The weekend has seen the release of yet another character pack for Talisman: Digital Edition, and this time it was the turn of the Genie!
Don't forget to take a look at the screenshots on the Genie's store page as you might just get a small hint of something to come...
Talisman: The Nether Realm International News! 7th April 2014
During a bit of a mooch around various sites tonight, I happened to notice that The Nether Realm has been added to the catalogue pages of Edge Entertainment, with the rather splendid title of Le Royaume d’Outre Monde!
It looks like it won't be available for a little while yet, but as you can imagine I was quite excited by this news and am looking forward to seeing the expansion in German, Polish and Italian too!
Once again, you can purchase this additional content via the link above, but if you do a quick calculation, you should save yourself a bit of money in the long run and spring for the Gold Pack, which includes a copy of Talisman: Prologue, Talisman: Digital Edition and all current and future downloadable content!
Talisman: Digital Edition News! 21st March 2014
The second character pack is now available for Talisman: Digital Edition in the shape of the Courtesan, and until the end of the week it is half price!
Nomad Games have done a great job with this new character and if you keep your eyes peeled, it looks like there will be some more character packs available soon!
Also, the latest update to Talisman: Digital Edition has added House Rules to the game, plus the limited edition bonus cards that were released for the physical game!
Now with added Courtesan, Doppelganger & Instructor!
Talisman Island: 15th Anniversary News! 10th March 2014
All of the entries to the 15th Anniversary giveaway have been read, reread and shuffled and three lucky winners have been chosen by a specially designed lottery algorithm - or to use her proper name - my wife, Sarah.
I am happy to announce that the winner of The Nether Realm expansion is Pawel Piwnicki, and the two sets of bonus cards (Doppelganger & Instructor) will be going out to Tim Kelly and Stewart Grieve!
I am very grateful to those that took the time to enter the competition. It was really nice to read the stories of why Talisman means so much to people and it's good to know that I am not alone in my love of the game!
Just to add that in the next week or so I will be running yet another competition where you could win yourself a copy of Talisman: Digital Edition along with some extra prizes of additional content from those generous chaps at Nomad Games! Check back soon!
Talisman: Digital Edition News! 25th February 2014
The best value option I think is to get the Talisman: Digital Edition Gold Pack, that gives you a copy of Talisman: Digital Edition, Talisman Prologue AND the Season Pass, which includes all current and future DLC for the game.
In other news, you can now pick up a physical copy of Talisman: Collector's Digital Edition from Merge Games which comes with a bunch of great extras!
Oh, and I've been given some codes for Talisman: Digital Edition for Steam by those generous Nomads! Look out for a giveaway on Talisman Island in the near future!
Talisman Island: 15th Anniversary News! 24th February 2014
On this day in history, a lot of things happened. Yet, one thing is absent from the lists on Wikipedia, as today marks the 15th anniversary of Talisman Island!
To celebrate this milestone, I am giving away a few pieces of Talisman Booty! The LAST TWO copies I have of the bonus cards - Doppelganger & Instructor - AND a copy of The Nether Realm expansion (designed by yours truly), which will be given out to three lucky winners in a couple of weeks time.
There is no competition as such, as this will be a simple random drawing at some point during the 9th of March. All you need to do is send me an email (address down the page) telling me what it is about Talisman that you love! That's it! Oh, and you might want to tell me which you would prefer out of both options, as there might be people who already own a copy of the cards or expansion.
I'll be making mention of this on the Talisman Island Facebook page as well as on Twitter, so if you could go there and give those pages a Like or a Follow, I'd be much obliged! Good luck!!
Talisman: Digital Edition News! 21st February 2014
Firstly, a sneaky peek at the packaging for the retail version of Talisman: Collector's Digital Edition, which will be available soon. It will include a copy of Talisman Prologue, TWO copies* of Talisman: Digital Edition (*one for you and one as a gift over Steam), art cards and more!
Soon, My Precious...
Secondly, a good excuse to keep your eye on the "attract sequence" that plays when you launch Talisman: Digital Edition. As you can see from the shot below, sometimes there is content already added to the game that has yet to be activated!
I spy with my little eye, something beginning with E!
Relic: Nemesis Expansion News! 20th February 2014
A new article about the Nemesis Expansion expansion for Relic has been posted on the Fantasy Flight Games website, which also features some card examples to check out!
This time there is a word from the expansion's designer, Alex Davy, giving the heads up on the mysterious Nemeses and what you can expect from this expansion which brings 6 player gaming to the Antian Sector, including the much anticipated PvP combat!
Talisman: The Firelands News! 17th February 2014
Fantasy Flight Games have recently posted another two news items about The Firelands expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman over on their site!
The first of these gives an insight into some of the Adventure Cards that you will find in the expansion, along with one of the new Alternative Endings, Spreading Flames. The latest gives a closer look at the Jin Blooded and Nomad, as well as the Crown of Flame Alternative Ending!
Hopefully this means that the expansion isn't too far away and will be hitting store shelves soon. It's going to be hot stuff!
Talisman: The Firelands Sneak Peek #7! 2nd February 2014
According to Game Trade Magazine, The Firelands expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman should be shipping next month some time, so to help tide you over here is another sneak peek of one of the spells featured in the expansion!
First up will be the Exorcist, and there is a poll to help decide which Character will be next to be released from the selection of 11, including the Goblin Shaman, Apprentice Mage and Jester!
They have also updated the Season Pass page for the game with news that The Nether Realm expansion will be making it's way onto a digital platform. The other news is that The Frostmarch expansion will be the next one to be released so that they can add Alternative Endings to the mix!
The guys have recently activated Steam Achievements to the game. Some of which are nice and simple to get and others will take a bit of doing!
From Charming an Animal as the Minstrel to Teleporting 3 times in 1 turn, there is plenty to keep you occupied as you play the game against friends and offline too!
Relic: Nemesis Expansion News! 17th January 2014
Fantasy Flight Games have just announced the Nemesis Expansion expansion for the Relic over on their website and it looks to be a great addition to the game!
The expansion finally brings player versus player combat to the Antian Sector with the introduction of Nemeses, which represent enemies of the Imperium. There are 2 new playable characters, new scenarios, new threats and new types of wargear to tempt even the most puritanical agents of the Imperium. You can also now play a game of Relic with up to 6 players!
Talisman: The Firelands Sneak Peek #6! 17th January 2014
I think you've waited long enough for the next sneak peek for The Firelands expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman, so I thought I would show you one of the mysterious strangers who travel through the lands of Talisman!
Marid Sultana by Felicia Cano
Talisman: Digital Edition News! 10th January 2014
The hard working chaps from Nomad Games have only gone and launched The Reaper expansion for Talisman: Digital Edition along with a special Season Pass for those of you that want to get ALL of the future DLC for the game for a great price!
Players who have already purchased a Gold or Platinum preorder of the game will get access to the new expansion automatically, but if you want to add it to your game just follow the links below.
This is all still subject to the normal Early Access conditions, so you may find some bugs as you play through the game, but it's REALLY cool having the extra Characters to play with along with all of the new Adventure Cards!
Four new characters to play with!
New foes to battle and face The Grim Reaper himself!
You can find out more about the update on the Season Pass page, along with some details about future content that will be coming for the game, including all expansions produced to date for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman plus some new exclusive content!
Talisman: Digital Edition & Talisman: Prologue News! 9th January 2014
What with two expansions for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman being announced in the last month, news posts for Talisman: Digital Edition and Talisman: Prologue on the Steam digital distribution system have taken a bit of a back seat recently!
I thought I would add a few notes about the additional features that are common to other games on the platform, and perhaps of interest to the collectors amongst you, especially if you like to have a bit of "virtual" booty!
Example trading cards, "foils" and booster packs
Trading cards give access to full sized artwork
"Crafting" badges helps you to level up!
Get special emoticons to use in Steam chat
Background images can spice up your profile page!
Basically, playing the game can get you Steam Trading Cards which can be "crafted" to make badges and random gifts like emoticons, backgrounds and discount vouchers for use on Steam!
You will get four card "drops" for just playing the game, and then booster packs are awarded randomly for using Steam. Complete your collection by buying, selling and trading on the Steam Community Market, but mind how you go as it can get to be a bit addictive!
Talisman: The Firelands Sneak Peek #5! 3rd January 2014
Welcome to 2014 from Talisman Island, and to start off the year I have another sneak peek to show you from The Firelands expansion, which will be available in the next couple of months!
Magma Storm by Dimitri Bielak
Talisman: The Nether Realm Sneak Peek #4! 31st December 2013
Well it's the last day of 2013, so I figured that I would post my final sneak peek for The Nether Realm expansion as people have been getting their copies delivered in the last few days. I'll have plenty more to show you from The Firelands expansion in the New Year! See you on the other side!!
Mist Giant by Joshua Cairós
Talisman: The Firelands Sneak Peek #4! 29th December 2013
I figured it was about time for another sneak peek from The Firelands expansion, so here is a great piece by Felicia Cano taken from one of the Alternative Endings that is included!
A Hero Rises by Felicia Cano
Talisman: The Nether Realm Sneak Peek #3! 26th December 2013
The Nether Realm Print on Demand expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman should be making its way to people's houses any day now, so I figured another sneak peek was in order. This time it is a fearsome foe that can change its appearance on the roll of a die!
Polymorph by Bruno Balixa
Talisman: The Firelands Sneak Peek #3! 24th December 2013
What's that? You'd like to see another sneak peek of artwork from The Firelands expansion? Well, here you go then!
Curse of Flame by Aaron Acevedo
Talisman: The Nether Realm Sneak Peek #2! 23rd December 2013
Another day is here along with a new sneak peek for Talisman, and this time it depicts one of the Alternative Endings that can be found in The Nether Realm!
The Gauntlet by Guillaume Ducos
Talisman: The Firelands Sneak Peek #2! 22nd December 2013
As promised, I have a number of sneak peeks planned for the recently announced expansions for Talisman, and first up we have a hot little number from The Firelands!
Ifrit Sorceress by Felicia Cano
Talisman: The Nether Realm News! 20th December 2013
It seems that expansions for Talisman are like buses. You wait ages for one, and then two come along at once! The Nether Realm has just been announced over on the Fantasy Flight Games website, which is the first Print on Demand expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman!
The expansion features three new Alternative Endings, and introduces the perilous Nether deck which harbours a selection of the most dangerous Enemies to stalk the lands of Talisman, along with a whole host of new deadly creatures and encounters. If adventure is what you seek, then you shall be granted it... and then some!
Once again I have number of sneak peeks to show you, so between The Nether Realm and The Firelands, there should be plenty to come and see on Talisman Island over the next few weeks!
Aerochanter by Sara Diesel
Talisman: The Firelands News! 17th December 2013
The lands of Talisman have been unusually quiet since the gates of The City were opened around a year ago, but now a new threat has emerged to challenge the brave adventurers in their quest for the Crown of Command! Fantasy Flight Games have announced The Firelands expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman over on their website!
The expansion introduces the fiery world of the Ifrit, who bring flame and destruction to the lands of Talisman. With new Characters, Alternative Endings and Adventure Cards, your journey to the Crown will never be the same again, but with the new Terrain Cards even the very ground you walk on can be transformed!
FFG have kindly allowed me to show off some sneak peeks over the next few weeks, which should whet your appetite for the perils to come! Keep visiting when you can, and look out for more artwork in the near future.
Ifrit Invasion by Mark Bulahao
Talisman: Digital Edition News! 12th December 2013
I thought it was about time that I made a small update about what the chaps at Nomad Games have been getting up to in the last month or so since Talisman: Digital Edition went into Early Access over on the Steam digital distribution system!
There have been a number of tweaks and fixes made, and a LOT of new features have been added to the game since the first release. The biggest news is that online multiplayer is live and, after a few teething problems, appears to be working well.
Add to this XP, levels, leaderboards, changes to Spell timings, bonus Runestones and more! Bear in mind that this is still an Early Access release, so it is a work in progress, but things are definitely going in the right direction!
Starting a multiplayer game
Runestones give special bonuses
Gain XP and level up!
There are a couple of small tweaks that I particularly like too - New artwork is in place for the Talisman card and the Command Spell now has a card to represent a successful casting!
New Talisman art
Command Spell
Hopefully it won't be too long before we will be able to see more of the Reaper expansion than we did at Halloween. I am sure you will agree that more content will be most welcome!
A sneak peek at the Reaper expansion
Talisman 30th Anniversary News! 5th November 2013
Well, the day is here and it is time to celebrate 30 glorious years of your favourite fantasy board game and I hope some of you have been able to get a game of Talisman in to mark the occasion!
I've written up a small article for the anniversary which I hope will be of interest, and you will be able to find out a little more about our little adventurer friend above who has been shrouded in mystery for a few months!
Talisman: Digital Edition News! 31st October 2013
Nomad Games have made an updated available for the Early Access version of Talisman: Digital Edition which fixes up a few bugs and gives a special bonus for Halloween!
If you fire up your Steam client, you can get the update and have the Grim Reaper in your game to celebrate this spooky time of year. Please note that this is NOT the full Reaper expansion, just a nice taster! You can find out more over at the Store Page for the game. Enjoy!
Talisman: Digital Edition News! 25th October 2013
Fantasy Flight Games have made an interesting news post about the Early Access of Talisman: Digital Edition from Nomad Games which is well worth a read!
Some other great news via FFG is that Elder Sign: Omens has just been been Greenlit over on Steam which will be another game to look out for.
Also, I must give hearty congratulations to Talisman fan "evhaloon" for being the lucky winner of the Talisman: Digital Edition Steam Code giveaway that I have been running this week. Thanks very much to everyone that took the trouble to enter the competition, and a special thanks to the Nomads for kindly donating the code!
Talisman: Digital Edition News! 22nd October 2013
The chaps from Nomad Games have posted a new Development Update over on their blog which gives some insight about some of the features that have been added to Talisman: Digital Edition since its Early Access release on Steam!
If you want to learn more about the game, head over to the Steam Store for the game and have a peek at new artwork and learn more about the Steam distribution platform.
In other news, the kind Nomads have given me a copy of Talisman: Digital Edition on Steam to give away on the site! Rather than stage a time consuming competition, I'll just ask people to email me and I will pick a lucky winner at some point on Friday 25th October.
Talisman: Digital Edition News! 10th October 2013
There was some really exciting news this week, when the guys from Nomad Games announced that Talisman: Digital Edition would be making an appearance on the Steam gaming platform earlier than anyone thought!
This will be an EARLY ACCESS release, which is a version that is still being honed and that is not quite complete, but is certainly getting there with local multiplayer, all base game cards active and save game functionality. You can take a look at the Early Access Disclaimer on the site to see exactly what is to be included and what to expect.
Basically, this will act as a way to get feedback from players to help with the final relase. The good news is that you will get automatically updated on release day, and there is a nice bonus in that you will also get a free copy of Talisman Prologue for your trouble!
So, get yourself over the the game's Store Page and take a look at what is going on there. You can join in discussions and prepare for the future by adding fans to your Steam Friends list. Feel free to add me if you like by searching for "talismanisland". Surprise!
Chris May has also started up a Facebook community group so that you can arrange games, meet other players and discuss tactics and experiences. Come on over and say hello!
Strange Eons Competition News! 6th October 2013
I apologise for not posting sooner, but I would like to announce the winner of the competition to create a default City card for use in the Talisman plugin for the Strange Eons card creation tool! So many congratulations to Henrik Rostedt for his winning entry, which will be included when the tool is updated in the near future!
I think that the Rooftop Runner is a great addition to the tool, and gives a nice story to the great artwork by Wojciech Rzewuski. Thanks very much to those who took the time to send an entry, and I hope that Henrik enjoys his Doppelganger and Instructor bonus cards!
Talisman: Digital Edition News! 2nd October 2013
Nomad Games have produced a new teaser trailer for the Steam version of Talisman: Digital Edition which includes the news that The Reaper expansion will be available on release day!
The game is looking really special now with a huge amount of enhancements to the UI and in-game artwork along with some new music too!
Just to add that if you haven't taken the plunge with Talisman Prologue to get a taster of what is to come, now is the time to do it! It is available for a paltry 69p for both Android and iOS devices! Great news!
Talisman 30th Anniversary News! 5th September 2013
Way back in the mists of time, at GW's Games Day 1983, a board game was unleashed onto an unsuspecting public.
That board game was... Calamity! designed by the composer Andrew Lloyd Webber.
As you have likely never heard of said game, it is probably true to say that it did not fare too well.
However, at the same time, GW launched another board game. A light fantasy romp through a magical land by a certain Bob Harris. That game was reasonably well received and to this day is still played, both in its original and revised forms by players throughout the world.
THAT board game was... Talisman: The Magical Quest Game.
The 5th of November 2013 will be the 30th Anniversary of the game's launch and Talisman Island will be marking it by showing off a small surprise which has been cooked up by the fevered minds of Gary Chalk, Bob Harris, John Goodenough and myself.
Hopefully I am not building it up too much, but I suspect that people will get a kick out of it. I will add a small teaser picture below, though it shouldn't be too hard to figure out what is going on.
Just to add, that it would be nice if people could perhaps get a game organised for the night of the 5th of November in honour of this occasion. If you can take some pictures of the celebrations then I will make a gallery on Talisman Island.
*Note: People in the UK will likely be having bonfires and fireworks that evening, but I am going to pretend that they are all celebrating the 30th Anniversary of Talisman anyway!
Talisman: Digital Edition News! 28th August 2013
Well, thanks to the small army of fans who have voted, the chaps at Nomad Games have finally managed to get Talisman: Digital Edition "greenlit" on the Steam digital distribution platform, which is a fantastic achievement!
Looking at the screenshot below, you can see the new Play Area, along with some of the new art and tweaks to the UI that have been added to the game in recent weeks. It's looking great!
Play Area
The Nomads are looking at an initial release date of November 5th to coincide with the 30th Anniversary of Talisman, with it coming to Steam some time in December. It's all looking very good indeed for the future of Talisman: Digital Edition!
Talisman: Collector's Edition News! 24th August 2013
There has been some interesting news tweeted by Nomad Games about Talisman: Digital Edition, though this seems to have already broken on German sites some time in June!
It would appear that Headup Games will be publishing a physical version of Talisman: Digital Edition, which will also come with Talisman Prologue, the soundtrack, desktop theme, strategy guide AND some examples of the original card art!
There is nothing yet on the Headup Games website, and no news from Nomad Games about whether there will be an English language release, but you can read a little about it (in German) over on the Spielmagazin.de website.
Strange Eons Competition News! 22nd August 2013
It's been a while since I updated the Talisman plugin for the fantastic Strange Eons card creation tool, but I have been making a little bit of progress recently. I have not been able to rewrite the tool as yet for use with the latest version of Strange Eons, but I have been tinkering with the older version and will shortly be making the assets for the Blood Moon and City expansions available.
As with the Dragon expansion, I have added City cards as a separate type, and therefore will be needing an example card to display when that option is selected. Wojciech Rzewuski, an artist and big fan of the game, has kindly agreed that I may include a copy of his painting - Night Watch - in the tool! You can take a look at more of his creations at his portfolio page.
