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Bugs: Recent Topics Paging, Uploading Images & Preview (11 Dec 2020)

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Runebounding, Part I: Base Fantasy

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20 Jul 2020 10:45 #312229 by Jackwraith
I own everything ever released for Runebound (As with everything...

Often derided for the "generic fantasy" of its setting, Runebound was the adventure game that may have opened the door to the modern era of legacies.

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20 Jul 2020 11:25 - 20 Jul 2020 12:09 #312232 by Rliyen
Challenges as put out if Talisman and Runebound were DMs.

Talisman (mean fucking drunk): Here. You enter the hills. You encounter a Dragon. You're starting level? Too bad, fuck you, lose a life.

Runebound (you heading to blue and red challenges as a starting character): Do you REALLY want to do that? Nothing but sorrow will come of it if you continue.

I like RB far more than Talisman because you're not on a Monopoly board. I agree with your points, and I would give my eyeteeth for the MIDNIGHT expansion, but the only thing against it is it does have a lot of downtime, especially with more than 3 players.

I remember Uba, many moons ago, stated she disliked Runebound because of the downtime and it felt like you were shopping, not adventuring. That comment stuck with me because it is true in a sense.
Last edit: 20 Jul 2020 12:09 by Rliyen.
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20 Jul 2020 12:06 #312233 by jpat
Runebound 2e was my first "modern" board game, back when I was still playing D&D 3.5. I traded it off a long time back, but this article tickled some nostalgia and regret.
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20 Jul 2020 12:42 #312234 by Jackwraith

Rliyen wrote: Runebound (you heading to blue and red challenges as a starting character): Do you REALLY want to do that? Nothing but sorrow will come of it if you continue.


Exactly right. There's nothing wrong with dice or randomness in a game. Both of them add tension and excitement (and, it has to be said, can add irritation and frustration, too.) But GW's form of randomness is something that has always bugged me. This is my argument against Dungeonquest: No one wants to flip a tile and simply be dead to a spear trap. It's not entertaining for the player, no matter how much it might be in schadenfreude to everyone else. I like that Runebound lets you strategize about where you're going ("I can do these two greens and then a yellow and then run into Forge to see if I can get that Dragontooth Hammer."), rather than simply: "I guess I'll go here and see what happens."

Rliyen wrote: and I would give my eyeteeth for the MIDNIGHT expansion, but the only thing against it is it does have a lot of downtime, especially with more than 3 players.


I guess I should issue a correction. I don't own the Midnight expansion, either. I was never really interested in that world and I read some really poor opinions of it, so I decided against spending the $ at the time. To be honest, I kind of forgot it existed before just reading your post.

If you mean downtime, in general, re: Runebound, I can understand that. I do kind of hedge with the fact that I tend to find "downtime" issues overblown. When I'm playing a game, I'm actively interested in what other people are doing, both because it's usually entertaining (i.e. That's why we're playing a game together...) and because what they do might impact what I plan to do next. If someone pulls the Dragon Mail in Tamalir and doesn't buy it, maybe I head back there to get it.

Rliyen wrote: I remember Uba, many moons ago, stated she disliked Runebound because of the downtime and it felt like you were shopping, not adventuring. That comment stuck with me because it is true in a sense.


The shopping thing, I get. Since you are accumulating coins rather than stumbling across stuff, I understand how it can feel like that; like you're saving up to buy that cool, new game(!) Again, I've just found that it flows better with how I like to strategize, since you can orient your excursions around a particular town and then venture off somewhere else once you have your new toy.
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20 Jul 2020 12:48 #312235 by Jackwraith

jpat wrote: Runebound 2e was my first "modern" board game, back when I was still playing D&D 3.5. I traded it off a long time back, but this article tickled some nostalgia and regret.


