Hello guys,

I try to use all the expansion boards, but they are useless! Usually players never follows the Dungeon or the Highlands paths, these paths are usefull for very few characters, like:

• Assassin
• Troll
• Gladiator
• Necromancer
• Ogre Chieftain

So I'm wandering if it's better to use only the main board, and only if it's drawn an adventure card that it permits to enter in the dungeon or in the Highlands, the extra-board is placed. To push players using the extra-board, just apply the following rule:

• who has a Talisman and defeats the last boss of the path, wins the game (or reaches "the crown of command", as you prefer)

What do you think?

The dungeon board is not useless.

Characters can level up fast there.

Every character can go there if they are strong enough.

But the Highland is not so good to go too. I have almost never been there.

Highland is an excellent place to go in the early - middle game. It provides a lot of useful Objects (most are Trinkets, so happy harvesting since you don't need a Mule) and Gold (you need Gold in the early game for healing/buying); it has some Enemies that can be faced even if you're not über-powerful; it has some dangers but if you don't go deep inside you can always get out and land on healing places like City and Chapel. Final boss is not that difficult to beat, with the right Spell a Character can win even with the basic stats. And he gets a useful Relic for sure.

Dungeon is for the middle-late game, when you are planning to head for the Crown. There you can level very fast with ANY Character. I tried it with the Priest Str 4 Cft 6 and only an Armour suit; I managed to survive and level pretty good there. In Dungeon you'll find: Enemies, Enemies, Enemies. Other card types are only a diversion. You don't go there to find Followers, Objects or small bonuses by Strangers/Places.

If you're playing with 2-3 Characters, I suggest you use only one expansion board. With 4 and more it's not bad to have both. It gives you choices and if you know how it works you can take the best from the board options. Barring all the odds with dice and bad draws, that's for sure.

I suggest you try one expansion at a time at the beginning, because you need to know what every board has to offer. You and your fellow players will go there when you're sure of what type of "services" you're going to find there. You'll get the point after some games with each single board.

A common misconception is perhaps that you need to be as strong as you need to be for the Inner Region to enter the Highlands or the Dungeon, which is not true.

By the time you are indeed strong enough to enter the Inner Region, you have no business there anymore (unless you hope on the backdoor entrance). Instead, you should head there earlier, and level in the highlands and later the dungeon instead of in the outer region.

If you're feeling brave, you might even consider heading straight in with the right character. Prophetess for example, is a character that could get lucky in the dungeon by switching out the strongest creeps for other cards.

I agree with Warlock, to get the best balance between PvE and PvP encounters we usually play like this 2-3 players only main board 4-6 players 1 expansion board. What used to happen before we did this and played for example a 4 man game with both highland and dungeon is that everybody seem to get spread out to much and no PvP action would ever happen which was boring.

The_Warlock said:

Good advice! But on another point...

Leveling / equipping characters via realm boards isn't that important for winning if using the standard ending. It doesn't matter often how potent a character becomes if it gets the back door into the CoC and takes control of the Command spell... and that's it. On the other hand, if playing with a chosen or random AltEnd card, then leveling / equipping becomes important in many cases. You certainly do want to be ready to face some of those AltEnd "uber-enemies." That's the combination that makes the realm boards serve a greater purpose.

With the nastiness promised by the Dragon expansion, I think the realm boards might game some extra purpose for those looking for a slightly riskier but faster route to the Dragon's Tower.

In the last games I played the Dungeon / Highlands were used as a way of avoiding Dragon Rage. Hide out in there and avoid losing an object, follower, spell or life. Was an amusing diversion in an otherwise immensely fun day of Talisman.

lonely_writer said:

But you can't avoid it for to long.

Dragon Rage can also be triggered in the Highland..

But it's nice to hear, that you have hide in the Highlands.

The highland wil lbecome a more important region then.

Velhart said:

True but you can’t get the EXTRA Dragon Rage (cf p.8) that happens when you have a Scale on every space, and you are instructed to add a Scale. If the region is full, and a Dragon is crowned, the Scale is discarded and you suffer Dragon Rage instead.

Since the Highland (and Dungeon) can never be full, the above can never happen.

FYI – It can’t be full because you can never stay on the last space, because you are teleported out, win or lose. And since the Scales are put down at the START of your turn, and are placed Counterclockwise if there is already a Scale on your space, i.e. towards the exit, then both corner realms can never be full… at least not with a strict interpretation of the rules.

A FAQ could change all that, but I like that the Lord of Darkness and the Eagle King have control over their own lands. Makes it feel like a clash between their armies and the Dragons’… at least in my head.

Tons-Home-rules said:

Yeah, i know about this problem.

But if there are scales towards the exit, you could make it round, by saying that if the entrance contains a scale, the next scale must be place backwards on the lord of darkness or the eagle king.

In this manner, the region can still be full of scales.

I still haven't the Dragons Expansion, but after a lot of games, me and my friends realized that the only way to use all the expansion is the following:

• If you are killed: GAME OVER. You don't draw another character and start again.
• If you are the only player in game: YOU WIN
• If you reach the Crown of command with a Talisman: YOU WIN
• If you defeat the Dungeon Lord with a Talisman: YOU WIN
• If you defeat the Eagle King with a Talisman: YOU WIN
• If you have the Talisman, Dragon Lord and Eagle King statistics are 8/8. Otherwise normal rules applies.
• If it's late, and you want to finish soon... At the beginning your turn roll a die a consult the Reaper card.

This way a game last 2-3 hours max and remains fun!