Runebound: The Frozen Wastes
Runebound: The Frozen Wastes Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Object of the Game
In The Frozen Wastes, the object of the game is to either travel to Green Vale and defeat Arshan in combat, or to find Princess Taira's crashed colony ship by following clues and then deliver her to Arshan at Green Vale. The first player to do either of these is the winner. For more information see "Game End and Victory" on page 13.
Components
Below is a list of all the components that you will find in your copy of The Frozen Wastes.
- This Rulebook
- 56 Adventure Cards (17 Green, 19 Yellow, 12 Blue, 8 Red)
- 1 Arshan Challenge Card
- 18 Legend Cards (13 Items, 5 Allies)
- 6 Hero Cards
- 6 Hero Figures
- 24 Survival Gear Tokens (6 Flare Crystals, 6 Luckstones, 12 Snowshoes)
- 48 Frost/White Death Counters
- 41 Rumor Tokens
- 1 Princess Token
- 29 Princess Clue Cards
- 5 Weather Tiles
- 1 Game Board Overlay
Component Overview
Below is a brief description of every game component.
Adventure Cards
This expansion includes new green, yellow, blue, and red adventure decks, which are comprised entirely of Challenges and Events. These decks replace the adventure decks from the main Runebound board game when playing The Frozen Wastes. The original adventure decks from the main Runebound board game should be set aside and are not used when playing The Frozen Wastes.
Legend Cards
These cards represent the legendary relics and Allies Heroes may discover as they search for the location of Princess Taira.
Hero Cards and Figures
The Frozen Wastes presents six new Heroes and their corresponding plastic Hero figures.
Weather Tiles
These double-sided tiles indicate Isheim's current weather conditions across the board's different terrain types.
Survival Gear Tokens
The towns of Isheim offer three different kinds of survival gear for Heroes to purchase: luckstones, flare crystals, and snowshoes.
Frost Counters
As Heroes are exposed to the harsh conditions of Isheim, they may incur frost counters.
White Death Counters
When the cold becomes unbearable, the body and spirit become vulnerable to the magical disease called white death. Heroes and Allies may both contract white death, and these tokens indicate the presence and severity of the sickness.
Rumor Tokens
These tokens represent clues, legends, and folk tales that Heroes may discover as they explore Isheim.
Princess Token
This token represents Arshan's beautiful bride, the Princess Taira, who has been sleeping in an indestructible cryogenic pod for thousands of years inside the crashed Jef'a colony ship.
Princess Clue Cards
These cards represent vital rumors and clues that may lead Heroes to the location of Princess Taira's crashed colony ship.
Arshan Challenge Card
This card represents Arshan in his home at Green Vale, and contains text for both of the victory conditions: bringing Princess Taira to Green Vale, and defeating Arshan in combat.
Standard Runebound Components
Some of the components from the main Runebound game are used when playing The Frozen Wastes in same way they are used when playing the main game, while other main Runebound game components are used differently or removed entirely. How components from the main Runebound game are used with The Frozen Wastes is covered in greater detail later in the rules.
Game Setup
Before playing The Frozen Wastes for the first time, carefully punch the cardboard pieces out of their frames.
- Unfold the main Runebound game board and place it centrally on the table. Place the The Frozen Wastes board so it covers the map area of the Runebound board, as shown in the accompanying diagram.
- Place an adventure counter faceup on each space of the board marked with an adventure jewel. The color of the adventure counter must match the color of the adventure jewel (place a green counter on each green adventure jewel, a yellow counter on each yellow adventure jewel, and so on).
- The adventure cards from the main Runebound game are not needed to play The Frozen Wastes, and are replaced with the adventure cards in The Frozen Wastes expansion. Separate the adventure cards by color into four adventure decks (green, yellow, blue, and red). Shuffle each deck and place the decks facedown in the appropriate indicated spaces on the board.
- Place the weather tiles beside the game board near the adventure decks.
- Place the following six Legend cards (see "Legend Cards" on page 8) faceup along the bottom of the map board: "Frida Brani," "Twisted Symbol," "Gauntlets of Fortitude," "Spirit Spear," "Ragnar's Axe," and "Steeltooth Trap." To form the Legend card deck, shuffle the remaining Legend cards and place them facedown near to the faceup Legend cards. Do not combine them with the market deck from the main Runebound game.
