The Dash Action

  2nd Edition - the Talisman I grew up with. 5th Edition - the Talisman my kids are growing up with. Image by Avalon Hill, part of  Hasbro [10 min read] How It Plays A Dash of Data Summing Up Talisman 2nd Edition was an important part of my childhood many decades ago. So I was excited when Hasbro relaunched the classic board game franchise with a 5th Edition back in July 2024. Since then, my family and I have played over a dozen games at multiple player counts, including the cooperative expansion. If you're curious about whether it's for you, check out How It Plays . But why Talisman and why now? In a world where board game demand has softened since the explosive growth enjoyed during Covid, production costs have risen due to inflation, and there is future uncertainty around tariffs, why did Hasbro bring back this venerable product? If you want to dig further into the rationale behind the relaunch, wonder if it hit the mark sales-wise and what might come n...

 New year, new name, (slightly) new focus When you take the Dash action, you gain extra movement for the current turn Image inspired by Larian Studios from Baldur's Gate 3 [2 min read] Welcome to The Dash Action - the artist formerly known as A Dash of RPG .  After over three years of writing articles once or twice a month, my blog has largely centred on my own Dungeons & Dragons campaigns , exploits into many other tabletop role-playing games , and more general musings about the broader tabletop industry and preserving my burgeoning collection of purchases therein. But the cadence of articles at the end of 2024 and early 2025 has dropped off significantly. I suspect the reason for this slow-down is two-fold: one, I have been running multiple, medium-level preparation, role-playing games at once (2x D&D campaigns still ongoing, 1x The One Ring campaign which has recently concluded); and two, I have burned out a little creatively on the topics I had been covering. Aft...

  Leaving a legacy Image courtesy of Rebecca Parker on Pinterest [5 min read] It's been a while since I posted, life getting in the way and all. Actually, I've been running more Dungeons & Dragons sessions than I expected, and that doesn't leave a ton of time for other parts of my hobby. This year, I resolved to preserve my favourite content for my two boys in case either (a) reliance on digital media and their complicated rights management somehow removes access to these, or (b) gulp, I am not around to see them grow up, and I want an easy way for my wife to expose them to it. You can see how I structured this in my  first content preservation post . Spoilers - it is expensive and a lot of work. Having secured the majority of the content on my list, I turn now to how I want to introduce my sons to it at the appropriate age, with the presumption that I am not here to do so personally. I started a google doc, which I will build over time, to explain why each is important...

You're still Phandalin's Finest to me Bringing the light of civilisation to the Sword Coast frontier for over four tendays Map by Wizard of the Coast [12 min read] And so it ends! Frontier Forays , the little drop-in campaign that could, has concluded. And being the non-adversarial DM that I am, I can say that it was just as satisfying a conclusion for me as it was the players. Cryovain, the self-styled mastermind behind the assault on Phandalin, was vanquished with the last throw of the dice (or in this case, the last bead of a Necklace of Fireballs) . The remaining orc army disbands, the townsfolk rejoice, and Sildar appoints our heroes "Champions of the Lord's Alliance". Take a bow, Alucard, Terach, Wick and Wiggity, and maybe a free beverage or two at the Sleeping Giant tavern, you've earned it! But let us relive the final session while it still lingers in our collective memories... Sortie before dawn Before dawn, the group assesses the information brought...

Before the dawn Image by Jorge Jacinto courtesy of  Paizo [5 min read] It is the 16th of Eleasias just before dawn.  A day ago word from Butterskull Ranch got back to Phandalin that the army was close, and that the attack would likely come today. You sleep fitfully, and rise well before dawn to get the latest intelligence reports from the scouts who were tracking the army as they broke off into groups to surround the town. As you wait for these brave trackers to report, you think of all that has happened in the past four tendays that has brought you to this moment... The road to battle Phandalin's Finest, the Hammer (and soon to be Champions) of the Lord's Alliance have secured many a victory or asset to build out the defences of Phandalin, including: Liberating the Forge of Spells, yielding magic weapons and armour for the defenders Bringing back schematics for auto crossbows and ballistae from Gnomengarde, which were subsequently built and installed Procuring lumber and sand...

Take me home The party had been ranging the wilds for some time before heading back to Phandalin Image by Alden Brownstone [11 min read] THIS CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR DRAGON OF ICESPIRE PEAK! As we close in on our Frontier Forays finale in October, a quick recap of the last two sessions, where we find our party journeying back to Phandalin via two points of interest identified on their enemy's map. Dragon Barrow After being led successfully through the Neverwinter Wood to a mysterious, dragon-shaped hill by the centaur Xanth, the party find that orcs have beaten them to the barrow, albeit losing their lives before entering. Descending deep into the earth, our heroes hope that whatever killed the orcs will not stop them from retrieving the famed Dragon Slayer weapon, rumoured to be resting here. An aerial view of the hill confirms the name Dragon Barrow is indeed apt Image by Bob-Hates-Bags Alucard bravely offers to search for traps, and finds one, landing at the bottom of a pit filled...

 Thunder struck! Who likes smoked boar? The Anchorites of Talos were cooking something up for our heroes Image by Wizards of the Coast [8 min read] THIS CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR DRAGON OF ICESPIRE PEAK! With a natural pause in our main D&D 5E campaigns of Moonsea Madness and Tyranny of Dragons, our group has decided to press on to the conclusion of Frontier Forays, my drop-in campaign (see the recent recap here ). Also looming on the horizon is the introduction of the new D&D 2024 rules update of the Player's Handbook, slated for September 2024. The three DMs in our midst are debating how we might handle a transition to the new ruleset (if at all), but it did make sense for at least one of our campaigns to conclude before agreeing any rules changes for the others. The latest session of Frontier Forays saw our party of Phandalin's Finest (also known as The Hammer of the Lord's Alliance, which our barbarian Terach vastly prefers) reunited in the depths of Neverwinter Wo...