Background
Marijn van der Gaag and Anne van Diepeningen have produced an expansion for Talisman Third Edition, which takes the Characters into the mysterious Sea Realm. Go check out my Links page for the address of the complete set
I have converted the various cards for the expansion into Second Edition format. I only hope I have done them justice.
I have pasted the Third Edition Rules below with no adjustments, but I have added some notes. If you find any problems with converting these to Second Edition then I would suggest using the good old "common sense" approach for a solution.
I hope you enjoy the ride :-)
Sea Realms Rules
The recent invention of the Airbag, a pigskin sack filled with oxygen, lead to the exploration of the fifth Realm surrounding the land of Talisman, known as the Sea Realms. Bold and brave adventurers, who dared to wade through the endless depths of the ocean faced deadly sea creatures, uncovered magnificent treasures and marvelled at the beauty of the sea. The Sea Realms expands the possibilities for those brave enough to enter...
Components
To play the Sea Realms you need a Realm dice. This is a six-sided dice with the numbers 1, 1, 2, 2, 3 and 4 on its sides. Realm dice are provided with the commercial third edition expansion sets "Dungeons of Doom" and "City of Adventure". Also the Basic Talisman game is needed for play. The "Dungeons of Doom" and "City of Adventure" expansion sets are not necessary for play, however the Sea Realms can also be reached from these Realms. Furthermore you need some special counters, for instance glass beads, to be used as Pearls (Real pearls are of course preferred...). NOTE - I HAVE ADDED SOME PEARL COUNTERS TO THE CONVERSION - JON
The other components you need are provided on these pages and are:
1 Sea Realms Board, 4 Sea Realms Characters, 80+ Sea Realms Adventure Cards, Purchase cards, Spells, Normal Adventure Cards. Also a Forest and a Dungeon card for use with the expansion sets are provided. NOTE - THE BLACK MANGROVE HAS BEEN ADDED AS AN ADVENTURE CARD, NOT A FOREST CARD - JON
Setting Up
Set up all the pieces from the Talisman game (and expansions) exactly as you would do normally, then shuffle the extra Normal Adventure Cards and Spells (and Forest & Dungeon Cards) into the adventure Decks. Add new Purchase Cards to the Purchase deck. Shuffle in the new Sea Character Cards with the other Character Cards.
The Sea Realms board must be placed on a free space on the table. It is connected to the Royal Castle in the Inner Region on the main board. Since there is ample place for the Sea Realms board next to the castle it is placed aside. Shuffle the Sea Realms cards and place them near the appropriate realm. Now you are ready to start the game.
Playing the Game
The basic Talisman rules are unchanged, and the game is still won by defeating the Dragon King at the centre of the board. NOTE - OR WHICHEVER ENDING YOU USE - JON The only difference is that players may now move their characters into the new Sea Realms at the side of the main Talisman board. Special rules apply to entering and moving within the Sea Realms. These are described below. In addition, when in the Sea Realms you must draw cards from the Sea Adventure Deck, rather than the normal Talisman Adventure card deck.
Entering and Leaving the Sea Realms
The Sea Realms are connected to the main Talisman board at a specific space: The Royal Castle of the Inner Region connects to the Shell Gate of the Sea Realms. You may enter the Sea Realms simply by moving from the main board to the Sea Realms from the appropriate connecting space. However, your move ends as soon as you enter the Sea Realm, even if you had some spaces of movement left over.
To leave the Sea Realms simply reverse the procedure, moving from the entry/exit space on the main board. You do not have to stop moving when you move back to the main board, and must use up your full move as normal.
Entering the Sea Realms from the City Realm is possible at the Wharf. You must pay normally (2 Gold) for your passage to any land space in the Sea Realms (the Shell Gate, the East and West Beaches and the Giants Island. No passage from the Wharf can be booked to any sea space in the Sea Realms.
You can also encounter adventure cards during play that will move you to or from the Sea Realms.
As an optional rule you (like we do) may use a slightly different procedure of entering the Realms (including the commercial ones). You must land exactly onto the connecting space on the main board to the appropriate Realm during your turn. On your next turn you move to the connecting space in the appropriate Realm. On your third turn you can move freely within the Realm. The same procedure is used when leaving the Realm and/or with movement between the Outer and Inner Region on the main board.
