Hey all,

What do you think of this? In my last Runebound game a player drew the 'Skeleton of Margath' as her 3rd red encounter. After defeating Skeleton of Margath I believe she won the game because she then had 3 Dragon Runes. But... I'm currious, the card does say:

Reward: Take the High Lord Margath card from the red adventure deck. You must resolve that Challenge immediately, and may not escape. You receive a +4 bonus on your first roll of the combat.

So, has the game ended and she does not need to 'immediately' resolve High Lord Margath or does she have to fight him ever after aquiring 3 Dragon Runes?

I think she won and does not have to fight High Lord Margath but I'm currious what everyone else thinks.

TIA!

According to the rulebook, page 7, when you defeat a challenge and take the card as an item (as you do with the red dragon runes), said item cannot be sold, discarded or lost even if you are knocked out. Following that logic, the player who defeated skeleton of Margath will get that card as a dragon rune, and she cannot lose any of her dragon runes by being killed (technically known as "knocked out") because they are all challenge cards defeated and taken as items.

So it doesn't matter if she fights Margath and loses, fights and wins, or just stops the game without fighting, because she'll still have 3 runes no matter what. In short, I wouldn't bother playing out the fight unless she really wanted to, it won't affect the outcome of the game either way.

I say this without actually having my cards in front of me, of course. Do the other red cards all actually say "Reward: take this card as a rune?" If so, then it definitely does matter because the skeleton isn't actually a rune base don the text you quoted above. She would have to beat Margath (which would then win her the game no matter how many runes she held.)

Steve-O said:

The problem is right there. Skeleton of Margath doesn't become a Dragon Rune; it's a shortcut to reach Margath and try to win the game by defeating the High Lord. The funny thing is you have to fight Margath immediately; no Refresh phase is allowed, like in the Endgame.

It happened me a couple of times to draw the Skeleton when I was attempting my third Red Challenge. Kind of annoying, especially if you're not strong enough to withstand two consecutive Red Challenges. Once I managed to kill Margath because I had the Touch of Death and saved it for the High Lord; the other time I was crushed by the final boss.

Hey! 'The_Warlock' I think you nailed it. I didn't even notice that the Skeleton of Margath doesn't become a Dragon Rune as a reward... and that's even after I typed out the card! I just over looked it.
Ok, so the odds are slim but it's kind of cool. A little added risk to slap a 'would be' winner in the face

Thanks Steve-O. Thanks The_Warlock!

The_Warlock said: