Welcome to Talisman Island. A humble fan site dedicated to what I think is the best Fantasy genre game ever produced: Talisman - The Magical Quest Game. Designed by Bob Harris and originally released by Games Workshop in 1983, Talisman is now having a well-deserved revival in the capable hands of Fantasy Flight Games.
Talisman: The Dragon International News! 16th January 2012
More news reaches me from Galakta, the Polish publisher of Talisman: Magia I Miecz, of the translation of The Dragon expansion or Smoki which will soon be with us.
We are just waiting for artwork to surface from Giochi Uniti now for the set!
As an aside, those of you that frequent the FFG or BGG forums may have seen a post I made last week about a competition to mark the upcoming 13th Anniversary of the site, which will involve creating a small expansion of 13 components for the game. I will post the whys and wherefores soon, but have a look at the forums to read more in the mean time!
Talisman FAQ News! 6th Deccember 2011
It's been a while coming, but today FFG finally put out an updated FAQ with answers to questions up to and including The Dragon expansion!
They have also added "a clarification section has been added to cover special circumstances, should they occur when various expansions are played at the same time", which is pretty cool and should help people out a lot.
In other news, there has been movement on the Edge Entertainment site regarding the French translation of Le Dragon, and work has been continuing (slowly) on the latest update for the Strange Eons tool for Talisman which will include cards from the expansion and hopefully a little something else for fun.
Gary Chalk Interview News! 19th November 2011
Well, it's been a few weeks since Chris May put a very nice little interview online at the DFB Studio Blog with the artistic legend that is Gary Chalk!
Chris has kindly given me the option of mirroring the interview here at Talisman Island, but I think for the time being it is only fair that he gets the traffic for his hard work! I will probably archive it somehow at some point in the future.
There are some interesting questions there, including news of a new Lone Wolf boardgame, so all of you old school Talisman players (and you new guys!) had better go and check it out soon!
Talisman: The Dragon International News! 30th October 2011
Another day, another dragon as they say... or not! The boxart for "Die Drachen", the German translation of The Dragon expansion from Heidelberger Spieleverlag has now surfaced.
It will be nice to see the Italian and Polish boxart, from Giochi Uniti and Galakta, when it is available, hopefully before too long.
Talisman Competition Winner! 29th October 2011
We have a winner! Drew (clip611 from BGG) correctly guessed that the last card I sleeved last week was indeed the Leper and takes away the promotional cards, Doppelganger and Instructor!
A few entries were doubled up again, but the list of incorrect answers is - Arena, Ekor, Homunculus, Bane Sword, The Gathering (a popular choice!), Trapper, Lord of the Pit, Dryad, Raging Bull, Flying Carpet, Tomb, Patrol, Druid Staff, Warhorse and Astral Conjunction.
Thanks very much to all of you that have entered into the spirit of the competition, especially to Julian who was extremely sporting! I hope to have another contest soon with another interesting twist, and if you have any suggestions for a competition please feel free to drop me a line!
Talisman Competition Update! 28th October 2011
Well, there has been an interesting turn of events with the competition, being that someone has actually guessed the correct answer - but the competition is still continuing!
Julian Pook, who was one of the winners of the Strange Eons competition actually sent in the correct answer, but has kindly said for the contest to carry on as he already has a set of promotional cards from his previous winning entry. Three cheers for Julian!!
The latest batch of guesses (except for Julian's entry) have been - Closed Shop, Concealed Pouch, Succubus, Miser Dragon, Lesser Demon, Black Unicorn, Lawbringer, Crone, Cerberus, Prophesy, St. Josephine, Wheel of Fate, Nightmare, Whirlwind, Curfew, The Boatman, Academy, Jester and Fool's Gold. A few of which have been repeated by people, though that was only to be expected.
So, the race is on. I am sure someone will get there soon enough and we can ponder more ways of getting some of these cards out to people!
Talisman Competition Update! 26th October 2011
The additional clues from the other night have given people a boost and I have had quite a few more entries in the last two days! We are still awaiting that answer though...
New guesses have been - Orb of Knowledge, Runesword, Bag of Holding, Genie, Fate Stealer, Princess, Poltergeist, Mule, Fountain of Wisdom, Raiders, Sword of Truth, Ymir's Glow, Doppelganger, Werewolf, Hippogriff, Angel of Mercy, Book of Spells, Ancient Artifact, Magic Belt, Hermit, Carnival, Lion, Cursed by Hag, Magic Stream, Burrow Worm, Demigod, Equinox and Ebony Sentinel.
It seems that a little nudge might be in order, so as well as having just one instance of this card in the Adventure Deck, I will add that it is from The Reaper expansion!
