Der Herr der Ringe: Die Gefährten – Das Kartenspiel
Der Herr der Ringe: Die Gefährten – Das Kartenspiel Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 88 player cards in 4 colours (per colour: 1 x value "0", 7 x value "1", 4 x value "2", 4 x value "3", 4 x value "4", 1 x value "5", 1 x Nazgûl)
- 10 location cards (each consisting of 2 cards)
- 6 ring tokens
- 30 success point chips (16 x value "1", 14 x value "5")
Object of the Game
The players place cards next to a location. When it is surrounded by 10 cards, it is scored and the players receive success points. Then the next location is placed. In this way the individual locations are visited one after another. The player who has the most success points at the end wins.
Setup
Note: The following pages describe the game for 3 and 4 players. The differences for the 2-player game are at the end of these rules.
The locations - each consists of 2 cards - are laid out in two face-up stacks next to each other, in ascending order of their location numbers (1 on top, 10 at the bottom). The first location, Bag End, is then placed face up in the middle of the table. Bag End is now the location currently in play. In the course of the game the most recently placed location is always called the current location.
Each location shows the following information: the name of the location, the success points to be earned, and the location number - it indicates when the location is placed.
The six ring tokens are placed face up, ready, together with the scoring chips. Each player chooses a colour and receives the 22 cards of that colour, which he shuffles well and places as a face-down stack in front of him. With three players, one colour is removed from the game. In each colour there is a hobbit (4 cards with the value 3 each), his companions, and a Nazgûl. Each player draws six cards from his stack and takes them into his hand.
Course of the Game
The bravest player begins. The other players follow in turn, clockwise. The player whose turn it is places one or more of his cards face up next to the current location. Afterwards he refills his hand to six cards by drawing from his stack. Then the next player's turn follows.
The Cards
There are cards with the values 0 to 5. With them the players can assert their influence at the locations and win success points. In addition, each player has a Nazgûl. It has a special power, since it may be played onto any card of another player - except a hobbit (value 3). The value of the card does not matter.
Placing the Cards
For placing the cards with the values 0 - 5 the following rules apply:
- Cards may only be placed at the current location.
- At least one card must always be placed.
- In doing so, any number of cards with the value 1 or one card with a higher value may be placed.
- The card with the value 0 can be played instead of or in addition to other cards. (So in his turn a player may, for example, play two cards with the value 1 and one card with the value 0, or one card with the value 3 and one card with the value 0, or even only the card with the value 0.)
- If several cards are played, their order is arbitrary.
For placing the Nazgûl the following additionally applies:
- Like the card with the value 0, it can be played instead of or in addition to another card.
- If it is played onto a card, i.e. a player places his Nazgûl on any card of another player, both the Nazgûl and the card covered by it immediately leave the game. Both cards are put back face down into the box. The space is therefore free again.
- If a Nazgûl is played onto a free space, it immediately leaves the game.
The Locations
At each location 10 cards must be placed, as shown in the illustration. The cards must always be placed upright (portrait). There are dangerous and less dangerous locations. The less dangerous locations have a white background, the dangerous locations a black background.
At white locations a card may only be placed on one of the free spaces. At black locations a card may also be placed on a card of another player, provided the new card has a higher value.
There is one exception: Hobbits (cards with the value 3 and a depicted ring) are always protected by the ring. They may not be covered by higher-valued cards, nor by Nazgûl.
For the locations "Ford", "Caradhras" and "Moria" the special rules printed on them must be observed. These special rules apply only to the respective location.
The special rules in detail:
- Ford (Furt): One or two cards of your choice may be played per turn, but never more than two cards (including the card with the value 0, the Nazgûl and the cards with the value 1).
- Caradhras: Several cards with the value 1 may not be played per turn; at most one per turn.
- Moria: The player who has the lowest total value placed there loses 3 success points (EP).
Scoring a Location
If a player places a card on the last free space of the current location, so that it is completely surrounded, this location is scored immediately. To do so, each player adds up the values of his cards adjoining this location. The player with the highest total receives as many success points (EP) as the highest scoring number on this location indicates. The player with the second-highest total receives as many success points as the next scoring number indicates, and so on. The player with the lowest value always goes away empty-handed. So, for example, with three players only the first two places are always scored.
If several players are tied, the one among these players who follows first, clockwise, the player who placed the last card is given preference.
