REALM of SOULS - thoughts / suggestions ... Nomad???

[LoneSylvan]

I've just had an amusing game where my failure at the demon lord hidden ending caused my death at the crown.
With the no more lives house rule switched on, I could not resurrect, so just had a good look around the veil realm, getting great loot, but ultimately having no hope of winning.
Finally, the AI went for the win at round 140 ! ( I know I could have had a round limit rule... I didn't, but may do so from now on).

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2112526372

I like the expansion, but I've always thought it could do with a few teaks... one, noticeably from the game I just played, being that with no more lives turned on you either cannot become a ghost at all... OR you can at least resurrect with the instant resurrection cards.

But I got to wondering what the community thinks about this expansion, and whether Nomad would consider any changes?
I have some ideas to start ... some I may have mentioned in posts before...

* My main idea was that the ghost characters should be able to mess with those alive... somehow... 'haunting' them. I think that would be really fun.
Haunting could involve making them lose fate - or a life if they have no fate... it could make them run away in a direction of the ghost's choosing ... it could make them drop an item, or lose a (frightened) follower ? One/ some or all of the above!

* Dying and coming back to life is a great way of giving a player another chance when the respawn rule is turned off ... but, like the respawn rule... it can drag out the game... hence 'souls' often being switched off in multiplayer matches.
An idea I had for this was a simple: one ghosting per player only i.e. you can become a ghost and resurrect once, but the next time you die, that's it mate... all over. Therefore, the ability to win the game by killing off the opposing players is still there.
Unless you wish to add a card... a spell or stranger or place (altar) where you make some pact with an otherworldly being that grants you another chance to be ghosted.

* Ghosts only interact with the 'veil' BUT perhaps every space they land on could be wiped clean of its stranger cards (discard them) because they can feel the presence of you?

That's a few that come to mind... any other ideas? Any more love for this expansion?

[potterman28wxcv]

I like the idea of the expansion but in practice it's too much reliant on randomness. Instead of having "draw 1 card" everywhere, I wish there were ghost versions of Chapel/Graveyard/Temple etc.. In the physical edition you can't really do that, but in a digital edition you definitely could.

Ideally i'd have loved to see ghost versions of the city/dungeon/highland/woodlands as well. It would just be about coming up with interesting versions of the specific spaces

Right now the expansion feels very blank and not that interesting. On the contrary of all the rest of Talisman content, that particular expansion feels like a glorified dice roll simulator where you just put your character in the hands of the RnG gods with barely any tactical choice involved.

It's also very frustrating when you enter the ghost state the same time as the AI, then the AI gets that resurrection thing, while you get all the nasty stuff. It feels unfair and there's nothing you can do about it (in regular Talisman while such unlucky events can still happen, you can still try to narrow them down by landing on some "safer" spaces. No way to do that in Realms of Souls.)

Realms of Souls also switches the balance of the characters more towards those who have a high craft value - since they have much more chance of survival in the Veil. That wasn't needed, characters with high craft value being already (in general) stronger than those with high strength value. I wish the Realms of Souls deck wasn't 90% Craft enemies, but rather, more balanced out just like the other regions.

Ancient Beasts give an interesting element to the game if you're looking for a survival oriented playthrough. Clockwork Kingdom adds interesting items that can turn the tables. Realms of Souls adds life after death, which is an interesting idea, but has been imo poorly executed.

[LoneSylvan]

Originally posted by potterman28wxcv:

Right now the expansion feels very blank and not that interesting. On the contrary of all the rest of Talisman content, that particular expansion feels like a glorified dice roll simulator where you just put your character in the hands of the RnG gods with barely any tactical choice involved.

Hi Potterman...
Well... you're right... but to be honest... being a ghost probably 'should' feel a little blank ... cause you're dead! I feel it kinda works ok like that... just one more chance to be alive in a state of turmoil before its all over... or not... if you're lucky.
I see your points of course. Some of it is subjective. I, personally, have ancient beasts turned off most of the time because I'm not a big fan of it (although I don't think it's 'bad'... just not my cup of tea).
In fairness to Nomad Souls was their first digital only, and it's just an add-on expansion which was able to work in-tandem with the rest of the game, and a major overhaul isn't likely... so I'm thinking of ways to make it better without too much work... I guess. Being able to mess with the other players and board in some way seems the most possible.