- Shuffle the Princess clue cards and place them facedown next to the game board. This forms the Princess clue card deck.
- Place the Princess token next to the Princess clue card deck.
- Place the Arshan Challenge card on the market stack for Green Vale.
- Shuffle the main Runebound market deck and place it facedown where indicated on the board. Place one card from the market deck faceup on each of the market stacks, with the exception of Green Vale. Then place one additional card on the market stacks for the towns of Seragart, Iagart, Weikgart, and Vrede.
- Place all wound, exhaustion, gold, experience, frost, white death, and survival gear tokens in a central pile where all players can reach them.
- Place all rumor tiles facedown and randomize them. Players may prefer to place them in a cup or bowl instead. This forms a pool of rumor tokens.
- Each player receives four gold (instead of the three gold players receive in the main game), one flare crystal, one luckstone, and one snowshoe token.
After these steps have been carried out, the game is ready to begin.
New Rules
The Frozen Wastes expansion uses all of the rules from the main Runebound game, except in cases specifically noted in this rulebook. The following sections present the new and modified rules unique to The Frozen Wastes.
Game Board Overlay
The game board for The Frozen Wastes features new types of terrain, new types of town spaces, and a weather track.
Terrain Types
Movement dice rules for The Frozen Wastes are identical to those from the main Runebound game with the exception that the terrain symbols on the dice refer instead to the new terrain types listed here:
- Fjord
- Tundra
- Ice
- Snowdrift
- Forest
- Mountain
- Frozen Wastes
Fjords
Their slopes are steep, but the lush, green fjords are the most heavily travelled areas of Isheim, thanks to their relatively warm temperatures.
Tundra
Covered in yellow grasses and scrubby vegetation, weather conditions in the tundra can range from mildly chilly to hellishly cold.
Ice
The surfaces of Isheim's rivers and lakes are usually frozen, but the water beneath is the purest in all the world.
Snowdrifts
Endless dunes of blowing snow cover much of the continent. These are referred to as "drifts" or "snowdrifts" interchangeably.
Forests
The forests of Isheim are magnificent but strange. The massive evergreens provide shelter from the wind, but are also home to predators both mundane and supernatural.
Mountains
Isheim's mountains are taller and thinner than the ranges on the rest of Terrinoth. The icy winds at their peaks can make travelers feel as though their flesh is being torn away.
Frozen Wastes
No mortal can survive for long in the deadly cold of the wastes. The air is so bitterly frigid it can freeze exposed flesh in moments. Only the undead, Icewyrms, and insane venture here.
Town Spaces
There are four different types of town spaces in The Frozen Wastes.
Weik Cities
Town spaces with a helmet symbol next to their title are Weik cities. These cities are renowned as great trading centers with a large variety of available Items and Allies, but they are also known for their rough and tumble ways.
Onoit Villages
Town spaces with a campfire symbol next to their title are Onoit villages. These communities are much smaller then Weik cites, but are well known for their hospitality towards Heroes, and their healing shamans who provide free care to the injured and sick.
Vrede Settlement
The town space with both a helmet and a campfire symbol next to its title is the Vrede settlement. This extreme northern town is kept viable by the volcanic hot springs and the wealth of minerals and ores found nearby. Consequently, Vrede is known as the last stop of civilization before the wilderness, and has a bustling free trade market due to the ore deposits and the healing power of its springs. The Vrede settlement is considered neither a Weik nor Onoit town, although it provides the advantages of both.
Green Vale
Green Vale is the home of Arshan the Jef'a. This space has special rules, and in gameplay is not considered a town space. Although Heroes do enter Green Vale using the same movement rules for moving into a town space, Green Vale does not have a market stack, nor does it provide any of the regular benefits and advantages of a standard Runebound town. Instead, a Hero in possession of the Princess token (see "Princess Token" on page 3) that enters Green Vale immediately wins the game. Should a Hero enter Green Vale without the Princess, he must fight Arshan (represented by the Arshan challenge card). A Hero that defeats Arshan immediately wins the game.
Weather Track
The weather track is the map board location where weather tiles are placed when they are put into play by Event cards. The pre-printed values on the weather track act as the starting weather tile that is in play at the beginning of the game, and follows the same rules as normal weather tiles.
Changing the Weather Track
When a new Event card enters play and takes effect, the current weather tile is replaced with a new weather tile. To determine which new weather tile to use, refer to the weather icon on the Event card and then locate the weather tile with the same icon.