I honestly don't play it that much anymore, but it's one of those games on the shelf that always has the potential to be played. My old group were fans, so we played a lot and people would always want to try new combinations of things. If I have the good luck to find a group like that again, I know I'll be glad that I held on to it for this long. Plus, it doesn't take up a ton of space on the shelf. I have the base game, class decks, and all the small expansions in the original box, and the four large expansions in the Frozen Wastes box.

I went looking the other day and prices are crazy, yo. It's too bad that FFG decided to be the licensed game company and abandoned all the Terrinoth stuff.
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20 Jul 2020 15:07 #312245 by Gary Sax
And that Runebound 3rd never got any real steam, that version is supposed to be good.
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20 Jul 2020 15:32 #312248 by Jackwraith

Gary Sax wrote: And that Runebound 3rd never got any real steam, that version is supposed to be good.


Yeah. I traded my way into a copy of just the base game of 3rd, as I didn't pursue it when released, since I had so much for 2nd and still enjoyed playing it. The mechanics of 3rd are interesting and I'd definitely play it more if I could find a group that liked adventure games. But the prices/availability for 3rd's expansions, including one that supposedly really "completed" the game (Caught in a Web?) are as outrageous as the stuff for 2nd; probably because the print runs were so limited.
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20 Jul 2020 17:46 #312257 by dysjunct
For me, Runebound fell into the almost-fun category. I liked the corniness actually; the generic world didn't bother me. But games just took forever, and I never really felt any sense of attachment or payoff.
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20 Jul 2020 20:32 #312264 by the_jake_1973
I find that games tend to take forever since many people will only pursue the higher challenges when they are almost certain to win. The Doom track keeps that to a minimum since it pushes the end game.
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20 Jul 2020 20:47 #312266 by Jackwraith
That's common. I was always the risk taker. Get one or two greens under my belt, maybe have picked up a cheap item or ally from a town and then hit the first yellow. Do well and that's a level (given our usual number of players) right there and you're rolling.
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20 Jul 2020 21:10 #312267 by Andi Lennon
Having never taken the runic plunge, would you say the base game alone is still enough to engage should i stumble upon one on the aftermarket?
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20 Jul 2020 21:40 #312268 by Jackwraith
Sure. I wouldn't mortgage the house for it (in a manner of speaking) but it's still an interesting game.
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20 Jul 2020 22:33 #312270 by Ah_Pook
Runebound always felt like more complicated Talisman, but the extra complications were just kind of busy work. The location dice sound neat, but in the end theyre just "hope you roll the three symbols you need to get over there, or else you wasted a turn". The combat sounds neat but then it's still just rolling dice without any real decisions, and it takes way longer than just rolling a couple of d6 once. The shopping is fun and the tiered challenges are a good idea, but I dunno. I probably would have kept it around but even however long ago I had it the expansions were OOP and wildly expensive. It was fun enough to play as long as you pile on enough house rules to make it play in a reasonable time frame.
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20 Jul 2020 23:27 #312272 by marlowespade
Still have my copy, along with the big boxes and a few of the Quest expansions, Market deck, and a couple Challenge decks. Every now and then I'll toss it on the table and have a solo romp, which works just fine for me - I'm also in it for "let's see what story comes out of this" more than anything else.

One thing that 3E has that I dearly wish 2E had are the Quest challenges with the tiered levels of success, keyed to specific map hexes. I think that alone was a huge improvement in the storytelling aspect of these games.

I think Hexplore It! is probably the best modern-day version of Runebound, with its go-anywhere atmosphere, freeform development, and better questing with a bit of survival tacked on.
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21 Jul 2020 07:19 #312277 by jason10mm
I too have virtually everything RB2e (except Midnight and maybe one of the little card packs) all squished into 2 of the big boxes. How much is that stuff going for you say....??

I think it is the movement dice thing that really slows the game. I forget now if I got an extra set just so the next player can roll and begin to plot out their move while the other player is working a card. Swapping out the colored quest location chits with glass beads really adds readability and some bling to the board as well.
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