Taslantia Product Line

Review


Title: Taslantia Product Line
Company: Wizards of the Coast
Category: RPG System & Supplements
Reviewer: Doug Easterly

A Little Background

The world of Talislanta is one of the many fantasy worlds to have cropped up in gaming over the years. Like Glorantha, Tekumel, or Jorune, this world seeks to depart from the "generic" sorts of fantasy worlds produced at companies like TSR and create a sense of awe and wonder, and to create the feel of an alien but understandable world. The project of Talislanta was begun in the mid-1980s by Stephan Michael Sechi, under the banner of Bard Games. Beginning first with a generic world description, then developing into a specific role-playing game and its supplements, Talislanta became a fairly substantial body of material. But Bard Games didn't last, and it seemed that with its passing, Talislanta had disappeared.

What brought Talislanta back was a deal with the fledgling Wizards of the Coast, which licensed all Stephan Michael Sechi's materials from Bard Games to Wizards of the Coast. This led to the project of the third edition of Talislanta, and the revival of Talislanta.

The Game

The basis of the game is the Talislanta Guidebook. This hefty tome weighs in at over three hundred pages, and includes all the rules you will need to run a beginning Talislanta game. It combines mechanics, and overall world description in one volume, providing the basic reference work for all aspects of the game.

The game mechanics focus on simplicity. A single die mechanic controls all task resolutions. The basis of the roll is a d20 role on the Action Table, which is only a few lines long. Results are described in very vague terms (Mishap, Partial Success, etc.) with some range for the GM to decide what this means. Guidance in adjudicating results is given in both the combat and magic sections with specific descriptions of what results mean in combat, and with several spells.

Die rolls are modified by skills and by characteristics. Both skills and characteristics are rated as a plus or minus score, with a score of zero being average. For instance, a strength of 0 is considered normal while a strength of +3 is a fairly strong individual and a -1 strength indicates a relatively weak individual.

There are drawbacks to the simplicity of the system. It doesn't take much effort to manipulate the rules to one's advantage, and with fairly little effort, the rules do show real problems. But I'll get into that more with my comments on combat and magic.

Character Creation

Talislantan character creation is based on archetype. The Talislanta Guidebook gives archetypes for 118 different types of Talislantans. They cover all parts of the Talislantan game world, and many types of professions. While each may be customized, they create quick descriptions of "typical" denizens of Talislanta, including characteristics and skills.

I'm not a big fan of archetypes. They often restrict players, and can be more of a straightjacket, a sort of detailed and narrow character class mechanic. That said, I also think that the archetype system seems to work for Talislanta. The reason for this is that the archetypes system enforces the logic, atmosphere, and background of Talislanta into the forefront.

Also, the game allows players to develop skills and abilities outside of their archetype. Thus the archetype is a beginning for characters, from which players may choose whether or not they wish to diverge. Despite my reservations, I must say it works.

Finally, I should note that the sheer number of archetypes can be daunting. The Talislanta Guidebook recommends narrowing down choices for beginning players until they are more familiar with the game and with the world. I would tend to agree. Keep it simple at first, then sample other possibilities.

Talislantan Combat

Combat in Talislanta is aimed at being quick. That aim is achieved quite readily, and combat runs at least as quickly as combat in systems like D&D which focus on simple mechanics. The problem with this simplicity is that it sometimes breaks down easily. The two examples I have noted are:

  • The range penalties for missile weapons makes them nearly useless in combat. Only an absolute marksman should be feared in Talislanta.

  • All combat skill rolls are based on the Dexterity characteristic. This means that nimble characters, like the rat-like Ferrans, who are known for their thieving abilities, are more likely to hit than the warrior race of Thralls, who are bred for battle from the day they were born!

    These things can be fixed fairly easily - with a new set of range modifiers on the one hand, and a modified way of calculating the basic combat skill for a characteristic. Even so, I wish such problems were fixed in play-test before the game was published.

    Magic

    Magic is essential in Talislanta. Magic is the basis of all technology, and of all physical laws. Science, on the other hand, is looked on with the same skepticism as mysticism is in our world. That being the case, magic using characters are much more powerful in Talislanta than in many other games.

    This can be a real problem in the game, as powerful wizards can be untouchable by puny warriors, and have the power to incinerate them with a few blasts of magical power. It also makes it hard to run a game without a magic-using character in the group.

    The magic system in Talislanta also gives a wide selection of spells to beginning spellcasters. This makes sense for those characters whose focus is magic, but this even applies to those who only dabble in magic. Thus a Cymrillian sorcerer, trained at the Lyceum Arcanum - a sort of university of magic - will know as many spells as a Sarista Gypsy who has picked up some witchcraft over the years.

    Again, this can be fixed fairly easily, but shouldn't need fixing at all.

    Role Playing vs. Game Balance

    One thing players and GMs should realize is that the idea of game balance much stressed since the early days of D&D is pretty much ignored on Talislanta. That, I think, isn't a bad idea. The roles of characters in Talislanta don't necessarily balance out, especially in combat. The strengths of each archetype are in the potential for role-play and for interaction with aspects of the game world.

    Combat, therefore, isn't focus of the game. I think that this is the reason for some of the flaws I noted above. The game designers didn't think about the fine details of combat. They don't want us to think too much about them either. They want the mechanics to fade into the background, and for us to focus on the world of Talislanta.

