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INTRODUCTION
During the Third Age, the Valar sent five Maiar to Middle-earth to unite and counsel the
Free Peoples in their struggles against Sauron, the Dark Lord. However, they were
forbidden to dominate the peoples of Middle-earth or to match the power of Sauron with
power. These five were known as "Wizards" (also called Istari) in Middle-earth,
and individually they were called: Gandalf, Saruman, Radagast, Alatar, and Pallando.
In Middle-earth: The Wizards, you play one of these five Wizards. Your goal is to
marshal the forces of the Free Peoples so that Sauron can be resisted until the One Ring
is destroyed. Since your fellow Wizards do not agree on how best to accomplish this goal,
you must battle for the minds, bodies, and souls of the Free Peoples.
In The Lord of the Rings, Gandalf was the only Wizard to succeed. Saruman was corrupted by
power, Radagast "went native," and Alatar and Pallando disappeared into the
East. Only Gandalf remained true to his task, marshalling the characters and forces that
withstood Sauron long enough for the Fellowship to destroy the Ruling Ring.
"Evil forces" are represented by hazards that the players use against one
another. For example, if you move a character into Moria, your opponent could play a Troll
card as a hazard. These hazards are not "controlled" by the Wizards, but rather
they represent the forces of Sauron, who himself is in a "dormant" or hiding
phase. All players are "good," so conflict takes the form of hazards and direct
attempts to "persuade" or "dominate" each other and each other's
characters and forces, rather than the form of direct conflict.
Note: For purposes of readability, these rules use the standard masculine pronouns when referring to a person of uncertain gender. In such cases, these pronouns are intended to convey the meanings: she/he, him/her, etc.
These rules are organized into four sections: the Starter Rules, the Standard Rules, the
Optional Rules, and the Appendices. The Starter and Standard Rules are for a two-player
game; multi-player rules are provided in the Optional Rules.
The introductory material on pages 4-8 provides a brief player turn summary, player notes,
and definitions of commonly used terms.
The Starter Rules - The Starter Rules contain all of the guidelines you need to
play METW. They have been designed to simplify teaching the game and to speed up play. You
should use the Starter Rules if you and your opponent have never played this game before
or if one of you only has access to a starter deck.
If you are already an experienced player of collectible card games, you might read the
next couple of pages and the sections that are not boxed. As you play, you can refer to
the other material that details the more complex rules and situations that may arise
during play.
The Standard Rules - These rules assume you have already played several games using
the Starter Rules. The Standard Rules consist of additions and extensions to the Starter
Rules that make play and deck building more flexible, exciting, and interesting. We
recommend that experienced METW players use all of the Standard Rules.
The Optional Rules - Interesting variations to the standard rules. Before play
begins, both players must agree on which optional rules are to be used.
The Appendices - An index, credits, keys, the Full Player Turn Summary. The color
insert includes a map and a key to the cards.
Play consists of a series of "Player Turns." During your turn, follow the
steps outlined in this turn summary. Then, your opponent does the same during his turn.
You and your opponent alternate turns until the game ends. This turn summary is included
here to give you an idea of how play proceeds; see p. 68-70 for the Full Player Turn
Summary.
Untap Phase - Each of your characters may do one of the following: Untap or Heal
(if at a Haven site). In addition, untap (see page 15) all of your other tapped non-site
cards.
Organization Phase - You may take the following actions in any order: play one
character (if allowed) or your Wizard (if available), reorganize your companies, transfer
items between characters (corruption checks required), and store items (corruption checks
required). In addition, each of your companies may plan its movement by playing a new site
card face down on its present site card.
Long-event Phase - Discard your resource long-events and your opponent's hazard
long-events. Play new resource long-event cards.
Movement/Hazard Phase - One at a time, each of your companies takes the following
actions. The company turns over its new site card (if it has one); its current site
becomes its site of origin. If the company moved to a non-Haven site, you may draw up to
the # of cards indicated by the site that it is moving to (at least one card must be
draw); your opponent does the same. If the company is moving to a Haven site, you may draw
up to the # of cards indicated by the site that you are moving from (at least one card
must be drawn); your opponent does the same. Next, your opponent may play allowable hazard
cards on the company; the maximum number of hazards that may be played on a company is
equal to the size of the company (to a minimum of two). Finally, remove the site of origin
card and each player discards or draws so that he has eight cards in his hand.
Site Phase - One at a time, each of your companies may take the following actions
at its current, untapped site. The company decides to enter and explore the site. First,
if the site has an automatic-attack, it attacks the company. Then, the company may attempt
to play one item, ally, faction, or information resource card that is "playable"
at that site. A character in the company must tap to make this attempt. If the card is
successfully played, tap the site.
End-of-Turn Phase - Each player may discard one card. Then each player must draw or
discard so that his hand has eight cards.
Clarification: The card, Twilight, is an exception to this rule-it can be played at anytime, either as a resource or as a hazard (it does not count against the hazard limit). Certain other cards specifically state when they may be played.
To get a general idea of how to play, read the Starter Rules sections that are not boxed. Later you can refer to the boxed sections for more information on special situations.
Two six-sided dice (2D6) should be used to generate random values during play. This is called "making a roll." To make a roll, roll 2D6 and add the two results together.
Note: If dice are not available, a random value can be generated by drawing a card from your play deck. Each card in a play deck has a number on the right side just below the center. You can use this number as the random value, then discard the card. Do not use this method if dice are available!
The game ends when one of the following occurs during play:
Note: If one or both players only has access to a starter deck (76 cards), this requirement of 20 marshalling points should be lowered to 18.
Just before the Free Council, each character must make a corruption check. The player
who took the last turn makes corruption checks for his characters first.
At the Free Council, the leaders of the Free Peoples decide which Wizard's advice is best
to follow. This is based upon a comparison of the resources each of the Wizards has
marshalled.
Clarification: Characters do not automatically untap when the Free Council is
called. A character may only untap during his own untap phase.
Clarification: A character that fails his corruption check prior to the Free
Council is no longer in play. That character and any non-follower cards he controls are
not available at the Free Council-thus, they do not count towards the marshalling point
totals.
A player may play resource cards that can affect his characters' corruption checks made
prior to the Free Council. Hazard cards may not be played.
After all characters have made their corruption checks, the game ends if one Wizard has
failed his corruption check (the other player wins). If both Wizards fail their corruption
checks, no one wins-both players lose (if you have to, roll dice and the high roller is
the winner).
The winner of the game is the player that has gathered the most marshalling points from:
Marshalling points are printed on the top left corner of the cards that award them.
Note: You may find it useful to use pencil and paper or extra dice to keep a
running total of marshalling points.
Clarification: If both players have the same number of marshalling points at the
Free Council, the game ends in a tie-both players win (if you have to, roll dice and the
high roller is the winner).
Example: (CPs = Corruption Points, MPs = Marshalling Points) Our two players
Jessica and Jason have been playing for awhile and Jessica exhausts her play deck during
her turn. Since she has 15 MPs and Jason only has 14, she decides to call the Free
Council. Each player has one company in Lórien:
Jessica Controls:CPs - MPs
Men of Lebennin (faction) 0 - 2
Dreams of Lore (information) 0 - 2
Pallando (controls:) Total CPs: 2 - 0
Sword of Gondolin (item) 2 - 2
Gwaihir (ally) 0 - 2
Celeborn 0 - 2
Gildor Inglorion (controls:) Total CPs: 1 - 1
Healing Herbs (item) 1 - 0
Legolas (controls:) Total CPs: 2 - 2
Elfstone (item) 1 - 0
Dagger of Westernesse (item) 1 - 0
Elrohir 0 - 1
Elladan Total CPs: 0 - 1
Jason Controls: CPs - MPs
Radagast (controls:) Total CPs: 0 - 0
Beorn (controls:) 0 - 2
Quickbeam (ally) 0 - 2
Théoden (controls:) Total CPs: 4 - 2
Sword of Gondolin (item) 2 - 2
Great Shield of Rohan (item) 2 - 2
Faramir (controls:) Total CPs: 2 - 2
Dagger of Westernesse (item) 1 - 0
Healing Herbs (item) 1 - 0
Imrahil (controls:) Total CPs: 0 - 2
Since Jessica called the council, Jason gets one final turn before the council starts.
Jason brings Éomer into play for one more MP, and then moves his company to Lake-town.
After facing the hazards Jessica plays, he successfully plays the Men of Northern
Rhovanion faction for two more MPs. Jason now has 17 MPs and will win the game if he does
not lose any MPs due to characters failing corruption checks.
In this example, any character with 2 or more CPs could fail his corruption check (see
pages 35-36). If Pallando fails his corruption check, the game ends immediately and Jason
wins. If Legolas fails his corruption check, Jessica loses 2 of her MPs. If Théoden fails
his corruption check, Jason loses 6 of his MPs. If Faramir fails his corruption check,
Jason loses 2 of his MPs.
There are five types of cards: site cards, character cards (including Wizard cards), resource cards, hazard cards, and region cards (this last type is not used with the Starter Rules).
Note: The card types can be distinguished as follows:
Clarification: For emphasis, a value used during play is often provided both in a
card's text and in another place on the same card. For example, a character's corruption
check modification is stated both in the text and the lower right corner of the
character's card.
Note: Each starter deck has a small pack of cards called a fixed set. There are 5
fixed sets in all. One appears randomly in each starter deck. The top facing card of all
fixed sets is Gates of Morning.
