Special locations
I made this variant to make the Runebound map a little more interesting, with specified locations the players can visit. To use it, you’ll need 6 location counters (I use self made counters, the important is, they all have to be numbered 1-6), or if you want more locations to be placed, use more, it’s up to you.
First, you’ll have to determine, which location a counter will indicate. Make a d100 roll, and divide it by 4. From the reference numbers below, you can find out what location it refers to. Do this for all six counters, and take notes. Only exception is when you have a location that needs another location of the same type to function: then the next counter will be it’s pair, or if it’s the last one, then roll again.
Then, each player can place a counter. If it is not specified otherwise, you can place them anywhere on board, except cities and their 1 hex radius, near another location, and adventure counter hexes. If you play alone, place them randomly, face down, and turn them when all are placed. If one is on an invalid location, move it to the nearest possible location.
Your ideas and feedbacks are welcome!
1-Marketplace: There are villages, far from the great cities of Terrinoth, that hold markets. The common folk here sell their little findings slightly cheaper than those in the cities, sometimes without even noticing the powers of some strange artifacts. Draw 2 cards from the market deck. Discard allies drawn, and draw a new card instead of them. You can decide if you want to buy any of them, then place the remaining in a new market slot. There can not be more than 2 items available for sell in the marketplace. Items you buy here cost one third less then normally (with a minimum of 1).
2-Watchtower: Looking out from the watchtower, you can spectate your surroundings. Exchange the nearest adventure token (if there are 2 or more in equal distance, choose one) to an undefeated adventure counter. Then, draw and adventure card according to the discarded counter’s color. If it isn’t a challange, discard it, and draw until you have a challange card. Read it, and place it in the undefeated adventure track face down. Players who come here later may only look at the adventure card the first player drew, but if it’s already defeated, the watchtower regains it’s original function.
3-Pool Of Vision: Staring at the water of this surprisingly clean pool, you can see far away places. Works just like the watchtower, except that players can uncover any adventure counter on board.
4-House Of Healing: The priests of Kellos welcome all tired journeymen in their house of healing, removing their wounds, and granting them a calm night. If you end your movement phase here, you and your allies can heal a total of 4 hit points and all exhaustion.
5-Underground Passage: Many secrets does the depths of the Earth hold; secret paths and unknowns dangers await the hero who descends into the underworld. There must be at least 2 of those on the board. If you step on a hex with an underground passage, you can decide to descend underground, which will take one movement dice of any type. Lie your hero down, indicating he/she is underground. While underground, the following rules apply to your character:
- You can move with any terrain symbol, in any direction.
- You can leave the underground in any underground passage hexes, with any movement dice.
- While underground, each turn in your adventure phase, use the rule for travel hazards, with the river symbol indicating underground. When determining the level of the threat, add +4 to the roll. A total greater then 20 results in a red challenge. Before combat attacks DO work in underground travel hazard encounters, and you DO get the reward for defeating the challenge, but you still can’t flee from combat.
- You can not interact with the overworld (cities, characters above, adventure tokens, etc.)
6-Teleport – There are ancient portals throughout the land, transporting those who enter them to distant places. There must be at least 2 of those on the board. Using up any of your movement dices, you can move to another teleport.
7-Arena – There’s a place in Terrinoth where brave heroes can test their strenght against each other in a fight to the death. If you end your movement phase here, in the adventure phase, you can decide to take part in a fight in the arena. Draw a card from the unused hero cards. This will be your adversary. Give him as many adventure counters as you have (make a d10 roll to determine the type of each: 1-2 ranged, 3-4 melee, 5-6 magic, 7-8 exhaustion, 9-10 health). Then, draw market cards equal to the level of the hero, and equip him (of concuring items, use the stronger one). Fight the hero (if you do not play alone, another player should act as your adversary). Roll a dice to determine, which of you will be the attacker in the first round (the one who makes the higher roll can be the defender). If you win, you get two times your level in gold, or you can take one possession of your enemy. If you lose, you are knocked out. The defeated enemy can not be fought again in the arena.
8-Sanctuary – By the holy will of Kellos, this place is a safe hideout to all, it’s magical powers preventing any bloodshed on it’s ground. If you end your movement phase on a sanctuary, you can discard all exhaustion counters from you and your allies, and 1 hit counter from each. Also, while you are standing here, no one can attack you.
9-Sacred Woods – The sacred woods of the elves can sense foul beings moving through their ancient trees, and will not allow them to taint their land. Carthos, Mordrog, Varikas, Bogran, Mok and Onefist suffers one health damage when entering this hex, and one exhaustion damage, when entering a neighbouring hex. Can only be placed on a forest hex.