All you need to do is come up with a suitable card for use with the City deck using the above image and the winning entry will be featured in the plugin. Full credit will be given within the tool, and the winner will get a couple of bonus cards - Doppelganger and Instructor - for their trouble!
The above example shows how you might use the image in a number of ways, depending on how much text is involved, to create a variety of card types. The winner will be chosen at some time during the 22nd September, so there is plenty of time to get your thinking hats on! Good luck!
Relic & Talisman International News! 14th August 2013
This is just a little reminder to those of you who might like to play Relic and Talisman in a language other than English. The translations of Relic and the Talisman: The City expansion by FFG's international partners are either on sale now or coming very soon!
This week brings Gen Con Indy where it is hoped that there will be some news of the latest happenings for Talisman and Relic and there will hopefully be some news to come of the beta test for Talisman: Digital Edition following the games recent outing at Games Day Germany!
Talisman Prologue HD News! 9th July 2013
The chaps from Nomad Games have certainly been rather busy in the last month or so! Today brings news of a major update for Talisman Prologue HD which gives players on Android and iOS devices the chance to play as one of 6 new characters previously only playable digitally on PC platforms!
As well as some tweaks and fixes, you can now play through the legendary Magical Quest as the Amazon, Leprechaun, Minotaur, Sage, Sprite or Vampire Hunter - and the best thing is that the update is completely FREE!!
So, whether you are using an Android phone or tablet or an iOS device, you can get the update (and if you haven't taken the plunge yet. Why not??)
Talisman: Digital Edition News! 21st June 2013
Nomad Games have posted a very interesting and informative Development Update over on their blog which gives the latest news about Talisman: Digital Edition!
As you can see there are some changes afoot, including the updating of several pieces of art from the game along with some gameplay tweaks and features! Roll on November!!
Talisman: Digital Edition News! 4th June 2013
It appears that the chaps from Nomad Games have been hard at work once again! We've already seen some screenshots and a work in progress video from Talisman: Digital Edition and now you can see a sneak peek of one of the updated board personalities that you might meet on your quest!
"Didst thou upsetteth my flagon?"
"What a handsome chap he is!" - I hear you remark. That's right! It's me! I was rather honoured to be asked if I would like to become the Farmer from the Tavern in the next digital iteration of the game, and I hope the results are not too terrifying!
While we are waiting for more news from the Nomads, you could go and visit the game's Steam Greenlight page and cast your vote, which could help the development of the game along nicely by bringing it to a much larger audience!
Talisman: Digital Edition News! 29th May 2013
The hardworking chaps at Nomad Games have just posted a work in progress video over on their Facebook page which shows the poor Ghoul being set upon by his opponents!
Just to add that the other day I posted an overview of Talisman Prologue along with some of my thoughts about the game. I think getting hold of Talisman Prologue in the run up to the release of Talisman: Digital Edition would be an idea, so you can make sure your gaming strategies are up to speed!
Talisman: Digital Edition News! 20th May 2013
I thought I would share a picture that the chaps from Nomad Games posted over on their Facebook page last week!
It shows a work in progress shot of a multiplayer game with AI characters, and all of the characters are sporting "painted" miniatures!! It's super to see that the work is continuing and promises to be a great experience!
Talisman Prologue HD News! 2nd May 2013
Well, it's been a week since Talisman Prologue HD from Nomad Games was made available by Thumbstar Games for Android and iOS, and it's been an exciting 7 days of highs and more highs!
Within hours of release the game had jumped to the top of 64 charts around the world, and was even voted Game of the Week by fans over at Pocket Gamer! Add to this a boatload of rave reviews and the Nomads have every right to feel proud of their creation.
In closing, there was a small glimpse into the future of Talisman Prologue HD today from Thumbstar's Martin Kitney - “The guys at Nomad have done a fantastic job with the game, and are working on some new characters that we will launch very soon.” - Exciting times ahead!!
Talisman Prologue HD News! 29th April 2013
What a weekend it has been for Talisman Prologue HD! Released into the wild on Thursday, finds its way to the top of the download charts and now voted Game of the Week over at Pocket Gamer!
The faithful port of Talisman Prologue for PC released through Thumbstar Games is available for Android platforms from Google Play and for iOS from iTunes.
In other news, the guys at Nomad Games have started to concentrate on getting Talisman: Digital Edition onto Steam Greenlight and Talisman Prologue is also available to play on your BlackBerry from BlackBerry World!
Talisman Prologue HD News! 25th April 2013
It's out!! Talisman Prologue HD, a faithful recreation of Talisman: The Magical Quest Game for solo play, has finally been released on Android platforms and iOS!
Featuring 10 playable characters, with 50 quests to play through, Talisman Prologue HD should keep you occupied for quite a while to come. At least until Talisman: Digital Edition is available!
Talisman Prologue HD News! 23rd April 2013
The excitement is building! In only two days time you will finally be able to play Talisman Prologue HD from those clever chaps at Nomad Games on your tablet or other device that supports Android or iOS!
Make sure that you bookmark the page over at Thumbstar Games and check out the screens that are available and then check out yet another superb introduction video below.
...and whilst you are waiting for Thursday to come around, you can just get on and play Talisman Prologue on your computer!
Relic News! 21st March 2013
After a series of articles on the Fantasy Flight Games website and teaser board art being posted on the FFG Facebook page. it has come to that time when Relic is now on general release!
It's now time to go and fight for the glory of the Emperor and experience the perils of the Antian Sector!
Talisman: Prologue News! 18th March 2013
The chaps from Nomad Games have recently announced news of an upcoming patch for Talisman Prologue which will include six extra characters as a bonus!
They've posted some sneaky peekery over on the Talisman Prologue Facebook page, so get over there in a "sprite-ly" manner and check for updates!
Relic News! 8th March 2013
The rules for Relic have now been posted over on the Fantasy Flight Games website, so you can plan your strategies for the upcoming battles against Chaos!!
It looks like there is not long to wait for the game too as Amazon is quoting 22nd March as a release date! Onwards!
In other news, I would like to say a big thank you to everyone that took the time to enter the little birthday contest for Talisman Island in the last couple of weeks. It was good to hear from everyone and it's nice to know that this little corner of the internet is appreciated! Congratualtions go out to Michael Knight and Gianmatteo Tonci who both scored a pair of bonus cards! (There will be more chances to win a set coming reasonably soon!)
Relic News! 2nd March 2013
Another week closer to the release of Relic and Fantasy Flight Games has posted a new article on Missions, Relics and Scenarios in the game!
"Look for the rules to be posted next week, and discover if you have what it takes to deliver the Antian Sector safely into the hands of the Emperor in Relic!" - Less than three weeks to go!!
Talisman Island News! 24th February 2013
Another year has passed us by, and Talisman Island has now reached 14 years of age! This is no doubt testament to the longevity of the game that has gone from the wilderness years when fans were keeping it alive, to the present day which is giving us new content for the game we love from Fantasy Flight Games, including a foray into the grim future of Warhammer 40,000 with Relic!
To celebrate this anniversary, I am giving away a couple of sets of bonus cards for the game, but this time you don't have to create anything! Over on the Talisman Island Facebook page you can Like and Share the page for a chance of winning a set, or you can just send me an email (address down the page) with "Happy Birthday" in the subject line and I will randomly pick a winner from those at some point next weekend!
It just falls to me to say thank you for the support of all the visitors and contributors to Talisman Island, whether it be expansions, downloads, images or even just stopping by for the latest news! Not forgetting of course Games Workshop and Fantasy Flight Games for keeping the game on shelves, along with the main international partners - Galakta, Heidelberger Spieleverlag, Giochi Uniti and Edge Entertainment - and Nomad Games for bringing Talisman to life on digital platforms!
Relic News! 23rd February 2013
Another news article from Fantasy Flight Games about Relic has been posted, this time looking at how corruption works and some of the threat cards that can alter your journey in more ways than one!
"In our next preview, we’ll look at how these paragons of Mankind can acquire the powerful Relics that will give them a chance at securing the Warp rift for the Imperium!" - Let's hunt some Xenos!
Talisman: Prologue HD News! 11th February 2013
Word has reached the shores of Talisman Island of an exciting development for Talisman Prologue from Nomad Games!
The guys have teamed up with Thumbstar Games to bring Talisman Prologue to iOS and Android tablet devices, under the name of Talisman Prologue HD!
Keep your eyes on the Nomad Games website for more news as it happens! It looks like I'm going to have to invest in a tablet now...
Relic News! 1st February 2013
As promised, Fantasy Flight Games have posted a look at the characters in Relic, along with a look at character progression and how combat works in the game!
"Slay enemies as you work to secure the Antian Sector and gather enough trophies to level up your hero to epic proportions. In our next preview, we will explore the consequences of Corruption in Relic!" - Sounds good to me!!
Relic News! 30th January 2013
In addition to the great sneak peeks of board art from Relic over on the Fantasy Flight Games Facebook pages, they have now made some banners available so you can show the world who you will be rooting for in the game!
I think I am going to have to go with the Ordo Malleus Inquisitor, or the Ogryn... or the Callidus Assassin... or the Sanctioned Psyker... or...
Talisman: Prologue News! 28th January 2013
Great news if you were in two minds about taking the plunge and buy Talisman Prologue. For a ccouple of weeks, there is a sale where you can save 33% on the regular price!
Go and visit the Nomad Games website and start playing Talisman on your computer today! You can even take the option to get the soundtrack and Windows theme too!
Relic News! 25th January 2013
Another article about Relic has been posted over on the Fantasy Flight Games website. This time concentrating on Wargear that your hero can use and the awesome Powers that can help you in your mission to cleanse the Antian Sector!
For the next update there will be a feature on two of the heroes that you can play in the hazardous universe of Warhammer 40,000!
Talisman: The City News! 23rd January 2013
Some great news has been posted on the Fantasy Flight Games website! The City expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman is now available for purchase!
Get yourself over to the site and you'll soon be wandering the streets in search of a bargain! A potion? A new pet? A powerful magic object? Who knows?!
Relic News! 22nd January 2013
Fantasy Flight Games have started to post some images from the stunning board artwork for Relic over on their Facebook page!
Click through the link above to see the full artwork for the spaces put up so far, and keep visiting for more sneak peeks on the page in the near future!
Relic News! 18th January 2013
At last we have some news from Fantasy Flight Games about Relic, the game of adventure in the grim dark future of the Warhammer 40,000 Universe!
First up is a general overview of the game and highlighting some of the new features introduced to the Talisman Games System including the three Threat decks used in the game, with the next preview bringing news of Power cards and powerful Wargear!
Talisman: The City News! 16th January 2013
Fantasy Flight Games have now posted the rules for The City expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman over on the site!!
Go and check them out and perhaps plan your strategy for when you first visit the new region! There's even a preview of some of the goodies you can buy in the shops!
Talisman: The City News! 11th January 2013
The shops and some of the things you can buy in them whilst travelling around The City expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman have been featured today on the Fantasy Flight Games website!
The Stables, Armoury, Magic Emporium, Sorceror, Apothecary, Soothsayer and Menagerie will certainly help relieve you of some of that gold!!
More updates will follow and the game will be available very soon as that boat makes its way ever closer!
Talisman: Digital Edition News! 4th January 2013
Just a small update today to remind people that you can now preorder the Digital Edition of Talisman from the guys at Nomad Games! As with Talisman Prologue you can snag yourself some cool bonuses depending on which flavour of preorder you plump for!
Take a look at the trailer, take a look at the forums and then take a trip around the digital world of Talisman!!
EDIT - Links updated! They should work now!
Talisman: The City News! 3rd January 2013
The first news of the New Year for the City expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman has been posted over at the Fantasy Flight website today!
This time it is a feature about three of the six new characters from the expansion - the sinister Spy, the cunning Cat Burglar and the friendly Tavern Maid.
Next up will be news of the goods and services you can purchase as you travel around the shops of the City!
Talisman News Roundup! 30th December 2012
Well the festive period has proved a bit much with work and real life, so there has not been much going on for me in the way of gaming and hobby-related things. There have been a few developments that will get a mention in the near future, but for now I thought I would recap the news of the last few weeks and try and bring it all up to date!
Fantasy Flight Games have put up a couple of previews of the City expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman. The first giving an overview of the City with some of the things you might meet on your travels through the narrow streets, and the second which explains how the Wanted Posters work in the expansion!
Next comes news from Nomad Games about the next chapter in the digital life of your favourite fantasy game, Talisman: Digital Edition!!! This is the announcement we have been waiting for which will bring multiplayer gaming to the world of Talisman!
...and once again the Nomads have produced another EPIC trailer so you can see what the planned release will be all about!!
...and of course, it wouldn't be complete with the trailer for the single player experience that started it all for the Nomads!! I just love these trailers!!!
That should do you for now, but I will hopefully bring you a bit of news in the near future about Talisman Island, and about how you might be able to get yourself something unusual as my collection comes up for grabs.
Talisman: The City Sneak Peek #8! 1st December 2012
Yes, I realise it is a week late, but the spoiler card to celebrate Katie's birthday from last week is finally here! All hail the ale!
This little item from the City expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman should help things along nicely! Perhaps I should revisit the Mystic Brew expansion I made back in the day?
Katie managed to have a good day and consumed copious quantities of similar liquids, but somehow I don't think they had any healing properties whatsoever as she ended up as rough as a badger!
As it turned out, I had a bit of news which was cause for celebration too, so a small beer is rather apt all round! You might get a small hint from this little object that you can purchase from the Magic Emporium in the City!
Talisman: Prologue News! 23rd November 2012
It's been rather hotly anticipated, but today is the day that Talisman Prologue makes its way into the world!!
The game comes in two flavours. One which is the basic game, and a second which includes a Windows theme pack and the official soundtrack to the game! It's only a couple of quid more, so what have you got to lose?
The game is a faithful adaptation brought to the computer and will be expanded in time to come with multiplayer and it will be made available on different platforms. You will even see a few things that are exclusive to this edition of the game!
To get your copy of the game, head over to the purchase page and start your adventure in the digital realms of Talisman!
Talisman News Roundup! 20th November 2012
Sorry for the news vacuum of the last couple of weeks, but real life has a habit of being rather a distraction at times!
First up is the news that preorders for Talisman Prologue will be ending soon as the game is being prepped ready for release. So if you want to get the official soundtrack and theme pack, as well as a last gasp chance at the beta, hurry up and pull the trigger below!
In other news, FFG put up a really cool feature on Talisman Prologue the other week, and it's all looking rather swish!
It's been a while since I spoiled a card for the City expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman, so I figured I might as well make amends by spoiling two at once! One here on the site and one over at the Facebook fan page for Talisman Island!
Hopefully that will appease people for the moment and I will make sure that yet another card is spoiled over the weekend in honour of my daughter Katie's birthday, so make sure you come back soon!!
Talisman: Prologue News! 30th October 2012
The Nomads have put a new blog entry online which ties Talisman Prologue to the upcoming Halloween celebrations!
Get yourself over to the blog and take a look at some of the horrors you will face on your quests in the Land of Talisman!
Talisman: The City Sneak Peek #5! 28th October 2012
Here's another card that you can encounter in your travels around the new City expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman.
The Six-Fates Inn gives you a chance to pass a bit of time and maybe find a shortcut to another space or you can spend a bit of that gold that's been burning a hole in your pocket! More soon...
Talisman: Prologue News! 27th October 2012
There's a chance for you to have a bit of a say in the future development of Talisman Prologue over at the game forums at the moment.
The chaps have set a few polls up asking about what language the game should be translated to after the initial launch version and which character should be unlocked next in the beta version of the game!!
Forum access is currently limited to those that have preordered the game. If you are still waiting to jump in with both feet, go and visit the Talisman Prologue website and download the demo version. Then, when you can see what it's all about, pony up for a preorder and get access to the beta immediately! You'll also get to download the Windows theme pack, the soundtrack AND get early access to the forums!
There's also another post to see over at the Nomad Gamesblog which takes a look at the final five characters that are available to you during your quest in Talisman Prologue!
It also seems like I have accidentally deleted one of the news posts about the blog from this page (Note to self - backup more often) which looked at the game in general and the FIRST five characters you can play! Take a look at those too whilst you are on the blog!!! Oopsie...
Talisman: The City Sneak Peek #4! 22nd October 2012
I have another sneak peek at one of the cards from the upcoming City expansion for you today, but what is it? More importantly, where is it?!
So go there and take a look - Like, Share or do whatever it is you do. Check back often though as there will be another card to show later in the week here on the site!
Talisman: The City Sneak Peek #3! 19th October 2012
Today we have a card which will be familiar to those of you who saw the news about the City expansion on the Fantasy Flight Games website a week or so ago!
If you check out the Wanted Posters that are shown in the article, you will see one for Contructs that features this very image, that will grant you a Talisman for defeating it! I wonder if that is what imbues this particular Construct with life?
Talisman: Prologue News! 18th October 2012
Another blog post about Talisman Prologue has gone up on the game's website. This time it describes the questing mechanic and looks at some of the board spaces that can make the difference between success and failure in your quest!
There was also a mention about the preorder of Talisman Prologue over on today's White Dwarf Daily blog. It's certainly been a busy week for the guys at Nomad Games!
Talisman: Prologue News! 16th October 2012
I am sure you will be as excited as I was to learn that Talisman Prologue is now available to preorder over at the official website! Not only that, but if you do preorder you get some really cool bonus stuff thrown in too!
If you go for the purchase option you will get a downloadable beta version of the game, where you are able to play through all five of the Warrior Quests, AND a download of the soundtrack to the game AND a theme pack for Windows 7 PLUS you get access to the Talisman Prologue forums were you can discuss the game! There's even an option where you can contribute at the "deluxe" level to throw the guys a bone and get your name in the game credits!
What? You are still here? Get yourself over to the Talisman Prologue site and begin your quest today!
Talisman: The City Sneak Peek #2! 14th October 2012
The City expansion is creating a bit of a buzz around the place, with people wondering what sort of things they might find when exploring the new expansion board. Today's card is one of the items available from the Magic Emporium and a rather potent thing it is!
Later in the week I will post something that you can meet on your travels around the streets of the City. You have probably already have seen it, but I suspect you did not realise what it might be...
Talisman: The City Sneak Peek #1! 11th October 2012
A couple of days has passed since the Fantasy Flight Games announced the City expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman on their site, so I thought it might be time to show off a card from the expansion that might be of interest to, let's say, the Craft-impaired amongst us. (*cough* Troll *cough*)
I'll be putting another card up at the weekend, so make sure you swing by and take a look. It'll probably be something cool from the Magic Emporium!
Talisman: The City News! 8th October 2012
It seems like an age since we saw the sneaky double-sided box for the City expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman on display at Gen Con in August, but FINALLY the news has broken on the Fantasy Flight Games website AND over on Games Workshop's White Dwarf Daily!
Finally you will have a chance to spend all of that hard earned Gold you have been hoarding (I'm looking at you Leprechaun!) and you can even make money from the demise of others!
I've uploaded a few examples of cards from the new expansion over on the World Tour pages here on Talisman Island, and should be able to show bits and bobs that might be of interest in the next few weeks. Let's go shopping!
