Darkest Talisman: Solitaire and Coop Version
Redesign by L. Foster
[Though the rule set to Darkest Talisman is long, it masques a fairly simple game to follow - especially if you are a Talisman veteran. I hope some of you try it an let me know how it worked.
Base overview: Your 3 characters begin in a village. Roads fan out from the village in many directions leading to destinations that provide aid (City, Chapel) or possess a treasure (Graveyard, the Ruins). It takes 6 days to travel the road, and each day you go through a different terrain, sometimes finding special locations such as Taverns. Each day you encounter a variable number of encounters and if you need to, you may turn back to the safety of your village. Once you are at your destination, you visit it. If it contains a treasure, you fight its Guardians. If you win, you loot the trove stashed there. If you lose, you flee, die, or try again. Upon your return to the village you heal your damaged Strength and Craft (which is lost - even below your starting totals - when defeated in battle), replenish Fate, and cash in your Trophies. You can put items and unneeded followers in storage - there are more stringent limits here - and head out to your next destination. Your long term goal is to travel the roads past the Sentinel, past the Portal of Power, to reach the Tower and gain the Crown. It isn't easy. Guardian Combats play much different here, and the penalty for losing is much more severe. Even victory over the smallest enemies is not guaranteed due to an open roll combat system. Still, your 3 heroes head out in their marching order and the will rely on each other's abilities to survive against all odds.]
Purpose: The purpose of this version is to allow Talisman to be played as a true solo or coop game, and to make each expansion’s theme take on a more prominent role.
Inspiration: I only recently stumbled upon Talisman, but I was immediately hooked. I purchased every expansion (minus the POD), sat down to play, and had a great time. When nobody was around, I tried it solo, but found the experience less interesting. As many say, much of the fun is in the game’s social interaction. Still, I wanted to play with my new game when time allowed. I just didn’t like using the basic Talisman rules when I was the only one roaming the board.
Around this time, I became aware of the game Thunderstone Advanced , a deckbuilding game. I liked how the game utilized a village for equipping the heroes of the game before they entered the dungeon, and how the heroes could be leveled.
Thunderstone Advanced reminded me of the video game Darkest Dungeon . This game also uses a village mechanic for equipping and healing characters, but it provides a vast pool of characters to draw your heroes from. You build these adventurers up by taking them into various dungeons, but they often suffer various afflictions from these actions and can be killed if things go wrong.
The final game consciously on my mind as I worked on this project was Dark Souls. From this game, I was hoping to replicate the tremendous sense of relief players feel when they finally defeat one of its many bosses. Nothing in the game can be taken for granted and preparation is mandatory for success.
Along with these games, I also wanted to bring back the individual flavor or ‘theme’ of each of the Talisman expansions. When playing with multiple expansions at once, Talisman can feel like a hodge-podge of ideas as the Adventure Deck can be too large to let any one idea take precedence.
It took deconstructing the game down to its base components (physical and procedural) before I saw a way it might be done.
Results: This version restructures Talisman from a ‘board’ game into a card game centering on a ‘character building’ campaign with the goal of powering up groups of characters in an attempt to reach the Crown of Command and SAVE THE LAND! (Yeah...story's been done to death but provides the reason to play.)
As a solo game, you control all three characters. If played as coop, each player controls one character and the decisions associated with him/her/it.
The Game:
Evil and chaos has fallen across the land of Talisman. Dragons, Giants, and Spirits roam the landscape. The roads are unsafe to travel as they’re filled with Strangers, monsters, and unusual events. There are no leaders to save the land, no heroes able to bring it back from the precipice. But there is an ancient legend, one that tells of an Artifact of great power, called the Crown of Command, that is miles away in a Great Tower, far down rutted roads crossing through inhospitable Terrain. A group of characters are now assembled at a tiny village and if they become strong enough, they will be able to reach the Tower and retrieve the Crown. Then they will be able to assert its power over Talisman and free the land from the Chaos that consumes it.
No Required Expansions: This game only requires the base/core Talisman set, but has been designed to allow inclusion of all other expansions (excepting Dragon, which I am still working on). The best Expansions to add initially are The Reaper and The City . Both diversify options in the game and are easily included.
Materials: The game does not use any of the boards. Instead it implements a new playing area designed around card placement and organization. The alternative ending cards are not used, though ones can be created if so desired. The game does utilize most of the other cards, characters, and rule-sets (with modifications for the adjustment to the new game-play.)
A: Set up
[Notes in brackets and italics indicate major changes to the rules of Talisman.]
A1. [Establish your playing area.] This can either be done with a predesigned board or any flat space. (See photos for layout).
A1a. Set up a space for your village (space for three characters and their spells/followers/equipment/trophies).
A1b. Set up space for twelve adventure cards to be placed face-down. This is the “Draw Space” and each space here is a ‘Draw Spot’. Number Spots.
A1c. Set up 6 positions for the ‘Road Spaces’. Your characters will Travel along these. Label as needed (see rules section B3.)
A1d. Set up places for “current” Adventure, Spell, Purchase, Alignment, and Quest decks along with Discard locations for Adventure and Spell Cards.
A1f. Set up a space for the 3 figurines you will be using for your Characters. These will be used to represent your party’s Marching Order.
