If you haven't tried Talislanta before, you're missing out on one of the coolest, weirdest fantasy settings out there

I like your spirit OP

Riding one of these into battle sure beats a horse or a mule any day!

Well, thanks! I've been playing RPGs for 30 years now and Talislanta is still one of my favorite games ever.

...and this is considered the "mule" of the central areas of the continent. Yeah, a freakin' giant lizard with the brains of a gerbil but the scales of a dragon.

He looks pretty sturdy, can't he battle too?

For the low, low price of 1,000 gold lumens this little fella can be your magical advisor, as he is invested with knowledge of the 17 planes of existence, all magical recipes and concordances and is intimate with the gossip of a hundred kings, princes and archmages. So just keep listening to his advice and forget that little catch the was written on the bottom of the bottle...

Only if it accidentally crushes your opponent by sitting on him like a giant german shepherd.

I mean, sure, you can point it in the general direction of your enemies and it will shamble its way over there oblivious to most blows, but it's not exactly a prize fighter.

Now for sheer soil-your-pants, ravening, gibbering terror of being crushed, there's nothing that beats an ogront. Notice the caravan wagon drawn to scale.

I'm loving these creatures, thanks OP.

My pleasure.

Next up are the Jaka Manhunters, who have the best stats in the game, protection against evil spirits, and an uncanny Sixth Sense that warns them when some furry artist is about to draw them in a sexually compromising position. Then they hunt down that hu-man and eviscerate them.

Tired of dogs, cats and hawks? Can't get your pet goldfish to become a ravening killer?

Then just get a Thrall to train you a pet Tarkus. This fucker eats about 200lbs of meat every day...wherever it can find it, you included. Throw it into a battlefield and watch how fast diplomacy breaks out. It makes pit bulls look like easter bunnies. And it can be your...uhh, loyal... pet. Yeah, sure.

Why yes, that IS a mixture of tiger, demon, turtle and scorpion, why do you ask?

I like these threads, and even the idea of Talislanta but I always feel like there's way too much to absorb to do things "properly". I've had the same feeling about Planescape because I ignored it in the 90s.

Serpent Vine: the decorative plant that eats the fingers of nosy guests who poke things too much.

Also found in every picnic site and camp ground where you want to sleep. Thanks, Talislanta.

It does have a lot of material to ingest, but the easiest way to do that is to read the Chronicles. It's basically a short novella, like if Marco Polo went on a 2-month bender across the continent using Spells of Dimensional Portals as his Uber ride. It's quite amusing, in the style of Jack Vance.

peedeepages.com/talislanta/pdf/1e/final/optimized/chronicles_of_talislanta.pdf

What do get when you cross a Skaven Ratman with a skunk?

Just. Don't. Ask.

In Talislanta, even the devils are blinged out to kingdom come and look swanker than a pimp on Friday night.

These little fellas eat bird eggs and seem harmless until they migrate across the southern kingdoms in floating swarms of, ohhh, several million, and chew through adventurers like a swarm of locusts.

I can't even remember if they're poisonous, but if they are...fuck me.

checked.
thanks user, i'll give it a gander tomorrow during my down time

>Hello there, 1987!

Is it good with childern?

Slowly roasted with onions and carrots in light red wine coulis, yes.

Talislanta has got you covered for all your hot, tattooed, muscle-girl Amazon warrior-women in the form of Thrall females.

Twice over, actually as the Danuvian Viragos also use battle-dancing as sexual sport with their males...

Bueno. Enjoy the 1980s metal flavor of the setting, user!

The Djaffir nomads and merchants wear magical face masks to protect themselves against demons, spirits and...unscrupulous mages who use mind magic to get lower prices. The things a businessman has to do to get a fair price around here...

Always wanted to play a campaign of this with my friends but none of them every seemed very into it, and it never got past the first session.

You think you're bad-ass? Well do YOU ride a fucking BAT-DEMON to work over a literal 1 kilometre waterfall of MOLTEN FIRE to work every day? Do you?

Here's some of the inspiration for the game, if you ever want to read some great pulpy science fantasy from the 1970s.

