I just wanted to share a game idea I had that would allow the use of both base boards. I know most folks think that rune gates are a bit of a waste of time, however, if you have the room to do this, we set up cataclysm on its own, all the expansion boards stay on the original board, and when you draw a rune gate on the main board you instantly teleport (like being sucked into a magical vortex time shift kinda thing) and play on the corresponding space on the Cataclysm board, which has the Deep Realms expansion on it. Each board has its own adventure deck and you can play on the board as long as you like, you can teleport back by choice if you roll a 6, or if another rune gate is drawn. We played this way at the weekend and apart from having to have a huge table to play on and constantly on your feet walking around it was most enjoyable and kinda makes more sense as I always thought playing the Cataclysm board with the existing expansion like the City etc. just seem wrong as they should have been destroyed during the Cataclysm event. This now gives players two ways to the Crown Of Command, (although the Cataclysm is now infested with horrible beasts from the Dark Realm)

Anyway, if you have the room and the inclination I strongly advise you try this, really opened up the game and we all enjoyed moving between realms.

Interesting. The size of the table reminds of the huge 40K armored battles we used to do with Tanks, other mechanized stuff and drop ships.....

Great idea. Very much like the Shadow World (I think it was called) in the Legend of Zelda: a Link to the Past. Using the portals to travel between world is popular these days. And they might even being doing this at the CERN particle accelerator--physicists said that is one of their goals, to open a black hole portal to another universe. We might as well play it on a board game!

Here's what I have come up with in this regard:

• Maps are set up lengthwise across two long tables. (I actually have the tables to do this, which is what helped to formulate this idea.) The City and Highlands expansions are placed on one map (probably the main game board). The Dungeon and Woodlands expansions are placed on the other map (probably the Cataclysm). If I can get a picture of this I will get it posted.
• At the start of the game two endings are drawn. One of them is the Horrible Black Void. The other is one of the endings that is a creature that must be defeated. One ending is randomly placed on one board and the other ending is placed on the other board. No one is to know which ending is which.
• One Adventure Deck is used for both boards. Anything that would teleport you to one of the corner expansions works from either board. So if the Dungeon is attached to the Cataclysm board but you draw the Trap Door on the main board, you are still teleported to the Dungeon, even though it's on the other board.
• Permanent Rune Gates on the Runes spaces in the middle regions of both maps. Players who land on these must still draw a card, which they must encounter according to the usual sequence of encounters. If they encounter the Rune Gate then they can teleport to any other Rune Gate on their next turn, like normal, including any Rune Gate on the other map. Again, these Rune Gates are permanent, so they do not go to the discard pile after usage. Rune Gates that are drawn from the Adventure Decks are still discarded after use.
• Once a player crosses through the Portal of Power all Rune Gates are frozen and may not be used. If that player comes back out again then all Rune Gates become active again.
• If a player makes it to the Crown of Command and the Horrible Black Void is the alternate ending, that entire board and all characters on it are sucked into oblivion and lose the game.
• If a player makes it to the Crown of Command and it is the creature, all characters on the other board had better hope that he gets defeated. If the character is defeated then all Rune Gates become active again, and players may retreat from the board that has the Horrible Black Void.

Interesting ideas. I've also been pondering ways to use both boards, as I prefer to use all expansions at once. My thought is to tie it to the Harbringer, which makes thematic sense as well. Basically, after a set number of omens (which could be all seven as an alternative to everybody losing as in the Harbringer rules), the main board is replaced with the Cataclysm board. All cards on the board (including those in other regions) are discarded, and characters that were on the main board at the time are placed in the corresponding space on the Cataclysm board. Play then continues as normal.

Of course, this can make for some pretty long games, and you may never get to use the Cataclysm board. You could also have additional effects of switching boards, such as making characters discard all followers and all objects (perhaps all but 4 objects), and discontinuing the Harbringer mechanics (particularly if the triggering event was the final Omen). Interested in your thoughts!

Not the game we played yesterday, but the game before that (in January), we used that mechanic, metalzo. It was our first chance to use Cataclysm, as it was a Christmas present. But we were also playtesting Lost Realms. We had the Lightbringers ending, and decided that as both that ending and the Harbinger could force the end of the game, that if one of the two happened, we would replace the first board with Cataclysm and continue playing.

This gave us a lot more freedom to encounter/deal with the Harbinger. The Harbinger did eventually trigger the Cataclysm, and we won shortly thereafter. I'd say we all enjoyed ourselves immensely.

i place cata at the tavern/city - village/chapel side. the middle space on that side counts as one space for both boards, so you need a 6 tagain to move from the tavern to the city or chapel, and from the village to the chapel or or city. that mens longer ways and horses make sense. both crowns must be visited but just as keys to the dragon tower, where the crown is finally taken.

I start the game with the standard board. Every omen advancement brings a chance for the cataclysm to occur! Roll a D6 and add the number of the new omen to the roll. 6+ means the Cataclysm has triggered! Anything that regresses the Omen to a previous lower omen number does not trigger a role.

Odds are pretty good that the Cataclysm triggers at some point during a game, and adds some nice extra drama to the Harbinger and Omens