Long ago two tribes warred in the land of the great sands. One was the mystical nomad led by the law-fearing Prophets. The second claimed to be led by the natural gods of creation. But time and sandstorms have a way of covering things up and both races were lost. Today the Sultan, who claims lineage to the Pharaohs, and the mysterious Sheik, who very few see and the people claim is the son of the Prophets, rule the desert. But the land holds much more to those willing to brave the water craved sands. Many claim that Magical Items simply lay in wait for those willing to find and claim them. Others say that an even greater goal lies within the Great Temple. No one has explored the depths of the temple and come out alive, but legend says that the Pharaohs and the Prophet’s final legacy remain hidden within. So grab your turban and camel, and brave the sands of Desert Talisman!

Desert Talisman is a supplement to the game of Talisman 2^nd Edition. You need the original 2^nd Edition game and other supplements to use Desert Talisman.

List of Cards (Cards with a number in parenthesis denotes the number of cards to include in a deck--a * denotes cards with special ruling at the end of these rules):

Desert Deck: Arabian Nights; Bag of Gems (4); Buzzards; Camel (2); Desert Thief; Diamond; Elephant; Emerald; Escape Pod; Eye Of Isis; Giant Sandworm; Giant Scorpion; Hawk; Heat Exhaustion (2); Jackal; Magic Lantern; Medallion *; Mummy *; Mummy’s Tomb; Pillar of Fire; Pyramid *; River Nile; Roc; Ruby; Saber (2); Sand Dragon; Sandstorm (2); Sandworms (2); Scimitar; Scorpions (2); Sheik; Slave Train; Sphinx Statue; Storehouse; Sultan; The Scribe; Turban; Water Sack (3); Well; Woman of Salt.

Adventure Deck: Arc of the Covenant*; Camel (2); Coat of Many Colors*; Giant Killer*; Gideon’s Horn*; Gopher Wood*; Holy Grail*; Jeweled Ephod*; Pot of Manna*; Sacred Robe*; Samson’s Hair*; Sand Dunes * (4); Spear of Destiny*; Staff of the Prophet*; Tablet of Commandment*; Water Sack (4).

Purchase Deck: Camel (4); Saber (2); Water Sacks (6).

Spells: Left for Dead (2); Open Sesame

Characters: Amazon*; Ambassador; Pharaoh (3^rd Level)*; Saracen*; Scout*; Shepherd Boy; Zulu*.

The following pre-existing cards fit the Desert theme and may be used in the Desert deck by printing them out with Desert backs: Sphinx, Genie, and Solomon’s Crown.

Setup: The Desert Board needs to be placed in a convenient area of the table near the Oasis of the Main Board and where all players can access it. Place the Desert Cards near the Desert Board.

Region: The Desert is considered to be outside in the Middle Region. All Events affecting the Middle Region affects the Desert as well. This includes freak Blizzards… Players inside the Temple however are not subject to such Events similar to Dungeon rules.

There is a difference in phrasing between board and spaces. Desert board refers to the separate board new with this supplement. Desert spaces refer to the spaces on the original board entitled ‘Desert’. The original spaces keep their original text.

Movement: Movement is the same as the Main Board. To access the Desert through normal play, Players must move to the Oasis on the main board. The Oasis space is considered to be the same exact space as the Desert Oasis. Players landing here may draw either an Adventure or Desert card and on their next turn may begin movement on the other board. A Player must land and end their turn on the Oasis space on either board to switch between boards.

The Temple is similar to the Inner Region. Only one space per turn is moved for Characters entering the Temple. If for some reason a Player changes their mind and decides to leave the Temple they must move one space backwards toward the Entrance. They do not have to encounter the spaces when this is done. They must completely exit the Temple before attempting to go in again—a Player may not re-change their mind midway through retreat.

If your group uses the Crown of Command or Dragon endings, the Temple may prove useless. A solution to this is that the ability to bring in your choice of alternate endings may be a blessing to another Player who does wish to use them. Also, if Alternative Endings are out of the question, give the Character who attains this goal the permanent prize of double Strength/Craft against the Dragon King, or double the power of the Crown of Command. However, to fully enjoy Desert please consider using Alternative Endings.

3^rd Level Characters: This expansion introduces another level to the Character growth concept. 2^nd Level represents an occupation or growth change in a Character’s life; likewise, 3^rd Levels are more of a state of being such as places of deity or power. Players may possess both a 2^nd and 3^rd Level persona. For example, it is possible to be an Elf High Mage who is Pharaoh of the land.

IMPORTANT: Characters keep all Special Abilities as given to them by the first two levels as well as the statistics of Strength, Craft, Life, and Gold. Any changes to this rule will be explained on the 3^rd Level Character card itself.

