Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Rise of the Runelords Base Set

At least you have some confirmation of shipping...count your blessings.

Only 29 blessings left:)

ha! nice, dural.

Calthaer wrote:

At least you have some confirmation of shipping...count your blessings.

Only 29 blessings left:)

Remember this joke. You may see it again soon.

Mike

Shikutz wrote:

Another question:

After the reset portion of a turn is a player allowed to play a card that would allow for an additional exploration (though never more than 2 per turn), or must all exploration occur on the "explore" part of one's turn?

Is that bolded part actually true? I looked through the rules and it says this:

rulebook wrote:

Explore: When you explore, flip over the top card of your current location deck. If it’s a boon, you may attempt to acquire it; if you don’t, banish it. If it’s a bane, you must try to defeat it. (See Encountering a Card on page 10.) You may explore your location once per turn. Many effects allow you to explore again on your turn; if, during a single exploration, multiple effects each give you an additional exploration, it counts as a total of 1 more exploration, not a series of additional explorations. You may never explore on another player’s turn.

The way I interpret the bolded part there is if you defeat a monster which says "You may immediately explore again" and the location also says "If you defeat a monster at this location, you may immediately explore again", then you get only one more exploration, not another extra one afterwards.

However, if you finish your first exploration by defeating a monster, you can play a blessing or Ally to explore again. If you then defeat a monster or acquire a boon, you can still use another blessing or Ally to explore again, right? You're not actually limited to just 2 explorations at most per turn, correct?

Just wanted to make sure that clarification is made. :)

Yes this correct. You can explore many times in a turn up to 10 ;).

This is going to sound like a dumb questions I think - but I've read though the rules and I can't find an answer to this. When you turn over the top card of the blessings deck, do you actually use this effect at all? I know the "blessings of the gods" card lets you duplicate it if you choose, but from what I can gather, the blessing deck could almost have easily just been a deck of cards with 1-30 randomly written on it. It seems like most of the effects on blessing cards come when you "encounter" them or "play" them, and advancing the blessings deck is neither of these.

Please tell me I'm wrong.

In case anyone is still having issues with their local store, alliance now shows it for a street date of the 28th.

This is going to sound like a dumb questions I think - but I've read though the rules and I can't find an answer to this. When you turn over the top card of the blessings deck, do you actually use this effect at all? I know the "blessings of the gods" card lets you duplicate it if you choose, but from what I can gather, the blessing deck could almost have easily just been a deck of cards with 1-30 randomly written on it. It seems like most of the effects on blessing cards come when you "encounter" them or "play" them, and advancing the blessings deck is neither of these.

Please tell me I'm wrong.

Nope, the only effects of the blessings deck are to advance the timer and to allow you to duplicate the effect with a Blessing of the Gods. I think the ONLY other thing I've seen so far is that the Werewolf monster has in its description that if the top card of the blessings deck IS a Blessing of the Gods, his difficulty is increased by 2.

austinmonster wrote:

This is going to sound like a dumb questions I think - but I've read though the rules and I can't find an answer to this. When you turn over the top card of the blessings deck, do you actually use this effect at all? I know the "blessings of the gods" card lets you duplicate it if you choose, but from what I can gather, the blessing deck could almost have easily just been a deck of cards with 1-30 randomly written on it. It seems like most of the effects on blessing cards come when you "encounter" them or "play" them, and advancing the blessings deck is neither of these.

Please tell me I'm wrong.

Nope, the only effects of the blessings deck are to advance the timer and to allow you to duplicate the effect with a Blessing of the Gods. I think the ONLY other thing I've seen so far is that the Werewolf monster has in its description that if the top card of the blessings deck IS a Blessing of the Gods, his difficulty is increased by 2.

That's disappointing. I feel like either 1) there could have been a special deck that actually displayed the countdown or 2) the blessings could have had an effect. It just feels like there was potential here that was missed.

cartmanbeck wrote:

austinmonster wrote:

This is going to sound like a dumb questions I think - but I've read though the rules and I can't find an answer to this. When you turn over the top card of the blessings deck, do you actually use this effect at all? I know the "blessings of the gods" card lets you duplicate it if you choose, but from what I can gather, the blessing deck could almost have easily just been a deck of cards with 1-30 randomly written on it. It seems like most of the effects on blessing cards come when you "encounter" them or "play" them, and advancing the blessings deck is neither of these.