Note that the current weather tile is only replaced when a new Event card is put into play. If an Event card's number is lower than the Event card currently in play, then the new Event card does not enter play (and is discarded) and the weather tile does not change.
When a new Event card enters play, the corresponding weather tile is placed on the map board on top of the weather track, replacing any weather tile already there. If this is the first Event card drawn, the weather tile listed by the Event card is placed on the map board, covering the weather track and becoming the new weather tile.
Symbols
Card text in The Frozen Wastes uses the following symbols as shorthand for frost and white death:
- ♣ Frost
- ♠ White Death
The Threat of Frost
Survival is not easy in The Frozen Wastes, and travel is exceptionally dangerous in a land of chilling winds and constant ice storms. Even some of the native creatures and beasts have attacks that can chill a Hero to the bone.
Contracting Frost
During the Survival step (see "Step 3: Survival" on page 12), players must check the current weather tile on the map board to see how many frost counters their Heroes and Allies must take. This is done by cross-referencing the terrain type a given Hero ended his movement on to the same terrain type shown on the weather tile. The number shown in the corresponding section on the weather tile indicates how many frost counters that Hero and each of his Allies must take. When a Hero or Ally takes frost counters, they are placed on that Hero or Ally's card.
Example (page 6): After a couple of turns, Zyla has three frost counters, and the yellow moon weather tile has been replaced by the blue diamond weather tile. Zyla ends her movement on a snowdrift terrain space, and, checking the snowdrift terrain on the blue diamond weather tile, finds that she takes two more frost counters, bringing her total to five. Zyla now has a number of frost counters equal to or greater than her Life value, which is four. She immediately discards four frost counters and takes one white death counter. Since she only discards a number of frost counters equal to her Life value, Zyla still has one remaining frost counter after taking the white death counter.
Effects of Frost
Frost counters are not considered wounds or fatigue, and so do not adjust the movement dice a given Hero may roll. Accumulating frost counters may result in white death (see "The Threat of White Death" below).
Curing Frost
A Hero may discard all of his frost counters and all frost counters from each of his Allies at the beginning of his Market step. Additionally, some special items Heroes can acquire by adventuring may allow Heroes and Allies to either discard or avoid taking frost counters.
The Threat of White Death
White death is a magical disease caused by a combination of low body temperature, exposure to the elements, and the mysterious presence of the Ancients and their machines. Heroes and Allies that take white death tokens are slowly succumbing to the power of white death, as if an icy talon were reaching into their heart and freezing the very blood in their veins. Some creatures in The Frozen Wastes, such as the horrible Ice Wraith, carry and spread white death but are not affected by its symptoms.
Contracting White Death
Whenever the total number of frost counters placed on a Hero or Ally's card equals or exceeds his Life value, that Hero or Ally immediately takes one white death counter. That Hero or Ally then discards a number of frost counters equal to his Life value.
Example (page 7): Zyla has been having a hard time. Not only does she have a white death counter and a frost counter, but she has also taken two wounds. Zyla ends her movement on a mountain terrain space. The blue diamond weather tile is still in play, indicating that Zyla takes three frost counters for being in mountain terrain. This brings her frost counter total to four. Since this is equal to or greater than her Life value, she takes a white death counter and discards four frost counters. Now Zyla has two wound counters and two white death counters, which combine for a total of four, which equals or exceeds her Life value. Unfortunately for Zyla, this means that she is knocked out.
Effects of White Death
If the combined quantity of wound counters and white death counters on a Hero equals or exceeds his Life value, that Hero is immediately knocked out. If the combined quantity of wound counters and white death counters on an Ally equals or exceeds his Life value, that Ally is immediately killed. Even though white death counters act similarly to wounds when knocking out a Hero or killing an Ally, white death counters are not considered to be wounds. Effects and abilities that heal wounds do not heal white death.
If a Hero or his Allies have any wound, exhaustion, or white death counters during the Hero's Movement step, he may only roll four movement dice instead of all five movement dice.
Curing White Death
White death can only be cured in Onoit villages, in Vrede (see "Step 5: Market" on page 12), or by activating special items acquired from adventure cards. Some special items may be used in response to taking a white death counter.
Using Survival Gear
Survival gear helps heroes survive travel in The Frozen Wastes. The effect of each survival gear token is described below.
