The idea about Gold in the Dungeon vault is great! Considering how tough the Dungeon gets and what waist at the end, extra gold might be enough incentive to venture deep!

A house rule I like to use:

When a character dies, if he/she has one fate remaining, it can be used for resurrection. Good and neutral characters resurrect at the chapel, while evil characters resurrect at the graveyard. They resurrect with strength and craft stats intact, and their fate and lives are replenished. However, all objects, trinkets, and gold are left on the space where the character died. Followers wander to the discard pile.

The Reaper and Werewolf movement...

With each expansion board added it has become easier and easier to avoid the Reaper and Werewolf. Most of the time when you move them they can't reach any character.

With this houserule, instead of moving the Reaper/Werewolf normally, you may move them to any characters space not in the inner region.

If moved in this way, the character does NOT roll on the Reaper/Werewolf chart (the character is only being watched at this time).

Only if the Reaper/Werewolf move normally by die roll onto a character does he roll on the chart.

I've updated the page to here (I think).

http://www.talismanisland.com/?page_id=5175

Let me know if I've missed anything or if you have any more suggestions!

I finally completed my Talisman collection this week by adding The Dragon. After testing it out a couple of times, I have to say I love the theme, the new mechanics, and the new challenges of the new Inner Regions. However, my playgroup really likes using a random Alternate Ending and the design of The Dragon expansion doesn't fit as much as we like (namely that claimed Dragon Scales provide little/no bonus in the end game so Dragon Scales become somewhat of a chore). So I came up with the following with the intention of using all possible expansions while keeping the new Dragon mechanics relevant.

After face-up Object or Follower cards have been encountered and not claimed by a character, the next character to encounter them must discard any Object or Follower card they do not claim.

not sure if this is something obvious to everyone, as it's not mentioned anywhere I can find...

Carrying vs Wearing:
rings, amulets, crowns, armour, Talisman, etc.*, can be (and really SHOULD be) worn and do not count against carrying.

*Though a sword is essentially worn, it does require a free hand to actually use. Same applies to a shield (or ax, lance, etc.)

Therefore, a sword can be worn at no carry penalty, but only three "non-wearable" items can be carried without assistance or special abilities if you wish to use it. Add a shield and you're down to two additional carries.

Of course, you can always carry four items while wearing a weapon. You would just have to drop something in order to engage in combat. And if you lose that combat, you leave the object in that space.

My house rules (all playtested, some more than others)

GAME SETUP:

- place dragon inner realm over standard inner realm

- randomly determine dragon king and put the crown on it

- randomly put a dragon scale face down (so no player knows which one is it) on each space in middle region

- put three warlock quests on his space for visitors to choose from. Works just like wanted posters

- each character begins with three movement tokens

- we don't play with either reaper or werewolf

- we don't use alternate endings

- we vote whether to use harbinger and which prophesy

- everybody choose who they want to play

RULES:

- characters finishing warlock's quest may reap reward immediately and without teleporting. they get either a random reward or a talisman

- movement tokens can be spent by players after they have rolled for move but before the moved. The character can then move a number of spaces up to the roll, like with clockwork owl. Players replenish 1 movement token whenever they increase their Strength or Craft

- increasing strength or craft from trophies costs your current value +1, instead of flat 7

- being turned into toad doesn't cause to drop followers, objects etc. but you still can't use them while toadified

- on expansion boards characters must move clockwise at all times

- when a character in middle region walks onto a dragon scale, he decides whether to reveal it and draw from dragon deck, or encounter space normally.

- whenever a character loses to an enemy from a dragon deck, that dragon gets a scale. Dragon with most scales is a king. Each scale add 1 to his strength and craft.

BOARD:

- at Tavern, instead of rolling you may replenish movement tokens at price 1 token per 1 gold

- at Forest and Crags, if you roll 4-5 it works like normal "draw 1 card" space

- new prices in shops. Changes include: stiletto (2), full plate (5), battle axe (6), flail (7 and only one is available), mirror shield (2), crystal sceptre (3), helmet (1), sword (1), shield (2), axe (2), armour (3), mule (3). Mule and water bottle can be purchased in village

OTHER:

- raft doesn't disappear, stays on board and can be used multiple times

- new decks for treasure and relics (under construction)

We have a dice-off (each player rolls 1 die) and the winner (highest) decides if he wants the Dragon standard ending, a revealed ending of his choice, a random revealed ending, or a random hidden ending.

We have another dice-off and the winner decides if he wants characters to be fully random or three dealt and one chosen.