[Arcturus Asriv]

I still have to get the three digital only expansions.

Is Realm of Souls compatible with any other expansions?
Or can it only be played by itself?

[LoneSylvan]

Originally posted by Arcturus Asriv:

I still have to get the three digital only expansions.

Is Realm of Souls compatible with any other expansions?
Or can it only be played by itself?

It doesn't need any others - but can be played with all.
Basically, as a ghost, you can travel wherever you want because the instructions on all the spaces are ignored. Being in a 'different realm' means that you pick up a veil card wherever you are, despite of what the board says to all those 'breathers' !

[Arcturus Asriv]

Ah. Cool.
Thanks!

[Ragic]

The realm of souls is a chance not to flat out lose when killed. Soooo seems a bit silly to complain too hard. If the ai can recover from being a ghost, then players should be able to manage it.

And I wouldn’t judge the expansion based on the ‘no more lives’ house rule. Turn it off. It’s only used to cover for poorly designed endings. Don’t use those endings. Imo

[Arcturus Asriv]

I use 'no more lives' in my games.

Do players keep the same character throughout the game?

If they keep the same characters when they become ghosts and resurrect, I'd be okay with turning it off when using that expansion.

Guess I need to just go ahead and get it. Lol.

[Anarch Cassius]

Ghosts come back as the same character.

I mostly play with No Respawn and without No More Lives, so Souls is a nice chance to live a little longer. Freely making new characters until the crown is reached is a little too nice, but one life without ghosts can be a little harsh.

Originally posted by potterman28wxcv:

I like the idea of the expansion but in practice it's too much reliant on randomness. Instead of having "draw 1 card" everywhere, I wish there were ghost versions of Chapel/Graveyard/Temple etc.. In the physical edition you can't really do that, but in a digital edition you definitely could.

...

Right now the expansion feels very blank and not that interesting. On the contrary of all the rest of Talisman content, that particular expansion feels like a glorified dice roll simulator where you just put your character in the hands of the RnG gods with barely any tactical choice involved

This was my major issue: A ghost's choices are even less signifigant than the worst case scenario for a live character.

I also think Nomad would hestitate to completely rework the existing set, in case some people like it as is.

New boards are unlikely, massive reworks are unlikely. New house rules or additional cards (either as sub-expansion like the Legendary decks or a free optional add-on) seem likely.

So haunting players and strangers, giving Strength some more purpose and giving players some more choices, would probably best be handled by adding to the deck.

That could actually be interesting... ghosts get one deck and don't really care about spaces, but the deck itself could offer more choices between two options.

[Arcturus Asriv]

Thanks for the additional info, Anarch.
I went ahead and grabbed it (and the other two) while it's on sale.

[Da' Vane]

Ghosts are good if you like comebacks, but it gets boring after a while, and poor interaction with other aspects of the game makes things worse. You really can't play it with no more lives, unless you are happy to have ghosts wander around waiting to die, and issues with things like Fireland tokens can be quite harsh - since such spaces become ultra deadly, with the opportunity to be killed, become a ghost, and then die as a ghost all before your turn ends.

RoS was definately a good attempt by Nomad at a unique digital only EP, but it could use a lot more polish to flesh it out a bit more. I think of all the DE digital only EPs, Clockwork Kingdom is probably the best, and closest to an EP like The Reaper or Frostmarch.

[Ragic]

ghosts really shouldnt be affected by fire tokens. im surprised thats still a thing. i tend to not use firelands anyway (though the characters are cool).

[LoneSylvan]

Originally posted by Ragic:

ghosts really shouldnt be affected by fire tokens. im surprised thats still a thing. i tend to not use firelands anyway (though the characters are cool).

I agree...both that they shouldn't be affected by the fire tokens... and that the fireland characters are cool ! (I usually have the expansion off but its characters on)
Nor should ghosts have to face the werewolf ... I guess it's ok to encounter the reaper tho.