A1g. Set up location for Road Map/Special Location cards (See rules B3b, B3f, and section B4).
A2. Separate all Adventure and Spell cards into their original decks. Initially you will only need cards from the Core set, but any expansions you plan on using will also need to be separated into their own deck.
[Remove from the base Adventure Deck all magic items. Create a ‘Trove’ deck with these.]
A2a. Shuffle Adventure cards and place in playing area. Place ‘Trove’ deck face down in the Adventure discard space. You will only be accessing this once before each adventure.
A2b. Shuffle Spell cards and place in playing area.
A2c. Place the Alignment, (and Quests decks if various expansions are used).
A2d. Place Purchase deck. (Note: If using expansions, Cataclysm Purchase Cards are not to be combined with the Core set.)
A3. Shuffle all character cards and randomly choose three characters.
A3a. Put these character cards into the village.
A3b. Put [ Strength, Craft ], Fate, Life, and Gold tokens as indicated by character. à [ Note: Characters CAN lose Strength and Craft below their starting amount. Any action that lowers Strength or Craft removes the appropriate token. Characters with 0 Strength or 0 Craft do not suffer any special disability beyond the effects caused by a lowered Strength or Craft score .]
A3c. Provide any starting equipment character card indicates. (i.e. Tavern Maid gets five potions. Merchant receives 5 gold.) Note: Starting equipment is only given the first time a character arrives in the village. It is not replenished except via in-game actions.
A3d. Set miniature figures for each character on board in spaces set for their Marching Order. This is the order the characters will encounter Actions on the Road the majority of the time. (Exceptions can happen, for example, when a character loses a turn.)
A4: Ending/Starting a Session:
A4a. The session ends when the game needs to be put away. This is best when the Characters are in the Village. When the game session ends, keep track of all the current attributes of each Character (Strength, Craft, Life, Fate, Gold), their items, spells, and followers. All cards except those affiliated with the Characters are shuffled into their respective decks.
A4b. When starting the next session, use notes to reequip each Character appropriately. Start in the Village in the Inner Region.
B. The Playing Space
B1. The Village
B1a. The village components are the same as on the original Board: Blacksmith, Healer, and Mystic. The rules are the same except for as follows.
B1b . [The Healer can also replenish STR or CR or 1 Fate for 1 gold each as needed.]
B1c. [The Mystic can only be visited after the party returns from an adventure and can only be visited once per village visit.]
B1d. [Characters may ‘Store’ items, gold, and trophies they don’t want to take on the adventure in the Village. These may only be retrieved by the Character who stored them. Place any ‘stored’ items under the character card. These are considered ‘Out of Play’ until retrieved. Stored items are discarded if that character dies. Stored Talisman are not discarded. These may be retrieved by the returning characters. ]
B1e. The village is the central focus point of the game. All adventures will originate in a village (Note: there is another village on the far side of the Sentinel – see rule B1f. From the village there are Roads leading to many destinations. (See rule section B3.)
B2. Regions
B2a. Darkest Talisman is divided up into three Regions : Inner, Outer, and the Tower. (The Woodlands, The Highland, the City, and the Dungeon add additional Regions if used.)
B2b. The road to the Tower passes from the starting Village to the Sentinel (Inner Region), from the Sentinel to the Portal of Power (Outer Region), and from the Portal of Power to the Tower (The Tower).
B2c. The Sentinel and Portal of Power are considered to be in both Regions they straddle (as will any space straddling regions.)
B2d. The Inner Region includes the starting Village and all spaces within one Road travel distance. The main Road leads to the Sentinel.
B2e. The Outer Region includes a Village just beyond the Sentinel and all spaces within one Road travel distance from it.
B2f. The Tower includes all spaces beyond the Portal of Power.
B3. Roads and Destinations
B3a. All roads radiate out from villages and possess six spaces. Each space takes one day to travel. During that day various encounters take place.
B3b. In the Inner Region , the six Road Spaces always follow a specific order, and are labeled as: Field, Plains, Woods, Hills, Ruins . The 6th space is reserved for the party’s destination. A destination can have one of three goals: Aid, Trove, or Waypoint.
B3c. Aid destinations include the City, the Tavern, and the Chapel. These do not possess a treasure to claim. They are used to fulfill other needs. (With expansions, the City space will lead into the City.)
B3d. Trove destinations include the Graveyard, the Crags, and the Forest. These roads lead to a treasure guarded by an unknown number of enemies.
(Note 1: With expansions, the Graveyard will lead to the Dungeon, the Crags will lead to the Highlands, and the Forest will lead to the Woodlands. Each of these spaces will become a Straddle point.)
B3e. Waypoint destinations are Straddle points between the Regions on the road to the Tower (or when using expansions, the transition from the Inner Region to the Woodlands, Highland, or Dungeon). Between the Inner Region and Outer Region, this Waypoint is guarded by the Sentinel. Waypoints do not possess a Trove.
B3f. In the Outer Region , the six spaces always follow a specific order, and are labeled as: Hills, Woods, Runes, Desert, Oasis . The 6th space is reserved for the party’s Destination.
