Does anyone else feel this game in its current edition (4th) is completely antiquated? Owning all expansions except Cataclysm, I can say with all honesty that not only is the main board mostly useless in terms of amassing power, but the corner expansion boards, Woodlands and Dungeon, are almost never used and a majority of the content, i.e. Wanted Posters and Warlock Quests, left completely untouched by end-game.

Being a major strategist, I immediately noted that the cards from the Highland are vastly superior to the main board because the majority of the cards are beneficial (trinkets that award gold and don't bog down your inventory, or non-negative effects on most cards), the main villain at the end of the board is an easy push-over by the time you've completed the expansion board, and the monsters on the cards do not scale appropriately to make them more challenging than the main board. Ironically, this last point is untrue with the Woodlands and Dungeon, whose monsters are dangerous and deadly; whenever a member of our gaming group tries starting off headed into the Woodlands or the Dungeon before amassing any real power, they almost always get wiped out! From the last 20+ games we've played as a group, I've won 75% of the time. My strategy is so simple; go directly to the Highlands, get my Talisman from the Lost City by using Fate Tokens to reroll one (or both) die per token (1-in-6 chance once you roll a 6) and return to the waterfall to replenish Fate to try again, amass enough power to kill the boss at the end and claim Arknel artifact as the prize and teleport directly to the city upon killing the main boss, load up on godly gear sans followers (**** you Arknel), casually stroll over to the portal of power since at this point, everyone else is still super weak, then teleport directly to the crown of command and win the game. It's pretty cut and dry, and to be perfectly honest, a little boring now. We never get a chance to even attempt additional Warlock Quests, and now no one bothers with the Dungeon at all, and only sometimes the Woodlands.

In all, I've come to realize that this game was designed very poorly, essentially a remake of 2nd edition without any real thought put into the power imbalance the expansions might cause! The center of the board needs to be much more challenging than it is to account for the expansions, and the corner boards difficulty should scale accordingly so that you really wouldn't want to even attempt any expansion until having amassed some real power on the main board first! It is clear to me that the Inner Region was designed for the main board, but when you add the corner expansions, it becomes weak in comparison to the power you can get! What should happen is there should be a *NEW* Inner Region for each expansion that scales in difficulty, so if you play with the Dungeon (being the hardest area) for example, the Inner Region should be 3x more difficult than it currently is, forcing you to at least tackle the Highlands, then another expansion or multiple Warlock Quests before heading inward. Arguable, I can see how some people just like exploring the board and might not play the way I do, however for strategists like myself, the way the game is currently designed, it is sorely clear it needs to be revamped. Having said all this, I believe FFG should develop a 5th edition with all this in mind, scaling the expansion boards reward and monsters, and including new Inner Regions with each expansion.

Thoughts?

Much of what you write is indeed correct and true. In fact, I saw the Arknell problem when I first got the Highland expansion, and that's why I have NEVER, not even once, played with that board. I tried to fix the City expansion by removing certain cards, but the overpowered options there are simply too widespread and so I've permanently removed the City board from our games also. Getting rid of those two boards (as well as the Dragon and Bloodmoon expansions) pretty much fix the problems you've outlined, making for a much better, much more challenging game .

Talisman is no longer my favorite game, and it even isn't my 2nd favorite game, but it is still my 6th favorite game. I have played about 300 different games and even maintain a top 100.

Talisman is still great.

Our play throughs have every corner board in fairly heavy use, except the dungeon.

If you want a harder more difficult inner region use the Dragon expansion inlay. Also choose the trophy/prize randomly at the end of the Highlands and dungeon.

Does anyone else feel this game in its current edition (4th) is completely antiquated?

expansions change the strategy somewhat. actually dungeon is often easier way to get to crown because its guaranteed if you're strong enough while highland is a 1:4 chance...i dislike both options though, inner region is a fundamental part of the game and shouldnt have ways to be bypassed entirely ( i mean the game is called talisman...these days a talisman is a junk item...)

that said each area has its purpose:

outer region for the cautious player or spellcaster

city for shopping

highland/middle region for fast leveling/midpower players

dungeon for highpower player

i cant speak for woodland, perhaps they screwed something up there^^

outer region was always a place for slow progress and little risk, highland is more easily accessible than middle but that's the only difference, i dont agree at all that highland cards are better on average, slightly more creatures, especially STR enemies but adventure deck has more powerful objects like wand etc

So Arnknell IS a design flaw imo, but just take that out, no need to change the game fundamentally. And even leaving it in; you have just a 1:4 chance to get it and its a long trek. It's far from balanced, but its not exactly broken either.

