Talisman durations

[Ravingdork]

Some talismans have unclear duration. Take the monkey pin for example.

When you activate this talisman, use a Climb action. If you succeed, you move your full Speed during the Climb. If you roll a critical failure, you get a failure instead.

Do the effects of the pin last for a single Climb action, or for the entire duration of a continuous climb?

My GM and I think it almost worthless if it stops working part way up a 100-foot rope, for example, so we were thinking maybe it continued to work until you stopped climbing.

[Kennethray]

Just reading it, it seems straight forward. You activate it and do a climb action with degrees of success on that action. That's pretty much on par with other talismans.

[Castilliano]

Yes, it is almost worthless, like most Talismans. :(

Talismans are hardly worth keeping as loot, much less buying. So maybe they're for a much higher level than they're at where the price is less severe? Yet some Talismans age poorly, so I'm unsure. They've been a disappointment for me. Maybe if we get more than can be used post-failure.

So yeah, that climbing Talisman is for when you really, really need that one action of climb to be successful. Or need the gold from it...

[rainzax]

Sounds like a legit houserule.

But yeah, it seems most of them "expend" with a single action.

[The Gleeful Grognard]

Talismans for me are useful to bulk out treasure rather than using large gold values or weird treasure objects.

They are also nice ways to give one use magic items similar to cyphers in Numenera.

I would never buy a monkey pin, but I would hold onto it until I actually needed the cash as a player if I picked it up and use it if it was important to use.

Getting a 30ft+ climb on a success is pretty useful if you need it. Same with items like the jade cat.