B3g. Aid destinations in the Outer Region include the Castle, Temple, and the Warlock’s Cave. These do not possess a treasure to claim. They are used to fulfill other needs.
(With expansions, the Castle space will lead into the City.)
B3h. Trove destinations in the Outer Region include the Black Knight, Chasm, Cursed Glade and Hidden Valley. These roads lead to a treasure guarded by an unknown number of enemies.
(With expansions, the Black Knight will lead to the Dungeon, the Chasm will lead to the Highlands, and the Cursed Glade will lead to the Woodlands. Each of these spaces will become a Straddle point.)
B3i. Waypoint destinations are the Straddle points between Regions on the road to the Tower. In the Outer Region, this would be the Portal of Power.
B3j. The Tower region has only one road, and it leads straight to the Tower. The spaces always follow a specific order, and are labeled as: Plain of Peril, Crypt, Mines, Death, Werewolf’s Den, Vampire’ Tower, The Pits, Valley of Fire, and The Tower (the End Game).
B4 – Special Locations
B4a. It is possible to encounter special locations along the roadways. When this happens during movement (see rule C4a) a marker representing the special location is placed over the road space to be traveled.
B4b. Most of these special locations are similar to Destinations, except they don’t contain treasure, though you do follow the appropriate instructions related to the new space.
B4b. The special locations in the Inner Region include Ruins, the Graveyard, the Forest, Crags, a Tavern, and a Chapel. Some have slight wording changes from the Core set.
B4c. The special locations in the Outer Region include the Black Knight, a Chasm, the Cursed Glade, Hidden Valley, the Temple, and the Castle. Note: The Warlock’s Cave will never accidently. It is only found as an Aid Destination. (See Rule C3b-d.)
B4d. The Tower Region does not have special locations.
B5 – The Storm River
B5a The Storm River is a barrier between the Inner Region and the Outer Region. The only access to this land is the Bridge guarded by the Sentinel, various Adventure Cards, Space Effects, and Rafts. (see Rule Set C5.)
C: Gameplay
C1. Overview
C1a. The game is made up of two courses of action.
a) Utilizing a Village
b) Going on an Adventure.
C1b. (Death) A Character is removed from the game if killed. Remove the Character Card from the Village along with stored items (see rule C2d). Follow rules for dropped items (Rule C4b). This space is now open until the surviving characters return to the village.
C1c. Randomly draw another Character from the Character Cards for each empty space in the Village when the party returns. Set up cards as normal. (Rule set A3.)
C2. Actions in a Village.
C2a. Most Actions in a village are listed in Rules Section B1 (Blacksmith, Mystic, Healer, Storage). Two more are added here:
C2b. Trading in Trophies. [Trophies cannot be traded in during an adventure to improve Strength or Craft. They can only be traded in at a Village.] (Note: The City Expansion allows additional actions.)
C2c. Equipping: Characters may equip their possessions before going on an adventure.
(a) Characters may only have one mount (either from the stable, purchase deck, or adventure deck) and two followers at a time. Extras brought from an adventure can be housed (stored) at a village for later use. (Note: Ownership of pets in the city expansion is limited to one as well.) Character rules for armor and weapons apply (may use only one except where noted.)
(b) Characters may carry four items and [five trinkets.]. A mount that increases carrying capacity allows unlimited trinket capacity.
(c) On the road, Characters may drop an object or abandon a follower before picking up another. See Rules C4b regarding picking up items in spaces.
(d) [Bags of Gold count as an object and not as gold while carried. At any time, a Bag of Gold may be traded for its value in Gold. Bags of Gold cannot be targeted by effects that target Gold.]
C2d NOTES: Storage:
(a) Characters may store items in the Village at any time they are in that Village.
(b) Items can only be accessed in the Village they were stored. Items stored in the initial village cannot be accessed in the Village by the Sentinel and vise versa.
C2e. Trading: Nothing can be traded, swapped, or given between characters unless a Spell, Adventure card, Character ability, or other in-game effect allows this.
C3. Going on an Adventure – Order of Actions
C3a. The game follows a set order of actions for going on an Adventure.
(a) Set Destination and establish the Trove if Destination possesses one.
(b) Prepare reference lists for Special Locations that can be found on a Region’s Roads.
(c) Equip for Adventure.
(d) Set Marching Order. Marching Order can only be changed before encountering the next Road Space. It cannot be changed between Encountering Draw Spots.
(e) Travel along the road spaces and resolve Adventure Cards along the way.
(f) If arriving at Aid Destination, perform actions as allowed then Travel back to Village, reencountering cards left behind during the trip to the Aid Destination by using appropriate Travel rules.
(g) If arriving at Trove Destination, resolve conditions on Destination Card. (For example – for Forest Destination àRoll d6 and follow instructions.)
(h) After resolving effects of Trove Destination – Fight Trove Guardians in Guardian Combat. (See Combat Rule Set C8 for Guardian Combat.)
(i) If successful, loot the Trove and travel back to Village along the Road.
(j) If unsuccessful, refight Guardians or Turn Back and travel to Village.
(k) On return to Village, reencounter cards left behind during trip to Destination using appropriate rules.