Moving within the Sea Realms
If your character starts a
turn in the Sea Realm you must roll the special Realm dice to see how
many spaces the character may move. The Realm dice is different from a
normal six-sided dice in that it bears the numbers 1, 1, 2, 2, 3 and 4 instead
of the normal 1-6 pips. This means that you will move more slowly in the Sea
Realms, which is logical because movement in a water (and sand) environment is
more difficult than on the normal land-based board. Note that you only roll the
Realm dice for movement. Use the normal six-sided dice for battles, psychic
combat, or anything else that calls for a dice roll.
Movement on the Sea Realms board can be in both directions and is (aside from
the dice) identical to that of the normal Talisman board.
The Airbag and Water Bottle
All Characters, except the Mermaid and the Sea Troll, need an Airbag when travelling underwater in the Sea Realms. The Mermaid and the Sea Troll are naturally adapted to the underwater habitat. Followers who are not sea creatures themselves also need the protection of an Airbag when travelling underwater with a Character. One Airbag is enough to protect a Character with all the Followers travelling with him. However, it is of course safer to have a spare one...
Horses, Mules and the Cart Followers are not able to travel into the Sea Realms. They will stay, if you wish, in the stables of the Royal Castle for the price of one Gold per Follower. You can collect them when you return at the Royal Castle after leaving the Sea Realms. If you do not want (or are able) to pay for the upkeep of your animals at the Royal Castle, they will move to the discard pile.
Characters travelling without an Airbag lose one live each turn they stay underwater. A Character may also choose to lose a (non-sea creature) Follower instead of losing a life, if such Followers are available. The Mermaid and the Sea Troll will only lose (non-sea creature) Followers when they travel underwater without an Airbag. They do not lose a life underwater for not possessing an Airbag.
Sea-creature Followers need a Water bottle to protect them outside the Sea Realm. If a Character does not possess a Water bottle, they will lose a sea creature Follower each turn they stay outside the Sea Realms.
Airbags and Water bottles can be bought at the Shell Gate in the Sea Realms and the City Gates on the main board. Airbags are also available at the Stables in the City Realm.
Pearls
The currency in the Sea
Realms is Pearls instead of Gold. You will not be able to buy objects or
services from Strangers with Gold. Pearls can be found while adventuring in the
Sea Realms or exchanged. It is possible to change Gold for Pearls and vice versa
at the Trade Market in Neptune's City in the Sea Realms. Another possibility to
change Pearls for Gold, but not the other way around, is at the Alchemists Shop
in the City Realm (City of Adventure expansion). The exchange rate is one Pearl
for one Gold, and one Gold to one Pearl. A rare Black Pearl exists, which is
worth five Gold (or five ordinary Pearls). Also the magical Pearl of Wisdom can
be used as payment, but it has the worth of an ordinary Pearl.
Use coloured glass beads as Pearl tokens, or something else not to be confused
with the Gold tokens.
Sea Realm Characters
There are four new Sea Realm Characters with the expansion set: The Sea Troll, the Mermaid, the Dwarf Buccaneer and the Surfer. They all start at special places in the Sea Realms, indicated on the Character cards. The Sea Troll and the Mermaid do not need an Airbag when travelling under water. Their physical body is adapted to the life underwater. However when they take land creatures or followers with them under water an Airbag is needed for them.
You will have to find miniatures for the Sea Realm Characters yourself. Trolls are widely available with Citadel miniatures. The Dwarf Buccaneer is based on a Games Workshop miniature from 1985 (named Gloater or Cloater). I haven't found miniatures of Mermaids and Surfers yet.
Toads
The rules for Toads in the Basic game are also applied for Toads in the Sea Realms. However since Toads are amphibians they don't need an Airbag for the time they remain Toad. When they are transformed back to their original character they will need an Airbag under water if their original character also needed one.
Purchase Cards
The Sea Realms includes several new Purchase Cards. The items can be bought either at the City Gates on the outer region of the main board, or at the Armoury in the City Realm. Airbags and Water bottles can also be bought at the Shell Gate in the Sea Realm.
Prices of the new purchase objects are:
Airbag (outside Sea
Realms) - 1 Gold
Airbag (at Shell Gate) - 1 Gold or 1 Pearl
Water Bottle (at Shell Gate) - 1 Gold or 1 Pearl
Mail G-String - 2 Gold