Games Day UK 2012 News! 25th September 2012
Today, I am adding some pics from the demo of Talisman Prologue taken by Chris May at Games Day, which he has also used on the DFB Studio blog.
You can see the game calculating the possible moves from a die roll, the screen you see when cashing in trophies and (I hope) you can see how spaces are made to stand out by blurring around them and adding some lighting. Is it the end of the year yet? *checks calendar*
Games Day UK 2012 News! 24th September 2012
I've pinched a couple of images from Chris May's Games Day album of the Relic prototype and will hopefully be adding a few more pics of Talisman Prologue a bit later today.
You'll have to ignore the glare and scratches you can see in the pictures. The prototype was under a sheet of plexiglass to protect it. Sleeving boards... now that's something to think about!!
Chris will have a load more images up from Games Day over on his blog later today, but in the mean time you could have a look at his interview with Gary Chalk!
Games Day UK 2012 News! 23rd September 2012
Well, I have just got back from a rather pleasurable, if not rather tiring trip up to the LG Arena at the NEC Birmingham for GW's UK Games Day.
The FFG/Esdevium demo team had a number of tables running games of Talisman and other FFG releases, along with the prototype of Relic which was getting a lot of attention during the day.
Just across the hall from all of this boardgaming goodness was the Nomad Games stand where they were showing off Talisman Prologue on three machines, one of which was a touch screen PC linked to a large screen which looked really cool!
I must admit I was a little unsure as to what to expect from the game, but I can tell you that the screenshots we have seen do not do it justice!
As you can see, the quality of my pics is not great as I was stuck using my phone camera, but I enlisted the help of Chris May who should be supplying me with some better resolution images tomorrow. I'll get a selection online as soon as I can!
Talisman: Prologue News! 18th September 2012
So, I finished work today and start to drive back and I get an email, which surprises me so much I have to pull over into the next layby and check it out! Talisman is getting a video game version!!!!!!
From the official press release - "September 18 2012 – Today, new digital studio, Nomad Games Limited, announced that it has obtained rights to develop and publish versions of the million-selling fantasy adventure board game ‘Talisman’, on a variety of platforms. The board game is published under license by Fantasy Flight Games® and is an original property of Games Workshop Limited."
"Nomad Games will adapt Talisman to suit platforms ranging from PC to smartphones and other digitally connected devices, using the Marmalade cross-platform SDK. The first release in the series - Talisman Prologue - is scheduled before the end of 2012 on PC, to be followed by versions for smart phones and tablets. First look will be at ‘Games Day’ at the NEC in Birmingham on 23rd September."
There is a video and several more screenshots over at the official site for the game. You can even sign up for the latest news there.
As it happens I will be attending Games Day this year, and this makes it an especially cool visit, as word has it that the prototype of Relic will be making an appearance there too! I'll be posting some pics after I get back, though some might make it onto the Talisman Island Facebook page whilst it is all going on.
Talisman: The Blood Moon International News! 23rd August 2012
So, no sooner do I make a post about the Italian box art for The Blood Moon expansion, then another two versions show up in the next two days!!
Galakta's Wilkołak and Der Blutmond from Heidelberger Spieleverlag bring us to the end of the set, with both expected some time later this year.
Also of note is that Heidelberger's Die Drachen expansion should be available in the next couple of months, so that should bring German Talisman fans back on track with their expansions!
Talisman: The Blood Moon International News! 21st August 2012
Giochi Uniti are the latest partner of FFG to show off the box art for their Italian translation of The Blood Moon expansion!
This will likely be available towards the end of the year, and I am hoping that the German and Polish examples will be available for you to see soon.
Talisman: The City News! 19th August 2012
Well, after posting Cary's picture yesterday there has been a little bit of speculation as to who the characters depicted on the box actually are, so I figured I would add a few pics to fuel the fire!
So what do you think? There have been quite a few guesses so far on the FFG and BGG forums, and it's possible that the pictures above might clear some things up, or even sow more seeds of doubt! Have fun though!
Gec Con Indy 2012 News! 18th August 2012
After an exciting couple of days at Gen Con Indy, roving reporter and long time visitor to Talisman Island - Cary Hazelwood - has sent some information that will be of interest to anyone that plays Talisman!
As you can see from the shot above - IT'S THE CITY!!!! - and FFG have certainly sneaked that little tidbit out!
Hopefully it will feature on the FFG website before long and we will be able to take a closer look at the box art, but in the mean time we can all rest easy that a new expansion is coming!!
Gec Con Indy 2012 News! 16th August 2012
The best four days in gaming began today over at the ICC in Indianapolis, and lucky gamers from around the world are getting to see some great new games, including demoing Relic at the FFG stand!
The above image was uploaded a few hours ago by Geoff Engelstein via Twitter, and he kindly agreed that I might share it with you. It seems that the demo version is a more polished affair than that seen at Games Day Chicago, but it is not clear whether or not this is the final product.
I am hopeful that there will be more to show from Gen Con over the next couple of days, and I will update the site with any news and images I can find!
Strange Eons Competition News! 10th August 2012
After much deliberation and a great deal of time trying all of the entries out in Strange Eons, I have decided on a winner for the Dragon Deck Example Competition!
The winning entry is from Bogusz Ostrowski, also known as "Nefarious" about the forums, with his simple take on the subject matter. His entry was set to use the larger image version of the template, but I jazzed the text up a little and think it looks great with the smaller version of the artwork.
Many thanks go to Jeremy McHugh, for allowing me to use his artwork in the Strange Eons extension, and if you are off to Gen Con in Indianapolis next week go and say hello to him (and buy things!)
I am updating the current extension with the new text for the card, and have added in Lycanthrope cards, "Ability" Overlays, new style Character tokens and made a couple of other tweaks. It should be available to download during the coming week. I'll make a small post on the front page when it is done.
Relic News! 27th July 2012
It seems a long time since we were teased with an image taken at GAMA in March of a box mockup for Relic, a game set in Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000 world, which uses the Talisman Game System!
Three "Threat" decks, ten characters, missions, scenarios, equipment... It's all looking rather exciting and I imagine we shall see some more news after Games Day Chicago tomorrow, where it is being shown off!!
In other news, there were quite a number of entries sent in for the Strange Eons competition, and I will be checking them over and announcing the winner over the weekend! Thanks for taking part!
Talisman: The Blood Moon International News! 24th July 2012
The first out of the blocks this time around with news of a translation for the The Blood Moon expansion are Edge Entertainment with the French localisation!
Hopefully we shall see some news soon from the other international partners of FFG, as Giochi Uniti, Galakta and Heidelberger Spieleverlag set the ball in motion on the translation front!
To finish, just a small reminder that there are only a couple of days to get an entry in for the Strange Eons Dragon Deck card competition. I've had quite a few sent in already, but you can never have too many to look over!
Talisman Comic News! 21st July 2012
Thanks to Nemo for letting me know (late last night!) about a webcomic that has put up an episode featuring "The Clergy of Talisman"!
Point your browser at the Trial and Error site to read the story behind it. You can also have a look at the other comics and cartoons they have for your delight!
Many thanks go to Johan Karlsson for giving me permission to feature it on Talisman Island, and I think it would be really cool if we could see Talisman feature some more in the future!
Strange Eons Competition News! 12th July 2012
Well, it's been a couple of months since the last update and in that time we have seen the general release of The Blood Moon from FFG and I have been able to arrange yet another competition for the site!
If you cast your mind back a while, you might remember a small competition to come up with effects for three pieces of art kindly shared by Felicia Cano for the Talisman plug-in for Strange Eons.
For the next stage of the tool, I added Dragon content, but the Dragon decks were slightly different and ended up as a new template, rather than part of the standard Adventure-type cards.
So, I asked a certain Jeremy McHugh, who is the artist behind the original 14 adventurers from the Talisman core set, and he kindly agreed that I might use his personal piece - Dragon Feeder - for the project!!
Anyway, if you want to have a go at creating the effects of the card, and have your name put into the next version of the Talisman plug-in, just send me a message with your card details and effects and I will see about judging them over the next few weeks.
There may even be a prize of a set of Talisman bonus cards, Doppleganger and Instructor for the entry that is chosen!!
I've already had this posted over at the FFG forums, so entries are coming in already, and I've decided to just give a couple of weeks for the competition, as there is only really one card to come up with. It shall finish at some point on the 26th July (my birthday), so get your entries in!
Lucky 13 Competition Winners! 11th May 2012
At long last! The judges (me) have deliberated, congitated and played Eeny Meeny Miny Mo, and the winners of the competition have been chosen!
Please make your way over to the Lucky 13 Competition page, where you can see all of the entrants, and perhaps you will see why it has taken me so long to decide on a winner!
Heartfelt thanks to all those who entered and I am sure there will be a random reason for a competition at some point in the near future!
Talisman: The Blood Moon News! 1st May 2012
A bit of a delay with this, but FFG has posted a couple of times about the The Blood Moon expansion in the last two weeks. Firstly to show off a couple of the characters from the expansion, and then with a copy of the rules for you to have a look over!
Nocturnal A preview of two characters from The Blood Moon expansion for Talisman
The expansion is still listed as "On the boat", but posting of the rules generally means it shouldn't be far off. In the mean time, a few canny types over at the FFG forums have been searching through the hi-res copy of the rules and finding out a few interesting tidbits! Horrible Black Void anyone?
An announcement will hopefully be made this weekend about the winners of the Lucky 13 competition, and I thank everyone for their patience whilst I have been musing over the entries in my spare time. There have been 32 entries and there are a lot of new ideas to consider, but I will be posting all of the expansions on the site for you to make your own minds up!
Talisman: The Blood Moon News! Friday 13th April 2012
Just a week after the last news about The Blood Moon expansion, another news piece gets posted, and on Friday the 13th of all nights!
This one concentrates on the Time card mechanic, which can make creatures stronger and certain Adventure cards behave differently, and Lunar Events which are a little bit more than standard ones!
I thought I might be able to make a final decision for the Lucky 13 Competition by tonight, which would have been cool timing, but sadly I feel I need to have another good look at all of the entries to find which will make a worthy winner!
Also, I cobbled together a board space overlay for the Temple today just for a bit of fun. If you have a look over at the FFG forums, you will see what mad thoughts go through my head as I am driving about the place!
Talisman: The Blood Moon News! 6th April 2012
The Blood Moon expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman gets another mention on the FFG website! This time around it covers the prowling Werewolf and the dangers of encountering this deadly NPC.
One of the Alternative Ending cards from the expansion is also shown, which might also mean a bloody end to your adventuring in the lands of Talisman!
Stalking His Prey The Blood Moon's Werewolf prowls the realm of Talisman
Next up will be a feature on the new Day and Night mechanic, which might make for an even deadlier game. You had better wish for a nice sunny day as you attempt to reach the Crown of Command!
Lucky 13 Competition Reminder! 29th March 2012
If you were thinking of entering a mini-expansion for the Lucky 13 Competition, to help celebrate 13 years of Talisman Island, then you'd better be quick!
The "Lucky 13" competition ends on Saturday at some point (probably when I go to bed!), so you still have a little time left to send in an expansion, using only 13 components as described somewhere down the page.
There have been a good number of entries, but we could always use more, so get those creative juices flowing and send something in! As it says, you might just land yourself a card signed by John Goodenough, even if you don't end up winning!
** UPDATE!! **
As I was rather remiss and forgot to update the news about the competition over on BGG and via Twitter etc, I am extending the deadline to the 9th of April, which gives you just over a week to get something together! Time to get busy!!
Relic News! 15th March 2012
Many thanks go to Sean Power who alerted me to a post over on the Dakka Dakka forums which tells us that some time yesterday, Fantasy Flight Games made an announcement about a new game at GAMA 2012!
Relic is "A Game of Heroic Struggle in the Warhammer 40,000 Universe for 2 to 4 Players" that uses the Talisman Game System.
Other quotes mentioned are "Out this Summer" and "Unpainted Busts", which probably means it should be a favourite for a Gen Con release and will use miniatures like those in Chaos in the Old World.
More news on this as it happens. In the mean time you can get some entries in for the Lucky 13 Competition!!!
Talisman: The Blood Moon News! 6th March 2012
Sorry for the lateness of this news, but whilst I have been back in the Dark Ages of technology (with no real internet access for a week!), FFG has announced the latest small expansion for Revised 4th Edition of Talisman in the "shape" of The Blood Moon expansion!!
It's chock full of deadliness, and with over 100 Adventure cards and the chance of being turned into a Lycanthrope, the game might just have got that little bit harder!
In other news, the competition entries are still coming in slowly, so if you haven't read the news post below perhaps now is the time to do so and make a mini-expansion!
Talisman Island is 13! 24th February 2012
They said it couldn't happen! They said it shouldn't happen! But it did happen! Talisman Island is now a teenager!!! Run away before the pouting begins!!!
As previously mentioned, I had a competition in mind for this momentous event and people have already been beavering away and sending entries in!
The "Lucky 13" competition is a chance for you to let your imagination run riot and come up with a micro-expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman, using only 13 components.
I have some prizes lined up, which will be your choice of either a copy of the Dragon expansion or a set of the two bonus cards - Doppelganger and Instructor! There are also some character cards and a game board signed by John Goodenough for cool spot prizes of some sort. That means that you might actually get something even if you don't win!
The guidelines for entries are pretty simple and are mainly about what qualifies as a component. Firstly, a rules sheet or card will count as ONE component even it is spans a few pages as you can always print it booklet-style on a larger sheet. Any character you decide to include MUST have a playing token with it, so that will count as TWO components. If multiple copies of cards are required they DO count towards the total, even if you only include one card in the package for printing. Artwork is not necessary, as entries will be taken on merit and not artistic ability - if a card is called Goblin with his head on fire, I am sure we can all imagine the scene.
The closing date will be some time during the 31st of March, so you have plenty of time to get something together, or even tweak an existing entry. I've set it quite far in advance as I have rather a busy time of it coming up and figured it would be better to give me (and you) a bit more time to get things sorted!
You need to get the entries to me either by email, file hosting service or some other way. Contact details are down the page somewhere, but email is probably the best way as I tend not to be too active on messengers these days.
Good luck and have fun!!
Talisman: The Dragon International News! 1st February 2012
Go, Go Giochi Uniti!! I have just been sent the boxart for the Italian publisher of Talisman's latest offering - Il Drago - which has got to be the coolest sounding translation of The Dragon yet!
I'll be posting some information about the Lucky 13 competition soon, as well as some updates for Strange Eons, but I have one or two things to get sorted out first.
I've had a couple of entries sent in for the competition already, which is encouraging. Hopefully a few more of you are pondering how to fit an expansion into just thirteen components. It will be good to see how people manage it!
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???
International Sacred Pool News! 27th March 2011
A nice bit of news for our friends in Poland tonight with a peek at the box art for Galakta's translation of The Sacred Pool which rounds off the latest news from the international partners of FFG!
Pani Jeziora brings Galakta's range of expansions for Talisman: Magia i Miecz up to date and will hopefully be available before too long, along with La Source Sacrée, Die Heilige Quelle and Lo Stagno Sacro!
International Sacred Pool News! 9th March 2011
The French translation of The Sacred Pool gets a nice bit of boxart from our friends over at Edge Entertainment!
In other news, I just had a nice surprise in the post from the talented Lasse Brøgger in the form of resin castings of the Ice Queen and Toad King miniatures!
These shall be getting the Steve Dean treatment very soon I hope, so that they can get on the table and wreak some havoc!
International Sacred Pool News! 4th March 2011
A nice bit of news today from Italy, where the people at Giochi Uniti have put a name to the Italian translation of The Sacred Pool.
Lo Stagno Sacro is the latest addition to their line of Talisman goodies, so now we can only hope to see some more news about La Source Sacrée and Pani Jeziora in the near future.
12th Anniversary News! 24th February 2011
Well, today marks the 12th year that Talisman Island has been around in one form or another! A pretty quiet day, but nice to reflect on what has been happening in the world of Talisman in that time!
As it happens the postman came bearing gifts (of my own purchasing!) in the form of the German version of the Highland, making my set of those complete. The shelving is now looking decidedly busy...
More over the weekend I hope, as there are still a couple of Sacred Pools to be shown off!
International Sacred Pool News! 22nd February 2011
It's all starting to move on the International scene with the various partners of FFG starting to give out information about the next expansions to be translated!
French partners, Edge Entertainment, updated their Talisman pages yesterday with an article describing the latest expansion from them - La Source Sacrée.
Heidelberger Spieleverlag, the German partners, have yet to update their site, but have kindly sent on a copy of the boxart for their offering - Die Heilige Quelle.
With a bit of luck, the people at Galakta and Giochi Uniti will have some news to share in the next couple of days too! It never ends!!
Strange Eons Runebound News! 20th February 2011
I've been doing a bit of work on a Strange Eons extension for FFG's Runebound and have released an early version for people to try out!
If you head on over to the FFG Runebound forum you can grab yourself a copy and learn a little more about it.
It just has Characters and Allies for now, but the next update should add a few more card types to the mix! Enjoy!!
La Regina di Ghiaccio News! 18th February 2011
A belated thank you goes out to the guys at Giochi Uniti for featuring Talisman Island in a recent news post!
The best bit about it was that they included a download of my Ice Queen NPC translated into Italian, which was a very nice touch.
They also kindly supplied me with a copy of the latest expansions, Le Lande Montuose and L’Avanzata dei Ghiacci for my groaning shelves! First class!!
Lack of News News! 13th February 2011
I am sorry that updates have been a little thin on the ground recently, but I've been a tad busy with that strange thing called "Real Life"!
I have some pages that I need to update first (Strange Eons, I'm looking at you...) and some oddments of images and files that I have found in various folders that might be of interest.
Above are the latest boxes that are gracing my shelves, and I will soon have the final Highland box so will be totally up to date, probably for a very short time! More soon!!!
Competition News! 20th December 2010
A bit of very late news to report today to mention that the new version of the Talisman plug in for Strange Eons is online (and has been for a few days!)
The winners have now all got a couple of cool cards in the post for their troubles, and you can see their creations within the tool!
I have yet to update the blurb on the download page, but will get to it (soon!), so in the mean time it just falls to me to congratulate Julian, Ara and Rob for their entries! I think it makes the tool just that little bit more 'polished' to be honest.
I will be running another competition in the New Year sometime, so you had better start thinking about Information cards and House Rules...
Genie's Workshop News! 16th December 2010
After sculpting the fabulous Toad King for use as a NPC in Talisman, Lasse Brøgger of Genie's Workshop has managed to make a great figure for use with the Ice Queen that I devised!
More on this later when hopefully I can show some more pictures of this little beauty after she has been cast in resin!
Edge Entertainment News! 15th December 2010
Edge Entertainment's French translation of the Highland expansion - Talisman: Les Hautes Terres, is now available for purchase over at their website!
My copy arrived in the post yesterday and will look great alongside Talisman: Magia i Miecz Góry, Le Lande Montuose and Das Hochland!!
Competition News! 6th December 2010
A quick update to let people know that I have chosen the three winners for the Strange Eons Competition and will be updating the plug in with them and uploading it to the site very soon.
I have informed the winners, so if you haven't heard from me then I am afraid you have been unlucky this time. Don't despair though, as there will be another competition in the not too distant future.