Flare Crystals
At the end of a Hero's turn, he may activate one of his flare crystal tokens by placing it underneath his Hero figure on the game board. At the start of the Hero's next Movement step, if the flare crystal is still on the board and underneath his Hero figure, the token is discarded and the Hero figure is moved directly to nearest town space. If two or more towns are equally close to the Hero's location, the player may choose the town where the Hero figure is moved. All frost counters may be removed from the Hero and each of his Allies after he is moved to the town space. The Hero's turn then immediately ends, and he may not continue his turn with a Market step.
Alternately, a Hero who activated a flare crystal during his previous turn may elect to move by rolling movement dice as normal. In this case, the flare crystal is discarded and has no further effect.
A Hero may only activate one flare crystal during his turn.
Luckstones
A Hero may discard one of his luckstone tokens immediately after failing a skill test (not a combat roll) to reroll that test. A Hero may discard more then one luckstone per turn, even to reroll the same skill test more than once.
Snowshoes
After rolling movement dice during his Movement step, a Hero may discard one of his snowshoe tokens to change one movement die result to a result of his choice. This can only be done during the Hero's Movement step. A Hero may discard more than one snowshoe per turn.
Gaining Forage Items
Many of the Challenges Heroes encounter in The Frozen Wastes have the word "Forage" in their card text as an additional reward. When a Hero defeats such a Challenge, the card becomes a Forage Item. The abilities of a Forage Item are described on the Challenge card. A Hero may sell any of his Forage Items during his Market step following the same rules for selling regular market cards. (See "Buying and Selling Forage Items" on page 12). Forage Items follow the same rules as normal Items, and can be lost or stolen.
Rumor Tokens
Each rumor token represents one of the seven terrain types (fjords, tundra, ice, snowdrifts, forests, mountains, and frozen wastes), with the exception of wild tokens, which can be used to represent any terrain type, including towns. Additionally, any rumor token terrain type may be used to represent a town space.
Gaining Rumor Tokens
Adventure cards featuring a rumor icon in the upper left corner of the card reward one rumor token to the Hero who successfully defeats the Challenge (in addition to any other rewards the Hero would normally receive for defeating the Challenge). When a Hero receives a rumor token, he takes one of the rumor tokens from the pool at random. If no rumor tokens are available in the pool, he instead may take one rumor token at random from any other player. The rumor token is not revealed to the other players, and is instead placed facedown in front of the player who drew it. A player may look at his own facedown rumor tokens at any time. Rumor tokens are used to recover long-lost Legendary Items and Allies (see "Discover Legendary Items and Allies" on page 9).
Legend Cards
Legend cards offer Heroes opportunities to use the rumor tokens they have accumulated to discover special treasures. Legend cards represent powerful Legendary Items and Allies that will greatly aid Heroes in their adventures.
Legendary Items and Allies
Legendary Items and Allies can be found in the secluded and dangerous regions of Isheim, buried under layers of ice and protected by ferocious guardians.
Difficulty Level
The six Legend cards placed faceup near the map board represent the current Legendary Items and Allies that Heroes may discover using rumor tokens. Each Legend card has a difficulty level, found inside the hexagon-shaped icon on the card. This is the number of collected rumor tokens that a Hero must spend as a discovery set to recover that card. A discovery set consists of rumor tokens the Hero has accumulated over the course of the game.
Discover Legendary Items and Allies
To spend a discovery set and discover a Legend card, the Hero must first be on an adventure jewel space that matches the color of the Legend card's difficulty icon (a red jewel space for a red difficulty icon, a yellow jewel space for a yellow icon, etc.). The Hero must then discard a discovery set consisting of a number of rumor tokens equal to the Legend card's difficulty level. The terrain type of one of the rumor tokens must match the space the Hero currently occupies. Each of the other rumor tokens in the discovery set must match the terrain type of a different space adjacent to the Hero's current space. The rumor tokens comprising a spent discovery set are returned to the pool facedown, and shuffled with the other rumor tokens. The player receives the discovered Legend card and places it next to his Hero card.
After a Hero receives a Legend card, he must draw a new card from the top of the Legend deck and place it next to the other available Legend cards.
Legendary Items and Allies, once acquired, follow the same rules as normal Items and Allies do. They can be sold, stolen, lost due to knockout, and count towards weapon, armor, and Ally limits.
