Over the last year, I've purchased Talisman 4th Edition, along with a few expansions (City, Dungeon, Reaper) and have a question around Spell acquisition. Most encounters suggest that you 'gain' spells which infers that you draw them at random from the top of the spell deck. However, when drawing the Sorcerer card or visiting the Sorcerer at the City, it allows you to purchase spells. Would this infer the opposite in that you can choose which one you purchase? Same debate for the book of spells - again, you could infer that on finding the book of spells you choose the spell you want.

I'm easy either way, but would like to know what other gamers have found is the best way to play this.

Hello,

it's true that the wording on cards can cause some confusion, because it's not always consistent or uses flavour text instead of the proper keywords.

The Rulebook tells the following:

Gaining Spells
All characters may acquire and cast Spells, if their Craft is sufficient to permit this. Only those characters whose special abilities allow them to start the game with Spells do so. Otherwise, Spells are usually acquired as the result of encounters. Spells gained are taken from the top of the Spell deck. When this deck is exhausted, all of the discarded Spell Cards are shuffled and placed facedown to form a new Spell deck.

This is applicable whenever you acquire Spells, in any way, and it's how you are supposed to play. Choosing Spells requires a lot of time when it happens and there are only few game elements that feature such effect, namely the Demigod (Reaper Expansion) and the Guru (Highland Expansion), the latter working on the discard pile only.

The wording "gain your full complement of Spells" is used on the Book of Spells and on all other effects that allow a character to instantly gain Spells up to the maximum number allowed by his current Craft. It would have been nice to have these keywords defined in the Rulebook.

Thanks The_Warlock - makes sense. I guess we have been using house rules by allowing the character to choose spells when he or she purchases them, or finds the book of spells. Either way would work - problem of course with choosing them is that you automatically choose the best spells that can be game changers, such as transference.

Either way would work - problem of course with choosing them is that you automatically choose the best spells that can be game changers, such as transference.

The nature of Talisman is highly random, and choosing something has a great impact on your game (you need to encounter not less than a Demigod to take the Spell of your choice from the deck...). Most rules prevent you from making deliberate choices. If you allow Spells to be chosen as a house rule, sure the game still works, but you're changing the balance.

You seem to have applied it only to purchased Spells and the Book of Spells, so you won't have seen much impact on the game. However, there are characters with the same ability as the Book of Spells, such as the Warlock , and you cannot allow a character to choose Spells every single turn. There are many filler Spells in the deck, which are seldom useful, and bypassing the random draw makes the powerful Spells immediately available. This somehow makes the Spells you buy better than the Spells gained from special abilities (e.g. the Wizard's), so a Thief with 1G that encounters the Sorcerer will surely get a better Spell than a skilled Wizard that cycles Spells on every turn. This is not what is supposed to be.

I've read many posts on this game, especially where people like to interpret rules to make the game slightly different, or dare I say it, quicker. The standard rules around spells make sense, but I think the game can suffer sometimes due to the sheer number of 'filler spells' as you put it and their lack of influence. To me, it would make sense for certain less powerful spells to be purchased (chosen) and maybe more powerful spells gained (selected at random).

Anyhow, as long as the standard game principles are followed I think you can still achieve a game full of entertainment and action.

*chooses Finger of Death and Hydra Spell*

*chooses Finger of Death and Hydra Spell*

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