#encyclopedia talislanta

[vintagerpg]

Volume III of the Cylopedia Talislanta (1989) and the following three volumes (I’ll get to them another time) follow the same structure as Volume II. This one takes a look at the Wilderlands of Zaran, which are mostly desert wastelands. There is a distinctly Dark Sun vibe to some of this stuff, which is interesting, since Dark Sun is still a couple years off. Lots of barbarian types riding big lizards.

Again, just packed with stuff. I love Talislanta for all its wild details. I can’t really imagine playing in it, but I enjoy reading it and skimming off ideas for my own games. These books should be on every worldbuilder’s shelf, honestly. And they can be, at least digitally, for free — Sechi licensed the world out to a few companies after he gave up the tiller, but he always retained the rights, so just about everything is available in PDF on Talislanta.com. The only things that seem to be missing are some of the cyclopedias, but I might just not be seeing them, because that would be an odd oversight. Still, if they aren’t there, they’re usually inexpensive on the second hand market. Just be careful when you buy them — I had a devil of a time keeping the Roman numerals straight for some reason and bought multiples of a couple volumes instead of the one I was missing. I’ve talked to other Talislanta fans who have had the exact same problem, so beware! Maybe it’s a curse!

[vintagerpg]

So, after Bard Games published Atlantis, the partnership split up. Stephan Michael Sechi sold his stake in the company, went solo and started work on Talislanta. His former partner Steven Cordovano kept Bard Games, but shortly after decided he didn’t actually want it, so he sold it back to Sechi. Over the course of 1987, Sechi published the four volumes that make up the core of the Talislanta RPG — I’ve posted about them previously. In 1988, he started work on a second edition, which launched with this book, The Cyclopedia Talislanta (1988).

As usual, Sechi jams a ton of stuff into a fairly small package. The primary draw is the full-color maps of the entire world. That’s accompanied by a gazetteer that gives a short entry for every location of note on those maps. There are new monsters, expanded entries on flora and fauna, a dozen new character classes (as if Talislanta needed more — the core book has over 80!), a section on vehicles and a short rules expansion focused mostly on new skills. All in just 88 pages!

Unlike most Talislanta books up to this point, there are other contributing artists aside of P.D. Breeding (who handled the cover). Ron Spencer’s detailed, nightmarish pencils are my fave.

[vintagerpg]

Originally, The Cylcopedia Talislanta was intended to be a single volume, but folks kept asking for more, so Sechi eventually obliged. The Cylcopedia Talislanta, Volume II: The Seven Kingdoms (1989) focuses on one small section of the world (which is still dense with inhabitants, factions, cultures and general strangeness). Each of the kingdoms is profiled, as are four major cities and a number of regional magic systems. New critters and new kit round out gazetteer portion.

The player’s section has the requisite dozen new character classes. Up to this point, all the multitude of classes for Talislanta have been sort of like actions figures to toy lines you’ve never heard of before — they look cool but are essentially empty vessels, waiting to be filled. This book introduces notes for how to roleplay the many weirdos presented in this book, which is a big step in making the world feel comprehensible. Talislanta will always feel too big and too overstuffed — that is part of the charm — but these roleplaying notes help you get a handle on at least your character. That gives you a fighting chance for grokking the rest of the world.

The GM section has a bunch of culture specific new rules. I’ve not read these closely, but “Dual-encephaly” sure sounds promising. There are also three scenarios, which I also feel like is new territory for Talislanta — I don’t recall scenarios in other publications to this point, but they’re super important in helping to understand the world. Each is brief, but does a good job of introducing their corners of the world.

Again, a team of artists. I love P.D. Breeding’s cover here. It reinforces just how bizarre the world generally is. I also feel like I have seen a Sindaran-like character in a movie, portrayed with prosthetics and make-up. Masters of the Universe? Last Starfighter? Help me out here.