Please tell me I'm wrong.

Nope, the only effects of the blessings deck are to advance the timer and to allow you to duplicate the effect with a Blessing of the Gods. I think the ONLY other thing I've seen so far is that the Werewolf monster has in its description that if the top card of the blessings deck IS a Blessing of the Gods, his difficulty is increased by 2.

That's disappointing. I feel like either 1) there could have been a special deck that actually displayed the countdown or 2) the blessings could have had an effect. It just feels like there was potential here that was missed.

I feel like the blessings deck actually has an effect more often than you'd think. For example, if you're playing Merisiel and you have a dagger in your hand, and the Blessing of Erastil pops up on the top of the blessings deck at the beginning of your turn, you will dance a little jig of joy since you or another player can use a single Blessing of the Gods to give you TWO extra d12s (total of 3d12 + 1d4 thanks to the dagger) to your attack roll. It's random, obviously, but when it works for you it makes a huge difference.

Supafnk wrote:

Very much looking forward to picking this up, unfortunately my lo all shop is being told by alliance, their distributor, that they don't have the game in stock yet to send to stores. Are you aware of any delays or is this a random issue for my shop? Thanks as always.

Nope, it seems to be more than just your shop.

At the Compleat Strategist here in NYC they were told that they're not getting it until next WEEK.

Which is more than a little disappointing.

Yep, we had to delay the release by a week because some distributors didn't get their shipments in time to be able to have their retailers have the game on the release date. And we are all about trying to level the playing field. We didn't think that it would be fair to let some retailers have it on the release date while others had to wait through no fault of their own. The shipments just took longer than they should have to get to the distributors in question once shipped.

-Lisa

is a character like lem able to make a "combat" check if he does not have a weapon or spell? in other words, can strength or dex dice be used to attempt a "combat" check?

is a character like lem able to make a "combat" check if he does not have a weapon or spell? in other words, can strength or dex dice be used to attempt a "combat" check?

If you don't have a weapon or another card that changes the dice you use for combat (such as a spell or amulet of mighty fists), then you use your Strength die.

austinmonster wrote:

cartmanbeck wrote:

austinmonster wrote:

This is going to sound like a dumb questions I think - but I've read though the rules and I can't find an answer to this. When you turn over the top card of the blessings deck, do you actually use this effect at all? I know the "blessings of the gods" card lets you duplicate it if you choose, but from what I can gather, the blessing deck could almost have easily just been a deck of cards with 1-30 randomly written on it. It seems like most of the effects on blessing cards come when you "encounter" them or "play" them, and advancing the blessings deck is neither of these.

Please tell me I'm wrong.

Nope, the only effects of the blessings deck are to advance the timer and to allow you to duplicate the effect with a Blessing of the Gods. I think the ONLY other thing I've seen so far is that the Werewolf monster has in its description that if the top card of the blessings deck IS a Blessing of the Gods, his difficulty is increased by 2.

That's disappointing. I feel like either 1) there could have been a special deck that actually displayed the countdown or 2) the blessings could have had an effect. It just feels like there was potential here that was missed.

I feel like the blessings deck actually has an effect more often than you'd think. For example, if you're playing Merisiel and you have a dagger in your hand, and the Blessing of Erastil pops up on the top of the blessings deck at the beginning of your turn, you will dance a little jig of joy since you or another player can use a single Blessing of the Gods to give you TWO extra d12s (total of 3d12 + 1d4 thanks to the dagger) to your attack roll. It's random, obviously, but when it works for you it makes a huge difference.