C3b Setting Destinations
a) If going to an Aid Destination. Place marker (such as a Terrain card) on the 6th road space.
b) If going to a Trove Destination, randomly pick one of the destinations and place a marker for it on the 6th road space.
c) If going to a Trove Destination, randomly draw magic items from the Trove deck (see rule A2) and roll a d6 for the amount of gold. Without looking at them, place these face down under the Trove Destination Card. This is the reward for defeating the guardians that lurk there.
d) The Warlock’s Cave is located in the Outer Region. It is considered an Aid Destination. If Traveling there, mark the 6th Road Space as the Cave then leave the Village adjacent to the Sentinel and travel the Outer Region Road Spaces to reach the Warlock’s Cave.
C3c Equip Characters and Set Marching Order. Place figures on play space in that order.
C3d. Any effect that limits movement to one space to any member of the party, prevents the party from changing their Marching Order until that effect is ended.
C4. Travel
C4a Process for Travel.
a) Characters do not roll for movement. Characters move one space at a time on the road. On the first Road Space, place a token to represent where the Characters are currently on their trip. Outside the first Village, this will be the Fields Space. Every time the Characters advance to a new Road Space, move the token to the appropriate space.
b) Upon encountering a new Road Space (starting with the Fields space), roll a 6 sided dice for every card you would have drawn in the original game. (Example. Draw 1 Card now should read: Roll 1d6 and blindly draw that many Adventure Cards. In the picture below, a 4 was rolled.)
c) If the die roll produces a 1, then a Special Location is encountered. Roll a 1d6 to see which Special Location is revealed. Specific Locations can only be encountered once along the Road and cannot replicate the Destination. If repeated, reroll d6. Resolve the effects of the card.
d) In the Inner Region – the Special Locations found on a d6 are (1) Ruins; (2) Graveyard; (3) Forest; (4) Crags; (5) Tavern; (6) Chapel.
e) In the Outer Region – the Special Locations found on a d6 are (1) Black Knight; (2) Chasm; (3) Cursed Glade; (4) Hidden Valley; (5) Temple; (6) Castle.
f) If no Special Location is indicated, place the drawn Adventure cards face down in proper Draw Spots section of the playing area. (This would be the 12 spaces mention in Rule A1b.) These cards will be encountered the order they are turned over. See Rule Set C6.
g) Cards that do not get discarded (i.e. places, some strangers, undefeated enemies) remain on the board in their Draw Spot. (Some effects will add cards to the middle of this draw order, such as when Losing a Turn.)
h) After each card, the characters decide to either Move Forward or Turn Back. Characters cannot choose to encounter a Draw Spot multiple times during one visit (unless by a spell or ability that allows a Character to repeat a turn – and then only the character affected gains the ability to reencounter the ).
i) Turn Back – Once a group decides to Turn Back, they must Travel back to the village (or the City) they last left. Upon this reversal, the characters encounter the unresolved Cards still remaining along all the Road Spaces between them and the Village in reverse order.
j) Push Forward – The party continues with the Adventure Card on the next Draw Spot.
k) Once all the Adventure Cards for a Road Space are encountered, place surviving Adventure cards on that Road Space in order they were revealed (first encountered goes on bottom, last encountered goes on top.) They will be reencountered in this opposite order if the party either Turns Back later or returns from their Destination.
l) Reset Marching Order then move to next Road Space to be encountered.
m) Once the Characters have returned to a village or Travel into a new Region, the Adventure Cards on the Road are discarded and the discard pile is shuffled back into the main Adventure Deck.
C4b. Dropping Items.
a) Characters may drop items, gold, and abandon Followers - if allowed - at any time along the road.
b) All dropped/abandoned items fall onto the Draw Space or Special Location that the Characters last encountered, whichever is most recent.
c) When the unresolved Adventure Cards in the Draw Area are placed on the Road Space when the Characters move, all dropped/abandoned items remain in the position they were dropped in. (ie – A character abandons a Guide to acquire the Princess. The Guide is placed on the Draw Spot over any remaining cards there. The next Draw Spot holds a Witch that does not go away. When the party moves to the next Road Space and the cards from the just encountered Draw Spots are moved to the Road (Rule C4a-k), the Witch will be placed above the Guide as she was encountered last. Upon the Character’s return, the Witch will be now be encountered before the Guide because she had been encountered ‘farther’ along the way.)
d) Any dropped items this turn are considered ‘encountered’ by the party already and cannot be picked up by any other Character until that Draw Spot is revisited (ie When Characters either Turn Back, return from a Trove Destination, or choose to Teleport to that Road Space Again.)
e) When both dropped items and abandoned Followers are encountered on the same Draw Spot, the Followers are encountered first. Set by their Marching Order, each character may choose to take one Follower and one Item from the location if their inventory allows. This cycle continues until all eligible Followers and Items are taken, inventories are filled, or no Character wants anything that remains. Characters may still abandon Followers and Items here, but those are now considered Encountered and cannot be picked up as set by Rule C4b-d.
f) Anything dropped by a Character that dies is NOT considered encountered and may be picked up by Characters in that Draw Spot following the rule C4b-e
C4c. Teleport spells, Free Movement via Terrain (ie Woods and Elf ability) and Movement. Characters may use these moves to enter any legal ‘space’ in their current Region allowed by the method utilized. Teleport cannot be used to land on a specific Draw Spot, only a Road Space, which then must be encountered. Teleport actions always affect the entire party.
