In this day of D20 licenses, much fantasy gaming has begun to look tragically the same. Oh, sure, each fantasy setting may CALL them by different names, and give each one or two little quirks to make them unique, but the inhabitants of these worlds are more or less usually the same: humans, elves, dwarves, halflings and maybe a gnome or half-orc thrown into the mix. Sure, many fantasy players are familiar with these creatures and are often reassured to find them in a new game.
But then there are other gamers who are tired of the same old mix of races, and are looking for something, well, unique..
Enter Talislanta 4th ed, from Shooting Iron Design. Talislanta is a game taking place on a small continent about the size of Texas on a planet "far far away". The land of Talislanta is home to hundreds of unique creatures and cultures that are totally alien to the Western Eurpopean myths that most fantasy gaming takes it's roots from. Former Inquest editor Rick Swan once compared Talislanta to "H.P. Lovecraft having written Alice in Wonderland with Hans Christian Anderson and William S. Burroughs", and that is a pretty good estimation of what sort of things you can expect to see there. The world is flush with wild tribesmen, mad magicians, wily traders, arrogant nobles, strange customs and, of course, fierce beasts lurking behind every stone and tree.
Beginners with Talislanta might find the game a bit daunting at first. The 500 page hardbound book is kind of intimidating in size, but in actual play the book requires little actual referencing and is very player friendly. New players begin by looking at the different character archetypes that are available to them, picking one, customizeing it a little by picking a few skills, naming the character and off they go, ready to play! With around 120 different archetypes to choose from (including around fifty or sixty different racial types!) and the ability to create new ones, there are limitless possibilities for roleplaying
The die mechanics of Talislanta consists of describing what your character wants to achieve in as much detail as possible ,making a skill roll using a 20 sided die and adding a skill bonus (or penalty) to that roll, and comparing it to a tiny chart to determine whether the action was a Critical Success (the action went off better than expected), Full Success (the action was exactly what the player wanted), Partial Success (The character kind of did what he wanted, but not quite), Failure (the character fails to achieve the goal), or a Mishap ( a spectacular failure that usually means bad news to the character) Every action in the game, from climbing a cliff to swinging a sword to building a boat to casting a spell uses this same mechanic. The rules are intended to be simple, transparent and encourage players to try outrageous stunts and dirty tricks.
Magic is also based on this same mechanic, and is employed by eleven different Orders of magic such as Wizardry, Cartomancy (using cards from the mystical Zodar deck), Witchcraft, Elemental magics (Pyromancy, Aeromancy, Geomancy and Aquamancy). All of these Orders employ twelve different Modes that have skill ratings for each one the character knows. These modes include things like Attack, Move, Summon, Illusion and so forth. What magical effects your character can produce are limited to what Order they belong to and what modes the character knows. For instance, a Pyromancer is going to be limited to spells involving heat and flame. If he has the Attack mode, he can cast a bolt of fire, or cause stones beneath the feat of foes to heat alarmingly or some other such thing. If he has the Summon mode, he might call up an elemental flame creature to do his bidding. Spells are improvised by the player as his Order and Mode will allow, but the spells are assumed to be written down and known by the character. Players should come up with names for these spells and write down the good ones they come up with for future use.
All this is fine and good, but it is the setting that is the star of the show in Talislanta and the majority of the book is devoted to it. The sheer maginitude of material contained here is astounding. Past editions of Talislanta have always seemed to fall short of really showcasing the entire land the way this edition does. Every culture that lives here is detailed with their unique customs and habits that really seem to have life of their own. Players reading these sections will get a real handle on how to roleplay their characters and GMs will find hundreds of different encounter and adventure hooks just leaping out at them. From the head-to-toe tattooed Thralls to the dual-brained Sindarins, players and GMs will find many different people and things to interact with.
The Gamemasters Section is rather small, but consists of good advice on how to run Talislanta and how to tailor the themes of the game to the tastes of your players. Also included in this section are master lists of creatures, skills and equipment that can be easily referenced if need be. The one thing missing from this edition that has been included in past editions is an introductary adventure, which was left out to keep the book from going to 600 plus pages and the cost into the stratosphere. However, Shooting Iron is going to make one available on it's website (www.talislanta.com)
All in all, Talislanta is an excellent game in a fascinating land. Players used to conventional fantasy gaming may be a bit put off by it's unfamilair conventions and creatures, but once playing they will find it a truly unique roleplaying experience. At $37.95, Talislanta is a bargain considering the amount of material included. Go bug your local gamestore clerk to order this game for you right now!!
Go to forum!
(Due to spamming, old forum discussions are no linked.)