Smairn said:

… we also HATE IT. We never use the Dragon Expansion and probably never will again …

azoic said:

The Dragon Cards are lots of fun, but the mechanic of drawing tokens every turn was a very poor idea indeed!

Ell.

We use the dragon expansion about 90% of the time, but only pull a scale on a movement roll of a 1/6. this means that the scales aren't everywhere and dragons aren't all over the board. If i'm trying to play a quicker game I leave out the dragon all together. There are quite a few awesome cards in the dragon decks!!

 Quite a lot of controversy here about the Dragon expansion.

I don't have it yet, so I'll ask those who don't like it: would you recommend not getting it at all, or are there some 'must-have' characters in there? I wouldn't mind buying it just for some exiting new characters, but if the whole box is a bust, I'll pass. What's good about the Dragon expansion? I'm asking the people who don't like it, because people who do like it will certainly say, "it's great, get it." I want to hear if the people who don't like it feel it has any saving graces…

Now that is a tough question.

I'm not a huge fan of the Dragon Expansion.  While I appreciate the attempt to give us something different, it changed gameplay a bit too much and didn't feel like "my" Talisman any more.  And I really didn't like the "draw a token every turn" dynamic. That said, there are some nifty cards to be found in the 3 Dragon Decks, and I'll never turn away new characters.

You'll find that a lot of players (myself included) use a variety of House Rules to make the game more acceptable to their taste.  Many of these have been posted on this forum already, and I'd certainly be happy to share my House Rules if you're interested.  Using our House Rules, we include Dragon Cards, Dragon Tokens, and Draconic Lords in every game.   

So my answer is - yes - go buy it.  It may not be a perfect expansion, and it might require a little (or more) tinkering to make it work for you, but there's certainly some good stuff here that can enhance your Talisman game.   

Yes it is definitely worth buying, but you really need to house rule when Dragon tokens are drawn. Apart from this issue, the only thing that might also need changing is how often a new Draconic Lord is crowned!

Ell.

If you dont have all the other ones I'd get them first.  Sure you can house rule the game but i found us going a bit overboard on the dragon expansion.  some interesting cards but not worth it in my opinion,

The characters in the Dragon are all very good in my opinion, new ending are always good, and dragon cards can be awesome!

 Thanks for the opinions, you guys.

The Dragon is definitely last-to-buy on my list (I still need it and Frostmarch, Highlands, and Blood Moon), but it's nice to know there's good to be had, in there. And I love the game overall, so I want to support it.

I guess I should download the rules and have a look! 

 0beron = The Lone Holdout, here.

We like the Dragon set enough to use every time. At first we went through the whole thing; scales, characters, inlay board, etc.

But what we found is that we're okay with not using the inlay board, but instead drawing an alt ending for "hidden" scenario (and the very last time we played I restricted the endings to "just the bosses"; ie; Eagle Guy, Werewolf, Demon Lord, etc. - not the other scenarios).

Likewise we figured out how to routinize the drawing of scales/tokens. Yeah, we occasionally forget to draw one, just like we forget the Reaper or WW's movement roll, but mostly don't.

 We find that although the board fills up with the scales, Dragons do not litter the scene. This seems mostly because my coplayer, my wife, is reluctant to draw cards from the Dragon decks because she deems them to hard to play. As she advances in strength, skill, she is more likely to encounter, and also as she sees the value of having scales for immunity to the Dragon Rage.

 I do see where some players obviously find the scale drawing as tedious, but I like the way the Dragon decks can mix with the other encounter cards for various rewards - or defeats. I am not as competitive as I once was, so at times I like playing Talisman, more for the "tapestry" of the game; as certain factors are revealed - a Werewolf staking the ground, or various shrines or places appearing in the regions, all the elements combine to sort of give me a living fantasy novel, if you will. Thats why I like keeping the continuity between the sets, if at all possible.

So far we have not even used the Dragon Tower side of the inlay board; just looks to dangerous and neither of us want to do that. We think the Dragons are enough of a game changer, without having the end game totally tied in. Giving a chance to other bosses or scenarios makes it seem like a world where you may have more than Dragons to worry about.

  *** But the objects and followers and some other things, you can find in the Dragon decks are wicked and fun! ***

-Oberon (so yeah, House Rules help individual tastes)