Ok, so I have Talisman revised 4th ed, and I got the Dungeon for Christmas. I have played Talisman a few times (when I can convince my wife to play) otherwise I play Descent with my oldest son.

So my first question, does the dungeon make the origional game thatmuch more fun? The most I have ever played with was 4 people, and me being the assasin was too much for anyone else to overcome. I have yet to play with the characters that come in the dungeon pack, but my feeling is that the assasin will still be the best character.

Second, the reaper expansion, if I play this game 2-3 times a month, is it worth shelling out $25 to get the reaper? From what I can tell, this expansion doesn't add too much in the form of fun content. But I may be wrong.

Third, Frostmarch; same genneral question as reaper. Does the frostmarch really add that much gameplay and fun that I will want to play this game more than descent?

Relentless said:

I guess you play with the RAW Assassin then? I've never touched the RAW Assassin in the 80 games with the R4th, even with a glance (and reading how he actually works) he was in God-mode, so he was houseruled back to his 1st/2nd/BI4th edition self from the get-go. Of the Dungeon chars, Gypsy and Gladiator have the best win-loss records around here (3-player games).

Relentless said:

Personally, I rank Reaper as the #1 expansion. It basically doubles the Adventure and Spell decks in size, that's huge in my book. Also, the Reaper itself tends make people avoid him, so leads to more PvP , which is another huge in my book.

Relentless said:

Frostmarch is my current least favourite, but I'm a completionist (unless Timescape or another really horrid expansion comes out), so I can't play without using ever expansion. Frostmarch has three absolute nutter characters (crazy good) and one stinker (Leprechaun). Alternate endings and more Warlock Quests are nice, but not an absolute must IMO.

I have never played with any other version. What rules do you use for assasin?

Relentless said:

I like the dungeon very much for adding it to the mainboard of talisman.

From all expansions, the Reaper expansion is the most important expansion to buy.

Reaper has a lot of nice and good cards that are necessary to make the mainboard more interesting. So i think it is worth the money..

The assassin is actually too overpowered, but on the other side, it's his only ability...

I like the characters from the dungeon very much ( Swashbuckler, Gladiator, Philosopher etc.

But about the frostmarch,, i was a little disappointed with that expansion. It is not so good as the reaper, but it's still a nice expansion to have. It comes also with 3 ending cards, interesting spells, more toading, and it increase the warlock deck too.

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Relentless said:

The assassin can assassinate any creature and enemy on the board. It don't matter if you drew the card or not.

Velhart said:

That's RAW Assassin. We use that he can only Assassinate creatures that were already face up on the board when he lands on them (can't stab an Enemy he just drew from the Adventure deck). That's how he was in all previous editions.

Isn't that the RAW rule? I was refering to the house rules

Dam said:

1ste and 2th i assume..

Well, third edition says something else..

Then he has a 50% chance to assassinate a enemy etc or some sorts by rolling a die ( 1-3 miss 4-6 hit...

I like that better than the 4th assassin..

But house rules can always be made if you don;t like the RAW rule..

Velhart said:

And the BI 4th.

Velhart said:

You know that's like the Highlander sequels, never happened, right ?

Dam said:

There must be a reason why FFG has change the Assassin if we compare it with the BI 4th edition..

Only assasinating face up enemie cards looks a bit boring to me too, because he has no other abilties..

Dam said:

I have never saw the highlander series..

But i heard that it was a guy named Christophe Lambert who can only be killed by cutting his head?

Velhart said:

You have a movie to watch then. Yeah, the phrase "There can be only one." was key to the whole thing. Immortals who battle out (by chopping heads off) until only one remains and he wins the prize. Okay, so a guy wins, is the last immortal. Then sequels. WTF!!! Hello, the rest of the immortals just died, GTFO with sequels !!!

I love the Reaper expansion as the reaper itself is a decision maker on the board...

As for the Frostmarch I was also not that impressed with it and to be honest would be happy to play without it!

Sorry guys, just my opinion!

So, my opinion of the Expansions as follows

Reaper

More Adventure Cards and Spells. That’s always cool. Nothing jumped out at me as far the spells or cards though.

The Reaper itself is a figure that wanders around the board, controlled by the player that rolls 1 for movement. It has a chance to outright kill a character. That’s a great equalizer if you’re behind and you send it on the top guy. Some people hate it for that exact same reason, though.

Dungeon

A nice change of pace. It can actually feel claustrophobic if you use the optional “flee the dungeon” rules i.e. go deeper, period, till you decide to “flee” then you head towards the exit, period. Whatever limits movement options to force you to hit “bad” squares is great for me, and, bad for others, again for the same reason (you’ll see a pattern here).