C4d. If the Characters Teleport or move to a Destination or Road Space off their current Road, all existing Adventure cards on the current road are discarded. The Spaces on the new Road will now need to be encountered and their instructions followed as normal. (i.e. The Characters loot a Trove and decide to Teleport to another Trove Destination Space on a Road not yet traveled. Place appropriate Destination Space on last Road Space. Upon arriving at the new Destination Space all its conditions must be met before the Trove’s Guardians are faced. Then the Characters would have to encounter the new Road Spaces on their way back to the Village, starting with the Destination Card.)
C4e. Teleporting (or similar magical means of travel) to a space on the same Road does not change the direction of travel (ie a party Teleports back 3 spaces to reencounter a Stranger Card. The party is not considered to have Turned Back and may continue moving in the same direction as before the Teleport happened.)
C4f. Forced Teleports to Preset Destinations (ie Imp).
a) If Teleported to Space already existing on the current Road, move to that Space and encounter it normally. (ie The Characters are on the Road with an Aid Destination of the Chapel. The Imp Teleports them to the Chapel. There is no change to the Road.)
b) If Teleported to Space not already existing on Road, discard all Adventure Cards on the Road Spaces. Place the targeted Special Location in the 6th Road Space (I use a Terrain card from an Expansion or a handwritten card) and move the Party’s Location Marker. If this Location could be chosen as an Aid Destination, encounter If this space and then travel to Village. If this Location could be chosen as a Trove Destination, the Characters may attempt to fight the Guardians of the Trove and loot the Trove. Draw the trove following the Rule C3c-b. Afterwards, travel to Village.
c) Note: Characters can be Teleported in special circumstances from the Inner Region to the Outer Region. Follow above rule C4f-b but the Village destination will be the one adjacent to the Sentinel.
C4g. As in Core Game, Characters do not encounter the Sentinel or Portal of Power when traveling back towards the Inner Region.
C5 Crossing between Regions
C5a. Characters can be teleported across the Storm River (see Rule B5) by various Card and Space powers.
C5b. Characters can challenge the Sentinel of the Bridge in Guardian Combat. (See Rule Set C8.) If successful, they arrive at the Village adjacent to the Sentinel. Failure forces the Characters to Turn Back unless the Characters have a method of repeating their turn. If they do, then they can challenge the Sentinel again.
C5c. Characters can build a raft to cross the river. Rafts are acquired or built by the same methods of the Core game. Any Destination Space in the Inner Region provides access to the Storm River.
C5d. Characters crossing the Storm River by a raft arrive in the Village adjacent to the Sentinel.
C5e. [Rafts count as two items and can be carried. They are not discarded after use.]
C5f. Quest rules: (See other expansions for altered rules.)
a) Visit the Warlock’s Cave as an Aid Destination or Teleport result.
b) Roll die to receive Quest.
c) Alter words for Warlock’s Cave Space for rolling die to receive quest: 1 or 2) Defeat an Enemy.
d) Quests that can be completed, must be completed.
e) When a Quest is completed, Teleport to the Warlock’s Cave immediately and receive a Talisman.
C6 – Encountering Adventure Cards
C6a. [Adventure Cards on Draw Spaces are encountered individually and not resolved by their Encounter Number.]
C6b. Characters encounter Adventure Cards in the sequence set by their position in the Marching Order. (Note – Characters will sometimes be forced to draw an extra Adventure Card. In this case, the order Characters are affected begins with the character who drew the card, continues to the end of the Marching Order, then affects those at the beginning of the Order as normal. This most often happens when a Character Loses a Turn.)
C6c. As soon as an Adventure Card’s conditions have been fulfilled, the card is discarded. Adventure Cards with conditions not fulfilled are left on that Draw Spot.
C6d. Losing a Turn. Whenever any character loses a turn, it will affect all the Characters. Immediately draw an Adventure Card for the Characters to Encounter.
a) If all Characters Lost Turn at the same time, draw only one Adventure Card and encounter it normally.
b) If a single Character loses a turn, draw the Card and start the encounter with that Character, then follow Marching Order to resolve. Rule C6b.
C6e. Events affect all characters simultaneously.
C6f. Places, Followers, Strangers, and Items are encountered by characters based on the Marching Order.
C6g. Enemies are encountered by Characters based on the Marching Order.
a) Enemies can be evaded: Evading rules apply to single characters unless otherwise noted.
b) Enemies can be affected by Spells.
c) Enemies can be affected by Character Abilities (such as the Minstrel’s Charm).
d) Enemies can be attacked. See rules for Combat (Rule Set C7).
C7 – Combat – ‘Combat’ is a generic term for fighting enemies. It includes both ‘battle’ (Strength based) and ‘psychic combat’ (Craft based) fighting. ‘Attack score’ is the number generated with dice, abilities, spells, items, attributes, etc. to resolve Combat.
C7a. The following rules are for normal Combat. Guardian Combat follows Rule Set C8.
C7b. Characters Combat Enemies individually except if allowed by Ability (such as the Chivalric Knight’s aid other ability from the Sacred Pool expansion).
