Runebound: The Scepter of Kyros Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Setup
• Gameplay
• Endgame
• Winning the Game

Setup

1. Set aside all blue and red cards from the "Rise of the Dragon Lords" adventure. Keep these cards handy, as you may need them later.
2. Separate the cards of The Scepter of Kyros by color (green, yellow, and blue). Place the green cards next to the green adventure deck and the yellow cards next to the yellow adventure deck. The Giant Lord deck of blue Challenges replaces the blue adventure deck, and should be placed on the blue adventure deck space.
3. Set up the game as described in the Runebound rules, except that no red adventure counters are placed on the board.

Gameplay

Gameplay begins as normal, except that a player who draws an Encounter or Event from a Runebound adventure deck should discard it without resolving it (though a drawn Event should still cause the starburst adventure jewels to be replenished), then draw a new card to replace it from the adventure deck of The Scepter of Kyros of the appropriate color. After that card is resolved, or if no The Scepter of Kyros adventure cards of the appropriate color remain, the player draws again from the same Runebound adventure deck.

Example: Darin ends his Hero's movement on a yellow adventure jewel and attempts the adventure. He draws the yellow Event "Brother Against Brother." He replenishes the adventure jewels surrounded by sunbursts, then discards the Event. He then draws a card from the yellow adventure deck of The Scepter of Kyros (if he had drawn and discarded a green Event, he would instead draw a card from the green adventure deck of The Scepter of Kyros). He draws the yellow Encounter "Footprints in the Earth" and resolves it as normal, then draws from the yellow Runebound adventure deck again. This time he draws a Challenge, so he proceeds to resolve it as normal.

Example: Darrell ends his Hero's movement on a green adventure jewel and attempts the adventure. He draws the green Encounter "Hidden Treasure," so he discards it and then draws a card from the green adventure deck of The Scepter of Kyros. He draws the green Event "Rumblings in the Earth" and resolves it as normal. Note that the Event cards of The Scepter of Kyros do not have starbursts in the lower left-hand corner, so he does not need to replenish the adventure jewels with starbursts. After resolving "Rumblings in the Earth," he draws draws from the green Runebound adventure deck again . . . and draws another Encounter! He must then discard it and repeat the process described above.

All blue adventure cards in this expansion are Challenges called Giant Lords. After the eighth Giant Lord is defeated, the active player completes his turn. Then, after that player's Experience Step, the Endgame begins.

Endgame

In this Endgame, the Giant Lords descend from the north and attempt to conquer Terrinoth, one city at a time. First, shuffle all Giant Lord cards on the undefeated challenge track back into the Giant Lord deck. Then draw a card from the Giant Lord deck and place it, face up, next to the top-most market stack that does not already have a Giant Lord next to it. This town is now Occupied. Continue drawing and placing Giant Lords in this manner until the number of Occupied towns are equal to the number of players plus one. The first town to be Occupied will therefore always be Frostgate, followed by Greyhaven, Nerekhall, and so on. Once the correct number of Giant Lords are placed, place a red adventure counter on each Occupied town space. Play then proceeds as normal, except that Heroes may not enter Market Steps in Occupied towns and may not move to Occupied towns if they are knocked out.

Example: Alfredo is playing Runebound with two of his friends. He attempts a blue adventure and defeats it, which also happens to be the eighth Giant Lord defeated thus far. He finishes his turn, then the Endgame begins. Since there are three players, there will be four Giant Lord invaders occupying towns. He draws the Giant Lord "Grimgrieve the Twisted" and places it next to Frostgate's market stack, then draws the Giant Lord "Relishi the Wrathful" and places it next to Greyhaven's market stack, and so on down to Forge. Then play moves on to the player to Alfredo's right.

Players may attempt to Liberate a town by moving into the town's space and entering combat with its Giant Lord. However, the Giant Lords have two advantages when being attacked in their fortified strongholds: improved attributes and access to the town's market stack!

When a Hero attacks a Giant Lord in a town, the player to the attacking player's left may choose one experience counter to give to the Giant Lord per card in the town's market stack. The Giant Lord's attributes, Life value, and Stamina value (which is 0 by default) receive the benefits of the bonuses shown on the experience counters. Giant Lords may only receive one of each type of experience counter, so they are limited to five total experience counters, even if there are more than five cards in the town's market stack. Additionally, the +2 @, +2 %, and +2 < experience counters also increase the Giant Lord's damage value in that phase by 1.

Example: Alfredo attacks Yanesh the Bloodthirsty, the Giant Lord occupying Greyhaven. John is sitting to Alfredo's left, so he counts the number of cards in Greyhaven's market stack; there is an Ally, a Rage Blade, the Eyes of Avra, and the Mirror of Shael, for a total of four cards. He chooses the "+1 ^," "+2 >," "+2 @," and "+2 %" experience counters from the experience counter pool and places them next to the Giant Lord card. Yanesh the Bloodthirsty's attributes and Life and Stamina values are now as shown below:

@16/3 %19/5 <13/1

^5 >2

Finally, the Giant Lord may use Items in the town's market stack just as if he were a Hero! Items that can only be activated during the Movement Step may not be used, and the Giant Lord never moves from the town. The player to the attacker's left decides how Items are used, activated, or discarded. For the purposes of tests, the Giant Lord's @, %, and < values are equal to its @, %, and < –10.

Example: It is the "Before Combat" phase of the combat from the previous example. Since the Challenge's "Before Combat" effects resolve first, John looks at Yanesh the Bloodthirsty's options. The card itself has a passive ability, so there's nothing to be done there. The Ally and the Eyes of Avra may not be used, so he ignores them. That leaves the Dwarven Fire Bomb, the Mirror of Shael, and the Rage Blade. John decides that Yanesh will use the Mirror of Shael, so he activates it and Yanesh takes 1 > (if he did not have the "+2 >" experience counter, he would not be able to do so). Throughout this combat, any time the Giant Lord takes 1 or more ^ as the result of a magic combat roll, Alfredo's Hero will take 1 ^ as well. Additionally, thanks to the Rage Blade, Yanesh's inflicts +2 ^ in the melee phase, for a total of 7 ^!

If a Hero is knocked out facing a Giant Lord in a town, discard the Giant Lord's experience counters as well as any ^ or > it took during the combat. If a Hero defeats a Giant Lord, he takes the card, the red adventure counter (which may be spent as normal), and any reward listed on the card. Leave any experience counters on the card. The attacking Hero then continues with his turn, entering a Market Step in the Liberated town as normal. However, because of his heroic acts, he is also rewarded by the town with the spoils of victory; during that Market Step, he may take one card of his choice from the town's market stack for free.

Winning the Game

The game ends when the last of the giant-occupied towns is Liberated. The player with the most fame points wins. Each Giant Lord, whether defeated through normal adventuring or in the Endgame, is worth 1 fame point +1 per experience counter on it. Ties are broken by first checking to see which Hero is highest level, then by which has the most gold, and finally by which has the most unspent adventure counters.