>pictured: an Ahazu warrior in his natural environment
>"Ooga-booga, I've got four arms and I know how to use 'em!"

Oh, and Kai Lung.

Jesus, I'm old.

Aaman: where the paladins are dicks and want to shave your whole body 'cause hair is SINFUL.

>and the most righteous society is something like 1984

Okay, I'll admit it: this was prime fapping material back when I was a kid.

>It's a little mini-demon, how kawaii!

You thought breaking in a horse was tough? Trying breaking in a demon-infused lizard-horse. It'll take more than a salt-lick to get this basterd in line!

Talislanta was also one of the first games to have wind-ships. Although the pictures for them weren't that great.

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You want salt? Danelek Salt Hunters have got you covered! All the salt you can haul on a giant lizard. Salt is more valuable than gold, dude!

Talislanta is full of beast-men, and Ron Spencer did an outstanding job illustrating them.

A greater hive of villainy I have yet to see.

>Yitek Tomb Robber
>Rahastran Cartomancer
>Manra Shapechanger
>Bodorian Sound-Sight Musicians
>Xambrian Holocaust Wizard-Hunter
>Playing the game of Zodar, aligned to the 7 Moons of Talislanta

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>It's a "Ice dragon with a heart of blue diamond" thread again

Xambrians are probably the edgiest race ever invented:

>muh "I'm an orphan"
>muh Entire race is orphans cause necromancer holocaust
>possessed by haunting spirits of ancestors
>can't sleep
>have to hunt down my parent's 1000-year-old killers
>they keep getting reincarnated like a Nazi Dr Mengele
>fucking wizards
>have to roam the world finding my people's killers
>over and over again until the end of time
>just kill me
>(without resurrection cause that sucks balls)

>I'm dark and brooding cause that's what wizards fear

If you're ever in the mood for a harem of Batrean concubines and/or Winged Ape females, then you need to check out the Farad Procurator. Imagine if purple-fur pimps had magic powers and the drugs dealers sold blow called Rainbow Lotus that actually let you see into the future! All this and 1,000 slaves can be yours if you know which exotic magical pharmaceuticals you need to pick in the Jungles of Chana, where shapechanging cannibals will eat about 10% of your workforce every quarter.

>dhuna witches can steal your hear with a single kiss

~heart

>Now you can play the Coneheads
>Fighting against Gigeresque Aliens in a tropical jungle

>Yes, I have to walk on a mountain of skulls every morning
>It carves my soul into pieces but I'm used to it

These one-eyed-staff guys are so weird I don't even know what they do.

>You can never say Talislanta didn't have enough claws and spikes for your needs

Sindarans are Dual-Encephalons; yes, they're the proud owners of TWO brains. Including double the skills and double the personality!

Unfortunately their ultra-rational brains prevent them from understanding all this fucking magic shit that everyone else is doing. What they hell are these people doing to the laws of physics and reality?!? Don't they understand Maxwell's Demon?

Oh well, at least they can become masters of Alchemy and 7-dimensional chess and shit.

Deserts of Red Glass make for some fine smelting potential, if you can avoid the hordes of Za bandits, double-headed dragon riders and black giants infesting the place.

Thralls are warrior-focused clones that have no physical differences...so they tattoo each other to look unique. The tattoos tell the story of their lives and struggles.

Well, I'm off to bed. Hope this thread has inspired some people to take a look at the nifty setting and give it a shot some day.

G'night!

Just wanted to let you know OP that you've encouraged me to give the setting a lookover. Seems neat and weird in just the way I like.

This. OP is a good man

Thank you OP. This thread needs archivin'.

I remember i tried to look into this once but it confused the shit out of me.

So for anyone who has actually played this how do the different races compare to one another? I mean the designers said they weren't trying to balance it, but is there kind of like a tier comparison or anything?

>says there are no elves
>like half of the thirty pc races are clearly thinly veiled elves.

Look like elves and live like orcs so they are not elves. I hope whoever trying so hard to get a game of this together the best of luck. Never my cap of tea

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That guy looks like a crossbreed, 4 arms say Ahazu, color and skull say Jangharan.