A Hero may only spend a discovery set during his Movement step, after the movement dice have been rolled, but before his figure has moved. A Hero may only discover one Legend card during a given turn's Movement step, even if he has enough rumor tokens to purchase multiple Legend cards. After a Hero discovers a Legendary Item or Ally, he may finish his Movement step as normal.
Example (page 9): Zyla wants to discover the Legendary Item, Bow of the Sky. To do this she must be on a blue adventure jewel space, since the Bow of the Sky's difficulty icon is blue. The bow has a difficulty level of four, which means Zyla needs to spend four rumor tokens as a discovery set. Since Zyla is currently on a blue adventure jewel space with mountain terrain, one of the four rumor tokens must feature mountain terrain. Adjacent to the space Zyla occupies are two more mountain spaces, three tundra spaces, and one fjord space. For her other three rumor tokens, Zyla chooses two tundra terrain tokens and one fjord terrain token from among her previously collected rumor tokens. All four of these rumor tokens (mountain, tundra, tundra, and fjord) are returned to the pool facedown, and Zyla receives the Bow of the Sky. If she had collected any wild rumor tokens, Zyla could have choosen to substitute a wild token for any of the four.
Remember, a wild rumor token may be used as a rumor token of any terrain type when forming a discovery set.
Important Note: Rumor tokens cannot be stolen or lost.
Princess Clue Cards
If a Hero collects enough Princess clue cards, he may discover the location of Princess Taira's crashed colony ship. A Hero that discovers the Princess's location and safely escorts her to Green Vale immediately wins the game.
Each Princess clue card displays one or more terrain symbols, each depicting one of the seven terrain types (fjords, tundra, ice, snowdrifts, forests, mountains, and wastes). Some clue cards also have a wild icon that can represent any terrain type, including towns. Where a Princess clue card has more than one terrain symbol each is able to represent a different map space.
Gaining Princess Clue Cards
Adventure cards featuring one or more Princess icons in the upper left corner of the card reward one Princess clue card per Princess icon to the Hero who successfully defeats the Challenge. When a Hero receives a Princess clue card, he must draw the top card from the Princess clue card deck. The rewarded Princess clue card is not revealed to the other players, and is instead placed facedown in front of the player who drew it. A player may look at his own facedown Princess clue cards at any time. Princess clue cards are used to discover the location of Taira's crashed colony ship.
Discover the Princess's Location
Each Princess clue card lists one or two terrain symbols that provide vital clues to Princess Taira's location.
A Hero may discover the Princess during his Movement step, after the movement dice have been rolled, but before his figure has moved. After a Hero discovers the Princess, he may finish his movement step as normal.
A Hero may discover the Princess if, among the Princess clue cards in the Hero's possession, there are enough terrain symbols present to match the terrain types of the space he occupies and all six of the adjacent spaces. Each terrain symbol may only be used to match one space (e.g., an individual snowdrift symbol cannot be matched to two different snowdrift spaces).
Important note: A wild Princess clue card may be used as a Princess clue card of any terrain type, including a town. Additionally, any Princess clue card terrain symbol may be used to represent a town space.
Example (page 10): Before Karnon moves, he decides to use his Princess clue cards to discover the location of the Princess. The terrain of the space Karnon occupies is a snowdrift. The six adjacent spaces include two more snowdrift spaces, a frozen wastes space, two tundra spaces, and the city of Weikgart. Karnon's collection of seven Princess clue cards consists of six cards that contain one terrain symbol each (a fjord, a frozen wastes, a tundra, a snowdrift, and two wilds), and one that contains two snowdrift terrain symbols. To match the Princess clue cards to the seven relevant terrain spaces on the map board, Karnon's fjord Princess card is not needed. He matches a frozen wastes Princess card to a frozen wastes space, a tundra card to a tundra space, and a snowdrift card to a snowdrift space. He also matches the Princess card with two snowdrift symbols to two different snowdrift spaces. Finally, he matches one wild card to a tundra space, and one more wild card to the town space. Karnon has discovered the Princess! Since she was discovered in a snowdrift terrain space, Karnon must discard one Princess clue card that features snowdrift terrain. He then receives the Princess token and places it next to his Hero card.
The Princess cannot be discovered if the Hero is occupying a town space. Additionally, the Princess cannot be discovered at the edge of the map, as seven total spaces (the space the Hero occupies, plus the six spaces adjacent to that space) are needed.