We have a third dice-off and the winner decides which of the four Omens he wants to use.

Our house rules:

1. Exploding dice in combat: if you roll a six and the outcome is not a win or a stand-off then you can fight for your life with the exploding dice rule (means you can add another dice to your attack every time you roll a six) This is true to the creatures aswell.

2. Instead of paying 7 everytime to upgrade, we pay x+1 where x is the current value of the stat you wanna raise.

3. If someone defeats the Sentinel then other players do not have to do it again. If someone pick or shatters the lock on the door to the inner region the other players do not have to do it again.

Our house rules:

1. Exploding dice in combat: if you roll a six and the outcome is not a win or a stand-off then you can fight for your life with the exploding dice rule (means you can add another dice to your attack every time you roll a six) This is true to the creatures aswell.

2. Instead of paying 7 everytime to upgrade, we pay x+1 where x is the current value of the stat you wanna raise.

3. If someone defeats the Sentinel then other players do not have to do it again. If someone pick or shatters the lock on the door to the inner region the other players do not have to do it again.

DUDE! Your rule 2 helps us address a common complaint of late, that being how easy it is to keep adding on points once you're above a certain level. Thanks man, will be adding that to our list.

we've also added a few more to our list after some recent incidents. Most just clarify issues for newer players.

Overall

• For Hidden Endings (optional) - Must complete* all 4 corner regions before reaching Crown of Command – blocked as with Warlock quest if instructed to go there by board or event. Instead sent to Portal of Power

*Encounter the ending space if required. Entry into these regions does not have to be through the main entrances

• Weapons do not count for strength or craft requirements not involving combat (Portal of Power, Mines, etc.), only non-weapons (ring, crown, amulets, etc.) followers and strength/craft counters ( this is a clarification that has to be brought up on a regular basis, so it’s stated for all to see beforehand )

Inner Region

• Pit Fiends have strength 8 instead of 4
• No warhorse or weapons to open Portal of Power

Weapons

• Stiletto (or other trinket weapons ) may be used with other one handed weapons (2 weapon rule)
• Two-handed weapons (great sword, battle axe, etc.) cannot use trinket weapons or shield

Carry Limits

• Maps are trinkets and do not count toward carry limits
• Talisman, amulets, compass, etc. are trinkets and are worn
• Helmets and armor are worn, not carried
• Shields are carried and therefore require a free hand

Followers

• Warhorse costs 6 gold (take it or leave it. I got other customers waiting)
• Cannot use war horse or riding horse in Dungeon or Deep Realms, though they and mules can be taken in to those regions
• Cannot use riding horse for movement into a space and then immediately use war horse to “charge into battle”
• No using riding horse in City (yes, you can use the warhorse there. Please stop asking)
• Must “dismount” from riding horse when entering Dungeon. (ex: roll a 10, but 7 reaches Dungeon doorway, movement ends at 7 on first Dungeon space)
• Can only ride riding horse up to the Cliff space in The Highlands or the Dense Forest in The Woodlands (any spaces after are too dangerous or difficult for fast riding)

Events

• Blizzard does not affect Dungeon or Deep Realms
• Renegade takes the gold of the person who draws it (if applicable) or lands on it

Guys,

With Talisman getting bigger with each expansion, and with each expansion the game can last a very long time, especially with over 4 players. I just thought of a way of determining the winner if no one has got to the Crown of Command and killed everyone.

The winner is the player/character with the most gold when you determine to call an end to the game. That is not just the gold you have in front of you, but the most gold when you use the table below:

Gold x 1 Gold

Strength Tokens x 3 Gold

Craft Tokens x 3 Gold

Fate Tokens x 3 Gold

Followers x (d6) Gold

Normal Items x (d6) Gold

Magic Items x 2 (d6) Gold

Trophies x 1 Gold

Spells x 1 Gold (Max. 3 Gold)

Is there other things I could put on this list, and by how much should you multiply it by to get gold.

Waiting for your response.

Some of our house rules:

If you land on the Reaper or the Werewolf, you must encounter it.

You may only ride one War Horse at a time (though you may own as many as you can afford).

You must have a Talisman to enter the Crown of Command, even if you can get there without going through the Valley of Fire.

2. Instead of paying 7 everytime to upgrade, we pay x+1 where x is the current value of the stat you wanna raise.

This rule alone has been the best improvement to our games. It gets to be a pain to figure sometimes, but it is so much more equitable for gains and keeping someone from just running away with a win once they reach a tipping point. If it wasn't such a fundamental change in the overall rules, I would say it should be the rule in all editions going forward. At least as an advanced players option.

