INTRODUCTION
What in tarnation? Blood Money Western Legends is a gold mine of additions to the Old West sandbox game by Kolossal Games. This mid-sized box sized comes with ten new characters, four new goals for each character, 36 item cards plus (“store randomizer” cards that allow you to more easily set up the various stores available in the game), replacement poker cards with different effects and 12 legendary items. In addition to all this, Blood Money introduces several new easily incorporated concepts such as Injuries, Deeds, Ruins, Legendary Story Cards and the Risk die.
WESTERN LEGENDS BASICS
Western Legends by Kolossal Games is a sandbox game set in the wild, wild west. Players take on the role of historical characters of that period such as Billy the Kid or Annie Oakley and try to earn enough Legendary Points to ride off into the sunset with the win. As a sandbox game there are numerous ways to win…will you take the straight and narrow path and play as a lawman? Or maybe wrangling cattle on the dusty trails is more to your liking? Outlaws are represented too, as are gamblers and prospectors. Each character has a special ability to unlock, and one of the most interesting aspects of Western Legends is just because you start the game the game on one side of the law, nothing says you can’t switch sides during the game if that seems like a faster path to victory. Along the way you’ll earn money, buy items and travel the board, which is beset by bandits as well as your opponents.
NEW CHARACTERS
Blood Money adds 10 all new characters to Western Legends. Unlike the expansion The Good, the Bad and the Handsome Expansion, this group of new ne’er do wells are a mixed bag of abilities and specialties. For example, Al Swearengen incorprates the new Deed mechanic, with Deeds costing him less money along with the ability to use their normally one use abilities multiple times during the game; Tom Tobin pays less for Legendary items and can shop at the Traveling Trader free if he ends his turn in the same region; and James “Bloody Arm” Beckwourth draws poker cards when he rolls the Risk die and gains Story Points for fighting (PCs or NPCs). Once again Kolossal has done a great job incorporating additions from the expansion into the characters.
LEGENDARY STORY CARDS
The expansion adds the concept of Legendary Stories. There are two sets of 20 cards, designated A and B and numbered 1 to 20. You can play with one set or the other or mix and match as long as there are 20 cards numbered 1-20 in the deck. Unlike the previous Story Cards, which had effects and rewards that were given out when the card was completed, the Legendary Stories have immediate rewards for the player completing the task, typically two or three per card. For example, the same card might give give the player who discards a card at the Sheriff’s Office $40 and a Story Point, while another player can earn the same reward by visiting the Marshal’s Office on the side board. Although our group had no problem with the old Story Card system, cards could stagnate because no one could do it in a timely manner, or one player was the only one who could fulfil the requirements which were the same on each old card. The Legendary Stories feel more dynamic as players don’t have to visit the same place and the immediate rewards are a nice twist. Some cards have an ongoing effect as well, affecting the game until the card is completed, such as rolling the Risk die if you end your turn at a mine (for the prospecting oriented player) or Bandits drawing additional fight cards. As before, once the card is complete there’s an additional reward for the players that contributed to completing it.
ITEMS/LEGENDARY ITEMS/TRAVELING TRADER
The box also comes with a dozen new Legendary Items such as the Spurs, which increase your movement if you have a mount, or the Shot Glass which gives you the ability to heal a wound or draw a poker card if you end your turn in town. As before, most of the Legendary Items are worth Legendary Points (victory) at the end of the game. The Traveling Trader is the purveyor of Legendary Items…whereas before characters only earned Legendary Items as part of completing stories, now they can purchase them directly from the Traveling Trader. The Trader has a few Legendary Items offered for sale, as well as any items not located in the General Store or Trading Post; the Traveller also has a facedown deck of the remaining Legendary Items in the event a player obtains one from a story card, etc. The expansion comes with a miniature for the Trader and a deck of cards to determine what region of the board the Traveller is currently in, moving every time someone buys something (which can be a fun way to make other players travel further if you know someone really wants an item the Traveller has for sale).
DEEDS
Players with an eye toward building an old west empire can now buy Deeds to the many locations on the board, such as the Saloon, the Doctor’s Office or one of the Mines. As an action, a player can pay the cost listed on the Deed, each of which has a useful once per game ability; once the ability is triggered, the card is flipped as a reminder, but now the Deed is worth a Legendary Point bonus (remember to use those abilities though…unless the Deed has been flipped, players do NOT get the LP bonus at the end of the game). Additionally, the more of each type of location you hold Deeds for (i.e., two or more Mines, both the General Store and Trading Post, etc.) the more each is worth at the end. Related to the Deeds, locations can now be destroyed during a game, usually as a result of a Story event. A token is placed on the location as a reminder and no one can use that locations Action until it is repaired with the new Repair action. The special abilities on Deeds cannot be triggered for destroyed locations either.
RISK DIE
The risk die is a fun new addition to the Western Legends game. When players find themselves just a bit too far from where they want to be or a few dollars short for a needed item, once per turn a player can roll the Risk Die. Regardless of the roll, the player will gain a poker card, $10 or get to move an extra space, chosen before they roll. The Risk Die can also award a player additional Story Points; however, rolling the Risk Die can also potentially result in the character suffering wounds, sometimes even a combination of Story Points and wounds.
INJURY CARDS
The wild west becomes even wilder with the final new addition contained in Blood Money: Injury Cards. When a character would take a wound in excess of their maximum, the player must draw from the Injury Card deck. Injury Cards can have an immediate effect, a lasting effect or both, and are often worth negative Legendary Points at the end of the game if left untreated. In addition to the effects on the card and the loss of Legendary Points, players with a wound that take further damage must discard a poker card for each subsequent wound taken.
OVERALL IMPRESSION
Boy, oh boy Blood Money is huge expansion to the Western Legends base game. Despite all the new additional rules, incorporating them is fairly simple, and you could even mix and match what you use (Don’t like being able to purchase Legendary Items? Leave the Traveling Trader out. Like te old Story Card system better? Play with the old ones instead). It’s a lot of game for the price and guaranteesto take your Western Legends gamesup a notch or two. My personal favorite additions are the Risk Die and Injuries…before Blood Money, there was little to no penalty to being fully wounded and taking more wounds. The Risk Die let’s to push your character’s limits to accomplish what needs to be done while the Injury Cards encourage you to weigh whether that fight is really necessary.