Upon discovering the Princess, a Hero must discard the Princess clue card containing the terrain symbol he used to match the space he occupies (i.e., the space the princess was discovered in), and shuffle it back into the Princess clue card deck. He then receives the Princess token and places it next to his Hero card. Other Heroes keep any Princess clue cards in their possession.
Other Heroes do not have the option of discovering the Princess's location as long as the Princess token is in a Hero's possession.
If a Hero with the Princess token is knocked out, he loses the Princess token. At that point, any Hero may discover the Princess using the rules for discovering the Princess described above. Heroes do not lose Princess clue cards when they are knocked out. Princess clue cards cannot be stolen or lost.
Escort the Princess
When a Hero discovers the Princess's location, he may escort her to Green Vale to win the game (see "Save Princess Taira" on page 13). The Princess is not considered an Ally. She does not count against a Hero's Ally limit, she is never affected by any event or ability, she cannot be killed, and she never receives any frost or white death counters. However, if a Hero who is escorting the Princess is knocked out, she is once again lost in the Frozen Wastes. The Princess token is placed next to the Princess clue cards and is once again available to be discovered by any Hero. The Hero who lost the Princess token must re-discover her location following the normal rules. He does not receive any bonuses for having found the Princess previously.
The Turn Sequence
The major change in The Frozen Wastes turn sequence is the addition of a Survival step between the Movement and Adventure steps.
Each player turn is divided into these six steps:
- Step 1: Refresh
- Step 2: Movement
- Step 3: Survival
- Step 4: Adventure
- Step 5: Market
- Step 6: Experience
A player must follow these steps in order, although he may not be able to complete every step.
Step 1: Refresh
This step is unchanged from the main game.
Step 2: Movement
If a Hero or his Allies have any wound, exhaustion, or white death counters, he may only roll four movement dice. Otherwise a Hero may roll all five movement dice. A Hero and his Allies may have any number of frost counters and still roll five movement dice if they do not also have any wound, exhaustion, or white death counters.
Heroes may choose to roll fewer dice in order to rest, as normal (see "Other Movement Rules" on page 4 in the Runebound Second Edition rulebook).
After the movement dice have been rolled, but before he moves his figure, a Hero may either discover the Princess's location, or discover Legendary Items and Allies.
Speeding Up the Game
To keep the game moving quickly, a player may roll his movement dice immediately after the player sitting to his right finishes his Movement step. This way players can plan their moves while the active player completes the remaining steps of his turn.
Step 3: Survival
Heroes in either town spaces or Green Vale must skip this step.
After a Hero has finished his Movement step, he must consult the weather tile to determine how many frost counters he and each of his Allies must take, according to the rules under "The Threat of Frost" on page 6.
Step 4: Adventure
As usual, if a Hero ends his movement in a space with an adventure counter, he may choose to attempt the adventure, thus taking an Adventure step. Challenges follow the rules in the main Runebound game, and may offer additional Forage Item rewards that help Heroes survive the harsh weather conditions. Events may also change the weather track and increase the threat of white death. There are no Encounter cards in the The Frozen Wastes adventure decks.
Step 5: Market
Heroes cannot take a market step in Green Vale (see "Green Vale" on page 5).
Heroes may take market steps in Onoit villages, Weik cities, and the Vrede settlement. All three types of spaces are considered towns and follow the same rules for towns as in the main Runebound game. Additionally, Heroes taking a market step in a town may discard frost counters, buy and sell Forage Items, and purchase survival gear.
Discard Frost Counters
A Hero may discard all of his frost counters and all frost counters from each of his Allies at the beginning of his Market step.
Buying and Selling Forage Items
A Hero may sell Forage Items in towns during his Market step for gold equal to the encounter's experience value. Heroes receive one gold per green card, two gold per yellow, three gold per blue, and four gold per red. When a Hero sells a Forage Item, place it in the market stack of the town the Hero occupies, just as if it were a standard Item. It can then be purchased for twice its experience value in gold (that is, two gold for a green card, four gold for a yellow, and so on).
Purchase Survival Gear
A Hero may also purchase survival gear during the Market step. Survival gear may be purchased in any town, but never appears in the market stack. Instead, it is represented by tokens. Each token has a different game effect related to adventuring in the Frozen Wastes (see "Using Survival Gear" on page 8).