10-Cursed Woods – An ancient evil resides in the dead trees of this forest, that will haunt and harm any creature of light entering it. Siluette, Jaes, Ronan, Red Scorpion, Sir Valadir and Astarra suffers one health damage when entering this hex, and one exhaustion damage, when entering a neighbouring hex. Can only be placed on a forest hex.
11-Prison – Not all heroes trying to save Terrinoth were so lucky as you, and are being held in dark dungeons by the minions of Vorakesh. If you end your movement phase here, you can decide to free the prisoner of the prison. Draw an adventure card (determine it’s color like the threat level in travel hazards). Ignore any events and encounters and draw until you have a challange. Fight it. If you win, you do not receive any reward written on the challange card, but instead you can draw cards from the market deck until you draw an ally, which you can keep. Discard the other cards. You also get the experience for the challenge you defeated. After that, remove the Prison from the board. If you fail, use the undefeated challange track.
12-Magical Vault – There are ancient chambers in hidden places of the land holding secret, mystical lore left by long forgotten civilizations. Many adventurers met their doom by the spells and creatures guarding these vaults, but those who survived gained knowledge unknown to anyone else. If you end your movement here, in the adventure phase you can decide to loot the vault. You will have to fight the guardian, and survive the spell guarding the place. Roll d6 to determine the creature guarding the vault (stats are ranged, melee, magic and health).
1 – Air Elemental: 14/1, 10/0, 12/1 (2)
2 – Water Elemental: 12/0, 14/2, 13/1 (3)
3 – Earth Elemental: 12/0, 15/2, 14/1 (4)
4 – Fire Elemental: 13/1, 15/2, 15/2 (4)
5 – Magic Elemental: 15/1, 12/1, 16/3 (4)
6 – Darkness Elemental: 15/1, 15/2, 15/3 (5)
Roll d10 to determine the magic guarding the vault. They take effect before the before combat attacks. If you win the fight, you get a spirit experience counter, and you can draw cards from the market deck until you draw a rune, which you can keep. After that, remove the Magical Vault from the board.
1 – Weakness: Make a spirit roll for you and your allies too (difficulty: 14). Those who fail will have a melee damage reduced by 1 and strenght reduced to 0 in this combat.
2- Summoning: You have to fight the guardian twice.
3 – Blind: Make a spirit roll for you and your allies (difficulty 13). Those who fail can only defend in the ranged combat phase and have a -4 modifier on it, and get a -4 modifier on their melee dice rolls in this combat.
4 – Chain Lightning: Make a spirit roll for you and your allies (difficulty 16). Those who fail suffer 2 damage.
5 – Disguise: Before combat attacks are ignored in this combat.
6 – Resist Magic: You can only defend in the magic combat phase.
7 – Ring Of Fire: There is no retreat from this battle.
8 – Confusion – Make a spirit roll for you and your allies (difficulty: 16). Those who fail can only defend in the first combat turn.
9 – Drain Magic: Make a spirit roll for you and your allies (difficulty: 14). Those who fail get exhaustion markers equal to their spirit value.
10 – Rot: Make a spirit roll for you and your allies in the retreat phase of each combat turn (difficulty: 14). Those who fail suffer 1 damage.
13-Drained Lands – Once, a battle of two great wizards took place in these lands. Their struggle drained all magic from the ground, making it impossible for even the greatest magicians to use their powers here. Place this location on an adventure counter hex. In battles on this hex, there is no magic combat phase.
14–Magic Tower – A wizard now long dead built this tower ages ago, filling it with his power. Since then, it is a source of strong magic, and even common spells are much more effective when they can feed on the energy of the tower. If you end your movement on this hex, you make a magic attack on any other hero in 4 hexes radius, without getting hurt in case of failure.
15–Stables – A good horse can significantly shorten a journey. If you move on a stables hex, you can roll again with 2 movement dices, and move further (so you can travel a maximum of 7 hexes this turn). If you want to do so, you have to pay one gold for your hero plus another one per ally.
16-Ferry – Sometimes it is wiser to pay for the ferryman to get one through the river than trying to cross it on foot. Must be placed on a river hex. By paying one gold, you can make one of your movement dice act as if it had a river symbol on it.