If nobody gets it this time I shall be giving another clue on Friday night at some point, and don't forget that in the event of more than one person guessing correctly, it will go to the one that hits my inbox first!
Talisman Competition Update! 24th October 2011
Well, I have had a nice number of entries for the competition and have to report that nobody has guessed correctly as yet, which is hardly surprising given that there are over a thousand small cards for Talisman at the moment!!
The list of incorrect guesses is as follows - Snow Goblin, Tinker Forge, Alignment card, Bag of Gold, Holy Grail, Rod of Ruin, Sphinx, Kill a Dragon Quest, Two Bags of Gold, Treasure Hoard, Holy Lance and a Talisman.
It's been nice seeing the reasons people have given for choosing these cards too, though there is no reason for the choice other than the fact it was indeed the last card sleeved.
So, to narrow it down a little more (but not too much), I will say that the card comes from the Adventure Deck and that there is only one that appears in the deck. Does that help any?
It might help to have a look at the document typed up by Elliott over at BGG which lists all of the cards for the game to date. You never know it might help you work it out! Maybe...
Get your thinking heads on and send me your guess and let's see if we can't get these promo cards off to someone soon!
Talisman Competition News! 22nd October 2011
People who have me added on Facebook will know that I have been sorting a nice wooden box out for my Talisman set, along with perspex card holders and some other bits.
Recently, I finally got around to sleeving my small cards (again!) and thought it might be a good idea to have another little competition on the site to win a pair of the English language bonus cards - Instructor and Doppelganger!
The sleeving took rather a long time the other night, and just as I was finishing up I happened to look at the final card to be put into a sleeve, and there was the theme for the competition...
All you need to do is send me an email with your guess (only one!) as to which card was the last one to be sleeved and the first one to guess correctly wins the cards. Simple, eh?
Well, maybe not so simple given the sheer amount of cards that there are in the base set and all expansions to date... Adventure, Dungeon, Highland, Dragon, Purchase, Stables, Treasure, Relics, Alignment, Spells, Warlock Quests, Quest Rewards and Talismans, including the two bonus cards! Oh yes, and I also have my Character, Ending and Draconic Lord cards sleeved!
If nobody guesses correctly in the next couple of days I will narrow it down a bit, by telling you which box the card came from, which might help reduce the number of possibilities... Good luck!!!
Talisman "Bag" News! 23rd September 2011
There's a bit of talk about the FFG forums about using bags or pouches to keep your Dragon tokens in (or your tiles from DungeonQuest) rather than just using the box lid to hold them.
FFG now have a nice collection of bags now available as part of the FFG Supplies range, which gives you plenty of choice for a great deal of games!
I've picked up a couple of bags from Games by Gamers which are made in a nice "dragon scale" material. There should be enough room in the smaller one for the Dragon tokens and the larger for the DungeonQuest tiles, but I shall report more when my copy of The Dragon arrives!
Finally, as it so happens I was contacted by Clay Lebrun with news that his wife, Deanna, had been busy making an embroidered pouch for Dragon tokens and sent over a picture of the finished product! The bag is quite large, so will be useful for many games I imagine, plus it looks rather cool. If anyone might be interested, I can forward your details on, so just let me know!
Talisman: The Collection News! 20th September 2011
Great news for my collection today with the arrival of the final two versions of The Sacred Pool expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman from shops in France and Germany!
Now all I need is some sort of device like the TARDIS to stop my shelving from bending space and time...
Talisman: The Dragon News! 19th September 2011
Just in case you did not know, and had not been visiting the FFG website every day for new, The Dragon expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman is now on sale!!
So now everyone can add the Draconic Lords into the mix and unleash some serious destruction on the land of Talisman!!
In other news, the first sneak peek of box art from the International partners has been sighted! First up is Edge Entertainment with the French edition called "Le Dragon"!
Talisman: The Dragon News! 30th August 2011
The Dragon expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman will soon be on general release, and in the mean time John Goodenough has written an overview of the three different board realms of Talisman!
Here There Be Dragons! Dragons prowl the realms with The Dragon, the newest Talisman expansion
Soon my precious! Is that a boat I see?
Talisman "Ink" News! 25th August 2011
Well, I thought I was quite a big fan of Talisman, but it seems there might be someone who could also be classed as "quite keen" on the game!
It turns out that Roy Stephens (aka hockeyjedi over at BGG) got a very interesting birthday present this year, in the form of a Talisman tattoo!
As Roy explains over at BGG, the tattoo was inked by an artist over at Lovedog Tattoo in Santa Cruz, following the example of art from the back of a Toad card, and what a great job it is too!!
