The Arena v1.0 An Unofficial expansion for Talisman by Games Workshop Copyright Alchimera Games 2012 Created May 1st, 2012 Final Version - May 1st, 2012 The Arena is an Alternative Ending where the Emperor is waiting at the Crown of Command for any Characters foolish enough to challenge him. These rules change Talisman's end game into a tactical combat game and you probably already have the board and don't even know it yet! Starting the Game 1. Place the Gladiator Slave Follower cards to the side. 2. Place the Ex-Gladiator Followers in the Adventure deck. 3. Place the Emperor in the Crown of Command space. He will wait for you... Playing with the Arena When a Character enters the Crown of Command space, it and all it's Followers are forced to fight for their lives! The Arena is represented by a standard sized checker/chessboard. A few extra Character stands might come in handy too. 1. The player, which we'll just call the Arena player from now on, places his Character in one of the corners. 2. The Arena player must have at least five non-animal Followers, if he does not have enough then he gains Gladiator Followers until he does and then draws another Gladiator Follower as well. 3. These Followers then are placed in any space the Arena player wishes as long as it is within 3 spaces of his Character. 4. A random opponent, which we'll just call the Emperor player controls the Emperor Character and his forces and places the Emperor in the opposite corner. 5. Adventure cards are drawn and all non-monster Enemies discarded until the Emperor player has twice as many as the other player has Followers currently on the board. 6. The Emperor player places these cards in any space his wishes as long as it is within 4 spaces of the Emperor. Arena Goal The goal of fighting in the Arena is to completely destroy all the pieces of the other side. If the Arena Character completely eliminates the Emperor and his Enemies then the Arena player instantly wins the game! If the Emperor player destroys the Arena player's Character and all his Followers then all cards go back into their respective discard piles and if there are two or more players left in the game then it continues as usual.
Turn Sequence The playing of the standard Talisman game is put on hold until the Arena sub-game is finished. The Arena player goes first. He selects a piece (his Character or Follower) and acts with it and then selects a second, third, etc until he has used all of his pieces he wishes to use for the turn. The Emperor player goes second. He selects a Enemy and acts with it and then selects a second, third, etc until he has used all of his pieces he wishes to use and then it is the Arena players turn again. To make this variant fun for all players some of the other players might be assigned control of some of the Enemies but they all have the same goal destruction! Movement All pieces (Character, Follower, or Enemy) can move two spaces a turn, three if its picture shows wings or four legs. Only one piece is allowed in each square on the board. Combat Any piece can attack any single piece in any adjacent space. This is resolved as standard Combat with two exceptions: there is no penalty for losing (the attack just misses) and an attacker gains a +1 Combat bonus for each previous piece on his side that attacked his target previously in the same turn. Each piece can only attack once per turn and can be moved before or after its attack. If the Character or Emperor is hit in Combat he loses 1 Life. If an Enemy or Follower is hit it dies. The Champion and Storm Giant have their normal Strength. All other Followers have a Strength of 2, 3 if their picture shows them with a weapon of any kind. Feint The Character and Emperor may try to outwit an Enemy. Treat as Psychic Combat except it's the Characters Craft vs the other pieces Strength unless it's the Character trying a feint against the Emperor or vice versa. If the feint works then the attacker gains a +2 Combat against this same Enemy but only on his next turn. If it faints then the attacker cannot attack on his next turn. Spells in the Arena Many Spells are not allowed in the Arena but those below are if slightly modified. Barrier - Place on any space, Followers and Enemies cannot move through it. Lasts 1 turn. Displacement - Move any Follower or Enemy to any unoccupied space on the board. Destruction - Remove any Enemy from the board and place it on the discard pile. Finger of Death - Kill any one adjacent Enemy. Fireball - Target any Enemy on the board and treat as regular Combat. Healing - Restores you to 4 Lives as normal. Hex - Place on any space, any Follower/Enemy moving through it dies, you lose 1 Life. Immobility - Prevents one selected Enemy from moving or attacking on its next turn. Invisibility - Prevents your character from being attacked. Duration: 1 turn Lightning Bolt - Prevents one selected Enemy from attacking on it's next turn. Misdirection - Move one selected Enemy a number of spaces up to it's normal maximum allowed. Psionic Blast - Increases your Characters Strength and normal. Duration: 1 turn Preservation - Prevent your Character from losing a Life or a Follower from dying as usual Random - You can cast this on yourself.
Slow Motion - Lowers the movement of any Enemy to one space a turn for its next two turns. Speed - Doubles the number of spaces you or a Follower can move. Duration: 1 turn Teleport - Move your Character to any unoccupied space on the board. Temporal Warp - Your Character (but not any Followers) immediately takes three turns Weakness - Lower one specific Enemies Strength by 1 until it is destroyed. Special Abilities in the Arena General Ideas 1. Special Abilities linked to unique weapons like the Archeologist s Pistol cannot be used. 2. A Character with the ability to fight a second round of Combat only may do so if their first attack missed. 3. A Character with the ability to re-roll for movement cannot use this ability and move as other characters 4. Characters cannot gain Followers while in the Arena. 5. Characters cannot evade Enemies. Special Abilities in the Arena Specific Cases Assume any Special Ability not mentioned is unchanged unless one of the above General Ideas relates to it. 1. The Assassin cannot Assassinate any Enemy in the Arena. 2. The Cyborg moves up to three spaces a turn. 3. The Dark Elf can drain life-force from a Follower but must be in any adjacent space. 4. The Dragon Slayer rolls two dice in Combat when attacking a Dragon, treat this attack as usual. 7. The Gladiator does not gain a Strength from his Followers but now gives each Follower a +1 Strength bonus while they are in the Arena. 8. The Halfling may re-roll any failed Feint attempt but must accept the second die roll. 9. The Highlander can still gain a +2 Combat bonus and miss his next turn. 10. The Leprechaun rolls a die at the start of his turn. If a the result is a 6 he may teleport into an empty space instead of moving as usual. 11. The Martial Artist can use a Killer Blow instead of normal Combat but with no penalty for failure. 12. The Necromancer cannot Charm Enemies. 13. The Ninja can only have Followers while in the Arena and cannot use a Secret Strike. 14. The Questing Knight attacks any Enemy or the Emperor without pause. 15. The Ranger has a +1 Combat bonus versus Animals and Dragons. 16. The Satyr can Panic one adjacent Enemy instead of attacking it. He rolls a die and moves the Enemy up to that same number of spaces. 17. The Samurai can use Karate, his Craft versus an Enemies Strength and if he wins the Enemy cannot attack on it's next turn. 18. The Swashbuckler may make a second attack (once per turn only and not including Followers) after winning a Combat. 19. The Swordsman cannot disarm his Enemies and if he does Parry he cannot attack on his next turn 20. The Warrior still rolls 2 dice in Combat 21. The Warrior of Chaos rolls a for a gift only when he personally kills an Enemy, not one of his Followers.