Talislanta Hero [6E]

[AlHazred]

Way back in the day, I started converting the Talislanta setting into Hero System 5th edition to try to entice my group to play. They ended up choosing other campaigns, and the material I had started on lay fallow for a while.

 

Then I started a High Fantasy game in 6th edition, and added a few Talislanta races (newly converted from 5th to 6th) to the options players had to choose from. And just last week, a thread was started in Other Genres, asking for Talislanta stuff for 5th edition.

 

All this made me go back and look over my older material. I'd never shared the bulk of it, and that seems like a shame. Considering all the stuff I've gotten from the Boards, seems like the least I could do is give back a little. So, I completed converting the material I'd originally worked up into 6th edition, which gave me the opportunity to polish some of it up considerably. Hope people find a use for it.

[AlHazred]

So, first off, some races. Talislanta is chock full of different races and cultures, but they combine the two. So, for character options, you might have "Thrall Soldier" or "Sindaran Alchemist" instead of, say, making a Thrall and adding the Soldier package to it. I've tried my best to extract them (since I think it's always interesting to play against type).

There are something like seven different general regions of the Talislanta setting. The most popular (I guess) is the Seven Kingdoms, populated by seven wonderfully oddball races/cultures. Think of it as the Odd Couple for fantasy RPGs.

Anyway, here are the races:
 

• Aeriad, Blue - An avian race slowly losing their ability to fly, the Aeriad live in the kingdom of Vardune. The blue subspecies is more scholarly. Package deal and template are located here.
• Aeriad, Green - An avian race slowly losing their ability to fly, the Aeriad live in the kingdom of Vardune. The green subspecies is a warrior race. Package deal and template are located here.
• Gnomekin - A race of small-sized underground dwellers, the Gnomekin inhabit the kingdom of Durne. Package deal and template are located here.
• Muse - Butterfly-winged empathic aesthetes, the Muses inhabit the forests of Astar. Package deal and template are located here.
• Sindaran - Tall, emaciated intellectuals, the Sindarans are thought to have originated on another world or plane. They rule the kingdom of Sindar. Package deal and template are located here.
• Thrall - Sorcerously created in the ancient past to be the perfect warrior race, the Thralls have their own independent kingdom in the swamps of Taz. Package deal and template are located here. A warrior race where each individual wears his glory on his body. These guys were always popular with players!

Two of the "races" of the Seven Kingdoms (the Cymrilians and the Kasmirans) are basically humans with odd cultures. Cymrilian characters could use the "Cityfolk Culture Package Deal" (FH 45) with a magic-loving bent, while the Kasmirans could use the "Trader Culture Package Deal" (FH 46); I expect to post more Tal-specific cultural packages later.

Edited February 11, 2015 by AlHazred

[AlHazred]

These races were adapted from the Midnight Realm supplement, detailing a region between Talislanta and the Underworld::
 

• Black Savant - A race of mysterious robed magicians, the Black Savants travel the Underworld in relentless pursuit of some unknown goal. Package deal and template are located here.
• Ebonite - Canny traders of the Underworld, these spectral beings hail from the ruined port city of Ebon. They claim to have made some sort of pact with the entity known as Death. Package deal and template are located here.
• Tarteran - A hybrid species of half-man and half-devil, the Tarterans dwell in the Midnight Realm, a demiplane located halfway between the mortal realms and the Underworld. Beset by demons that erupt out of chasms that fracture their homeland, the Tarterans are noted demon-hunters. Package deal and template are located here.

I always liked the Midnight Realm supplement -- I thought it really upped Talislanta's game. I mean, here you're basically playing what would be the bad guys in any other setting; but behind the scenes, you can see the motivations of the characters, and it all makes a grim sort of sense.

Edited February 11, 2015 by AlHazred

[Nolgroth]

Re: Talislanta Hero [6E]

 

Hurm. I know nothing of Talislanta, but based on your description of the Thrall, shouldn't they have a wee bit higher Presence? Maybe with the only to resist Presence Attacks and Fear modifier attached?

 

Edit: Scratch that. I see the section on the character sheet with that information.

[Savinien]

Re: Talislanta Hero [6E]

 

Yay for Talislanta. I loved those books, even though I never did anything with them.

[AlHazred]

I've got darn near the whole collection prior to Morrigan taking over the setting. It's sad that Sechi doesn't write more, but you know, everybody's got to eat.

