Talisman, by Games Workshop Ltd. of England, has been well received favorable by many gamers. And for good reason! It is one fine fantasy board game enjoyed by fantasy role playing gamers as well as by traditional board gamers. Drawing upon many interesting fantasy themes, Talisman provides an entertaining game that can be easily learned (but not mastered) and completed in one gaming session.

As published, Talisman is designed for 2-6 Players, each of whom becomes a single Character seeking to reach the Crown of Command and use it to eliminate the other Character/Players. (This definitely is a competitive game, not intended to further the concept of group cooperation necessary in most role playing games.) My gaming buddies and myself have found Talisman to be most enjoyable with a minimum of four Players.

Unfortunately, you can't always assemble more than a couple of gamers. Having only two or three Characters moving about the board in simple toe-to-toe competition can leave a little to be desired. Talisman still can provide a good time for only two or three Players by taking a team approach. Instead of limiting each Player to a single Character, the team approach allows each Player to control a small party of Characters. Elimination of all opposing Characters remains the object. However, now you have a feeling of several parties of adventurers racing throughout the Regions, each seeking to prove its superiority.

Here are some rule modifications that we have tried and which seem to work well with the Team Talisman concept:

1. Number of Players

Team Talisman seems to work best with only 2 or 3 Players. Any more Players makes the play rather unwieldy.

2. Team Size

Limit each Team to 2 or 3 Characters. More than 3 begins to clutter the board and playability suffers. As a suggestion, try limiting the total number of Characters at the start of the game to six. Thus, two players would control teams of 3 characters; three players would have 2 characters each.

3. Team Alignment

Allow any combination of Character Alignment to exist within as individual Team. Restricting Team composition to a single Alignment frequently creates an imbalance. Let Characters mix and match. Good, Neutral and Evil Character can operate on the same Team as easily as people possessing widely diverse motivations can cooperate to achieve the same goal in reality.

4. Play Sequence

Stagger the sequence of play, allowing each Player to move only one Character at a time. Once that Character finishes his/her turn, the play rotates to the next Player, not another Character of the same Player. For example, assume you have two Players (A and B). Each Player's Team consists of two Characters (A-1, A-2, B-1, B-1). The playing sequence would be as follows:

Player A, Character 1

Player B, Character 1

Player A, Character 2

Player B, Character 2

This completes one Turn. The next Turn again begins with Player A, Character 1. (As play continues and Characters are removed from the game, a Player may have two or more Characters taking their turns one after the other.)

5. Team Interaction

Characters belonging to the same Team may cooperate by transferring objects among themselves. The following apply to such transfers:

1. For the transfer to take place, the two Characters must end their Turn on the same Space.
2. At the end of the Character's Turn, each of the two Characters may transfer up to one object to the other Character. Objects include Objects, Magical Objects, Followers, Gold and Spells. (Spells may be thought of as being written on scrolls and thus, may be transferred.) Character stats such as Strength, Craft and Lives cannot be transferred in this manner. These represent intrinsic qualities rather than physical objects.
3. Each Character may give his/her teammate only one object in each encounter.
4. The transfer may be one-sided. For example, Character 1 may give a sword to Character 2. Character 2 is not obligated to trade anything to Character 1 in exchange.
5. The transfer of items between Team members are still subject to normal limitations. For example, a Character with a Craft of 3 cannot acquire more than the usual limit of 1 Spell by means of a transfer. (Unless he/she possesses a Magical Object that would allow more than the normal limit.) Nor can a Character carry more than 4 Objects, excluding Gold, without possessing a Mule. Mules can be transferred. However any Object previously carried by the Mule must remain with the original Character, or dropped if this results in the original Character possessing more than 4 Objects.
6. Winning Team Talisman

The object remains the same. At least one Player must have at least one of his/her Characters reach the Crown of Command. This Character then must begin casting Command Spells per the standard rules to begin killing opposing Players' Characters.

1. In addition to eliminating the opposition by casting Command Spells from the Crown of Command, a Player may utilize his/her other Characters who remain in other Regions. On their regular turn at play, these "supporting" Characters can attack Characters from opposing Teams if they land on the same Space as detailed in the regular rules.
2. A Player may be able to place more than one of his/her Characters at the Crown of Command space at the same time. The first Character to reach the Space acquires the Crown's power and is required to cast the Command Spells. Any other Character from the same Team who finds his/her way to the Crown Space becomes a "supporting" Character. The support Character can provide defense to his/her Teammate wielding the Crown. Any opposing Character who reaches the Crown Space must first encounter any support Character before attempting to stop the Crown's wielder. Once any and all support Characters residing in the Crown Space are killed, the opposing Character may encounter the Crown's wielder. The Crown's wielder can continue to cast Command Spells at opposing Characters even if an opposing Character is currently engaged with a support Teammate in the Crown Space. However, the Crown's wielder may not cast Command Spells on any opposing Character within the Crown Space.

None of these rule modifications are intended to be complete or final. In playing Team Talisman, you may discover that you want to ignore or alter any or all of the above.

Another possible Team Talisman variant can be created when you have mastered 4 or more Players for an evening of gaming. Try assembling Teams consisting of two or more Players, each of whom control only one Character. Then apply the rule variants described above to these multi-Player Teams.

Try Team Talisman for a change of pace. You might like it!