Just a little notion inspired by the conversation in THIS topic. I added a bit of illustration for further flavor. It includes an optional gain versus a Talisman (if you already have one or prefer a different payment for success). If you're wondering about why she's a Follower after being rescued, think about how Followers can be taken from other players... and the one who returns her is the only one who gets paid. Obviously this means you don't teleport back to Warlock automatically upon completing this task.

The image is show here at reduced size. Right-click and Save As (or View) to download or see it full size.

That's a great looking card, and I like the quest. The only thing I don't like is that the Cursed Glade isn't very far from the Warlocks Cave. Having a destination in the outer region will make it more of a quest, especially when you will have to find means to cross the river again, whether that means fighting the Sentinel, building a raft, or taking the ferry from the Tavern.

wastedyuthe said:

I do understand about the distance thing, but of course you still have to get the right roll to get there. And the Cursed Glade has built in deficits that aren't found many other places. Difficulty requires balancing multiple factor, including.

1. distance
2. obstacles (river, sentinel, etc.) along the way
3. challenge difficulty (enemy strength, craft, or other target rolled number needed or things that must be acquired to complete the quest)
4. deficits in accomplishing the challenge (from spaces, or limitations in how the challenge may or may not be faced)
5. method of return aside from teleport and perhaps including movement restrictions or other alterations.
6. risks in losing what is being returned
7. penalites for failure in either completing the challenge and/or returning anything that must be delivered.

As you can see, 4,5,6, and 7 all apply to the Warlock's Daughter. That's pretty weighty already.

Here's another quest as tilt of the Princess theme suggest by "wastedyuthe." Also included is a revised version of the Warlock's Daughter. NOTE: you may have to do a hard refresh of the page to make the new JPG show up. Both offer optional rewards and the chance (if you read it carefully) of stealing a half completed quest from another adventurer. Right-click and save any graphic to download it. You can find card backs at TalismanIsland.com.

I like the Royal Ransom card- good stuff!

Go any further suggestions or ideas? I'm in the middle of proofing a book, so my imagination is elsewhere. But any notions or texts you can provide I can turn into more cards easy enough.

JCHendee said:

I have been working on a expansion for a while where the main focus is precisely "advanced" quests. I will try to release it as soon as possible. It is good to know that there is a demand for it.

I hate to say it but your cards looks much better artistic wise =)

JCHendee said:

How about this one:

The Warlocks Ring - You must travel to the Graveyard, where you must roll a die and face that many zombies, str 2 each, battling them as one enemy. If you succeed, take the Warlocks Ring from the dead thiefs hand that stole it (place this card with your objects to act as the ring in your possession) and return it to the Warlock. If you fail, you must try and land on the Graveyard again and re-roll for the zombie count before trying again.

Here's your notion with a little extra spin on it. If you don't like it, I can change it to more of what you had in mind, or tweak it in other ways as well. I use Photoshop CS4 to develop all of my cards. I took Jon New's PSD templates and tweaked further to create multiple masked layers for a lot of my visual effects. I'd be happy to help you develop other cards in this series as well, if you like. I also have notions on how to rework some of the standard quests for more flavor and challenge. More on that later, as I have to get back to some work on a novel.

All your cards look fantastic! Very good job.

However, I am a little dubious about how you worded one sentence- "... roll 1 die for skeleton guards (Str. 2), and fight them all at once."

Some players may not know why they are rolling the die, as you aren't really explaining that it is to determine how many skeletons there are. However, I understand that space on the card is limited, so it is a bit awkward having to find the right way to describe it without running out of space.

Top job otherwise

Nice work JC, as usual!

wastedyuthe said:

I see your point. I'll take another crack at wording this afternoon and see if I can reword for space to clarify. Oh, and i usd skeletons instead of Zombies because skeletons are standard for Talisman as Str. 2 Enemy. Are there Zombies somewhere that I've missed? Are they S2 as well?

And thanks, Jon... though other than graphics hacking and tweaking, this one's all wastedyuthe's core concept.

More later, folks.

I have no problems with the text of the deathless ring.

Okay, it was nagging me, so I did a little rewording for the Deathless Ring. Do a hard refresh of the page and you'll see the changes in the post above. Now I really have to do some work for a while. Back later.

