I just finished a game of Talisman with the new expansion, The Highland, using the Battle Royale ending. As three of us were duking it out on the Crown of Command the Toadify spell was cast on one of the players. In this instance, if a player is turned into a toad will he/she remain a toad for three turns as usual, or will he/she be a toad the remainder of the fight? In Battle Royale, is it the case that each combat phase counts as a turn, or since the characters are engaged in a spontaneous all out fight, do turns no longer apply? I appreciate the insight.

It doesn't appear to be much different from the situation with the normal CoC ending and having 3+ characters at the Crown (other than those times being almost unheard of), apart from the must attack, can't use ability stuff. So I'd say each time the Toad's turn to choose who to attack comes, counts as one turn vs Toad.

The only problem with the previously stated solution is that during Battle Royale normal rounds do not apply. One of the conditions of Battle Royale is:

The character who first entered the Crown of Command must choose a character to attack. The winner of the attack must force the loser to lose a life; he cannot choose to take an object or gold instead. The winner of the attack then chooses any other character to attack (the loser cannot be chosen unless he is the only other character remaining). If the attack is a stand-off, the same characters fight again.

In Battle Royale, rounds where player turns progress in order around the board with each player getting a chance to attack do not apply, as would be the case with normal CoC victory conditions. Instead a player’s turn is determined on his/her victory in combat. Based on the given solution, since a toad only has strength of one and craft of one, it is unlikely that he/she will ever be victorious in combat. Therefore, the toad will never have the opportunity to be the attacker and thus take a “turn.” In other words, the toad is stuck being a toad for the remainder of the game.

My question is, during Battle Royal, if someone is successfully turned into a toad, is it the case that “turns” no longer apply and therefore the toad must remain a toad? If turns still do apply, for the toad’s sake, what constitutes a turn and when will it transform back to its previous state?

Upon further reading of the BR ending, I'm inclined to agree with your original way of thinking, Toaded, unless he somehow manages to win 3 attacks. I would count each time the Toad gets to choose who to attack a turn, but like you say, unlikely to happen. Then again, maybe some characters just died before the first char made it to the CoC, but lucked and drew (or collected) Talismans, so they are still at starting stats. Pixie or any Str 2 could potentially lose to a Toad. Hell, I've seen the Elf pick a fight with a Toad and lose .

Thank you for all your insight. My friends and I greatly appreciate it!

DrgnSprt5 said:

From what i can understand of the Battle royal text..

The toad can never get a turn with 3 or more players.

I agree that he remain as a toad.

he gets only a turn if you play with 2 players. ( you can choose the loser)

That's bad luck then!

For what I read, once Battle Royale begins, there ain't no thing like "turns". An endless stream of attacks begins. The toad is pretty much doomed.

Cynewulf said:

Similar ruling applies to abilities like the Sage and Warlock. No more spell cycling for them.

Before a character is going to attack, he can still cast some spells...

It's the turn from the player that may attack another player..

_________

Mm.

But if there were no more turns, wouldn't effects of spells casted before the first fight last forever?

Velhart: Even if there are only two characters on the CoC, unless the toad wins in combat, the toad will not take any turns. It is the winner of any combat that is the next attacker and takes a "turn."

Cynewulf & Canadianized: You both bring up valid points, but if it is the case that no turns exist, what would each phase of combat be considered?

DrgnSprt5 said:

Oh, you are right. i think i misread something..

That means indeed that the toad will never get a turn.

The winner can attack again..

But with more players, the toad has more chance to become a normal character again, because the attacker can not attack the same character twice, unless you play with more players

Is it possible to have some official explaination about Battle Royale and the concept of "turns" and "lasting effects"?

I want to know how turn-related or time-related effects have to be treated with this ending. For my insight, it's far more clear and correct to count each fight as a turn. I don't like the idea of infinite Toading, Energizing, Brainwaving, Bladesharping and so on.

If single combats can be treated like normal Crown combats, how can you deal with abilities like the Sage/Warlock Spell acquiring, or the Alchemist object-gold-life-fate-spell manipulations? Do they completely forfeit their best abilities with this ending?

You know, tonight I incredibly won a game because we and the other players agreed that my Sage could cycle Spells with Battle Royale (mostly because we unanimously despised the idea of Infinite Toading, so each combat counts as a Turn for everyone). Got a Finger of Death and killed a gargantuan Gladiator which would have turned the Sage to shreds. Gladiator deserved victory because of better luck and good playing, but this is Talisman, you got to have such incredible outcomes sometimes.

Please give me some (semi-)official answer about this controversial ending, before I get to play again with it. Thanks very much

We've been playing it quite different.

Only players with a talisman get's to take part in the Battle Royale, this means (in my mind) that any player that loses his/her talisman in the BR is instantly killed. There aren't many ways to lose a Talisman, but being turned into a Toad would be one of them since toads lose all their possesions and followers as soon as they turn toad.

Would appreciate more clarification on the concept of how turns work in the Battle Royale.

For example, as a Warrior tonight I took part in a Battle Royale. I had the Book of Lore. Do I get to draw new spells at the beginning of each new battle I fight, or do I never draw a spell? Does a potion last all battles, or only one of them? How do the turns work (or are there any turns) during a Battle Royale?

any new info on turns/no turns for alt endings like BR?