• Bird of Prey, Nighthawk - A bird of prey whose feathers contain obsidian, making them razor-sharp -- and lethal! Character file is located here.
• Dryad Bush - A flowering shrub that transforms at night into a forest nymph. I always thought it would be interesting to use this as a character idea -- a vampire and a dryad bush fight crime at night, for example. Character file is located here.
• Equs, Darkmane - A kind of reptilian horse analog; so, not only "No Elves!" but also "No Horses!" Anyway, this breed is mean. Character file is located here.
• Equs, Graymane - The "standard" breed of Equs, found throughout the Talislantan continent. Character file is located here.
• Equs, Silvermane - The fastest of the Equs breeds, it's also the weakest. Character file is located here.
• Equs, Snowmane - An Equs breed adapted to frigid climes. Character file is located here.

Edited February 12, 2015 by AlHazred

[AlHazred]

 

 

Hurm. I know nothing of Talislanta, but based on your description of the Thrall, shouldn't they have a wee bit higher Presence? Maybe with the only to resist Presence Attacks and Fear modifier attached?

Edit: Scratch that. I see the section on the character sheet with that information.

Yeah, I had to rebuild the old Fantasy Hero Fearless Talent for them. Easy enough, but I'm a little surprised it didn't make it into the core book.

[Lezentauw]

Re: Talislanta Hero [6E]

 

If you are interested in getting the PDFs for Talistanta, at least last I checked, you can go to their website and download them.

 

http://talislanta.com/

[Nolgroth]

Re: Talislanta Hero [6E]

 

If you are interested in getting the PDFs for Talistanta, at least last I checked, you can go to their website and download them.

 

http://talislanta.com/

Thanks. I did that before but can't find them. I forgot about in the meantime. I'll go grab them.

[AlHazred]

I said I had "everything prior to Morrigan," but that just means I have several Morrigan products, just not all of them.

[AlHazred]

[cue Doofensmirtz] Flash-Back!

So, way back in the hoary days of Hero Games' online presence, they had a "webzine" called Digital Hero. This wasn't the pdf product they sold; it was instead a separate section of their website where you could submit articles that would eventually make it to the web. I asked for and received permission from Stephen Michael Sechi (the creator of Talislanta) to post conversions of his setting's Martial Arts, and had the brief glory of seeing my name online. On an actual gaming article. This all happened back in 98-99 or so.

You can't find the articles. In fact, I couldn't even locate them all in the Wayback Machine. Nothing.

So, I've reconverted them (adding ten years' experience and thought about it) to 6E and made it nice-looking. Enjoy!

I should be posting a Prefab with them all, sometime later today or tomorrow. Right now, I'll just post the weapons right here.

Talislanta Hero - Martial Arts.pdf

Edited February 11, 2015 by AlHazred

[AlHazred]

Incidentally, I noticed that most of the Talislanta books are now available under the Creative Commons license. Check them out in the Talisanta Library here!

[Savinien]

Re: Talislanta Hero [6E]

 

Wow. I didn't realize it, but all the Talislanta books I have are the First Edition ones.

 

Crazy.

 

Someone should run a Talislanta game online.

 

:innocent whistle:

[AlHazred]

Hmmm... I completely forgot to post my martial arts prefab! Well, it's online now, and can be found here. The weapons prefab can be found here.

Edited February 11, 2015 by AlHazred

[AlHazred]

I've started reuploading the mass of material I had posted in the previous iteration of the board. I'm taking the opportunity to go over everything -- I'm fixing errors, cleaning up ugly power designs, and generally trying to bring my experience in HERO to bear on the materials. I've started with the Traveller material (since that's my home game) and Talislanta material (since that's always been a favorite setting of mine).

 

As always, please let me know if and how you use the stuff, and feel free to make suggestions/requests for more!

[redleaf]

Re: Talislanta Hero [6E] Wow. I didn't realize it, but all the Talislanta books I have are the First Edition ones. Crazy. Someone should run a Talislanta game online. :innocent whistle:

 

(Redleaf joins in harmony to Savinien's whistle.)

 

I have *always* wanted to play Talislanta. If only there were some way...

[AlHazred]

(Redleaf joins in harmony to Savinien's whistle.)

 

I have *always* wanted to play Talislanta. If only there were some way...

As I said above, the Talislanta books have been made freely available online, by the creator of the setting. You can find them here, at the Talislanta Library.

[Lord Liaden]

Bravo, AlHazred, and thank you.

[Old Man]

(Redleaf joins in harmony to Savinien's whistle.)

 

I have *always* wanted to play Talislanta. If only there were some way...

 

Let me know when the PBEM starts up.

[AlHazred]

I've finished uploading the Talislanta material I'd converted. I always meant to convert a bunch more, but time is limited. I'd love to see what other people are doing with the stuff. I see the Black Savants are becoming popular.