With the recent Frostmarch expansion re-introducing the idea of alternate endings, I have found a few fan-made endings on various websites (and even made up some of my own). I have also encountered a few discussions about the Warlock Quest ending specifically and how it is nice, because it gives the players something to do, during the course of the game, other than simply build up their characters.

I was also thinking of the boardgame Runebound which has 2 ways to win the game: Either encounter and kill the High Dragon Lord Morgath OR encounter and defeat his lieutenants, which provide you with a Dragon Rune. Collect 3 Dragon Runes and you win the game.

That got me thinking of alternate ways to win Talisman. Something that players could work towards, other than traveling into the inner region and reaching the Crown of Command. These are not actually alternate endings in the sense of the alternate endings cards, but instead these would be 'victory conditions' that would be part of each game session. Here are some examples that I thought of:

-Complete 8 Warlock Quests (or maybe 6, if 8 seems too high).

-Collect 4 Talismans.

-Defeat the Lord of Darkness 3 times (if the Dungeon expansion is in play).

-Reach the Crown of Command space and follow normal rules for winning the game.

-Travel to each of these locations at least once: City, Village, Chapel, Graveyard, Tavern, Temple, Cursed Glade, Warlock's Cave, Forest, Crags, Ruins, Oasis and Chasm (and others, if just these are too easy).

So, basically there would be multiple ways to win and different players could work on trying to win the game differently. 2 Players could be trying to complete Warlock quests, one player is trying to get to all of the key locations, another player is collecting talismans, while a fifth player is building themselves up as their goal is to make it to the Crown of Command. And, this could change strategy as the game progresses. One player might be working on defeating the Lord of Darkness and finds themselves with 2 Talismans and about to get a 3rd one, realizes that they just need a 4th one to win.

Just an idea that I had to add more spice and variety to the game.