A fixed set is included in each starter deck to make a starter deck playable without
any other cards.
During play, your cards are organized into 2 decks and 3 piles:
You can use resources at certain sites and under certain conditions. Resources include: items, factions, allies, events, etc. You may only play resource cards during your own turn. You use hazards to hinder and attack your opponent's characters in order to prevent them from marshalling resources. You may only play hazard cards during your opponent's movement/hazard phase.
Clarification: The card, Twilight, is an exception to this rule-it can be played at anytime, either as a resource or as a hazard (it does not count against the hazard limit). Certain other cards specifically state when they may be played.
Clarification: Your play deck is "exhausted" when you draw its last card. Some cards require that your play deck be manipulated and then reshuffled-this does not "exhaust" your play deck.
Note: Because hazard cards are distinct from resource cards, you may not play your
hazards on your side of the playing surface. At the end of a game, it will be obvious
whose cards are whose, i.e., hazards in your area must belong to your opponent. We suggest
adopting a neutral zone between each player's side of the playing surface. Non-targeted
long-events and permanent-events can be played in this neutral zone.
Note: You may freely examine the contents of your discard pile; your opponent may
not. The contents of your out-of-play and marshalling point piles may be freely examined
by you and your opponent.
Clarification: If a character is eliminated due to combat or due to failing a
corruption check by 2 or more, his card is placed in the out-of-play pile-that character
may not be brought back into play by either player. If a creature is defeated, its card is
placed in the defender's marshalling point pile. If such a creature is unique, it may not
be brought back into play by either player.
When a card is removed from play in all other cases, the card is discarded unless the card
specifically states otherwise.
Clarification: Several types of cards are referred to by the key word included in
the first few words of a card's text. For example, the text of a "spell" card
starts with spell; the text of a "Nazgûl" card starts with Unique. Nazgûl; the
text of a "Palantír" starts with Unique. Palantír.
Often combinations of several cards and other actions are required to achieve a desired result. For example, to bring The One Ring into play requires: traveling to a site to play one of the Gold Ring cards, some sort of "Test" card or ability, The One Ring card, and a high die roll. In addition, the Wizard's Test card and the Scroll of Isildur card will dramatically improve the chances of successfully getting The One Ring into play.
Normally, during play, each of your cards is placed on the playing surface so that its
top is towards your opponent and its bottom is towards you. During play certain cards must
be "tapped" when they are used-this is a record keeping mechanism to keep track
of card usage. To tap a card, rotate it 90° so that it is turned sideways-to untap a
card, rotate it back 90° to its normal position.
When one of your characters is wounded, his card is placed with its top towards you (i.e.,
rotated 180° from an untapped position). All restrictions to tapped characters also apply
to wounded characters.
Clarification: A tapped (or wounded) character can perform any action that does not
require the character to tap.
For example, a tapped (or wounded) character can move normally, he can fight with a
penalty (if the attacker chooses him as the target of a strike), he can transfer items,
etc. A tapped (or wounded) character may not tap to acquire an item, to influence a
faction, to play a card requiring that he tap, etc.
Items and characters tap independently.
If a card states that it is "unique" or that it "may not be
duplicated," only one such card (or its effects) may be in play at a time. The first
card played takes precedence (influence checks may change this). This restriction applies
to all cards in play, i.e., both yours and your opponent's.
Only one of each "unique" card may be included in your play deck and starting
cards combined. As an exception, two of the same Wizard may be included in your play deck
(to give you a better chance of drawing one early).
Follow these steps to get ready to play:
Clarification: None of your starting characters may be considered to be followers
for the purposes of determining their combined mind attributes-your initial characters
have to have combined mind attributes of 20 or below.
Clarification: The initial 1-5 characters and two minor items do count toward the
"one-unique" and "three-others" limits on the play deck. However, they
do not count towards the number of resource and character cards in your starting play
deck.
Play consists of a series of "Player Turns." During your turn, you take various actions during the following phases. Then, your opponent does the same during his turn.
A Brief Player Turn Summary is presented on page 4. A detailed Full Player Turn Summary
is presented on pages 68-70.
Clarification: The actions that may be taken during your organization phase may be
taken in any order. Actions of the same type do not have to be taken together (e.g., you
can store an item, then bring a character into play, and then store a second item).
Clarification: If one of your companies doesn't move, neither player draws cards
based on that company's movement. However, your opponent can play still play allowable
hazards on that company (hazard limit still applies).
Clarification: Each player draws cards when each company moves and then discards or
draws to 8 cards after the company has completed movement. Additionally, at the end of
each turn, each player can discard one card and then discard or draw to 8 cards.
Clarification: During the site phase, a company may decide not to enter and explore
its current site. In this case, the company does not face the automatic-attack, but it may
not take any other actions or play any cards during the site phase. The company remains at
the site and it may decide to enter and explore the site on a later turn.
Clarification: Before a company can attempt to play one item, ally, faction, or
information resource card that is "playable" at its current site, it must face
the site's automatic-attacks. The company need not defeat the attacks, it merely needs to
resolve the attacks normally (such attacks can be canceled).
A company can face a site's automatic-attacks and still not play an item, ally, faction,
or information resource card (e.g., all of its characters are tapped after facing the
automatic-attacks). If such a company wants to play a card at the site on a later turn, it
must face the automatic-attacks again.
Clarification: A site is tapped when one item, ally, faction, or information card
is played. Non-Haven sites only untap after being discarded and after your play deck is
exhausted. So, each time through your play deck, only one such card may normally be played
at a given non-Haven site. Haven cards, whether tapped or not, always return to your
location deck.
As a player, you influence and control a number of characters that move and act in the
world of Middle-earth. Each character's abilities are defined by these attributes: race,
skills, direct influence, prowess (offense), body (defense), mind, marshalling points, and
special abilities (e.g., corruption check modifiers). A character can be eliminated and
removed from play as a result of combat (failing a body check) or corruption (failing a
corruption check).
If you have enough general influence or direct influence during a given turn, you may
bring into play: one character at his home site or at any Haven or your Wizard at his home
site or Rivendell.
Characters are primarily controlled by your pool of 20 general influence points. For each
controlled character, you must commit a number of general influence points equal to his
mind attribute. In addition, you may control a character by using another character's
direct influence-a character controlled in this fashion is called a follower and does not
use general influence points. (See page 21 for an extended example.)
During play, you may organize your characters into groups called companies. A company's
size is equal to the number of characters in it, with each Hobbit character only counting
half (round up). A company is limited to a size of seven. A company's hazard limit is
equal to two or the size of the company, whichever is greater. The maximum number of
hazards that can be played on a company during a given movement/hazard phase is equal to
its hazard limit.
Companies can only combine at a Haven-just remove all but one of the companies' Haven site
cards. The resulting company then has one site card consisting of one Haven site card.
One company can split into two or more companies only at a Haven (use two Haven cards).
Note: The number of characters you have in play limits the number of actions you may take during a given turn. You use your Wizard's general influence or your other characters' direct influence on a character to bring that character into play and to keep it in play. A character in play can move and take actions (e.g., defending against attacks, influencing, etc.). Items, allies, and other cards representing things a character acquires and controls are placed under his card.
Each character's abilities are defined by the following attributes (the notation for certain attributes is given in brackets).
You have a pool of 20 general influence points. At any one time, the total mind attributes of your characters in play (not counting followers) must be less than or equal to 20; this total is equal to your used general influence points. Your unused general influence points help your characters resist the effects of certain cards (e.g., Call of Home, Call of the Sea, Muster Disperses, etc.).
Note: In the Standard Rules, your unused general influence points help your characters, factions, allies, and items resist influence attempts made by your opponent.
Direct Influence
Some characters have a direct influence attribute of one or more. If such a character's
direct influence is greater than or equal to another one of your characters' mind
attribute, he may take control of that other character, who then becomes a follower of the
controlling character. These conditions must be met:
A follower does not require influence points from your general pool. The follower must
remain stacked under the character exerting the direct influence at all times. A follower
may not use his direct influence to control characters (i.e., a follower may not have his
own followers). A follower is handled in all other ways as a normal character (e.g.,
counts for company size, takes normal actions , etc.).
If you have enough unused general influence points, you may move a follower from direct
influence to general influence (or vice versa) during your organization phase.
If a character directly influencing a follower is removed from play, the follower remains
in play and does not immediately count against general influence. However, during your
next organization phase, you must discard the follower, place the follower under the
control of another character in his company with enough available direct influence, or
place the follower under the control of general influence (if enough is available).
Example: In this example and later examples, the notation "#·#" is used.
The first number is the character's mind attribute; the second is his direct influence
(DI). You have nine characters you want to control: Gandalf (- ·10), Aragorn II (9·3),
Boromir II (4·1), Legolas (6·2), Gimli (6·2), Frodo (5·1), Sam (4·0), Merry (4·1),
and Pippin (4·1). In addition, Aragorn II has Narsil (+1 to direct influence), Frodo has
The One Ring (+5 to direct influence), and Gandalf has a Lesser Ring (+2 to direct
influence). In order for you to control and keep these characters in play, you must use
all of your 20 points of general influence (GI) and their direct influence (DI).