Beating the final boss of the dungeon has a chance to put you right to the CoC. Again, a good equalizer and a great Hail Mary play, if you have luck and the right stats.

The fact that it’s a separate board further limits PvP, spreading us out more, which is why my group loves it, and others hate it.

Frostmarch

I found the cards were much more theme oriented, but, since they are mixed in with the others, that looses its impact. I’d have preferred a new board, keeping with a cold theme, but that’s just me.

More toadings via spells, locations, etc… That’s fun. One, and sadly only one enemy has a chance to kill you outright. Again, any equalizer is either loved (by us) or hated (by others) for that same reason but in all fairness, it’s only 1 card. Optional endings can change the flow of the game, especially the Warlock Quest ending.

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Character wise, each expansion has a stinker character, an OMG great character, and a few good ones. If you average them out, IMO, the power creep is evident. Then again, after years of playing Magic the Gathering, that’s no surprise to me.

Essentially, the key feature of each expansion (Reaper figure, Dungeon Boss, Frostmarch queen ending) is the biggest draw or penalty of the expansion. Otherwise, it’s just deck fattening. If you like things more random, more cards are good, regardless of expansion. If you prefer “planned Talisman” i.e. “I’ll wait for the Runesword for THIS combo”, pick carefully. All 3 have filler cards. How many more ST 1 or CR 1 creatures with no specials do we need?

Worth the price, but nothing “you HAVE to get” for any of them. Here’s hoping City Expansion (or whichever one comes next) is even better.

Dam said:

NOT watched Highlander!! I must have watched it so I often I used to be able to recite it at will. (poor Will got bored with that after a while)

Luckily age has caught up with me as I am not immortal and now cannot remember every line instantly. Having said that, I bet I could recount the next line

all the way through if I watched it now.

What sequels? They never existed. That would just be plain stupid and just a blatent attempt to extend the franchise.

As would any shoddy attempt to remake it that would be released this year. That too does not exist and is just a nasty rumour. No siree. Nope.

Back on a Talisman track, been considering the Frostmarch for completeness but seems not that popular. Probably will get it though.

Off the top of my head, a couple of characters:

Connor MacLeod

Strength: 3

Craft: 3

Lives: 4

Starting: Village

Alignment: Good

• You only lose a life in Battle if your oppenent beats you by 3 or more
• If you take a life from another player, you may add it to your own
• You can heal all your lives for free by visiting the Mystic
• Due to a fear of water, you cannot use a raft or accept a ride from the ferryman
• You cannot attack or be attacked in the Chapel

The Kurgan

Strength: 5

Craft: 1

Lives: 4

Starting: Sentinal

Alignment: Evil

• You can take a horse from any other player that you land on.
• If you defeat another character in Battle and take a life, you may choose to attack them again immediately but must take a life if you win
• You may use two weapons in Battle but only if you do not use a shield.
• You may not Evade any enemy at any time
• You cannot attack or be attacked in the Chapel

Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez

Strength: 3

Craft: 4

Lives: 4

Starting: Ruins

Alignment: Neutral

• You may invoke the Quickening when you encounter an Animal , take them as a follower and add their stength to yours for one Battle only.
• Your charm allows you to take the Maiden or Princess from any character that you land on.
• You are not afftected by the Hag, if you draw her, leave her on the space on which she was drawn.
• You may not use Armour, Shield or Helmet
• You cannot attack or be attacked in the Chapel

In traditional Talisman fashion, I have deliberately left some abilities vague to cause arguments...

Remember... There can be only one......

Amazing Highlander Talisman adaptation. But you forgot one thing = GOTTA have a Quickening.

I’d give all 3 of the above characters (and other immortals) the Immortals Tag.

If an immortal takes the last Life of another immortal, they behead him/her and it triggers a Quickening :

Absorb Skill = Winning immortal Gains ST Cones equal to the fallen immortal’s ST Value (i.e. Starting ST)

Absorb Knowledge = Winning immortal Gains CR Cones equal to the fallen immortal’s CR Value (i.e. Starting CR)

Lightning damage = roll D6. That many squares in all directions, but including the starting square, lightning destroys all adventure cards. Characters lose 1 Life instead. Includes the winner.

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Highlander is one of my favourite movies. I can even tolerate SOME of the sequels and TV show episodes with a stiff enough drink. I did love the fan based D20 system built on the AD&D backbone.

Anyhow, thanks for the Talismanization of Highlander. That was fun to read.