I grabbed my copy of Res Arcana from the post office today on my way home from work. I got it to the table this afternoon.
This is how it comes. It's simple and very nice...
-The "Places of Power" cards (in box - large cards side by side) are thick carboard type cards. Double sided with different "Places of Power", which gives you 10 in total.
-Underneath those is one thick cardboard card (same size) that is double sided; one side to remind you of the setup, the other side to remind you of turn order/actions
-The Magic Item cards (in box - top left) are cardboard cards as well but smaller. There are 8 in total.
-Underneath the magic items is the shrink wrapped Monument cards, Artifact cards, Mage cards and 4 reference cards to help with understanding the symbols for beginner players.
-First Player Token (and 1VP to the person holding it at the end) (in box - top right)
-Essence multiplier tokens (in box - little bag in the middle)
-Essence tokens (Elan, Death, Life, Calm and Gold) to the right of the box in their own organizer. Very handy!
-Nice big, but short and to the point instruction manual
All the cards are really nice. I love the artwork so much better in person than on BGA. LOL
Since I already knew how to play (thank you BGA), I started with a two handed game to simulate multiplayer. Technically you can do it as a nice practice to get used to looking for all available actions per round etc... I played sort of half of that game, and then decided to check out the solo variant JW brought to my attention; I enjoyed it, and it's going to be a challenge for sure.
There is still another fan-made solo variant I'll be looking into as well.
Overall, I'm so excited to have this in my collection. :)
Ok, that was quick. LOL All I had to do was scroll down to read what Scott wrote in regards to the cards that become obsolete. LOL No questions needed.
Basically there are a couple cards (such as the Guard Dog) that become essentially useless in the variant. But many others, still supply you with something; essences in collection phase or VPs for example.
With a few other cards that say something like "collect 2-death essences and your opponent collects 1", Scott suggests to split the difference. In this case, collect 1-death instead of two. Makes sense and keeps things simple (in terms of rules, not winning LOL)
I'll wait for your next report, but it sounds very promising. If you do write more, could you please tell if the solo variants change the way you play yourself (compared with the multiplayer rules)? Thanks!
Very nice. Enjoy!