I have RuneBound, and was looking into maybe getting an expansion or two for it since I finally found a few friends that seem to like it. Then I noticed that there is something called "2nd edition" and most of the expansions are related to that version?

How do I know if I have 2nd edition? From what I've read, I don't think I do. My starting city is in the lower right, I have a 20 sided die, and the player tokens are cardboard.

From that, I think I have 1st edition. Is there an "Update" that brings my 1st edition up to 2nd edition? I bought my copy about 4 years ago now and this is only the 2nd time I've played it.

People liked it, but said there were some "balance issues" and that it played a bit "slowly". Do other people see it the same way? Is there any errata for the game to make it play faster/more balanced?

Thanks for any input!

By the way, we were playing the advanced rule set, since I found that I had printed that out and stuck it in the box at some point. So, not sure if that "slowed" the game down or not.

You're playing first edition. I havent ever played that version so i can't help you much. But from the top of my head some small differences:

1st edition: you roll d20

2nd edition: you roll 2d10

1st edition: all heroes start somewhere else

2nd editition: all heroes start in Tamalir

1st edition: heal all for 1 gold in city

2nd edition: heal 1 wound for 1 gold (2 wounds for 2 and so on )

theres probably more. Someone will come and answer you question much better then i did me thinks

taka care!

Addendum to abovementioned differences between 1st ed. and 2nd ed.: Challenges if I recall correctly are a lot harder for 2nd ed. Item pricing is a little different too.

There used to be an offer to upgrade to 2nd ed. by FFG a few years back: you send in the Varikas hero card and pay a small nominal fee. That offer is obviously no longer valid.

If you want 2nd ed. You have to buy it anew.

Not a bad (re)investment if you like Runebound.

I've never played 1st edition, but from what I understand, 2nd edition fixes some balance issues and fixes some of the problems in the rules. I think 2nd edition is supposed to be played smoother and faster than 1st.

The main reason for the quick jump from 1st to 2nd ed was the clamor from players saying 1st ed was "too easy." This irritated me highly because RB was designed originally to be part RPG part boardgame, and the adventuring through the land was supposed to be as much a part of the game as "beating it."

So 2nd ed toughened up the challenges considerably, and made it harder to heal. There weren't any real balance issues in 1st ed, except for some of the prices of items in the market deck. A few cards were nerfed. Additionally, Talamir was moved to the center of the board from the upper right corner, and some adventure spaces, mainly red ones, were moved. Added to the board were "refresh" spaces that kick in whenever an event card is drawn.

There was quite a bit of discussion on this back when 2nd ed came out; I was in a minority of players who didn't have a problem with 1st ed. Fortunately as noted, FFG made a nice upgrade offer for 1st ed owners to be able to obtain 2nd ed for a very reasonable price.

Ah but, you were at least glad that the Mild One had a not-so-insignificant upgrade to his stats in 2nd ed. did you not?!

Ruvion said:

The fee was affordable for those in North America, but not feasible for the rest of the world. The shipping costs+game was about the same as what the game cost in stores.

Torbal said:

I have only played once, but I had a sour experience playing last in a 4 or 5-player game. When I got my go, everything interesting was allready taken. There is a good point in having a central position for the starting point.

2nd edition did a good job of fixing any perceived balance issues. It is tougher, the rewards aren't as great (in gold anyway), and healing cost more (although you can house rule). There were a number of differences. The BEST reason to get the 2nd edition, though, is that first edition is not compatible with any of the expansion! So if you want to explore the expansions you'd better get it!

Here's a synopsis of what was new in second edition relative to first edition:

General:

1) Now roll 2d10 instead of 1d20 for all tests, combat

2) Borrows advanced rules for Event Placement (replace at equal or higher level)

3) Events now "refresh" used adventure tokens on the map (up to the max available in the pool)

Experience:
1) Reduced the number of adventure points to level (1-2 players need 5, 3-4 players need 4).(Notice, they now explicitly include single player option)
2) XP bonuses are in +2 increments
3) Can now add +1 life (but prevents you from attempting certain classes of adventures for each +1)
4) Can now add +2 to stamina

Movement:
1) Now default roll is 5 dice, but only 4 if you have any wounds or exhaustion

Market:
1) Healing similar to advanced rules; 1 gold per heart, 1 gold for all exhaustion
2) Items have symbols indicating when they can be used

Combat:
1) May only activate ONE item in Before combat

2) May only active one item per combat round

Knockouts:
1) you have to discard all of your gold now
2) you have to discard your highest value ally or item.
3) you don't discard adventure tokens

Player interaction:
1) You can now "negotiate" with other players in same space.

I played my buddy's copy of First Ed. once and was sort of underwhelmed. After reading so many positives about 2nd Ed., I picked it up and, for whatever reason(s), I found it to be a fun experience! (As I recall, we had 5 players in that first game. Too many for Runebound, in my opinion.)

All those shiny new expansions only work with 2nd Ed. Another stinker for 1st Ed. owners. I would say that 2nd Ed. IS worth the investment. The on-line retailers average app. $35 for 2nd Ed., so that's not unreasonable. You might even be able to find one for less on eBay...

Have fun!