UPDATE:

I heard back from Judd on the CoA cards for Sands of Al-Kalim. One result on one card (Trader's Fort) needed to be tweaked. The archive has been updated and remains in the same location. I'm awaiting any further comments from Judd, but I think this set of cards is close to done. I'll give notice here when I finally load it to BGG.com, though it might take a week for it to appear the Runebound: Sands of Al-Kalim file section.

FINAL RELEASE:
CoA Referenc Cards: Sands of Al-Kalim

Judd has given final approval, and I have just uploaded the package to BGG. Hopefully it should appear in the files section of the Sands of Al-Kalim page within the week. In the meantime, the finalized package is available at FantasticDiversions.blogspot.com .

Enjoy this little addition from Judd and me.

UPDATE ON COA REFERENCE CARDS

I've seen a little flurry of contact since the release of the SoAK Reference Cards. My original query a while back about which of Judd's CoA rules to do next resulted in Isle of Dread being favored among those who responded. But post-survery, there's now a few Mist of Zanaga players coming out... guess they were lost in the jungle when I posted the first query.

It takes time to come up with and develop a good card design, as I'm not a professional at this and I have a fulltime creative pursuit as an author. The SoAK design took about thirty hours of experimentation before it was completed. Then came carefully compressing Judd's rules into limited space, which took about a week. Following that was giving Judd time to review, critique, and in one case correct. So this process is a slow one. With that in mind...

I will still honor the original survey the put IoD as the next set of cards. I will do my best to work on something for MoZ as well... so long as it doesn't impact my own small expansion projects. Expect IoD in about a month, and with luck, Mists right behind it in shorter time. I'll post updates here as often as something solid takes form.

And if you notice anything amiss in the cards (typos, etc.), please take the time to go to Fantastic Diversions and use the Contact form to let me know. You can also post a reply herein, as I stop by every other day or so.

CORRECTION:

Don't know what I was thinking, but the actual next set of cards will be for Frozen Wastes, not Isle of Dread. After that, or with it, will come Mists if Judd is satisfied with his encounters by then.

CoA Reference Cards: The Frozen Wastes

Just a quick update. I've been working 7 days a week for the last month, but still squeezed in some development time. I am now prepping the preliminary versions of these cards. Once finished, I will notify Judd for review and likely link them in here as well for others to preview until Judd presents final notes and approval of revisions. Stay tuned. I hope to move along cards for Mists of Zanaga at better pace, but no promises, as the holidays are approaching and will each of personal time as well.

CoA Ref. Cards: THE FROZEN WASTES Preview

Things moved along more quickly than expected in finishing the preliminary cards. I had to change layout approach a little this time to get all necessary encounter instructions on the cards, but hopefully they're still comfortable to use. Judd has not reviewed them yet, but I figure others might like a peek.

All are welcome to look at the gallery I set up for Judd; just click the image to the left. I will NOT be posting so many large images to a forum (nor fighting with forum limitations to do so). Please feel to comment herein if something amiss or interesting catches your eye.

Best, JC

CoA Reference Cards: The Frozen Wastes

And the cards are finished!

After emailing with Judd, and finding the holiday season already overloading his schedule, he told me to make my own call on what to do with the cards. And so, I ran through them one more time. The package is now available on the F.D. Downloads page (if you wish to preview details and manual before downloading). You may also download the package directly HERE . I will also upload it to the Frozen Wastes file section at BoardGameGeek.com later today, though it may not show up in the files list for up to a week. Feedback is welcome, and you can submit such in this topic, through the forum's PM system, or via the Contact page at FantasticDiversions.blogspot.com.

Once again, both Judd and me hope current players of Judd's Cities of Adventure system for Runebound find these new cards worthwhile. And if you're unfamiliar with Cities of Adventure , time to get familiar. Happy gaming.

The next CoA Reference Cards will be for Mists of Zanaga . Considering the holiday season is upon us, likely they won't be done until early January, 2011. After that comes Island of Dread and last will be Midnight . I may do up a card for such things as Judd's Screaming Jungle as well along the way.

Very neat!

I look forward to trying these out.

Thank you. The credit for the CoA expansion goes to Judd "Warbringer25" Jensen. I just did the card design.

Just a quick update for the few who may be interested, as it has been a while. Barb and I have almost completed our current manuscript, so my schedule should free up by early this coming week. I will turn back to getting the CoA cards for Mists of Zanaga processed as soon as possible.

CoA Reference Cards: Mists of Zanaga

The previews are up, and you can view them for yourself in the gallery I set up for Judd. I've contacted him to do a review and give me any notes for corrections in a final versions. Once that is settled, they will be available for download.

Those who want a little more detail can stop by FantasticDiversions.blogspot.com . Comments and suggestions are welcome herein.