You certainly dont want to make the game longer imo even dungeon sees use often, if briefly

First off this game is not meant to be a strategists game. It is a fantasy adventure game . I enjoy the game for what it is....random, easy to play, great theme, great artwork and generally a fun time.

With that being said, I don't want it to be completely devoid of strategy and there are tweaks we can homebrew to make it better.....but it is never going to be War of the Ring, Agricola, Galaxy Trucker, Twilight Struggle or Warhammer. Some of those are my favorite games to play. But let me tell you, you can sit down with anyone to a game of Talisman and all will have a good time. You don't have to plot and plan and pay attention the entire time and if someone accidentally cheats, it is no big deal. Smack the person in the back of the head, have them get you a beer and move on.....

Now, the game does need to be tweaked to make it more fair when players that know and EXPLOIT the better known overpowered loopholes are playing. @Taemx: You are saying that in the last 20+ times you have won 75% of the time....basically you are one of the people NO ONE would want to play with....you have stated that you exploit a certain loophole every game; rinse, repeat. Good job. Players like you are some of the problem in the game of Talisman....

Official rulings would be great to speed the game along and get some clarity for those players hellbent on playing to the letter of the law; I really fault FFG for pumping out multiple expansions and giving no support to the game as far as FAQ's. Hell, they don't have anyone moderating the boards to chime in and give feedback. Luckily though we have the likes of Jon New , The Warlock, Talsimanamsilat and others that have been involved in the game to give us their input. /applause to all of you helping put some clarity into the game! :-)

1. The new cataclysm board is great and adds a much needed improvement over the old board.
2. I agree with Bludgeon, the end of the highland board should have a Strength/Craft 10 boss immune to magic weapons or something.
3. Arnkell used in the fashion of bypassing the middle/inner region is crap; just remove it from the game or change it.
4. Add a prerequisite to the game: You must face your Destiny in the game(thematically I like this as it shows growth in your character) and you must defeat one of the two ending bosses from the Highland or Dungeon before you can enter the middle region.
5. Wanted posters are truly useless unless you are the bounty hunter. I don't think anyone ever bothers with them.... But if you use the Alt Ending Assassins guild they are truly necessary ;-)
6. In our games we roll a D10 with the D6 which can force you to draw dragon cards or Nether realm cards...trust me this makes the degree at which characters die ever more pronounced! :-D
7. The highland board and dungeon board needs chances of being toaded added to the deck; I homebrewed some toad cards into mine...Moving one space through those regions can spell disaster for a toad.
8. I think the inner region is fine but we always use the Dragon board inlay. By the time a character is strong enough to breeze through the tower, everyone has enjoyed their adventure and is ready for the game to end by way of HORRIBLE BLACK VOID! hahahahaha

Overall, Talisman is GREAT for what it is... and will always be one of my favorite games to fall back on. What it will never be is a true strategy game. I just hope we can streamline it and balance it all out with an expansion to add cards to all the decks.....

Talisman is no longer my favorite game, and it even isn't my 2nd favorite game, but it is still my 6th favorite game. I have played about 300 different games and even maintain a top 100.

Talisman is still great.

Our play throughs have every corner board in fairly heavy use, except the dungeon.

If you want a harder more difficult inner region use the Dragon expansion inlay. Also choose the trophy/prize randomly at the end of the Highlands and dungeon.

Where is your top 100? I checked your profile....I see nothing but a link.

Talisman is no longer my favorite game, and it even isn't my 2nd favorite game, but it is still my 6th favorite game. I have played about 300 different games and even maintain a top 100.

Talisman is still great.

Our play throughs have every corner board in fairly heavy use, except the dungeon.

If you want a harder more difficult inner region use the Dragon expansion inlay. Also choose the trophy/prize randomly at the end of the Highlands and dungeon.

Where is your top 100? I checked your profile....I see nothing but a link.