Talisman: The Dragon News! 15th August 2011
Just when you thought you had nothing to do this evening, FFG go and upload the rules for The Dragon expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman
Here There Be Dragons! Dragons prowl the realms with The Dragon, the newest Talisman expansion
Read well young adventurer, for tomorrow you may be rather crispy... or worse...
Talisman: The Dragon News! 10th August 2011
More "turnaround" images from Talisman: The Dragon by Felicia Cano today! This time it's the turn of the boys... and cattle...
Hopefully there will be a bit more news about the general release of the expansion soon enough, and fingers crossed some lucky owner will spoil some pics from the inside of the box too!
Talisman: The Dragon News! 9th August 2011
I have some interesting images to show you today, which should be nice for those of us that did not manage to snag a copy of Talisman: The Dragon at Gen Con Indy last week!
I can present you with the artwork that was produced by the very talented Felicia Cano which was then used as a reference for the model makers to make up the miniatures for the expansion. First up we have the ladies...
Tomorrow I will be posting the "turnarounds" for the chaps from the expansion. Well, chaps and what I presume is a chap!
Giochi Uniti News! 8th August 2011
It seems I have been a bit remiss with the all of the buzz surrounding the surprise release of Talisman: The Dragon at Gen Con Indy last week!
It appears that Giochi Uniti have sneaked out the Italian translation of Talisman: The Sacred Pool or Lo Stagno Sacro earlier in July.
I know I keep saying it, but I really am going to need more shelving if the four international partners keep up this rate of releases!!
Talisman: The Dragon News! 5th August 2011
Well as suspected the latest expansion, Talisman: The Dragon, made it to Gen Con this year and Talisman Island's roving reporter, Bill Stivers, has captured some cool images to show you!! (Bill is the one on the right of the first image!)
This begs the question of whether there are any copies to be had for lucky convention-goers, but we shall have to see what other Talisman goodness he, or anyone else (Hint Hint!), can find!
In the mean time, I can now bring you an image of the back of the box for the expansion, which shows you some more of the goodness within!!
Talisman: The Dragon News! 30th July 2011
There has been yet another news post from FFG regarding The Dragon expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman, and this time around it shows us two of the six characters that you can play with the new expansion!
Here There Be Dragons! Dragons prowl the realms with The Dragon, the newest Talisman expansion
These look like a couple of tough cookies for sure, but it's good to shake things up now and again! Today's brave adventurer can always be tomorrow's dragon poo...
Heidelberger Spieleverlag News! 29th July 2011
Great news for our German friends this week! Heidelberger Spieleverlag have announced that you can finally buy a copy of Die Heilige Quelle!!
Four down, one to go! C'mon Giochi Uniti! I really need to fill my games shelves to bursting point!
Talisman: The Dragon News! 18th July 2011
A subtle change has taken place on the FFG's Upcoming Products and Reprints page, to show that The Dragon expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman is "On the Boat" and is scheduled for an August 2011 release!!
It will be nice if some advance copies make it to Gen Con Indy, but nothing has been said about that as yet. I think we can all manage to wait a few weeks for what promises to be a really cool addition to the Talisman line!
Talisman: The Dragon News! 15th July 2011
More news tonight from FFG about The Dragon expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman, this time concentrating on the dual-sided board featuring the Dragon Realm AND the Dragon Tower!
Here There Be Dragons! Dragons prowl the realms with The Dragon, the newest Talisman expansion
Another week, another news post, another week nearer the release of the latest expansion!! Yay!! John Goodenough gives us the gen on the latest expansion for your favourite game!
Runebound / Facebook / FFG News! 5th July 2011
So, it turns out that Runebound from Fantasy Flight Games is now playable online as an app for Facebook by Russian developer Bytex!
I hear these apps are quite popular on the social network, and rather than a classic boardgame setup it seems more of a text adventure that encourages you to fight battles along with other "clan" members to gain points and level up.
It all seems quite straightforward, so if it sounds like your kind of thing then you should have a looksee!
Talisman: The Dragon News! 28th June 2011
...and just before I retire to bed for the evening, FFG go and post another news item about the latest expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman - Talisman: The Dragon!
Here There Be Dragons! Dragons prowl the realms with The Dragon, the newest Talisman expansion
They explain more about the range of Dragon Tokens that come with the expansion and also have a sneaky peek at the three Draconic Lords that you will be facing in September!! Varthrax, Cadorus and Grilipus are coming to get you...
Edge Entertainment News! 28th June 2011
Good news from our friends over at Edge Entertainment in France! La Source Sacrée is now available from their website!!
With the recent release of Pani Jeziora in Poland, we just need to get some news from Germany and Italy!
Talisman: The Dragon News! 24th June 2011
According to a news post on the Boardgame News blog (now part of BoardGameGeek) FFG's Talisman: The Dragon expansion is scheduled for a release in September!