I will leave the entries that did not make it off the site though this time, as the authors may wish to release them in some form or other. There were a lot of cool entries, with some great effects, it's just a shame that there could be only one winner per section!
Thanks again for the entries, and stay tuned for the latest update to the Talisman plug in for Strange Eons. I hope you will like it!!
Competition News! 27th November 2010
Just a quick reminder for you to say that the Strange Eons competition closes tomorrow night at some point!
I've had quite a few entries, and have a couple in mind that I think would make rather cool cards, but it is not too late!! If you have an idea for the text to go with the images, then jot it down and send it on over to me.
Good luck!
Competition News! 16th November 2010
It's time for another competition on Talisman Island, as announced recently on the FFG forums! This will be the third competition I have run on the site and the Talisman plug in for Strange Eons is the subject in question!
I have been working on updating the plug in with the latest card templates from The Sacred Pool expansion and had the idea to ask Felicia Cano if she might give permission for me to add some of her fabulous artwork to the tool, rather than the 'borrowed' examples I have had in there before.
She very kindly agreed and gave me a selection to choose from and I settled on three images for use as Character, Ending and Adventure cards. Perun versus Veles is a stunning piece to use as an Ending, Ambush in the Woods works well as an Adventure card and the Spirit Dancer is just full of promise as a Character.
You can see the three examples, plus a whole host of other works over at Felicia's deviantART gallery. It's certainly worth a visit, even if you aren't going to enter the competition!
So, onto the competition requirements. Simply make some effects for the above three cards and send them to me by the 28th of November. I will take the best ideas and then use them in the new version of the plug in as examples for all to see! Oh, and you'll also score a pair of highly sought after Talisman promotional cards for your troubles!
Now that has to be worth a go! I look forward to seeing some of your creations! You can enter a couple of times if you wish to try some different angles for them, but if you make sure that you let me know whether your entries are additional ones or replacements. I am only human! Good luck!!
Talisman: The Sacred Pool News! 22nd October 2010
It's here! Fantasy Flight Games have just announced that the Sacred Pool expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman is finally on sale!!
Good, Neutral, Evil, Quest Rewards, Stables cards, new Spells, new Endings, new Adventure cards and new Characters!!
Come on Mister Postman... Let's be having you!! I want to get some Sacred Pool action going on!!
Edge Entertainment News! 19th October 2010
A bit of news from our friends across the channel at Edge Entertainment today! They've posted a feature about the French translation of the Highland expansion - Talisman: Les Hautes Terres.
More from the other international partners of FFG, and hopefully a bit more expansion news, as it happens!!
Talisman: The Sacred Pool News! 13th October 2010
At last! The boat that was carrying the Sacred Pool expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman has landed and now the games have been transferred onto trucks at FFG's warehouse!
Not only that, but FFG have now posted the rules for the expansion online for people to have a read through whilst waiting for them to arrive!
A Guide to Good and Evil The rules for The Sacred Pool, the upcoming Talisman expansion, are online!
I have to say that I do love those new Sentinels...
Talisman: The Sacred Pool Sneak Peek #12! 5th October 2010
Well, sadly I'm bringing you my final sneak peek today for the Sacred Pool expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman.
I would like to thank FFG for allowing me to host some of the superb artwork from the latest expansion, including some from fledgling Talisman artists! I think they have all been stunning and suit the mood of the game perfectly!
Dark Fey by Felicia Cano
As you can see, the last offering is from the very talented Felicia Cano who seems to have been working like a trojan! I can't wait for that boat to dock so that we can see the rest of the game!
Talisman: The Sacred Pool Sneak Peek #11! 2nd October 2010
Another sneak peek for you at one of the images found within the Sacred Pool expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman today!
Cathedral by Nicholas Stohlman
I have one more image to bring you which I will post a the beginning of next week. Let's just hope that the boat has nearly reached its destination so that we can see the expansion soon!!!
Talisman Art Database at DeviantART
Perhaps this next link is a little tenuous but Nemomon, our favourite Polish correspondent, has made somewhat of a Cathedral to the artwork of Talisman over at DeviantART!
This group collects all of the artwork for the game displayed by the various "Deviants" and puts then into one place where you can marvel at them and then go and visit the pages to see more art from those contributors. It's awesome!
The latest additions to the group are the original board illustrations for the Dungeon and the Highland expansions by Tim Arney-O’Neil. All good stuff!!!
Talisman: The Sacred Pool Sneak Peek #10! 28th September 2010
A rather quick and dirty update today for the Sacred Pool as I am having a break on a caravan site in the wilds of Norfolk!
You might say that these to images are "themed" within the expansion, but you will have to wait to see more about them when FFG say more or it is on sale! I hope you like them all the same!
Oathsworn Guide by Andrew Olson
Wrathborn Warrior by Felicia Cano
By the weekend I should have a more stable connection and will be able to bring you a couple more images to feast your eyes on!!
Talisman: The Sacred Pool Sneak Peek #9! 23rd September 2010
After yesterday's feature from FFG for the Sacred Pool I thought I would post a couple of images from artists that are reasonably new to the world of Talisman!
Theurgist of Light by Melissa Findley
Hate Monger by Tom Garden
Tomorrow I will be uploading another couple of images from more familiar artists, but they depict some cards that might prove to be a little... ummm... interesting!
Talisman: The Sacred Pool News! 22nd September 2010
More news from FFG today about one of the new characters and some information about the new Stables deck for the Sacred Pool expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman!
A Valiant Horseman A look at the Chivalric Knight and Stable Cards in Talisman: The Sacred Pool
Talisman: The Sacred Pool Sneak Peek #8! 21st September 2010
Today we have an new image to show you from the Sacred Pool expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman that might look a little daunting to would-be adventurers!
Ivory Sentinel by Thom Scott
You'll be (hopefully) pleased to know that I've got hold of a few more images for you to drool over whilst we wait for the boat to cross the endless oceans... Huzzah!!
Talisman: The Sacred Pool Sneak Peek #7! 19th September 2010
The boat comes ever nearer to port so that the people of the world might rejoice when they get their grubby mitts on a copy of the Sacred Pool expansion!
This time we have an image of a alluring young lady who likes to hang around in the depths of the nearest swamp... Mmmmmm!!! My kind of girl!
Swamp Siren by Felicia Cano
One more little sneaky peeky imagey to go and then I will have to revert to putting a little effort into my updates!!
Talisman: The Sacred Pool Sneak Peek #6! 15th September 2010
The Sacred Pool expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman is on a boat somewhere between the East and West of the globe, so it must be time for another peek at some artwork!
It's good to see that the new artwork and recent features on the FFG site are giving folks something to talk about on the forums and elsewhere. Let's hope that the waiting won't be too difficult for us all!!
Warlock's Apprentice by Christopher Burdett
I have a couple more images to show you soon, likely at the weekend, so come back soon and see what's to come!
Talisman: The Sacred Pool News! 10th September 2010
I thought I would show you a something from Game Trade Magazine that was sent to me earlier today!
This is the advert for the Sacred Pool expansion from the latest issue which shows a few more bits and pieces from the expansion! See if you can work out what they are!
Talisman:The Sacred Pool News! 8th September 2010
Another interesting article has been posted on the FFG website telling us about the new Quest Rewards and featuring a new character from the Sacred Pool expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman!
Talisman: The Sacred Pool Sneak Peek #5! 7th September 2010
Well, news from Tabletop Gaming News puts the release of the Sacred Pool expansion shipping at the end of the month and in anticipation I thought that I would show you another couple of images by way of celebration!
Ritual Master by Jake Masbruch
Pantheon by Nicholas Stohlman
I do hope that the date mentioned there is accurate as I want to get me some Good, Evil and Neutral on!
Talisman: The Sacred Pool Sneak Peek #4! 4th September 2010
To go with the trio of Angels from the last sneak peek for the Sacred Pool expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman we now have what could be described as the polar opposite!
Demon Lord by Ryan Barger
I would hope that this guy is not waiting for me down a darkened alley way any time soon!!
Talisman: The Sacred Pool Sneak Peek #3! 2nd September 2010
Another update for you today with an 'angelic' collection of artwork from the Sacred Pool expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman from the talented hand of Felicia Cano. One you may have seen before, but the others will be new to you.
Guardian Angel by Felicia Cano
Fallen Angel by Felicia Cano
Angel of Mercy by Felicia Cano
I'll be posting another image over the weekend too, so come and visit again soon!
Talisman: The Highland International News! 27th August 2010
It's been a while since there was any news from the international partners of FFG, but the next up for players will be the various incarnations of Talisman: The Highland expansion.
As you can see, the baton is still being carried by Galakta with Talisman: Magia i Miecz Góry, Edge Entertainment with Les Hautes Terres, Giochi Uniti with Le Lande Mountuose and Heidelberger Spieleverlag with Das Hochland.
Don't worry though as I will hopefully have some more sneak peeks of artwork featured in The Sacred Pool expansion very soon!
Talisman: The Sacred Pool Sneak Peek #2! 18th August 2010
Life is now back to normal with a week full of work and odd jobs about the house, so I thought it would be nice to keep a bit of the buzz surrounding the newest expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman going with a new piece of art for you to see.
Profane Relic by Julie Dillon
Let's hope that FFG doesn't keep us waiting too long for more news of The Sacred Pool. I can't wait to see what they have in store for us!
Gen Con Indy Update #4 & Talisman: The Sacred Pool Sneak Peek #1! 9th August 2010
It was a rather tiring day yesterday dragging my tired legs around the Exhibit Hall at Gen Con Indy for the last time. It was mostly spent catching up with people to say goodbye for another year, but I did manage to grab a quick lunch break with John Goodenough, which was rather pleasant.
As I have no photographs of any great importance to show you from the day I thought I would share a great piece of art from The Sacred Pool expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman to make your mouth water just that little bit more!
Firemane by Christopher Burdett
Funnily enough, I had been trying to find Chris during Gen Con and saw him in passing on Saturday night, but he was rather elusive the rest of the time. Then, whilst I was relaxing before leaving the hotel, who should turn up at reception but Chris! He had been staying in the same place as me all during the Con!! Typical!!
I have some more images to bring you in the run up to the release of The Sacred Pool expansion, but they will be a little spread out this time I think depending on how quickly more news surfaces from FFG!
Gen Con Indy Update #3! 6th August 2010
A quiet day for Talisman, but another Gen Con brings another starring role in a FFG video for a member of the New family! This time around it is yours truly in the Day Two video, lounging around during the FFG Flight Report!
I thought I should also show a picture of someone who has been working tirelessly all through Gen Con showing Talisman off to the masses. Mai Yang is an intern at FFG and I don't think there has been a time I have walked past the FFG booth where she hasn't been demoing the game and tempting more unsuspecting people over to the Dark Side!
Highlight of the day though was being invited out to dinner by John Goodenough where we were joined by Jakob Bonds and his brother, Gustav. In case you were unaware, Jakob Bonds is a co-designer of Drakborgen, which of course became DungeonQuest which has now been taken up by FFG, and both he and Gustav created Drakborgen Legenden!
We played a fun game of Magical Athlete in the hotel lobby afterwards, but unfortunately the day did not end too well for me as I completely failed to score any points at all in the game!
Gen Con Indy Update #2! 6th August 2010
Today was a little tricky when I got up as my legs didn't want to work! I still managed to drag myself to the FFG booth where I took this nice little picture of the back of the box for The Sacred Pool expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman.
Later this evening Katie and I played a game of vanilla Talisman in the FFG demo room and we were joined by a certain someone named John Goodenough!
The four lads that joined us were a real laugh and towards the end of the game (which lasted about three and a half hours!) our little band was getting very loud indeed! Nothing to do with me of course... Emily, the unfortunate demo team member assigned to us, was a star too but I think she may have been a tad overwhelmed to have the designer sitting in on the action!
The highlight for me was when Katie ended up getting double-Toaded by the Witch. She was naturally ridiculed (by me) and there was much rejoicing!
Gen Con Indy Update #1! 5th August 2010
Well, it's been a rather busy day today and my feet are killing me! This is of course due to traipsing the halls of the Indianapolis Convention Centre in search of people playing Talisman.
As you can see there were a few games underway, from the tables run by the Rogue Judges, FFG's main stand and demo room to a hardened group of local Talisman fans who were playing a mega-game this evening!
There was also a little something displayed on a shelf on the main FFG stand today, but we will have to see if there is more to show after the FFG Flight Report tomorrow.
Hopefully there will be more to report tomorrow (if my feet stop hurting!), but I am sure I can come up with something if it turns out to be a slow day!
Talisman: The Sacred Pool Sneak Peek #0! 4th August 2010
I am currently in the air at 30996 feet on my way to Newark to get a connecting flight to Indianapolis for Gen Con where hopefully there will be some news of The Sacred Pool expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman.
I thought it would be nice to bring you a little pre-Sneak of some of the artwork contained within the expansion, and I reckon the image below is a pretty good one to start with!!
Judgement Day by Felicia Cano
Hopefully I will have some nice pics to show from Gen Con like last year, and hopefully not too long after my return, I can start a series of previews for you all!!
Talisman Expansion News! 20th July 2010
News has finally surfaced on the FFG website about the latest in a long (and growing!) line of expansions for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman!
Talisman: The Sacred Pool will introduce new decks featuring equestrian followers and new rewards for completing quests!
New characters will be found to play with and new alternate endings too! You will even get the Neutral Alignment card that we have been waiting for!
I'm afraid my access to the Internet has been rather sporadic of late and mostly limited to emails, but I wanted to take the opportunity to mention a few of the things that have been going on in the last few weeks!
Talisman News
Talisman: The Highland expansion is now out and getting a lot of play around the World!
Królowa Lodu, the Polish language version of Talisman: The Frostmarch expansion has been released, along with the German version (Die Frostmark) and the French version (La Marche du Froid). Frost-tastic!
The Talisman Revised 4th Edition extension for Strange Eons had an update to incorporate the assets from Talisman: The Highland, and the Polish language plugin was updated. I must apologise though, as in changing some of the files I seem to have broken the other language versions! So if you are using those then do not update your main English plugin for now!
Runebound News
The rules for the Runebound: The Mists of Zanaga expansion have been uploaded to the FFG site!
More news about the reimagining of the classic "death to all who play" dungeon crawl, Dungeonquest, has been posted by FFG. One exciting feature is that the heroes from the game can be used in all other Terrinoth games!
Sadly I was unable to attend UK Games Expo 2010 in Birmingham at the beginning of the month, but Elliott and Emma had a great time demoing Talisman and I will be posting a gallery of pictures soon!
Nemomon, friend of Talisman Island and contributor to the Polish translations of Talisman will be at the Avangarda convention in Poland in July (22nd - 25th) where he will be hosting a Talisman: Magia i Miecz tournament and hopefully making a presentation about Królowa Lodu! More on that later!
Great news everyone!! Now only have FFG updated the status of The Highland expansion to Shipping Now, but they have also posted a PDF file of the rules to the Talisman Support Page!
Talisman: The Highland News! 6th May 2010
The Highland expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman must be close to release now (fingers crossed!) and FFG have published another preview feature, this time showing off the Valkyrie!
One thing to note from the feature is that they say that the release of the Highland is "drawing near"!!
Talisman: The Highland Bonus Sneak Peek! 1st May 2010
I thought I would just give you a nice little bonus sneak peek by showing you a low resolution image of the box back for The Highland expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman
You will be able to see the detail soon when the expansion is finally available, but I thought I might provoke a bit of discussion by revealing this!
That boat is getting closer and closer as we speak... Faster!!!
Talisman: The Highland Sneak Peek #5! 28th April 2010
Well, hopefully it won't be too long before we get some more news about when The Highland expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman is going to be available for purchase. Tabletop Gaming News reported that the word from FFG was that it would be in the first half of May!
It's good that is shouldn't be so far off, as sadly we have come to our final sneaky peek of artwork to show you. *sad face*
Cyclops by Felicia Cano
Roc by Eric Braddock
I'm really looking forward to getting hold of the expansion so I can stress test my dining table with two corner expansions on the go. Can you smell that Highland air yet...??
Talisman: The Highland News! 21st April 2010
Another week brings another preview for The Highland expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman on the Fantasy Flight Games website!
After showing us three of the new characters in recent weeks, they have now released details of Relics, which are great treasures that can be gained by defeating the Eagle King!
Next week brings the last set of spoiler images from the expansion on Talisman Island, but you never know what might be coming in the mean time!
Talisman: The Highland Sneak Peek #4! 14th April 2010
The Highland expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman has now had its status changed to "On The Boat", which means that it shouldn't be too long before we can get our sticky mitts on it!
Today we have a couple of great images from the expansion for you to see. I really like the view from the Gong of War!
Gong of War by Christopher Burdett
Treasure Hunter by Felicia Cano
Fingers crossed for calm seas, a tail wind and no pirates! Come on boat!!!
Talisman: The Highland News! 7th April 2010
Fantasy Flight Games have just put the third character preview online for The Highland expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman!
Now that we have seen 3 of the 6 characters, I hope next time we might get to see some of the perils we will have to face on our journeys through the Highlands...
There will be more images to see on Talisman Island next week, and I am sure FFG will be letting us see more of The Highland as time goes on!
Talisman: The Highland Sneak Peek #3! 31st March 2010
The countdown to the release of the The Highland expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman from FFG continues today with the posting of another two Sneaky Peek images.
If I was to say to you that two rather angry looking types were approaching you from behind, would you turn around and look, or would you run like heck?!
Stormwing by Brad Rigney
Mountain Dragon by Andrew Olson
I think I know what I would do!! More coming soon from both FFG and Talisman Island. Y'all come on back now!
Mephisto Magazine News! 29th March 2010
Some new images have been posted online of the Character cards and tokens that come with Mephisto Magazine #48!
If you have a look at the Mephisto Shop pages and then scroll down and click on Mephisto #48, there will be a red link titled "Weitere Bilder" where you can see for yourself!
Looking closer at them, there appears to be some vouchers for use against games from Heidelberger Spieleverlag at the RPC (Roleplay Convention) in Cologne next month. That's pretty cool if you can use them as it effectively pays for your copy of the magazine!!
Talisman Island: The Star News! 27th March 2010
I have a bit of silly news for you this weekend, to annouce that Talisman Island now has a star named after it!
Russ (the cuddly toy people) made a collection of plush toys that you can register and then allow you to "name" a star through the International Star Registry. Obviously this is not an official, scientifically recognised name, but you do get a certificate!
I chose a cute blue Dragon (naturally) and named him "Talisman". It seemed apt to choose a star in the constellation of Draco, and I was assigned the star at coordinates 17h 33m 28.21s 60 16' 43.70".
Talisman: Die Katakomben News! 25th March 2010
Just time for a very quick post today to say that my collection of Dungeons is now complete!
The German translation of Talisman: The Dungeon by Heidelberger Spieleverlag is just about pushing my shelves to the limit!
Talisman: The Highland News! 24th March 2010
Another Character from Talisman: The Highland expansion has been posted up on the FFG minisite this evening. The Vampiress is certainly going to be a force to be reckoned with and she has some awesome healing abilities, though her Followers might not agree!
