In Talisman 2nd Edition the Dragons expansion added a huge number of Dragons to the adventure deck, making you really sweat when you had to draw for the Sacrificial Stone. In this edition, however, the Dragon expansion adds no Dragons to the Adventure deck! So there is what? Four in there total? Then all the adventure cards in the expansions? How then is the Sacrificial Stone, which was so dreaded in 2nd Edition, any possible threat at all in 4th Edition?!?
The Sacrificial Stone: What's the point?
If you are using the Dragon Tower, the Sacrificial Stone can be very deadly as you have to draw a card from the current Dragon King's deck. Remember when a character is in the Dragon Tower, effects that refer to Adventure Cards apply to Dragon Cards instead.
In the 2nd Ed. the only player to encounter the Stone was the player who drew it. Other players avoided that place and space.
In the 4th RE this place card is still dangerous, but players more likely will enter it if the other space is even worse.
Now that is good news, talismanamsilat! Thanks for letting me know. You're sure about that rule? Nemomon, I'd much rather see only one person draw the Sacrificial Stone and have a good chance of being eaten, then multiple players visit it with virtually no chance of dying.
If you are using the Dragon Tower, the Sacrificial Stone can be very deadly as you have to draw a card from the current Dragon King's deck. Remember when a character is in the Dragon Tower, effects that refer to Adventure Cards apply to Dragon Cards instead.
I disagree. The rules say that characters in the Dragon Tower must draw Dragon cards from the Dragon King's deck at the start of their turn, according to the number required by their current space. No rule says that whenever instructed to draw Adventure cards, they draw Dragon cards instead.
Special abilities and effects that apply to Adventure Cards also apply to Dragon Cards but only after they have been drawn and placed on the board; according to this rule, when encountering Sacrificial Stone in the Dragon Tower you should draw an Adventure card, not a Dragon card.
However, since the interpretation is controversial and we don't know the real intention of the designers, this one should go to the FAQ. Until that, everybody's entitled to play as he feels better.
Yeah I also believe that in the Dragon's Tower a card that instructs you to draw Adventure Cards would refer to the main Adventure Deck...
In the Dungeon, Highland & City Rulebooks, it is stated that: When characters in the Dungeon, Highland or City Region are instructed to draw cards, they always draw Dungeon, Highland or City Cards rather than Adventure Cards. This is true even when, for example, cards and special abilities specifically instruct the player to draw one or more "Adventure Cards".
It is true that this rule does not appear in the Dragon Rulebook, however I'm pretty sure that you can apply this rule to the Dragon Tower Region as well. Remember in the Dragon Rulebook it gives an example about the Prophetess NOT being able to use her ability on Dragon Cards as the cards need to be faceup to use any ability or effect on them. This implies again that any cards and special abilities that refer to "Adventure Cards" in the Dragon Tower, apply to Dragon Cards instead! There is no reason why the Dragon Tower would work any differently from the Dungeon, Highland or City Regions in this regard.
Therefore if you draw the Sacrificial Stone in the Dragon Tower, you immediately draw 1 Dragon Card from the Dragon King's deck instead of an Adventure Card. However if you draw the Sacrificial Stone on the main board (due to a dragon scale), you draw 1 Adventure Card instead...
I personally believe this was accidentally left out of the Dragon Rulebook in error and that this is the way it should be played. An updated FAQ would indeed be most welcome!
Edited by talismanamsilatI can see that in the case of the Dragon Tower, the Dragon Deck(s) are meant to be the Adventure Deck. However I don't think the rule about the Prophetess is proof of this. Rather, the opposite: if this were true, the Prophetess should be able to use her ability in the Tower. (And effects that refer to Adventure Cards to indeed apply to Dragon Cards, but in the Tower only.) Do you agree?
The Prophetess won't be able to use her ability on Dragon cards in any case, neither if there was a rule that instructs to draw only Dragon cards in the Dragon Tower, nor if there wasn't. The basic rule is "you cannot use Adventure card related abilities on Dragon cards, unless they are already faceup on the board".
Except for the Sacrificial Stone, there are no other cases that require a rule to draw only Dragon Cards in the Dragon Tower. Well, perhaps we could investigate a bit more, but who cares. A FAQ would be welcome to shed some light, but I think that unless that FAQ says that you should always draw Dragon Cards in the Dragon Tower, the only option would be to draw Adventure Cards in the Dragon Tower as well, if a Dragon card says to do so.
The Crypt Keeper in the Dungeon states that if you kill him: "Draw the top 5 Adventure Cards and take 1 Object of your choice." In this instance, you draw the top 5 Dungeon Cards instead because the Dungeon Rulebook confirms it. In regards to a character drawing the Sacrificial Stone in the Dragon Tower, it should work exactly the same as the Crypt Keeper in the Dungeon (Highland & City also) for consistency. If not, the Sacrificial Stone is pointless!!!