Talisman (Revised 4th Edition): The Harbinger Expansion
Talisman (Revised 4th Edition): The Harbinger Expansion Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
The Harbinger includes:
- 3 Character Figures and 1 Harbinger Figure
- 1 Harbinger Sheet
- 32 Omen Cards
- 10 Terrain Cards
- 75 Harbinger Cards
- 10 Spell Cards
- 3 Character Cards
- 2 Alternative Ending Cards
The printed text of the Character cards, Spell cards, Harbinger Sheet and Alternative Ending cards is not reproduced here; it appears only on those cards and is too small to read reliably on the rules sheet. Consult the cards themselves.
Expansion Rules
This rulesheet explains how to use the new components to enhance your Talisman experience.
The Harbinger Symbol
Cards in this expansion are marked with a Harbinger Raven symbol to distinguish them from the cards in the base game.
Strength/Craft
Some of the Enemies in The Harbinger possess a Strength/Craft value. If a character encounters these Enemies, he can choose to fight all these Enemies in either battle or in psychic combat. Characters may exchange trophies with a Strength/Craft value for either Strength counters or Craft counters.
The Harbinger
The Harbinger is the bearer of an ancient prophecy who has arrived to foretell the end of the world.
At the start of the game, place the Harbinger figure on the Harbinger sheet. After a character (not in the Inner Region) draws an Event, move the Harbinger to that character's space.
Whenever a character in the same Region as the Harbinger is instructed by a board space to draw cards, he must draw Harbinger cards instead.
Whenever the top Omen is discarded, move the Harbinger figure to the Harbinger sheet after the next Omen in the stack is resolved.
A character landing on the same space as the Harbinger must encounter the Harbinger by rolling on his chart instead of encountering the space or another character on the space.
Harbinger Cards
Harbinger cards do not count as Adventure cards while being drawn and cannot be affected by the Orb of Knowledge, the Prophetess' ability, or similar effects.
Once a Harbinger card has been placed faceup on a space, it is treated as an Adventure card.
Enemies from the Harbinger deck must be taken as trophies when defeated in battle or psychic combat.
Omen Cards
As the apocalypse looms over the world of Talisman, signs appear and prophecies are fulfilled, warning that the end is nigh. The Omen cards reveal the greatest of these signs.
Before the game begins, players must first decide which Omen set they wish to use. Collect all eight Omen cards belonging to that Omen set. Then use them to make a faceup stack, starting with the 7th Omen at the bottom, then the 6th Omen, 5th Omen, etc., with the Prophecy card on the top. The stack is then placed next to the Harbinger sheet.
When an effect causes the top card of the Omen stack to be discarded, take the top card of the Omen stack and place it faceup on top of the Omen discard pile. Then resolve any immediate effects on the newly revealed Omen card. If there are no cards remaining in the Omen stack, the game is over and all characters lose the game.
If an effect places an Omen card in the Omen discard pile on top of the Omen stack, resolve any immediate effects on the newly placed card.
Continuous effects of the top Omen card of the Omen stack are always applied until the Omen is discarded or no longer the top card of the Omen stack.
Cursed Keyword
Some Objects and Followers have been twisted and tainted by dark powers and have the Cursed keyword. Cursed Objects and Followers must be taken by a character encountering them (even if the character is at his Object Carrying Limit) and cannot be ditched.
When a character has more Objects than his Carrying limit, and must decide which Objects to keep, a character must choose to keep as many Cursed Objects as possible. A character can only choose not to keep a Cursed Object if he has more Cursed Objects than his Carrying limit.
Cursed Objects and Followers may be discarded, stolen, and sold as normal.
Terrain Cards
As the world draws closer to its end, the land irrevocably shifts and changes. Certain game effects instruct players to place a Terrain card on a space of the game board. While a Terrain card is on a space, the text and name of that space is ignored and the text and name of the Terrain card is used instead. If an effect refers to a space that is no longer on the board because that space contains a Terrain card, that effect is ignored.
The pictured Terrain card is the "Chasm" card. Its printed text reads: "Brave the Chasm. Roll one die for yourself, and one for each of your Followers. If a 1 or 2 is rolled for yourself, lose 1 life. If a 1 or 2 is rolled for a Follower, it is killed."