Thank you SO much for this. Brilliant and simple.

Here is a movement variant that I have not seen posted before. I hope some of you will give it a try and offer feedback.

Special Movement on 6 Die Roll

When a Player makes a “6” roll for movement, that character has the option of moving any number of spaces up to 6. Otherwise, movement is completed as normal. This simple adjustment doubles the possibility of a character landing on a specific space within a 6 space range and still maintains most of the random element we love and hate. Now if you want to land on a space 4 spaces away, you have 2 chances (rolling 4 or a 6). In other words a 1 in 3 chance to land on the desired space as opposed to the normal 1in 6. Yet you can still maintain that 5 in 6 chance that forces you to choose between 2 possible landing spaces. Overall this option seems to speed the game up and offers a little bonus that makes movement rolls a more exciting while not diminishing any Adventure type cards that also allow movement adjustments (i.e. Walking Stick, Gilded Compass, Lucky Charm, etc.).

Characters with the ability of rolling 2 dice for movement (i.e. Amazon) are treated the same and still have the option of choosing either dice. So if a “6” is rolled on either die, that Player has the option moving any number of spaces up to 6. Any characters with a Special Ability that occurs when rolling a “6” (i.e. the Troll) would now have the option of using their special ability or moving 1-6 spaces.

This option is also applied to movement with a Riding Horse, except the character must first move the number of spaces indicated on the second die and then move any additional number of spaces up to 6. For example: on a movement roll of “6” and “4” a character may move 5 to 10 spaces (4 plus 1to 6 spaces). If double 6s are rolled, a character may move 7-12 spaces. Note: It is not possible to move just 1 space using a Riding Horse (2 spaces is minimum).

For some added fun this rule can also be applied to any NPC character (the Reaper) when a movement roll of 6 is made for the NPC.

Guys,

With Talisman getting bigger with each expansion, and with each expansion the game can last a very long time, especially with over 4 players. I just thought of a way of determining the winner if no one has got to the Crown of Command and killed everyone.

The winner is the player/character with the most gold when you determine to call an end to the game. That is not just the gold you have in front of you, but the most gold when you use the table below:

Gold x 1 Gold

Strength Tokens x 3 Gold

Craft Tokens x 3 Gold

Fate Tokens x 3 Gold

Followers x (d6) Gold

Normal Items x (d6) Gold

Magic Items x 2 (d6) Gold

Trophies x 1 Gold

Spells x 1 Gold (Max. 3 Gold)

Is there other things I could put on this list, and by how much should you multiply it by to get gold.

Waiting for your response.

That looks like an alternative ending.

The Bag of Carrying already does this, but we also play that any items that are kept on a Mule, Horse and Cart, Porter, Miner, etc. are lost if the item holding them or the follower carrying them is lost. So, for example, if your Horse and Cart is stolen by the Horse Thief, everything in the Cart is stolen, too. Or if your Mule falls down the Chasm, everything on the Mule falls with it.

The Bag of Carrying already does this, but we also play that any items that are kept on a Mule, Horse and Cart, Porter, Miner, etc. are lost if the item holding them or the follower carrying them is lost. So, for example, if your Horse and Cart is stolen by the Horse Thief, everything in the Cart is stolen, too. Or if your Mule falls down the Chasm, everything on the Mule falls with it.

I always thought that was a standard rule. If they're killed, you could unload. But stolen or "lost" (chasm) is just that, and all the goods along with it.

Guys,

With Talisman getting bigger with each expansion, and with each expansion the game can last a very long time, especially with over 4 players. I just thought of a way of determining the winner if no one has got to the Crown of Command and killed everyone.

The winner is the player/character with the most gold when you determine to call an end to the game. That is not just the gold you have in front of you, but the most gold when you use the table below:

Gold x 1 Gold

Strength Tokens x 3 Gold

Craft Tokens x 3 Gold

Fate Tokens x 3 Gold

Followers x (d6) Gold

Normal Items x (d6) Gold

Magic Items x 2 (d6) Gold

Trophies x 1 Gold

Spells x 1 Gold (Max. 3 Gold)

Is there other things I could put on this list, and by how much should you multiply it by to get gold.

Waiting for your response.

That looks like an alternative ending.

Merchants Guild, I believe

I've been thinking through the Flail. A powerful weapon like this ought to have a powerful overkill in the event of a good roll as well as a powerful failure in the event of a bad roll. So I am adding this as a house rule to the flail:

If you roll a double 6 in battle against another character, you automatically win the battle (which you are likely to do anyway) and that character loses two lives. You may not take an object or gold for your reward.

