Now that Talisman is going out of print due to Fantasy Flight’s loss of the Games Workshop license, players are already snatching up copies of the fourteen expansions. This makes the choice to put together a buyer’s guide a somewhat strange one, since FFG won’t be offering these titles at all after February 2017.
But I feel like I need to offer a little guidance here, since I’ve introduced the game to many people, and recommended it to many others. People have actually asked me what expansions are worth getting and whether the base game on its own is worth purchasing. So I wanted to put together this buyer’s guide at the eleventh hour, so that people can know what expansions are really worth the trouble. Such an extensive product line can be imposing in a going-out-of-print environment, so this is a guide for those who are still scrambling to expand their game however they can.
Please note that I can’t vouch for the availability of any of these. Stock in online stores has been pretty spotty, and it’s not going to get better I think. That said, check out Fantasy Flight’s website, and do be sure to check your local game store. They might not have much, but this was such a big product line that they will likely have SOMEthing. I’ve also rated each expansions as being High Priority, Medium Priority, or Low Priority. I like them all, but some are definitely better than others.
Base Game – This seems kind of obvious, but you need the base game to play everything else on this list. I’ve been asked if the game needs to be expanded, if it’s worth having on its own, and I think it absolutely is. It’s a very direct, simple adventure game, and it is very approachable with non-hobbyists. Note that there are actually two editions out there. One has a black box and was actually published by Black Industries (a GW subsidiary) between 2007 and 2008. That version was eventually handed off to Fantasy Flight, who released a conversion pack that is now impossible to find. They then released their own “revised” version of the 4th edition, which is what most people will find. If you DO find a Black Industries version, note that you will not be able to use any of these expansions without the FFG conversion kit.
The Reaper – The first expansion for Talisman comes in a small box, and mostly just adds cards and characters. There’s also the first of many NPCs called The Reaper, who wanders the board having games of chance with the players. 857
This is probably the most straightforward of Fantasy Flight’s expansions, and the one most fans will tell you is best. I’m not sure it’s the best so much as the easiest to justify, since its theme fits right in with the base box and all of the cards feel like they could have come in the base game. It makes the adventure deck absurdly huge, so with the base game and this one expansion that’s probably as much Talisman as a casual player would need. Highest Priority
The Dungeon – This big box expansion is the first of the corner boards, new realms in the world of Talisman that when put together make the game an enormous table hog. The Dungeon is something of a meat-grinder, with more and tougher monsters, and a vicious boss at the end. Of course you could always just destroy the boss and then end up at the Crown of Command, but I’ve never seen that happen. There are more new characters too. One could make an argument that the corner boards lengthen the game (they do), but this is one of the good ones. It’s useful especially when the Adventure Deck has been expanded and diluted, since your odds of finding a monster with which to level up is much better in the Dungeon. It is tough as nails though. A lot of players have lost their characters in there. Highest Priority
The Frostmarch – Like the Reaper, Frostmarch adds more cards and characters (almost all the expansions do), but its setting is more specific. It focuses more on snow and ice monsters. Since many of the expansions past this point have a specific setting, that setting comes through strongest when using fewer expansions at once, and that’s the case here. This is also the first expansion to utilize alternate endings. A lot of fans (like myself) don’t really care about these, but it’s nice to have the options if the Crown of Command has become a little stale for you. Medium Priority
The Highland – The second corner board adds a mountain range to Talisman, and has a somewhat lower difficulty curve. It works fine, but to me it has always played as a somewhat weaker version of the Dungeon. 857