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A forgotten evil stirs in the ancient land of Varisia. Dark magic once more thrums amid crumbling ruins, giants gather in titanic armies, cultists murder in the name of foul deities, and maniacal goblins plot a fiery end for the peaceful town of Sandpoint.
Launch a campaign to strike back against the evils plaguing Varisia with the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Rise of the Runelords - Base Set. This complete cooperative strategy card game pits 1 to 4 heroes against the traps, monsters, deadly magic, and despicable foes of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game's award-winning Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path. In this game players take the part of a fantasy character such as a rogue or wizard, each with varying skills and proficiencies that are represented by the cards in their deck. The classic ability scores (Strength, Dexterity, etc.) are assigned with different sized dice. Players can acquire allies, spells, weapons, and other items. The goal is to find and defeat a villain before a certain number of turns pass, with the villain being represented by its own deck of cards complete with challenges and foes that must be overcome. Characters grow stronger after each game, adding unique gear and awesome magic to their decks, and gaining incredible powers, all of which they'll need to challenge greater threats in a complete Pathfinder Adventure Card Game Adventure Path.
The Pathfinder Adventure Card Game is an expandable game, with the first set containing nearly 500 cards. The Rise of the Runelords - Base Set supports 1 to 4 players; a 110-card Character Add-On Deck expands the possible number of players to 5 or 6 and adds more character options for any number of players. The game will be expanded with bimonthly 110-card adventure decks.
Errata: Early printings had the Loot card "Sihedron Medallion" listed as belonging to "B" (for Base Set). It is instead supposed to read "1" (for Burnt Offerings ). (It is unknown if this has been fixed in later printings)
- Dynamic narrative with lots of content
- Solid solo option that scales with expansions
- Can become repetitive; depends on card luck
- Layout and setup can be lengthy
- Narrative-driven dungeon-crawl with evolving character progress
- Fantasy RPG-inspired card-driven adventure in the Runelords saga
- Campaign-like scenarios with modular card decks
- Descent: Journeys in the Dark
- Gloomhaven (as a large-scale storytelling alternative)
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Card-driven encounters — Draw and manage encounter, equipment, and location cards to advance the story
- Character progression — Acquire items and abilities across scenarios to improve power
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- this is a space where Mage Knight is described as the best solo game you can get your hands on today
- it's a living breathing world inside a box
- it's like being addicted to heroin... every month a new mythos pack is released
References (from this video)
- Innovative use of a single deck that handles health, healing, and action economy
- Creative card design that represents armor, weapons, and items in deck form
- Diverse character classes with progression and skill trees
- High replayability from multiple heroes, campaign paths, and expansions
- Tight integration of exploration, combat, and checks with card-driven pacing
- Strong solo potential and deep campaign longevity
- Helpful gloss and quick-start guide in the rulebook
- Rulebook is extremely dense and can be intimidating for first-time players
- Setup is lengthy and not quick to set up, though described as meditative by the speaker
- Text on cards can be very small, impacting readability; sleeves and component fit require planning
- Requires additional dice beyond what is included in the core set
- Learning curve is steep; not ideal for players seeking a light or quick game
- Support for content can be limited post-crunch (canned/retired content; Crimson Throne exists but future content is uncertain)
- Some players may dislike heavy dice rolling and potential card-depletion tension
- Heroic fantasy, exploration, item-driven progression
- Fantasy realm with dungeon-crawling adventurers in a shared campaign world
- Campaign-driven, scenario-based storytelling where success hinges on character-deck interactions and evolving quests
- Dungeons & Dragons (board game)
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Adventure path structure — Scenarios are grouped into Adventures; progression through an Adventure path unfolds a campaign narrative with a recurring villain dynamic.
- Boons, Bane, and Blessings — Location/deck cards create positive (Boons) or negative (Banes) effects; Blessings act as a timer and can grant extra dice or exploration options.
- Campaign progression and hero points — Gaining hero points upgrades character decks, unlocks new card types, and supports a skill-tree-style progression per class.
- Card-driven actions and placement — Cards are played in front of you, revealed, discarded, or moved to top/bottom of deck to influence checks and effects.
- Deck building — Before adventures, players build or customize their character decks, selecting cards to shape abilities and hand size.
- Deck construction and customization — Before adventures, players build or customize their character decks, selecting cards to shape abilities and hand size.
- Deck-as-health mechanic — Each character’s life and resources are represented by their draw deck. When the hand and/or deck are exhausted, the character is defeated.
- dice-based checks — Combat and skill checks are resolved by rolling dice, with more dice generally increasing success odds; blessings can modify rolls.
- Location-based teamwork — Characters in the same location contribute to checks; range weapons can affect checks at other locations, enabling cross-location synergy.
- Track advancement — Gaining hero points upgrades character decks, unlocks new card types, and supports a skill-tree-style progression per class.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- this is a RPG in the form it's a card driven RPG
- your character is your deck
- does a lot with just cards
- campaign driven game
- the rule book took me over a week to go through
- the blessings deck acts as your timer
- this is a dream solo game
- it's not for everybody
- the setup is meditative
- gloss tells you which page to go to