First, Gandalf does not require any influence-he's your Wizard. You use your GI to control
Frodo, Aragorn II, and Gimli. This uses all 20 points: 5 for Frodo, 9 for Aragorn II, and
6 for Gimli. Gandalf has 12 DI (his normal 10 plus 2 for the Lesser Ring), so he uses it
to control Sam, Merry, and Pippin (they become his followers). Aragorn II has 4 DI (his 3
plus 1 for Narsil), so he uses it to control Boromir II. Frodo has 6 DI (his 1 plus 5 for
The One Ring), so he uses it to control Legolas. The company size is 7 because Hobbits
only count half. The resulting ccompany organization is outlined below:
General Influence (- ·20)
-----------|---------------------------------------------- Gandalf (- ·10+2)
Gimli (6·2) Aragorn (9·3+1) Frodo (5·1+5)------------------ |
---------|------------- | ---------------------------------Sam (4·0) | Pippin (4·1)
Boromir (4·1) Legolas (6·2) --------------------------------Merry (4·1)
Example: In our example from page 11, Jessica and Jason each have one company
organized as follows:
Jessica's General Influence (- ·20)
------------------| ---------------------------------------------Pallando (- ·10)
Elladan (4·0) Legolas (6·2+2)------------------------------------ |
---------------------------|----------------------Gildor Inglorion (4·0) Celeborn (6·1)
------------------Elrohir (4·0)
Jason's General Influence (- ·20)
------------------| ---------------------------------------------Radagast (- ·10)
Théoden (6·3) Faramir (5·1) Imrahil (6·2)--------------------------- |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------Beorn (7·2)
Jessica's company size is 6 and she has 10 unused general influence; Jason's company size
is 5 and he has 3 unused general influence.
Clarification: During the organization phase, you can move characters from control
by general influence to control by direct influence and vice versa so long as your total
of mind attributes does not exceed your available influence at the end of the organization
phase.
Clarification: If you do not have enough influence to control all of your
characters in play, you must discard any excess characters at the end of your next
organization phase.
A company is a group of characters that move and act together. This allows characters
to move, act, and defend as a unit, allowing stronger characters to protect the weaker
characters. This mechanism can be used to allow a variety of tactics during play.
For example, if you have 3 characters in play, the 3 characters can move separately and
perhaps do more in terms of acquiring marshalling points (items, other characters, etc.);
but each individual character is more vulnerable to danger. However, the same 3 characters
operating as a company might acquire marshalling points more slowly, but they are safer
(i.e., you risk less).
Normally, a company is limited to a size of seven, but a company at a Haven site may be of
any size. For these purposes, a Wizard counts as a character, but an ally does not. The
size of a company is determined for each company at the beginning of the movement/hazard
phase (e.g., it remains fixed even if a character leaves the company).
During your organization phase, you may perform one and only one of the following activities:
When you play a character, you may place him into a company already at his arrival site or he may become a new company (consisting of one character). In the second case, you must place the arrival site card next to the character played.
Clarification: If character is played at his home site or a Haven site and there is
no company there, you must play the site card for his arrival site with him. If the
appropriate site card is not available, you may not play the character.
Clarification: Playing a character does not tap a site.
Each character and Wizard is unique. So if you already have a character in play, your opponent may not play the same character. Similarly, if a character has been eliminated, he may not be brought into play again by either player.
Example: In our example from page 11, Jessica calls the Free Council. Then Jason gets to take his final turn. Since his company is at a Haven, Jason may play a character card from his hand during his organization phase. Jason has Éomer (with a 3 mind attribute) in his hand so he plays him. Jason has 3 points of unused general influence; he also has Théoden with 3 points of unused direct influence and Radagast with 3 points of unused direct influence. So Éomer may be placed under the control of general influence, Théoden, or Radagast (Jason's choice).
Once you decide to reveal your Wizard, you may still use your pool of general influence
points; but, in addition, your Wizard acts as a character (a very powerful one). While
revealing your Wizard is an advantage, it also carries with it the danger of losing the
game by losing your Wizard to death or corruption.
After being revealed, a Wizard operates as a character and thus may use his direct
influence just like any other character.
Each of your characters at a Haven may heal during the untap phase of your turn. Such a character moves from a wounded position to a tapped position (i.e., the character is still tapped). In addition, certain cards can heal characters when they are played (e.g., Healing Herbs, Halfling Strength, etc.).
In METW the lands of northwest Middle-earth are represented by regions. The site cards represent places that companies can visit within those regions. Except for a moving company during its movement/hazard phase, each company always has a current site card associated with it-the company is located at that site.
Clarification: The specific region cards are not used with the Starter Rules.
Remove these cards from your location deck if you are not using the Standard Rules. Region
cards are not included in starter decks.
Note: Site paths do not direct the movement process. The site path is used to
determine which hazard creatures your opponent may play against your moving company.
Note: By using the site cards and site cards only, a company can move from any site
to any other site. First, if necessary, the company moves to the nearest Haven. Then, if
necessary, it moves to another Haven. Finally, it moves from that Haven to the destination
site.
A company commits to moving by playing a new site card (face down) during its
organization phase. A company does not have to move during a given turn (i.e., it does not
play a new site card).
At the beginning of its movement/hazard phase, a moving company current site card becomes
its site of origin-the company is considered to be en route to its new site card (i.e.,
the company is moving).
At the end of a moving company's movement/hazard phase (before players return to their
hand sizes), its site of origin is removed (discard if tapped; otherwise, return it to
your location deck) and the new site card becomes the company's current site card.
Clarification: Some cards can interrupt this process by forcing a company to return to its site of origin.
Moving From a Non-Haven Site
If the company's site of origin is a non-Haven site, the new site card must be the Haven
listed as the nearest Haven on the site of origin card (i.e., the company can move back to
its nearest Haven).
Moving From a Haven Site
If the company's site of origin is a Haven, the new site card must meet one of the
following requirements:
Clarification: If a company is not moving, no cards are drawn. If a company is
moving to a non-haven site, you may draw up to the # of cards indicated by the site that
it is moving to (at least one card must be drawn); your opponent does the same. If a
company is moving to a haven site, you may draw up to the # of cards indicated by the site
that it is moving from (at least one card must be draw); your opponent does the same.
Clarification: To summarize the movement process:
Suggestion: To help decide where a company should move, look at the resource cards in your hand. Then decide to which of your available sites to move. For example, if you have a major item, go to a site where a major item can be played.
Example: Jessica's company is in Bree (i.e., its current site) and wants to go to
Thranduil's Halls to try and bring the Wood-elves faction into play. Bree's nearest Haven
is Rivendell, while Thranduil's Halls nearest Haven is Lórien.
First, it takes one turn to move from Bree to Rivendell using the site path, w w,
indicated on the Bree site card. Jessica just plays the Rivendell site card as her new
site card during her organization phase, and she removes the Bree site card at the end of
her movement/hazard phase.
During the next turn, the company may move from Rivendell to Lórien using the site path,
w w b w, indicated on both the Rivendell and Lórien site cards. Jessica plays the Lórien
site card during her organization phase, and she removes the Rivendell site card at the
end of her movement/hazard phase.
Finally, the company takes one turn to move from Lórien to Thranduil's Halls using the
site path, w b b, indicated on the Thranduil's Halls site card. Jessica plays the
Thranduil's Halls site card during her organization phase, and she removes the Lórien
site card at the end of her movement/hazard phase.
There are six types of regions and six types of sites:
Region Type Symbol - All region symbols have a circle around them.
Site Type Symbol
A site path is the sequence of regions between a site and its nearest Haven. However, each region in the sequence is only indicated by its type, not by its name. Each non-Haven site card has a site path on it. Each Haven site card has two site paths, but each of those two paths gives the sequence of regions between the Haven and one of the two Havens nearest to it.
Note: Site paths do not direct the movement process. The site path is used to
determine which hazard creatures your opponent may play against your moving company.
Clarification: A "company's site path" during its movement /hazard phase
is the site path between its site of origin and its new site. On non-Haven site cards, the
site path is provided on the top left border. On Haven cards, the site path to each of the
two adjacent Havens is provided in the card text.
Example: The Lonely Mountain site's nearest Haven is the Lórien site. The symbol
for Wilderness is w, the symbol for Border-land is b. So the site path between Lórien and
the Lonely Mountain is: w b b w.
The regions between these two sites are Wold & Foothills (Wilderness), Anduin Vales
(Border-lands), Woodland Realm (Border-land), and Northern Rhovanion (Wilderness).
Example: In the Example of movement from Bree to Thranduil's Halls on page 26, the
first site path used was from Bree to Rivendell: w w. During that movement/hazard phase,
Jason (Jessica's opponent) can play hazard creatures keyed to wilderness (w), double
wilderness (w w), and Havens (the new site).
During the next turn, the company uses the site path from Rivendell to Lórien: w w b w.
During that movement/hazard phase, Jason can play hazard creatures keyed to wilderness
(w), double wilderness (w w), border-lands (b), and Havens (the new site).
Finally, the company takes one turn to move from Lórien to Thranduil's Halls using the
site path, w b b. Jason can play hazard creatures keyed to wilderness (w), border-lands
(b), and free-holds (the new site).
Region Types
Site Types
Combat normally occurs when one of three things happen:
Combat consists of one or more attacks that must be resolved one at a time. An attack consists of one or more strikes:
Unless the attack states otherwise, the defender chooses which untapped characters will be the targets of given strikes. Then, the attacker chooses which other defending characters not yet assigned a strike will be the target of any remaining unassigned strikes.
