Talisman (game)

talisman
Game plan of Talisman, 2nd edition
Game data
author	Robert J. Harris , Jervis Johnson (3rd Edition)
publishing company	Games Workshop (1983, 1985, 1994, 2003), Schmidt Spiele (1986), Black Industries (2007), Fantasy Flight Games (2008), etc. a.
Publishing year	1983, 1985, 1994, 2003, 2007, 2008
Art	Fantasy board game
Teammates	2 to 6
Duration	120 - 180 minutes
Age	from 12 years

Talisman is a fantasy board game from Games Workshop from 1983. It was released in four editions. Editions 2 (subtitle: Together against Death & Devil) and 3 (subtitle: Adventure in the Land of Magic) were localized and published in Germany by Schmidt Spiele , the 4th edition (subtitle: Die magische Suche) by Heidelberger Spieleverlag and Pegasus Spiele . The game was developed by the Scottish author Robert "Bob" J. Harris and now enjoys cult status.

Game play and rules

The game is designed for 2 to 6 players and combines board game and role-playing elements . The characters move in a medieval fantasy world and improve their skills through adventures they have passed. The game is driven by numerous adventure cards. Adventure cards can represent gold, items, opponents, friends, strangers, locations or events. In addition to fields on which adventure cards are drawn, there are also places on the game board with special significance. For example, a village where players can heal themselves and buy items. If players get on a common space, they can trade with each other or attack each other. The loser must then surrender a life point or an object or companion.

If a player has collected enough strength, talent and life points as well as items, spells and companions in the outer and middle region, then he can dare to advance into the inner region of the playing field. If the player reaches the last space of the inner region using the talisman, he receives the crown of dominion and can deduct life points from other players each round. The winner is the player who defeated all other players with the crown or in a conventional fight.

Depending on the number of players, a game can take several hours.

equipment

In addition to a foldable game board, the 4th edition of the main game contains

104 adventure cards, 24 spell cards, 28 purchase cards and 4 talisman cards
14 character cards and 14 pieces each
40 (8 large and 32 small) strength, talent and life point markers each,
4 alignment cards, 4 toad cards and toad figures each
36 fate tokens
30 gold coins
6 dice
How to play

The game board is divided into three ring-shaped regions.

The outer region runs on the edge of the field and represents the starting position for all player characters. Here the player collects equipment and experience to make his hero more powerful.
The middle region is also used to develop the player character. It is more dangerous than the outer region and the only access to the inner region .
The inner region is in the middle of the field. Here the character has to survive several rounds to finally emerge as the winner of the game with the help of the talisman.

Editions

The first edition appeared in 1983, the second in 1985. There are six extensions to the second edition. The third edition was developed by Jervis Johnson and published in 1994. Three extensions have been published for this purpose. The fourth edition was published by Harris in 2007 with Black Industries and since 2008 with Fantasy Flight Games .

Extensions for the 2nd edition

The board game has been translated into numerous languages and various additional sets for the game have been released. There were expansions that can be used alongside the main game at the same time:

Talisman Expansion : This expansion includes 14 new characters, 6 spells and 36 adventure cards. In the German version, these are already included in the base game.
Talisman The Adventure : Expansion with 60 new cards and 8 new characters, as a special gag there are 6 different alternative endings, which are deposited face down on the Crown of Rulership. Never officially appeared in German.
Talisman City : a city board with new event cards, purchase items, 4 characters and spells. The city card replaces the city space on the main game board. New are the possibilities of profiles, loans and, so to speak, a "city character" as a profession. The German version lacks the characters Valkyrie and Minotaur, who instead appear again in the German version of Talisman Dungeon .
Talisman Dungeon : A spiraling underground dungeon plan with new items and treasures. In addition, 14 new game characters are offered. In the center of the dungeon there is the possibility to get directly to the Crown of Command without having to go through the inner region. Known in German-speaking countries as "Talisman II - Die Katakomben". In the German version the character cards of the Zulu, the Swashbuckler and the Scout are missing. For this purpose, the Valkyrie and the Minotaur, which were originally Talisman City characters, have been packed into the German edition .
Talisman Timescape : An expansion that brings science fiction elements to the game. The players are catapulted into another world and have to come back via teleport . The Warhammer 40,000- themed expansion was initially planned as fanwork by Canadian Frank Bourque, but Games Workshop decided to include it in the official program. The expansion includes 42 Timescape cards, 12 purchase cards, 2 spells and 8 new characters. It was never officially published in German. This expansion was not particularly liked by many fans because it disturbs the fantasy atmosphere a bit.
Talisman Dragons : A very difficult expansion, instead of the Crown of Command the Dragon King sits on the field in the middle, who is a tough opponent. The expansion brings 87 dragons or cards belonging to the dragon theme as well as four new characters into play. Only partially compatible with the Talisman Adventure expansion. Never officially appeared in German.
"Talisman White Dwarf" : From the White Dwarf magazines 72 and 115. As a small bonus, these issues include several talisman cards, including four so-called master characters (mystic, herald, champion of chaos and templar), which you cannot choose at the beginning, but can only rise through events. Also never officially published in German.

