Talislanta
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| Talislanta | |
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| Designer(s) | Stephen Michael Sechi |
| Publisher(s) | Bard Games, Wizards of the Coast, Shooting Iron, Morrigan Press |
| Publication date | 1987 (1st edition) 1992 (3rd edition) 2001 (4th edition) 2005 (d20 edition) |
| Genre(s) | Fantasy |
| System | Custom, d20 System |
Talislanta is a fantasy role-playing game written by Stephen Michael Sechi that was initially released in 1987 by Bard Games. The company also published a second, revised edition of the game but then ceased operations. However Sechi maintained ownership of Talislanta, and licensed the game to the then small upstart company Wizards of the Coast who in turn published a third edition developed by Jonathan Tweet in 1992. Wizards of the Coast sold off all of its role-playing lines after achieving massive success in the CCG market, leaving Talislanta in the hands of a series of small publishers who never managed to produce a new edition of the game. This limbo was ended in 2000 when a group of fans, sick of the delays, formed Shooting Iron and compiled the fourth edition of Talislanta. Recently Morrigan Press bought the Talislanta line and continues to support the game, with a 5th edition being published in 2007.
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[edit] Setting
The Talislanta universe differs strongly from other games of similar genre. There are very few references to Norse/Celtic mythology, instead the flamboyantly diverse setting is more akin to the Dying Earth novel series by Jack Vance. Indeed, Vance is listed by Sechi as a primary influence on the setting, as well as a host of other Pulp-era fantasy fiction authors.
Existing game-literature mostly deals with the continent of Talislanta, set on the world of Archaeus, which is home to several dozen very distinct peoples and races, such as the Cymrilians the Gnorl, or the Xambrians. These cultures and races are wholly alien, or akin to Earth cultures not of the stock commonly seen in other RPGs. This led to its advertising blurb "No Elves!" which establishes that very little of the common Tolkien influence was present in the setting.
In the distant past Talislanta was ruled by the Archaens, a race of decadent sorcerers who lived in floating cities and used their uncanny powers mainly in the pursuit of pleasure and distraction. It was this haphazard use of dangerous and unstable arcane powers which presumably weakened the dimensional fabric, causing the magical devastation known as the Great Disaster. The disaster shattered the Archaen society in a day, and had numerous ripple effects on the continent of Talislanta. Most contemporary races are either some offshoot or the Archaen race, "Neomorphs" created by magical means, or one of a handful of mysterious races more ancient than the Archaens.
The continent is one of great magic, with the eldritch forces being in common use among every social strata of the continent and its many cultures. Arguably the greatest of the magic wielders are the people of Cymril, who founded the Seven Kingdoms (often the default starting point of the game). It is stated many times that the magical capabilities of the Archaens was far beyond this. Archaeans possessed magical equivalents to spaceships, virtual reality theme parks, space stations, and other trappings of an advanced technical life (founded on magic, in their case). Many of these advances are left in ruins to be discovered by the truly intrepid adventure seekers.
The setting is grim in places, comic in others. Situations vary on the Continent and it is possible to have Talislanta games of greatly varied tone due to this. Areas of the continent are very grim with warring factions and brutal survivalists who live each day to see the next, while others are decadent areas where wealth, magic, and leisure have made the inhabitants petty and argumentative (in a tip of the hat to Vance, as above).
[edit] System
It is reportedly very common for new GMs and players to feel there is too much scope to the setting, and it is advised that players find a single region to concentrate on before moving on to globe-trotting games. This tactic for game development is aided by newer editions, where setting and character material is broken up by major geographic sections of the continent, to allow players to focus until their comfort level is achieved.
The Talislanta rules are geared towards simplicity and adaptability to the creativity of players. A single d20 die is used to determine rule tests. (The popular Dungeons & Dragons game has recently adopted a similar approach with the d20 System rules.)
[edit] History
Shooting Iron published The Midnight Realm, a supplement for Talislanta, in 2003.
In 2004, Morrigan Press acquired the Talislanta license and has published a number of books for the game including a d20 edition in early 2005 followed by four new sourcebooks and an adventure. Talislanta publishing continues with a fifth edition and more supplements planned for release in 2007.
In 2004, a French publishing company Ludopathes Éditeurs acquired the license to adapt the game to the French public. A starter kit was published in 2005 and was followed by the rulebook in September 2005 and a GM's screen "Secrets of the Reaper" in early 2006. An original campaign "The Moons Chronicles - Phandir" was released on July 2006, and a sourcebook on the Omniverse "The Guide of Spheres" was released in late 2006 as well as a series of PDF booklets giving the rule to create characters from the different parts of the continent.