17-Dragon’s Lair – The ultimate challange for any hero is to fight a dragon in the beast’s own lair. And those who do not seek honor still won’t be disappointed looting the treasures the dragon gathered through the years. If you end your movement here, you can search the cave in the adventure phase. Draw a red adcenture card, ignore any events and encounters, and draw until you have a challenge. You’ll have to fight it, and you must add +2 to all it’s stats as you fight it in it’s own ground. If you defeat the challenge, you get the reward marked on the card, a red experience counter and 10 gold pieces. In case of failure, use the undefeated challenge track. After that, remove the Dragon’s Lair from the board.
18-Altar Of Chaos – The gods of chaos are strange entities… One can never know what mood they are in, and only time can tell if they’ll crush or bless those who dare to seek their aid. If you end your movement phase here, you can make a sacrifice at the altar in the adventure phase. Roll d10 to determine the outcome. To make a sacrifice, you have to pay 2 golds. For every other 3 golds, you can increase or decrease the outcome by 1. If a player uses the altar again, he will have a -1 penalty on his roll for every occasion he used the altar before.
1-Forget: Discard and experience counter.
2-Disease: From now on, you suffer 1 damage in the beginning of your turns until you find a healer in a city. He can remove your disease for 2 gold.
3-Sleep: You can’t act in your next turn (only exception is if during the other players’ turn you have to interact with someone.
4-Disloyalty: Discard one of your allies.
5-Exhaustion: Place the maximum number of exhaustion counters you can have without suffering damage on you and your allies.
6-Heavenly Winds: Place your hero anywhere on board.
7-Bless: Remove all exhaustion and a total of 5 health counters from you and your allies.
8-Rain Of Gold: You get 10 gold pieces.
9-Wisdom Of Gods: You get an experience counter of your choice.
10-Divine Gift: Draw 3 cards from the market deck (discard any allies and draw a new card instead of them). You can keep any 2 of the cards. Discard the remaining one.
19-Tree Of Knowledge: There are some ancient, magical trees that spectate the world surrounding them, accumulating incredible knowledge through the ages. These trees share a strange attraction to the creations of mortals, sometimes sharing their knowledge with those who bring little gifts to them. If you end your movement phase here, you can decide to make an offering in exchange for the knowledge of the tree. If you discard at least 10 gold worth in items, you get an experience counter.
20-Valley Of Trials: Some ancient trickster have constructed a labirynth in this valley, filled with traps, obstacles and riddles. But in the middle, he placed a prize for the one worthy of reaching it. If you end your movement phase here, in the adventure phase, you can decide to try to pass the trials. Make a check for all 3 stats with a difficulty of 15. If you succeed in all of them, you can draw market cards until their worth exceed 10 (allies are discarded). After a successful attempt, the Valley Of Trials is removed from the board.
21-Gate/Keymaster: The most powerful creatures of darkness sometimes reside in dungeons sealed by powerful gates. The keys to these gates are always protected by their terrible minions, who will fight to their death defending it. There has to be a gate and a keymaster location. The gate must be placed under a yellow or blue adventure counter. If you end your movement on the keymaster hex, you can decide to fight the keymaster and get the key. If you win, you don’ get the reward specified on the card, instead you get the experience, and this location counter, symbolising the key. If you then end your movement phase on the gate, you can remove the gate location counter, and get a yellow experience. As long as the gate is on the board, the adventure counter on the hex can’t be used (no adventure phase on the hex).
22-Sacrificial Altar: There is a dark, mysterious cult on Terrinoth honoring the cruel gods of blood. On their altars, one can make a blood sacrifice, and gain rewards from the blood gods… But if it becomes known that a mysterious traveller always leave the cities with company and arrives alone, people won’t be much likely to join them. If you end your movement here, in the market step you can sacrifice one or more of your allies. If you do so, draw 4 cards from the market deck, and keep as many of them as many allies you sacrificed (you can only keep items, if you draw an ally, discard it and draw again). Make a pile of your allies sacrificed; each one makes hiring other allies 3 golds more expensive.
23-Thieves Guild: The outcasts of society gather in this filthy den, where one can hire thieves to get the dirty jobs done. If you end your movement here, in the adventure step you can hire thieves to steal an item for you from any other player or city. You must pay one third of the worth of item you want to steal. Make a d6 roll. If you roll 5 or 6, you get the item. Otherwise, you lost your money.
24-Veteran’s House: Once a great hero known through Terrinoth, now an old man teaching young would-be heroes, this veteran of many battles can share his knowledge with those who can afford it. If you end your movement here, you can decide to learn from the veteran in the adventure step. You can get an experience point for 3 gold. One player may only get experience points worth 1 level this way.
25-Inn: In a countryside inn one can rest comfortably, and it as also cheaper than the taverns in the cities. If you end your movement phase, in the market step, you and your allies can discard all exhaustion counters for one gold.