C7c. Combat rules are followed as in the Core game except for one key change. [Combat uses an open rolling system. When a combatant rolls a 6 in combat, keep that number and roll the die again. Add the new number to the 6 and the relevant attribute score - Strength or Craft - for their Combat roll. This means no combat is an automatic success. Example. A Boar – Strength 1 faces a Character with Strength 7. The character rolls a 3. When added to the 7 Strength, the Character has a total Attack Score of 10. The Boar rolls a 6 and gets to roll again. This time it’s a 4. Adding the 1 from its Strength with the 6 and the 4, the Boar’s Attack Score is now an 11. The character loses.]
C7d. [Bows are considered to be a Weapon. Only one Bow may be used at a time.]
C7e. If a Character loses a combat, a life counter is removed.
a) If the combat was based on Strength, remove a Strength counter from the Character.
b) If the combat was Psychic Combat, removed a Craft counter from the Character.
c) Armor worn on the body (Armor, Shirt, etc) that prevents a loss of life prevents loss of Strength also.
d) Armor worn on the head (Helmet, Helm, etc) that prevents a loss of life prevents loss of Craft also.
e) Armor held with a hand (Shield, Aegis, etc) that prevents a loss of life prevents loss of either ability damage as well. This can only be used once per combat (see Guardian Combat). [A character cannot use a shield and wield two weapons. See Warrior Character.]
f) A Character who is killed drops all possessions onto that Draw Spot or Road Space (ie when a Character is killed by enemy spawned by a Terrain card such as a Spirit generated by the Crags.) Trophies are discarded.
g) If a Character defeats an enemy and is allowed to take a Trophy, place the Adventure Card of the defeated enemy face down under that Character’s spells. Trophies do not count as Items and cannot be transferred unless allowed by ability, spell, or other similar effect. The trophy is still considered to be ‘in play’ and can be affected by Adventure Cards actions, etc. (see Reaper Expansion). [Trophies can only be used to upgrade Strength or Craft in a Village. See rule C2b.]
C8 – Guardian Combat
C8a. Guardian Combat takes place with Trove Guardians, the Sentinel, and any other Enemy with an established location (such as those found in the Woodlands, Dungeon, and Highland expansions.) The Werewolf and Pitfiends from the Tower Region must also be faced in Guardian Combat.
C8b. If not fighting a Trove Guardian, then ignore to Guardian Combat rules for that scenario.
C8c. There is no evading during Guardian Combat.
C8d Establishing the Trove and its Guardians.
a) Roll 2d6
b) Draw and look at that many cards from the Adventure Deck.
c) Discard everything but Enemies and Objects.
d) Set Enemies down on the playing area. All enemies are considered Evil when accessing the Magic Item in the Trove. See step g).
e) Turn over Trove Cards.
f) Roll a d6 for the Trove's Gold. Set the Gold on the final Road Space.
g) [Equip an Enemy with the Magic Object uncovered in the Trove along with any objects drawn during Step b.]
h) Give Items that provide bonuses to Strength or Craft to Enemies with the highest score in that area. (Example: Give the weapon with the greatest bonus to Strength to the Enemy with the greatest Strength. Repeat similarly with Craft bonus items) If there is no Enemy with the needed attribute, give to the highest alternative score. (Example: Only Spirits are drawn as Guardians but one of the items in the Trove is a Sword. Equip the Spirit with the greatest Craft with the sword unless it already possesses a Weapon.) All unused weapons return to the Trove.
i) Give Armor and Shields to the highest Strength score Enemies first. Give Helmets to those with the highest Craft. After Combat, roll dice for killed Enemies as if they were Characters. With a successful roll, the Enemy is not killed and is considered at full Strength after combat.
j) [Any Magic Item from the Trove that would allow Spells to be drawn, give to Enemy with the best Craft and draw spells as indicated. Spells held by Enemies are considered to be ‘Scrolls’, a temporary item. Scrolls with effects that are ineffective in combat are not cast. (After successful combat, unused or dropped Scrolls may be picked up and converted to Spells for use by Characters as allowed by their Craft. Characters may not discard a Spell to gain one of the Scrolls. All unconverted Scrolls are discarded if not picked up by a Character.)]
k) If the Magic Item is unusable by the Enemy side due to restrictions, set it with the Gold.
l) Start Guardian Combat
C8e. Running Guardian Combat
a) In Guardian Combat, you add up separately the Strength and Craft for all members of each side of the Combat. If a combatant has numbers for both Strength and Craft, add those numbers to their side’s appropriate scores. (This allows Characters and Enemies to use both Strength and Craft in Guardian Battle).
b) Characters who can destroy spirits without fighting can only destroy one Spirit during Guardian Combat. They may destroy the one Spirit during this step of Guardian Combat.
c) Each side may cast spells at each other, one at a time, beginning with the Enemy. Resolve effects. (Note 1: Effects that blow items away – as Gust of Wind in the Reaper Expansion – will drop the item into the Trove making it unusable during combat.) Enemy spells target the strongest characters first (highest Strength or Craft score – whichever is used. (Note 2: Spells that summon creatures to fight in a Character’s place, actually create an Ally that adds its numbers to the group’s totals.)
