The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship
The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 48 Region Cards
- 14 Event Cards
- 12 Skies Darken Cards
- 24 Objective Cards
- 10 Reference Cards (2 per player)
- 13 Character Cards
(74 player cards total: region cards, event cards, and Skies Darken cards.)
- 13 Character Figures
- 9 Nazgûl Miniatures
- 50 Shadow Cards
- 1 Game Board
- 3 Battle Dice
- 7 Search Dice
- 48 Shadow Troops
- 35 Friendly Troops (8 Dwarven, 9 Elven, 8 Rohirrim, 10 Gondor)
- 6 Haven / Shadow Stronghold Tokens
- 1 Eye of Sauron
- 1 Threat Rate Marker
- 1 Solo Token
- 1 Hope Marker
- 36 Symbol Tokens
- Barad-dûr Dice Tower
Game Board Features
The game board shows the following features:
- Friendly Troop Storage: Gondor, Rohirrim, Elves, and Dwarves
- Haven Location
- Threat Rate Track
- Region
- Normal Location
- Special Paths (lines with symbols on them)
- Battle Lines (colored arrows)
- Normal Paths (white lines)
- Hope Track
- Shadow Deck: Draw, Resolve, and Discard spaces
- Muster Location (marked by the Dwarven, Elven, Rohirrim, and Gondor symbols)
- Shadow Stronghold Location
- Shadow Location
- Player Deck: Draw and Discard spaces
The board also shows the Order of Play:
- Do 4 + 1 Actions
- Draw 2 Cards
- Draw Shadow Cards
Hand limit is 7 cards at all times.
Setup
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Place Game Board: Place the board in the center of the table.
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Place Markers on Tracks: Place the threat rate marker on the threat rate track and the hope marker on the hope track. Put them each on the space containing a dot on their respective track.
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Create the Shadow Deck: Place the 2 special shadow cards (with illustrations of Sauron and Saruman) into the shadow discard pile.
Next, shuffle the remaining shadow cards and stack them facedown on the board to form the shadow deck.
Note: The shadow cards have 2 different backs. Shuffle them all together to make the shadow deck.
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Place Starting Troops, the Eye of Sauron, and the Nazgûl:
Note: Small troop-shaped symbols on the colored locations show the starting positions for troops. Icons near the region labels show the starting positions for the Eye of Sauron and the Nazgûl.
Add 3 Dwarven troops (grey) to Dwarven locations:
- 1 in Ered Luin
- 1 in Erebor
- 1 in Iron Hills
Add 4 Elven troops (green) to Elven locations:
- 1 in the Grey Havens
- 1 in Rivendell
- 1 in Lórien
- 1 in Woodland Realm
Add 3 Rohirrim troops (brown) to Rohirrim locations in Rohan:
- 1 in Helm's Deep
- 1 in Edoras
- 1 in Eastemnet
Add 5 Gondor troops (blue) to Gondor locations in Gondor:
- 2 in Minas Tirith
- 2 in Dol Amroth
- 1 in Pelargir
Place the remaining friendly troops of each type in the supply.
Tip: When you're done adding friendly troops, there will be 5 friendly troops of each army left in the supply.
Add 18 shadow troops (red) to red locations:
- 1 in Dunland
- 1 in Isengard
- 2 in Moria
- 1 in Dol Guldur
- 3 in Rhûn
- 2 in Minas Morgul
- 2 in Barad-dûr
- 3 in Núrn
- 1 in Umbar
- 2 in Near Harad
Next, draw 9 shadow cards, 1 at a time, and put 1 shadow troop into the red location featured on each card. (Do not follow the other instructions on the cards during setup.) Discard these cards to the shadow discard pile. Leave the remaining 21 shadow troops in the supply.
Note: Unlike other Pandemic System games, there is no limit to the number of shadow troops that can be in a location in this game.
Add 9 Nazgûl to regions:
- 2 in Eriador
- 1 in Rhudaur
- 1 in the Misty Mountains
- 1 in Gondor
- 4 in Mordor
Put the Eye of Sauron on Eriador.
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Select Objective Cards: Put the Destroy the One Ring objective (marked with a red star) and 3 other randomly selected objectives faceup by the board. (Or try the suggested scenarios on p. 21.)