A player must have at least one card at a location - this may also be a card with the value 0 - in order to receive success points.
The success point chips won are laid out face up in front of the players. The players may, however, agree to keep them secret.
Ring Tokens
In the locations Bag End, Bree, Weathertop (Wetterspitze), Rivendell (Bruchtal) and Lothlórien the first scoring number is underlaid with a ring. This means that the player with the highest total additionally receives the corresponding ring token, which he lays face up in front of him. In Rivendell the second-placed player also receives a ring token.
When a player receives a ring token, he can use it in one of his next turns. The following must be observed:
- A ring token must always be played together with a card and then placed on this card, i.e. only one ring token may ever lie on a card.
- A ring token may be played with any card, except with a Nazgûl.
- A card on which a ring token lies is protected. No other card may be placed on it.
- Several ring tokens may also be played in one turn. (If, for example, a player places two cards with the value 1 at a location, he may play a ring token with each card.)
An overview of the ring tokens and their properties can be found at the end of these rules.
Placing the Next Location
After a scoring, the player who placed the last card at a location determines the position of the next current location. Afterwards this player ends his turn by refilling his hand to six cards.
The new current location must be placed with one side against at least one card already on the table. It must be placed in the same orientation as the previous locations. Placing it diagonally (corner to corner) is not allowed.
All cards that adjoin the new location also count for this location, even if a card can in this way count for several locations. If a ring lies on these cards, the property of the ring also affects the new location.
Examples of correct and incorrect placing of the next current location: (illustrations not reproduced)
End of the Game
If a player has used up his stack of cards, he can no longer refill his hand. The player then continues to play until he has placed his last card. After that the game continues without him. This also applies if he still has ring tokens in front of him that have not been played.
The game ends either
- when no player has any cards left. (The current location is still scored, even if not all ten spaces are occupied.)
or
- when, after the scoring of a location, only a single player is still in possession of cards. (If in the course of the game only a single player still has cards, no new location is placed any more. However, that player may still place cards at the current location.)
The player with the most success points wins. In case of a tie, the player who scored more success points at the most recently placed location wins.
Properties of the Ring Tokens
The ring tokens protect the cards on which they lie. With the exception of the Ring Rivendell (for the second-placed player), they additionally each have different properties, which are explained below:
- Ring Bag End (Beutelsend): By playing this ring token, the adjoining current location changes its colour. A white location becomes black and a black location becomes white. The function of the ring token also affects later adjoining current locations. These too then change their colour.
- Ring Bree: When a current location is scored, only the number of his adjoining cards counts for each player. Each card is thus counted as "1", regardless of its value. During placing, however, the cards keep their actual value. (Important for placing at black locations, where cards can be covered!) The function of the ring token also affects later adjoining current locations.
- Ring Weathertop (Wetterspitze): After the player has played a card, he may in the same turn play a second card of the same value with the ring token on it. The function of the ring token affects only this card.
- Ring Rivendell (Bruchtal) (for the first-placed player): The value of the card played with the ring token increases by 2. (So, for example, at a black location a player with a "4" and the ring token on it can cover the "5" of another player.) The function of the ring token affects only this card.
- Ring Rivendell (Bruchtal) (for the second-placed player): The ring token protects the card played. It has no further function.
- Ring Lothlórien: The ring token entitles the player, once in his turn, to pick up one of his own cards lying face up at an already scored location and immediately place it anew with the ring token on it. Cards on which a ring token lies may not be picked up again.
A Final Tip
It can often be important to place the last card at a location, since this entitles a player to place the new current location at a position of his choice.
Rules for Two Players
The rules for two players are the same as those for three and four players, except for the following differences:
Setup
One player receives the colours "green" and "yellow", the other the colours "red" and "blue". The players shuffle the cards of their two colours together and place them in a face-down stack in front of them. From this stack each player draws six cards into his hand. The cards of the two colours may be played in combination by a player. So a player may, for example, play a green and a yellow "1" together.
Scoring a Location
At scoring, a player's two colours are scored separately.
Example: Scoring in Ford [5-4-3]: Andrea reaches the totals "10" and "5" with her colours, Bernd "7" and "6". Andrea receives 5 success points, since with "10" she has achieved the highest total. Bernd receives a total of 7 (4 and 3) success points, since with "7" and "6" he has achieved the second- and third-highest totals. For her "5" Andrea receives no success points, since the last place is not scored.