Runebound

Runebound is a 2-6 player high fantasy adventure board game published by Fantasy Flight Games in 2004. In "Runebound", players take the roles of adventurers who seek out quests (indicated by markers on the map). The quests are then resolved with either victory for the player, or a loss of some item. Curiously, there is usually little direct conflict between the players. Each player is seeking quests and trying to gain experience which results in greater power and combat skill.

"Runebound" is one of a number of fantasy board games published by FFG, others include and licensed games Warcraft, World of Warcraft and several "The Lord of the Rings" games. "Runebound" shares the same heroes and artwork and (some) items with "Descent:Journeys in the Dark".

The first large expansion, to Runebound, "Runebound: Island of Dread", was released in 2005. Many other expansions to Runebound have been released by FFG, some are just sets of cards, others contain new maps and rule changes. Not all expansions can be played together, namely, only one "large" expansion or adventure variant deck can be used at a time.

Gameplay

Each player assumes control over one hero of the land. These heroes can attempt weak quests, medium quests, hard quests or game-winning quests (colored respectively green, yellow, blue and red). In the scenario included in the base game, "The Rise of the Dragonlords," the first hero to complete three of the "game-winning quests" wins the game. Many small box expansions listed below offer variants changing the victory conditions, themes, monsters, and items available.

Most quests features a battle with a monster. Each monster has a skill in each of three masteries: ranged combat, melee combat, and magical combat. A single hero can only attack in one of these mini-battles, and must defend in the other two. However, a hero can recruit one or two "allies" who can attack during the other two phases of the battle.

The heroes are able to use a few items which enhance their abilities such as magic swords, enchanted armor, and healing potions. However, the main way that heroes gain strength is by adding to their starting abilities through use of experience tokens. Experience tokens are exchanged for increased combat power, or more life. As heroes grow more powerful this allows them to tackle more difficult quests (yellow, blue, and finally red quests). Various expansion card decks change the basic game as you can gain familiars, banners, and new powers.

Finishing a game can take many hours but the rules book offers some variant rules to speed up play.

Expansions

FFG has released many expansions for the game. The following is a complete list as of late 2006. This includes the following:

Large Expansions

* "The Island of Dread" was first expansion released for Runebound. It features a new "partial" map and many new quests and treasure reward cards. It is not a stand-alone game. Most of the new map consists of sea locations with their own adventure deck.

* "Midnight" is a different type of expansion in which one player takes the role of the evil "Night King" while the other players try to gain power such that they can beat the final host of the "Night King". It is not a stand-alone game. "Midnight" is based on the role-playing game Midnight, a modification to Dungeons and Dragons created by FFG in 2003.

* "Sands of Al-Kalim" - Released in 2007. It is a large expansion with a new board with an Arabian theme on which players compete to finish Story cards.

Item & Ally Card Set Expansions

* "Artifacts and Allies" - This is a simple addition of more items (and allies) which the heroes can purchase from the various towns on the board. One new element added with this card set are "familiars". Each hero can have one familiar in addition to the two allies. Familiars aren't very powerful but they can do useful things outside of battle.

* "Relics of Legend" - This set of cards defines more powerful items which can be purchased by the heroes. It can be added to any Runebound game. The new items in this card set are "banners", items that grant extra bonuses to your hero is you first complete a quest which charges the banner with energy.

* "Champions of Kellos" - This is a set of cards which define new allies and items available for purchase in the towns.

* "Walkers of the Wild" - New allies and item card set.

Challenge Card Set Expansions

* "The Dark Forest" - Set of cards which have extra effects if played in forest hexes.

* "Terrors of the Tomb" - Set of cards which are all undead monster challenge quests.
* "Drakes and Dragonspawn" - This set of cards is designed to be added to any "Runebound" game. It contains more quests, and events for the heroes to conquer.

* "Shadows of Margath" - This set of cards is designed to be added to any "Runebound" game. It contains more quests, and events for the heroes to deal with. One version of this card set was created for the first version of Runebound (from 2004) but the card set was updated and reissued to be compatible with the 2nd edition rules.

Adventure Variants

* "Crown of the Elder Kings" - This is a deck of cards which are designed to replace many of the quest cards found in the normal game of Runebound. It creates a different story from the normal game of Runebound. This variant ends the game in a direct confrontation between players rather than battles against powerful dragons.

* "Scepter of Kyros" - Another adventure deck from 2005. This variant involves invading giants.

* "Avatars of Kelnov" - This is a deck of cards which are designed to replace many of the quest cards found in the normal game of Runebound.

* "Cult of the Rune" - This is a set of 30 cards and tokens which are designed to replace many of the cards found in the normal game of Runebound. It creates a different story from the normal game of Runebound.

Character Decks

* "Battlemage" - This is a set of cards for individual heroes to change their abilities. Allows you to add the powers of the Battlemage to your hero character.

* "Blade Dancer" - This is a set of cards for individual heroes to change their abilities. Allows you to add the powers of the Blade Dancer to your hero character.

* "Runemaster" - This is a set of cards for individual heroes to change their abilities. Allows you to add the powers of a Runemaster to your hero character.

* "Shadow Walker" - This is a set of cards for individual heroes to change their abilities. Allows you to add the powers of Shadow Walker to your hero character.

* "Spiritbound" - This is a set of cards for individual heroes to change their abilities. Allows you to add the powers of the Spiritbound to your hero character.

* "Wildlander" - This is a set of cards for individual heroes to change their abilities. Allows you to add the powers of a Wildlander to your hero character.

Related Games

* Talisman

External links

*Fantasy Flight's [http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/runebound.html Runebound homepage]
* [http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/runeboundislandofdread.html The Island of Dread] official web page
* [http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/runeboundmidnight.html Midnight] official web page
* [http://www.martsville.co.uk/Fantasy_Flight_Runebound.htm Martsville] Runebound fan page
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