Are you allowed to put specific blessings in your character deck? I know the only ones that are in the Pre-Made decks are "blessings of the gods." Is there anything to stop Merisiel's player from just putting the "blessings of Erastil" in her own deck? Also - thank you for the responses! I've been looking forward to this game for a long while, and it's awesome to finally get to talk about it.

cartmanbeck wrote:

austinmonster wrote:

cartmanbeck wrote:

austinmonster wrote:

This is going to sound like a dumb questions I think - but I've read though the rules and I can't find an answer to this. When you turn over the top card of the blessings deck, do you actually use this effect at all? I know the "blessings of the gods" card lets you duplicate it if you choose, but from what I can gather, the blessing deck could almost have easily just been a deck of cards with 1-30 randomly written on it. It seems like most of the effects on blessing cards come when you "encounter" them or "play" them, and advancing the blessings deck is neither of these.

Please tell me I'm wrong.

Nope, the only effects of the blessings deck are to advance the timer and to allow you to duplicate the effect with a Blessing of the Gods. I think the ONLY other thing I've seen so far is that the Werewolf monster has in its description that if the top card of the blessings deck IS a Blessing of the Gods, his difficulty is increased by 2.

That's disappointing. I feel like either 1) there could have been a special deck that actually displayed the countdown or 2) the blessings could have had an effect. It just feels like there was potential here that was missed.

I feel like the blessings deck actually has an effect more often than you'd think. For example, if you're playing Merisiel and you have a dagger in your hand, and the Blessing of Erastil pops up on the top of the blessings deck at the beginning of your turn, you will dance a little jig of joy since you or another player can use a single Blessing of the Gods to give you TWO extra d12s (total of 3d12 + 1d4 thanks to the dagger) to your attack roll. It's random, obviously, but when it works for you it makes a huge difference.

Are you allowed to put specific blessings in your character deck? I know the only ones that are in the Pre-Made decks are "blessings of the gods." Is there anything to stop Merisiel's player...

You can't just put them in your deck because they're not Basic cards, and you're supposed to start with Basic cards only. If you acquire them while playing the game, however, you can definitely replace some of your Blessings of the Gods with them.

Wow. I am so glad I found this discussion board. I have two separate questions to ask.

First, something that is not game mechanics related! But, I was asked a question by a friend who wants to try that game & I didn't know the best answer. He knows the story of the game is based off the RotRL Adventure Path. Though there is flavor text on the cards, he wanted to know how he could find out more of the story. Of course, the first answer that came to mind was to read or play the Adventure Path. He's never played an RPG before though & I'm not sure he's willing to make that jump yet. Is there any other good sources out there? Do the comics cover this storyline? Novels? Anything?

Second, I am not sure I understand multiple players in one location fighting the same villain, henchman, etc. Yes, the players whose turn it is must battle. If the villain just has a combat check...can two players battle or does just the one player take the only available way to fight him? Like someone else asked, I initially wanted to say the player 1 would do x-amount of damage and player 2 would do x-amount, hopefully enough to beat the villain, but I see how that usually that would equal an easy win. So, if I am reading prior posts right (and thinking while I type this), can two players only battle if there are two or more ways to defeat the opponent with hopefully one of the players succeeding?

Thank you for a fun game!

Wow. I am so glad I found this discussion board. I have two separate questions to ask.

First, something that is not game mechanics related! But, I was asked a question by a friend who wants to try that game & I didn't know the best answer. He knows the story of the game is based off the RotRL Adventure Path. Though there is flavor text on the cards, he wanted to know how he could find out more of the story. Of course, the first answer that came to mind was to read or play the Adventure Path. He's never played an RPG before though & I'm not sure he's willing to make that jump yet. Is there any other good sources out there? Do the comics cover this storyline? Novels? Anything?

Second, I am not sure I understand multiple players in one location fighting the same villain, henchman, etc. Yes, the players whose turn it is must battle. If the villain just has a combat check...can two players battle or does just the one player take the only available way to fight him? Like someone else asked, I initially wanted to say the player 1 would do x-amount of damage and player 2 would do x-amount, hopefully enough to beat the villain, but I see how that usually that would equal an easy win. So, if I am reading prior posts right (and thinking while I type this), can two players only battle if there are two or more ways to defeat the opponent with hopefully one of the players succeeding?