If you roll a double 1 in any battle, you automatically lose the battle and you lose two lives. If this is battle against another character, that character may also take an object or gold as part of their reward.

Also, here's my fix to the City:

Sorcerer Square is now an all-purpose pawn shop/alchemist. Spells may be sold for 1 gold each. Gems from the Highlands may be sold as though you were trading them in at the Alchemist in the City space. Regular objects may be sold for 1 gold each. Magic objects may be sold for 3 gold each. (I know some of you object to the Alchemist being able to do this, but I like the idea of their being more gold in the game. It moves things along. But this way now everyone has the ability to get that kind of gold, while the Alchemist still retains the special ability to be able to do it wherever he is. Other characters must go to this specific place.) You may not purchase a spell in this space.

Magic Emporium no longer sells scrolls. It sells spells for 1 gold each. (This fixes the Alchemist's ability to buy scrolls for 1 gold and alchemize them for 3 gold.)

After perhaps half a dozen games with all corner expansions, we as a gaming group discovered we never used the City, that when we entered it without gold, there were simply far too few encounters to render it useful, and entering with money was a HUGE time sink allowing the other players an enormous advantage of getting a relic from the Highlands and/or a Destiny from the Woodlands. Not to mention, you have to pay gold for wanted posters when keeping the tokens is far, far more valuable! So here is the changes we made to the city:

• City; don’t use the expansion board at all. Instead, any movement die roll that would move you on or past the city space can be used to land on the city instead
  • The first action to take on the city space is to draw a city action card and resolve it
  • After that card is resolved, the character must take one of the following actions: visit the High Temple, or visit the Alchemist, or visit the Rogues Guild, or receive one-wanted poster (no charge), or purchase and sell any item(s) in the city as if you were on that store space
  • Once this action is resolved, the turn is done and the city space must be moved off of on the start of the next turn
  • Cards that physically change the city space terrain instead force players to draw adventure cards from that territory instead of city cards, however the city may still be accessed normally
  • Fire tokens are not terrain changing cards, and still burn characters who stop on them if they are on the city space

Here is a list of our "official house rules" for our group, however I think you will see many repeats, as we got some of these ideas from Talisman Island:

• You may trade in token points at the current ratio: your current score +1, thus if you had 4-base strength, it’d cost 5-token points to get an additional strength.**
• When you get a Warlock quest, randomly pick a Warlock quest card instead of choosing the one you want
• Do not use day/night bonus or penalty from day/night cycles ( still affects cards however )
• Gain all bonuses from different armor pieces (i.e. helmet, shield, armor) however,
• You cannot benefit from two of the same item type, such as two talismans or two helmets
• Talismans grant +2 strength or +2 craft or +1 strength and +1 craft
• A single light Fate token can be used to either reroll movement, or to alter the move by +/-1 space; dark Fate can still only be used to force a reroll
• If you drop charmed enemies controlled as followers, if the next player that lands on them can also “charm” that type of creature, he can take them, otherwise they are discarded
• Dungeon Vault squares (2) have 2gp on them first time only. Tavern has 2gp always; if you lose on gamble or lose a life or a turn, you also lose a gold and it stays on this square, but winning wins the pot

** the benefits from using this method are mathematically balanced! In this game, the alternate ending monsters have 12 strength/craft, as does the Dungeon square meaning the highest potential this game was designed for is based on that 12-point end-game number. Taking this into consideration, I calculated how many points would be spent using the 7-point method, the 6 and 5-point alternative methods, and the suggested 1-more than your actual stat point method. These were the results (edit, my tables are ruined on this board so I'll just post the end result text)... (edit-2: here is a link to a pdf print out of the results: https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxtb25rZXltZWF0c2F1Y2V8Z3g6NDk4OGYzMjVlYWFlOGQ4NQ )