Next week will see another preview of some card art here at Talisman Island. I've been looking through the remaining images and I have chosen a couple of rather nice ones for you!
...and the Post Office tells me that the copy of Talisman: Die Katakomben (German Dungeon!) that I bought is awaiting pick up. Hoorah!
Mephisto Magazine News! 23rd March 2010
If you cast you mind back a short while you will remember that Mephisto Magazine, a German language publication, produced a collection of 12 Characters for your favourite game.
News today on the Heidelberger Spieleverlag website mentions that in Issue #48 of the magazine, those characters will be released as "removable character cards".
If you click through the image below, you will be able to look through the Mephisto shop and see a larger version of the cover, which mentions the fact that Character Tokens will be included too. You can also preorder the issue there!!
You can also have a peek at a low resolution copy of the magazine before you decide to buy over at Scribd website. The characters are not featured in this however, as you can see on the Mephisto Shop page that they are included as "12 exclusive, pre-cut Talisman character cards, including game markers"!
Talisman: Il Dungeon News! 22nd March 2010
I think my postman must be getting a bit fed up of me, as yet another package arrived at my house today from those kindly folks at Nexus Games.
Il Dungeon is the long awaited Italian version of Talisman: The Dungeon expansion (if you hadn't worked it out!) and hopefully L'Avanzata dei Ghiacci will be along before the end of the year.
Of note is the news that after the release of the Italian translation of Talisman: The Frostmarch expansion, the Talisman line will be produced under the banner of Giochi Uniti.
Talisman: The Highland Sneak Peek #2! 17th March 2010
Another week and I think we can have another sneaky peek at a couple of images from The Highland expansion FFG's latest offering for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman.
Today we have some artwork from Jeremy McHugh, who was the artist responsible for the character artwork from the base Talisman game and Joe Wilson, whose art featured in the Frostmarch expansion.
Flight Potion by Jeremy McHugh
Thundercrest by Joe Wilson
Be sure to keep an eye on Talisman Island and the FFG website for up to date news as it happens!
Talisman: The Highland Sneak Peek #1! 11th March 2010
As mentioned yesterday, I can now start to show some images from FFG's latest expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman.
FFG have once again kindly given me exclusive access to some of the artwork from Talisman: The Highland and I am very grateful to them for allowing me to share these images with you.
I will be posting images over the next few weeks, some of which I requested specially as I thought the artwork was particularly stunning!
Simulacrum by Felicia Cano
Tumbling Boulder by Christopher Burdett
Keep an eye on Talisman Island for more sneak peeks of artwork, and make sure you stop by the FFG website for the latest news about Talisman: The Highland!
Talisman: The Highland News! 10th March 2010
FFG's latest feature about Talisman: The Highland expansion was put online today with a feature about the abilities of the Alchemist character, who is described as "an inventive, dedicated master of the arcane sciences who relentlessly pursues esoteric knowledge".
The sneaky look at his character card also reveals the expansion icon used for the Highland, being the head of an eagle.
All That Glitters... Check out a character from The Highland, an upcoming Talisman expansion
More previews are promised in the future from FFG and here at Talisman Island you should soon see previews of some of the art from the Highland expansion!
FFG Event Centre News! 6th March 2010
Well, it seems that Friday night is Talisman night! I've just been checking out the schedule for the new FFG Event Centre and Talisman is listed for play every Friday at 6pm!
If you check out the schedule you will see that they have two listing each Friday titled "Talisman - Come & Play" and "Talisman - Learn to Play ongoing sessions". I wish I lived nearer to FFG as I know where I would be on a Friday night!!
I am hoping that they will make a big event for Talisman, like they have done for the LCGs and Terrinoth games! That might just tip me over the edge of making the journey to Minnesota! (Though a free plane ticket might be nice!)
Talisman: Le Donjon News! 26th February 2010
Another package came to rest at my house this morning from those very kind people at Edge Entertainment.
Le Donjon is the French version of the Dungeon expansion and is the latest of the four versions from international partners of Fantasy Flight Games to be released.
Next on the agenda from Edge Entertainment will be the translated version of the Frostmarch, La Marche du Froid!
Talisman: Magia i Miecz - Podziemia News! 19th February 2010
The postman came knocking today and handed me package sent to me from Poland by my good friend, Nemomon!
In this package was a copy of the latest Polish language expansion for Talisman: Magia i Miecz from Galakta. For those that do not know, and the picture below still does not give you a rather large hint, Podziemia is the translated version of the Dungeon expansion.
Let's hope it not too long before it can be joined by the Polish language version of Talisman: The Frostmarch Expansion which will be known in Poland as Królowa Lodu.
Talisman: The Highland News! 12th February 2010
Well, the speculation is now at an end! Fantasy Flight Games have announced the next expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman and it is.... The Highland!
As you can see from the box art below, there are 6 new characters to play, and what looks like a rather large bird problem for you to overcome!
More news should be forthcoming in the lead up to the release of Talisman: The Highland in the Spring, so stay tuned!
Totally Trivial Talisman! 10th February 2010
Visitors to the website of Talisman creator, Bob Harris, will have seen his article on the history behind your favourite fantasy game.
At the end of Bob's description of the happenings at Games Day in 1983, he remarks -
"On this same day Games Workshop launched another game, one based on insurance whose major (perhaps only) selling point was that it was designed by millionaire composer Andrew Lloyd Webber. I can't remember what it was called, and I don't suppose you can either."
Well, to be honest it wouldn't take a lot of looking up, given the ease which Google sucks knowledge from within our heads, but I thought you might be interested to know that the game in question was called - Calamity!
I was only reminded of this today when I popped into a charity shop and found it sitting on the shelf for the princely sum of £1! I thought I would pick it up as it forms an interesting part of Talisman's history, however tenuous it might be!
Retro-mancer News! 28th January 2010
Bob Harris sent along an image that had been sent to him by none other than a certain Ian Livingstone (OBE!) from a time when colour photography was in its infancy! Well, perhaps a little after that...
It features a playtest of Necromancer, the original title given to Talisman, during his first visit with Games Workshop back in the mists of time.
Clockwise from the top we have Bob Harris (sans beard), Albie Fiore, Ian Livingstone (OBE!) and Bob McWilliams. History is about to be made...
Nexus Games News! 25th January 2010
I was given a nice little snippet of information by Nexus Games today about the next expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman that will be coming from them.
L’Avanzata dei Ghiacci is the Italian translation of FFG's The Frostmarch expansion, and will join Galakta's Królowa Lodu, Edge Entertainment's La Marche du Froid and Pegasus/Heidelberger's Die Frostmark.
My shelves are starting to look very small indeed...
Strange Eons News! 24th January 2010
Well, at long last I have finally released the latest update for the Strange Eons extension for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman. It includes a number of additional card types, including a new style Token, Information & Rules cards and ENDINGS!!
The extension is available from my SE extension page here, and you can get a copy of the latest versions of Strange Eons at its home website.
You will notice that there are also translated versions of the extension on the pages, so thanks to all of the translators, but don't forget you will need a copy of the English version installed or you will not have all of the necessary images or fonts!!
More Talisman Character News! 12th January 2010
"Grima" sent me an email today to let me know about the new edition of DM Magazine. It is an Italian fanzine which is available online and it is possible to have hard copies of it printed and posted to you!
Issue #24 contains some fan made cards which are upgrades of some 2nd Edition characters to the Revised 4th Edition format made by Gianmatteo Tonci. They are in Italian, but should easily be remade using the original English language cards.
You can download a PDF of the issue here, or you can get yourself a hard copy of it via the Lulu website.
You will have noticed that they use art from Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures and I will making a list of those soon!
Some additional news!!! I've just noticed there is even more Talisman content in previous issues of the magazine. Issue #8 has an interview with Bob Harris and a feature on Talisman, Issue #20 has 9 2nd Edition characters converted to 3rd Edition format and Issue #21 has another 8 2nd Edition to 3rd Edition characters!!
Talisman Character News! 10th January 2010
I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays and the festivities around New Year! Let's hope for a year full of Talisman goodness!!
So far it has not been so bad, with Mephisto, a German language publication, making 12 new Characters for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman available via their magazine! This news is somewhat late as the issues started way back in July!!!
These three issues feature 4 Characters each, separated into the three Alignments. I am sure it won't be long before some industrious soul translates them so people can experience them.
More news as it comes... so stay tuned!! ;o)
Mythgardia Expansion News! 23rd November 2009
I've finally got around to posting some pictures of the new Mythgardia Expansion Set (Troll Included) which you can read up about over at the Mythgardia web site where there is also news of a special price for the original game!
The handy plastic box with special wrapper!
The contents, including new Sea Legends and Advantage cards!
J'Cabe ate my vulture!
As you can see, early adopters of the expansion were sent a special badge, which shows just how dastardly J'Cabe can be!
I can't wait to give these new cards and characters a go. When I can manage to get a game on I will post some more pictures. Igigwe!
Talisman FAQ News! 19th November 2009
I'm a little late with this news, but if you get yourself over to the Talisman Support Page you will find that Fantasy Flight Games has finally posted a FAQ for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman!
The document covers a range of questions from Talisman, including the Reaper and Dungeon expansions. It stands at v1.0, so it should be updated with questions from the Frostmarch expansion next.
I also got my copy of the Mythgardia Expansion Set (Troll Included) in the post today, so I will post some pics of that later on.
FFG Web Content News! 4th November 2009
Great news today as FFG released the first web content for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman, in the shape of a couple of Alternative Endings to complement those supplied with The Frostmarch expansion!
You can find PDF files with the two endings, as well as a back to go with them, on the Talisman Support Page!
In other news, the posting of the web content means that I can finally bring you a little something I created a while ago, which was brought to life when I saw Ralph Horsley's fantastic depiction of the Ice Queen for the cover of The Frostmarch.
The Ice Queen acts in a similar manner to the Reaper NPC, but she reacts whenever a character encounters a card from her realm! There is no rolling to see if she might be visiting you. If you mess with her minions, she will come and find you!! I hope you like her.
She can be found, along with a rules card explaining a bit more about her, in a 5495KB zip file here!
Mythgardia News! 3rd November 2009
I have some news from Team Mythdardia, to clarify the comment made in their latest news email about the Mythgardia Expansion Set!
You can now purchase the brand new expansion - "Mythgardia Expansion Set (Troll Included)" - from the Mythgardia Shop!
There are no pics up on the MG site the moment, but that will be resolved very shortly. The information to hand is that the expansion comprises 9 new characters, 15 new Legend cards, 15 Legends of the Sea and 20 Advantage cards. It all comes in a plastic box which fits inside your Mythgardia box and holds all of the cards for the game.
With adventures now to be encountered at sea and Advantage Cards to expand your Characters and enrich your game play, the Expansion Set takes Mythgardia to a dizzying new level.
More soon!!
Loadsa News! 29th October 2009
News overload today (well, sort of...) with the latest expansion for FFG's Revised 4th Edition of Talisman - The Frostmarch - being on general release to a bit of news about Mythgardia!
You can also have a sneaky peek at the rules for The Frostmarch over at FFG's Talisman Support page.
The latest email from "Team Mythgardia" had details of a new character for use with your copy of Mythgardia. Buffo the Braggart is available for download along with some other freebies on the Extras page!
There was also a mention that the Mythgardia Expansion Set is almost here!
Talisman: The Frostmarch Sneak Peek #4! 27th October 2009
What with The Frostmarch now being shipped to stores I figured it was a pretty good time to show you the final two sneaky peeks of artwork from the expansion!
These images depict a new Enemy who dishes out a chilling penalty should you lose against him, and a Spell that gives awesome power to the one who casts it!
Cryomancer by Ryan Barger
Obliterate by Ryan Barger
The latest article from FFG was posted late last week, but I was busy helping to run Talisman at GamesFest 4, which will get a bit of coverage later in the week. This time FFG focus on the new Alternative Endings which are included with The Frostmarch.
Heroes Of All Sizes The first preview for The Frostmarch, the upcoming expansion for Talisman
The Icy Touch FFG is proud to announce Talisman: The Frostmarch!
GamesFest 4 News! 22nd October 2009
Well, I am not sure how but it seems I have been roped into helping out with running games of Talisman at GamesFest 4 this weekend in Watford!
Elliott rang me up the other day and asked if I might be interested in attending, and after having such a blast recently at Gen Con Indy, and previously at various UK conventions I thought it would be a cool idea. So, if you are attending, or thinking about it, be sure to stop by wherever Talisman is taking place and say hello! ...and bring cake!!!
For more details about GamesFest 4, check out the official website.
Talisman: The Frostmarch Sneak Peek #3! 20th October 2009
Another week passes by and another artwork update is here for you muse over whilst we wait for the release of the Frostmarch expansion!
Today's images are of two of the bad guys from the deck. If they don't send a shiver down your spine then you are a brave adventurer indeed!
Shiver Nymph by Felicia Cano
Ice Elemental by Ryan Barger
There was another featurette posted over at the FFG website last week, showing off some of the new Warlock Quest cards and a few Adventure cards, as well as the new Warlock character. This week will bring some news on the Alternate Ending cards!
Heroes Of All Sizes The first preview for The Frostmarch, the upcoming expansion for Talisman
The Icy Touch FFG is proud to announce Talisman: The Frostmarch!
Talisman: The Frostmarch Sneak Peek #2! 13th October 2009
The Revised 4th Edition of Talisman will have its third expansion before long in the shape of The Frostmarch! I have a couple more images to show off to you from Fantasy Flight Games that I think you might be happy with for the time being.
Today we have a terrifying creature that you may have seen before on the FFG site, along with my favourite piece of artwork so far from the new version of Talisman.
Chillbane by Ryan Barger
Bag Of Carrying by Raya Golden
Remember to check back next week for some more artwork from the Frostmarch, and don't forget to visit the FFG website for the latest news, straight from the horse's mouth!
Talisman: The Frostmarch News! 8th October 2009
Fantasy Flight Games have posted the first preview of the Frostmarch expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman!
The feature concentrates on two of the characters from the expansion that have been hinted at before. If you cast your mind back to the 20 Questions Interview with Talisman Guru, John Goodenough, you may recall he mentioned that -
"One interesting thing to note about the miniatures is that it will feature the largest and smallest character in the game."
The next feature will be a preview of the Warlock Quests from the expansion, as well as a few of the new Adventure cards.
Heroes Of All Sizes The first preview for The Frostmarch, the upcoming expansion for Talisman
The Icy Touch FFG is proud to announce Talisman: The Frostmarch!
You might also want to stop by Talisman Island next week for some more sneak peeks of artwork from the Frostmarch expansion!
AGC Podcast News! 7th October 2009
Chris Heim and Logan Masterson from the All Games Considered podcast have sneaked out another instalment in the "Talismania Revised" series, this time concentrating on the Reaper expansion.
The feature is in the second half of the 25 minute podcast, AGCExtra 33 which is available at the AGC site.
Part Three of Talismania Revised (-ised -ised -ised -ised!), featuring talk and opinion about the Dungeon expansion will be out next!
Talisman: The Frostmarch Sneak Peek #1! 6th October 2009
Well, the time has come another sneaky look at some of the artwork that features in the newest expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman.
FFG have been kind enough to supply me with some images taken from the Adventure and Spell cards from The Frostmarch expansion, which I will be showing over the next couple of weeks.
Astrolabe by Frank Walls
Marked For Glory by Ryan Barger
There will be some more artwork to see next week, and hopefully some more fan expansions for you to add to your game! Come back soon!
Mythgardia News! 17th September 2009
I have a couple of images and snippets of news that fans of the latest offering from the Bob Harris stable, Mythgardia, might be interested in.
Firstly, Mythgardia is now available for a lower cost of £37.95 plus shipping. It seems that the game will now be printed in batches of 50 games, so if you've been deliberating over getting hold of a copy of the game, head on over to the Mythgardia website and take the plunge!
Some new extras have been added to the site to help with your gaming experience, including some printable score sheets and some new optional rules from the man himself!
The picture above is an interesting shot of the prototype version of Mythgardia which was made using images taken from various sources just for play purposes. I wonder if people can see any differences with the final version?
Bob presided over demonstration games of Mythgardia last weekend up at Asylum Books and Games in Aberdeen. It looks like it went down rather well! If only it hadn't have been a bit of a trek I might have made it up there... Maybe next time.
Bob has also sent me images of the above sketches to muse over. What do you think it all means?
Frostmarch News! 3rd September 2009
FFG have just posted some news about the latest expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman - The Frostmarch - on the news page. The article includes a peek at the Chillbane, which looks to be a formidable foe! There is also another shot of the box with Ralph Horsley's awesome artwork on the cover.
I thought I would add to the excitement a little by posting a couple of pictures that I took at Gen Con of some cards that have somewhat of a theme. That theme being Warlocks!!
The expansion includes a rather impressive stack of small cards, with 84 Adventure cards, 20 Spells and 24 new Warlock Quests!
One of the four characters included with The Frostmarch is the Warlock himself! Perhaps he fancied stretching his legs after all those years in his cave? I suspect he must have an assistant who hands out the Talismans whilst he is adventuring through the lands of Talisman!
There are 3 Alternative Endings, which replace the standard Crown of Command goal with a number of varied challenges, included in the expansion. The Warlock is the subject of one of these cards and offers a new way to win the game by being the first player to complete at least 4 Warlock Quests and then hightailing it to the centre of the board!
Hopefully there will be some more news posted by FFG about the expansion before too long! I'm really looking forward to the release of The Frostmarch!
"All Games Considered" News! 1st September 2009
I had a bit of a random Google search today and came across something rather cool! The people from the All Games Considered podcast have made a rather nice review of Talisman with a little blurb about The Frostmarch expansion.
So, get yourself off to the site and have a listen to AGCExtra 31 - Talismania Revised Part One. It's 28 minutes of Talisman talk from people who obviously love the game! I look forward to Part Two!
Be sure to pop back to Talisman Island in the next few days as I have a few pics you might be interested in seeing.
Edge News #2! 31st August 2009
Edge Entertainment have put a couple of image files on the support pages of the Talisman site so people can print them out and put them over the Runes and Ruins that were wrongly printed in the initial release.
Once again it would should be nice and easy for people to print them out on sticker paper and then apply them to the board. The files are only at 100dpi, but they should be okay to use. Perhaps Edge might upload some higher quality images at some point in the future.
Edge News #1! 30th August 2009
I got a nice surprise in the post from Edge Entertainment earlier this week! They very generously sent me a copy of the newly available translation of The Reaper expansion, La Faucheuse.
Le Donjon should be following later in the year, presumably with The Frostmarch tagging along at some point later. It's all looking good for French language players. Whilst you are waiting though you'd better keep an eye out for this guy...
Nexus Games, the Italian distributor of the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman, has put some PDF files of three cards that had errors from the initial printing of the game.
If you print the cards out on sticker sheets you should be able to put them over the original cards and it shouldn't really be noticable, just like my method of creating home-brewed cards!
Well, I don't know about you, but I'm really tired! But I would do it all again! I have some pics to post in the coming days from GenCon, but I haven't decided how to do it as yet.