Thank you for a fun game!

To your first question: I would strongly recommend your friend just read through the Adventure Path. It's got a great storyline, and for the most part he could skip over the rules sections and just enjoy the story. RotRL hasn't been turned into novels or anything (YET! I would love to see that though!)

To your second question, IF the villain has two combat checks that need to be made to defeat him (such as Ripnugget and Stickfoot, the villain from the 1st adventure path's first scenario, which requires a combat 9 check and then a combat 10 check) ONLY THEN can you allow another player to help out. The person who drew the villain card from the deck MUST make one of those two checks, but another player at the same location can make the other one. You don't add your combat checks together to defeat the villain... that would make it way too easy, trust me.
If the villain only has a single combat check, the person who flipped over the card does that check, period.

Folks, please ask rules questions in the ACG forum. (Before you start a new thread there, please look first to see if there's already an appropriate thread—or perhaps already an answer—for your question.) I will answer questions that have already been asked over the next few posts, though.

Thank you for the heads up Lisa, its appreciated!

Charles Scholz wrote:

My point is you can't close a location until you defeat a henchman. Unless the henchman is near the top, there are not enough blessings if the villain is in the last location explored.

A couple of things, blessings you find in game can also be used to explore. Many allies also let you explore. The odds of all henchman and villains being on the bottom of all the decks is very small. (1 in 100,000,000 for 6 players). Blessings also can sometimes be recharged, so they might able to be used again to search.

There are also cards and powers that let you scope out cards in the location decks without actually exploring them, and there are even things that add cards to the blessings deck.

There are a *lot* of resources that let you get through location decks before the blessings deck runs out, and using them wisely is a big part of winning the game.

is there a limit to how many spells can be played in a single turn?

The only limit is that each player may only play one spell on any given check. So multiple players can play one spell each on a check, and there can be multiple checks on any given turn, so a *lot* of spells can be played on a turn.

can spells like "strength" be cast to aid another during an ally's encounter with a monster, if at the same location?

Depends on the spell. If a power says "your check", you can only play it on your check. If it says "at your location," you can play it on any check at your location. If it doesn't say either of those (and doesn't have an opposite restriction, such as on "another player", or at "another location"), you can play it on any check at any location.

if a blessing gives 2 die to a check, is the character able to choose which die to duplicate? e.g. druid lini discards a card for wild shape d10 to strength and reveals a crow for an additional d4; if a blessing is played that gives 2 additional die to his check will he be able to choose 2 additional d10's or does he receive an additional d10 and d4?

There's no choice to be made—the extra die is whatever die the player is rolling for the ability that they're using on the check. In your example, Lini is rolling a d10 for her strength check, so when you add a die to that check, you're always adding a d10. (You don't double up any other dice or bonuses.) So she'd roll 3d10+d4.

Another question:

After the reset portion of a turn is a player allowed to play a card that would allow for an additional exploration (though never more than 2 per turn), or must all exploration occur on the "explore" part of one's turn?

Nope—when you've finished resetting your hand, you're done.

austinmonster wrote:

This is going to sound like a dumb questions I think - but I've read though the rules and I can't find an answer to this. When you turn over the top card of the blessings deck, do you actually use this effect at all? I know the "blessings of the gods" card lets you duplicate it if you choose, but from what I can gather, the blessing deck could almost have easily just been a deck of cards with 1-30 randomly written on it. It seems like most of the effects on blessing cards come when you "encounter" them or "play" them, and advancing the blessings deck is neither of these.

Please tell me I'm wrong.

Nope, the only effects of the blessings deck are to advance the timer and to allow you to duplicate the effect with a Blessing of the Gods. I think the ONLY other thing I've seen so far is that the Werewolf monster has in its description that if the top card of the blessings deck IS a Blessing of the Gods, his difficulty is increased by 2.

The reason that it doesn't just apply a countdown is that there are things in the game that fiddle with the deck, including things that add and remove cards from it.

It's an interesting design space that only gets used a little bit in Rise of the Runelords, but I expect you'll see it explored more in future sets.

