I've been thinking that Fairie Trod may not be a great choice for this set...

We'll get to going through all of the cards later, but if it does get replaced I'd prefer it to be with a useful/semi-useful Event.

If it comes down to it, we could use either "Regenerating Him" or "Tree House" as something where you could heal a life or regenerate up to your fate value (Any combination of Light Fate or Dark Fate.)

I'll have a think on it. Things have been a bit slow this week as Cookierobber has been a bit busy, and I've been looking through DA for some more art.

I've made a decision to leave Magma Elemental out of this set, as it really does not go with the theme. It is a cool piece of art, but not for this.

I've also been searching for a better Iron Sentinel, and found one, but sadly the artist is yet to get back to me about permissions.

I'll make an update soon.

Agree about the Magma Sentinel. As cool as it looks it would have probably done better in the Firelands expansion.

If you need a substitution for it, the Earth Elemental should work.

I'm coming late to this party, as I just found out yesterday about the whole FFG/GW split (I turned 40 in mid-September, and my mind was on all sorts of other things). So far, all the work and comments are outstanding.

A couple of my cents thrown in for good measure: I really like the idea that sanityismyvanity has for the Elder Village space, using something like the High Temple mechanic, but should there maybe be a lower limit on amount of trophy points allowed? If I go in with three 1 S/C trophies, that's a pretty cheap way to get a chance at a destiny.

Also, what about something like this for the Wayfinder Compass? http://ejlowell.deviantart.com/art/A-Time-For-Rest-588332880

Agree about the Magma Sentinel. As cool as it looks it would have probably done better in the Firelands expansion.

If you need a substitution for it, the Earth Elemental should work.

...or maybe an Ent there's a few of them on Deviant Art and it'll fit in with the theme.

I'm not sure if the Helmet for the Forge deck has been finalized or not, but here is an alternative Object I've thought of.

Cold Iron Gauntlet

Magic Object

Add 2 to your Attack Score in battle or psychic combat with any Fae. You may discard the Gauntlet at any time to ignore any Fatebound effect.

This could also work as an Object for the Border deck as well.

Been thinking again about the Elder Village space and how to handle it. Another option is instead of an upfront cost, make the roll free but have an optional cost to increase your odds.

Elder Village

Roll 3d6. You may discard any number of Magic Objects and Followers to add +2 to the result for each discarded in this way before the roll.

3-4 - Discard 1 random Object and 1 random Follower

5-6 - Lose all of your Fate

7-8 - Move to the adjacent Woods space and draw a random Path

9-10 - Heal Lives to your Life Value

11-12 - Replenish Fate to your Fate Value

13-14 - Gain your full complement of Spells

15-16 - Gain +1 Strength and +1 Craft

17-18 - Gain a Destiny

Going with the traditional stories of fairies stealing objects and abducting people to have as playthings and servants in their courts, I figured bribing them with Magic Objects and Followers is a workable cost for gaining favor with them. And if you don't pay anything before the roll and roll poorly, they might just take them anyway. Breaking down the odds a little bit, rolling 3d6 without discarding anything gives either the Healing or Replenishing Fate around 50% of the time and gaining a Destiny about 2%. At the point you discard 3 Magic Objects/Followers for a +6 modifier, the chances for a Destiny climb to about 50%. This feels like a reasonable cost ratio for the potential reward.

@ Jon - Where are we with the number of needed cards at this point? I know the Magma Elemental is going away, and Fairie Trod might be going, but is there anything else that is looking likely to hit the cutting room floor? What else beyond art assets are we still in need of figuring out?

A small update to bring us up to date.

http://www.talismanisland.com/?page_id=6946

There will hopefully be a bit more to share in the next week or so.

The Forest Guardian makes a nice replacement for the Magma Sentinel and the Wayward Compass and the Forge Warden look awesome! Can't wait to see what the new templates are going to look like!

Looking good!
Love the artwork, the forest guardian, forge warden, and shadow pathway.

If there's anything I can help with bouncing ideas, do let me know!

