by Wally Monk originally published 27 December 2024
The Serpents of the Storm River is a fan-made expansion based on the original Serpent expansion by Katie B., a die-hard Talisman fan and regular contributor to the popular fan site Talisman Island. This is an expanded collaborative version of the original that won a community competition, and despite its simplicity, it’s worth adding to your 4th Edition collection.
The expansion includes just 2 NPC cards and 2 rules sheets. There are also optional miniatures for each of the serpents that you can have 3D printed through the Polish fansite, Magia I Miecz.
Mamlambo and No’Pa No’Tu are both giant, slithery snakes that dwell in the waterways of the Talisman game board. As if the random deck draws and toad cards weren’t enough, with the wrong stop on the wrong space or a quirky roll of the dice you might awaken one of these great serpents!
According to the rules from the expansion:
“Mamlambo is a creature of legend. A water goddess that takes the form of a giant serpent and patrols the waterways of the Talisman world…No’Pa No’Tu was once a man, transformed into an enormous snake by the mystic in the Village.”
Each serpent playing piece begins on the main Talisman board, Mamlambo next to the City space, adjacent to the Storm River, while No’Pa No’Tu sits adjacent to the river near the Village space.
Mamlambo can be triggered as a player crosses the Storm River using either a raft, barge or ferry. No’Pa No’Tu is perhaps a little more insidious, being alerted to the sounds of battle in the Outer Region! Mamlambo can not only defeat you in combat and take lives (Strength 10!) but you also stand a chance of losing your followers, too.
I played a game of Talisman this holiday with a few friends here, and luckily neither Mamlambo nor No’Pa No’Tu caused any serious damage to any of our characters. But the expansion did add a bit of fun and trepidation to the journey around the board.
Talisman: The Serpents of the Storm River is available at Talisman Island, found on their Resources page, at the following link:
As always, I am –
Wally (AKA The Paint Monk)