Shikutz wrote:

is a character like lem able to make a "combat" check if he does not have a weapon or spell? in other words, can strength or dex dice be used to attempt a "combat" check?

If you don't have a weapon or another card that changes the dice you use for combat (such as a spell or amulet of mighty fists), then you use your Strength die.

Strength or Melee, actually.

I was asked a question by a friend who wants to try that game & I didn't know the best answer. He knows the story of the game is based off the RotRL Adventure Path. Though there is flavor text on the cards, he wanted to know how he could find out more of the story. Of course, the first answer that came to mind was to read or play the Adventure Path. He's never played an RPG before though & I'm not sure he's willing to make that jump yet. Is there any other good sources out there? Do the comics cover this storyline? Novels? Anything?

So far, just the Adventure Path itself. However, we did just announce that we're working with Big Finish to create full-cast audiobook dramas, beginning with Rise of the Runelords. Burnt Offerings will kick off the line in January.

Ok... I think I got all the rules questions that hadn't yet been answered. If I missed any, please repost it, along with any new questions, in the ACG forum.

Ogee wrote:

I was asked a question by a friend who wants to try that game & I didn't know the best answer. He knows the story of the game is based off the RotRL Adventure Path. Though there is flavor text on the cards, he wanted to know how he could find out more of the story. Of course, the first answer that came to mind was to read or play the Adventure Path. He's never played an RPG before though & I'm not sure he's willing to make that jump yet. Is there any other good sources out there? Do the comics cover this storyline? Novels? Anything?

So far, just the Adventure Path itself. However, we did just announce that we're working with Big Finish to create full-cast audiobook dramas, beginning with Rise of the Runelords. Burnt Offerings will kick off the line in January.

Will these audio books be using the iconics and if so which ones?

Vic,

Does the success of the Base Set at GenCon bode well for other future campaigns? Congrats, BTW on the one day sell out!

And were there to be a future campaign, would that require its own Base Set, or could this Base Set be used—provided you had new campaign packs?

(After reading about it flying off the GenCon shelves and the good reviews, I decided to subscribe)

Disinherited Knight wrote:

Mike,

I waited patiently and today my Pathfinder Adventure Card Game base set + add-on deck came! First, I would like to say great job! This game is everything I thought it would be and more. I played a solo game and came upon a situation and could not find a clear answer in the rules so I am hoping you can help.

I am playing the druid, Lini, and one of her powers caused me to have questions. "You may discard a card to roll d10 instead of your strength or dexterity for any die check." She also has an ability that states "When you play an ally with the Animal trait, you may recharge it instead of discarding it."

So my question is about the definition of "played" in this instance. If I discard an animal ally to roll the d10 for strength or dexterity, does it go to my discard pile or do I recharge it? In other words does discarding a card always count as it being played no matter the reason?

Another example: If I discard a spell to roll the d10 for str or dex, do I still get to roll my Divine skill to recharge it instead of discarding it?

Thanks in advance for the help and for making an awesome game!

Not Mike, but none of what you are saying works. Playing the card is using the "card" power not the "charecter" power.

So if you discard the animal ally to fuel the "charecter" power you do not get to recharge.

If you discard the spell you do not get to recharge it either.

I found something else to cause me to question this. Either Youperguy's answer is incorrect or this card has unnecessary text.

The Town Square Location card reads: "You may discard a card from your hand to explore during your turn. This card may not be recharged. (bold emphasis is mine) If yourperguy's answer is correct about discarding not counting as "being played," then why is it specified here that it cannot be recharged when discarded.

Please, Mike, a little clarification on this point would be much appreciated.

Vic Wertz wrote:

However, we did just announce that we're working with Big Finish to create full-cast audiobook dramas, beginning with Rise of the Runelords. Burnt Offerings will kick off the line in January.

Will these audio books be using the iconics and if so which ones?

Rise of the Runelords stars Valeros, Merisiel, Ezren, and Harsk. If you'd like to discuss the Big Finish stuff further, please go here.

Does the success of the Base Set at GenCon bode well for other future campaigns? Congrats, BTW on the one day sell out!