Suggestion: For your first game, use the following objectives (each is marked with a black star): Attain the Blessing of the Elves; Saruman, Your Staff Is Broken; Challenge Sauron; Destroy the One Ring.
Put the unused objective cards back into the game box.
Follow any setup instructions on the objective cards. Some objective cards require certain characters to be used. Set these character cards aside for the next step.
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Hand Out Characters and Reference Cards: Take any character cards that were set aside above and add randomly selected character cards until you have a total of 2 character cards for each player.
Shuffle these character cards together and give each player 2 randomly selected cards.
Suggestion: For your first game, give the following characters to each player, depending on the number of players:
- Player 1: Frodo & Sam, Legolas
- Player 2: Merry & Pippin, Éowyn
- Player 3: Arwen, Aragorn
- Player 4: Gandalf, Boromir
- Player 5: Gimli, Éomer
In 1-player games, character cards are set up differently (see Solo Games, p. 22).
Note: Frodo & Sam count as 1 character for all game purposes, as do Merry & Pippin. When the rules refer to any of these characters, assume his companion is there as well.
Hand each player 2 reference cards. Each card summarizes actions on one side and the dice on the other.
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Place Character Figures: Each player puts their 2 character figures into the starting locations shown on their character cards. Return all unused character cards, character figures, and reference cards to the game box.
Starting locations for characters:
Character Location Aragorn Weather Hills Arwen Rivendell Boromir Minas Tirith Éomer Eastemnet Éowyn Edoras Faramir Minas Tirith Frodo & Sam The Shire Galadriel Lórien Gandalf Tharbad Gimli Erebor Gollum Moria Legolas Woodland Realm Merry & Pippin The Shire -
Deal Out Player Cards: Set aside the 12 Skies Darken Cards. Shuffle the 14 event cards, then, without looking, select a number of them based on the number of players:
- 5 players: 9 events
- 4 players: 7 events
- 3 players: 6 events
- 2 players: 6 events
- 1 player: 5 events
Shuffle these event cards with the 48 region cards. Deal a starting hand to each player from these cards based on the number of players:
- 5 players: 2 cards each
- 4 players: 2 cards each
- 3 players: 3 cards each
- 2 players: 4 cards each
- 1 player: 4 cards
Players keep their hands faceup for everyone to see.
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Build the Player Deck: Decide on a difficulty level. It is recommended to start with the introductory game. If you're looking for a bigger challenge, try the standard game. (Also consider the other difficulty levels on p. 21 if you're feeling very brave!)
Divide the remaining player cards into a number of facedown stacks depending on the difficulty level you chose:
- Introductory: 4 stacks
- Standard: 5 stacks
Shuffle 1 Skies Darken card facedown into each stack.
Shuffle the cards within each stack, then pile up all the stacks on top of each other to form the player deck. (If some piles are larger, put those nearest the top of the deck.)
Place the player deck on the draw space in the lower right corner of the board. Return the unused event and Skies Darken cards to the game box without looking at them.
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First Turn: The player with the region card showing the lowest number on it takes the first turn.
Suggestion: For your first game, have the player with Frodo take the first turn instead.
Key Concepts
Cooperation
All players are on the same team, winning or losing the game together. Players can discuss strategies and freely give each other advice. Everyone should offer opinions and ideas, but each player decides for themselves what to do during their turn.
Objective
The players win the game if they complete the objectives selected for their game. They must complete the Destroy the One Ring objective last.
The players must do this before Frodo loses all hope.
The Free Peoples
- Characters: Each player takes on the roles of 2 characters. Each character has a card showing their unique abilities and is represented on the game board by a figure.
- Friendly Troops: The Free Peoples of Middle-earth: Gondor (blue), Elves (green), Rohirrim (brown), and Dwarves (grey).
- Havens: Places of refuge. Shadow troops march toward these with the aim of taking them over.
The Forces of Shadow
- The Eye of Sauron: The Eye indicates which region Sauron's gaze is currently focused on.
- Nazgûl: These are Sauron's 9 chief lieutenants. They each reside in an entire region of the board. Their presence is felt in every location in their region.
- Shadow Troops: These are enemy foot troops: Orcs, Trolls, Dunlendings, Easterlings, Southrons, and others. They are all represented by red shadow troops.