Wow, thanks, I been putting it in the wrong place for over a year I believe. It was under "interests", instead of in the "about me" page. Which is very easy to overlook. So it is now been fixed. Also I don't come here as much as I used to and don't update it often. But I am on BGG everyday unless I am out of town or something, and update that regularly. There you will find the most updated list, as well as my Favorite 2 player games, Games I do not want to play, & Favorite Expansions. https://boardgamegeek.com/user/DomaGB

that said each area has its purpose:

outer region for the cautious player or spellcaster

city for shopping

highland/middle region for fast leveling/midpower players

dungeon for highpower player

i cant speak for woodland, perhaps they screwed something up there^^

Given that I believe Woodland to be indisputably the best corner board, all things considered, your statement about it really boggles my mind ! Yes, there is great danger in the Woodland, but there is equally great potential reward! Aside from the powerful and worthwhile Destinys, the Woodland holds many of the best items and followers of ANY expansion set! Why on Earth would players not go there, once they've gained some power so they can survive?

I find the woodland, personally, to be super annoying. I like the idea of destinies, but Jesus Christ if you get some of the more fiddly ones, or some of the more ridiculous items, stab me in the eye it's nigh impossible to try to remember to use them all or use them correctly. PITA

that said each area has its purpose:

outer region for the cautious player or spellcaster

city for shopping

highland/middle region for fast leveling/midpower players

dungeon for highpower player

i cant speak for woodland, perhaps they screwed something up there^^

Given that I believe Woodland to be indisputably the best corner board, all things considered, your statement about it really boggles my mind ! Yes, there is great danger in the Woodland, but there is equally great potential reward! Aside from the powerful and worthwhile Destinys, the Woodland holds many of the best items and followers of ANY expansion set! Why on Earth would players not go there, once they've gained some power so they can survive?

I only said that I don't know it:) glad to hear at least some people like it:)

Don't get me wrong I like it, a lot actually, it has probably the most interesting cards and some of the best art, but it can quickly do you doggystyle or make you feel like you're flying a jumbo jet in a thunderstorm trying to remember to flip all your switches and keep the plane straight.

Now, the game does need to be tweaked to make it more fair when players that know and EXPLOIT the better known overpowered loopholes are playing. @Taemx: You are saying that in the last 20+ times you have won 75% of the time....basically you are one of the people NO ONE would want to play with....you have stated that you exploit a certain loophole every game; rinse, repeat. Good job. Players like you are some of the problem in the game of Talisman....

To be perfectly fair, yes, I have done that for the past 20-games, however it has been due to learning the game and discovering what has worked best, an evolution of insightful consciousness. I'd say only recently did I make a concentrated effort to "exploit" this setup, I'd say the last five games or so, to test if my hypothesis was correct, and it is.

I like some of the posts I'm seeing on the Homebrew section, perhaps sparked somewhat by this thread? I hope someone at FFG sees all these ideas and, instead of stopping Talisman, release a 5e. And thank you everyone for your comments.

-double-post-

Use the the Nether Realm expansion, and make The Gauntlet the default ending to slow down power gamers.

Also, make the Crown of Command not part of any region, so no player can use any game effect other than explicit instructions (Lord of Darkness, etc) to skip the Inner Region to reach it.

I've created a start of the game system-rules for Talisman called Forever Talisman, the system is designed to give all the players a choice on what expansions are played with before a Talisman game is started (as well as other before the game choices like character generation and ending choices) it uses a simple 12 card set that all players draw and choose expansions on what cards they draw. The rule set has gone through a heap of redesign and now has players just choosing the cards instead of random drawing them and also includes new Eyrie and Treasure Chamber space cards as well as shop closed effects for The City. I have to say this last redesign works the best so far.

In that time with a lot of different players I've noticed that the Woodlands region hardly ever gets chosen, so much so I had to include bonuses just to make it a fair choice because it got to a point of never being chosen. I think this is because out of all the expansions (discounting the dragons) its the most complicated and the region itself does not really help (other than making a character better) you to get to the crown of command. The most chosen region is the Highlands with then the Dungeon then the City.

Its funny in a way because when it comes to The City region some players choose not to include the region because they don't want other players to use it . So this becomes very interesting in game creation.

When it comes to the main board ever since The Cataclysm was released its never gotten a look in despite a large amount of game play. So yes in that regard the main board really did need a fix and The Cataclysm does that really well.