And were there to be a future campaign, would that require its own Base Set, or could this Base Set be used—provided you had new campaign packs?

Things are looking very good for another AP, which we intend to handle much like this one: A new Base Set, Character Add-On Deck, and six Adventure Decks. You'll be *able* to combine cards from different sets, but you won't *need* to (and you might not really *want* to—the flavor of each AP will generally remain more true to the source material if you keep things separate).

DK,

Please keep the rules discussion to the proper forum.

Jim Groves wrote:

Does the success of the Base Set at GenCon bode well for other future campaigns? Congrats, BTW on the one day sell out!

And were there to be a future campaign, would that require its own Base Set, or could this Base Set be used—provided you had new campaign packs?

Things are looking very good for another AP, which we intend to handle much like this one: A new Base Set, Character Add-On Deck, and six Adventure Decks.

Was there ever any doubt?

Question - When you are playing through the Rise of the Runelords, is it intended to leave the AP cards with the general deck or to re-segregate them back into their boxes.

(Ditto the Character Add-On.)

The Town Square Location card reads: "You may discard a card from your hand to explore during your turn. This card may not be recharged. (bold emphasis is mine) If yourperguy's answer is correct about discarding not counting as "being played," then why is it specified here that it cannot be recharged when discarded.

Please, Mike, a little clarification on this point would be much appreciated.

Because it's very easy to imagine an effect which says, "If you discard a card, recharge it instead."

ShinHakkaider wrote:

Supafnk wrote:

Very much looking forward to picking this up, unfortunately my lo all shop is being told by alliance, their distributor, that they don't have the game in stock yet to send to stores. Are you aware of any delays or is this a random issue for my shop? Thanks as always.

Nope, it seems to be more than just your shop.

At the Compleat Strategist here in NYC they were told that they're not getting it until next WEEK.

Which is more than a little disappointing.

Yep, we had to delay the release by a week because some distributors didn't get their shipments in time to be able to have their retailers have the game on the release date. And we are all about trying to level the playing field. We didn't think that it would be fair to let some retailers have it on the release date while others had to wait through no fault of their own. The shipments just took longer than they should have to get to the distributors in question once shipped.

-Lisa

Thanks for the follow up Lisa.

I've never been a card game person. EVER. I have so many unopened free Magic starter decks from Cons that I've been to and have never played Magic or Pokemon. So the fact that I'm interested in and waiting for this particular card game is a big deal.

Still, while disappointing I totally understand why the need to wait and make sure everyone gets it at around the same time. After all it's only a week.

*WEEPS OPENLY*

Hi,

New member here with a question and a comment. But first, a little about me:

I became interested in gaming through Munchkin in Feb of 2012 (my kids were enjoying Monopoly and I wanted something nerdier.) Within 6 months, I had every set, expansion and accessory I could get my hands on, was well on my way to becoming an SJGames MIB, and was reading about Munchkin Pathfinder announcements from GenCon. I've never gotten into RPGs despite always having an interest. My sister played D&D when I was younger and I've always looked up to her. Also, I'm a big fan of Dragon Quest IX on the DS. I wanted to try Pathfinder to enhance my enjoyment of the Munchkin set, but real life gets in the way sometimes and I was never able to commit to finding a group. On Free RPG day, I watched a few tables, but decided it may not be for me (for a variety of reasons. [RPGs in general, not Pathfinder specifically.]) Well, yesterday, I followed forum member cartmanbeck over here from the SJGames forums to read his review of Munchkin Pathfinder and stumbled across this product. A huge coincidence that it happened to be the original street date. Anyway....

tl;dr - Huge Munchkin fan despite never engaging in standard pen and paper RPGs. Stumbled here yesterday.

My question: After reading this entire thread and the setup section of the rule book PDF, is it safe to describe the Adventure Card Game as an RPG without the detailed character creation (I understand you choose which basic cards to put in your deck among other things,) and without the need for a huge amount of imagination. In other words, is this an RPG where the cards are GM? Is it safe to play if you aren't RPG savvy?