CoA Reference Cards: Mists of ZanagaFINISHED

The preview gallery has been taken down, as the ref card packages for CoA Mists of Zanaga and Judd's The Screaming Jungle variant are now available. I haven't time in the moment to set up a bunch of links. Please forgive me for redirecting you, but you can find them at FantasticDiversions.blogspot.com . for now. Tomorrow I will upload both packages to BGG, and they should appear in the MoZ page file section within a week.

And thanks again to Judd for bringing us these wonderful additions in his Cities of Adventure series.

BRIEF UPDATE

I've received a number of emails over the last few weeks asking about the status of CoA Reference Cards for Island of Dread. The cards are in process and something of a template has been created. Due to the length and some complexity in the Judd's story die elements for that expansion, I'm consulting with him on ways to compress enough to get those instructions onto the cards. It's going to take a bit more time, so please be patient if you are among those who've contacted me or are just curious yourself.

CoA Reference Cards for Island of Dread and the Crimson Tides variant

I've sent Judd the links for his review but don't expect these to be finalized immediately. I have a busy schedule (as I have for the last month) and Judd may as well. These should be finished within two weeks at a guess. In the meantime, here are gallery links for preview and any comments.

CoA Ref Cards for Island of Dread

Support Ref Cards for Crimson Tides

Judd as now had a chance to look over the cards. All that's left is for me to find some time to do my last run through. Expect the cards to become available within a week, tops.

CoA Reference Cards: Island of Dread - COMPLETE

Not to much to report except these new cards are ready; you can download them HERE or visit my blog (see my sig). A smaller package of reference cards for Judd's Savage Tides variant is also available HERE , though I haven't gotten this on my own F.D. Downloads page as yet.

I will upload both packages later today to the IoD page on BGG.com if your prefer to wait; they should be approved there sometime in the next week.

There is still the CoA for Midnight to do, but I'll let that one sit for now. Spare time is rare, and I've other little game projects already waiting half finished.

UPDATE: CoA Reference Cards: The Screaming Jungle

Judd Jensen contacted me concerning an error in the reference cards for his Screaming Jungle variant used with Runebound: Mists of Zanaga. It seems the event card front for SC was actually a card from his Cities of Adventure for the base Mists of Zanaga expansion. A corrected package has been created and uploaded to the Runebound: Mists of Zanaga page at BoardGameGeek.com. It should be authorized and appear there within the week. In the meantime, those of you who grabbed it at my blog can download it right now via the F.D Downloads page to get the corrected card graphic. Sorry about this one folks.

CoA Ref Cards for Island of Dread are now up on BGG.com

Great job JC! Of all the work I've done on Runebound stuff, I'm probably most proud of how the CoA came out for Isle of Dread. In my (not always so humble) opinion the CoA rules do a good job of working together some of the more disparate story and rule elements of the expansion and make it feel more like a collective whole. I won't say it make Dread the best expansion, but I think it goes a ways to making it a shorter, more enjoyable game experience. Your artwork on the cards is equally awesome, and my favorite to date.

Thanks again,

Judd

Thank you Judd, both for your compliments and all the work you've done on CoA. It's lean, clean, and unobtrusive, and adds a little light spice to the feast in way that can appeal to a wide variety of Runebound players. I've heard from those who like the most epic games possible to those who want a fast race, and positive responses have come from both. The only thing the cards really do is speed up referencing what you've already created for them.

simple stuff like this makes the game more fun.

Now I got to find a varient that makes this game less monotone

Well, thanks from me... though Judd did the real work in building the encounter system. Have you tried any of the small box variants yet? They only change the endgame via cards, but still, some do thereby alter the way you play or at least how you approach achieving a win. There is a limit on how much a board game can do, but I've rarely seen a High Fantasy bg that can lean a little tiny bit towards something new.

As to big boxes, the favorite around my place if Sands of Al-Kalim. The "quests" could use a bit more, but for a simple motif they offer a nice change of pace over the "find the big baddy and kill it" approach.

Cities of Adventure: Reference Cards are now available in commercially printed form via P.O.D. service. This is a not-for-profit product; you pay only what the service charges to assemble the cards, deck, and tuckbox (plus S&H, of course).

Drop by FantasticDiversions.com to learn more, as I won't retype everything here. You can also learn about other fan creations in the pipeline.

A recent error with one card in this deck was discovered. If you ordered up the not-for-profit Cities of Adventure: Reference Cards before about March 20, 2013, please visit FantasticDiversions.com and use the "Contact" link to let J.C. know.

To check your deck for this error , look for the "Orris" and "Shellport" cards in the Island of Dread group. Report what you find and that will tell me whether or not you need this fix. For those who do, I will mail it to you for free.

DO NOT REPLY HEREIN. Use the contact method specified. I am rarely back this way unless I have news to share on fan add-ons for RB2E.

Now also available through ArtsCow.com. See the latest two posts at FantasticDiversions.com for additional extras such as places to hunt down coupons to cut the cost even more. No, I will not try to repost all the info here… again.