Talisman: The City Expansion - In Stores Now Hot

This weekend we discovered that we had never even opened our copy of the Dragon expansion. So the City will have to be something pretty amazing for us to consider getting it.

How much do the board expansions really add? We got Reaper because everyone here said it was pretty much essential, and yes, we do like it. However, I wonder what the extra boards really add. Just more locations and lootz?

Personally, we never play with the extra boards because they spread people out too much which means less PVP, which to my mind is by far the best part of Talisman. We use the extra characters and spells, though.

I hated the City expansion for 2nd Edition. It just made the game longer and didn't add much that was particularly interesting.

I really want this :( But I told myself I just need one expansion and none of the corner expansions.

This looks like the best expansion since the Reaper. The city looks like a great place to explore...and I could see it becoming a main fixture in my games of Talisman.

I'm probably in the minority, but I liked Dragon better than the corner expansions as it works to change up the game a bit without spreading out the players. The small expansions are still the best way to expand the game - especially Reaper.

Why don't they make expansions like that? Change the middle region with city. The inner region with dungeon. Would be awesome. Add variations without adding the breadth.

I like my corner boards. Of course, we've tweaked the game so much now, that it's not exactly the same experience. One variation we play is: when you complete the predetermined number of Warlock Quests from the beginning of the game (usually 3), you can choose to teleport to the entrance of the Dungeon, Highlands, or Sentinel. When you get to the end, of that track, beat the boss (Eagle King, Demon Lord, or Dragon (in the middle), you win. Like I said, we have so many house rules, I don't know how to play the base game anymore.

The only advantage I see to the City, is that gold might actually be worth something.

I like the idea of middle board replacements, but I didn't like the dragon expansion, and it's clunky scale-collecting mechanic.

Got it, played it, enjoyed it.
The City really added a lot with Wanted Posters (trade trophies for gold instead), a whole host of shops selling potions, pets, weapons and magical items. The City cards themselves were fun, as was the Jail - doing hard time can kill you.

Perhaps I am in the minority in that I play with everything (I do need to play The Dragon though...), the only drawback with that is fitting it on a table.

Sam

Haven't played the City, but from Sam's account it sounds like a good add-on. I like my corner boards too, and we always play 2e and 3e with the City in play. It really gives you more interesting things to do if you want to take a different approach then tromp around and fight monsters.

I'd say this is easily one of the best expansions they've made for 4e. It offers a lot of surprisingly interesting items to buy and really seems to rectify the issue of surplus gold.

Finaly played with the City last night. Not counting the Dragon expansion, this one is the biggest game-changer of all the expansions, so far. All the crap you can buy is just SO USEFUL and, for the most part, better than even the best magic objects you can find in the adventure card deck. It will probably make games go along a bit faster, since you can now buy your way to greatness.

examples of stuff you can buy:
Battleaxe: +3 strength in battle, opponents cannot use ARMOR to stop life loss
Spellbook: you always have a spell
LUCKY the PANDA: a follow that lets you replenish a fate every turn

It's crazy