The four extensions ( The Adventure, Timescape, Dragons and White Dwarf ), which were not officially published in German, appeared in a presumably unlicensed small edition, each limited to 25 copies, created by a Talisman fan club, which, however, except for the missing cardboard box, of high-quality appearance. This version of Talisman The Adventure also contains the three missing characters from Talisman Dungeon .

1984–1986 Citadel Miniatures brought out tin miniatures of the individual characters and the "Toad" in cooperation with Games Workshop , only the extensions Dragons , City and "White Dwarf" were never implemented. You could paint these figures yourself, in order to increase the atmosphere of the game.

In 2000, Alexander Just published a CD-Rom with pdf files to print out yourself called "The Talisman Resource CD" ( ISBN 978-3522181020 ) with new additions, characters, event cards and spells for Talisman in English. The content exclusively comprises fanwork, which was collected by the proponents from the Yahoo forum "talisman_2nd_ed". The CD was edited by Henning Skallebaek, while the authors were Bill Ingram, Carsten Both, David Katleman, Ell Teeter, Fillipo Zuliani, Jeff Mirando, Jeremy Taylor, Jon New, Frank Kulkmann, Lukas Zach, Marijn van der Gaag. This CD is no longer available from retailers today.

Extensions for the 3rd edition

Dragon's Tower : A new game board with a dragon model, special rules and additional characters. Based in part on Talisman Dragons Edition II.
City of Adventure : Two new game boards (city and forest), plus lots of new characters and maps. Based in part on Talisman City Edition II.
Dungeon of Doom : Two new boards (dungeon and mountains), numerous new characters and maps. The aim of the expansion is to defeat the eagle king. Based in part on Talisman Dungeon Edition II.

4th edition

Presentation of the 4th edition at Gen Con 2007 in Indianapolis

Games Workshop no longer produces Talisman. In October 2007, Talisman was reissued in the fourth edition by Black Industries under license from Games Workshop. In early 2008, Black Industries announced that it would no longer produce board games, including Talisman. For this reason Fantasy Flight Games took over this license. The German edition was published at the end of 2008 as a joint production by Pegasus Spiele, which advertised the game in 2007, and the Heidelberger Spieleverlag, which localizes the games published by Fantasy Flights. Fantasy Flights has announced "The Reaper" and "Talisman: Dungeon" as the first expansions for the fourth edition. In 2016 the contract between Gamesworkshop and Fantasy Flight Games expired. Thus, they no longer have the license for any games from GW and a continuation or reprints of the series are no longer sold by Fantasy Flight Games.

Extensions for the 4th version

The Reaper (published in December 2008) : Contains 4 character cards, 90 adventure cards, 26 spell cards, 12 warlock cards, 1 reaper card, 4 plastic tokens, additional rules.
The Dungeons (published May 2009) : Contains a catacomb game board, more than 150 playing cards, 5 new character cards and figures. Similar to Talisman Dungeon (2nd Edition).
The Frostmark (English Frostmark, released in October 2009) : Contains 4 new character cards and figures, new adventures and new spells. In addition, 3 alternative endings are included, including the fight against the ice queen, in which the players have to team up.

The Highland (released in May 2010) : This expansion was released in May 2010 in the USA. It contains a new region, 6 new characters and 100 new maps. New alternative endings are expected.

The Sacred Pool, published in July 2011 : Published in English in October 2010. Contains 4 new characters, 72 new cards, 16 new magic cards, 24 task reward cards.

Die Drachen (The Dragon, published in September 2011) : Published in October 2012. Contains 6 new characters, over 300 new cards and markers, as well as a new game board, which replaces the inner region and thus provides alternative endings (fight against the Dragon Lords).

The Blood Moon (English Blood Moon, published October 2012) : Published in English in May 2012. Contains 3 new characters, 111 new cards, 10 new magic cards, 3 alternative end-of-game cards, and the werewolf, a non-player character who manipulates each other's players and can also turn them into werewolves.

The City (engl. The City January 2013) : This expansion appeared in January 2013 in the USA. It contains a city board, 166 new cards, 6 new character cards and figures, additional game rules and 3 alternative game endings.