Runebounding, Part I: Base Fantasy

I know this goes away from the original post, but the Exalted: Legacy of the Unconquered Sun occupies the same tier of adventure games for me, but with a decidedly more interesting movement and questing mechanic. My group likes both, so I don't foresee ditching either.


I am going through my stl files to find better Runebound figure replacements.

jason10mm wrote: 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.

I've only played twice, but I agree that the movement dice seemed to slow the game down, though not as much as the combat system.

jason10mm wrote: 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....??

It actually varies more than I first thought. You can get the base game for less than $30, but some of the card expansions are going for $50 and Midnight for $300, which is the real rare egg, I guess.

jason10mm wrote: 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.

I got an extra set just so we wouldn't have to pass the 5 dice around the table and, like you say, other people could start rolling even while the current player was working on a quest or something like that. I've seen pics of the versions with glass beads for the tokens and that's certainly an upgrade.

Jackwraith wrote: I got an extra set just so we wouldn't have to pass the 5 dice around the table and, like you say, other people could start rolling even while the current player was working on a quest or something like that. I've seen pics of the versions with glass beads for the tokens and that's certainly an upgrade.

I had glass beads for my version. It was a nice usability improvement, and it looked pretty sharp.

I played this game a lot with my oldest son when he was younger, but I've long since sold it off. I liked the game, but I never loved it. I feel like the best games are the ones where the game mechanics sort of disappear into the background. That never happened with RB. The damned movement dice always had to be pored over like you trying to decipher some ancient text. And combat was just so much math. Granted, it's not hard math, but it's a lot of math. By the time you've leveled up a few times and got a bunch of +1 modifiers, and maybe a decent weapon, you're just constantly adding and re-adding, over and over again.

RB would have made a fantastic iPad app. If you could hide all the clunky shit with movement dice and combat rolls behind a slick UI, that would have made a really fun game.

I have to say, I also still remember Ubarose's comment that the game is fundamentally about shopping. That was a brutally insightful comment that stuck with me for years.

I like the idea of the 2nd set of dice.

I guess I'll kitbash a set for the next time we play. And we're definitely going to play the AH'esque Mists of Zanaga.

As for Midnight, I actually love the RPG, so that's why I want to get it. However, I'm not going to pay a kabajillion dollars for it.

Since 95% of RB is cards I'm kinda surprised the packs go for so much versus some print your own version.

Guess the art and those little lines of lore go a long way...

I always thought RB could've reskinned a couple of ways to great effect (Heck, it screams for a Destiny skin). And some larger player aids could definitely track stuff better.

I feel like Mage Knight killed vanilla RB for me, but all the expansions promise more story.

I can't believe we're two pages into a discussion of Runebound, and no one has made a Red Scorpion joke. Come on, people. Don't let me down.

Joebot wrote: I can't believe we're two pages into a discussion of Runebound, and no one has made a Red Scorpion joke. Come on, people. Don't let me down.

Believe me, I thought about it when I was writing, especially when citing the gender ratio of heroes to select. But I figured I'd stick with the positive, rather than the artistic foibles.

I love Runebound. I really wanted to try either Sands or Frozen Wastes for 2nd edition, but couldn't find them. I especially loved the idea of a space ship in FW.

But when 3rd edition came out I switched. The game was faster and I had more control both while building my character and during combat. I think 2nd edition did some pretty cool things when it came to storytelling (like how, if you defeated Mistress of the Ferrox, you could then use that card to defeat a Ferrox encounter), but 3rd edition is just better at it. Unfortunately i didn't buy the solo/coop expansion when it was available in stores which was a huge mistake.

I'm in the middle of writing part III of this series right now and about to start Frozen Wastes. The spaceship in the middle of the fantasy world is a story approach that's been used before, but I don't recall a board game that used it as a central element. But it used to show up in video games all the time. I remember both original Final Fantasy (Nintendo gray box) and Might and Magic III (Sega Genesis) both used it. But, yes, both of those expansions are really great additions to the game; for storytelling, world atmosphere, and immersion.

No argument about the mechanical change in 3rd. It does some smart stuff, having had more than a decade of design development to build upon. I'm also kind of regretting not snagging the expansions for that when I could have.

Jackwraith wrote: The spaceship in the middle of the fantasy world is a story approach that's been used before, but I don't recall a board game that used it as a central element.

As far as nerd games go, the first that I know of was the classic D&D module Expedition to the Barrier Peaks .

Joebot wrote: ...
RB would have made a fantastic iPad app. If you could hide all the clunky shit with movement dice and combat rolls behind a slick UI, that would have made a really fun game..

C'mon - combat rolls are great fun

Surprisingly, Red Scorpion is the only cartoonish woman PC amongst the characters which makes the design even more out of place.

This has given me a better direction for my current project to improve the RB figures. Since I am looking, I can easily bring in a genderbent version of each character. Easy enough to make alternate cards as well.

Why would you create male/female versions of each character? Seems to me that would just further anonymize each character as just some stats and strip away what little 'character' they do have.

I don't need a male Red Scorpion, just a female one that doesn't have such a passion for...ahem, exotic dance fighting or whatever she is doing.

Maybe I misread your intention.

Why not have a gender option for the character? Either male or female doesn't detract from the essence of a character. A nimble assassin named Red Scorpion could easily be male or female with out losing the 'character' the RB universe supplies. To that end, Red Scorpion could be a savage orc with a scorpion tattoo if that was the desire. The RB card gives the character a +2 to diplomacy, so even being an assassin is an indulgence by me based on the original artwork.

I don't know that everyone needs male and female versions of each character, especially ones like Shiver and Varikas. I do think the RB world needs a female Karnon.