At Gen Con, Fantasy Flight Games announced a new edition of its award-winning fantasy adventure boardgame Runebound.  The new edition will release in Q4.

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ICv2 spoke with Steve Horvath, Senior VP of Communications at Fantasy Flight Games, who described the new edition as “a near-complete re-imagining of previous versions of the game.  We kept the heart and flavor, but re-imagined all the rest of the game.” The new edition introduces a competitive play dynamic, so players no longer work cooperatively.

The players are the heroes of a typical fantasy kingdom, seeking glory and riches as they explore the land and do battle with a variety of monsters and villains.  As the game progresses, heroes grow their strength and power, and gain new abilities and magic items, until they feel ready to confront the ancient and powerful evil terrorizing the land.  The players race each other to be the one who can defeat this ultimate villain, and prove that they are the greatest hero in the realm.

The third edition replaces the dice-based combat mechanics in the previous editions with an all-new token-based combat system:  players toss their tokens like coins, using the results to damage opponents or defend against their attacks.

Two scenarios are included in the game, and players can confront either the Dragonlord Margath or the necromancer Vorakesh.  The scenario chosen alters the card decks in the game, creating different playing experiences and challenges. The game is for 2 - 4 players, ages 14 and up, and takes two to three hours to play.  MSRP is $59.95.

The first edition of Runebound was released in 2004, and was the birthplace of the fantasy game setting that Fantasy Flight has used in many of its games, including Descent:  Journeys in the Dark, BattleLore Second Edition, Rune Age, and Runewars.