For example, if the Temple space contains a "Chasm" Terrain card and a "6" is rolled at the Tavern, the effect of moving to the Temple is ignored. Terrain cards can only be removed by effects that specifically remove Terrain cards. Players cannot place Terrain cards on spaces in the Inner Region. If an effect instructs a player to place a Terrain card where he cannot, he ignores that effect.
If an effect causes a player to place a Terrain card on a space and there are no cards of the required type left in the Terrain deck, he must choose a Terrain card of that type on the board and move it to that space. If a player places a Terrain card on a space that already contains a Terrain card, he removes the original Terrain card from that space and returns it to the Terrain deck.
If a player places a new character on the game board, he ignores any Terrain cards when placing that character.
If a Terrain Card is placed on the last space of an expansion board, such as the "Treasure Chamber" from The Dungeon expansion, a character must end his movement when entering that space, then encounter the Terrain card on that space.
Terrain Cards and Movement
If the Sentinel space contains a Terrain card, characters may cross freely from the Outer Region to the Middle Region; they do not have to defeat the Sentinel. Likewise, if the Portal of Power space contains a Terrain card, characters may cross freely from the Middle Region to the Inner Region; they do not have to pick or force the lock, nor are they stopped by the Warlock if they have an uncompleted warlock quest.
Placing Random Terrain Cards
Some game effects will instruct players to place a random Terrain card. When this occurs, the player shuffles the Terrain deck, draws the top card, and places it as directed by the effect.
If there are no cards remaining in the Terrain deck when a player is instructed to place a random Terrain card, he instead takes the Terrain card closest to his character and moves it to his space. If two or more Terrain cards are equally close, he chooses which one to move.
Terrain Cards and Other Expansions
When using an expansion board, if a Terrain card is on a space that allows movement between boards, characters can still move to and from the expansion board following the normal movement rules of that expansion.
When using The Harbinger with The City expansion, Terrain cards cannot be placed on the "Jail" or "Town Square" spaces of The City expansion board.
Alternative Ending Cards
The inclusion of Alternative Ending cards is optional, and players should agree whether or not to use them before starting the game. The Alternative Ending cards included in The Harbinger expansion are usable with Alternative Ending cards from other expansions.
Setup
Setup for Alternative Ending cards is determined by which of the two game variants players decide to use. Players can start the game with the card either revealed or hidden.
Revealed Variant
The revealed variant has a greater impact on characters during the course of the game and offers players more strategy.
If players use the revealed variant, remove all Alternative Ending cards that have a hidden icon (a crescent moon) in their upper-left corner and return them to the game box. Then shuffle the remaining Alternative Ending cards, draw one Alternative Ending card from the top of the deck, and place it faceup on the Crown of Command at the centre of the game board.
Hidden Variant
The hidden variant adds mystery to the Talisman experience by preventing players from knowing the dangers that await them at the Crown of Command.
If players use the hidden variant, remove all Alternative Ending cards that have a revealed icon (a sun) in their upper-left corner and return them to the game box. Then shuffle the remaining Alternative Ending cards at the start of the game, draw one card at random, and place it facedown on the Crown of Command at the centre of the game board.
Encountering Alternative Endings
Alternative Ending cards replace the base game's victory conditions, offering players new ways to win the game. When using the Alternative Ending cards, characters on the Crown of Command must encounter the Alternative Ending card and follow the rules printed on the card; they cannot cast the Command Spell or encounter other characters on the Crown of Command unless the Alternative Ending card specifically states otherwise.
All other rules regarding the Inner Region still apply when playing with Alternative Ending cards:
- None of the creatures in the Inner Region (nor any of the Alternative Ending cards) can be affected by any Spell. They also cannot be evaded.
- Characters on the Crown of Command cannot move and must remain on that space unless the Alternative Ending card specifically states otherwise.
- After any character reaches the Crown of Command, any character who is killed automatically loses the game.
Alternative Ending cards often affect only characters on the Crown of Command. However, instructions that have a star icon at the start of their text affect all characters, no matter what Region they are in, including characters on the Crown of Command.