Love that expansion for this gap has taken off. Some thoughts.

1.

No need for the card number for this expansion to equal the deep realms. This is because:

a) many, if not all, official expansions have different numbers of cards.

b) the only way this would be an official expansion, is if it is an official expansion. So making the card number = that of the deep realms to try to make it more official, won't actually do so. And need not. Its a fan expansion, so own it, do our own thing. make the total card number whatever number we want. Indeed, deliberately make it a different number as a symbol of this being the community's.

c) ultimately the aim is having fun so if having a different number of total cards would make it more fun, don't change it just to accord with deep realms number.

2.

Make more than 6 forge items and before a game begins, randomly select 6 (or whatever number you want this to be) forge items to include in the game. This way, there is a greater sense of excitement surrounding what one might find at the forge. - No one knows what has been left there! - just as the game characters wouldn't.

3.

Add a twist to 1 or 2 forge items. For example, for one forge item instead of making it return to the forge, stipulate that its use awakens X creature (presumably its creator). Place that creature on X location and return the forge item to it.

In any event, good job guys.

Hopefully FFG will sign off on this and/ or some other greatly desired rule changes/ additions to the game before they no longer can.

So, I missed this one as I was tooling around with... something else...

This is looking frickin sweet. Nice job everyone!

I'm too late to the party to give musch aid. However, I did have some ideas that may help a tiny bit.

Jon has ideas for the spaces, but a coupple of the name are poor, so perhaps:
Rocky Road = Hidden Pass
Secret Path = Elven Path

I also had the though that the expansion could be called "The Hidden Realms". As in the Elves & Dwarves have hidden them form the Mortals, after the death of the Wizard plunged the land into chaos.

So, I missed this one as I was tooling around with... something else...

This is looking frickin sweet. Nice job everyone!

I'm too late to the party to give musch aid. However, I did have some ideas that may help a tiny bit.

Jon has ideas for the spaces, but a coupple of the name are poor, so perhaps:

Rocky Road = Hidden Pass

Secret Path = Elven Path

I also had the though that the expansion could be called "The Hidden Realms". As in the Elves & Dwarves have hidden them form the Mortals, after the death of the Wizard plunged the land into chaos.

The space names were just placeholders, so they are up for discussion.

I do quite like the ring of The Hidden Realms though. As it happens, there is already an expansion for the Lord of the Rings Living Card Game, so if this had been made by FFG it wouldn't have used the current name.

What do other people think?

Hidden Realms...I like!

I like Hidden Realms!

Just a small update, though I'll make a blog post over the weekend.

I've just added the Gauntlet of Fate as the last Forge item, though it's a little bit of a departure from that suggested previously, and possibly not what you might expect, but there is method in my madness!

I've also updated Morak's Hammer as it was missing a "non-discard" use, so I've just added that it gives a single bonus Strength like the other two hammers in the game.

I'm wondering whether it's worth taking a space up in the deck with the Forge Master card and would welcome any opinion on the matter, or even a revised use for the artwork.

I'm still on the fence about Lost/Hidden Realms, and would appreciate a few more comments about that. I guess it fits rather well with the border/elf/dwarf theme as until now nobody even knew that the realms were there (unless you are a fae or an outlaw!)

Curious to hear what the Gauntlet of Fate is like.

As Morak's Hammer now has a non-discard use, do we want to add non-discard abilities to the Ring of Denial and Black Iron Key? If so, what would they be? I think a simple "+1 to Craft" works well for the Black Iron Key, since stat gains are always nice. For the Ring, maybe something like "Whenever any character gains more than 1 Spell, they instead only gain 1 Spell." or "All characters have their Spell Limit reduced by 1."

I personally think the Forge Master works fine in the deck. There are many instances where being able to choose your reward will come in handy. A Gladiator might want the Iron Talisman to pair with their Sun Shield. A character might be on their last life and want to grab the Rune Shield. Another character may possess the Talisman of Censure, and the Black Iron Key starts to look incredibly useful.

Either Lost or Hidden works for me.