A Hero may purchase a maximum of one of each type of survival gear during a single Market step. A survival gear token of any type costs one gold. If no tokens of a certain type of gear are available (because they have all been purchased), the Hero may not purchase that type of gear until one is discarded. Survival gear tokens count as Items for all game purposes.
Market Step in a Weik City
When a Hero takes a Market step in a town with a helmet symbol, he adds two cards to the market stack for that town, instead of one card. He may then buy and sell Items, hire Allies, and purchase healing just as in the main Runebound game. However, Heroes and Allies may not heal white death in Weik Cities.
Market Step in an Onoit Village
When a Hero takes a Market step in a town with a campfire symbol, he adds only one card to the market stack, and may then buy and sell Items, hire Allies, and purchase healing just as in the main Runebound game.
White death can also be cured in Onoit villages. The cost to remove one white death counter from a Hero or Ally is one gold.
Furthermore, Onoit villages also provide one gold worth of free healing each time a Hero takes a Market step in an Onoit settlement. This free healing can be used to either discard all exhaustion from a Hero or Ally, discard one wound, or discard one white death counter, but it cannot be redeemed for cash or other goods.
Market Step in the Vrede Settlement
The Vrede settlement is unusual in that it has both a campfire symbol and a helmet symbol. A Hero taking a Market step in Vrede receives the benefits of taking a Market step in a Weik city and an Onoit village: he adds two cards to the market stack instead of one card, he may receive one gold worth of free healing, and can be cured of white death.
Vrede is not affected by Event cards that affect either Weik cities or Onoit villages, however.
Step 6: Experience
The rules for experience are the same as in the main game.
Knockouts
If a Hero is knocked out, his player follows the rules for knocked out Heroes found in the main game, with the following changes and additions:
- The Hero and each of his Allies discard all frost counters.
- The Hero discards all white death counters.
- The Hero does not discard any unspent experience point counters.
Princess clue cards and rumor tokens cannot be stolen, nor lost, due to being knocked out.
Game End and Victory
To win the game, a Hero must fulfill one of the two following objectives:
- Discover the location of Princess Taira and escort her to Green Vale.
- OR
- Confront Arshan in Green Vale and defeat him in combat.
Save Princess Taira
When a Hero collects enough Princess clue cards, he may discover the location of the crashed colony ship (see "Discover the Princess's Location" on page 10). The Hero then rescues the Princess from the ship's wreckage and receives the Princess token. When a Hero with the Princess token enters the Green Vale space he immediately wins the game – he does not confront Arshan in combat. Arshan's madness comes from loneliness and grief, and any Hero who discovers Arshan's bride and brings her safely to him heals Arshan's wounded soul. Husband and wife make short work of Sarscha the Vile, then order their mechanical servants to rebuild Arshan's craft. After fond farewells all around, the couple return to their home in the stars. The Hero who accomplishes this is revered in song and legend forever.
Arshan Defeated
Arshan is the one controlling the invading machines. If a Hero travels to Arshan's command center in Green Vale and defeats him, that Hero is able to shut down Arshan's army of machines. Such a Hero wins the game immediately, and is renowned throughout the world for generations to come.
Confronting Arshan follows the normal combat rules (see "Combat" on page 6 in the Runebound Second Edition rulebook).
Variant Rules
If players wish to use any of the variant rules discussed here, they should make sure that everyone understands the rules and agrees to use them before the game begins.
Harsh Conditions
Seasoned players who desire a more difficult challenge may choose to use the harsh conditions variant.
In the harsh conditions variant, each white death counter on a Hero or Ally's card lowers the Life value of that Hero or Ally by 1 when checking for white death and determining how many frost tokens are discarded.
Thus, as Heroes and Allies accumulate white death counters, they become even more susceptible to its effects.
Example (page 14): Arvel Worldwalker currently has one white death counter and two frost counters on her card. Arvel ends her movement on to a forest terrain space. The red star weather tile is in play, indicating that Arvel takes three frost counters. This brings her frost counter total to five. Her Life value (four) is lowered by the number of white death counters on her card (one), giving her a Life value of three. Three frost counters (the number equal to her lowered life value) are discarded and she takes one white death counter. Arvel now has two white death counters and two frost counters on her card. But because she still has a number of frost counters equal to or greater then her Life value (which has been lowered to two by white death), she must continue discarding frost tokens (two) and place yet another white death counter on her card. Arvel now has three white death counters on her card, and no frost counters, and is done checking for white death.
