Hi guys, just got my salary! Was thinking of getting either Runebound or Talisman...

From the forum favorites, I could tell that Talisman is the preferred game, but being a Descent sucker, I tend to get attracted to the Terrinoth world (runebound)

I can only get ONE. Can anyone advice me on which boardgame to get? I am not sure of the differences between the two games. So far I already have Descent and all its vanilla expansions, so it could also backfire and make it boring for me if I get runebound since many heroes are the same...

I have Talisman but not Runebound, mainly because Runebound got so many of those small card expansion packs. But after playing Talisman a few times, I'm starting to wish I got Runebound instead. Talisman is the same roll-and-move-by-number game in 2 directions, where Runebound you roll but get to choose any direction. Plus Runebound I think got more thinking in it compared to Talisman.

Still, the miniatures used in Talisman can easily be used for Descent for homebrew characters, where Runebound can't since it's the same heroes as Descent.

I haven't played Talisman, so can't really give a useful answer. But I can say that the heroes in Runebound, while they use the same names and miniatures, are not the same as their Descent incarnations so there's little risk of boredom being caused by that. For example, Ronan of the Wild in Descent has Pico to give bonus dice, but in Runebound he spends fatigue to help him move. Silhouette in Descent spends fatigue to change her order and is solely ranged, in Runebound she spends it to attack a second time and is good at ranged and melee combat.

Wow... based on your 2 comments, I guess Runebound is the way to go...

Check your DotA character thread while you're here

Lol? Okay will do that now...

I do have both games (Runebound only for a week though) and would agree to the other opinions mentioned above. Talisman is a bit too long I think, the movement dice in Runebound defintely add to the adventure style, and if you like the Terrinoth world, the card texts will give you much to read as they contain nice flavor texts. Of course I might prefer it because it's still very new to me but I'm sure it will not lose its charme after a while (although I had some doubts before as you can read in a thread over at the Runebound- or Runewars-Forum, I don't even remember).

One would find it strange since the top favorite games clearly shows Talisman within top 5, and Runebound way below it.

It's true that Runebound offers more freedom of movement and more options to "do what you want" with your character. Of course, that also means each player's turn ends up taking longer as he ponders his options. Many die-hard RB players prefer to play with less than 4 (even though the game officially supports 6) since downtime for everyone who isn't taking their turn becomes an issue. Talisman doesn't suffer this drawback since you only have two choices (generally) for where to go, and whatever you find when you get there is usually resolved pretty quick.

Runebound also has a ton of expansions (including card expansions) which is great for variety, but maybe not so great on wallets. Just saying, it's something to consider. Of course, Talisman is also cranking out the expansions, so that may not really be a deciding factor.

There are no new heroes if you have everything from Descent, at least not until Zanaga is released. Descent, in fact, has more heroes than RB since 6 of the Descent heroes were borrowed from Drakon and haven't ever (to my knowledge) been ported to RB.

I think both games a great in their own right. It's not about which is better, but really about what you want. Runebound has more of a coherent "role-playing" vibe IMHO, whereas Talisman is generally more hack and slash, PvP adventure. Both games are entertaining for what they provide. Perhaps instead of asking yourself which one to get, you should ask yourself which one to get first =D

Zanaga is already released, at least I can order it (definitely not pre-order) from my favorite store.

And you have 8 additional heros in the (admittedly hard to get) Midnight expansion for Runebound, which are not available from Descent.

Parathion said:

Thanks for the advice Parathion and Steve-O.

I am indeed getting the original set + mists of zanaga. Sadly though, Midnight has been officially axed... Goodbye to my 8 characters.

I would almost recommend Runewars over both of those, especially if you already play Descent. Descent is a good character building type game, which is what Runebound and Talisman are as well, so all three of those game will have *similar* experiences or at least scratch a similar itch, where-as Runewars will give you adventuring feel but completely different game (it's a wargame first, hero-building game second).

Course, I'm waiting for DungeonQuest to get those extra Descent heroes

-shnar