House Rules

Over the years we have played thousands of games. Probably more than the actual creators of the game itself. Over the course of these games we came across a number of things that were either silly or stupidly powerful and in order to keep some kind of game balance we felt it was necessary to develop some house rules. A good indication that a card is too powerful is when everyone at the table (except the person that drew it) groans when a certain card is drawn.

No Player may cast more than one spell per turn. When players could cast spells whenever they wanted (according to the cards) it would get ridiculous sometimes with one player taking 15 minute turns casting spell after spell. The spell deck would get shuffled three, four or more times a game. This rule made it much more organized and not so spell dependant. Before, characters that didn't always have at least one spell were at a serious disadvantage. Please note that spells that were dependant on another spell being cast are exempt from this rule. (Counterspell, Reflection, Spell Turning and Spell Call).
The Familiar allows the Player to draw 1 more spell that necessary, not 2. Being able to rifle through the spell deck with the kind of speed that the Familiar allowed is simply too powerful, especially with a character that always has one spell. During one game I cast Aquisition and Mesmerism 16 times each. Needless to say, we quickly made a house rule.
The Warhorse can only be used against a player or enemy that they have landed on. Roll a D6 and put that many charge counters on the card. Everytime you use the Warhorse, remove a counter. When all the counters are gone, discard the Warhorse. The Warhorse is simply too powerful. He completely throws off game balance, usually ensuring that the user of the Warhorse wins practically every combat they enter from that moment forward. So we put limits on him. It will not work if the player lands on you or against an enemy that you draw from the deck.
The Book of Spells changes from an Event to a Magic Object. This means that you can choose to read the Book whenever you want to so that it is not wasted as a result of already having your full complement of spells.
You can never be reduced to below your starting quotas for strength or craft, no matter what. This saved us from characters that would get hit with an early Rod of Ruin or some bad rolls at the Enchantress. I can't remember now if that was a rule already or not, but I lost the rule sheet years ago.
The Map and the Shovel were removed from the Adventure deck entirely and Summon Storm was removed from the Spell Deck. Probably the three most useless cards in the game. Rarely do they ever make a difference, usually just left behind , turned into gold or cast as soon as possible.
You cannot wear or use two matching items at the same time. This means no Psi-Helmet AND Solomon's Crown, or gaining movement bonuses from the Horse AND the Horse and Cart.
Killing enemies of craft is kept for experience just like strength. The only difference is that you must trade in ten points instead of the usual seven to gain a point of craft.
You can gain the life protection bonus from a shield, armor and helmet for the same combat. In the FAQ that came with the expansion set, it said that you cannot roll for more than one of those items per combat, but we felt that if you wanted to walk around decked in armor that takes up three of your item spots then go ahead. That just leaves more of the good items for the rest of us.
Use dice instead of all those annoying little counters! This one isn't really a rule, but for years we played with those damn counters before we realized how much easier it was to use dice. We were probably the last ones to think of this, but I thought I'd list it anyway.
When you are on the Crown of Command, you may state whether you want to take a life or destroy an object. This is by far the biggest change we have ever made to the game. First off: Talismans are immune to being destroyed in this way. We have found that getting to the Crown in no way allows a Player to win the game. A Good Player can simply ride around the Chapel with a Horse/Horse and Cart getting healed for free, drawing cards and casting Spells. An Evil or Neutral character can do the same simply by going to the Mystic and getting turned Good. It happens ALL the time. So much in fact that the Crown became weak and ineffectual. Nobody cared you were sitting on the Crown. The Player that got to the Crown had to leave and try to hunt the Players down instead since they had a better chance of winning that way because they could take the Players objects when they won. So we made the House Rule and the Crown of Command became a scary, game winning object again, just like it's supposed to be. Obviously we had to make Talisman's immune to this effect or no-one would even have a chance. It's always more fun when you still have a chance.

Character Rankings

Powerful	Good	OK	Total Crap
Prophetess (THE BEST!) Wizard Knight Warrior Astropath Sorceress Dark Elf Leprechaun Space Marine Sprite Warrior of Chaos Ghoul Centaur Thief Chainsaw Warrior Astronaut	Amazon Space Pirate Spy Priest Conjurer Cyborg Soldier Druid Merchant Valkyrie Gipsy Monk Pilgrim Necromancer Philosopher	Halfling Scout Gladiator Pirate Barbarian Inquisitor Swordsman Dwarf Satyr Scientist Minotaur	Archeologist Swashbuckler Orc Ranger Highlander Woodsman Rogue Troll Hobgoblin Elf Saracen Witch Doctor Ninja Martial Artist (THE WORST!) Zulu Samurai Assassin Minstrel

Top Five Lists (not necessarily in order of importance)

Top Five Characters: Prophetess Dark Elf Leprechaun (my favorite) Knight Warrior of Chaos	Top Five Magic Objects: Magic Ring Wand Staff of Mastery Runesword Solomon's Crown	Top Five Followers: Man-At-Arms Mercenary Familiar Maiden Unicorn	Top Five Spells: Acquisition Mesmerism Destruction Finger of Death Random
Top Five Places: Magic Stream Fountain of Wisdom Shrine Pool of Life Magic Portal	Top Five Strangers: Demigod Enchanter Healer Magician Sorcerer	Top Five Objects: Horse and Cart Horse Power Armor Chainsword Psi-Helmet	Top Five Deadliest Cards: Raiders Leper Chinese Dragon Demon Dragon

A few last things...

We play lots of different ways. Sometimes we pick what characters we want to play (I just love the Leprechaun), or we'll remove the Total Crap characters from the deck and deal out the usual four (although I usually only take two to make it more challenging). Thats the great thing about Talisman. Most players have developed their own ways of playing so each game can be exciting and fresh. And with all the new boards and cards that are available on the net, the game need never stop evolving. Please check out the cards that I have created and print off the board that I designed called "The NetherWorld". It adds a whole new dimension to the game.