamlessly into your current Runebound decks.

Most of the Challanges are undead who are immune to various attacks. For example, Shadow Ferrox ignore all damage except from magic attacks. Others frighten you so badly that you must try and escape the challange. It makes things a bit more strategical since stacking a single stat on your character runs the risk of a knockout. Having +6 mind when facing The Drowned doesn't mean much since they are immune to range attacks.

A new mechanic that this expansion introduces are benefits that you recieve if you manage kill a creature in the first round of combat. For example, if you manage to kill Medusa in the first round you can take her head and use it to try and automatically defeat another challange.

This expansions also introduces a bit more player interaction through Player Verses Player combat. There are new cards that allow you to "stalk" your opponents. When a player defeats certain challanges a marker is placed on the map and that player can then move the marker. If the marker ends in a space with another player that player must then fight the challange. Each color deck also has an Event card that allows you to "raise dead" on an unused hero card. That hero's figure is then placed on the map and moves around attacking other heroes, although these risen heroes may not use items.

There are two new red cards to add to the stack, Skelton of Margath and Unliving Rune. The Unliving Rune gives you a new Dragon Rune of Death which prevents allies from dying. The Skeleton of Margath isn't quite as tough as the High Lord himself, but you are forced to fight Margath immediately after the fight with his skeleton.

For only $6 this is expansion is a must have for Runebound fans. There really isn't enough here to change the opionion of non-Runebound fans, but it does add a couple of new mechanics to the game and some interesting new Challanges and Events.