Clarification: Against a given attack, a character may only defend against one
strike.
Clarification: If the text on a creature card states that the "attacker
chooses defending characters," any characters in the defending company may be chosen
(by the attacker) as the targets of the attack's strikes.
Clarification: All of an attack's strikes must be assigned to the characters in the
defending company or as modifications to the strikes assigned. The attacker may not choose
to not apply strikes. Any strike in excess of the number of characters in the company
becomes a -1 modification to prowess of one character taking a strike (the attacker
chooses). Only those strikes that are assigned need be defeated for the creature's
marshalling points to be received by the defender.
Strike Modifications
There are a number of standard modifications to strikes:
Condition and Mod. to Target's Prowess
Unwounded, tapped character * ...-1
Wounded character *... -2
Untapped character decides not to tap *... -3
For each unused strike allocated (i.e., each extra strike) * ...-1
Up to one resource card that requires skill ...varies
Other resource cards ...varies
Hazard cards ...varies
Clarification: The prowess modifications marked with an * above are applied for a given attack and then are removed immediately after the attack is resolved. That is they do not carry over from attack to attack.
Resolving Strikes
Strikes are resolved one at a time as decided by the defending player. When you choose a
strike to resolve, determine all of the factors affecting the strike before the roll is
made (see "The Strike Sequence" below).
To resolve a strike, the defender makes a roll (2D6) and adds his modified prowess:
Body Checks
If a strike against a character is successful, the character is wounded and must make a
body check. To make a body check, the attacker makes a roll (2D6); if this value is
greater than the character's body attribute, the character is eliminated. If the character
was already wounded before this strike, the roll is modified by +1.
Clarification: If a character was already wounded before a strike wounds him again,
the resulting body check modification is always +1 (regardless of how many times a
character is wounded).
Clarification: If a strike against a character is successful, a body check must be
resolved for the character before anything else happens. For example, Healing Herbs may
not be used to heal such a character until after the body check is resolved (of course, if
the character is eliminated, the Healing Herbs may not be used on him at all).
As presented above, a strike that fails is defeated if its body attribute is "p;" or if it has a body attribute and fails a body check. To make such a body check, the defender makes a roll (2D6); if this value is greater than the strike's body attribute, the strike is defeated.
Example: Smaug has a prowess of 17 and a body of 8. He normally has two strikes when he attacks. If one of his strikes against a character fails, the defender makes a body check. If the resulting roll is greater than 8, that strike is defeated. However, both of Smaug's strikes must be defeated in order for him to be eliminated-this would require at least two body check rolls greater than 8.
Defeating an Attack
An attack by a hazard creature is defeated if all of its strikes directed against (i.e.,
assigned to) a company are defeated. If a defeated attack is a hazard creature, the card
is placed in the defender's marshalling point pile. The defender receives marshalling
points for eliminating it.
If a hazard creature has multiple attacks, each must be defeated in order for the defender
to receive the marshalling points.
If one of the strikes was canceled or ineffectual, the attack is not defeated. If the
attack is canceled, the attack is not defeated. A canceled attack has no effect on the
defending company.
Example: Faramir is untapped with a prowess of 5 and a body of 8. He is facing a
strike from a Huorn (only has one strike) with a prowess of 10 and a body of
"p;." Faramir could decide not to tap against the strike; in which case his
prowess would only be 2 (his normal prowess of 5, minus 3 for not tapping) against this
strike. However, Faramir decides to tap to face the strike.
If Faramir rolls a 6 or better (i.e., his prowess plus the roll will be greater than the
Huorn's prowess of 10), the strike fails and the Huorn attack is defeated (it only has one
strike and its body attribute is "p;").
If Faramir rolls a 5 (i.e., his prowess plus the roll is equal to the Huorn's prowess of
10), the strike is ineffectual.
If Faramir rolls a 4 or less (i.e., his prowess plus the roll is less than the Huorn's
prowess of 10), the strike was successful. Faramir is wounded and must make a body check.
The attacker makes a die roll-if the result is 9 or more, Faramir is eliminated and
removed from play.
The Strike Sequence
You and your opponent must play any cards that modify the number of strikes before you
assign the strikes.
Note: The "strike sequence" is the time from when a player declares that one of his characters will resolve a strike until the strike die roll is made and any associated body checks are made.
Strikes are resolved one at a time as decided by the defending player (i.e., he chooses
a strike to resolve, the strike is resolved, he chooses the next strike to resolve, the
strike is resolved, etc.).
All of the factors affecting the strike must be decided before making the roll (2D6).
Address these factors in the following order:
Clarification: Certain attacks state that each character in the company "faces
one strike" or "is attacked" (e.g., Crebain, Watcher in the Water, etc.).
Such an attack is never affected by a card or effect that modifies the number of strikes
of an attack.
Clarification: The prowess modification and maximum for a weapon is applied to a
character before any other modifications. For example, Beorn has a base prowess of 7 and a
Sword of Gondolin (+2 prowess to a maximum of 8)-he starts with a prowess of 8 before any
other modifications are applied.
Similarly, the body modification and maximum for a shield or armor is applied before any
other modifications.
Example of Combat [(#/#) means (prowess/body)]
You control Bilbo (1/9), Balin (4/7) and his follower Bofur (4/7) (with Healing Herbs),
Beretar (5/8), and Beregond (4/8) (with an Elven Cloak). They are en route from Rivendell
to Lórien. There are 4.5 characters in the company which rounds up to 5, meaning the
hazard limit is 5.
Your opponent plays Orc-raiders. He keys this hazard creature to the border-land of your
company's site path because he is mindful of Beregond's Elven Cloak (a minor item that
cancels a strike keyed to wilderness). Bilbo, a scout, taps and plays Concealment to
cancel the attack. Orc-raiders is discarded. That's 1 hazard down and potentially 4 to go.
Your opponent next plays Orc-warband (second hazard) and states it is keyed to the
border-land. It's a (4/-) hazard creature with 5 strikes that receives +3 to prowess
against a company that has faced an Orc attack. Even though Bilbo canceled the
Orc-raiders, the company is still considered to have faced them, so the Orc-warband will
be (7/-). There are 5 strikes and 5 characters, so each character will face one strike (no
decisions on strike allocation can be made). Bilbo elects to face his strike first. His
opponent plays Weariness of the Heart (third hazard) on Bilbo to give -1 to his prowess.
This modification to his prowess is in addition to the -1 Bilbo suffers for being tapped.
No other effects are played to affect the strike and Bilbo rolls the dice. The result is a
5. Bilbo's prowess of -1 plus the dice roll is less than the prowess of the Orc-warband's
strike against Bilbo, so Bilbo is wounded. Your opponent rolls the body check. It's a
7-Bilbo lives!
Beregond faces the next strike. Beregond taps and rolls a 10, defeating his strike
handily. Bofur chooses to face his strike next. He a special +1 prowess bonus versus Orcs,
and he chooses not to tap (-3 to his prowess). He rolls a 5 which ties the prowess of the
Orc-warband strike. The strike is ineffectual.
Facing the next strike, Balin taps, and rolls a 7 to defeat it. Beretar resolves the final
strike, taps, and defeats it by rolling a 3. Orc-warband is discarded.
Your opponent sees that one character, Bofur, is untapped. He plays Giant (13/-) (a fourth
hazard) and reasons that Bofur will have to take its one vicious strike. (After all, if
you give up the option of assigning the one strike to your untapped character, namely
Bofur, the opponent will be able to choose from all 5 characters which will take the
strike). Your opponent does not see what Bofur sees. Before assigning the strike, Bofur
taps and uses his Healing Herbs to untap Beregond, who then announces he is taking the
strike. The Giant is keyed solely to double wilderness, so Beregond taps his Elven Cloak
to cancel its single strike. The Giant is discarded.
The opponent announces he will play no more hazards and the company breathes a sigh of
relief. Bilbo will be able to heal at the start of the next turn since his company will be
in Lórien, a Haven.
As characters adventure in Middle-earth, they are subject to temptations. They run the
risk of becoming corrupted and leaving the cause of the Free Peoples (i.e., a corrupted
character leaves play, a corrupted Wizard loses the game). In The Lord of the Rings,
Saruman was corrupted by power, Radagast was corrupted by the lure of nature, Alatar and
Pallando succumbed to unknown corruption and disappeared into the East.
Each character has a corruption point total. This starts at zero, but certain cards and
activities will increase and decrease this total during play. Most cards that affect a
character's corruption are kept under the character's card until they are discarded. Only
one corruption card (a hazard card that gives corruption points) may be played on a given
character each turn.
Clarification: For these purposes, a "corruption card" is a hazard card
that gives a character corruption points. Cards that force a corruption check but do not
give corruption points (e.g., Weariness of the Heart, Ren the Unclean, etc.) are not
"corruption cards."
A character may have more than one corruption card, but only one may be played on him each
turn.
Certain corruption cards state: "Cannot be duplicated on a given character." So,
a given character may only have one of each such corruption card.
CORRUPTION POINTS
A character's corruption point total can be determined at any time by summing the
corruption point values of: the corruption cards under his card and any other cards he
controls (e.g., usually items).