In the mean time, it would seem that John Goodenough has kindly posted some nice images of the box front and back art from The Frostmarch over at BoardGameGeek for everyone to enjoy.
Pre-Flight Checks! 17th August 2009
Just a very quick post before I spend the next 24 hours travelling in two taxis, two planes and a car!
Koplow Dice were at GenCon and they had a huge amount of dice featuring alternate 1s or 6s. I couldn't help but smile when I saw these little fellows and they will certainly be getting some use in my games when hapless characters decide to mess with the wrong witch! They should also get a bit more use when the Frostmarch shows up!
I'll be posting some more from GenCon when I finally get home and can rest! Have a nice day!
GenCon Update #4! 16th August 2009
Well, that's that. I am very sad to say that my first GenCon is now over and I have officially got the bug! It was also really cool to meet up with some of the people behind the scenes at Fantasy Flight Games and to meet some of the people that were playing a demo game and especially John and Jeremy who were ultra nice!
Everyone seemed to be really pleased with the Frostmarch announcement and that FFG is doing so much, so quickly for the game. I met up with Talisman players old and new and it was great to see so many people enjoying themselves.
I have a couple of pictures that I will be posting in the next couple of days, probably after I get home, that I think you might find them interesting. So, just to recap - Release later this year, $24.95, awesome!
GenCon Update #3! 15th August 2009
A small update today as it turned out to be a rather busy day again. I had to go an investigate reports that my children had been eaten by werewolves in a small village. As it transpired they had actually been killed by some angry villagers instead, so that was okay...
I was honoured to be asked by John Goodenough to sit in on his "Play Talisman with the Designer" Event. It was cool to meet some of the more harcore Talisman fans, and as an added bonus, we got to play with Ryan Barger (front right) who is responsible for some of the fantastic art in the latest series of expansions! I don't know who the shady character at the back right is though...
Just as an aside, I was very surprised to see my kids on an official Fantasy Flight video!! I was looking through the footage from Thursday and noticed them wandering across the shot! You can only see the top of Katie's head, but Dominic is in plain view! Gotcha!!
GenCon Update #2! 14th August 2009
Well, if you noticed my Twitter feed earlier today you will be aware that FFG announced the latest expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman at the Flight Report this afternoon at GenCon!
The Frostmarch expansion will be released this Autumn, and will feature 4 new characters, 84 Adventure cards, 20 Spells, 24 (!) Warlock Quests and 3 Alternative Endings!!!
I'll post a bit more information tomorrow, but I am sure you will be able to glean a lot from the pictures I am adding below. I have reduced the size for the front page, but will add a GenCon gallery at some point soon! Enjoy!!
GenCon Update #1! 13th August 2009
Well, what an interesting day! I managed to wander about Gencon today and meet a couple of people from FFG and have bought a bit of this and that. I was quite pleased to see that Talisman had a bit of a presence in the halls, and not just the latest edition! I will be posting a slide show or gallery for all of the pics that I take at GenCon, but for now I shall post a couple of bits as I get them.
Firstly you can see the pile of goodies at the FFG booths, including both expansions. Then there is FFG's demo table for Talisman, with the fancy covering! The last two pics are from Game Base 7, who had the reprinted version of Talisman 3rd Edition, and Rogue Judges, who were fielding a couple of 4th Edition copies with Upgrade sets and the Reaper expansion for play.
In this picture you have the Talisman Guru himself, John Goodenough, showing off the latest edition of the game at the demo tables. Fingers crossed we will be able to get a game on over the weekend.
I'll be on the lookout for more Talisman related things tomorrow. I have already spotted some interesting minis from other manufacturers that might make for interesting characters.
Pre-GenCon Update! 12th August 2009
This is just a very quick update from my hotel room to recap on a few items of news that surfaced in the last couple of weeks. Firstly, a large outpouring of horror was experienced last week when the owner of a certain Talisman fan site was interviewed for the FFG website.
I am truly sorry if anyone has been emotionally scarred by the grisly visage that greeted you on that page, but I think it will be as nothing compared to the horrors that await the poor people of GenCon this week! Secondly, FFG's new line of card sleeves were put on sale and I actually managed to get hold of a set whilst we stayed in New York last week. I will be making a feature of these and Mayday's new sleeves towards the end of the month, but you can see from the picture below that these are a much better option than the mini Euro sized sleeves that were the only choice before.
I have been rather remiss and not posted my "review" of Mythgardia as yet, and it may seem a bit daft as the first printing sold out very quickly and I presume the second limited printing will be much sought after. I still think it will be worth a word or too, and I might come up with a couple of ideas for the game. In the mean time, the latest update to the Mythgardia site was a fun little Q & A session with Bob about how Mythgardia and Talisman may (or may not) be related!
The Talisman extension for Strange Eons will be getting an update soon with a couple of new features, including the ability to change the type of base used in Character cards. There may even be a little something extra for your Talisman game, but we shall have to see if I can get it finished soon enough.
That will do for tonight. Early to bed and up for a free breakfast tomorrow! If you see me at GenCon, please feel free to say hello, though if I run away screaming it probably wasn't me...
FFG News! 15th July 2009
Fantasy Flight Games have just announced that they will have a new range of plastic card sleeves in various sizes available in the Summer! The sleeves are being marketed under the banner of Fantasy Flight Supply and you can read all about them on the FFG website.
The sleeves recently produced by Mayday Games are Mini Euro size and are slightly too large for cards from the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman, but the Mini American sleeves are just the job!
Yes, I know the card is from Arkham Horror, but they are the same size as Talisman cards!
In addition to the Mini American sleeves (41x63mm), the range will include Mini European (44x68mm), Standard American (56x87mm), Standard European (59x92mm) and Standard Card Game (63.5x88mm). There will even be some limited edition standard sleeves featuring art from some of FFG's games, though sadly not for Talisman. But who knows...??
In other news, I have now got my hands on a copy of Bob Harris' Mythgardia, and will be trying to get some more images and some of my thoughts online this weekend. First impressions are rather good, I must say!
I'm also planning a bit of a feature about "Towers in Talisman", but I am still a way off that.
Mythgardia News! 29th June 2009
At last Mythgardia, Bob Harris’ long awaited sequel to legendary game Talisman, is available to buy. It’s a colourful and exciting game for 2-6 players, as well as being an exclusive collector’s item.
Originally scheduled to be published by Games Workshop some years back as the official follow up to Talisman, time slipped by and the rights to the game eventually reverted to the designer.
Now Bob has taken the exciting step of launching the game himself in a lavish full colour first edition limited to only 100 copies, each numbered and signed with a certificate of authenticity. The artwork is by Debby Harris, graphic design by Kirsty Nicol, and technical support by Mark Nicol.
Mythgardia - The Game of Heroic Adventure is available exclusively from:
A few bits and pieces of news today from the site and beyond. Firstly there have been three sets of pages added to the Features section which will pass a bit of time this weekend.
Firstly, the final part of John Goodenough's 20 Questions article has been posted and even features a special bonus question!
Steve Dean managed to finish up the rest of my miniatures and I have posted a couple of gallery pages so you can see the great job he has made of them. They arrived back this morning and believe me, if you think the pictures are great, you should see the minis!
I've posted the extensions I have been working on for creating Talisman cards with Strange Eons. You can now make cards for all editions of the game with ease.
As it happens, Chris Jennings has updated Strange Eons today to 2.00.8, so you can go and grab that from his website so you are fully up to date.
In other news, eagle-eyed users of BoardGameGeek might have noticed the addition of a new game this week that should appeal to fans of Talisman. So get yourself off to BGG and find out more about Mythgardia. When I am in a position to post more, I shall...
Site News! 12th June 2009
Hopefully I will be able to update the site with a few files this weekend, but to start with I have posted the first half of the feature promised after the interview with John Goodenough.
Ten questions and answers are up for your perusal here, and hopefully the remaining questions will be done within the next few weeks.
There are some interesting little tidbits of information about the next expansion and future plans amongst the answers thus far, as well as a bit of insight into what actually goes on in the mind of a game designer!
* Update *
Some more things have been put on the site this past couple of days, namely Van Overbay's great overlays for you upgraders from BI's 4th Edition and a couple of painted minis in the gallery.
I am nearly done with version 1 of the extensions for Strange Eons, but not quite... they just need a polish though I think. In the mean time you could get yourself over to the Strange Eons website and score an up to date version of the fantastic creation tool in readiness. Make sure you get hold of the latest version (2.00.5), along with the original Talisman extension and the UI Grid Library from the plug-ins page!
In other news, Tim Street's unofficial conversion of Talisman to a PC platform has reached version 9 with the addition of 6 characters, some more monsters and a range of fixes.
I've also been working on a little expansion idea I had last week... Teaser below and more later...
Oh, and as if I could forget! I am working on making a gallery to display my own minis that are currently being painted by the very talented Steve Dean. It'll be a bit graphics heavy obviously, but it'll certainly be worth having a look!
Strange Eons News! 26th May 2009
Well, after much tweaking and a huge amount of work by Chris Jennings, the Talisman extension for use with Strange Eons (the fabulous custom component design tool for Arkham Horror) is now updated and ready for download.
The latest version of SE is 2.002 and is available on the main page (there is a patch from 2.00 or 2.00.1 if you have those already) and the latest version of the extension is 3.2 and is available from the plug-ins page.
It works really well and can produce most cards for Talisman and it is possible to adjust it to your tastes (with a bit of work) so you can add new card types and the like. You would do well to download and study the plug-in authoring kit before you rush at it like I was doing! It really makes sense to RTFM!
I plan on making a "how to" article for Talisman Island and will be posting a few alternative plugins with a few different options in time.
Using the tool is pretty straightforward, certainly more so than using expensive graphic apps, so give it a try! There are a huge range of features in the base program, including the ability to organise your individual creations into a page for printing and much more. In fact, I don't even know what half of the stuff does!
Sorry for the size of the image that follows, but I wanted to give an example of what can be made with Strange Eons. It's AWESOME!!!
Talisman Euro News! 11th May 2009
I have to say a very big thankyou to Birger Kraemer and Christian Stenner from Pegasus Spiele for very kindly sending me a copy of the German translation of the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman this week.
Pegasus Spiele along with Heidelberger Spieleverlag are responsible for the production of Talisman in Germany and the good news is that it should not be long before German speakers will be able to play along with the Reaper expansion! If everything goes to plan then Talisman: Der Schnitter should be available by the end of July with the second expansion available at Spiel 09 in Essen later this year!
In addition to Der Schnitter from Pegasus Spiele & Heidelberger Spieleverlag, this year will see the release of yet more translations of The Reaper expansion by other international partners of FFG. La Faucheuse will come from Edge Entertainment for French players, Nexus Editrice from Italy will be releasing Il Mietitore and Polish speakers will be able to purchase Żniwiarz from Galakta.
I think I'm going to need some bigger shelves...
If you want to find out more about the international versions of Talisman there are a number of forums available from the various manufacturers as well as the main forums at FFG.
Talisman: The Dungeon News! 21st April 2009
It's available!! Check out the product page over at Fantasy Flight Games to see details of how you can get hold of a copy of the latest expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman!
The Dungeon features a new board and a whole lot of hurt for your characters, though it can be a shortcut to the Crown of Command and is home to new Treasures and many new dangers.
To find out more check out the previous articles published on the FFG site -
The Path Ahead The first glimpse of Talisman: The Dungeon
Digging Deeper The second preview of the upcoming Talisman: The Dungeon
What Lies Beneath... The next look at the upcoming Talisman: The Dungeon expansion
It's been a good week for Talisman with the news from FFG's Upcoming Products pages showing the expansion release date as April and the rules being posted online.
I thought would be nice to share a little bit of my happiness with you by showing you what now adorns my living room walls.
Talisman Geek Heaven... !!
Dungeon Sneak Peeks! 10th April 2009
The latest snippet from the saga of the brave dungeon explorers has been posted over at the FFG site in this run up to the release of the latest expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman, where you can see new foes and meet one of the adventurers!
This weekend we have another few images to show you here at Talisman Island. The flambouyant Swashbuckler who is skilled in battle and no stranger to the goings on in the Tavern. Who will be waiting around the corner through the darkness of the Tunnel in the Cavern? If he can defeat the Gatekeeper, should he flee the Dungeon to the relative safety above the ground or should he battle on to the end?
It's not far off now! The challenges of the Dungeon will be here soon enough! I can't wait!
Dungeon Sneak Peeks! 3rd April 2009
Yet another instalment of the journal written by the brave adventurers who have risked entering the Dungeon has been posted over at the FFG minisite for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman that sees them encountering the evil Lord of Darkness!
What Lies Beneath... The next look at the upcoming Talisman: The Dungeon expansion
Here we have a few more images to show you - firstly a little teaser image of an ordinary corridor from the board, but what lies beyond that doorway? Could it be the fearsome Bronze Dragon? Could it contain something that might require the use of this little magical offering?
Freeze by Ryan Barger
As the article says, there will be more to look at next week and in the mean time there will be a couple of updates hopefully to Talisman Island, including the addition of a nice piece of fan fiction based on the lands of Talisman. Check back soon!
Competition News! 2nd April 2009
Finally! Sorry for the small delay, but I have now sorted out the entries and pages for the 10th Anniversary Competition! Better late than never!
I am pleased to announce Charlie Bright as the winner of the competition with his Knight of Day and have presented the winning entry along with the 19 runners up on the competition page for you to see and try out!
It was great to have so many entries and they were all very good but I think Charlie just edged it with his mix of abilities and the story to go with the character.
Thanks to all that entered and if I can think of a suitable subject I will try to run another competition in the not too distant future!
Talisman: The Dungeon News! 27th March 2009
Another week and another update to the FFG minisite for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman with the continuing tales of the band of adventurers who are descending into the Dungeon!
Digging Deeper The second preview of the upcoming Talisman: The Dungeon
Again, we have a few images to show you from the upcoming expansion. A space where you can discover arcane secrets or merely quench your thirst for knowledge, an Enemy card who would like to see you fail in your quest and some great artwork from an Event that can help clear away some of the nastier inhabitants of the Dungeon, but could also scare off some helpful ones!
Fire by Raymond Gaustadnes
The FFG Talisman site will have more to come and there will be more for you to see here, so come back soon!
Hopefully I will have some news shortly of the anniversary competition, some cardbacks for use with the Revised 4th Edition and a tale from the lands of Talisman. I will get to it all, but time has not been my ally of late so apologies for any delays!
Talisman: The Dungeon News! 20th March 2009
FFG have updated the minisite pages for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman with the first glimpse into the corridors of the Dungeon Realm!
The Path Ahead The first glimpse of Talisman: The Dungeon
They have kindly supplied me with some more images from the expansion that I can present to you, showing off more artwork and a handful of the spaces you can expect to find in the darkness of The Dungeon!
First up we have the Torture Chamber, where you will end up paying one way or another for disturbing the dastardly deeds of the Torturer.
Then we have a couple of images taken from cards in the expansion, a Spell for the spell slingers to use and a new Spirit Enemy for you to run away from!
Craft by Raya Golden
Blight Haunt by Federico Piatti
Keep checking back here and at the FFG Talisman site for more news about Talisman: The Dungeon expansion in the coming weeks!
In other news, there has been a fantastic number of entries for the anniversary competition I was running and I will be announcing the winner of that in the next week. I just have to work out a way to present all of the entries without making a huge browser load, possibly in some form of gallery. There were many cool ideas for the Sun Knight and the entry I'm leaning towards introduces quite a funky mechanic which is allied to the backstory that accompanies him. More later...
Dorian Hawkins has been hard at work creating a couple of large expansions for the game that are now available for download in the Expansions Section of the site.
JC Hendee's "In The Balance" expansion design project has reached its Beta phase which is now available over at the FFG Forums and I am sure he would appreciate your feedback on what is there so far. It wouldn't do any harm to have read up on the process so far at his website in his Balancing The Talisman article.
Tim Street's Unofficial Talisman Computer Game saw another update to version 8 the other day adding more features to the game, including a Magic Carpet and Dragon-Master!
Talisman Euro News! 9th March 2009
I have been very remiss of late in not saying a special thank you to a couple of people from two of the European partners of FFG, who have produced localised language versions of the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman.
Marc Taillefer from Edge Entertainment, the French partner of FFG, was instrumental in sending me a copy of their version of the game. The Edge website is the precursor to the ones in use at FFG and if you want to see what we may be getting in the future, then they are worth a look.
French fans of the game can ask questions on the Edge forums and get news about the latest releases on the dedicated French minisite. They even have Talisman avatars to choose from over there!
The Italian version of the game came to me via the capable hands of Federico Burchianti from Nexus Games. Given enough interest in the main game it is quite possible that Nexus will be translating the expansions also, but time will tell.
The Nexus forums cater for all the needs of the Italian fans whilst the main site has details of all of the games that are produced by them and information on where to buy them.
I am hoping to get a feature together about the international editions of Talisman, but I need to decide how to do it. If any gamers who play those versions have any ideas I would be interested to hear from them!
Talisman News! 8th March 2009
John Goodenough of FFG has made a comparison image for anyone who was worried that the new Dungeon board would not be compatible with the BI 4th Edition board. As you can see there will be no problem at all, whichever board you are playing with. Now all we need is for May to hurry up and get here!
The expansion now has an entry over at BoardGameGeek and has some larger images of the box art for those of you who wanted to have a closer look at the board!
"Balancing the Talisman" by JC Hendee was given another update recently with the addition of some fearsome Enemies. There is also a bit of news about how you can help playtest the Alpha version of this expansion/project which should be very interesting.
I've also got on with the business of making pages to house things like the preview images from The Reaper and The Dungeon to try and save people the trouble of loading a huge amount of pics when they access the front page of the site. I will be moving older news items off the front page and will make the News Archive text only. Any images will be added to Features of some sort, like the page I have made for The Big Bang Theory.
There's just a week left to get your entries in for the 10th Anniversary competition! I've had quite a few nice entries, but can use more! Is the Sun Knight a protector of the vulnerable? Is he on a personal quest? What reasons does he have for joining the hunt for the Crown? Saint or sinner? You decide!
Talisman Site Watch! 28th February 2009
JC Hendee's "Balancing the Talisman" series of articles has seen another update during this last week covering Events and Places. Next for analysis are Enemies, which should be well worth reading about.
In other news I am in the process of moving the Dungeon previews featured on the site in the last couple of weeks onto a dedicated page to save visitors a bit of bandwidth when just wanting to visit the front page! I'll be doing the same for the Reaper previews too.
I've not really had the chance to make a page for the anniversary competition as yet, but it's a work in progress. Some news just in though is that Felicia Cano, the artist behind the Doppelganger and Instructor artwork, has offered to autograph the promo cards if you so wish! That would make rather a nice addition to anyone's collection I think...
There have been quite a few entries so far with a good range of characters and some interesting reasoning behind them. Please don't be put off from entering just because you may not think that you have Photoshop skills. If you like I can remake some cards, but will not be adjusting any text, merely the layout! Keep 'em coming!
Talisman Island is 10! 24th February 2009
Well, we made it! Talisman Island has now been a part of the Talisman Community for the past 10 years! Three site incarnations and a couple of url and host changes and here we are...
