Velhart said:

I have not played any of them yet, but I think they are going to offer great fun. I am trying to get my wife playing a game tonight with one of the new endings, but she is a bit tired and she do not drink coffee

Nice paintings Lasse!

The Sprite looks funny.

It looks like she want to say: Talk to the hand

Vampiress seems like the martians from Tim Burton's Mars Attacks. Even her hand posture fits.

Nice job painting them. I find these ones very difficult, the lack of definition on them is difficult to work around. My Vamp seems to have no face details.

Looking at the cards from the Highland expansion, there is a handfull of cards that are very good.

But the mainboard will still have the most important objects to get.

I still have no answer for myself if it is worthy to travel there.

But let's sum up the good cards..

Horned Owl

Stream of knowledge,

spell sword

treasure hunter

Crystal shard

Horns of power

Lucky charm

clansman

Magic mage

spell weaver

walking stick

pool of fortitude

spell stone

lighting hammer

eagle talon

_______

That;s only 15 cards from the 142 cards from the highland.. mmm

Maybe that there are some others but i have pick the best ones out of the deck

___________

Maybe that the highland is a sort of middle adventure if you have strength 5 or 6

and if you have strenght 9, then go to the dungeon after trying to beat the eagle king

It has some cool items, and it;s nice to find some there..

Nasty cards that you don;t want to draw:

Highland raiders

Luck fairy

lode stone

cyclops

couldron crone

vagebond

hidden chasm

leprechaun

narrow path

PS: Now that the dragon expansion has been released, i hope that this give us more reason to escape to the highland, if the dragons show up on the mainboard.

But i believe they can also show up in the highlands, so that makes it exciting!

You forgot one of the best cards in highland which imo is the Guru.

Persiatic said:

Actually this (and Demi God) are one of the worst cards in the game.

Are you kidding us? Guru and Demi God are most powerful cards you can find and I always love to see them appearing.

Maybe you meant "most annoying" instead of "the worst"? I could agree that in certain groups, players may tend to search for a spell quite a long time. In our group however, it takes half a minute, so that's not an issue.

Nemomon said:

I don't understand your logic here, how can getting to choose any spell you want be bad? You can easly turn the game to your favor with just 1 spell.

Demi God is a very good card...

Has anyone got some play sessions with the highland and if it is used with the dragon expansion?

I am gonna play a talisman game next week, and í can't wait to use the new dragon expansion

Velhart said:

I played Talisman Dragon three times and only one with the Highland and Dungeon boards, with the Domain of Dragons alternative ending.

I did not see any problems in combining the expansions, but I didn't play with scales.

What I have to report is that a 3 player game with scales and with no expansion boards, causes the base board to be slowly covered by scales, but this doesn't mean that the game becomes unplayable. We used standard Characters (Amazon, Philosopher, Minstrel, which is really good with Dragons) and it was no struggle to survive. You're forced to encounter scales only if they match the current Dragon King, after all. With 4 players the game was a little bit harsher to "non-Dragon" Characters and I think with 5-6 the problem will be even more accentuated.

An interesting house rule: change the Dragon King and place scale on board when X scales are placed on a Draconic Lord card, where X is the number of players.

The_Warlock said:

Hi Warlock,

How does the Highland plays if it is combined with the Domain of Dragon ending?

I think it's not bad if stronger enemies from the dragon deck is mixing with the highland deck, because highland has more low strength/craft enemies

____________

I am also wondering how the game plays with scales.

Playing with scales is different, than playing with Domain of Dragons.

Scales rule, can trigger Dragon Rage if the board is full of dragon tokens. it can prevent you from encountering a space if the dragon toke is encountered.

Cannot cross the Sentinel if the dragon from that token on that place is current king. same for Portal of Power.

You can also draw sleep tokens, that you can't get with Domain of Dragons, unless it is written on a dragon card.

I think that both choices (scales and dragon domain ending) gives a different feel to the game.

I don't know yet which i like the most, but i will see about that, if i play the game.

Do you use the Highland board a lot in your games?

It is not so very active in our games at least..

Velhart said:

In Highland you get lots of Objects, so the most triggered are the Cadorus cards, the most dangerous of the Dragon decks. Cadorus is dangerous because it has random Enemies (Strength or Craft) and the Cultists force you to fight with you lowest combat attribute. Not for wimps. Besides that, there are some exceptionally good Followers and Objects to find there.

I think that with scales the Highland will not be covered enough, except with 5 or 6 players. You won't be able to draw Dragon Cards so often there.