CORRUPTION CHECKS
When a card or other effect indicates that one of your characters must make a corruption
check, you must make a roll (2D6) and add any appropriate modifications. One of the
following results:
Clarification: A character discarded due to a corruption check is not removed from
play. He may be played again either by you (e.g., if you exhaust your play deck and draw
that character) or by your opponent (e.g., if he has that character in his hand). In this
case, the character stops working for the cause of the Free Peoples (at least for a
while)-much as Radagast was corrupted by the physical nature of Middle-earth (i.e., he
went "native").
Clarification: A character eliminated due to a corruption check is removed from
play. He may not be played again by either you or by your opponent. In this case, the
character is permanently lost to the Free Peoples-much as Saruman was corrupted in The
Lord of the Rings.
CORRUPTION CHECK MODIFIERS
Certain characters receive modifications to corruption checks, and certain cards may give
modifications to a corruption check. Modifications to corruption checks are printed in the
lower right of the appropriate card. A plus or a minus sign indicates a modification to
any corruption checks rather than corruption points.
Clarification: There are two different values that affect corruption checks:
Both values appear in the lower right of certain cards.
Example: (CP = Corruption Points) Using the Middle-earth: The Wizards terms, lets
take a look at Frodo at several points during the action in The Lord of the Rings between
the Shire and Lórien. Frodo has a special ability: he has a corruption check modifier of
+4 (as provided in the bottom right corner of his card).
When Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin flee the Shire, Frodo only has one item: The One Ring
(it gives Frodo 6 corruption points). Suppose Frodo has to make a corruption check (roll
2D6) in this situation: if a 2 is rolled, the modified roll is 6 (2 + 4 for his special
ability) and Frodo is discarded. Any other roll would have no effect on Frodo.
When Tom Bombadil rescues Frodo and company in the Barrow Downs, Frodo receives a Dagger
of Westernesse (1 CP). So Frodo's CP total becomes 7. He would be discarded if he makes a
corruption check roll of 2 or 3 (if there are no other modifications).
On the way to Rivendell, Frodo is wounded by a Morgul-knife (4 CPs)-his CP total is now
11. If forced to make a corruption check, he is discarded on a roll of 6 or 7 and he is
eliminated on a roll of 5 or less.
Finally, he reaches Rivendell and the Morgul-knife card is removed, dropping his CP total
back to 7. However, he is then affected by Lure of the Senses (a hazard card giving 2 CPs
and requiring a corruption check each untap phase at a Haven). So during his next untap
phase, he must make a corruption check with a CP total of 9-he is discarded on a roll of 4
or 5 and is eliminated on a roll of 2 or 3.
Next, Frodo gets rid of the Lure of the Senses (by rolling greater than 6) and he
transfers his Dagger of Westernesse. In addition, Bilbo gives him: Sting (1 CP) and The
Mithril-coat (2 CPs). So Frodo's CP total is 9 (6+1+2). If forced to make a corruption
check, he is discarded on a roll of 4 or 5 and is eliminated on a roll of 2 or 3.
Fortunately, the Fellowship of the Ring is formed (see the company in the example on page
21)-we will assume that two Fellowship cards (+1 to prowess and corruption checks for all
characters in the company) are played initially.
So Frodo leaves Rivendell with a CP total of 9 and corruption check modifiers totaling +6
(+4 normal +2 for Fellowship). Thus, if forced to make a corruption check (without other
modifications), he will be discarded on a roll of 2 or 3.
You have a pool of general influence. Your characters and Wizard have direct influence.
These two forms of influence can control and affect characters (see pages 18-20) and
factions.
Your unused general influence is equal to 20 minus the sum of the mind attributes of your
non-follower characters in play (i.e., do not count your followers).
A character's unused direct influence is equal to his direct influence attribute minus the
sum of the mind attributes of his followers. All characters have a direct influence
attribute of at least zero, so any character has unused direct influence of at least zero.
Note: In the Standard Game, direct influence can be used to attempt to interfere with your opponent's control of his characters, followers, factions, allies, and items (see pages 58-60).
BRINGING AN ALLY INTO PLAY
You can automatically bring an ally into play by tapping one of your characters. The
character must be at the site indicated on the ally's card. Every ally is controlled by
the character that tapped to bring it into play; i.e., it must be placed under and remain
with that character's card. An ally does not count against its controlling character's
direct influence or your general influence.
BRINGING A FACTION INTO PLAY
In order to play a faction card, you must tap one of your characters that is at the
"site" indicated on the faction's card. Then you must make an influence check.
Make a roll (2D6), add your character's unused direct influence, and add any appropriate
modifications (any applicable standard modifications from the faction card and from any
other cards played). All modification cards must be played before making the roll (2D6).
If the modified result is greater than the value required on the faction card, you place
the faction in your play area (it now counts towards your marshalling point total).
Otherwise, you discard the faction card. Once a faction is brought into play, it is not
controlled by any specific character and it does not count against general or direct
influence.
Clarification: Most faction cards list some "standard modifications" to the influence check based only upon the race of the character that was tapped to make the influence check. Similarly, certain characters have special modifications to influence checks. Such a modification only applies if it belongs to the character that was tapped to make the influence check.
Example: Suppose, during your site phase, you have the Knights of Dol Amroth in
your hand and a company at Dol Amroth-the company contains Imrahil. He has no followers,
so his unused direct influence is 2. You tap Imrahil to attempt to bring the Knights into
play.
You make your influence check roll (2D6), and the result is 5. This roll is modified by:
So the modified result is 10 (=5+2+2+1). Since this is greater than 8 (the number
required by the faction card), the Knights of Dol Amroth are successfully brought into
play.
If you had rolled a 3, your modified result would have been 8 (=3+2+2+1), and you would
have had to discard the faction card.
You may only play hazard cards during your opponent's movement/hazard phase. Except for
resource long-events, you may play resource cards anytime during your own turn unless
specifically prohibited by the rules or the cards themselves.
Unless stated otherwise, a card is playable only if its effect applies to an existing
situation, hazard, attack, etc. (i.e., you may not play a card just to discard it).
Clarification: An automatic-attack at a company's new site may be targeted by a hazard during the company's movement/hazard phase (e.g., Arouse Minions, Dragon's Desolation, etc.). Playing such a hazard does count against the hazard limit. Such a hazard may be played even if the attack ultimately will not be faced (i.e., if the company decides not to face the automatic-attack during the site phase).
During your movement/hazard phase, both players draw cards when each company moves. If
a company moves to a non-Haven site, you may draw up to the number of cards indicated by
the site that it moved to (at least one card must be drawn); your opponent does the same.
If the company moves to a Haven site, you may draw up to the number of cards indicated by
the site that you moved from (at least one card must be drawn); your opponent does the
same.
THE HAZARD LIMIT
During your opponent's movement/hazard phase, the number of hazard cards that you may play
on one of your opponent's companies is that company's hazard limit. The hazard limit is
equal to two or the company's size, whichever is greater. A company's size is equal to the
number of characters in it, with each Hobbit counting half (round up). For this purpose,
Wizards and followers do count as characters, but allies do not.
A hazard limit can be modified by the play of certain cards. Tapping a Nazgûl
permanent-event does count against the hazard limit.
Clarification: For the purposes of calculating hazard limits, each company's size is determined for each company at the beginning of the movement/hazard phase (e.g., it remains fixed). So, if a character is eliminated during his company's portion of the movement/hazard phase, his company's hazard limit does not change.
HAZARD CARDS
Hazard cards represent evil forces and natural dangers in Middle-earth. You may play
hazard cards only during your opponent's movement/hazard phase.
Creature Cards
You may use a creature card to directly attack one of your opponent's companies. Such an
attack can occur only if:
Clarification: Two wilderness symbols are required in a site path to play a deep wilderness creature. However, the two symbols need not be adjacent in the site path. For example, a deep wilderness creature may be played keyed to the site path: w b b w. If a company travels with two wilderness on its site path, the chance of encountering very dangerous wilderness monsters has doubled, even if the two wildernesses are not adjacent.
If a creature satisfies more than one of these conditions, you must choose (when you play the creature) one of these conditions that the attack is "keyed to." The effects of certain cards are based upon the region or site type that a creature is keyed to.
Clarification: The player that plays a hazard creature must specifically state the type of region or site that a creature is keyed to-it can affect the use of other cards. For example, if a character with an Elven Cloak faces a strike from a creature that has been played keyed to wilderness, he can tap the cloak to cancel the strike. However, if such a strike is keyed to border-lands, he cannot use his cloak against it.
The region types that a company moves through during a given turn are determined by the following criteria:
Standard Game Only: If the company played region cards, the region types of the
site path are indicated by the region cards (i.e., each region card has a region type).
Example: Certain card combinations make a specific card more powerful and allow it
to be played more often. Ren the Unclean (a Nazgûl) has one strike with a prowess of 15
and can only be played keyed to dark-domains and dark-holds. However, if played in
combination with a Fell Beast card, Ren has two strikes with a prowess of 13 and can be
played keyed to shadow-lands, shadow-holds, dark-domains, and dark-holds.
If Ren is played in combination with a Fell Beast card and a Morgul-knife card, he has two
strikes with a prowess of 15 and can be played keyed to shadow-lands, shadow-holds,
dark-domains, and dark-holds. In addition, one character wounded by his attack receives 4
corruption points due to the Morgul-knife.
RESOURCE CARDS
Certain resource cards may only be played if specific required conditions exist.
