From: wrr3118@tamsun.tamu.edu (Rick Russell)
Newsgroups: rec.games.board
Subject: Talisman: Questions about Warhorse
Date: 2 Jan 1993 00:48:33 -0600
Organization: Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: tamsun.tamu.edu

I've recently been playing a lot of Talisman (by Games Workshop), with
the Talisman Expansion Set, the Talisman Adventure, and the Talisman
City.

My question concerns the Warhorse, which may be obtained from the
Stables in the City and may also be chosen out of the Adventure Deck.
The Talisman Rules and Q&A state that the Warhorse allows you to add
your Craft to your Strength for *any* combat in which you would normally
use Strength. Hence, the Warhorse is exactly equivalent to the Monk's
special ability and the spell Psionic Blast.

Frankly, for a measly price of 5G in the City, or for free if you pick
it out of the Adventure Deck, the Warhorse seems like an inordinately
powerful object. The Warhorse will allow most Strength 2 and 3
characters to take on Dragons and Giants with ease, given a sword and a
spot of good luck. Later in the game, characters fortunate enough to
have a Warhorse become extremely powerful. In a 2 player game, this is
practically a ticket to the Crown of Command.

How do you handle the Warhorse? Do you make it as powerful as the rules
suggest? Do you limit it in some way?

My wife and I have given this some thought, and we've come up with some
optional rules which might fix the problem.

1) The Warhorse *only* allows you to add your Craft to your Strength
when you land on/encounter a face-up Adventure Card or Character. When
you are attacked, the Warhorse is useless (i.e. you don't have the
opportunity to charge).

Comment: This rule is good on the face of it, but has some problems. In
the center of the board, the *second* character to enter the Crown of
Command space will get to charge, and on their attack they can steal
their opponent's Warhorse. The first character is dead meat. If the
character at the center gets the Belt of Hercules, then they can do the
same thing by teleporting on top of another character.

2) The Warhorse works as originally specified, but you may *only* take
Life away from your opponent, not Gold or Objects.

Comment: Makes a certain amount of sense, since it would be difficult to
use a Warhorse for subdual combat. It still allows low-strength
high-craft characters to kick the rear out of dragons and such, which
doesn't seem sensible. Instant strength for weak characters.

3) The Warhorse adds a random Charge Bonus (1d6) to your Strength in
every standard Combat, whether you attack or are attacked. Instead of
rolling one die and adding to your Strength, you roll two dice.

Comment: Easy to implement, simple to understand. On average, the
Warhorse will provide a Strength bonus of 3 or 4 at a cost of 5G,
slightly better than two-handed weapons at a cost of 4G. About the same
as the Mercenary. Provides no guarantee of easy success in a given
situation.

4) Same as (3), and in addition the Warhorse will not necessarily be
killed by attacks which would normally take a Life. The player has the
option of allowing the Warhorse to be killed instead of losing a Life in
Combat.

Comment: My personal favorite. Since the Warhorse no longer provides a
constant Strength bonus in combat, it seems unfair to kill it anytime
the Character loses a combat while using the Warhorse.

5) Same as (3) or (4), but the Warhorse only provides a bonus if the
Character encounters/lands on a face up Adventure Card or character.

Comment: Another sensible variation of (3) and (4).

6) By itself, the Warhorse provides adds 1 to your Strength in Combat,
and it may be combined with any normal weapons (Axe, Sword, etc) and
Armor.  A new weapon is introduced into the game: The Lance. The Lance
may be purchased at the City Armoury for 3 gold. It is a one-handed
weapon which adds 1 to your Strength while in Combat. When the Lance is
used with a Warhorse in Combat, both items used together provide a net
bonus of +4 to your Strength. When used *against* a Character with a
Warhorse, the Lance provides a +2 bonus to your Strength in Combat (then
you might call it a Polearm). The Holy Lance works just like a normal
lance, except that it is adds 3 to your Strength in Combat with
Enemy-Dragons and when combined with the Warhorse provides a net bonus
of +6 to your Strength in Combat against Enemy-Dragons.

Comment: It would require printing up some new Purchase cards, but
otherwise it's a really neat idea. I haven't playtested anything, so I
don't know if it's a well-balanced solution.

So any comments? Is there a net source for Talisman (and other) house
rules and game modifications?

-- 
#      Rick Russell | TAMU Meteorology | wrr3118@tamsun.tamu.edu       # 
#     "I am Elfy of Atlantis." "I am Jo-Jo of Munchkinland."           #
#     "We are Elfy and Jo-Jo!"                                         #