Sets and Expansions

I really don't have the patience to go into exactly what cards are in each "kit"; if you want that sort of info then I advise looking at the FAQ (found in the links below). I will cover, however, a brief synopsis of each expansion and go into more detail on the stuff available from early White Dwarf magazines.

Before we start, I will make a disclaimer that my information covers the second edition of the game. The first edition is completely compatible but had some flaws/inaccuracies/rule conflictions. The second edition fixed many of these but subsequently itroduced more with newer expansions. The third edition (boo, boo) simplified game-play and made it more of a "kid's" game. Expansions from the second edition are supposed to be sort-of compatible with the third edition of the game, but I personally doubt that as three or four new, similar epansions were released for this version.

The second edition is the most popular with true Talisman players but no longer available. Hence, if you want it, you will have to pay a premium price for a second-hand copy that everyone else will also want. This is especially true of the Dragons expansion which had a very limited run; you may expect to pay nearly as much for this kit as you would for all of the rest "bundled" together (in the order of approx. $US70 to about $US100).

Alright, let's get to the nitty-gritty and list what is actually out there (Note: I am doing this by memory, which is good but not completely infallible).

This list is in order of appearance:

Main	Yep, you guessed it the main board and initial concept
Expansion	Added sundry adventure cards, characters, etc. Main claim to fame was the introduction of the very usefull character sheets and alternative endings for the Crown of Command square
White Dwarf #72	Added a spell, five adventure cards and a "new" character, the Samurai (i.e. Samurai was added in Talisman: The Adventure kit but that was not out at this point in time). I will provide more detail on the cards soon-ish.
The Adventure	More cards for Main board/gameplay
Dungeon	Forteen new characters and a new board that could be entered with the hope of short-circuiting the journey to the Crown of Command square
Timescape	Eight new relatively strong characters, most of whom start on the new Timescape board where each "square" represents an entire world/dimension. A tough place to go but with many great incentives. Also gave a better resolution for the Void alternative ending card of the Expansion kit
City	Replaces the City corner square in the Outer region with an entire board. Provides two new characters: the Minotaur and the Valkyrie as well as a new concept of Master-level characters; new characters you may become during game-play if you do a certain action or are in the right place at the right time - High Mage (easy, just give a Magic Object), Sheriff (go to the Donjon), King's Champion (is that beggar the King?), and Master Thief (just beat up the current "prince of thieves")
White Dwarf #115	Four more Master-level characters but, this time, available from the main board (well, three are and one is available via a Spell): Knight Templar, Champion of Chaos, Master " Something" and Mystic (it is the Mystic that is available via a spell). Once again, more info when I have the cards in front of me.
Dragons	Many new adventure cards, especially Dragon enemies and magic objects and followers specific to such. Also four new Dragon-orientated characters: Dragonslayer (dwarf), Questing Knight, Dragonrider (elf), and Dragon Priest (evil dude). The premise is that the board has been overrun by dragons so there is also a new Dragon King card for the Crown of Command that should be used, but most people don't seem to use it in favour of the dynamic, random alternative endings

Please Note: I will NOT scan the cards from the White Dwarf magazines for anybody. I am happy to provide their descriptions here when I can read them and type them in but do not promote people simply printing out the images and sticking them to thin cardboard; if you really want these cards then track them down like I did (expect to pay through the nose, however, as they are as scarce as poultry molars and nobody wants to part with them).

Miniatures and Painting

Games Workshop/Citadel made metallic miniatures that looked like the characters from the various expansions. Now, they lost the wind in their sails just after the Timescape expansion so no official miniatures exist for Talisman City, Dragons or the Master-level characters from White Dwarf #115. Now, when they rejuvenated Talisman in the turd edition, they added plastic minis to appeal to kids but they are relatively "bodgy" compared to the original, lead ones and there are only a smattering of characters in this edition, even with its three or four epansions (which I shall not dwell upon, ptooie!)

Now, you have to paint them and I am in the process of doing that now (when I actually get a little bit of time). I will endeavour to photograph some and scan them at a later date. I am, by no means, an authoirty on painting minis, so you should consult the links below for that sort of thing.

There are five different styles of Toad mini: plain toad with little/no adornments, toad with hat and a quiver, toad with "egg-head" helmet, toad with feathered hat and books, and a toad with a pirate hat. Depending on where you live, the Talisman miniatures were marketted differently; either a box for each kit or blister packs with three to five figures in each pack, a mix from more than one set. Those that obtained the former may not have all styles of toad but it is possible that each type is representative of a character from each set.

Also, for some strange reason, they decided to develop variants for some of the figures:

Above are the minis that look like the pictures on the character cards; below are the variants for the (in order): Samurai, Warrior of Chaos, Warrior and Elf.

STOP PRESS: Below you can see the alternative Knight and Witch-doctor figurines; although, I am not so sure about the Witch-doctor one as the label on its base says Shaman and that is the name of a character from the third edition game. If somebody could please clear this up, not only for me but for the multitudes who wish to know.

These variants and the toad with the pirate's hat are the only items missing from my collection so if you have them to spare, then PLEASE contact me!

Links to Other Sites

Talisman - The Magical Quest Games

Talisman - Log of Changes

Talisman Boardgames Second Edition FAQ

Talisman: Second Edition

Muggee's Talisman Section (actually really V3 but still interesting)

Talisman Second Edition Official Answers (clarifies more rules)

Talisman Second Edition House Rules

Games Workshop Gateway (The maker's of the game; no info on Talisman anymore but possibly useful for tracking down miniatures, paint, etc)

I no longer have Painting areas stored in my list of favourite sites, but will add some when I find the list of URLs I lound useful.

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Page created : 4th June, 1998

Last updated : 15th June, 1998