    Talislanta

    Talislanta is a continent on the world of Archeus, a world where magic is the basis of all physical laws. Archeus works differently than Earth, Millennia ago, the primitive sub-human inhabitants on the continent of Talislanta discovered a crashed space vessel, and from it found a magical device that taught them the basics of magic. From that, they built a great society. These men, known as the Archaeans, build a global civilization of much magical power and wonder. But their excessive use of magic led to a great cataclysm, destroying their society and casting the continent of Talislanta into a new dark age.

    During this time, humankind warred with the races of Sub-Men to regain some level of civilization. Thus has come the current age. Civilization has come again to Talislanta. Adventuresome souls seek to uncover the magical secrets of the past, and to bring civilization to the glories of the past. Meanwhile the Sub-Men gather under a single banner to overthrow the civilization of Men.

    This is the background for the campaign. Seeds for adventure exist in the world itself - in trading, exploration, and politics. In addition, there are ancient secrets to unearth, Sub-Men uprisings to stop, and threats to the very fabric of civilization.

    Within this framework are several interesting and colorful societies, some based loosely on historical civilizations, others entirely unique. There are several non-human civilizations with which to interact, ranging from friendly to hostile. Political intrigue can be found in all parts of the world. Plothooks for any GM exist throughout the fabric of Talislanta.

    In addition, in all this information there is a lack of specific detail. This is intentional, giving each GM room to make his own mark on Talislanta. The game world can be detailed to a GM's content, or left vague for future exploration, allowing each of us to make Talislanta the game we want it to be.

    More Talislanta

    For those of us who want more detail, however, that is also available. Wizards of the Coast has been diligent in producing support materials for Talislanta. The best supplement they have released to date has been the Archaeans Codex, by Stephan Michael Sechi. The Codex details "the lost secrets of the forgotten age" for Talislantan campaigns. It is an all-purpose compendium of things to know about the Forgotten Age. Its main focus is on the forgotten magics of the Forgotten Age, including skills, spells, and artifacts from the ancient Archaeans and other people of ancient times. However, it also includes a more detailed early history of Talislanta, profiles the powerful magicians of the Archaeans, and details ruins of the ancient world.

    How do you use this in a Talislanta campaign? It is an excellent guide to exploring ancient ruins - including where ruins might be found, what might be found in them, and what kinds of benefits may be gained from them. Any wizard worth his or her robes should be interested in finding forgotten magics....and this book details exactly what those magics are, and gives you some guidelines on where players may find them. It is an excellent piece, the only work I would currently call a "must-have" supplement for Talislanta Game Masters.

    The Scent of the Beast, a scenario by Jonathan Tweet, is the first adventure published for Talislanta. It is designed as an introductory adventure to the world of Talislanta, and continues directly from the introductory adventure in the Talislanta Guidebook. It provides opportunities for travel, trade, exploration, intrigue, and combat, allowing players a chance to get the feel for Talislanta and their roles in the world. It is a well-done adventure with plenty of room to customize the adventure for your personal tastes.

    Talislanta Geographica is more difficult to recommend. For your purchase you get a beautiful full-color wall map of Talislanta, a game screen with the same map (only smaller) on one side, and some useful tables on the other, and a few pages of mini-adventures and general world information. The work is good, but a bit over-priced at $10 for what you get.

    Tales of Talislanta also gets a mixed recommendation. Tales of Talislanta is not a game supplement per se. It is, rather, an anthology of short stories set in Talislanta. The quality of the stories varies a great deal, but they do provide a good feel for Talislanta, and act as a sort of introduction to the alien nature of the world. Oddly enough, none of the stories seem to focus on the Seven Kingdoms, the part of Talislanta that the Guidebook recommends as the start of a campaign world. Tales should be looked on as a fairly inexpensive sampler of the game world for those who wish to get a feel for it, or as an item for the Talislanta completist, but is not otherwise highly recommended.

    On the Way

    As I write this, another adventure, Quantrigue, by Stephan Michael Sechi should be on the shelves, providing intrigue in the eastern lands of Talislanta. In the works are Thrystram's Collecteana, a compendium of the creatures of Talislanta, treated in detail; the Talislanta Omnibus, a detailed description of the game world; a sequel to the adventure The Scent of the Beast; and GURPS Talislanta, a supplement (licensed by Steve Jackson Games) to permit you to play in the world of Talislanta using the GURPS rules. It seems that Wizards of the Coast is going whole hog into supporting Talislanta, and it should enjoy a lively run.

    Overall

    I recommend looking into Talislanta. It is a colorful, interesting world which still gives GMs room to build their own campaigns. It is well-supported by a line of well-executed products which show attention, good writing, and excellent editing and production values - though the rules also show a few kinks that need working out. You can easily begin with a single rulebook and branch out as you desire, with fairly minimal outlay.

    Which products should you buy to begin your Talislanta adventure? The Guidebook is a must, and if you have a limited budget, it is the only book you absolutely need. After that, I recommend the Archaean Codex quite strongly. The Scent of the Beast is a good adventure, but isn't necessary, while the other products in the Talislanta line - the Talislanta Geographica and Tales of Talislanta - aren't necessary at all.

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