Runebound Decks Preview

It's that time again! Soon enough, another wave of Runebound expansion decks will be on store shelves and shaking up your favorite fantasy adventure board game. Like each wave of expansion packs before it, this set of expansion packs features two Challenge Card Expansions (Traps and Terrors and Beasts and Bandits), two Item & Ally Card Expansions (Rituals and Runes and Weapons of Legend), and two Adventure Variants. For this preview, we'll be focusing on the two Adventure Variants, The Cataclysm and The Seven Scions.

While Challenge Card and Item & Ally Expansions are additions to existing card decks, Adventure Variants are significantly more complex and harder to categorize. Each Adventure Variant is basically an entirely new story and endgame for Runebound, and as a consequence each Adventure Variant can be, well, wildly varied!

The first Adventure Variant included in this wave is The Seven Scions. In this adventure, a storm unlike any the world has ever seen is descending on Terrinoth. Consuming everything it touches, the storm will soon shroud everything in darkness… unless the heroes can awaken the Seven Scions of legend and, with their help, destroy the Stormlords.

Major changes to The Seven Scions include the addition of a number of Storm cards that sit next to the colored challenge card decks and the Stormlords, who serve as the game's "final boss." Exactly how many Storm cards of each type are in the game is determined by the number of players, and they are randomly drawn so you won't necessarily see the entire story each game. The Storm cards are drawn and resolved during a special Storm step, which is added to the end of each turn. During each Storm step, the storm counter is incremented and when it reaches the end of its track, a new Storm card is drawn with usually disastrous results for all players! The storm counter moves faster along its track when higher-level encounters are defeated, so near the end of the game the storm will be truly raging!

Storm cards, "Menagerie of Fire" and "Void Serpents".

The other important new mechanic in this game is the Scions. There are six Scion cards which are placed on the undefeated encounter track at the start of the game with their "slumbering" side up. ("But there are SEVEN Scions," you cry! "Why only six cards?" Well, that's a secret. You'll just have to pick up a pack yourself!) During each round, all players choose a single slumbering Scion and may use their slumbering ability to receive a powerful benefit. They may also attempt to awaken a Scion by visiting a red adventure jewel and satisfying the conditions on the appropriate Scion's card.

Once awakened, Scions become powerful allies, as strong as most heroes in their own right. However, the Scions will only aid you during Storm events and in final battle with the Stormlords. The good news is that that's when you'll need the most help!

Both the "Slumbering" and "Awakened" sides of the Scion card, "The Archmage."

The Seven Scions also features a cooperative variant wherein the heroes must defeat the Stormlords before the storm consumes all of Terrinoth! But be warned: even if the heroes join together, the Stormlords are puissant foes!

Stormlord cards, "Stormlord Aeris" and "Stormlord Syraskil."

The second Adventure Variant in this wave is The Cataclysm. On the night of the Cataclysm, a star fell from the sky and the land was shattered. Some of the Free Cities were utterly destroyed; others fell prey to terrible curses. Now it's up to the heroes to free the remaining cities from the horrible afflictions that have ensnared them and enable Terrinoth to rebuild from this disaster.

At the start of the game, players take the special included cataclysm markers, shuffle them up, and place them on each city. When the markers are turned faceup, three of the cities will be revealed as completely destroyed and the other five will each be afflicted by a different terrible curse. While the cataclysm markers remain on the towns, each town acquires a new terrain type (becoming a mountain, hill, river, plains, or forest space instead of a town space) and instead of entering the market in those spaces the heroes may attempt to lift the curse affecting that town.

The cataclysm tokens.

There are five different curses, each with their own story and challenges. For example, the Curse of the Winter Lord begins with such challenges as Scaling the Glacier, or Defeating the Guardian, then progresses to the quests Retrieve the Summer Seed and Rescue the Dawn Goddess, and culminates in a battle against the The Winter Lord. For each of these challenges and quests that a hero manages to defeat, he may claim the associated card as a reward. These cards feature useful abilities and are also worth victory points. When a curse is lifted (by defeating the final encounter associated with that curse), then that town is freed and may once more be used to visit the market - and at a potentially hefty discount for heroes who have helped that town!

"Curse of the Winter Lord" cards, "Defeating the Guardian" and "Scaling the Glacier."

While the Free Cities remain cursed, of course, the heroes can't visit the market there, but fortunately they have the ability to make contact with refugee caravans in the wilds of Terrinoth. By devoting a portion of their movement dice to a trading pool, heroes can roll to establish contact with refugees in their current space (by rolling the appropriate terrain symbol). Once they've done so, they can take a sort of "mini-market step" based on the size of their trading pool, then continue on with their turn.

The Cataclysm is almost like a five-for-one Adventure Variant, since each curse has its own unique storyline, quests, and final "boss" challenge, whether it's the Curse of the Winter Lord or the Curse of the Ashen Flock or any of the other three afflictions that can blight the Free Cities. Each curse plays out substantially differently, so some strategy will have to be used to decide which cities to free first!

"Curse of the Ashen Flock" card, "The Ashen Phoenix," front and back.


"Curse of the Ashen Flock" card, "The Messengers," front and back.

That's a sneak peek at two of the six expansion decks in this wave. Be sure to check them, and all the other Runebound decks out when they hit store shelves in your area!