Clarification: Playing a faction card, ally card, information card, or item card (unless stated otherwise on the card) requires an untapped character and an untapped site. In addition, the company must face any automatic-attacks located at the same site before such a card can be played. Playing another type of resource card does not neccessarily require an untapped site. This process may vary based upon specific card text.
Factions - If one of your characters is at the site specified on a faction card, he may tap to attempt to play the faction card. If the character successfully influences the faction as indicated on the faction's card (see p. 39), the faction card is placed in your play area. After a faction is successfully played at a site, the site card is tapped.
Clarification: Once a faction is brought into play, it is not associated with any character. A faction plays no active role after it is brought into play.
Items - If a character is at an untapped site that indicates that a specific type
of item card (gold ring, minor, major, or greater) is "playable," he may tap to
bring an item of that type into play. The item card is placed under the character's card.
After an item is played at a site, the site card is tapped.
A character may only use the effects of one weapon at a time and one shield at a time and
one armor at a time.
If a character is eliminated by corruption, discard all of the items that he controls. If
a character is eliminated due to failing a body check, one item can be immediately
transferred to each unwounded character in his company; but, the rest of his items are
discarded.
Clarification: An item only taps when used if its text states so. Thus, weapons and
armor do not normally tap when used.
Clarification: A character may control (i.e., bear) any item, even if he cannot use
its abilities.
Clarification: A character may control (i.e., bear) more than one weapon or more
than one shield or more than one armor. However, only one of each type may be used at any
given time.
Minor Items - If a resource card that taps a site (e.g., ally, faction, item, information, etc.) is successfully played at a site, one additional character may tap to play a minor item. Such a minor item may be played even if the site does not specifically state that a minor item is playable at the site. For example, a minor item played when bringing an ally into play would simulate a gift from the ally.
Example: Certain card combinations are required to bring certain powerful items
into play. Narsil was a mighty sword that was broken when Elendil fell fighting Sauron.
Narsil can be played and used as a greater item (+1 direct influence, +1 prowess, 3 MPs, 2
CPs). However, a player can attempt to reforge Narsil so that it becomes Andúril, the
Flame of the West (Aragorn II's weapon in The Lord of the Rings).
Two other cards are required. A Reforging card must be played at an "information
site" and stored at a Haven-this represents gathering the resources required to
reforge Narsil. Then, the Andúril card must be played at an "information site"
and stored at a Haven-this represents gaining the knowledge of how to reforge Narsil.
Then, the Reforging card is discarded and the Andúril card is placed with the Narsil
card-giving a total of (+2 direct influence, +5 prowess, 7 MPs, 3 CPs) from the
combination of the two cards.
Allies - A character may tap to play an ally card if he is at the site specified on
the ally card and the character meets the requirements indicated on the ally card. The
ally card is placed under the character's card and that character controls the ally. After
an ally is played at a site, the site card is tapped. An ally does not count as a
character for any purposes other than combat and the use of certain skills. Allies can not
bear items.
An ally with a skill may take actions and play cards that require that skill. For example,
Treebeard has the sage skill, so he can tap to play a Dreams of Lore card. Similarly,
Gollum has the scout skill so he can tap to play a Concealment card.
Clarification: Allies that are eliminated are placed in the out-of-play pile (i.e., neither player may bring that ally back into play). Allies are not affected by corruption.
EVENTS
There are both resource events and hazard events. Each event falls into one of three
classifications based upon how long it stays in play.
Short-event - A short-event's effects are immediately implemented. Then the event
card is discarded. The effects of some short-events last for a specific period as stated
on its card (e.g., many short-event effects last "until the end of the turn").
Permanent-event - The effects of a resource permanent-event are immediately
implemented. Its effects last until the card is discarded. Certain effects can cause a
permanent-event to be discarded; these effects are given in the text of specific cards.
Clarification: Hazard short-events and permanent-events can be played only during an opponent's movement/hazard phase. Resource short-events and permanent-events can be played at any time during your turn-as limited by specific card text.
Long-event - The effects of a long-event are immediately implemented when it is
played. Long-events last approximately two turns, one of yours and one of your opponent's.
You may only play a resource long-event during your long-event phase. Its card and effects
remain in play until your next long-event phase or until otherwise discarded.
You may only play a hazard long-event during your opponent's movement/hazard phase. Its
card and effects remain in play until your opponent's next long-event phase or until
otherwise discarded.
Clarification: The effects of many long-events and permanent-events affect both players because they can remain in effect during both players' turns. So remember, when you play a long-event hazard on your opponent during his turn, it will remain in effect during your next turn. For example, Awaken Denizens (a long-event) increases the number of automatic-attack strikes at Ruins & Lairs for one turn for each player.
Example: One of Jason's companies with a hazard limit of six is moving from
Rivendell to Lórien; its site path is w w b w. Jessica plays Doors of Night (a
permanent-event) during Jason's movement/hazard phase. This causes all resource
environment cards in play to be discarded and their effects are canceled. This card will
remain in play until it is discarded due to the play of a Gates of Morning, Twilight, or
another card that targets the Doors of Night.
Jessica then plays Choking Shadows (a short-event). She decides to use its option of
treating one wilderness [w] as a shadow-land [s] until the end of the turn. This changes
the site path for Jason's company from w w b w to: w s b w. Choking Shadows is discarded,
but its effects will remain until the end of the turn (unless canceled before that).
Then, Jessica next plays Morgul Night (a long-event)-all wildernesses [w] to be treated as
shadow-lands [s] and all shadow-lands [s] to be treated as dark-domains [d]. This changes
the site path for Jason's company from w s b w to: s d b s. Jessica can still play three
more hazards and she can key them to border-lands, shadow-lands, and/or dark-domains.
Unless its discard is forced by another card, Morgul Night and its effects will remain in
play until Jessica's next long-event phase (approximately two turns).
STORING CARDS
During your organization phase, you may store any of your items that are at a Haven site.
The controlling character must make a corruption check before an item can be stored.
A stored item is placed in your marshalling point pile and still counts for marshalling
points. Once an item is stored it may not be unstored and brought back into play. The One
Ring may not be stored.
Some items and resource cards state that they can be stored when at a specific site (e.g.,
the Book of Mazarbul can be stored at a Dwarf-hold). Such an item or resource card is
still placed in the marshalling point pile and cannot be brought back into play.
Clarification: Certain cards state that a character bearing such a card cannot
untap until the card is stored at a certain place. After storing such a card, the
character does not untap until the untap phase of his player's next turn.
Clarification: Unless stated otherwise on the card, the marshalling points for a
card that can be stored apply regardless of whether or not the card is stored.
TRANSFERRING ITEMS
During your organization phase, you may transfer items between characters at the same
site. The controlling character must make a corruption check before an item can be
transferred.
Clarification: A corruption check is required before an item can be stored or transferred. A character that fails such a corruption check has decided not to follow his Wizard's advice and influence concerning the item's use (i.e., the item is discarded and the character is either discarded or eliminated).
ACTIONS AND CARD PLAY
The various activities that you and your opponent can perform during play are called
actions. Typical actions include playing a card, tapping a card, revealing a card, etc.
The following general guidelines apply to resolving actions; more detailed guidelines can
be found on pages 61-63.
You should read and master the Starter Rules before tackling the Standard Rules.
The Standard Rules victory conditions differ from those found in the Starter Rules in
two ways. First, the players can decide to play a longer game, and/or second, certain
modifications to the marshalling point totals can be made at the Free Council.
THE LONGER GAMES
The Starter Game is also called the "1-deck game." For experienced players with
tuned decks, this game usually lasts 20-60 minutes. If you want longer, more detailed
play, there are 3 other games.
The 2-deck Game
In a "2-deck game" (the "short game"), the Council is called when each
play deck has been exhausted twice. You may call the Council when your play deck has been
exhausted twice, or when it has been exhausted once and you have at least 25 marshalling
points (MPs).
The 3-deck Game
In a "3-deck game" (the "long game"), the Council is called when each
play deck has been exhausted three times. You may call the Council when your play deck has
been exhausted three times, or when it has been exhausted twice and you have at least 30
marshalling points. Increase the sideboard size to 20 cards.
The 4-deck Game
In a "4-deck game" (i.e., the "campaign game"), the Council is called
when each play deck has been exhausted four times. You may call the Council when your play
deck has been exhausted four times, or when it has been exhausted three times and you have
at least 40 marshalling points. Increase the sideboard size to 25 cards.
MARSHALLING POINT MODIFICATIONS
At the Free Council, you may reveal any unique marshalling point cards in your hand that
match unique cards that your opponent has in play. Each such revealed card reduces your
opponent's marshalling point total by one.
There are six different types of marshalling points; each is associated with a specific
shape:
These types of marshalling points can affect your marshalling point total in two ways:
Clarification: These marshalling point modifications do not apply until the Free Council actually takes place. Specifically, the modifications do not affect your marshalling point total when it is used to determine if you can call the Free Council (i.e., you need 20 MPs to call the Free Council before any of these modifications are made).
Example: Let's look again at our example from page 11. Assume Jason failed to play
the Men of Northern Rhovanion (3 MPs) on his last turn. Assume none of the characters
failed a corruption check (i.e., they all come to the Free Council).
Jessica notices that Jason has no faction points (he blew his roll to get the Men of
Northern Rhovanion). So her faction points are doubled to 4.
