Returning players arguing about rule semantics!

By EmperorZoltan, in Talisman Rules Questions

Hey all, first time poster on the site!

Back in the day at high school me and a few mates played talisman 2nd edition, and had a blast with it.

I recently purchased 4E and the dragon expansion and have invited the same group around to play again. The general consensus is the game is still alot of fun but very ambigious with its rules. I'm not sure if it's the new edition of the rules or just us growing older and "wiser", but there's alot of arguing around the table regarding... well, everything!

Basically we play the rules according to our best knowledge of the rulebook and what the card says, which at times simply isn't enough given other mitigating situations. We keep coming back to a few things that just aren't well explained in the rulebook, so here I am to get some feedback from the more experienced members of the Talisman community.

We've played about 6 games since I purchased it and keep on coming back to the same issues. Clarification on the following would assist greatly:

Trophies: After a successful combat you keep the enemy card in your inventory as a trophy. Once a total of 7 combined points of either str / cra are obtained, these creature cards are then discarded and exchanged for a str or cra token (obviously only str enemies can be used for str, same for cra). However we're running into situations where some players are hoarding their trophies and turning in multiples of 7. Are you allowed to keep enemy cards if they run over the limit of 7 and turn them in for 2 x tokens when a total of 14 is obtained, or must trophies immediately be discarded once you obtain 7 or over?

Faceup cards on a tile: Basically we are stuck on this. If there is a faceup card on a tile, do you action this card and THEN action the tiles rules as well? For example say someone draws a ghost and it goes to the chasm, does the player landing on the chasm have to fight the ghost and then deal with the chasm? Do the same fules apply to a draw adventure cards tile?

Another example was we had someone land on the oasis and draw a demon, a sword and a gold. Combat was lost against the demon so all 3 cards remain as per sequence rules due to card numbers. A few turns later another player lands on the oasis, do they first deal with the 3 cards and THEN draw an additional 3 cards as per the tile rules? What if there is only 1 faceup card on a draw 2 space, does the landing player draw 1 card to make up the difference in cards they should be encountering?

Player combat and tile rules: What happens when a player lands on another with combat and tiles? If the rolling player chooses combat, does he then ignore the tile and only do the combat with the other player? Upon completion of the combat does the losing player lose EITHER a life, gold, follower or item, or do they lose a life AND either a gold, follower or item?

Items and non-combat events: A player lands on the mines in the inner circle. Obviously this is not combat so they cannot add the str given by their sword, however they have a ring which staes simply "add 1 to craft and str". Do they get to add these bonses to their base scores when dealing with the mines?

Fountain of life / str / craft: The card states that any player landing on this card takes 1 of the tokens on it. My friends argue that as you are drawing the card you are not technically landing on it, and you don't get to take a token, so when the card appears it stays on the tile face up with 4 tokens, and the person whom drew it does not receive one of these tokens. Evil semantics of the card's rules are creating confuzzlization!

Assasins power: Another example of the just mentioned "landing on" catch 22 described above. My friends state that the assasin can only use his power on a creature that is already faceup on the board, and that drawing an enemy does not constitute as "landing" on him, so the assasin can not use his power unless he lands on a faceup enemy or another character.

Spell pickups and rules: Caster characters such as a the wizard have a rule stating they always have 1 spell card. Do they pickup another spell immediately or upon the start of their next turn? If immediately can they then cast this new spell and redraw ad-infintum? How many spells can you cast per turn?

Sorry about the length of that, I'm sure there are more that we've argued about but those are the ones I can remember for now. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Trophies: you can hoard.

Faceup cards on a tile: On a non-draw space, you encounter the card (ie. ghost), then the space (ie. chasm). On a draw space, you draw any additional cards, then encounter the cards. You do not draw if there are already enough cards on the space. For example, on a draw 2 space with one card, you draw one more and then encounter those two. On a draw 3 space with 3 cards on it, you do not draw any and just encounter those 3 cards.

Player combat and tile rules: Ignore the tile and only do the combat with the other player. Upon completion of the combat the losing player lose EITHER a life, gold, or item (follower is not an option).

Items and non-combat events: Yes, ring, etc. counts.

Fountain of life / str / craft: The person who drew it does receive one of these tokens.

Assassins power: The assassin can use his power on a creature that he draws.

Spell pickups and rules: They pickup another spell immediately. You can only cast the number of spells you started your turn with. You can only cast 1 spell on another player's turn.

thanks very much, appreciate the clarification.

Couple of other questions I had during discussion with some mates:

1) players can change the direction they move every turn after the roll, correct? They do not have to state a direction and then roll and are stuck with the result?

2) Players can roll and move up to the middle region via the sentinel and continue their move in the middle region. Can the same be done with the portal of power or does that need to be directly landed on?

3) What happens if a player loses their talisman whilst on the crown of command?

4) Can players discard spells they do not want as they wish? Can they "fire" the spell if conditions for it's use are not meant? For example can a player cast counterspell if noone else is casting a spell.

5) If a player lands on the town which is currently occupied by another player, does the rolling player get to both initiate combat and deal with his choice of a place to visit? Which happens first? If he fails / stalemates the combat does this prevent him from performing the town action?

EmperorZoltan said:

thanks very much, appreciate the clarification.

Couple of other questions I had during discussion with some mates:

1) players can change the direction they move every turn after the roll, correct? They do not have to state a direction and then roll and are stuck with the result?

2) Players can roll and move up to the middle region via the sentinel and continue their move in the middle region. Can the same be done with the portal of power or does that need to be directly landed on?

3) What happens if a player loses their talisman whilst on the crown of command?

4) Can players discard spells they do not want as they wish? Can they "fire" the spell if conditions for it's use are not meant? For example can a player cast counterspell if noone else is casting a spell.

5) If a player lands on the town which is currently occupied by another player, does the rolling player get to both initiate combat and deal with his choice of a place to visit? Which happens first? If he fails / stalemates the combat does this prevent him from performing the town action?

1) First they roll and then they decide in which direction to move.

2) In order to enter the Inner Region your movement has to allow you to go past the Portal of Power. If your movement ends on the Portal then you Draw 1 card as the square states but you cannot enter yet.

3) Nothing, since you only need the Talisman in order to enter the Valley of Fire, after that it's pretty much useless.

4) Nope, you must be able to use the spell and have a valid target else you need to keep it until such an opportunity arises.

5) You always have to choose whether you wish to encounter the square OR the player - not both.

EmperorZoltan said:

Trophies: After a successful combat you keep the enemy card in your inventory as a trophy. Once a total of 7 combined points of either str / cra are obtained, these creature cards are then discarded and exchanged for a str or cra token (obviously only str enemies can be used for str, same for cra). However we're running into situations where some players are hoarding their trophies and turning in multiples of 7. Are you allowed to keep enemy cards if they run over the limit of 7 and turn them in for 2 x tokens when a total of 14 is obtained, or must trophies immediately be discarded once you obtain 7 or over?

Remember that a player may only exchange trophies at the end of his turn!

Ell.

really?

rule's book page pls?

pg8 said:

really?

rule's book page pls?

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