Few questions after first play

By SolennelBern, in Talisman

Posted at

First of all, like many of you here, I think this expansion add so much to an already fun game. Now we can feel the tension growing while the Draconic Lords are battling each other for the Crown. I simply love it!

After our first game with The Dragon, and winning with the Dragon Hunter with a total of 40 Strengh (3 from character, 23 from counters, 2 from item and 12 from Dragon scales [3 reds and 3 yellow but having found an item that made all scales "same color" and an other item doubling the bonus from them]...if thats even possible lol), we had some questions about the rules so here they come (in bold, how we played it):

1- When you encouter a Dragon Scale on a space and lose a battle with an enemy, is the card stay on the space? So later if you lose more battles you can end up with 2, 3 even 4 enemies on the space? (We simply left unresolved cards on the space)

2- You encouter a space with a Dragon Scale that already have an enemy card from the Draconic Lord and you draw another enemy, after you killed 1 of the 2 enemies (They're not the same encounter number), can you immediately claim the Dragon Scale before fighting the other enemy? (We claimed the scale as soon as we killed an enemy from the draconic deck)

3- Enemy trophy with X Strengh/X Craft...can you choose which stat to use when turning them for counters despite which stat you used to kill it? (The trophy was considered to have the stat with which we killed it)

4- You land on a space with a Dragon Scale and 2 cards from the Draconic Lord (which his not the Dragon King) and you decide to encounter the space, do you encouter ALL cards, i.e. existing cards from the Draconic Lord and those newly drawn from the space? (We encountered EVERY cards)

5- If the Red Dragon is King and you pick a third red scale, do you simply place a scale on your space and discard the other 2 like any newly crowned Draconic Lord? (We simply placed the scale on our space and discard the other 2)

All in all, it's my favorite expansion for Talisman, the one that adds a lot more than cards and character, but a new sense of danger which we simply loved while playing.

Thanks for your help!

Posted at

SolennelBern said:

1- When you encouter a Dragon Scale on a space and lose a battle with an enemy, is the card stay on the space? So later if you lose more battles you can end up with 2, 3 even 4 enemies on the space? (We simply left unresolved cards on the space)

Yes, any unresolved cards remain on the space- remember, however, that you only MUST draw cards when the Dragon Lord in question is the Dragon King- otherwise you only need encounter the space and defeat the Enemy currently there to claim the Dragon Scale.

SolennelBern said:

2- You encouter a space with a Dragon Scale that already have an enemy card from the Draconic Lord and you draw another enemy, after you killed 1 of the 2 enemies (They're not the same encounter number), can you immediately claim the Dragon Scale before fighting the other enemy? (We claimed the scale as soon as we killed an enemy from the draconic deck)

Good question- we have always played that, yes, in the rare event (only feasibly occurring with multiple visits to Cadorus) that you face multiple enemies with different encounter numbers, after defeating the first one(s) you may claim the dragon scale.

SolennelBern said:

3- Enemy trophy with X Strengh/X Craft...can you choose which stat to use when turning them for counters despite which stat you used to kill it? (The trophy was considered to have the stat with which we killed it)

As we have played it, yes, the trophy can be turned in for either Strength OR Craft, regardless of which was used to kill it. Talisman does not strike me as the type of game to get involved in technicalities, nor the type of game that forces the players to remember how they killed a certain enemy.

SolennelBern said:

4- You land on a space with a Dragon Scale and 2 cards from the Draconic Lord (which his not the Dragon King) and you decide to encounter the space, do you encouter ALL cards, i.e. existing cards from the Draconic Lord and those newly drawn from the space? (We encountered EVERY cards)

Yes, all the cards on a space must be encountered, not just the Dragon Lord cards or the new Adventure cards.

However, my group has house-ruled that a Dragon Scale negates the space's normal text, regardless of whether or not the Dragon Scale belongs to the current Dragon King- in this way, the Dragon Scales acted more like a spreading corruption than a minor annoyance. Not sure if I like this way or not yet...

SolennelBern said:

5- If the Red Dragon is King and you pick a third red scale, do you simply place a scale on your space and discard the other 2 like any newly crowned Draconic Lord? (We simply placed the scale on our space and discard the other 2)

Yes, and if you are playing with the Wrath of the Dragon King optional rule (as I would encourage any group to do!) the character who draws the final scale, and re-crowns the current Dragon King must suffer the effects of the Dragon King's Dragon Rage, and all cards on the space are discarded.

This makes the rare event when the Dragon King is re-crowned into a dangerous and flavourful occurrence, rather than another humdrum placement of dragon scales!

SolennelBern said:

All in all, it's my favorite expansion for Talisman, the one that adds a lot more than cards and character, but a new sense of danger which we simply loved while playing.

Thanks for your help!

I wholeheartedly agree that this expansion has been the best so far. At first I was totally against the idea, and furious that the City expansion was not released first! But after actually purchasing and trying out the Dragon expansion, it quickly became my favourate. I love the fact that it changes the actual gameplay on the main board rather than simply adding a new region. And, I must admit, I quickly fell in love with the Dragon Priestess (in a strictly platonic way gui%C3%B1o.gif ).

Hope this helps, and Happy Gaming!