My name is Liam Lavoie and I am bringing you a new article, written by a geek, for geeks. This is your one-stop shop for D&D homebrew and reviews, game tips, collection guides, classic movie reviews and more! So without further ado, let’s get started with our first ever topic; Talisman.

THE TALISMAN REVIEW

By Liam Lavoie, Issue 1, Volume 1

Today, we will be talking about the all time classic RPG board game, Talisman. Talisman is a very old game. And, when I mean old, I mean 1983 old. It was released to critical acclaim, and has stood the test of time through 41 years, 4 editions and a mess of expansions that will give you some serious debt. And after all that, it’s still popular! Heck, you can still buy it, kinda. We’ll talk about that later. But, for now, on to the gameplay loop.

THE GAME

Talisman is a very rewarding game, if you put the time and effort into learning its systems. First, the characters. There are 12 characters, each with their own starting strength (for battles), craft (for battles against spirits and your spell limit), life (self explanatory), alignment (decides weapons, worship spot and certain events) and fate (reroll tokens). Each character has varied stats and abilities. For example, the Wizard always has one spell, the warrior can wield 2 weapons for +2 to combat, and the assassin just breaks the game. So you roll dice, move around the board, gain equipment, fight monsters, get turned into a toad (yes, that can happen) and more.

There are 3 major regions on the board; the outer region, the middle region and the inner region. The outer region is your basic Medieval Europe fantasy world, with a city, a village, ruins, crags, forests and more. The middle region is smaller than the outer region, with less to see, but provides the entrance to the inner region, and the warlock, who can give you the talisman (which is needed to win the game), after completing a quest. In this region, you undergo several trials depending on your highest stat (either craft or strength). With the help of the talisman you obtained from the warlock, or stumbled across randomly, you can access the crown of command, and kill the other players and win the game! A basic gameplay loop that seems daunting at first, but becomes second nature after a few games.

But, after a while, that gets boring. And how do we do this? Why, expansions of course!

EXPANSIONS

Let’s be honest, expansions are pricey. Sometimes, they cost just as much as the base game! But, if you're really dedicated to this game, then go for it! They add a ton to the game, and you won't regret your purchases.

I recommend getting the 4 corner expansions that add more areas to the game board, and are the most expensive. They are the Woodlands, the City, the Highlands and the Dungeon. Then, whatever you want after that, it doesn’t really matter all that much.

But remember, these expansions are quite expensive, so buy at your own risk!

PROBLEMS

This game can take ages. On the box, it says 120 minutes, but it can easily take several hours if you have 6 people. Some things, like psionic blast and the assassin are absolutely broken, and basically serve as auto win cards. And, the worst part is that some cards get updated. So, if you have a slightly older 4th version, some cards are worded differently and are broken. Take the spell psionic blast, for example. It says to add your craft to your strength, which means that having a high craft and this spell can effectively get you past the bridge guardian, the Sentinel. However, in the digital version, the card says STARTING craft, instead of just “craft”. If you played the digital version before the physical version, there may be differences, so watch out!