- Shadow Strongholds: These are enemy fortresses that the Free Peoples can capture to stem the tide of shadow troops.
Hope
The hope marker represents Frodo's morale. Certain effects cause hope to be gained or lost. If this marker ever reaches the bottom of its track, Frodo has lost all hope and the players lose the game.
Spending Symbols
The region cards and symbol tokens have symbols representing:
- Friendship
- Valor
- Stealth
- Resistance
Players spend these symbols to perform actions and activate abilities. To spend a symbol, either discard a player card from your hand showing that symbol to the player discard pile or return one of your tokens showing that symbol to the supply.
When you gain a symbol token, take it from the supply. If the supply runs out, you do not receive a token.
Movement
Troops and characters go into locations and travel along paths: normal paths, special paths, and battle lines. For more information on how paths and battle lines are used, see Travel (p. 10) and Advance (p. 16).
Playing the Game
Players take turns in clockwise order, following these 3 steps each turn:
- Do Actions
- Draw 2 Player Cards
- Draw Shadow Cards
After you do the Draw Shadow Cards step, your turn ends. The player on your left takes the next turn.
Players should freely give each other advice, letting everyone offer opinions and ideas. However, the player whose turn it is decides what to do.
Each player's hand can have both region and event cards in it. Region cards have symbols (Friendship, Valor, Stealth, Resistance) that can be spent to perform actions and activate abilities. Most event cards can be played at any time, including during another player's turn.
1. Do Actions
On your turn, you may do up to 4 actions with 1 of your characters and up to 1 action with the other. You can do actions with either character first, but you must complete all of the actions with 1 character before doing any actions with the other character.
Example: If you control Gimli and Legolas, you might do 4 actions with Gimli and then 1 action with Legolas, or 1 with Legolas and then 4 with Gimli.
In some rare cases, you might be missing a character. In these cases, do 4 actions with the character you do have.
Some actions involve spending cards or tokens as symbols (see Spending Symbols, p. 9). Both of the characters you control share your hand of player cards and your tokens.
Select any combination of the 6 actions listed below. You may do the same action several times, each time counting as 1 action. Your characters' special abilities may change how you do an action.
Travel
Move the character you are currently doing actions with to a connected location along a normal path, special path, or battle line. If there are other characters or friendly troops in your starting location, they can also come along with you. (Ask permission before moving other players' characters.)
- Moving with Friendly Troops: You may take any friendly troops in your location with you when you Travel. Friendly troops may not move on their own.
- Special Paths: Some paths have a cost shown on them. To use a special path, the character doing the Travel action must spend these additional symbols.
- Battle Lines: You may Travel along battle lines in either direction. (Ignore the arrows; they're used for moving shadow troops only.)
Special Path Example 1: It's Aragorn's turn. Aragorn Travels with Arwen and Éowyn from Rivendell to Carrock. The cost is 1 Stealth. Aragorn spends 1 Stealth and moves with all 3 characters into Carrock.
Special Path Example 2: Gimli Travels from Hollin to Moria with 3 Dwarven troops. The cost is 1 Friendship. He spends 1 Friendship and moves with all 3 troops into Moria.
When Frodo Travels: When Frodo does the Travel action or another character does the Travel action and brings Frodo along, the character doing the Travel action must either spend 1 Stealth or roll a search in their destination (see the box below). This cost is in addition to the cost for special paths.
Rolling a Search
Whenever you're instructed to roll a search:
Roll 1 search die for each Nazgûl in Frodo's region and each shadow troop in Frodo's location. (Check his destination if he is traveling.) Roll a maximum of 7 dice. If there aren't any Nazgûl or shadow troops present, do not roll.
Results
- Slip By: No effect.
- Weary: Lose 1 hope.
- Exposed: Lose 1 hope. Ignore this result if Frodo is in a haven.
- Recall: If Nazgûl are present, move 1 to Mordor. If Frodo is in Mordor, there is no effect.
Fate: Any characters who are present may reroll 1 search die for each Resistance they spend.
Search Example: Frodo moves from Tharbad to Dunland. He doesn't spend a Stealth. Dunland contains 3 shadow troops, and Enedwaith contains 1 Nazgûl.
