Runebound: Cult of the Rune
Runebound: Cult of the Rune Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Setup
- Set aside all red cards from the "Rise of the Dragon Lords" adventure. Keep these cards handy, as you may need them later.
- Separate the CULT OF THE RUNE cards by color (green, yellow, blue, and red). Place the green cards next to the green adventure deck, the yellow cards next to the yellow adventure deck, and the blue cards next to the blue adventure deck. The CULT OF THE RUNE red adventure deck replaces the "Rise of the Dragon Lords" red adventure deck, and should be placed on the red adventure deck space.
- Set aside the undefeated adventure counters. Undefeated adventures will not be marked with these counters; instead, the counters will be placed on towns that have been infiltrated and corrupted by the cult. These counters will hereafter be called infiltration markers.
- Set aside the doom counters from the base Runebound game and punch out the new doom counters. The doom track rule is not used with this adventure variant; instead, the doom counters represent the level of corruption that the cult has inflicted upon the Heroes, and are hereafter called corruption markers. The large hexagonal counter on the punchboard is used to represent the cult's location, and is called the cult marker.
- Place the cult marker and an infiltration marker in the Forge space.
- Set up the game as described in the RUNEBOUND rules.
Victory Conditions
Each rune cultist defeated is worth victory points equal to the number of experience points it is worth. So, each defeated green CULT OF THE RUNE Challenge is worth 1 victory point, each defeated yellow CULT OF THE RUNE Challenge is worth 2 victory points, and so on. When a rune cultist is defeated, it is kept facedown in front of the player to signify his victory points.
Additionally, when the game ends, each player gains bonus points equal to the greatest number of rune cultists they have of a single color. For instance, if Scott has 3 green, 2 blue, and 2 yellow rune cultists at the end of the game, he would gain 3 bonus points for the purposes of determining the game's winner.
Gameplay
Play proceeds as normal, with the following exceptions:
A. When a Hero is knocked out by or escapes a Challenge, place the Challenge at the bottom of the deck from which it was drawn.
B. At the end of each player's turn, that player rolls a single movement die. If any of the spaces allowed by the cult marker's current bearing match a terrain symbol on the die, the cult marker moves into that space (for more information on the cult's bearing, see the Cult Bearing sidebar). If multiple eligible spaces are available, the player may choose among them. Any time the cult marker moves into a space adjacent to a town, regardless of the cult marker's current bearing, it enters the town immediately, even if it already moved a space that turn.
C. When an Encounter or Event is drawn, ignore its text and remove it from the game, placing it in a special discard pile. Then perform the following steps:
- If the card was a green Encounter, roll the movement die and move the cult marker as if it were the end of your turn (see step B, above). For each color of the Encounter beyond green, you must roll one additional movement die and move the cult marker one additional space, if able (one additional die for yellow, two for blue, and three for red). You will still roll to move the cult marker again at the end of your turn.
- If the card was an Event, all adventure jewels are replenished, regardless of whether or not an Event of a higher number has been drawn. Additionally, the cult's operatives perform a vile ritual: count a number of spaces outward from the cult marker equal to the roman numeral on the Event. All spaces within this radius are treated as if the cult marker had moved into them (see "Effects of the Cult Marker," below).
Effects of the Cult Marker
When the cult marker enters a space with an adventure jewel (or when an adventure jewel falls within the radius of a cult ritual, as described above), flip the adventure jewel over to its experience point side. It is now a rune cultist. If a Hero attempts to resolve that adventure, draw an adventure card from the Cult of the Rune adventure deck of the appropriate color. If the Hero succeeds, he gains the experience points as normal and places the defeated rune cultist facedown in front of him.
If the cult marker enters a town (or a town falls within the radius of a cult ritual), place an infiltration marker on the town space. That town has been infiltrated and corrupted by the cult. Heroes may enter the town as normal, but if a Hero is forced to move to an infiltrated town after being knocked out, he is branded by the cult (see below).
If the cult marker and a Hero figure are ever in the same space (or if a Hero figure falls within the radius of a cult ritual), place a corruption marker on the Hero's card. Either while he was helpless and recuperating in the town, or because he was affected by one of their rituals, the Hero has been branded by the cult. When a Hero is branded, he must immediately discard one of his defeated rune cultists (it is placed on the bottom of its deck); also, for as long as he is branded, his maximum Stamina and Life values are lowered by one. The only way for a player to remove a cult brand from his Hero is to spend an experience point during his Experience step. Corruption markers are cumulative; if a Hero ever has corruption markers equal to his maximum Life, he is removed from the game.
Ending the Game
The game ends when one of three things happens:
1. The last red rune cultist has been defeated.
2. A player has 26 victory points worth of rune cultists facedown in front of him (not including the bonus points for highest number of rune cultists of a single color). For each player in the game beyond two, this number increases by +1 (27 victory points in a game with 3 players, 28 in a game with 4 players, and so on).
Note that these victory points do not include any potential bonus victory points a player might have for having multiple rune cultists of the same color; these are not calculated until after the game has ended.
2. There are 18 "Rise of the Dragon Lords" Events and Encounters in the special discard pile. For each player in the game beyond two, this number increases by +1 (19 Events and Encounters in the special discard pile in a game with 3 players, 20 in a game with 4 players, and so on).
Note: the source sheet numbers the third condition "2." (a duplicate of the second); it is transcribed as printed here and is the third of the three conditions.
Once the game ends, each player totals up his victory points, including bonus points, as described under "Victory Conditions," above.
Cult Bearing
Sidebar. The three diagrams on the source sheet are board images; they are described by the text below.
As Diagram 1 shows, the cult marker may have a bearing of N, NE, SE, S, SW, or NW. On the first player's turn, the cult marker's bearing is determined by the space into which the first player moves it. So if the first player rolls the river and swamp symbols on the movement dice, his only option from Forge would be to move the marker directly south into the space marked "S" in Diagram 1. The cult's bearing would, from that point on, be south.
The cult marker's bearing determines the spaces into which it may move. In the example shown in Diagram 2, the cult marker has a bearing of SE. It would therefore be able to move SE (a hills space) or to either side of that space: NE (a road space) or S (a mountains space). The dark orange edge of the cult marker should always point in the direction of its current bearing, with the light parchment edges to the left and right showing the two alternate directions to which it may also move. Of course, in order to move into any of these spaces, the player must roll the appropriate terrain on the movement dice. Potential movement options for Diagram 2 are provided below.
- There are no river spaces in the direction of the cult marker's bearing, but there is a road space. The cult marker must therefore move NE into the road space.
- There are both a hills and road space in the direction of the cult marker's bearing. The player may choose into which space the cult marker moves, but cannot choose for it not to move.
- There are neither river spaces nor forest spaces in the direction of the cult marker's bearing. The cult marker therefore does not move this turn. Note that, even though there is a river space adjacent to the cult marker, it cannot move into that space because it does not lie within the cult marker's current bearing.
Finally, as Diagram 3 demonstrates, if the cult marker's movement would take it off the edge of the board, it changes bearing. If it would move off the top or bottom edge of the board, its north-south bearing reverses (from N to S, NE to SE, etc.). If it would move off the right or left edge of the board, its east-west bearing reverses (from NE to NW, SW to SE, etc.).