Velhart said:

I've changed my mind about scales during the last game, perhaps because the game feels quite balanced with 3 players. I don't think you'll get the board full of tokens if you play with 3 or 2; we never experienced the Dragon Rage because a Region was full of scales. Consider that some scales will be claimed by Characters at some time, so board crowding will not go on forever.

But when you will play with Dragons, you will learn that you don't have to fear Dragon cards too much. In most cases they are a SAFER draw in comparison to Adventure cards. Varthrax has only Strength Enemies, Grilipus has only Craft Enemies, Cadorus has both but you might give him a try if you have average points in both Str and Cft.

What scales really change is the way to win the game. First objective is: get some scales or stat points. Then, use scales to fight a lot of Dragons and boost stats in minutes. You will see that Fire Wizard, Dragon Rider and Dragon Hunter are really good in this job. Other Characters might have a chance if you tackle the right type of scales.

Velhart said:

Yes, we used it very often and everybody prefers Highland over Dungeon. It's varied and full of surprises. Usually a Character can get a pre-boost in Highland and then try the Dungeon or reach the Middle Region to draw more Adventure cards.

If I remember well, you usually play 2-player games, so I don't recommend you to use both regions. Try to use Highland and leave out the Dungeon for a while, just to get the feel of what's inside it. Don't be afraid to venture there if you have a good Character; you can travel through Highland also in the first turns of the game.

The_Warlock said:

The information is useful.

I have the feeling, that it is more fun to play with the dragon domain ending.

The objective is also to collect dragon scales, and if you play with the dragon domain ending, you can go everywhere where you want, without hunting and landing on a certain space that has a dragon token on it.

Players can focus on the adventure and drawing cards.

You have also a good point about the difference of the dragon cards, that contains strength, craft or both. You could use a strategie if you play with dragon tokens, but if you play with the dragon domain ending, you must draw the card, and can't avoid it. maybe this is better too.

The_Warlock said:

Interesting.

Personally, i would wait until i have a strength of 5, or 4 with a weapon.

Craft type characters would be to weak for the highland, because they start with 2 strength.

That's how i see it, but i still need more experience with that board to get the feel how useful it really is.

Velhart said:

The_Warlock said:

It seems that people are very positive about the highland.

I shall try it, but i think i will not rush into the Highland at the start of the game, unless i have at least average strength of 4 a 5.

Buying a weapon will do the trick..

I am also not sure to rush in with a craft type character who has a low strength of 2.

If a player always stay in the highland, then you also don't use the mainboard anymore. I don;t know if that is very positive..

Thanks for the advice

I hope that there will be more action in the highland in our next game.

Ps: something went wrong in the guote, but you can the first reaction in the guote above.

Velhart said:

There are lots of Trinkets and some good Weapons in the Highland. You won't draw Cloud Dragon or Lightning Elemental all the time. So, you will draw the same Strength and Craft average Enemies that you draw in the Highland.

Anyway, with 4 or 5 combat value in battle you will be quite safe.

Velhart said:

Besides the number of Enemies, which leans a little towards Strength as always (27 Str, 23 Cft), you'll notice that the Craft Enemies are a little stronger on average. The average Craft is 3,6, while the average Strength is 3,4. So, it is a good place for Str 2 Cft 4 Characters, who are not very comfortable on the mainboard, Dragons or not.

Velhart said:

Yeah, we noticed that drawing in the Highland usually brings better and faster rewards than drawing in the main board. Nevertheless, the mainboard offers option to spend Gold (Livery Stables, Pedlar, Market, Arcane Archive, some board spaces) that you won't find in the Highland. You find Gold there, tons of Gold, but you're supposed to return on the main board to spend it.

Highland is not the place to spend more than the half of a game. It's like going on a side quest (defeating the Eagle King) to collect riches and lost artifacts, that can help you in the big quest for the Crown. However, I saw many players linger there a lot, looking for some cards; having one of them draw Gong of War when you're on the Valley of Fire is really annoying and it happened twice to me...

Velhart said:

Ps: something went wrong in the guote, but you can the first reaction in the guote above.

Too late!

The_Warlock said:

That would mean that you can go into the highlands from the beginning of the game.

You are right that you can also find some weapons there.

I could give it a shot and see what happens...

The_Warlock said:

Oke that;s better then.

I would at least build they strength up to 4 (or 3 with weapon) first then before i go in with a craft type character i think.

