4ERR - The Warhorse

By JCHendee, in Talisman Home Brews

I started a new topic so it would clear this is a new batch of 4ERR cards. The following continue my exploration of card evolution in Talisman from an outsider's perspective. You can read the article that led to these at my LiveJournal, and it might help clarify where they came from and why. Images below are for display only. The 300dpi print versions can be downloaded HERE.

4ERR_FOLLOWER_Palfrey_thn.jpg4ERR_FOLLOWER_Rounsey_thn.jpg4ERR_FOLLOWER_Courser_thn.jpg4ERR_FOLLOWER_Destrier_thn.jpg

Also available in the package are reissued Mule and Horse & Cart Purchase cards. Prices match the range found in 4ERR cards versus the game's standard cards. It's up to you if wish to use them, considering these versions have superior capabilities versus the standard cards.

4ERR_Purchase_Mule_thn.jpg4ERR_PURCHASE_Horse_Cart_thn.jpg

JC's blog states that "The last failing of the Warhorse appeared in the 4ER version. It now died as well if one was defeated in Psychic Combat, again in place of the adventurer losing a Life. I have no idea why, and it has nothing to do with adhering to the card's core concept, and since when does a Warhorse for Battle protect a rider from psychic, mental, or spiritual assaults?"

I don't have the 4ER card right now but it reads something like if you lose a life in combat you have to discard the Warhorse. We played it where you discard the Warhorse AND lose a life. I don't remember seeing anything about the Warhorse being able to take a punch for you in the 4ER. I might have read the card wrong. Either that or is JC getting the different versions confused or is there errata that I'm missing. Can anyone clarify the actual wording of the 4ER Warhorse?

They are excellent cards and I like your ideas in updating the cards to a more balanced "4ERR" version.

My only concern is that the cards are quite wordy. Other than that, they are great!

Dungeon Master said:

I don't have the 4ER card right now but it reads something like if you lose a life in combat you have to discard the Warhorse. ... I don't remember seeing anything about the Warhorse being able to take a punch for you in the 4ER.

Hey DM, you just made me realize I forgot put that card into the journal post... so I corrected that. As with a number of 4ER cards, its wording is ambigious. And you may be directly correct that the 4ER is no longer a sacrifice in place of life the way it is written. Still, it carries the worse flaw of applying Craft to combat through a concept that has nothing to do with Craft.

dth said:

They are excellent cards and I like your ideas in updating the cards to a more balanced "4ERR" version.

My only concern is that the cards are quite wordy. Other than that, they are great!

Yes indeed, they do get wordy... sometimes it takes a bit more than a picture and title to do something more interesting than a new picture and title. I know I don't make cards that would be commonly used by most. I make them most for how my crew and its extensions play, then just share them. We're a bit more gritty about details (we have people in our group who've done many unusual things in life), and we don't care how long a game takes.

Oh, and even my tiny wife with not a mean or combative bone in the her body has always given the warhorse(s) a deep scowl. And when she saw the new [Riding] Horse, her first comment was "why would anyone ride an unbroken horse like that." She wasn't talking about the picture. gui%C3%B1o.gif

In her youth, she rode both western and huntseat, including full speed barrel racing and jumping. Her personal horse was a somewhat twitchy arabian, but so innately aware of rider that the instant a small child was put on her back, she would freeze in place and never go above a low gait in speed. She also would never put weight on a hoof if she felt anything untoward under it, like a foot. Barb still broke a few bones, including snapping a foot in half that caught in a stirrup (wearing stiff riding boots) when she took one bad fall.