Talismouse - A Disney Version of Talisman

Talisman is one of the greatest and most beloved role-playing board games ever produced. Originally developed by Games Workshop and now published by Fantasy Flight Games, it features an engaging fantasy setting where players can adopt the persona of heroes and villains in pursuit of the mythic Crown of Command that grants dominion over the entire realm. A static game board full of interesting locales is livened up with randomly drawn adventure cards, where one can find themselves getting help from pixies in one turn to fighting a dragon twice as strong as you are the next. Many an afternoon can be lost in the world of Talisman.

Currently sitting at its revised fourth edition, resources provided by the online fan community make it easy for players to adapt the game in a number of different ways. Being Disney fans, Ashley and I decided to try our hand at developing some characters and alternative endings based on our favourite animated films.

Because we're new at this, we didn't stray far from essentially transliterating established Talisman characters into their Disney forms. Those of you familiar with Talisman might recognize them. A Dwarf is still a Dwarf, only now it can be Grumpy, Dopey, Sleepy, or Doc. Snow White, Aurora, and Cinderella are slightly modified forms of the Minstrel. The Sorcerer's Apprentice is the Apprentice Mage character. The Genie is a Genie. And so forth.

The following are some of the character cards we've created, which are suitable for printing for any Talisman players out there. Over time we might supplement this batch with more characters and endings. Starting with Sleeping Beauty...

Aladdin...

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs...

Cinderella...

And Fantasia...

The original goal of the game is to reach the Crown of Command, which lets you kill all the other characters and leaves you the sole despot over the realm. That is not a terribly Disney-like goal, so we also made a few alternative endings to use in place of that dour one...

As for what to play "Talismouse" with, that's up to your own resourcefulness. We like to use the PVC figures sold by the Disney Store and Disney Parks for our games. Luckily the Talisman board is so large that their size has no effect! The Collector Pack mini-figures can also be put to good use.

Let the games begin!

Ashley makes her move with Aurora.

Jafar in familiar surroundings.

Doing decently for myself.

But alas, the Genie wins by giving the princess True Love's Kiss!

If you're not yet a fan of Talisman, we highly recommend picking up a copy of the game. It is a lot of fun and recommended for ages 9 and up. Always try to support your local game and hobby stores, but it and its numerous expansions can also be purchased online from Fantasy Flight Games.

Update: More characters have been added to in a "Pirate's Edition"! Click here to read more.