The_Warlock said:

I wonder if you can stay long enough in the highland region to get a strength of 9 and travel afterwards to the dragon tower, by defeating the eagle king.

The problem is the rush in the game. If somebody is going into the dungeon, then i am already afraid that i am falling behind, because i am in the highland.

How strong were the characters in your game when they plan on moving towards the dragon tower?

Thanks for the information so far. It's nice to talk with people about this sort things

Velhart said:

The Dungeon can be faced after a succesful trip in the Highlands, which means you've got a Relic card and some good stuff. If someone can succesfully travel into the Dungeon and gain lots of Str/Cft, then you've fallen behind because of other reasons (he had a better Character, better draws, better luck), not because you chose to go to the Highland. The sooner you get there, the sooner you can take the route downhill, in terms of Character improvement rate.

Relics are good because you have 4 of them and 3 of them are pretty good. Windlord Amulet is not the best weapon out there, except for low-Craft Characters. Eagle's Talon is a solid Weapon; Dreadwing is an improved Riding Horse and the Arnkell is a game-winner, as it makes you skip the Inner Region. It's always worthy to beat the Eagle King and not so difficult as it seems; Strength 9 is not strictly required . A simple Spell (Energize/Brainwave, Psionic Blast, Bolster, Bladesharp, even Toadify or Fireball) is well used to win such a combat, with a very good reward and the chance to teleport and have an extra turn. There are also useful Trinkets in the Highland that can make this fight easier.

Dragon Tower was faced only once in two games. The Fire Wizard had lots of scales and with average stats (Str 6, Cft 9) he went comfortably through the Dragon Tower and defeated the Dragon King (it was Varthrax). In the second (with Domain of Dragons) the Conjurer with Str 10 Cft 11 skipped the Tower through the Great Portal and defeated Dragon King Grilipus with no effort.

I do not know what stats are required to travel the entire way through the Dragon Tower. There are so many shortcuts to reach the Crown and the Tower is too big to attempt to climb it normally. It's easier and faster to beat Lord of Darkness, find the Arnkell or draw Dragon Cards until Great Portal or Dragonspire show up.

If you want the epic scale game, which I can't afford myself because a Talisman game of 3+ hours is not for us anymore, use the Dragon Tower as a separate board after the normal Inner Region. No tricks allowed there.

The_Warlock said:

Oke, thanks for your insight.

It makes me a bit excited after hearing all this good stuff about the highland.

Weird that we almost never went in there..

The_Warlock said:

It seems that strength 9 or 10 is enough to go to the tower.

I heard it once from someone else here.

Well, if i go to the highland earlier in the game, i can always give it a shot for arnkell.

The positive thing is that you can still level up inside the tower, so i must see for myself how it will turn out, if i go in with strength 9..

Maybe i can gain some dragon tokens in the highland too...

I think i must see for myself which way is faster. tower or dungeon....

Fire wizard can easily blast those dragons way, and your conjurer was probably very lucky with the great portal.

Hey Warlock,

Did it happen in your games, that the highland was full of tokens towards the exit?

What would you do if you stand on the third space in the highland, and you must place a dragon token counterclockwise, but both 3 spaces contains already a token?

Velhart said:

This did not happen, because I've used Highland only with Domain of Dragons. However, a situation like this it's likely to happen.

In the corner regions, I will house-rule that the counter-clockwise scale placement is reversed into clockwise when no scales can be placed with the normal rule. I don't even think of dropping extra scales on the main board, because it will be unfair towards Characters in the Outer Region, and I also refuse to place scales starting from the Aerie or Treasure Chamber spaces. These spaces are far away and I'm supposed to place scales near to my Character, I think.

The_Warlock said:

That's not a bad idea. I must say, that it is a better idea than mine

_________

I did some practice today with the dragon expansion how it feels to draw dragon tokens and the replacement of the crown. (including discarding tokens and put one on the board)

And my reaction and feelings are not good

I was very upset how long this process is, and this is only a practice handling.

If every player must do this in their turn 4 to 5 hours long in a game, then other players will perhaps fall in sleep.

I can already say that the speed is out of the game with the whole token management rule.

But i will try to begin with this rule next week, and we can always quickly change to the dragon domain rule.

Velhart said:

My first impression was as negative as yours. In the second game, things went smoother and faster, because the mechanic (draw scale, place token and check Dragon King) was well known. We also decided to draw the token before the active player finishes his turn; when it's your turn, you've already made all the evaluations and this saves a lot of time. However, Talisman with scales mechanic tends to stretch 15 extra minutes per player.