Way back in the mists of time I joined the Talisman Yahoo Group after getting the itch to restart my Talisman habit, and after a short discussion about ideas I had once had for expansions and the like I was encouraged to e-publish one of them. Talisman Island was my idea to bring a bit of swashbuckling to the world of Talisman and after hastily cobbling some cards together and some html to hold them I uploaded the resulting hodge-podge at 12:02am on Wednesday February the 24th 1999!
Over the following months and years I was offered a great many expansions and was only too pleased to add them so that others could easily access them. A generous Yahoo Group member called Fred Clift offered some webspace for the fast growing content and the site underwent its first change using the evil that is "frames". Years passed and the content outgrew the space kindly donated by Fred and I moved to a new host with virtually unlimited space and bandwidth and it became the blue and yellow beast you see now.... and I'm having thoughts about changing the layout again, but that won't be for a while!
Over the last ten years I have become a little more wise in the ways of html-fu and appreciate that taking a little time over an expansion can pay huge dividends. If I was to remake the expansion it would be somewhat different - a little less extreme and certainly more polished! But even though I can pull the expansion apart critically, I still have a soft spot for The Holy Pail and other gems from it.
ANYWAY... to celebrate the fact that the site has dragged its way through the last decade, I thought I would offer up a competition for visitors, based funnily enough on the first outing of the Dungeon expansion, which as it happens is my favourite expansion of all time. It's also a Bob Harris created one!
On the side of the box for The Talisman Dungeon there was a picture of a knight which was not actually featured within the game, unlike those on the Timescape and City boxes which are shown below.
I once made a pitiful attempt at making a character based on the artwork, but fell into the trap of not thinking things through and basing the abilities on the artwork, rather than on the idea behind the artwork. As you can see below some of his abilities are rather bland and a little pointless.
I wanted to throw a challenge out to all of you to come up with a character based on this artwork using the templates for FFG's Revised 4th Edition of Talisman. There will be a prize for the entry which I think is the best overall and all entries will be placed on a page dedicated to the competition.
You can let your imagination run riot, but the resulting character has to make some kind of sense. It may be worth your while making a little backstory which might help to introduce him. Or her!
I've made up a larger version of the Sun Knight image for the competition and you can get hold of the templates for making the character card in the Downloads section of the site.
All you need to do is have a think and make a character for the game and email it to me with any details you would like to add about background or reasoning behind certain aspects of the character and cross your fingers!
The prize for this endeavour will be your choice of either a set of White Knight cards for the 2nd Edition of Talisman or a set of the two promotional cards for the Revised 4th Edition.... and I don't expect to see them on some auction site shortly afterwards! The winner will also get (steady now!) a fabulous Talisman Island Competition Winner's Toad! Which, believe me, sounds a lot more grand than it is!
The competition will run until the end of Sunday 15th March to give people a chance to spend a bit of time on the cards. If you submit an entry and change your mind for some reason, just send a replacement along and I will take that one as your entry. I won't be displaying any entries as we go, but will be making a page to hold them with some other information about Talisman Island's first ten years.
It might be interesting if people could send some comments about what you like about the site and if you have any suggestions for making it even better! I promise not to get too upset! Good luck!
Talisman: The Dungeon Sneak Peek #7! 23rd February 2009
I'd like to thank FFG for generously allowing me to host these sneaky peeks for you, but sadly we have come the the last of the great pieces of artwork that feature in Talisman: The Dungeon!
I hope you will keep checking back as I have a few ideas of things to do whilst we are all waiting, but in the mean time I am sure FFG will be releasing more details on the news pages at the FFG site as and when they are able.
Lone Dwarf by Felicia Cano
Goblin Marauders by Ryan Barger
In other news, tomorrow (well, just after midnight actually) sees a milestone in the history of Talisman Island. It will be a full 10 years since I uploaded my hastily put together expansion with some poorly designed cover pages and since then things have got a little out of hand and we have ended up with Talisman Island as you see it today!
To mark the anniversary I have decided to run a competition based on a piece of artwork found in the original Talisman Dungeon expansion for the 2nd Edition game! The basic idea is that you must design a character based on the artwork which may net you a prize! So I hope you will come on back tomorrow and try your hand!
Talisman: The Dungeon Sneak Peek #6! 22nd February 2009
Our penultimate sneaky peeks from Talisman: The Dungeon might be of interest to those of you that like to chuck a bit of magic around the place!
Weakness by Ryan Barger
Finger of Death by Ryan Barger
The last instalment of sneaky peeks will be uploaded tomorrow and will feature an old friend and some art with something a little less friendly! There may also be a some news regarding a minor anniversary for Talisman Island!
Talisman: The Dungeon Sneak Peek #5! 21st February 2009
The weekend brings another two images to whet your appetite for Talisman: The Dungeon. May seems rather a long time off, but I am sure it will be here before you know it!
Trap Door by Ryan Barger
Crawling Slime by Raya Golden
I think maybe tomorrow we'll have a bit of something for those spell slingers amongst you!
Talisman: The Dungeon Sneak Peek #4! 20th February 2009
FFG's latest expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman is shaping up to be a fabulous portfolio of great artwork! Today's sneaky peeks show a couple of people who you may wish to steer clear of!
Dungeon Keeper by Felicia Cano
Vampire Prince by Ryan Barger
I've also got an image of the back of the box for the Dungeon expansion. It should be a little clearer for those of you that like to play at being supersleuths! I might even get to post a higher resolution version at some point in the future, but for now it will have to do!
I hope that you are enjoying these previews and will like what I have in store for you tomorrow!
Talisman: The Dungeon Sneak Peek #3! 19th February 2009
Today sees another couple of sneaky peeks at some great art from Talisman: The Dungeon! I think it's going to be worth buying the expansion just to gawp at the artwork!
Umbra Spider by Ryan Barger
Psychic Crystal by John Moriarty
There's also a small bonus today in the form of a mysterious mini that turned up in Rich Moore's Reaper expansion box. I've heard a few tales of duplicate minis being included in the base set and expansion, but never a figure from a FUTURE expansion! The lucky pup!
Don't forget to come back tomorrow to see two more examples of art from Talisman: The Dungeon.
Talisman: The Dungeon Sneak Peek #2! 18th February 2009
Here is the latest instalment of sneaky peeks at the artwork used in Talisman: The Dungeon from FFG.
Soul Drinker by McLean Kendree
Goblin King by Ryan Barger
As a bit of a bonus today I am able to show you a larger version of Ralph Horsley's superb artwork for the expansion, which was featured yesterday over at the FFG website. Are you brave enough to tackle the Lord of Darkness?!?!?
Don't forget that there will be a couple more images for your delight and delectation tomorrow!
Talisman: The Dungeon Sneak Peek #1! 17th February 2009
As the news has finally broken about the newest expansion for the Revised 4th Edition of Talisman from FFG, I am at last able to bring you a sneaky peek at some of the fantastic artwork used in Talisman: The Dungeon!
Dark Denizens by Ryan Barger
Spirit of Vengeance by Ryan Barger
Over the next week I shall be posting a couple of images each day so don't forget to check back often!
Talisman: The Dungeon News! 16th February 2009
Well, it's about time too! Fantasy Flight Games have posted news about the latest expansion for FFG's Revised 4th Edition - Talisman: The Dungeon!
Details are scant currently but, as well as a whole new Region to explore, the expansion increases the complement of playable characters by adding a Gladiator, Amazon, Swashbuckler, Gypsy and Philosopher.
Here's something interesting and a little sneaky. Go to the news post at FFG and click on the Dungeon image you find there and "View Image". It will open up in a browser window with an address. Change the "sm" of the picture to "lg" and see if it shows anything!
Hopefully some more news will be along soon. Drums fingers...
...and some more news just in! Tric Trac have posted a gallery of pictures taken at the Nuremberg Games Fair including some really nice shots of the boxart for the new expansion!
Yesterday saw the posting of yet another instalment in JC Hendee's rather interesting series of articles called Balancing the Talisman. JC is taking a look at how people might go about creating their own expansions for the game and focuses on areas that require an awful lot more thought than you might initially believe.
The series is currently covering Adventure cards, and is producing some very cool ideas. You must note that anything displayed thus far is a work in progress and subject to many changes!
Click the link below and exercise those brain cells!
Dork Tower News 6th February 2009
Well, if you are somewhat of a collector of Talisman items (as I am) then today's edition of the online comic, Dork Tower, should strike a chord with you. It certainly made me laugh out loud!
Thanks very much to John Goodenough for alerting me to this and special thanks to John Kovalic who has kindly allowed me to post the issue here!
You should give John's site a good look over as it features comic archives and links to other projects that John is involved with, such as Munchkin and My Little Cthulhu!
Thanks to ilgoga over at the FFG Talisman Forum for alerting me to the fact that once again Talisman has been featured on The Big Bang Theory!
"The Financial Permeability" is the third episode to showcase the Black Industries Edition of the game. I think it's about time someone at FFG sent over a copy of the Revised 4th Edition to CBS!!
As usual there are some mistakes with the playing of the game, but hey, it's Talisman on the telly!!
Talisman News! 22nd January 2009
Tim Street has let me know that he has uploaded a new version of his version of Talisman, playable on your very own computer!
There are a few updates, including fire-breathing Dragons and some new quests from the Warlock.
Visit his dedicated pages to find out the full list of changes and to download the updated files!
There is news on the website of publisher Edge Entertainment about how they are dealing with the promo cards for the French release of the Revised 4th Edition.
It seems that you can either ask at the game shop where you purchased your copy or if you just write to them directly, enclosing a stamped self-addressed envelope, they will sort you out with the translated versions of Doppelganger and Instructor.
My guess is that you should check it out as soon as you can, as I am sure supplies are limited!
There are only a few days left to join in with the "20 Questions" feature that John Goodenough agreed to do after taking part in the interview feature for Talisman Island last month.
Have a look at the announcement thread over at the FFG forums and post or email a question and it might get picked to be one of the twenty sent to John for inclusion in a feature to be posted here in the future.
I have an appeal to anyone who has managed to paint the miniatures for the Revised 4th Edition from FFG.
You will notice that the Miniatures section is missing a few examples for the new edition and The Reaper expansion which I am hoping to fill with contributions from visitors to Talisman Island.
My ultimate aim is to have each miniature represented by a different artist/contributor so there is plenty of room for all! I'll even be adding all four variations of Toad to help spread the love!
If you'd be interested in contributing, then email a good quality picture of your minis, with a plain background, taken without flash but with good lighting and I will be able to crop the image out and present it like the rest with your name added to the image as a credit. Help put a bit of colour back into the Priest's cheeks!
I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season and that you haven't overdone the merry making!
To help you through the hours until you have to get back to reality I have posted a small interview, kindly granted by John Goodenough of FFG, to keep you occupied.
I think you will find it very interesting as it covers some of the thought processes behind the revision of Talisman and its expansion.
Reaper Expansion News 18th December 2008
Just a quick update to say that there has been an update of the FFG website with a feature by John Goodenough about the old Grim Reaper himself.
Don't Fear A preview of the grim visage of the Reaper
I didn't make much of a fuss previously, but you should also check out the feature he wrote on the new Warlock Quest cards that come with the expansion. I'll try to post some examples when I can get my comparison shots taken for a little (completely subjective!) review I will be putting together.
You can actually now order the Reaper expansion from the FFG website and your FLGS. Copies are already available and people have started posting about the contents on BGG and the FFG forums.
I'm not sure how all the preorder malarky was working, but there is still a day left to do so on the FFG website it seems, even though it is available to order. If you want to try and swing a promo card or two, it'd be worth giving them an email anyway I suppose, but hurry as you only have a few hours left!
This is just a small update to recap on some of the goings on in the land of Talisman this last few weeks.
First off the new FFG website has been getting better and better with some very interesting features about the revised edition of the game, which you can now order from the website! These include:
Finally, some belated news of a very interesting series of articles by JC Hendee entitled "Balancing The Talisman". These chart the road to making a home-made expansion for the game and goes into great depth discussing what may, or may not, be a good way to go about it.
For anyone that doesn't know, JC is an author who, along with his wife Barb, has created the Noble Dead Saga. This is a series of books set in a high fantasy world, where vampires stalk the land. Go check them out!
FFG have updated their main website and forums and, as part of the new look site, they've included a cool looking Talisman minisite!
FFG have updated their main website and forums and as part of the new look site they've included a Talisman minisite! The site will feature articles and news about the revised edition and expansions. With a bit of luck I suppose we might even see some exclusive content, like with some other FFG releases.
Interesting to note is the news that the promo cards, Doppelganger and Instructor, featured in Essen for the prerelease of the German edition will be available for preorders of The Reaper expansion. There will be a form made available to fill out and take to your FLGS and you will be able to snag them.
TALISMAN ON TOUR! 20th November 2008
I was really excited today when John Goodenough from FFG kindly sent some examples of cards and boxart from the various editions of the new FFG revised edition of Talisman.
I've set them up on the World Tour pages and I hope you like them as much as I do. The cardback art designed by WiL Springer is worth the price of admission alone!
Thanks to Valdi for letting me know about the Polish language translation of the revised edition of Talisman.
Details of price and release date can be found at the forum posting below as there is no news featured on the main Galakta website. You will note that the game is still keeping its "subtitle" of Magia I Miecz which is how it was known when originally released in Poland.
Just a quick note for those of you that were, like me, somewhat disappointed by the cancellation of the PC version of Talisman from Capcom. Tim Street, who made a fan version of the game for PC earlier this year, which was linked to over at the oTalisman forums, has now updated the program (fixing a crash problem when you died) and has made a site for downloading the game.
It should keep you all occupied until the release of the FFG revised edition later this year!
HALLOWKNIGHT WATCH 11th November 2008
In other news, HallowKnight from the FFG forums made yet another fantastic Halloween Jack O'Lantern this year and I've updated his "how to" page with a couple of pics - click here to see it in all it's Toadish Glory!
TALISMAN WATCH 27th October 2008
Lucky FFG forum member "Gon" got hold of the German version of the Revised 4th Edition at Spiel 08 in Essen and posted about it here.
As you can see, the character cards appear to be much bigger than the 4th Edition counterparts with the artwork shown much larger and the addition of the "Fate" box on the right hand side.
The miniatures appear to be around 28mm scale when compared with this Heroscape mini and a Warhammer 40K Terminator. The minis look pretty sharp if you ask me...
The two promo cards from Essen which are the Doppelganger, which featured in the original Talisman Expansion Set and the Instructor, which is from Talisman: The Adventure.
The German translation is just one of the versions that will be available. There is a French translation on the way. We can only hope for more Talisman goodness around the World! Now I'm definitely going to need a bigger cupboard!!
To celebrate the fact that the revised edition of Talisman has now had its status changed to "at the printer", I thought it might be nice to post some more pictures from the upcoming Reaper expansion for your delectation.
I'm not sure about you, but I think the end of this year is going to turn out to be a great time for Talisman fans!
I still have a few files of interest to upload which hopefully I can get sorted for fairly soon, so keep visiting!
TALISMAN SCOOP 9th September 2008
Long time no update, eh? I just thought I'd let you have a look at some nice images from the new expansion for the revised edition of Talisman from Fantasy Flight Games - The Reaper.
So, without further ado, here are those pictures -
I have a couple of things I need to upload soon which should be interesting including some music files from the now defunct Talisman PC game , so stay tuned!
TALISMAN GEEKINESS II 20th May 2008
I had some more news from Kazz tonight to check out the latest episode of The Big Bang Theory called "The Tangerine Factor" on the CBS website.
Again, you have to be in the US to see the episode online, so I've taken some more screenshots. If you are able to view it, the Talisman action starts at the 7:30 mark!
As with the last episode there are a couple of nerdy problems with the game. Four players this time, but playing with 8 characters and 3 Toads... using the wrong counters next to the character cards... lots of counters and face down cards strewn over the board... rolling two dice for movement... a new twist on the City space - "Enslaved by Warlocks, stay here until you roll 2, 4 or 6"... and now there are drinks AND food on the table!! Aaaarrrrgggghhhh!!!!!
TALISMAN NEWS 19th May 2008
It's amazing what you can uncover when you have a bit of time on your hands and carry out searches on Google now and again to see what new things have been posted about our favourite boardgame.
I found out some very old news over at the Gaming Report that I must have missed late last year about the computer version of Talisman, which was being developed by Big Rooster for Capcom.
It seems that composer David Allen Young had been asked to create the music for the game and ended up making the main theme and victory music for the game.
Unfortunately it is unsure at present whether we will ever get to hear this music any time soon, or even at all...
TALISMAN NEWS 15th May 2008
It is said that a picture can be worth a thousand words, and I think that's all I need to say about the new box art for the revised 4th Edition of Talisman from FFG.
Stunning x 1000.
In other news, it has now been confirmed that the small box expansion for Talisman to be released later this year will now be known as "The Reaper", rather than "Death and Glory"!
TALISMAN GEEKINESS 14th May 2008
Some news came to my attention this evening from Kazz to have a look at an episode of The Big Bang Theory entitled "The Peanut Reaction" over at the CBS website.
Unfortunately, it seems that it is only viewable by users in the US, so I've taken a couple of screenshots of what all the fuss was about! For those of you that can view it, check out around the 3:59 mark...
That's right... Talisman on TV!! Well, sort of... there are only 3 players, but they have 6 characters on the board and 2 toads... his strength and craft tokens are on the wrong side of his card... and there is a drink on the table!! Nooooooooooooooooo......!!!
TALISMAN NEWS 4th May 2008
I thought I had better belatedly add this news snippet regarding the plans for the revised 4th Edition which was highlighted by Vogless over at the FFG forums. I'm really pleased that the news about FFG's plans for the game are finally out there, but it would have been nice to have been told that it was okay to write about this stuff...
If you click through the picture below of the blue-haired Jeremy Stomberg from FFG clutching the new box design you can have a look at what he had to say to the team from Obsessed With Gaming at the GAMA Trade Show. The Talisman scoop starts at about 3:32 through to 6:02 and if I were you I would grab the high quality download because it's... ummm... high quality!
Here is the lowdown from the video - plastic miniatures for the characters and toads - redone cards - stackable cones as per 3rd Edition - rules tweaks from John Goodenough (Runebound, Tide of Iron and World of Warcraft Boardgame) - out in October - first expansion called "Death and Glory" out for Christmas.
More news over at IVC2.com gives details of an upgrade pack that will enable existing 4th Edition owners to bring their copies up to date. It also states that the expansion, Death and Glory, is expected to retail at $19.95.
SITE NEWS 30th March 2008
News has been a bit scarce this past few weeks, but I had to do an update today to tell you of a new set of cards from Paul Humphreys to add to his fantastic Small Magic series of cards. Click through the picture below to go to his dedicated page.
Over on the Expansions page there are some new cards for 4th Edition from Dorian Hawkins and his gaming group. They include some interesting new types of card too!
You might also be interested to know that Fantasy Flight Games have recently made a forum for Talisman which is starting to create some interesting discussions. Hopefully it won't be long until we get some news of the plans they have in mind for the game. You can visit the FFG forums here.