d) Use items that produce damage prior to combat (such as the bow). Apply damage to opponent with highest Strength.
e) For steps b and c – keep notes on damaged Enemies and Characters before simultaneous combat (step e). The damage will last until the Guardian Combat ends. Any Enemy that is reduced to zero in the Attribute taking damage is defeated and discarded. It’s items return to the Trove and cannot be used by other Enemies. Characters taking damage greater than their Strength or Craft lose a life and relevant Attribute score as in normal Combat when defeated. If a character is killed, follow Rule C1b. All dead Enemies and Characters no longer may affect Guardian Combat. Do not forget have Enemies and Characters trigger Armor abilities if necessary.
f) From this point, Guardian Combat is considered simultaneous. A Participant who is killed during this step still applies its powers and abilities to the Combat. Follow all steps of f) through j) before removing any participants from battle. Characters do not officially remove any Life or Ability Tokens until after the battle is done. Do not remove defeated enemies until the battle is done.
g) Start with Strength: Characters may divide their combined Strength damage as they choose among their Enemies. If their combined Strength is greater than the Enemies’ total, all Strength based Enemies will be killed, even if they have a Craft score.
h) The Enemy side now utilizes its Strength. They will target Characters from the lowest Strength to the highest in order to inflict the most damage. (A Character’s Strength total considers Items, Followers, and Spells that are still in effect. Items such as bows and spells such as Fireball are considered expended and not counted) Characters whose Strength is surpassed lose a Life and a Strength token. [Any Strength in excess of the Character’s total score may then be reapplied against the Characters’ scores. It is possible to lose multiple lives in a Guardian Battle.]
i) Repeat with Craft: Follow the above steps f) and g). Switch the words Strength and Craft in these steps.
j) Guardian Combat Ends. Use Armor abilities as needed. [Shields may only be used once per Guardian Combat.] Remove dead Enemies. Remove Strength, Craft, and Life tokens as needed from Characters. Remove dead Characters and place their items in Trove.
k) If all the Enemies are not defeated, the Characters may immediately reinitiate a new Guardian Combat starting at Step a) or Turn Back. No side may pick up items dropped by dead members of their group.
l) If the Enemies are defeated, loot the Trove. Choose which Character receives which item. Split the gold evenly. Encounter all dropped items.
m) Omitted
C10 – Accessing the Tower Region and Winning The Game
C10a. The goal of this version of Talisman is to reach the Tower Region, climb the Tower, and acquire the Crown. The Road Spaces follow this order: The Portal of Power; the Plain of Peril; the Crypt; the Mines; Death; the Werewolf’s Den; the Vampire’s Tower; the Pits; the Valley of Power; and The Tower.
C10b. As this is designed for either solitaire play or coop, the Crown itself is the goal. It does not possess any specific power like in the Core game.
C10c. The path into the Tower Region moves through the Portal of Power.
C10d. Movement in the Tower Region is not compulsory. All Spaces from The Portal of Power to the Tower may be reencountered repeatedly by the Characters if they have the requirements to do so. Otherwise they must Move Ahead or Turn Back.
C10e. [Teleport Abilities in the Tower Region can only move you away from the Tower.]
C10f. The Portal of Power: To open and pass the Portal of Power, add up either each Characters’ Strength or Craft. Discard 1 Talisman to Roll 4d6. If the roll is equal to or less than your overall Strength or Craft, you breech the door. If the attempt ends in a failure, each character loses one point of the attribute used in the check.
C10g. Plain of Peril: Each Character needs to possess a Talisman in order to pass beyond this Space towards the Tower. If a Character is in this space without a Talisman, lose a life.
C10h. Crypt: Discard a Talisman. Roll 4d6. Add up the Characters’ Strength. Subtract this from the 4d6. Characters may sacrifice Strength. For each Strength sacrificed, subtract one from the roll. If the number from the roll is reduced to zero, move ahead to the Mines.
C10i. Mines: Discard a Talisman. Roll 4d6. Add up the Characters’ Craft. Subtract this from the 4d6. Characters may now sacrifice Craft. For each Craft sacrificed, subtract one from the roll. If the number from the roll is reduced to zero, move ahead to the Mines.
C10j. Dice with Death.
a) Roll 2d6 for Characters and 2d6 for Death.
b) If equal: Dice with Death again on the next turn.
c) If Character’s score is lower: Lose 1 life each and Dice with Death again on your next turn.
d) If your score is higher: you may move on your next turn.
e) Any Character may discard 1 Fate to add one to the their total.
C10k. Werewolf’s Den:
a) Create a Werewolf for each Character. Roll 2d6 for each to establish Strength.
b) Complete a Guardian Combat between the Werewolves and the Characters.
c) After unsuccessful Combat, Characters my Turn Back or reexperience the Space.
C10l. Vampire’s Tower:
a) Roll a d6 for each Character. 1-2) Lose 1 Life. 3-4) Lose 2 Life. 5-6) Lose 3 Life.
b) A Character may pay 1 Talisman to avoid rolling the d6.
c) A Character may sacrifice a Follower to prevent losing 1 life.