Unfortunately, Jason's problems are not over. He failed to get the 3 MPs from the Men of
Northern Rhovanion; so his MP total is only 14-8 of them are character points and only 6
are non-character points. Since you cannot have more than half of your points from any one
source, Jason only gets 6 MPs from his characters.
At this point, the marshalling points (MPs) break down as follows:
Jessica's MP Cards MPs - Modified MPs
Celeborn 2 - 2
Elladan 1 - 1
Elrohir 1 - 1
Gildor Inglorion 1 - 1
Legolas 2 - 2
Sword of Gondolin (item) 2 - 2
Men of Lebennin (faction) 2 - 4
Gwaihir (ally) 2 - 2
Dreams of Lore (misc) 2 - 2
Total 15 - 17
Jason's MP Cards MPs - Modified MPs
Beorn 2 - 2
Faramir 2 - 2
Imrahil 2 - 2
Théoden 2 - 0
Sword of Gondolin (item) 2 - 2
Great Shield of Rohan (item) 2 - 2
Quickbeam (ally) 2 - 2
Total 14 - 12
At this point, Jason reveals that he has cards for Gwaihir, Legolas, and Elrohir in his
hand (he was saving them for this). Since they duplicate three of Jessica's unique MP
cards, her MP total is reduced by one for each of these cards. Thus, Jessica ends up with
14 MPs and Jason ends up with 12 MPs-Jessica wins. Jason curses his luck because he failed
to bring the Men of Northern Rhovanion into play on his last turn.
In addition to the normal location deck and play deck, you can have a 15 card
"sideboard" deck. A sideboard can contain resource, hazard, and character cards.
However, the combined play deck and sideboard can only contain one of each unique card and
a maximum of three of any non-unique card.
Using Your Sideboard When You Exhaust Your Deck
Whenever you exhaust your play deck, you may exchange (before reshuffling) up to 5 cards
between your sideboard and discard pile. Each such card taken from your sideboard must be
replaced by a card from your discard pile.
Using Your Sideboard When You Tap Your Wizard
During your organization phase, you may tap your Wizard to bring up to 5 resource and/or
character cards from your sideboard into your discard pile.
Alternatively, if your play deck has at least 5 cards, you may tap your Wizard to bring
one resource card directly from your sideboard into your play deck (reshuffle).
Using Your Sideboard When You Tap a Nazgûl
During your opponent's movement/hazard phase, you may tap one of your Nazgûl
permanent-events in play to bring up to 5 hazard cards from your sideboard into your
discard pile. The normal result of tapping a Nazgûl does not apply. The Nazgûl is
discarded. Tapping a Nazgûl in this fashion does count against the hazard limit.
Alternatively, if your play deck has at least 5 cards, you may tap a Nazgûl
permanent-event to bring one hazard card directly from your sideboard into your play deck
(reshuffle).
Clarification: Your opponent may verify how many cards move to and from your
sideboard, but you do not have to reveal what those cards are.
Clarification: Your combined play deck and sideboard cannot violate the 1 unique
card and 3 non-unique card limit. However, there is no restriction on the mix of hazards,
resources, and characters in your sideboard. That is, for the purposes of your sideboard,
you can ignore the play deck restrictions: the limit of 10 characters and the 50/50
resource/hazard mix.
Add your region cards to your location deck. See pages 54-56 for more information on how to use these cards.
Note: For play balance, we recommend both players have access to approximately the same number of region cards. If this cannot be achieved, region cards should not be used.
Untap Phase
Each of your characters may do one of the following:
Untap all of your other tapped non-site cards.
Organization Phase
The following actions may be taken in any order:
Each of your companies may do one of the following:
Standard Rules Only: Play a new site card and a series of up to four specific
regions
that connect the current site with the new site. (See pages 54-56.)
Long-event Phase
Movement/Hazard Phase
Follow this procedure for each of your companies. You decide which of your
companies goes first, second, etc.:
Note: Repeat steps 1-6 for each of your companies.
Site Phase
In the order you decide (i.e., you decide which goes first, second, etc.), each of your
companies at an untapped site may:
Standard Rules Only: One of your characters or your Wizard may attempt to influence
away one of your opponent's characters, followers, allies, factions, or items (if it is at
the same site).
End-of-Turn Phase
You may discard one card. Then you must draw or discard cards until your hand has 8
cards. Your opponent does the same.
There are several Standard Rules changes involving characters and companies.
Splitting a Company at a Non-Haven Site
During the organization phase, a company at a non-haven site may split into two or more
companies. The following instructions apply:
Clarification: These restrictions mean that two companies may not start at the same site and then move to the same site separately (i.e., in such a situation the two companies would have to move as one company).
Joining Two Companies at a Non-Haven Site
During the organization phase, two companies may move to the same site, but one of the
following cases must apply:
In both cases, the two companies must face hazards separately and are then combined at
the end of the movement/hazard phase.
Discarding Characters
Instead of bringing a new character/Wizard into play during your organization phase, you
may discard a character that is at a Haven or at his home site. A Wizard may not be
discarded.
You must take this action when you are forced to discard a character due to a lack of
available influence. In this case, the character(s) need not be at a Haven.
Bringing Characters into Play
Before you play your Wizard, you may use general influence to bring a character into play
at any haven or at his home site. After revealing your Wizard, you may use general
influence to bring a character into play only if your Wizard is at the site at which the
character arrives (i.e., a Haven or the character's home site).
There are two ways to move from one site to another. A company can use the site path on a site card (see the Starter Rules) or it can use region cards as its site path to a specific site card (i.e., region movement).
Clarification: Region movement is not necessary to play this game. Region movement just gives you more options; i.e., with region movement a company need not move to a Haven every other turn. Region cards are not included in starter decks.
REGION MOVEMENT
To use region movement, play a new site card (face down) and a series of up to four
regions (face down) that connect the company's current site with the new site (i.e., the
company moves). A series of regions "connects" two sites if:
A region is adjacent to another region if and only if each region lists the other region on its card.
Clarification: To use region movement for a company, the region cards played must
include the region containing the company's current site and the region containing the new
site. If both the current site and the new site are in the same region, only that region
card need be played.
Clarification: If two sites are separated by more than four regions, a company may
not travel directly between them in one turn (unless some special resource card is used,
e.g., Bridge, Shadowfax, etc.). The company must first travel to interim sites (one per
turn) until it reaches a site that is within four regions of the destination site.
Clarification: Certain regions may appear to be adjacent on the maps, but turn out
not to be adjacent upon examination of the lists on their cards. For example, Dagorlad and
Rohan appear to be adjacent on the maps, but they are really separated by the Anduin
River.
Playing Hazards
For the purposes of playing hazards, the site path for a company using region movement is
defined by the region types of the region cards played. You can use a creature hazard to
directly attack one of your opponent's companies if at least one of the region types on
the creature's card matches that region type of a region card played by the company (two
are required for creatures that require two symbols of the same type) .
Clarification: Region movement can be more dangerous to use than normal
movement-certain creatures can be played keyed to specific region cards.
For example, suppose you decide to move a company from Lórien to the Easterling Camp
using the region cards: Wold & Foothills (w), Brown Lands (s), Dagorlad (s), and Horse
Plains (s). The region types traveled through are the same as the site path used in normal
movement between Lórien and the Easterling Camp (as given on the Easterling Camp site
card)-so the same creatures may be played against the company based on region type.
Adûnaphel (a Nazgûl) card normally can only be played keyed to dark-holds and
dark-domains, but it also states that it can be played keyed to Dagorlad (and the Brown
Lands). Thus, Adûnaphel could be played on this company as it moves through Dagorlad.
Similarly, Indûr Dawndeath and Khamûl the Easterling could also be played.
Example: Lets look at our example for movement from the Starter Game (see page 26).
Jessica's company in Bree (in the Arthedain region) wants to move to Thranduil's Halls (in
the Woodland Realm region) in order to bring the Wood-elves faction into play. If she does
not use region movement, this takes three turns: Bree to Rivendell, Rivendell to Lórien,
and Lórien to Thranduil's Halls. Using region movement, she can do it in 2 turns.
The shortest number of region cards required for this move is 5 and there are two possible
routes:
Jessica decides on the first, less dangerous route. However, it is more than 4 regions
long, so her company must first move to another site along the way. Jessica looks at her
hand and sees that she has a Precious Gold Ring, so she decides move to Gladden Fields (in
the Anduin Vales) to try and get the ring on her way to Thranduil's Halls (why waste a
turn).
On her first turn, she moves to the Gladden Fields by playing the Gladden Fields site and
the following regions: Arthedain w, Rhudaur w, High Pass w, Anduin Vales b.
On her second turn, she moves to Thranduil's Halls by playing the Thranduil's Halls site
and the following regions: Anduin Vales b, Woodland Realm b.
An untapped character that is not the target of a strike may tap to support a character in the same company that is the target of a strike. The target's prowess is modified by +1 for each supporting character.
Clarification: If a character is assigned a strike from an attack, he may not tap
to support a character that is facing a strike from the same attack.
An ally may tap to give a +1 prowess modification in this manner.
Example: A Cave Drake (two strikes, 10/p;) attacks your company which consists of
the untapped characters: Bilbo, Balin, Bofur, Beretar, and Beregond.
You opponent assigns the two strikes to Bilbo and Balin. You play a Halfling Stealth to
cancel the strike against Bilbo. Balin is carrying the Arkenstone, so you really want to
keep him alive. You tap Balin to face the attack, and you tap Bofur and Beregond to
support him. You would also like to tap Bilbo for support, but you cannot-he was assigned
a strike, so he is still a target of this attack.
