Ok - so I played runebound last Friday and I enjoyed it VERY much! And I am going to order it up here - BUT - I want to get an expansion as well...

I am looking at a full box expansion. I will pick up the smaller card packs now and again to enhance the game further - BUT - which expansion should I get first?

I am looking for something that will be both enjoyable with my board game group - as well as one that might have some fun solo play. Thoughts on the one that is must have?

I'd say you'll be very happy if you chose from either Sands of Al-Kalim, Frozen Waste, or Mist of Zanaga. Most reactions I have encountered seems to indicate that Sands is player's favorites. I'm not AS crazy with Island of Dread. I tend to like Frozen Wastes best because of the two distinct ways to win and the setting is interesting to me. I have yet to play Mists enough to rank it among the 4 Terrinoth expansions but its as much fun Sands and Waste in my experience. Enjoy!

Yeah - I did some reading over at BGG - and I think the Sands will be the first.

Unfortunately, I am a collector of this type of stuff - so I will eventually end up with them all i fear.

But - I am excited to actually own it.

How about the card packs? If I am looking for alternate endings - would the adventure packs be the best way to go at the start?

Yeah I hear you about eventually just getting everything anyways! My 2 favorite small deck Adventure Variants are Cult of the Rune and The Cataclysm. I believe I have a more thorough write-up of the Variants in a nearby thread.

miles601 said:

Cult of the Rune and Cataclysm are my favorite as well. I highly recommend either one of those (I like all the alternate ending packs but these two are just fantastic).

SoylentGreen said:

You might want to consider getting the card expansions you want first. It doesn't look like FFG has plans to reprint any of them (nor have they made any new ones in the last couple of years.) A few of them are already getting hard-to-find. They're cheap enough that grabbing three or four is still half the price of a big box expansion.

I'd recommend the adventure variants to maximize replayability, but that's just my choice. I have a couple challenge decks and at least one market deck to beef out the basic compliment of those, too.

As far as big boxes go, Sands is definitely the crowd favourite. I don't own Mists yet, but it looks pretty cool, too. Island of Dread has a nice map and a couple of interesting Events (landmasses forming and disappearing, what?!) but is otherwise somewhat lackluster. Frozen Wastes has some cool special rules, but I'm not too hot about the fluff (puns not intended =P.)

Well - I am working on a trade to get the base and an expansion of choice... long story that will hopefully work out.

I will get the adventure packs and other card packs now and again - I have plans to visit FFG again in the near future and will just pick up ones there I wanna nab. And there is a local con coming up I am sure a few will make it in my set then too.

Side question, if I may while people are talking... am I mistaken or does F.W. have a little bit of Science Fantasy (the looser side of S.F.) element behind it?

That depends. Do you play WoW? If so do you consider Draenei sci fi?

Curator said:

Yes and yes. In WoW the Draenei don't bother me TOO much, since Blizzard has been describing the twisting nether as something akin to outer space since the original Warcraft. Although I'm none too fond of all the super tech showing up in Northrend, but that's a rant for another forum.

I definitely agree that the plot in Frozen Wastes is sci-fi-esque. Aliens (named "Jef'a" no less, gee I wonder where that came from?) landed on Terrinoth millennia ago and brought a bunch of robots with them. Nobody appears to have noticed the supertech lying around up north in the millennia since because that would totally ruin the medieval high fantasy theme going on in the rest of the world.

Okay, that's what I thought, though I don't know WoW at all. Overall it appears to have been done with a light enough brush not to interfere with the Runebound's high fantasy motif. It is still very much Science Fantasy, as there's no real science foundation being injected. As long as it doesn't go too far, it still looks like an enjoyable addition that I'll have to get my hands on one of these days.

"Jef'a"... hee hee... yah, not very original but worth a giggle.

Another question, as I haven't read too deeply into F.W.'s online manual. How does the "search" mechanic in F.W. work... mechanically... and is it an enjoyable, annoying, or "just there" alternative for play?

There's just about 0% "science" involved in the Frozen Waste setting. The "advanced technology" could be explained just as easily through magic. The technology and characters you encounter are so specific to this adventure you don't really run the risk of it "infecting" the rest of the Terrinoth setting. The milieu really remains high fantasy with this specific adventure having the flavor of a a sword and ray-gun story.

JC: Do you mean the ability to try and locate Legendary Items and/or the Princess during FW?

You get the cards or tokens as part of a reward for defeating a challenge. They have terrain icons. You need to collect enough so you can "surround youself" with tokens or cards that match the hexes surrounding the location on which you stand. Basically, its collecting "clues" that lead you to a specific spot on the map where you uncover the buried treasure. Its pretty random and luck based. You never know what tokens or cards your oppenents have so you might be thinking you have the lead on your oppenents in terms of experience and gear and then they can suddenly uncover a legendary item or the Princess.

Rescuing the princess is a neat feature that provides an alternative just battling the last boss). I'd say its more luck than anything that you end up with the right cards in order to locate her. Sometimes the biggest pain is figuring out exactly which spots on the board you can spend the cards. The nice thing is that you keep your Princess Rumor cards even if knocked out. Therefore a player that suffers a set-back has a chance to win the day by lucking into the correct cards.

Legendary Item rumor tokens also let a player that has fallen behind because of knock-outs or not getting the most helpful market draws "catch up" by spending them to find a powerful item. It also is a great way to put yourself over the top before taking on the final boss.

miles601 said:

That's pretty much what I thought. The background was painted with a very light brush, and I didn't find it too intrusive when skimming it.

miles601 said:

The Princess mostly, and you covered it quite well. It's a very interesting mechanic, though I sort of expected a bit more in options for actually looking for a clue rather than being given one as a reward for victories... maybe an option to actually search somehow. Still, I like the sound of this variation very much for what it adds to how a win is accomplished. Leans a little more towards a scenario (which I like) vs just an alternative ending.

Legendary item rumors is also a plus, but by itself wouldn't interest me a lot. Still, I think the majority of players probably love that part, and it has the advantages you mention.

Thanks for the breakdown, Miles! Very helpful, you are, as usual.

The last thing I should have added to my post: Once a player "finds" the princess he gains her token. He then needs to bring her to a certain location on the map, a "town" type space, to win. If you get knocked out you "drop" the Princess and she's lost again. So its makes for PvP as a real possibility as other people try to knock you out while you are carrying her home. Normally, PvP isn't a big part of my group's Runebound experience, but carrying the Princess definitely makes you a PvP target.

Aha! That is another critical detail... but I would think there should be an option to steal her... instead of or in addition to thumping another character. Oh well, can't have everything.