Another bit of news is that a copy of Pani Jeziora arrived for me this week, but without a decent camera I am stuck just looking at it myself... Hopefully, that situation will be rectified soon and it may be joined by a couple more translated versions before long!
International Sacred Pool News! 13th June 2011
More news from edge Entertainment about La Source Sacrée has been posted on their website, with the translation of an article taken from the FFG website about how alignments are featured in the expansion!
As I have not had normal access over the last few weeks, there are a few bits of information that went under the radar from other international partners -
Fellow Talismaniac Nemomon has had a couple of news items posted over on the pages of Polish publishers Galakta for Pani Jeziora, which is now available!
German publishers Heidelberger Spieleverlag have a date of July 2011 listed for the release of Die Heilige Quelle.
Lo Stagno Sacro should also be along pretty soon from Italian publishers Giochi Uniti under their Stratelibri imprint.
In other parts of the world, things seem to be buzzing over on the FFG forums with thoughts and theories about what is coming in The Dragon expansion. It's nice to see some positive vibes after some of the comments in recent times.
Talisman: The Dragon News! 9th June 2011
I'm just making a quick little post today to show you the official version of the 2D boxart for FFG's Talisman: The Dragon expansion! It doesn't show much that is new I'm afraid, but I thought you might like to see it!
I've added the image to the World Tour pages on the site, and as a placeholder on the Miniatures pages, but there is no content to click through as yet. All in good time!!
Talisman: The Dragon News! 2nd June 2011
It's been a while coming, but FFG has finally revealed news of Talisman: The Dragon, the latest expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman!
This expansion features a new double-sided board, new Characters, new Draconic Lords, loads of tokens & cards and a woman tied to a rock!!
Here There Be Dragons! Dragons prowl the realms with The Dragon, the newest Talisman expansion
More as time progresses... computer willing... Raawwrr!!
Edge Entertainment News! 30th May 2011
Edge Entertainment have put up another article about the French translation of the Sacred Pool expansion - Talisman: La Source Sacrée on their website! I expect it won't be long before the other International partners post some news too!
The news is a little late as my web access has been a little limited since some %£$£&"!** kind person decided to relieve us of some high-end electronic goods the other week, including my laptop which has put my development of various bits and pieces back a few weeks. I am getting there though, so normal service should be resumed soon!
In other news, it is the UK Games Expo at the end of the week. Sadly, I can only attend on the Saturday when the Talisman tournament is taking place, but it should be a laugh anyway! Be sure to stop by and say hello, even if you are not playing!
Talisman Tournament News! 7th May 2011
There are just under four weeks to go now until UK Games Expo 2011, which is one of Britain's premier gaming events and a pretty cool place to get some Talisman played!
Elliott and myself will be running demo games throughout the weekend (barring disasters), and on the Saturday we will be running a 16 player Talisman Tournament!! With prizes too!!
You can read more about it on the special page put up on the UK Games Expo site for Talisman Events, but finalists of the tournament are in with a chance of winning either a copy of the Highland or Sacred Pool expansions, enough sleeves to sink a ship (or at least sleeve a whole game!) and possibly a promo card or two! Every entrant to the tournament will get a random character card signed by none other than John Goodenough, and one lucky entrant will walk away with a signed board!!
If you want some more information, just fire off an email or get in touch via Facebook or visit the FFG forums or the main UK Games Expo website!!
Fantasy Legend Plays Talisman News! 6th April 2011
It seems that Talisman is a bit of a favourite with one of the "names" in the Fantasy World and his family, as seen in a recent news update on the FFG website!
Waking the Dragon Within is the first part of an interview with celebrated author Tracy Hickman, who has penned the first in a series of novels based in FFG's Fireborn "world". When asked about games that he likes to play, he answers that "my entire family plays Talisman"!
So, we now have Tracy Hickman, Wil Wheaton and the entire cast of The Big Bang Theory that like to play a bit of Talisman! Does anyone know of any others???
I've been working on clearing the decks of things I need to upload and articles I need to sort and I am getting there, but very slowly.
Keep on visiting and there should be some new content when you come back!
Remember, Talisman Island is what YOU make it. If you have anything that you would like to be presented in any of the sections, just fire off an email to me and we'll try to get your creations to the masses!
Have a look around the place, let me know what you like, what you don't like and what else you'd like to see!
It goes without saying that everything presented on this site is copyright of its respective creator and is presented free on this site for the greater good of the Talisman Community. So please don't steal anything and try to sell or auction it off as your own work.
Please also note that it is bad form to hotlink to any images here on Talisman Island and to take images for use on other sites without at least asking permission. I do not wish to start using "watermarks" on any imagery presented here, but will consider it if this becomes a problem.
