I'm interested in this game and I just had a couple questions.

This game has a ton of little deck expansions and I was wondering if cards from certain expansions ever replaced cards from other expansion or can you combine them all without problems?

Some of the little deck expansions aren't in stock does anyone know if ffg is planning on reprinting them?

I'm either going to get this game or talisman so what makes runebound fun? is it the adventures? is it leveling up your character? is there cool player interaction? Is it something else entirely?

I've skimmed through the rulebook but its hard to get a good feel for the game without seeing the components so any help would be greatly appreciated.

oh also I forgot to ask does this game have a large amount of replayability? I want a game that I can pull off the shelf week after week and it remains fun

This game is pretty much about leveling up your character and questing. There is very little interaction between players. And while one player makes his move (which can take some time) the others have nothing to do, which could be a bit boring for them if they only care for their own move and not too much for what the other players do. The doom track variant (it is in the rulebook) will help to speed it up. I would not recommend it for more than 4 players, but definitely as a solo game or as a cooperative game. I only bought it a couple of weeks ago, so I cannot say anything about long time replayability but so far I would love to play it almost daily (which my job prevents ). The Al-Kalim expansion is already on my table and I will try it today. Compared to Talisman, hm..... I prefer Runebound because it is not that long and I like the world of Terrinoth. But that is something that has been argued about in these forums over and over...

This game's core is levelling up the Character; you achieve this by challenging increasingly difficult opponents and gaining Gold, which allows you to but powerful Items and hire useful Allies.

This happens in a pretty nice themed contour, with flavour text and encounters that make you feel like a questing Hero. Some people don't like Terrinoth setting but I think it's an ok fantasy world, so if you're not too selective it will perfectly suit your taste for adventure games.

Poeppel has already explained the game's main shortcomings: long Turns mean long downtimes and the players take some time to understand that they must use other player turns to carefully plan their next move. However, with 5-6 players the downtime proves to be excessive anyway and I also recommend that you don't play with more than 4 (solo,2,3 is the best).

If you look for player interaction, Runebound isn't the game for you. The interaction here is often indirect (a player buys an Item or takes a Challenge that the next player wanted for himself); when it's direct, which is Player vs. Player combat, it is often very harsh. There's not much purpose in challenging other players, because you may only take 1 Item from them; there are some cases when a PvP can slow down a possible winner, but still it feels mean and out of place. Why shall the Heroes confront themselves, while the Dragonlords are about to give the final strike on their land?

Replayability of the base set is not exceedingly high, even though the combinations between different Heroes, Events, Challenges and cards from the market deck make every game different. It's not VERY different, since game mechanics are very straightforward and after a few games you will have learned every single card that you can draw from the decks. The nice thing is that you don't require too much to give new interest to the game: card expansions are the best way, since they really change things (both Challenge card add-ons and Adventure variants) and give new options. Big box expansions have always a new setting and rules that change the mechanics a lot.

You mentioned Talisman. It's a very different game, since it's less strategic and focused on player competition. It's very random and very fast in terms of turn sequence, with some deliberate choices that you will understand only after lots of games. This is a game that will be fun every time you pull it off the shelf, no doubt about it, but if you're up for some more strategy and control you'd better go for Runebound.

Playing time is about 35 mins per player with Talisman (though your first 4-5 games will last about 60 per player, especially if you play with 5-6 people); Runebound requires at least 45 mins per player, with the base set. Big box expansions usually make it even longer.

For Runebound most of the deck expansions are to be compiled into your game except for the adventure variants which give a new story, some new rules, and grant new challenges that will enchance the storyline for that particular adventure variant expansion. These new challenge cards for adventure variants are not to be compiled in to the original game and have different backs. As for the class decks they complicate the game and force player interaction and make it harder so i personally don't play with them. If you want to know what expansions to buy for runebound check out mr skelators shopping guide to runebound.

As for Talisman it is a good game, but if you get bothered by luck oftenly in your other games you definetly are not going to like Talisman. Otherwise if you can cope with luck its pretty good. But I do think runebound has more strategy.

Also note in runebound when playing with expansions you take your compiled decks. Then decide between the original game, an adventu re variant or a board expansion which unlike in talisman you can just compile all your expansions into one (though not always advised) into one big epic game.

TheKingOfBlades said:

The item decks are the ones that combine best, IMHO. Since the item deck is always used even with the board expansions, those will get the most general use.

Challenge deck expansions always add tot he base game challenge decks. Board expansions all use their own different challenge decks, so the card expansions can't be added if you're playing a board expansion. But you can leave them mixed in with the base game challenge decks forever, so it's not a hassle, it's just a question of you'll only get use out of them while playing the base game board.

Adventure variants are my favourite type of card expansions. They don't really mix in with anything, but they change the end goals and gameplay significantly, so they really add to replayability without changing EVERYTHING like the board expansions.

Character decks are my least favourite. I don't own any, so all I know about them is from word of mouth, but they add a new degree of player interaction which I personally don't like. There's little if any direct player interaction in the game itself, so if you want that sort of thing then maybe character expansions are for you, but I think the game is just fine without it.

TheKingOfBlades said:

The thing I like best about Runebound is the way the story unfolds as you play. The base game story is always the same, of course - evil dragon lord Margath needs to be stopped before he destroys the world (rawr!) - but it's fun to watch the heroes scurry about and quest and such. And since there's little player on player interaction unless you go looking for one another, I can safely be happy for my friend when he gets the awesome magic sword without needing to worry about him using it to run me through and steal my golds.

Adventure variants will create a new story on the same map from the base game. Board expansions will add a whole new map and a new story to go along with it (as well as new challenges and a whack of new rules.) This keeps things fresh and exciting imho. The base game is quite replayable all by itself, but these expansions make it even more so by adding whole new adventures.

Leveling up your character is certainly something that happens, although I'm not sure I'd say it's a draw for the game. As others have mentioned, there's not much in the way of player interaction at all (unless you go out of your way to find someone.) Losing a fight can seriously set back a player in RB. The risk of this happening from a challenge card is bad enough at low levels without the added concern of other players actively seeking you out and fighting you until you die.

If you really enjoy player interaction and want a game where you and your friends can bounce off each other with little in the way of lasting consequences, I'd say go for Talisman. If you want a sweeping adventure where everyone can go their own way then go for Runebound.