My comment: I'm very very excited about this game. I plan to ask my FLGS about it tonight and possibly order it from the site tomorrow. I just want to let Paizo know that your partnership with SJGames has created at least one crossover customer, and I don't even have Munchkin Pathfinder yet. I was extremely impressed and excited to see that your staff has the same level of dedication to your community of customers as SJGames. Perhaps this game will push me towards more traditional RPGs. Thanks, people.

My question: After reading this entire thread and the setup section of the rule book PDF, is it safe to describe the Adventure Card Game as an RPG without the detailed character creation (I understand you choose which basic cards to put in your deck among other things,) and without the need for a huge amount of imagination. In other words, is this an RPG where the cards are GM? Is it safe to play if you aren't RPG savvy?

My comment: I'm very very excited about this game. I plan to ask my FLGS about it tonight and possibly order it from the site tomorrow. I just want to let Paizo know that your partnership with SJGames has created at least one crossover customer, and I don't even have Munchkin Pathfinder yet. I was extremely impressed and excited to see that your...

Yes! I was in the same boat as you when I first started here at Paizo. I hadn't played table top RPGs (though I played quite a few video game RPGs), and was always a little intimidated by how complicated they seemed, so I tried the demo of the card game at PaizoCon this year since it seemed to be an easier way to break into the RPG world. It was a lot of fun and pretty easy to pick up for someone who hasn't played RPGs before. The dice component of table top games have always confused me, but the cards make it easy to follow along and know what to roll and when.

Once you get the hang of the game it's a very condensed version of an RPG. A normal game will probably take you around an hour to complete depending on how many people you have playing with you. And, like you said, there isn't really detailed character creation; though you do get to advance your character as you go through the game. The cards do tell the story so you don't have to worry about doing a lot of back story reading or anything like that to play this game.

If you do end up wanting to dive more into the Pathfinder universe take a look at the Beginner's Box. A few coworkers organized a run through that for me and it's a really great way to get an idea of how to play a table top game without really complicated game mechanics. Having pregenerated characters is also REALLY nice so you can just pick it up and go.

It kind of surprises me that some of you think of this as an RPG-lite. To me, this looks like a potentially fun card game, but it's clearly missing the "R" from "RPG". You're not really playing a role. You're playing a "toon", to borrow the video game slang, and just using the character to kill bad guys, grab loot, and complete missions. Which is fine by itself, but it misses the entire point of a table top RPG.

To me, the whole reason to play Pathfinder instead of going online to play World of Warcraft is that you give your character personality. As an example, my most recent Pathfinder Society session involved a dwarven druid with low charisma cleaning the mushrooms out of his beard before attending a wedding, a summoner whose eidolon was Derpy from My Little Pony (complete with actual MLP figure as her mini), the same summoner trying to look prettier than the bride at the wedding and flirting with the high priest who conducted the ceremony, while my cleric of the same goddess as the high priest intentionally tried to stop her, and a wayang alchemist who spent most of the wedding reception riding Derpy and taunting her with muffins that she couldn't have. And that was in an organized play environment where people sometimes complain about "railroaded" plot lines getting in the way of real role playing! You just don't get that level of personality playing a video game, or playing a card game like this one.

Well, this sounds like exactly what I'm looking for, then. Very excited to try it. If it leads me to seek out something with more "personality," I certainly won't complain!

I didn't mean to come off as insulting to this game. I tried out the demo at GenCon, and it seems like a pretty cool card game, which I'll probably buy (they sold out at GenCon before I could grab it). But it's still just a card game, not an RPG.

I didn't mean to imply you did. It's just that the role playing aspect is what I think turns me off. The characters, settings and monsters piqué my interest, and this seems perfect.

Question - When you are playing through the Rise of the Runelords, is it intended to leave the AP cards with the general deck or to re-segregate them back into their boxes.

(Ditto the Character Add-On.)

For your first play session, you’ll need only the base cards, so leave Burnt Offerings sealed for now. If you own the Character Add-On Deck, go ahead and combine that set with the cards in the base set as described in “Organizing Your Cards” (see page 4).

