There is a lot of people that like this game but I would vote NO on Runebound. Played twice & did not liked it very much.
The problem? The first combats are very, very, VERY tough. The combat mechanic goes like this: Each side roll a D20 & add the relevant bonus. Now, players' stats at the start are between 2 & I think 5, maybe one has a 6 & the firts quests have enemies that starts at 9 & can go up to 12...
Hope it helps
The Prophet is slightly incorrect here. The first edition of Runebound used a D20, but that was quickly pulled from the shelves and replaced with Runebound 2nd edition, which used 2D10 to produce a cleaner bell curve.
I personally think Talisman is the far superior game because there's a lot of player interaction.
Runebound is overly complicated and requires almost no interaction with the other players except when the inevitable rules argument comes up. The way the game plays, it's essentially a solo game with multiple players.
In Talisman, a player rolls for his hit roll, and then the player opposite rolls for the monster. This means that even with 6 players, you're actively participating every 3 turns. And the limited number of spaces on the board means players are always crossing paths.
In Runebound, you are trying to roll higher than the numbers of the encounter card. There are three numbers: ranged attack, melee attack, and magic attack. Each "round" the player has to roll for all three attacks. The combat continues uninterupted until you or the monster is defeated, which typically takes between 2 and 3 rounds. That means a single player might make 9+ rolls during one turn. Add to that a movement system which, while interesting, is itself a rather slow process, and you have an average player's turn taking 5+ minutes to complete. Meanwhile, the rest of the group has nothing to do but watch you roll. Yawn.
There is also a huge disparity between the 2nd level challenges (yellow) and the 3rd level challenges (blue). Most of the player characters can tackle yellow challenges at the outset of the game (albeit, with some risk), whereas blue challenges still pose a serious threat after several hours of game play. I find this disparity stalls the game's progress considerably at a point where everyone is beginning to get restless.
I find Runebound is a fine solo game, and an ok 2 player game. But it a terrible game for groups of 3 and up.
I will say, however, that the Al-Kalim expansion is a far superior game. Here's hoping FFG makes an additional expansion deck for Al-Kalim cards.