There are two separate threads of thought this data extrapolates from; Low Starting Stats, 12-Point End-Game Balance. What this data tells us is that characters with a low starting stat, such as 1-str and 5-craft, will find getting str tokens to be exceedingly difficult in the beginning, and in an unadulterated 7-point token game, the demand to reach 12-points of strength would be taxing at worst, time consuming at best. In addition, the cost of points required in tokens is tremendous at 77 compared to the reverse of a 5-craft needing only 49 token points. As you use the lower alternative break points of 6 and 5 stat points, the numbers become easier to reach, however the game between the low stat and high stat remain at odds. Perhaps it is true that some gaming groups want to punish characters who munchkin in one stat or the other, I don't know, but what can clearly be seen from the 1-point state increase method is that to increase in the beginning is much easier for the low stat, however end game, the low stat still costs more than the rest so this is fair. Also, the high stat pays more than it would in the seven-point scheme meaning it is closer the the lower stat, also meaning it is much more balanced. This is especially true when you look towards end game and, if you've played as many games of Talisman as we have with both 7, 6, and 5 point stats, you'll know that the 7-point token games can take literally half a day, whereas the 5-point token games can churns out characters with over 20-base strength by the time the Crown of Command is reached. Both are unreasonable in their own regards, which is what makes the alternate rule of +1 stat over your current base the ideal method as increasing past the coveted 12-point end-game amount becomes exceedingly difficult, which also means the game becomes highly balanced towards end-game and alternative ending cards!

Lots of stuff changed since last year. My current house rules:

PLAYER INTERACTION

- When characters meet, they can trade instead of fighting. Objects, followers, gold and spells may exchanged this way. Objects and followers that can't be ditched can't be traded.

- Before battle or psy combat a player may ask another player in the same region (but not in inner region) for assistance. They must agree on what the assistant will get in return (as with trading). Assistant is moved to active player's space and adds his strenght/craft value. If players win, only active player gets the trophy/other bonuses from the card. If players lose, both suffer full penalties for losing.

CHARACTERS

- Increasing Strenght/Craft costs 6 trophy points, plus 3 for each large cone in that attribute.

- You can turn in trophies at the end of your turn only.

- 5 leaf tokens of Ancient Oak count as a large cone.

- Follower limit is 4. Cards that are not followers but are used as followers (poltergeist for example) do not count.

- Spell limit is: Craft 1: zero, Craft 2-3: one, Craft 4-6: two, Craft 7 or more: three.

FATE

- Players may spend dark fate to reroll rolls of enemies and creatures they fight against.

BOARD

- At the end of turn in which a character entered the Woodland, he draws 3 path cards and chooses one.

- Crags, Forest, Tavern, Wharf, Stables, and Academy have errata cards on them.

(Crags and Forest - on 4-5 you draw 1 adventure card.

Tavern has a shop with water bottle, mule and several new objects related to exploration.

Wharf costs 2 gp and can only transport you to several chosen spaces.

Stables offers two new followers: riding wolf and elephant

Academy allows to turn in insufficient number of trophies but you must pay the difference in gold.)

DAY/NIGHT

- During day, characters can move less than their die roll, but only if they roll a single die (so not with riding horse, torch etc.). During night normal move

- During day, when a character in combat against enemy or creature rolls 6, he gets one extra die to the result. That extra die doesn't produce yet another die at the result of 6.

(we also use original dice for characters and red dice for enemies, so a player can roll one of each at the same time thus making fights quicker)

- During night, creatures and enemies get that effect and players don't.

WARLOCK QUESTS AND REWARDS

- Most quests and all rewards are new. Quests are a bit harder on average than normal. Rewars are all one-time effects like gain 3 gold, gain 3 potions, gain 2 life, gain armoury card, etc.

- At the start of the game put one quest on the warlock's cave. This is an open quest that's available to all players. Personal quests can be gained as normal. If you play with 4 or more people, put 2 open quests instead.

- Visiting Warlock's Cave draw a random quest, then discard to one if you have more than one.

- You can move through Portal of Power with an unfinished quest.

TOAD

- When a character is toaded, he doesn't lose anything but objects, spells and followers are still unusable. Nothing new can be taken. (I'm considering dropping this houserule though. I want toad to be scary.)

ALTERNATE ENDINGS

- We only play with revealed endings.

- If players don't want or can't agree on the ending, Take The Crown is the default ending used. (TTC is the simplest ending possible, it just says "First player to reach to CoC wins.")

Much of material from various expansions is not in the game unless a particular ending is in effect.

- fireland cards that reference burning or tokens form a new firelands deck usable with Firelands ending

- werewolf figure is only used with Werewolf ending and has new rules

- reaper figure is only used with Reaper ending and has new rules

- dragon rules and components are only used with two original or one new Dragons ending

- harbinger figure and deck are only used with one original or one new Harbinger ending

DECKS

- A few dozen enemy cards added to adventure deck to make it a bit more challenging. Also, some boring/useless places/strangers, events and objects/followers removed.

- Few relics and all tresure cards are reworked.

some of my newest homebrews as it's being made