Mild Conditions
If players find weather conditions too harsh, a milder variant can be used instead.
In the mild conditions variant, Heroes and Allies each take one less frost counter when taking frost counters during the Survival step.
Faster Experience Levelling
This variant promotes faster levelling. In this variant, the cost to purchase an experience counter equals the number of experience counters the Hero already has plus one.
For example, a player can pay for his Hero's first experience counter for just one experience point, the second experience counter for two experience points, the third experience counter for three experience points, and so on.
Using Legend Cards as Market Cards
Legend cards may still be used even in a Runebound game played without other components from The Frozen Wastes. Simply shuffle the Legend cards into the market deck. When Legend cards are drawn from the market deck they are considered regular market cards following the normal rules. If players wish to play with the complete The Frozen Wastes expansion after having mixed their Legend cards into the main game's market deck, simply remove the Legend cards from the market deck and form a Legend card deck. Legend cards can be easily distinguished from regular market cards because they feature a difficulty number.
Reference Sheet
Reference: Terrain Types
- Fjord
- Tundra
- Ice
- Snowdrift
- Forest
- Mountain
- Frozen Wastes
Reference: The Turn Sequence
- Step 1: Refresh
- Refresh activated cards.
- Step 2: Movement
- Roll movement dice.
- Discover Legendary Items and Allies.
- Discover the Princess's location.
- Move Hero figure.
- Step 3: Survival
- Check weather tile for frost, then check for white death.
- Step 4: Adventure
- May draw and resolve an adventure card.
- Step 5: Market (If Hero is in a town space)
- Remove frost counters from Hero and Allies.
- May buy and sell Items, hire Allies, and buy healing.
- Step 6: Experience
- May gain experience counters.
Reference: Survival Gear Effects
- Flare Crystals (1 gold): At the end of his turn, a Hero may activate one of his flare crystal tokens by placing it underneath his figure. At the start of the Hero's next Movement step, if the flare crystal is still on the board and underneath his Hero figure, the token is discarded and the Hero figure may be moved directly to nearest town space.
- Luckstones (1 gold): A Hero may discard one of his luckstone tokens immediately after failing a skill test to reroll that skill test (not a combat roll). A player may discard more then one luckstone per turn.
- Snowshoes (1 gold): After rolling movement dice, a Hero may discard one of his snowshoe tokens during his Movement step to change one movement die result to a result of his choice.
Reference: Town Spaces and Market Steps
Market Step in a Weik City
When a Hero takes a Market step in a town with a helmet symbol, he adds two cards to the market stack for that town, instead of one card. He may then buy and sell Items, hire Allies, and purchase healing just as in the main Runebound game. However, Heroes and Allies may not heal white death in Weik Cities.
Market Step in an Onoit Village
When a Hero takes a Market step in a town with a campfire symbol, he adds only one card to the market stack, and may then buy and sell Items, hire Allies, and purchase healing just as in the main Runebound game.
White death can also be cured in Onoit villages. The cost to remove one white death counter from a Hero or Ally is one gold.
Furthermore, Onoit villages also provide one gold worth of free healing each time a Hero takes a Market step in an Onoit settlement. This free healing can be used to either discard all exhaustion from a Hero or Ally, discard one wound, or discard one white death counter, but it cannot be redeemed for cash or other goods.
Market Step in the Vrede Settlement
The Vrede settlement is unusual in that it has both a campfire symbol and a helmet symbol. A Hero taking a Market step in Vrede receives the benefits of taking a Market step in a Weik city and an Onoit village: he adds two cards to the market stack instead of one card, he may receive one gold worth of free healing, and can be cured of white death.
Vrede is not affected by Event cards that affect either Weik cities or Onoit villages, however.
Reference: Green Vale and Winning the Game
Green Vale is the home of Arshan the Jef'a. This space has special rules, and in gameplay is not considered a town space. Although Heroes do enter Green Vale using the same movement rules for moving into a town space, Green Vale does not have a market stack, nor does it provide any of the regular benefits and advantages of a standard Runebound town. Instead, a Hero in possession of the Princess token (see "Princess Token" on page 3) that enters Green Vale immediately wins the game. Should a Hero enter Green Vale without the Princess, he must fight Arshan (represented by the Arshan challenge card). A Hero that defeats Arshan immediately wins the game.