Whenever you start a new adventure in the Adventure Path, add all of the cards

from that adventure deck to the box, sorting all of the cards by type and combining them with the cards you already have in the box.

So add the Character Add-On Deck to the rest of the cards as soon as you buy it, and add the cards from each Adventure Deck as soon as you begin playing scenarios from that adventure. Don't take them out. (There will be points where the adventures instruct you on how to remove certain cards, but that's a few months away.)

So Vic...

I demoed this at PaizoCon and really enjoyed it, and was one of the lucky few on Thursday to purchase my copy. It sold out fast!

My question is, are a lot of the cards meant to be stored in the original Character Add-on/Adventure cards retail boxes? As the tray has a spot for all of them? There are a lot of slots for just the cards as well, but will they all fit in there (without keeping them in the retail boxes) as you add more adventure paths?

I ask because those boxes are hard to open as they are extremely tight, I had to rip both of them slightly just to pull the tab out, so I hope all of the cards have their own slot (not in the retail boxes) as you buy more $19.99 adventure path additions.

Hobbun, as I understand it, you would put the adventure path part decks back in their boxes between "campaigns", so that only the basic cards would be in the type-based slots. As you play, when you reach each adventure you add its cards to the mix.

So, initially, you have only the basic cards in play, plus the character add-on if you have that.

Then you add Burnt Offerings when you're ready to start that adventure.

Next, you add Skinsaw Murders after you've finished Burnt Offerings.

Hook Mountain Massacre is added when you finish Skinsaw Murders, and it has some instructions to remove some of the lower-level cards.

Proceed in this way until you have played through the Spires of Xin-Shalast.

To re-set for a new game, you would put all of the cards from the Adventure decks back into their adventure deck boxes, leaving only the basic and character add-on decks in the type-based slots in the tray.

At least, that's how it appears to me to be intended.

Minor issue, I'm wondering if it's just my copy, or if it's common. The Loot slot in the box isn't formed right, so the card doesn't sit in it properly.

Curses! Valeros had Jubrayl cornered in the woods. He'd pursued him through town, defeated bandits, skeletons, even a werewolf. Until, just as he narrowed in on the villain...explosive runes. :(

I was that close!

Really nice work, Mike. Took me about an hour and a half to play a solo game cold. I didn't read the rules first but just learnt as I played (clearly I wouldn't have tried Valeros on his own if I'd known a bit more about how the game played).

I've been looking forward to this since it was announced, so you were going to struggle to meet my expectations. I'm happy to report that its even better than I'd hoped for. The rule book was really well laid out and clearly explained. The cards looked great and were easily read, even with middle aged eyes. The game is an excellent quick alternative which still manages to capture at least the feel of an RPG. Although I'm sure it will be better with a party, I was pleased at how much I enjoyed a solo game.

I'm already looking forward to curse of the crimson throne! :D

Curses! Valeros had Jubrayl cornered in the woods. He'd pursued him through town, defeated bandits, skeletons, even a werewolf. Until, just as he narrowed in on the villain...explosive runes. :(

I was that close!

Really nice work, Mike. Took me about an hour and a half to play a solo game cold. I didn't read the rules first but just learnt as I played (clearly I wouldn't have tried Valeros on his own if I'd known a bit more about how the game played).

I've been looking forward to this since it was announced, so you were going to struggle to meet my expectations. I'm happy to report that its even better than I'd hoped for. The rule book was really well laid out and clearly explained. The cards looked great and were easily read, even with middle aged eyes. The game is an excellent quick alternative which still manages to capture at least the feel of an RPG. Although I'm sure it will be better with a party, I was pleased at how much I enjoyed a solo game.

I'm already looking forward to curse of the crimson throne! :D

Great to hear you had fun despite playing it cold! For a solo game, I strongly suggest starting with Lini, since she can do everything pretty well (healing, extra explorations, most checks, etc.). Valeros is NOT the best solo, because he is meant to help others out!

Yeah, now I understand how it works I'd make a different choice - I did get close though. Jubrayl, a locked door and explosive runes was all I had left when I died.

If I'd got to him, he was doomed. :)