Runebound

I think I finally found a game that the boys really like — Runebound, 2nd Edition — by Martin Wallace. I picked up a copy at my FLGS on Saturday while the boys were sparring at TKD.

Played a couple of partial games yesterday and a full game today. The mechanics are incredibly simple — move, adventure (if you’re on an adventure counter) or go to market (if you’re in a town), and level up (if you have enough experience). You spend most of the game wandering through the wilderness building up your character so that you are strong enough to seek out and defeat the dragon lords. The first player to defeat 3 dragon lords or the big baddie, Lord Margath, is the winner. The only real knock is the time it takes to finish. Even playing the “shorter” variation (3 experience/level for 4 players), our game clocked in at over 4 hours today. Still, it fills the roleplaying niche that the boys so enjoy.

Although somebody will get hosed by the dice in a future game, everyone had an opportunity to win during today’s game. Logan and I each defeated 2 dragon lords and only needed 1 more to win when Lord Margath started showing up. Everyone took a run at him and some more than once until I defeated him in the Crimson Forest with my battle mage.

This game will see play on the weekends. Logan is already asking to play again. I’ll be looking for additional suggestions on how to speed up the game so we can finish in 2 to 3 hours (or split the game over two play sessions perhaps).

Another game I’m seriously considering is Fury of Dracula. Been reading the rules and it looks like another game the boys would enjoy. Originally published by Games Workshop, Fantasy Flight has tweaked the game and the few changes appear to have improved the game.