Frodo must roll 4 search dice: 3 dice for the shadow troops in Dunland plus 1 for the Nazgûl in Enedwaith.
He rolls Weary, Weary, Slip By, and Recall. He spends 1 Resistance to reroll 1 Weary and gets Slip By. He loses 1 hope, and 1 Nazgûl is recalled to Mordor.
Fellowship
If your character is in the same location as another player's character, and you both agree to it, do 1 of the following:
- Give a card matching your region to that player.
- Take a card matching your region from that player.
If the player who gets the card now has more than 7 cards in hand, that player must immediately discard a card or play an event card. (See Event Cards on p. 15.)
Fellowship Example: Gandalf and Frodo are in the Shire. Gandalf hands Frodo an Eriador card as an action. He can do this since it is an Eriador card, Gandalf is in Eriador, and both Gandalf and Frodo are in the same location.
Tip: This is a good way for Frodo to collect the symbols he needs to destroy the One Ring. (See Destroying the One Ring below.)
Destroying the One Ring
Frodo can do this special action at Mount Doom by spending 5 Resistance to attempt to destroy the One Ring. He may attempt this only if the other objectives have been completed.
Frodo must make a final search roll. Roll 1 search die for each Nazgûl and shadow troop present (as usual), but also add 1 search die for each hope missing from the hope track (e.g., if only 3 hope remains, add 5 additional search dice). Roll a maximum of 7 dice.
After that roll, if at least 1 hope remains, the players win the game!
Prepare
At a haven, discard a region card to take a symbol token that matches the symbol shown on the card (Friendship, Valor, Stealth, or Resistance). If there aren't enough symbol tokens of that type in the supply, you may not do this action.
Prepare Example: While at Rivendell, Frodo discards a region card with a Resistance on it to take a Resistance token from the supply.
Tip: Preparing helps reduce the number of cards you have in your hand. Keep in mind that you cannot use the Fellowship action to hand tokens to another player.
Muster
At a Dwarven, Elven, Rohirrim, or Gondor location, spend 1 Friendship to add 1 troop matching the color of your character's location to their location. (You cannot Muster in locations that are white or red.)
You may not Muster if there aren't any more troops of that color in the supply.
Muster Example: Éowyn spends 1 Friendship to add 1 Elven troop to Lórien while in Lórien.
Attack
You may do the Attack action if there are friendly troops and shadow troops in your character's location.
First, shift the Eye of Sauron to the region where the attack is taking place. (Attacks started by the characters distract Sauron, which can help draw his gaze away from Frodo.)
Next, roll a battle (see the box below).
Rolling a Battle
If characters do the Attack action, roll up to 1 battle die for each friendly troop in your character's location (minimum 1, maximum 3).
If a shadow card or Skies Darken card initiates the roll (see pp. 15—18), roll 1 battle die for each shadow troop in the battle location (maximum 3). Do not shift the Eye of Sauron.
Results
- Rout: Remove 1 shadow troop.
- Exchange: Remove 1 shadow troop and 1 friendly troop.
- Overrun: Remove 1 friendly troop. Ignore this result if the battle is rolled in a haven.
- Nazgûl!: If Nazgûl are present, remove 2 friendly troops. Otherwise, there is no effect.
Fate: After rolling, any characters who are present may reroll 1 battle die for each Resistance they spend.
Show Valor: After rolling, characters who are present may remove 1 shadow troop for each Valor they spend.
Losing a Haven: If shadow troops now occupy a haven and no friendly troops are present, it becomes a shadow stronghold. Cover the haven with a shadow stronghold token (or remove the haven token) and lose 3 hope.
End: When all of the above is resolved, the battle roll is over.
Note: There can be both friendly troops and shadow troops remaining in the location after a battle roll is resolved.
Attack Example: There are 2 Rohirrim troops, 1 Elven troop, and 3 shadow troops in Helm's Deep and 2 Nazgûl in Rohan.
Arwen does the Attack action. First, she moves the Eye of Sauron to Rohan. Then she decides to roll 2 battle dice. She could roll 3 dice (since there are 3 friendly troops present), but she'd like to limit her potential losses by rolling fewer dice.