MORE TALISMAN NEWS 28th February 2008
FFG have put a FAQ up on the site to answer a few initial questions about the various IPs that they have licensed from GW. Notably this little nugget -
Q: When will the Talisman reprint be on store shelves?
A: Stock at US distributors is at an acceptable level right now. We are currently working with multiple international partners to release the new FFG printing in multiple languages simultaneously. We plan to have this new printing on store shelves by late Summer 2008.
It's just been announced that Fantasy Flight Games will exclusively publish Board Games, Card Games, and
Roleplaying Games based on Games Workshop properties.
More importantly for visitors to this site, this means that "FFG will take over the production of Talisman, and plan to produce a new printing and expansions for the 4th edition of this ever-popular classic board game", which is fabulous news!
Today there are quite a few new expansions for you to have a look at. There are some more tokens and some nasty Spirits for 4th Edition, a Hobbit-ish expansion from Thomas Erix, a couple of little expansions from Duane Haut and an expansion from Scott Davenport that is compatible with both 2nd AND 4th Editions!
They can all be found over on the Expansions page. Who knows, there may be even more 4th Edition goodness for you soon!
NEWSBITS 8th February 2008
There are two small updates for you today. Firstly there is a new "Talisman-ised" version of the Magical Sword board over at the Magical Sword page.
Then, just in case you keep forgetting about your Quest from the Warlock, I've made up some tokens to keep by your Character card to remind you. Those are over on the Expansions page. I'll be cobbling together some more tokens as reminders for missed turns soon.
Well, after a shock like yesterday's little announcement from Black Industries I was all for canning the expansion I had ready for 4th Edition, but I figured that the people at BI worked bloody hard on Talisman over the last 12 months, so fans of the game should be rallying around at this time.
It's not clear at this point what will happen with Talisman now. It could be shelved, it could be licensed out.. who knows? But as soon as anything is mentioned I'll stick it on the site.
Stone and Stuff is a small collection of cards, with some old and new content, that help expand ranged combat and there are even a couple of new ideas in there too.
The Wooden Weapons download has been altered as it did not need to be at such a high resolution, and if you wait for a couple of days there will even be some more weapon types for you to use. The Woodsman has been very busy!
I've also updated the Optional Characters that BI have up for download, giving them the 4th Edition treatment as far as wording goes etc.
You should make your way to the Expansions page if you want to see what it's all about!
SITE NEWS 20th January 2008
A very quick update tonight to show what I actually uploaded a week or so ago! If you have checked out the World Tour section of the site you may have seen the Polish "clone" of Talisman called Magiczny Miecz or Magical Sword.
I finally got around to making up the board for the game for people to use as a possible alternate realm of Talisman. I've also made up some of the cards, specific to Magiczny Miecz, that are mentioned on the board. I will add some more over time, but the progress may be slow.
SITE WATCH 17th December 2007
A couple of recent updates to let people know about on other Talisman sites. Firstly, the website showcasing the creations of Talisman's own Bob Harris is getting slowly updated. They've added a small QnA section and will be putting more there as time goes on. We all know that Talisman was originally called Necromancer, but did you know that a Talisman was previously a Charm?
Secondly, Peter's Random Dice site has been updated with a new expansion for an expansion! The Sewers now has more dirty pipework to explore thanks to Tomas Eriksson!
NEWSBITS 16th December 2007
I've just realised that I forgot to mention a little featurette in the latest copy of White Dwarf regarding the PC port of our favourite board game.
It doesn't actual tell us any more than we already knew, but the image seems to show part of the interface used. It's anyone's guess how old the screenshot is, but it does look quite similar to the landscape shown in the first video released in October.
NEWSBITS 15th December 2007
At last!! A 4th Edition expansion (of sorts!) introducing Wooden Weapons to the world of Talisman.
It's not the biggest expansion ever, but it's a start! Go and take a look!
NEWSBITS 12th December 2007
Finally... an RSS Feed for news!
NEWSBITS 5th December 2007
There are some more goodies on the Black Industries site in the form of 3 "new" optional characters to download and use in your games.
All are old friends from the first three expansions for Talisman 2nd Edition but two have been renamed to suit the artwork used. It's nice to see some support from BI over at the main site, hopefully more will follow soon!
As always I have much more stuff to add to the site and am trying to get them sorted for the site (soon!). I have some new French translations of some 3rd Edition cards and even a printer-friendly version of the optional characters for 4th Ed with backs! Hopefully I'll be able to dedicate some more time to getting these things uploaded and on pages for you all soon!
NEWSBITS 14th November 2007
A small update today just to give you news that Black Industries have put a template online so you can make up your own characters for the game -
...and here's a quick example of a card that I created -
NEWSBITS 19th October 2007
Thanks to Mollarom for alerting me to the news of a new Talisman PC game trailer tonight. I've just been sent the trailer by Brian Dunn at CapCom (THANKS!) and have embedded it here for you to see. It's just over 5 megs so it may take a little while to get moving.
**EDIT** I've now "Youtubed" the video as it was causing some problems to visitors with a slower connection. Saves me some bandwidth too!!
You can also see a collection of 3D renders of characters for the game on the CapCom flickr site.
I really hope these are early representations of the characters as they look a bit blocky at the moment. Note the Druid's sickle and the Troll's spindly forearms.
Anyway, I am sure it will all come together in the end. I can't wait!!
NEWSBITS 15th October 2007
A small news update this time, firstly to say that Talisman 4th Edition has now been out for a fortnight! If you've not got a copy yet, why not?!?!?!?
I have a little news of two upcoming competitions on Talisman Island. One of which will be similar to the Dragon Masters competition, where I asked people to create some new cards for the game with some artwork. This time it will feature artwork by master craftsman, Carsten Both! More on that later...
There will be another competition where you can show off your painting skills as Talisman Island tries to emulate GW's Golden Demon awards! This will be a showcase for your Talisman miniatures, from any edition of the game, which will be called....
Prizes for the two competitions are yet to be decided, but will be something worthwhile, plus the usual "Talisman Island Competition Winner's Toads" for winners of the heats!
There are a couple of new pages online now that I have yet to link properly, but you might as well have a peek in the mean time here -
I'll try to add more about the competitions and sort out the links to these new pages soon!
Oh yes... and I've finally got my backside into gear and Photoshopped the Magiczny Miecz (Magical Sword) board for use with Talisman. Gural spent a lot of time helping me with the translations, so I thought it was only right that I did something with it after all this time! So that's yet another item that is "Coming Soon (ish)".
NEWSBITS 28th September 2007
Not long to go until the general release date for Talisman 4th Edition on Monday!
In the mean time, you could always have a look at the BI website and put an order in for one of these lovely little Talisman badges -
Just to let you know that I am hoping to get another edition of the Talisman Herald out this week, with some ideas for trial rules for Talisman, 3rd Edition characters and a feature on some fabulous new cards from Paul Humphreys for your 2nd Edition game in the style of Gary Chalk's artwork!
NEWSBITS 20th September 2007
Here's a quick reminder that Talisman is going to be demonstrated at Games Workshop's Games Day at the NEC in Birmingham this Sunday.
You will also be able to get hold of a copy the game there a week before its release AND you will get the bonus Adventure card, Arena, to boot!
In other news, BI have just put an announcement on their site about a new Talisman T-Shirt which is now available to purchase via the site. Click the image to get your order in!
Lastly, a small bit of site news. Just to let you know that I will be adding some trial rules for use with Talisman to the site in the next few weeks. They won't be official rules, but they may add a little something to your game and I'm hoping for a little audience participation too, so get ready to try them out soon!
NEWSBITS 9th September 2007
Well, I've come across a couple of things of note that I think are worthy to make the news this weekend.
Firstly, Black Industries have announced that the bonus Arena card will be available to EVERYONE that preorders the game, whether from conventions or through the BI website!
Secondly, Capcom have been tinkering with their new pages for Talisman, but they are not live as yet... though if you are sneaky you can take a peek at a couple of characters from the PC version of Talisman.
NEWSBITS 5th September 2007
Just a quick update to say that Elliott and I had a great time last week at GenCon UK in Reading helping demo the game to new people.
I would say that everyone that managed to get a game had a good time. There was a good mix of current players, players of old and people totally new to the game and a lot of preorders were made to people keen to get hold of the game a little earlier than most.
Unfortunately my camera broke on the first day, so there is no gallery to see, but if anyone manages to send some pictures my way I will put them online.
Thanks to all who played, especially Kevin, Simon, Julie, Nigel, Aaron, Brian, Troy and many others whose names escape me (sorry!) who helped the weekend go along with a laugh or two and I'm looking forward to Games Day in Birmingham on the 23rd September where we shall be demoing the game again!!
NEWSBITS 20th August 2007
A couple of newsworthy items have appeared on the Black Industries Website today.
Firstly, for those of you unable to attend one of the prelaunch events can now preorder the game!
In addition, for those of you who just HAVE to have miniatures in your game they have some suggestions for you to use from the current GW range of miniatures.
NEWSBITS 8th August 2007
A auction on eBay caught my eye today and if you are interested in getting hold of a copy of Talisman early AND getting a slap up meal into the bargain then you should check it out.
The organisers of the ENnie Awards at GenCon Indy are auctioning off a numbers of seats at various tables, but I think this one has to be the best one.
The winner of the auction will not only win a seat at the Black Industries table for the awards, but they will also walk off with a copy of the new edition PLUS the two bonus Adventure cards - Rod of Ruin and Arena!
Click on the image above to have a look at the auction and if you win, I'd be interested in a blow by blow account of the whole experience... and save me an after dinner mint!
...and before you ask, I have no connection with the auction. If only it included air tickets I might be interested in bidding myself!!
NEWSBITS 6th August 2007
Black Industries have posted another interesting interview on their website today.
This time it's a chat with Ralph Horsley about his new artwork for the board for the new edition.
NEWSBITS 1st August 2007
Details about the availability of Talisman at GenCon Indy have appeared on the Black Industries website.
Numbers have been limited to 50 per day, so you had better get to Booth 1229 early to score a copy along with the bonus Adventure card - Arena.
You can also find out more information about Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay: Dark Heresy with a free demo adventure!
NEWSBITS 20th July 2007
An interesting tidbit of information has reached my ears about a second bonus card to be made available for the release of Talisman.
It seems that in addition to "Arena", which will be available at the prerelease events at Gen Con Indy and Games Day, there will be another card sent to various retailers globally for distribution as they see fit.
The card will be "Rod of Ruin", which is another card that featured in the original Talisman Expansion Set.
NEWSBITS 18th July 2007
Well, at long last I have put a "review" of sorts up for anyone who is interested in seeing what the latest incarnation of Talisman is all about.
Click through the image below to see it and let me know what you think!
NEWSBITS 15th July 2007
It's always nice to have some "mood" music playing whilst you are engaged in a game of Talisman.
I've been toying with the idea of having a music player on the site for a while now and decided to give one a shot.
So if you have a computer anywhere near your games table, you will now be able to listen to some music during your quest!
I'd be interested in any comments about this idea as I may add a dedicated page in the future.
NEWSBITS 13th July 2007
Nothing much to report today it seems, but I will just say that in the Resources/Expansions section I've put up a LOT of cards kindly sent to me by Carsten Both.
I've also noticed that Capcom have recently updated the banner on their Digital Blog site to include an image of "Dice with Death" from Talisman -
I'm not sure how long that image has been there, but here's hoping that some news will be forthcoming soon regarding the project!
With a bit of luck I will be able to get organised with my review/comparison of Talisman 4th Edition for you all over the weekend, so stay tuned!
NEWSBITS 10th July 2007
Black Industries have just posted an interesting Question and Answer session with Marc Gascoigne and Zoe Wedderburn about the new edition of Talisman.
You can read this article, which also clears up one of the most contentious issues in Talisman, by clicking the image below -
NEWSBITS 6th July 2007
Just a quick note to mention that I returned home today to find a nice surprise waiting for me -
Stay tuned as I will be making a full report on the contents next week.
NEWSBITS 28th June 2007
Black Industries have now confirmed that you will be able to make an advance order for Talisman through their website from the 20th August.
They also confirm a few events where you will be able to purchase a copy of the game a month or so earlier than its scheduled release date.
In addition, there is an interesting snippet of information that anyone buying a copy of Talisman at one of these events will also receive a limited edition Adventure card - Arena.
Black Industries have posted yet another interview to their website. This time it is the turn of Max Bertolini, the man behind the stunning Adventure card artwork.
You can read the latest interview, and the previous interviews with Jeremy McHugh and Ralph Horsley, by clicking through the images below.
NEWSBITS 21st June 2007
Today Black Industries put the trailer for Talisman up on YouTube for all to see and rather than embed it on this page I thought I'd let you see it the old fashioned way here.
They also mentioned that more news will be coming soon to the Black Industries website.
The latest edition of the Talisman Herald has just been uploaded to the site, with news, articles and content for your favourite boardgame.
I've also put up a gallery of pictures sent to me by Riccardo Rognoni of his Talisman set and miniatures, which can be seen by clicking the image below.
NEWSBITS 12th June 2007
An interesting statement was released by Capcom today with regard to its games Devil May Cry 3 Special Edition, Onimusha 3, Lost Planet and Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix -
Capcom Co. Ltd. is pleased to announce that it will commence distribution of many of its popular game titles to the PC market via Valve Corporation's Steam digital distribution service, making it the first major Japanese software publisher to sign on with Steam.
If you cast your mind back to April when Black Industries first reported that Capcom had licensed Talisman, they stated that -
Black Industries are pleased to announce that Capcom Entertainment, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, have been given a license to produce a digitally downloadable version of Talisman.
So it seems that, as the game will be digitally downloadable, it is a fair assumption that Talisman will be coming out via the Steam network, for the moment at least.
I have used Steam for a number of years now to play games like Half Life and Counterstrike and have always found it a very useful tool indeed. There is now a list of 139 games playable over Steam, the majority of which are from companies other than Valve.
It is possible that I am making 1+1=3, but I'll worry about that when it happens!! For more news on Steam and its range of games can be found here.
The only downside I can see is that I won't have a box for the game!
NEWSBITS 11th June 2007
Fancy getting your hands on a copy of the new version of Talisman BEFORE the official release date of the 1st of October?
Marc Gascoigne, the head honcho at Black Industries, has named a few venues where you will be able to score a copy as early as August!
Maybe I need to look into getting a few more countdown applets?
NEWSBITS 8th June 2007
Not much to report today apart from the next edition of the Talisman Herald is nearly finished. It will be uploaded some time next week once I get a few more pages done.
In other news, it seems that GW's legal department has asked oldschoolgamr to cease production of Talisman GBA, which is a great shame.
He had already penned an article about how the project came to be, which will still be published in the next Talisman Herald as a testament to all of his hard work.
NEWSBITS 4th June 2007& 5th June 2007
Just some news to say that Elliott the Roolz Troll and I have now returned safely from an exhausting weekend of messing about with demonstrating the new edition of Talisman at the UK Games Expo 2007 in Edgbaston, Birmingham.
It was great to finally get our grubby mitts on a copy of the game and to try it out with some willing volunteers.
Richard Massey becomes the first player to be Toaded!!!
Elliott baffles the table with a Ray Charles impression!
Thanks to everyone that stopped by and asked questions and a great many thanks to those who were lucky enough to get a game over the weekend, namely -
Paul H, Iain, Fil, Paul G, Will, Gordon, Matt, Big Bad John, Fiona, Richard & Daniel, Mark, Kelvin, Paul C, Ellen, Keary, Paul F & Edgar, Dave Allen, Emma, Jerry, Ben the Plucky, Joel, Ben the Other Ben, Mica, David, Joey, Joe, Dave D and Ben P!
Click the image below to see a hastily cobbled together gallery from the weekend. **UPDATED**
NEWSBITS 31st May 2007
It seems that oldschoolgamr likes to give us something to talk about on a wet and dreary Thursday (other climates are available).
Today he announced a project that he's been working on for the last couple of years!
Click the picture above to visit his site and see what he has been up to for all this time. It's been well worth the effort!
MORE NEWSBITS 31st May 2007
In other news, Black Industries has just updated their site with a potted history of Talisman.
It's an interesting read and you can access it by clicking on the picture above of Bob Harris, who is showing off Talisman at Games Day in 1983! Nice glasses!
NEWSBITS 22nd May 2007
In a surprise move, the competiton page gets an update with details of the winning entry!!
There have also been a few changes to the Talisman Boardgame Discussion Group at Yahoo Games.
I've added a welcome message for new members and cleared up the front page a little. There's a new picture too which should leave people in no doubt that it is a group for the discussion of ALL things Talisman.
So, if you are not a member already, what are you waiting for?
NEWSBITS 3rd May 2007
...and yet more news about the World of Talisman from Black Industries!!
The latest newsletter from Black Industries has a link to a new trailer which has been made to show some aspects of the new edition.
Click the link above to see the trailer which features art from the game, details about how it is played and an original soundtrack.
Sign up for the newsletter whilst you are at the Black Industries site!!
NEWSBITS 1st May 2007
It seems that Black Industries just can't stop with the good news regarding the future of Talisman!
During the GAMA Trade Show in Las Vegas last week, Black Industries confirmed that at least one expansion for Talisman was already in development.
A release date has not been set but this first expansion is expected around April or May 2008. The expansion is to include more characters, adventure cards, equipment
and spells, and even "a few surprises".
NEWSBITS 14th April 2007
Thanks to oldschoolgamr for the heads up on this particular little item of news... Talisman is coming to the PC, PS Network and XBLA!
Details are a bit scarce at the moment so this is what's being said over at the IGN website -
US, April 13, 2007 - This winter, Capcom will bring the Games Workshop board game Talisman to the PlayStation Network, Xbox Live and PC platforms. Originally created in 1983 by the highly-successful table game company, Talisman (which is currently out of print) was a combination card and board game that had loose ties to the company's Warhammer Fantasy universe.
The videogame version of Talisman sounds like it will be a close digital representation of the classic game, utilizing a virtual board with 3D characters and environments. Up to four players can play online and off and take advantage of the game's 25 characters from the franchise. Voice chat options will allow players to talk while the game progresses, and downloadable game expansions, including character updates, adventure card updates, alternate endings and more, are expected to give legs to the title over time.
Other details on the game are scarce, other than the fact that it is in production at Big Rooster studios and will be available this winter.
Just a quick note to mention that I managed to make it to London's Toy Fair at ExCeL on Saturday 27th of January and whilst I was there I managed to take a picture of the box art.
Isn't she a beauty? Click the link below for the latest news about the new edition of Talisman and visit the Talisman Herald Section for my ramblings...
In the mean time, while we are waiting for more news about the game you can visit the Boardgame News website to see pictures of the mock up from the London, Toronto and New York Toy Fairs by clicking the images below...
You could even make some plans to visit the UK Games Expo in Birmingham later this year where it seems Black Industries will be spending a couple of days showcasing the new version...
MORE NEWSBITS 5th March 2007
It seems that whilst I was on holiday Black Industries decided to make a couple of updates to their website!
Not only do you get yet another wallpaper to download...
...but there is a new feature from Jeremy McHugh, the artist behind the character art for the new edition...
...not forgetting the original article about Ralph Horsley's stunning box art!