Why would I want three levels? Well, for one, they are extremely powerful allowing Players to wield spells and travel rules far above other players. The clincher, though, is that all third level Characters may enter the Crown of Command space and automatically win. They do not face the ending (they have great contacts and hordes of minions not to worry about such trivialities: “Guard, enter first for me? What? It was an empty pit, well now try again”. You get the picture) and all other Players immediately are subject to their new ruler.

Holy Relic: These are extremely powerful items that both the powers of dark and light crave to possess… or destroy. The Relics are considered Magic Objects for cards that target Magic Objects but other Magic Objects can never been considered Holy Relics. Most Relics start in the Adventure deck until drawn. Once drawn it is then placed on the Desert board so that players may begin a crusade to recover it. Any good alignment Character may return an object to the chapel or cathedral for a blessing. When this is done, discard the Relic and retrieve the reward listed on the card. Any evil alignment Character may do the same by discarding the Relic at the graveyard. Neutral Characters may do either. Although some Relics will not allow evil or neutral Characters to make use of it or even carry it, some spells and events will cause a Relic to fall on the cathedral, chapel, or graveyard. If this is the case, the player who’s turn the movement happens on or the player casting the spell gains the reward for the relic landing on the space if the Character’s alignment matches the space the relic is at. In any case, whether the player is eligible to reap the rewards or not, the relic is discarded.

Water Points: All Water Bottles (from the original game) must be amended to read 1 Water Point. These can still be used to save a life in the Desert but consider the Desert spaces of the Main Board to read Lose a Life or 1 Water Point. Water Sacks are available now, which contain 5 Water Points (See Purchase Cards below). When a Player Purchases or receives a Water Sack, place 5 Water Points (use a die or pennies to mark this) on the card. Whenever a Space or Card says you must lose Water Points subtract counters from your sack equal to the points needed to be lost. Whenever a Sack or Bottle is used up, they are discarded back to their respective piles. If a Water Point cannot be met for lack of a Bottle or Sack, you must loose 1 Life or Follower. Remember that Camels are well worth their weight in Water Sacks.

Purchase Cards: The Purchase Cards have been amended to reflect the changes made in the Equestrian Expansion. All three new Purchase cards are available in the City. The Camel can be bought at the Stables, the Water Sack and Bottles may be purchased at the Apothecary, and the Saber may be purchased at the Armoury.

SPECIAL CARD RULES AND ERRATA:

Amazon, Saracen, Scout, Zulu: These are original Characters that fit the mythos of Desert Talisman. They have been given updated text to highlight their abilities within the Desert. These are purely optional.

Holy Grail: This is the same card from the original 2^nd Edition expansion with updated text.

Medallion and Gems: For the purposes of this game a ‘gem’ is defined as any card with the word gem, crystal, or precious stone in the text or title of the card. Use common sense if there is any question. The Bag of Gems counts toward the entrance into the temple but obviously have no special power. Placing a Bag of Gems into the Medallion give you double of nothing.

Mummy: Just a quick note for the purists—this supplement was originally designed before the City expansion from Games Workshop was released. Some players prefer to have only one card per card title to avoid confusion; if this is an issue for your group, remove the Desert Mummy as opposed to the City Mummy. The Desert is not lacking for Enemies.

Pharaoh: See the ruling for 3^rd Level Characters above.

Pyramid: This card is inserted simply to give adherence to the Players that use the pre-existing Pyramid expansion. Refer to documentation from this expansion for movement and entrance rulings. If you do not use the Pyramid expansion, disregard this card.

Raiders: If this original Adventure card is drawn as normal, any items or gold left at the Oasis are available to Players moving on the Desert board.

Sand Dunes: Ideally there should be as many of these entrance cards in your Adventure deck as there are Dungeon doorways. This will depend on your own group’s assessment of the need to gain access to the Desert if getting to the Middle region is difficult or easy—Also the size of your Adventure deck itself will denote a need to even out the odds. Do not go below 3 or above 6.

In closing, I would also recommend that players contact Sam Wallace concerning the two flying carpet cards he has worked on. Either of these would make a fine addition to the Desert deck, with Sam’s permission. I would also recommend Carsten’s Desert cards that he has available in .pdf format. A number of his cards are presented with this expansion. These magnificent cards not only add the precise feeling of mystique to the Desert mythos but magnify the excitement level as well. I would suggest printing all of his cards with Desert backings.

Desert Talisman Expansion is a product of Petrie’s Inc. in association with HudGames. Designed and written by Cameron R. Crawford and Christopher G. Guber. Original art work by Cameron R. Crawford, Christopher Guber, Scot Guber, and Sam Wallace. Special thanks to Bill Ingram, Jon New, Sam Wallace, Scott Hudson and Games Workshop.