The results are Rout and Nazgûl!. For the first die, she removes 1 shadow troop. For the second die, since Nazgûl are present, she loses 2 friendly troops. She removes 1 Rohirrim troop and 1 Elven troop. Legolas is also present and decides to chip in. He spends 1 Valor token to remove 1 shadow troop.
At the end of the Attack action, the Eye of Sauron is in Rohan, and there is 1 friendly troop and 1 shadow troop left in Helm's Deep. Arwen can use another action to Attack again or she could do a different action.
Capture
If you have a character at a shadow stronghold with at least 1 friendly troop while no shadow troops are present, your character may spend 3 Valor to capture it.
- If you capture a shadow stronghold (printed on the board), place a haven token on it. It will now function as a haven.
- If you capture a shadow stronghold that was formerly a haven, remove the shadow stronghold token. It will function as a haven again!
Next, shift the Eye of Sauron to the region and gain 2 hope. (Move the hope marker up 2 spaces on the hope track.)
If you capture Moria, Isengard, Dol Guldur, or Umbar, shadow troops will no longer appear at the captured stronghold. Do not add a shadow troop there whenever a shadow card instructs you to do so.
Capture Example: Gimli is in Moria with 1 friendly troop. Moria is a shadow stronghold, and there are no shadow troops in Moria, so Gimli can do the Capture action. He spends 3 Valor, gains 2 hope, moves the Eye of Sauron to the Misty Mountains, and places a haven token on top of Moria. Moria is now a haven; it is no longer a shadow stronghold.
2. Draw 2 Player Cards
After doing actions with your characters, draw the top 2 cards together from the player deck.
If the player deck runs out of cards, lose 1 hope for each player card you cannot draw.
Event Cards
During a turn, any player may play event cards. Playing these cards is not an action. The player who plays the card decides how it is used. After playing an event card, discard it to the player discard pile.
Skies Darken Cards
If your card draw includes any Skies Darken cards, resolve them as follows:
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The Shadow Grows: Advance the threat rate marker 1 space on the threat rate track.
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I See You! If the Eye of Sauron is in Frodo's region, lose 2 hope. Otherwise, shift the Eye to Frodo's region.
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Under Cover of Darkness: Add 3 shadow troops to the location indicated.
If there aren't enough shadow troops in the supply, lose 1 hope for each shadow troop you cannot place.
If there are friendly troops in the location where the shadow troops are added, roll a battle (see Rolling a Battle, p. 13).
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The Danger Intensifies: Shuffle the cards in the shadow discard pile, then place them facedown on top of the shadow deck.
It is rare but possible to draw 2 Skies Darken cards at once. In this case, do all 4 steps above once and then do them again.
After resolving any Skies Darken cards, remove them from the game. Do not draw replacement cards for them.
Hand Limit
If you ever have more than 7 cards in hand (after first resolving any Skies Darken cards you may have drawn), discard cards and/or play events until you have 7 cards in hand.
3. Draw Shadow Cards
Flip over the top card of the shadow deck and place it face-up next to the shadow deck. The face-up card now shows 2 different sections. The top of the deck now shows either a red flag or a black banner.
Resolve only half of the flipped card. If a red flag is showing on the top of the shadow deck, resolve the top section of the flipped card. If a black banner is showing on the top of the shadow deck, resolve the bottom section of the flipped card.
Do this a number of times equal to the current threat rate listed on the threat rate track. Place the shadow cards into the resolve area of the board as you draw them to help you remember how many you have drawn. Then, when you have resolved all the shadow cards for this turn, move them into the discard area.
- Red flag showing: Resolve the top: ADVANCE
- Black banner showing: Resolve the bottom: REINFORCE
Advance
Move every shadow troop on the shown battle line 1 space forward. Battle lines start at a red shadow location, follow a colored arrow, and end at a haven.
Begin by moving the frontmost shadow troops on the battle line, then proceed to the next location with shadow troops on the battle line, and so on, continuing in this way until you move all the troops on that line once.
Advance shadow troops even if they are in a location with friendly troops.
If there are no shadow troops anywhere on the indicated battle line, there is no effect.
Shadow troops at the end of the indicated battle line do not advance (but they will still roll a battle if friendly troops are present).