Balin has a prowess of 6 versus this attack: 4 (his own prowess) + 1 (Bofur's support) + 1
(Beregond's support).
Before the roll is made for a corruption check, you may tap other characters in the same company as the character making the check. The corruption check is modified by +1 for each such character and/or Wizard tapped.
Clarification: If more than one character in a company are forced to make
corruption checks, the corruption checks are resolved one at a time in an order chosen by
the player controlling the characters. Each character tapped may only give a +1
modification to one corruption check, not to all of the corruption checks.
Clarification: When the Free Council is called, a character may only tap to give a
+1 corruption check modification to another character in the same company.
Example: Your company consists of the untapped characters: Bilbo, Balin, Bofur,
Beretar, and Beregond. A Weariness of the Heart is played on Balin, requiring him to make
a corruption check.
Balin is carrying the Arkenstone (4 corruption points) and some Healing Herbs (1
corruption point), so you tap Bilbo and Beregond to help him with his corruption check.
Balin has a corruption point total of 5, but his roll is modified by +2 (+1 for Bilbo and
+1 for Beregond). He will only fail if he rolls 3 or less.
Influence is the only way that your characters can directly affect your opponent's
resources. During your site phase, one and only one of your characters may tap to attempt
to influence away one of your opponent's characters, followers, allies, factions, or
items. This may only take place if the influencing character and the target of the
influence are at the same site. If you successfully influence the target, it is discarded.
In some cases, you may reveal an identical card and attempt to play it (i.e., he convinces
the target to join his side).
Such an influence attempt may not be made on the first turn, and a Wizard may not make
such an attempt on the turn he is revealed.
Influencing an Opponent's Character
To attempt to influence one of your opponent's non-Wizard characters you must make an
influence check. You make a roll (2D6) and:
If the modified result is greater than the target's mind attribute, the target
character card and all of the non-follower cards he controls are discarded. Otherwise,
nothing happens.
If you reveal an identical character card from your hand before making the roll for the
influence check, the target character's mind attribute is treated as if it were zero. If
the attempt is unsuccessful, you must discard the character card you revealed. If such an
influence check is successful, the target character and his non-follower cards are
discarded and the revealed character card may be immediately played (appearing at the same
site). In order to play this character, you must have enough unused general influence to
control him or an influencing character at the same site must have enough direct
influence.
Clarification: If you reveal an identical character in order to nullify the target character's mind attribute for an influence check, you must discard that character if you do not play him.
Example: Jessica and Jason each have one company organized as follows:
Jessica's General Influence (- ·20)
----------------|---------------- ------------------------------------------------Pallando
(- ·10)
Elladan (4·0) Legolas (6·2+2) Celeborn (6·1)-------------------------------- |
-------------------------| ---------------------------------------------------Gildor
Inglorion (4·0)
--------------------Elrohir (4·0)
Jason's General Influence (- ·20)
---------------|------------------------------------------------------------ Radagast (-
·10)
Théoden (6·3) Faramir (5·1) Imrahil (6·2) --------------------------------|
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Beorn
(7·2)
Jessica moves her company to the same site as Jason's company. During her site phase,
Pallando attempts to influence Faramir. Jessica has 4 unused general influence, Jason has
3 unused general influence, and Pallando has 6 unused direct influence. Jessica rolls 2D6
and gets a 8, while Jason rolls 2D6 and gets a 7. So the modified result of the influence
check is 4 = 8 (Jessica's roll) + 6 (Pallando's unused direct influence) - 3 (Jason's
unused general influence) - 7 (Jason's roll). This result is not greater than Faramir's
mind attribute of 5, so Faramir is not influenced and remains in play. If Jessica had
rolled a 10 or higher, Faramir would have been discarded.
If Jessica had revealed a Faramir card from her hand before the rolls were made, his mind
attribute would have been zero for the purposes of this roll. In this case, the influence
check would have been successful-Jason would have discarded his Faramir card and Jessica
would have played her Faramir card. He must be played as Pallando's follower because she
only has 4 unused general influence.
In the case in which Faramir is influenced, Jessica should not celebrate too much. During
his turn, Jason can shift Beorn to control by general influence and then use Radagast's 10
unused general influence points to attempt to influence one of Jessica's characters.
Influencing an Opponent's Ally
To influence an opponent's ally, you must make an influence check as outlined above.
However, the following exceptions apply:
Influencing an Opponent's Follower
To influence an opponent's follower, you must make an influence check as outlined above.
However, the result is also modified by subtracting the "unused direct
influence" of the follower's controlling character.
Influencing an Opponent's Faction
To influence an opponent's faction, you must make an influence check as outlined above.
However, the following exceptions apply:
You may only influence an opponent's factions if the influencing character is at the
site where the faction was played.
Influencing an Opponent's Item
To influence an opponent's item, you must make an influence check as outlined above.
However, the following exceptions apply:
Clarification: The unused direct influence for an influence check against an item is affected by any direct influence modification that the target item gives its bearer.
There are several Standard Rules changes involving playing cards.
LIMITS ON DRAWING CARDS
During your turn, you may draw cards based on one of your moving companies only if the
company contains a Wizard or at least one character with a mind attribute of three or
more.
PLACING A CARD ON-GUARD
During the movement/hazard phase of your opponent's turn, you may place one card on-guard
for each of your opponent's companies. This card is played face down next to the company's
new site or next to its current site if it did not move. Any card can be placed on-guard
(i.e., it does not have to be a hazard, you can bluff). Such a card does count against the
hazard limit for the company it is placed on.
The card will remain on that site until one of the following occurs:
In the first two cases, the card is handled as if it had been played during the movement-hazard phase (i.e., short-events are discarded, long-events last until your opponent's next long-event phase, etc.).
Example: After visiting Thranduil's Halls, Jessica's company moves to The Lonely
Mountain. During her movement/hazard phase, Jason places a card on-guard. The card is
Awaken Denizens, but Jessica does not know that. This card doubles the # of strikes for an
automatic-attack at a Ruins & Lairs site.
During her site phase, Jessica states that her company will face The Lonely Mountain's
automatic-attack (a Dragon, 1 strike with a prowess of 14). Jason reveals his on-guard
card and the automatic-attack becomes 2 strikes with a prowess of 14 each. Jessica's
company must face this attack (it may be canceled.
Suppose Jason had placed a Cave Drake on-guard. Then Jessica's company would have to face
the automatic-attack and then the Cave Drake.
Suppose Jason had placed a Weariness of the Heart on-guard. Then, if Jessica's company
successfully faced the automatic-attack and played an item, Jason could reveal the
Weariness of the Heart to force any one character in the company to make a corruption
check.
Dice Roll Timing
Before a roll is made for combat or a check, cards may be played that will modify the
result of the roll. However, once the roll is actually made, no further cards may be
played that modify the dice roll result. This modified result is used to determine effects
of the combat or check before any other actions are taken. When the effects of a dice roll
require other actions (e.g., a successful strike requires a body check) those actions
become the initial actions (any further rolls come first) in the next chain of effects
after the roll.
Timing Rules
You and your opponent may both want to perform actions at the same time or actions that
are sequenced with respect to other actions. This can happen during your movement/hazard
phase (or during your site phase if your opponent has a card on-guard). Such actions
almost always include playing a card, tapping a card already in play, and revealing an
on-guard card.
Your opponent may always declare an action in response before your action is resolved.
Then, you may respond to his action, and he can respond to your second action, and so on
until neither player can (or wants to) perform an action.
You must give your opponent a chance to respond to every action, and vice versa. If you
perform an action and move on to another action without giving your opponent a chance to
respond, you must "backup" if he indicates that he wants to respond.
Such a series of declared actions is called a chain of effects. You always have the option
of declaring the first action in a chain of effects during your turn. The actions in a
chain of effects are resolved one at a time from last declared to first declared (i.e.,
the last declared action is resolved first, then the second to the last, etc.).
You may follow one of your declared actions with another of your declared actions in the
same chain of effects, so long as you give your opponent a chance to respond to first
action.
An action in a chain of effects is negated if the conditions required to perform it are
negated by another action that is resolved before it in the chain of effects.
Timing Example: You play Weariness of the Heart on Bilbo to force him to make a corruption check. Your opponent taps Frodo (2nd action in this chain of effects) to give Bilbo +1 to this check. You play Call of Home on Bilbo (3rd action), which forces Bilbo to make a successful roll or return to his owner's hand. Finally, your opponent plays Tookish Blood on Bilbo. This cancels any effect for the rest of the turn which would discard Bilbo or send him to his owner's hand. Now you resolve actions from last to first:
If your opponent had played Tookish Blood on Bilbo after his dice roll, i.e. after this
chain of effects was resolved, it would not have affected your Call of Home nor Bilbo's
corruption check. Tookish Blood only cancels those actions that occur during the rest of
the turn, and not prior actions.
Consider if Tookish Blood had not been played and if you played Call of Home on Frodo.
First Frodo rolls for Call of Home when resolving the chain. If he fails this check, Frodo
goes back to your opponent's hand. The 2nd action in the chain would then be negated
because the conditions required to perform it, namely Frodo being in Bilbo's company, were
negated by your Call of Home.
This site is created and maintained by: Carl-Gustaf Samuelsson