JCHendee said:

Much better, and now should make complete sense to even novices

I thought of zombies as I haven't seen them in the game yet (are there any in the dungeon?), but skeletons will do nicely too.

Hmmm... I do remember Zombies at some time... somewhere... as being Str.3, which is why I went for skeletons. Skeletons have been Str.2 since Talisman 2E. Hence the change, if we keep to game standard monsters, as mutiple Zombies, S3, (if my memory isn't faulty) would be too potent... especially on roll of 6.

JCHendee said:

Then I am glad you changed it to skeletons, as I agree, Str3 each would be too much

Here's a notion to replace "deliver 1 Fate."

That's a really nice card. Can you use a fate that you already have to fill the phial?

Note: There is a slight spelling error "gain or replentish new fate" (remove "t" in replenish)

Good stuff. If I can ever get these printed out I shall indeed strive to use them.

I fixed that typo and changed some wording (do a hard refresh to see the changes above). I think one point of making truer "quests" is to eliminate the "buy out" or trading of what an adventurer already has for a Talisman (in most cases).

Personally, the idea of paying a Fate you already have is ridiculous. That's something based in pure mechanics rather than game play, as a person cannot just hand over part of their "fate" or destiny. Then again, Fate has been poorly labeled in the game. So "new" Fate and "seek" pretty much indicate that you have to go out and find a new Fate point to put into the bottle, but I've tried to make it more explicit.

While we're at it, I don't have access to by friend's quest cards. Can you itemized the titles of the standard ones for me when you have time? Also, feel free to make more suggestions for alternative ones... or to replace the standard ones. Hopefully some diversity can be created beyond just going out and fighting things in order to get a talisman.

JCHendee said:

I completely agree about just handing over something you already have. Hardly a "quest" is it?

Here is the list of quest cards from the Reaper pack you requested:

Deliver (discard) one magic object

Deliver (discard) one spell

Kill one enemy

Deliver (discard) five points of Craft trophies

Deliver (discard) one follower

Travel to the City

Deliver (discard) one fate

Take one life from another character

Deliver (discard) five points of strength trophies

Deliver (discard) two gold

Deliver (discard) three gold

Travel to the Cursed Glade

My wife had the "Travel to the Cursed Glade" quest tonight and completed her so-called "quest" 2 moves later. Whoopee!

Nope, those so called barter, trade, and purchase options at the Warlock's Cave (including teleport back) are not quests. At least the Warlock's Daughter has some challenge in (1) getting her back to the Cave under you're own power and (2) the chance that another adventurer might kidnap her and get the reward. Too many of the standard "quests" are just designed for a quick mechanics sacrifice to gain a talisman. Rushing the game's pace has led to some lame notions, and the new "flavor" texts on the cards really didn't change anything at all.

"Deliver 1 Fate" can be exchanged for the "The Fated Phial" and it has some nice options, twists, and deficits as well as benefits if you dwandle in returning it. We'll see what else we can come up with, eh? I'm off to San Francisco for a week, though i'll be checking in now and then. I'll look over the list in the next few days, and feel free to put out some replacement or alternative concepts if something occurs to you.

And another alternative quest... it should be obvious which standard quest card this one replaces. As before, Right-Click and Save to download the full 300dpi version. In the future, once enough cards are created, I'll package them all together for collective download (with and instruction sheet).

Mr Hendee

I would like to congratulate you, vis-a-vis your alternative Warlock's Quest cards. In short: they are FNing awesome!

More please.

Your Humble Fan,

DTH

Hey Dth!

Yes, I have more in mind, though I'm open to suggestions as well. I've been away from home and just got back the other day... plus I've switched from PC to Mac, and I'm trying to tame it into doing what I want the way I want... vs. the Mac(Donalds)intosh "do it our way" design. And of course I have 20 years of PCwares I can't afford to re-buy for Mac right now. So... there you have it. I'm almost to the point of getting Photoshop back up and running with a few of my needed plugins and I'll be back at it again.

In addition, I've been futzing with graphics for an alternative home made board. Same content as the standard one, but using a 20" x 20" layout for more convenience for when Barb and I are playing alone. We're tired of having or get up and move around that oversized board. When its done (someday), I may share that as well with instructions on how to make it, or adapt it to the cheaper 18"x18" blank boards that can be bought online.

More later, JC