If you haven't tried Talislanta before, you're missing out on one of the coolest, weirdest fantasy settings out there.
Sure, it's out of print, but that just means all the books are available for free (legally) here:
http://talislanta.com/?page_id=5#2nd
And you can read an overview of the world, sans rules, in the Chronicles of Talislanta:
http://peedeepages.com/talislanta/pdf/1e/final/optimized/chronicles_of_talislanta.pdf
Nobody knows what's inside these guys...demons, ghosts, chipmunks...could be anything.
I remember the setting being advertised in Dragon a lot back in the day. Never did know anything about it though.
>>54326687
>"Talislanta: Still No Elves", right?
Yeah, those ads intrigued some people and triggered many others.
Talislanta is a weird fantasy setting based partly on original concepts and partly on ideas from Jack Vance's Planet of Adventure novels, Marco Polo, Clark Ashton Smith's Zothique stories, John Carter of Mars and other pulp fantasy stuff.
Sure, there are humanoids with pointy ears in it, but the cultures and pretty far from elves. There are some gnome-like people.
The main strength of Tal is the neat magic system that's based on culture, religion and specialized local magic items. There are over 100 races to choose from and it offers immense flexibility as to class, advancement and spellcasting.
You can even play as an intelligent lizard-horse.
Horned winged apes aplenty.
Strange elemental demons infest the post-apocalyptic world of lost magic...
>>54326797
>>54326807
>>54326870
I like your spirit OP
Riding one of these into battle sure beats a horse or a mule any day!
>>54326904
Well, thanks! I've been playing RPGs for 30 years now and Talislanta is still one of my favorite games ever.
>>54326919
...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.
>>54326948
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...
>>54326979
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.
>>54327007
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.
>>54327019
I'm loving these creatures, thanks OP.
>>54327038
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.
>>54327161
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.
>>54327194
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.
http://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.
>>54327222
checked.
thanks anon, i'll give it a gander tomorrow during my down time
>>54326760
>Hello there, 1987!
>>54327174
Is it good with childern?
>>54327305
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...
>>54327276
Bueno. Enjoy the 1980s metal flavor of the setting, anon!
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!"
>>54327596
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.
>>54327709
>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.
>>54327410
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
>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)
>>54328193
>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
>>54328404
~heart
>Now you can play the Coneheads
>Fighting against Gigeresque Aliens in a tropical jungle
>>54328210
>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!
>>54328597
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.
>>54329471
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
>>54327631
That guy looks like a crossbreed, 4 arms say Ahazu, color and skull say Jangharan.
>>54327709
And religion is a pyramid scheme.
>>54332354
>>54330719
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.
>>54327596
: 3
Any word on what's happening with Talislanta TSL since the guy managing the project died?
>>54340688
Didn't know the guy died. I thought the comic was updating monthly for the kickstarter backers or something.
>>54326760
>There are over 100 races to choose from
Are these listed in one place, like a wiki?
>>54342257
I made a list, 5e, first column are from players handbook, remaining in the GM guide.
>>54340688
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?
>>54342615
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.
>>54343004
2e is the simplest to get into. 4e is the most complete everything -in-one-book edition. And prettiest layout.
>>54340688
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).
>>54344458
>Talislanta Curse
Have there been other "revival" attempts?
>>54344560
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!
>>54342615
This is my entirely subjective opinion about the versions of Talislanta out there.
Cymrillian Windships, Dracartan Duneriders and Mirin Ice Schooners were pretty neat modes of transport in the game.
>>54326475
Thx man, I really dig this stuff.
>>54344695
Which book is the best if you want to know more about the lore setting ?
>>54345331
4th edition has plenty of information about specific locales. It's what I read when I was first interested in running a game.
>>54328133
This read like the most boring thing imaginable.
>>54327095
Weren't these guys in an episode of Samurai Jack?
Love this system, can't get anyone to play it
>>54343004
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.
>>54343004
>>54346785
Sorry, you refer to it as Big Blue also. I'm a dumbass.
this is neat as hell
live. I still need answers.
>>54345331
>>54350256
Read the Chronicles of Talislanta (pic related) for a great rules-free intro to the game. Any other questions?
shiny and chrome
>>54346785
In the past I've always played Tal like a straight fantasy, but I think you're right: the HEAVY METAL version of Talislanta is probably the better interpretation. Apart from some of the future scifi anachronisms the fantasy parts of the Heavy Metal movie could be set in Talislanta.
>>54352171
I mean this right here is a Danuvian Battledancer.
>>54352189
Tal owes a lot to Moebius and the Metal Hurlant (Heavy Metal) magazines of the 70s and 80s. I'm sure Stephan Michael Sechi read all those as a young man.
>>54352275
Such a great magazine.
>>54352980
Hunh, I've never seen this Tal map before. Was it made in Campaign Cartographer?
>>54354092
It looks more like Hexographer.
New Thrall artwork is a bit too inhibited with the colors in my opinion.
>>54356298
It's from several thousand years earlier in-setting.
>>54356586
I think it's before the Thralls started using tattoos to differentiate themselves.
Does anyone have any random encounter charts for various parts of the continent?
>>54356298
I've never seen that work before. Source?
Also, are we sure it's a thrall? He's got hair. Maybe a harakin...
Like I said, haven't seen the source. Not disputing it, just noticed the top knot.
>>54328597
Ay yo we heard you like orcs n rainbows n shit so we put a rainbow on your orc so he can rainbow while he pillages
>>54352275
Is... Is that man hopping into giant ape's asshole?
>>54359795
That's from the new Talislanta: The Savage Land "prequel", set before the Great Disaster when savages and beast-men roamed the shattered ruins of empires. THere was a kickstarter for it.
There's some damn cool art coming up for it. I'll post some.
>>54360882
>>54360897
>>54360905
>>54360933
>>54360940
>>54360957
>>54360970
>>54360977
>>54360986
>>54360996
>>54361098
>>54361104
>>54361125
>>54361125
>>54360882
Comes with weird dice. No, we totally didn't steal that idea from FFG. Luckily the special schoolbus dice aren't really needed and can be ignored.
>>54361186
>>54361209
>>54361176
This was the kickstarter; closed now.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1861515217/talislanta-the-savage-land
>>54361176
I don't remember Tal using d6.