And religion is a pyramid scheme.

Jaka, Ferrans and Xambrians have the most raw stat boni I remember (though ferran has half average HP). In 4e and 5e you basically only have to sum up the base stat block. It would be a bit of legwork for the 87 races.

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Any word on what's happening with Talislanta TSL since the guy managing the project died?

Didn't know the guy died. I thought the comic was updating monthly for the kickstarter backers or something.

>There are over 100 races to choose from
Are these listed in one place, like a wiki?

I made a list, 5e, first column are from players handbook, remaining in the GM guide.

His brother took over the project earlier this month.

Is there a generally-agreed upon "good" version or versions to play? Or are they even that mechanically different?

I think 4e ("Big blue book") is the main Edition. It has the flexible do it yourself magic. 5e is basically the same as 4e with a lifepath system that has some additional customization for chargen, half doing away with the archetype packages of prior additions (they can still be build out of several lifepaths but the big list is gone, just some examples remain). So 4e is a tad more plug and play, 5e is more nuanced in chargen. Oldbeards sometimes stick with 2e but I can't say too much about it personally.

2e is the simplest to get into. 4e is the most complete everything -in-one-book edition. And prettiest layout.

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Stewart Wieck was the producer for The Savage Land, but he wasn't a writer or artist. The project is proceeding with Stewart's brother taking on the production and financial side. Good thing too, this might have killed yet another Talislanta project (the ol' Talislanta Curse, as grognards know it).

>Talislanta Curse
Have there been other "revival" attempts?

The Talislanta Curse is that everyone who tries to publish Talislanta goes out of business after 5 years or drops the game. Happened to Bard Games, John Harper's (yes, that John Harper) Shooting Iron, WOTC (yes, Jonathan Tweet did a version of Tal before D&D 3.0), Morrigan, a few others; ALL OF 'EM. Now it killed Stewart Wieck!

This is my entirely subjective opinion about the versions of Talislanta out there.

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Cymrillian Windships, Dracartan Duneriders and Mirin Ice Schooners were pretty neat modes of transport in the game.

Thx man, I really dig this stuff.

Which book is the best if you want to know more about the lore setting ?

4th edition has plenty of information about specific locales. It's what I read when I was first interested in running a game.

This read like the most boring thing imaginable.

Weren't these guys in an episode of Samurai Jack?

Love this system, can't get anyone to play it

Seconding this. The Fourth Edition (Or, as my group and I'm sure others refer to it, "The Big Blue Book") is the best iteration because of a balance between flexibility and accessibility. The magic system is infinitely customizable while at the same time clearly laid out (and encouraging players to create personal spellbooks as a quick reference). It's also your one-stop-shop for adventuring, because unless you want to go to other planes (e.g. the Midnight Realms) or include literally every creature that's ever appeared in every supplement or adventure, you've got plenty of material to work with.

Regarding the tone, I feel like it best encompasses both weird fantasy and pulpy action-heroics that require wailing guitars and slightly-too-loud synth keyboards. Despite having played this game for 18+ years and having been told time and again that it's a grim and gritty world on the brink of disaster, I've always felt it needed a bit of over-the-top theatrics to really feel fully realized.

For reference, this was a text that I sent to my players before an upcoming game:

"After braving the perpetual twilight of the Dread Forest and piercing the fragile beauty of the Forest of Glass, our intrepid adventurers have found a major clue to locating Mad Wizard Rodinn's great work, Experimental Thaumaturgy. But now they find their windskiff, the Emerald Zephyr, pursued by an ancient and alien windship crewed by villains escaped from myth and legend.

Can they outrun this relentless menace, or will they be forced to tangle with the dreaded Sky Raiders of Baratus? Next time, on Talislanta: 'PIRATES OF THE AETHERIC SEAS.'"

I also once played a Cymrilian Swordmage who was briefly a pit-fighter in the Kang Empire before escaping across the blighted nightmare of the Wilderlands of Zaran, finding only faint succour in wind-blasted ruins of long-dead civilizations, eventually to reclaim his birthright as a Sky-Captain of Cymril.

Tell me that isn't metal as hell.