Talisman revised 4th edition, what are the best expansions

[AdmundfortGeographer]

Bought my son Talisman 4th edition, revised, for Christmas on a whim. Hoping it could be a game we both could get our adventuring fix while waiting for DnD Next to get done some day.

Verdict was it was his favorite present this year, so I call that victory! Recommend for me some of the expansions for 4th edition Talisman. What to you is the best, and why!

 

[MerricB]

Personally, I like the Sacred Pool and Frostmarch most of the small expansions the most (and advise using both together), but the Blood Moon is pretty good. (Reaper is great, but the others add more). Of the large sets, I'd play with the Dragon most, then Dungeon and finally Highlands. I'm hoping the City expansion makes the Highlands better.

LARGE SETS:
Each of the large sets has a new board: the Dungeon and Highlands fit around the edge of the board and are accessed from the outer region. The Dragon set replaces the entire centre region. They tend to not have a lot of new Adventure cards, instead having cards for their own boards.

The Dungeon - adds an extremely difficult board, but a lot of fun. It provides an alternative way of getting to the Crown.
New Characters: Gladiator, Swashbuckler, Amazon, Philosopher, Gypsy

The Highlands - the extra board is rather dull, unfortunately. It's a place for low-level threats and gold, but there's not enough to do with gold. The reward for reaching the centre of the board isn't worth it, IMO.
New Characters: Valkyrie, Highlander, Sprite, Rogue, Vampiress, Alchemist
Alternative Endings: Hand of Doom (very random and silly end-game); Battle Royale (once someone reaches the Crown, everyone with a Talisman fights for victory); Eagle King (defeat Eagle King at Crown or be placed at Crags).

The Dragon - adds two new end-game boards, and new challenges throughout the game. This one adds a lot more shape to the game, as a Dragon King sends a lot of challenges out onto the normal board to fight: the more you defeat, the easier the end-game is.
Alternative Endings: Dragon Slayers (defeat three Dragon Lords to win), Domain of Dragons (defeat the Dragon King; some Adventure Cards get replaced by other Dragon challenges), Dragon King (defeat the Dragon King, more standard set-up),
Characters: Dragon Rider, Dragon Priestess, Minotaur, Dragon Hunter, Conjurer, Fire Wizard

SMALL SETS:

Each of the small sets adds new Characters, Adventure Cards and Spells, in addition to some 'hook' of their own. Each of them after the first (The Reaper) add alternative ending cards to allow other ways to win the game.

The Reaper - adds a "Reaper" figure which you move when you roll a "1" for your own move. Landing on another character might cause them to die utterly, lose a life, or gain a boon. Otherwise adds a lot of new spells and adventure cards.
New Characters: Knight, Sage, Dark Cultist, Merchant

The Sacred Pool - Adds "Quest Reward" cards which allow different rewards than just the Talisman at the Warlock's Cave. Also highly recommended.
Alternative Endings: Sacred Pool (first to reach Crown with 4 Quest Rewards wins), Demon Lord (kill Craft 12 Demon to win), Judgement Day (players "judge" if you're worthy to win).
New Characters: Chivalric Knight, Magus, Cleric, Dread Knight.

The Frostmarch - Adds "Warlock Quest" cards which allow different quests at the Warlock's Cave. I highly recommend these.
Alternative Endings: Ice Queen (defeat Ice Queen on Crown with Strength or Craft), Crown and Sceptre (enhanced original game: no healing/life gain for remainder of game); Warlock Quests (first to reach the Crown with 4 completed Warlock Quests wins).
New Characters: Necromancer, Warlock, Leprechaun, Ogre Chieftain

The Blood Moon - Adds a "Werewolf" figure (like the Reaper) which prowls around infecting people with lycanthropy. Also adds a day/night cycle (monsters scarier at night).
Alternative Endings: Lightbearers (co-operative version where racing a clock), Horrible Black Void (hidden; first to Crown loses!), Blood Moon Werewolf (Defeat the Werewolf at the Crown),
New Characters: Grave Robber, Doomsayer, Vampire Hunter.

Cheers!

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

I was hoping you would reply, Merric! I'm glad you did because you exceeded my expectation for what I'd find out. Good stuff, this helps a ton.

 

[MerricB]

The game with all the expansions has an ENORMOUS pile of Adventure cards. It gives such a lot of variety. As a rule, I don't play with all the expansions at once: I normally choose a small or big expansion, and play with only that and the core game. The small box expansions are great because they add a lot of cards to the core game (the spell deck, in particular, gets noticeably bigger with just one expansion). The Dungeon and Highland boards lower player interaction on the main board, so I prefer to use them only if I have 4 or more players.

Mind you, it's a lot of fun to see the Reaper or the Werewolf chasing someone into the Dungeon!

Cheers!

 

[mattcolville]

We play once a month at work, we have about 12 regular players, usually divided into three games.

We found the Reaper and Werewolf don't really add anything. If you use them, there are now two NPCs wandering around the board, and you've got better things to do than control characters that aren't yours.

The dragon slowed the game WAY down with no commensurate benefit.

Highlands and Dungeon are both great because they're entirely optional -players can ignore those boards- and if you do choose to explore them, they in no way slow the game down.

The other expansions are cool and mostly just add more adventure cards and characters.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

More useful perspective of real world use. Thanks Matt!

 

[LordKalten]

Hi Matt.
I sort of agree with most of what you say.
However, I would say that The Dragon expansion does have benefits. Once you've played a few times, it's easier to get one person to draw all the dragon tokens and sort out that side of admin. It does slow things down, but it really depends on the type of players you are playing with.
Many players tend to cruise around the board such that you can get to the end of the day and everyone's virtually immortal (i.e. have enough abilities that the Crown Of Command doesn't concern them).
The Dragon expansion gets to the point where every space on the outer region is taken up to the point that it forces people into the centre region to continue the game of get hit when there is no space to place a token on the board.

 

[mach1.9pants]

Back in the day I used to solo play Talisman (don't know what edition, around '89) and really enjoyed it. I have no idea what rules I hacked together and my copy is long gone. Is there an option in 4th Ed to play solo by any chance?

 

[Elliott Eastoe]

Talisman: The Dragon Expansion Revised Rulebook

We play once a month at work, we have about 12 regular players, usually divided into three games.

We found the Reaper and Werewolf don't really add anything. If you use them, there are now two NPCs wandering around the board, and you've got better things to do than control characters that aren't yours.

The dragon slowed the game WAY down with no commensurate benefit.

Highlands and Dungeon are both great because they're entirely optional -players can ignore those boards- and if you do choose to explore them, they in no way slow the game down.

The other expansions are cool and mostly just add more adventure cards and characters.

I've compiled a new version of the Dragon Rulebook which can be downloaded via the link.

The way the rulebook should have been written!

Elliott Eastoe.

View attachment Dragon Expansion Revised Rulebook.zip