History of Talisman Part One | The Harris Era

In 1983 Bob Harris and Games Workshop released one of the most successful fantasy boardgames of all time - Talisman! Over the past 40 years the game has never been out of print and has received 4 editions: the first two of which I explore in this first history of the game's development and release.

Part 2 covering the later Games Workshop, Black Industries, Fantasy Flight editions, and Pegasus Spiele editions is coming soon!

#talisman #gamesworkshop #boardgames #rpg #warhammer

Chapters:

00:00 Open
00:30 Introduction
02:16 Bob Harris and Necromancer
04:53 1st Edition
06:29 2nd Edition
07:29 Expansions
12:45 Miniatures!
13:38 White Dwarf
14:22 Gary Chalk
15:23 The Magic & the Sword & the Cave & and the Polish Publisher
16:36 Video Games
17:14 The End of the Harris Era
17:55 Summary
18:50 Toad! Toad! Toad!

Links & Sources:

The Dice Men by Ian Livingstone

Music:

Jordan Sorcery Theme by Joylin Music

Copyright:

Images used belong to their respective copyright owners
Jordan Sorcery Coat of Arms and Theme copyright @jordansorcery

[ashka]

I remember playing (polish) 1st edition in late 80ties. Never saw anything like it: multiple characters, 4 huge puzzles that made full-colored map, a stack of Adventure cards just waiting to be I still treasure my own 2nd edition copy of the game, but I do play it rarely and only with people who remember it from their own childhood.

[mGregPL]

Greetings from Poland. I have both versions you mention. These games are now iconic in our country, because many children and teenagers of that time grew up on them, as a futrue board game players.

[DanielEbeck]

Love Talisman! My sister and I used to play 2nd Ed for days in the holidays. I even got her a 4th Ed for her 40th. I brought it to my Club and we had to play it over 2 sessions. There were 3 Toadings and much hilarity ensued.

[michak.]

I had a polish version (rip off?) in the 90s. Couple of my friends had expansions and overall, we owned complete game. We used to gather, spread out everything on the corridor of our appartement building, and play for hours. Adding our own rules, switching players in and out, many times playing in a group of 8-10 players. Great memories. And You totally butchered the polish pronunciation but I can't blame You ;)
I'm happy I've found Your channel. Since yesterday I'm watching one video after another. Great content, high quality, tons of info and history of our beloved games.
Last evening, while watching Your Warhammer history, I even dug out my old dwarven army with the plan to repaint it, and prepare for (hopefully coming soon) new edition of WFB.
Keep up the great work my friend!

[VengefulNonsense]

Always love to find new YouTubers covering old GW stuff. Great content so far.

[sesmry]

My brother bought Talisman as soon as the 2nd edition was released in Australia. I later bought it of him for $20. I still have that edition but my collection has grown vastly since and I still play to this day. My son and I will play several times a week and I never get sick of it.

[stephenneedham]

Would love a fighting fantasy deep dive! Toad toad toad toad!!

[allthingsnerd.]

I just discovered your channel today with this video! It is fantastic. I cannot wait for part 2! Talisman is the hobby game that got me into hobby gaming. Started with 2e and all expansions (except that elusive Dragons one) and then grabbed 3e base set only. Didn’t like the look of it and stuck with 2e. Fast forward MANY years and I happily grabbed the Black Industries/FFG 4the edition and those expansions. Even got to be a play tester for Relic and one of its expansions (have all those too). Have now even spread out into the IP themed Tallies like Harry Potter, Batman, Kingdom Hearts, and my absolute favorite version; Star Wars Talisman! I even have a tattoo of the Talisman on my calf so I will always be prepared to enter the Valley of Fire!😆. And yes; we ALWAYS chant “TOAD! TOAD! TOAD!” when the time comes to roll the dice to see if someone is turned into a toad or not. We even added a Jar-Jar Binks Lego minifig to the Star Wars Talisman set so that a “disoriented” (Star Wars Talisman’s word for being toaded) player gets full ridicule and mockery.😆😆

[RSBurgener]

I never played Talisman, but I can vividly remember the feel of fantasy products in the 70's into the 80's. It was influenced far more by fairy tales than what we have today and was, consequently, far more innocent. Fantasy today has way more horror elements in it. Strangely enough, that's how it began with Lovecraft, Smith and Howard. I prefer it that way, but it makes me feel a bit wistful to think about. Games like King's Quest and Talisman wouldn't get made in the same way today. I've watched it evolve within my lifetime.

[RaidenfighterKirkov]

Sir, i have to commit your videos are supreme. Thank you very much for those splendid informations.

[machfront]

This 50 year old Yank is still a huge fan of 2ed!
A buddy of mine bought it in 1986 or 1987, soon after I’d introduced all of us to D&D. We all loved it.
He sold it to another friend, who soon after sold it to me.
So within a year or so I bought “Expansion” and “Dungeon”.
(I’ll forever regret not buying “Adventure”, “City” and “Dragons”, each something I wanted. More’s the pity.)
Ive shared not just Talisman, but this specific iteration of the game with a wide variety of fellow nerds, including many girlfriends on the cusp of being nerds in one way or another….
Ya know what? It’s never failed! Ever!
Everyone LOVES it….whether a game takes one hour or five…they’ve ALL loved it and wanted more! Not kidding. Heh

And….even trying to upgrade with 4th (despite also having 3rd), the Gary Chalk art always spoke to me so, so very much more!

Long live Talisman 2nd

[lamrak]

One more history is still uncovered: history of DungeonQuest!

Love you stories, thanks a lot for them!

and yes...
...Toad, toad, toad :)

[thehappyogryn]

As always, an in depth story of another great game, this always take us down memory lane, great job.

[christopherhunt]

Talisman 2nd Edition got me into board games before being into board games was cool. We had so much fun with that game. It was a gateway drug to a lifelong addiction of love.

[FNG]

Instant sub.Massive Respect for Polish version play them all.Can't wait for second part.
In process of buying 4th edytion

[idiotproofdalek]

I remember poring over 2nd edition in WH Smiths as a teenager. I was desperate to have it and got it on my Birthday. Still got it!

[Mr_Waffle.]

I wish I could've played this as a kid, it looks incredible! Thanks for sharing this slice of history as always.

[willreardon]

Recently found my copy of 2nd edition Talisman in my mum’s loft along with the Expansion Set and various extra character sheets me and my friends created and lovingly illustrated. We’d play the game for hours - if not days - over the summer holidays. Despite all the roll and move randomness of it all, it created some great stories. From making our first tentative steps on our quests, as lowly adventurers, to someone believing they had built up enough strength, skill and courage to enter the Portal of Power and run the gauntlet of trials to ultimately make their claim for the Crown of Command. Epic stuff! 😀

[Jez-Hunt]

Another great retrospective, fella! Doing golden work on classic games. Looking forward to part two, and the potential look at Lone wolf. Also, as Shakespeare once wrote, "TOAD TOAD TOAD TOAD TOAD!"

[-Markus-]

If you want to play a bad game for several long hours and still enjoy every second of it, Talisman is unmatched!
Truly an amazing game, I love it so much!