I just realized that the 2 and 3 results on the Random spell could be disasterous if gotten at the wrong time. Never having got these results, I just thought you lost 1 strength or 1 craft...but no, you could loose all of the strength or craft counters you gained (excluding from items)! Yet another reason to hold on to that fate token.

Yeah, it is really a dangerous Spell. On last Sunday I lost a wonderful game with the Druid because of the Two Random Spells (and bad luck).

The Wizard cast Random on me when I was about to engage the Inner Region. I lost all my Strength (12 points to base value). It made me go around some more time in order to take additional counters from the Magic Strem and defeat a Wolf (still had a Miser Dragon to cash, we cash every 5 points).

My opponent started his chase when I was already on the Crown. I had a Random spell to cast on him and I did it when he was on the Plain of Peril. He had 50% chance of losing the game (1-2-3 would have made his victory impossible). He scored 5 and gained a Life. With this Life, he won the game, because on the Crown of Command I had an incredible rush of bad luck and managed to lose in both Battle (my 8 against his 5) and Psychic Combat (my 14 against his 12). When I lost my last Life, the Wizard had 1 Life too.

Two Random Spells made me lose a game that was definitely won, but I was happy with it. Talisman is not about winning or losing, even if it's a pleasure if you best both game and other players. It has a unique story that unfolds at every game and the fun is to discover what happens and how you can react to it.

rcmoore said:

the Random spell says , "...all but strength and craft value and those gained from followers and object"

what the it meas "strength and craft 'value'?

I think Random spell doesn't make your str and craft lower than your starting str and craft value. is it wrong?

catosal said:

In the rules about Strength and Craft (pages 4-5) you find these lines:

A character’s Strength can never drop below that character’s Strength value (i.e., the number printed on the character card).

A character’s Craft can never drop below that character’s Craft value (i.e., the number printed on the character card).

This is applicable to Random (the Spell Card is clear enough, considering the meaning of the word 'value') and to every effect that causes you to lose Strength or Craft.

The only situation that can let you with less Strength and Craft that starting values is being turned into a Toad, but in this case you also have to change your Character Card and become another Character (Str:1 Crf:1) for 3 Turns. If you lose points as a Toad, the above rule still applies.

My version says that you lose only 1 point of strenght or craft. What the original text says?

8janek8 said:

Which version do you have? If it is the BI 4th or revised 4th, it should say, for example, "Lose strength*"; the "*" is defined at the bottom of the card as reducing to your starting value. Also, some other cards have similar effects that cause you to lose only 1 strength or 1 craft (like the witch).

I have polish language version of the revised 4th edition. There is text with " * " of course, but the main text says you lose only 1 point - not every points given by tokens.

8janek8 said:

Original text:

Cast on any character at any time. He rolls to determine the effect on him:

1: Become a Toad for 3 Turns

2: Lose Strength*

3: Lose Craft*

4: Lose all gold

5: Gain 1 Strength

6: Gain 1 Life

*All but Strength and Craft values and those gained from Followers and Objects.

Maybe the polish version has an error on points 2 and 3. Random is a Spell that can change a game (see the above example in my post).

The_Warlock said:

Polish version:

2: Lose 1 Strength*

3: Lose 1 Craft*

Actually, I like the idea of it being only 1 strength or 1 craft! I felt that FFG went out of their way to remove effects that were "game changing", and overall I like that they did. At least we have Fate to help out!