C10m. The Pits:
a) Roll d6 for each Character.
b) Fight that many Pit Fiends with Strength of 4 in Guardian Combat.
c) After unsuccessful Combat, Characters my Turn Back or reencounter the Pits.
C10n. The Valley of Fire:
a) Count the number of Talisman utilized and discarded by the Characters while in the Tower Region.
b) Roll one 6 sided die for each Talisman used in step a). Add totals.
c) Characters have a Guardian Combat a Spirit with Craft equal to the roll at b).
C10f. The Tower. The Power of the Crown overwhelms those who ascend the Tower. Each wants to be Lord over the Land. (Optional rule: If you want pure Coop until the end: End game with the survivors all reaching the Crown and the Land of Talisman freed from Evil.)
a) There Can Be Only One: Have final Combat between the Characters.
b) Based on Marching Order, starting with the Character in the lead, each Character, one at a time, will target and Combat other Character
c) All wording on cards allowing effects against other characters are now valid.
d) Resolve each Combat in turn. Repeat this order until only one Character survives.
e) The Survivor claims the Crown and dominion over the land.
D: Wording and Errata
A NOTE ON THE CHANGING OF THE WORDING ON CARDS:
Due to the structure of Darkest Talisman being changed with alternative rules, some of the original wording on Spell, Adventure, and Character cards needs adjustment as well. The main goal for these changes is to make all the characters, spells, and other card types playable without the need to remove them from the game.
Any cards omitted from the revised lists may be played as written.
Characters are always considered to be landing on each other’s space. (See Minstel, Sorceress)
D1 – General Changes in Rules
D1a. “When you attack a character or creature”: (See Assassin, Ghoul, Sorceress, Wizard.)
a) The relevant ability is only generated the Turn an Adventure Card with an enemy is turned over or drawn. It will not work on cards already encountered or Face Up.
b) This ability cannot be used in Guardian Combat.
c) For Characters who can choose to make an attack Psychic when attacking Characters: Change to: Character may use Craft instead of Strength when in battle with the enemy. (This is still limited by rule D1a-a).
D1b. See Rule A3c – Characters only receive the bonus equipment, followers, spells, and gold once when they first are drawn and arrive in the village.
D1c. See Rule – C3d – Any effect that limits movement to one space by any member of the party, prevents the party from changing their Marching Order until that effect is ended.
D1d. See Rule - Any time a Character Loses a Turn, draw an Adventure Card.
D2 – Characters
Assassin – If you succeed at assassination, you may not keep the defeated as a trophy.
Dwarf – Roll 1 less die when at the Portal of Power and at the Mines.
Ghoul – When you defeat an enemy, gain 1 life. This does not include Guardian Combat.
Sorceress – Instead of beguiling Characters, you beguile strangers for gold when encountered. All strangers are considered Neutral.
Thief – You may take one gold or Object from another character whenever they Roll a 1 for any reason.
Troll – Regeneration now occurs when the Troll is first in the Marching Order and a 6 is rolled.
D3 – Spells
D3a. Spells may only be cast if there is a valid target or effect that can be generated.
D3b. Spells are discarded between gaming sessions and an equal number redrawn by a Character when starting after a break in which the game area is newly set up.
D3c – The Cards
Destroy Magic – Until end of the Party Turn, counter all affects produced by Event, Stranger, Enemy, or Space cards.
Counterspell – Negate until end of the Party’s Turn the effect of any Event, Stranger, or Space card.
Divination – Cast to see next three unrevealed cards in the Draw Spots, the next three cards in the Adventure Deck, or the next three Spells.
Hex – Destroy all revealed enemies on any Road Space in your Region. Cannot be used on Guardians.
Immobility – Creature may not be attacked but can be evaded by all Characters until end of turn.
Random – Note: Loss of Strength or Craft can lower scores below starting numbers.
Temporal Warp – Allow the caster to reencounter a space 3 times in a row. (Such as the Fountain of Wisdom that bestows tokens to Craft.)
D4 – Adventure Cards
D4a – Unless Noted – All unmentioned abilities and affects remain unchanged.
Amulet – Magic Item – You cannot cast spells. No Events, Strangers, or Places will affect you. Any effect that effects the Party as a group, such as Teleport, still affects the bearer.
Ghost – Enemy * Spirit – Roll a d6. Place ghost as the first encounter on the Road Space that many Spaces from the start of the Road. (Example: On a roll of a 2, the Ghost is placed on the second Road Space. On a 6, it would be placed on the Destination Space. Encounter it before any other card on that space.)
Gnome – Follower – Add: Roll 1 less d6 at the Portal of Power.
Hermet – Stranger - Roll as Ghost.
Raiders – Event – Stash the gold at the Sentinel. Defeat the Sentinel to regain gold. The gold is removed from the game if the Characters visit any other Destination.
(END OF CORE GAME RULE SET)
(I will be adding revised rules for every expansion except Harbinger, Cataclysm, and Dragon.)
(Revised 2-20-17 to lower difficulty. Altering rules for Troves and Bags of Gold. Added more Magic Items to Trove and moved Bags of Gold to Adventure Deck. Bags of Gold are carried and do not count as Gold until the bearer converts the Bag.)
Edited by elem3ntary
Rules Revision