Talisman, the board game

[Particle_Man]

Gods, my nostalgia is warming up here

I remember more. The experience in original talisman could only be used to increase strength, unless you had a character whose special power let you do otherwise. Few characters could initiate combat using craft, but anyone could try to use strength to beat up other people (either to make them lose a life or to take an object/gold from them).

There was even a Ninja in one of the original line's expansions. And everyone knows that Ninjas are cool!

 

[Asmo]

We all know that Talisman is somewhat unbalanced and we problably have our own set of house rules.
I want to know what your house rules are! It would be nice to have some examples of what modifications your group have done to the game.
One rule that we changed pretty quick was the rule that spellcaster could cast how many spells they wanted each round.
Now spellcasters can cast only one spell each round unless they cast the spells in defensive mode.
An example: The Prophetess casts Mesmerism and gains control of the Familiar. The same round she is attacked by the Sprite wich casts Finger of Death. She can now respond with a Counterspell or Reflection.

Asmo

 

[Utrecht]

You can find out more about Talisman (as well as purchase/sell a copy) at boardgamegeek.com

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/714

 

[Altalazar]

I hadn't realized there were that many supplements, though now that I think of it, I guess I had more than just the two - I had all of them but the Dragon and Timescape, I think.

Anyone here do Cosmic Encounters?

 

[CaffeineBoy]

Two things:

1) I agree with everyone above. The current release of Talisman is really too expensive for what you get. You should consider buying it only as a last resort (IMHO). Watch eBay... copies of the old Talisman come up every once in a while.

2) In the mean time, consider Dungeoneer: Tomb of the Lich Lord.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/5576

I love this game and it plays very much like Talisman, but faster and with fewer rules-related issues. The second expansion is already out (Dungeoneer: Vault of the Fiends) and is, likewise, great fun. You can add the two together if you want to expand your dungeon size and game time, or play them separately for quicker, less lethal games.

 

[Particle_Man]

I want to know what your house rules are! It would be nice to have some examples of what modifications your group have done to the game.
One rule that we changed pretty quick was the rule that spellcaster could cast how many spells they wanted each round.
Now spellcasters can cast only one spell each round unless they cast the spells in defensive mode.
An example: The Prophetess casts Mesmerism and gains control of the Familiar. The same round she is attacked by the Sprite wich casts Finger of Death. She can now respond with a Counterspell or Reflection.

Asmo

We used a similar spell rule (one spell per turn) but yours is better. Yoink!

Other rules applied to expansions. If all other surviving characters were in timescape when someone had one of the uber-items (crown of command, belt of hercules, pandora's box) gained at the centre to beat other players up with, then those characters in Timescape were considered to have lost the game. (Talisman Timescape)

(Talisman City): You only had a 1 in 6 chance of becoming Archmage when trading in a magic item. You needed to subtract 4 from the roll to become Sheriff. The beggar, upon being given one gold, would make you a king's champion on a 6, but would only disappear on a 1 (remained on a 2-5).

General: Horses, mules, horses and carts, and warhorses do not fit in bags of holding, secret pouches, or even horse and carts. They can, however, be led around by porters.

The Chinese Dragon did not steal magic items if it was being dominated by another player using the staff of mastery.

There were more, but that is all I can remember right now.

Unofficial: Only new players were allowed to play Prophetess or Warrior of Chaos.

 

[vutpakdi]

Hjorimir wrote:

"There are only two rules you need to know:

1) If you get the Prophetess, say, "I win."

2) If somebody else has the Prophetess, she must die."

This is a very good rule
I would like to include the Thief to that list

I would also add the Merchant. He was a great one to get and a little more acceptable than the Thief since he always had to "trade" something for something if he landed on someone else. Okay, it was always along the lines of "Oh, that's a nifty super powerful thing that you have, how about I give you this worthless thing for it?" but at least there was an exchange.

Another character of renown was the infamous "Nazi Death Sprite" who got her fame mainly by defeating this ogre (I think) who had beat all of the other characters who landed upon him until the poor little weak sprite landed on him and soundly squashed him.

Ah, what memories.... Maybe I ought to pull out the old set and spring it on my wife...

Ron