I'm not going to give the Key or Ring a secondary effect as they already have a bonus because they are Trinkets.

We then have some Armour and a Weapon, and of course a Talisman.

I've given the Gauntlet of Fate a different discard condition. It adds 2 to your Strength and Craft as per your original idea, but will 'leave' you if you choose to take a life from another Character.

The idea came from an old comic strip, of the same name, where the wearer of the Gauntlet of Fate would always get his 'just desserts' as it sought justice.

I've thought about changing the name though to the Gauntlet of Peace, which is a nice foil to the Gong of War, and could have been an attempt by the dwarves of old to help live in harmony with the neighbouring elves.

Sounds nice. Perhaps the discard can be when you attack another character instead, whether you use the gloves (in that battle or psychic combat) or not. After the combat is resolved, of course. Then it's not about taking a life from a character but having evil intents towards it. Goes with your lore part as well.

I also agree that trinket is enough of a bonus. And the name of the expansion works as well. Although deep realms is also good and is more than a working title in my mind.

I'm happy with just limiting it to intent to take a life. There's nothing a dwarf likes more than a ruck with an elf after a night's drinking in JD Weatheraxe's drinking hall. There's history and honour to live up to you know.

Tots love how everyone just ignores my post! Really feel like it was time well spent, writing it out and signing up just to contribute to this forum! Out. A. Here.

Your post wasn't ignored. As I've said before, I read every post and may not comment individually, but as you've taken the huff...

As it is the number of cards is currently not the same as either PoD expansion, but I'm happy with where we are number wise.

Therefore, there is no more room for extra Forge cards, but there is nothing preventing anyone from adding whatever they want to the mix. The templates etc will be made available (and I'll probably add them to Strange Eons for ease), so you can add cards to your heart's content.

I do like your idea for having some cards being guarded, but won't be using it this time around. I've said before about maybe making an expansion that encompasses the existing PoDs and this one, so maybe then.

May I suggest being a little more patient in future?

Just a small update, though I'll make a blog post over the weekend.

I've just added the Gauntlet of Fate as the last Forge item, though it's a little bit of a departure from that suggested previously, and possibly not what you might expect, but there is method in my madness!

I've also updated Morak's Hammer as it was missing a "non-discard" use, so I've just added that it gives a single bonus Strength like the other two hammers in the game.

I'm wondering whether it's worth taking a space up in the deck with the Forge Master card and would welcome any opinion on the matter, or even a revised use for the artwork.

I'm still on the fence about Lost/Hidden Realms, and would appreciate a few more comments about that. I guess it fits rather well with the border/elf/dwarf theme as until now nobody even knew that the realms were there (unless you are a fae or an outlaw!)

Add a Forge Master card! I like having a lot of cards in a deck, as it keeps things from getting predictable. (That's my one issue in the Highlands...only four Relics!)

I'm a fan of both Lost and Hidden Realms. Lost has grown on me and changing it seems odd because it's in my brain. Hidden works well with the theme and story, and could seem exactly right to other people (and could very easily grow on me, given time).

I'm not going to give the Key or Ring a secondary effect as they already have a bonus because they are Trinkets.

We then have some Armour and a Weapon, and of course a Talisman.

I've given the Gauntlet of Fate a different discard condition. It adds 2 to your Strength and Craft as per your original idea, but will 'leave' you if you choose to take a life from another Character.

The idea came from an old comic strip, of the same name, where the wearer of the Gauntlet of Fate would always get his 'just desserts' as it sought justice.

I've thought about changing the name though to the Gauntlet of Peace, which is a nice foil to the Gong of War, and could have been an attempt by the dwarves of old to help live in harmony with the neighbouring elves.

I like the sound of Gauntlet of Peace. As you say, a bit of wrestling for old time's sake is not the same as taking a life. Ask anyone with multiple brothers.

Just a quick clarification, are the new Gauntlets +2 S/C against Fae as originally proposed, or against everything?

Everything. Fae limits it a bit much I think and it also makes them a bit more desirable.