Talisman (board game)

Talisman: The Magical Quest Game was produced by Games Workshop. It is a fantasy themed board game for from two to six players. The game was first released in 1983 and has gone through several revisions. The most current revision is the 3rd edition, which was released in 1993. Talisman is currently out of print.

The object of Talisman is to progress through a series of regions and reach the Crown of Command. There are three regions in the game: the Outer Region, the Middle Region and the Inner Region. Players start in the Outer Region and try to progress inward. The Inner Region contains the Crown of Command. To reach the Inner Region, players must pass through the Valley of Fire. A talisman is required to do this, hence the name of the game.

Each player selects a character at random at the beginning of the game. Each character has different abilities and a set location in which to begin. Each character has several attributes: Life, Gold, Strength and Craft. The Third Edition added an additional attribute, Experience. Each character begins with four lives and one gold. Strength and Craft are used for two different kinds of combat. One of the main goals of the game is to build up a character so it is strong enough to venture inward, eventually to the Crown of Command. Once at the Crown, a character can cast the Command Spell causing opponents to lose one life each time it is cast.

Game play consisits of players rolling a die and moving about the regions. At each location in the regions, the board indicates what takes place. Some locations have set events or encounters, some are random. Many locations indicate to draw a number of Adventure cards. These cards contain numerous events. Some indicate the character has met an enemy who must be fought, some indicate that the character has found an object or artifact or received a bag of gold. All these events help build up the character.

Building up the character is one of the game's main activities. This can involve gaining followers, increasing in Strength and Craft, gaining and casting spells, gaining lives, obtaining gold and acquiring objects and artifacts. One artifact a character must eventually possess is a talisman, which allows the character to pass through the Valley of Fire, a portal to the Inner Region.

Expansions

Throughout its history, Games Workshop released several expansions for the game. These include:

Each expansion added new locations/regions, characters and Adventure cards to the game. Some added new spells, objects and artifacts. Some even allowed characters the opputunity to bypass the Valley of Fire and be transported directly to the Inner Region or the Crown of Command.

Revisions

Talisman experienced three revisions in its history. While the First and Second Edition were nearly identical, significant changes were made in the Third Edition.

The most significant change involved the characters and the game board. The Second Edition used cards to represent the characters in the game. The cards were placed on plastic bases (to make them stand upright) and moved about the board as the game was played. The Third Edition replaced these cards with plastic minitures that could be painted. The Third Edition also removed some characters from the Second Edition and added new ones. The Third Edition contained a new board which, while containing all the same locations as the second edition, had a totally new art treatment.

Legacy

Depsite being out of print for years, Talisman continues to be a popular game among many loyal fans. There are several active comminities for the game on the Internet and many idividuals have produced their own versions of the game. Many have produced custom expansions, complete with custom Adventure cards, characters and objects.

It is rumored (November 2002) that Games Workshop plans to re-release the game in a limited printing. Only the basic box set is planned for release, none of the expansions. The suggested retail price of the Talisman box set is expected to be US$75.00. The expected due date for the game is April 2003.

External Links

The Talisman FAQ: http://www.cs.queensu.ca/~dalamb/Games/Talisman/