Resolve Battles: After advancing shadow troops, roll a battle in each location on the battle line containing both shadow troops and friendly troops, starting with the frontmost location of the battle line and moving backward. (See Rolling a Battle, p. 13.)
Losing a Haven: If shadow troops now occupy a haven and no friendly troops are present, it becomes a shadow stronghold. Cover the haven with a shadow stronghold token (or remove the haven token) and lose 3 hope.
Example: This battle line starts at Moria, follows the green battle line, and ends at Rivendell.
Advance Example: First, all the shadow troops on the green battle line leading from Moria to Rivendell advance once:
- The 2 shadow troops in the Weather Hills advance once into Rivendell, joining the 1 shadow troop already there.
- Next, the 1 shadow troop in Hollin advances into Tharbad.
- Finally, the 4 shadow troops in Moria advance into Hollin.
- The shadow troop that was already in Rivendell does not advance because it is at the end of the green battle line. The shadow troops in Dunland do not advance because they are not on the green battle line that leads from Moria to Rivendell.
Now resolve any battles and account for any lost havens:
- Roll a battle in Rivendell, using 3 battle dice (1 for each shadow troop there).
- The results are Rout, Rout, and Overrun.
- The players remove 2 shadow troops and the last Elven troop. Since shadow troops are present but no friendly troops are present, the haven is taken! The players place a shadow stronghold token on top of Rivendell and lose 3 hope.
Reinforce
Add 1 shadow troop to the indicated location. There is no limit to the number of shadow troops in any location.
If there aren't enough shadow troops in the supply, lose 1 hope for each shadow troop you cannot place.
If the indicated location was captured (and is now a haven), do not add the shadow troop.
Resolve Battles: If friendly troops are present in that location, roll a battle. (See Rolling a Battle, p. 13.)
Special Orders: Next, follow the instructions on the bottom section of the card. There are 3 possible effects:
- Shift the Eye of Sauron to Frodo's region (16 cards). If the Eye is already in Frodo's region, roll a search.
- Move 2 Nazgûl closer to Frodo (16 cards). Move the 2 Nazgûl closest to Frodo (not including those in his current region), 1 at a time, 1 region closer.
- Deploy 3 Nazgûl from Mordor to the Eye of Sauron (16 cards). Move 3 Nazgûl directly into the region with the Eye. Take them, 1 at a time, from Mordor. If Mordor is empty, take them, 1 at a time, from the region(s) with the most Nazgûl (not including the region with the Eye). If the Eye of Sauron is in Mordor, recall 3 Nazgûl to Mordor, 1 at a time, from the largest group of Nazgûl outside Mordor.
Multiple Possible Outcomes: If a special order could have multiple possible outcomes, the current player chooses from among them. For example, if there are multiple paths for moving Nazgûl to their destination, the current player chooses which path they take.
Reinforce Example 1: First, add a shadow troop to Rhûn. Next, because friendly troops are in Rhûn, roll a battle there. Roll 1 battle die (1 for each shadow troop there). Finally, resolve the special order Deploy 3 Nazgûl from Mordor to the Eye as follows:
- First, the 1 Nazgûl in Mordor is deployed directly into Gondor, the Eye's current region. Since Mordor no longer contains any Nazgûl, the remaining 2 Nazgûl will be deployed from the other regions with the most Nazgûl. Rohan has 4 Nazgûl, Dale has 3 Nazgûl, and Rhudaur has 1 Nazgûl.
- Since Rohan currently has the most Nazgûl, the second Nazgûl is deployed from Rohan to Gondor. Rohan and Dale now each have 3 Nazgûl remaining.
- The third Nazgûl is deployed from either Rohan or Dale (the current player decides).
Reinforce Example 2: The players previously captured Isengard, turning it into a haven, so no shadow troop is added to Isengard. To resolve the special order Move 2 Nazgûl Closer to Frodo, do the following:
- Frodo is in Eriador, and the closest Nazgûl to him is in the Misty Mountains. It moves 1 region closer to Frodo, to either Enedwaith or Rhudaur (the current player decides).
- The next closest Nazgûl to Frodo are in Rhovanion and Haradwaith, so 1 Nazgûl from either region moves 1 region closer to him. (The current player decides to move a Nazgûl either from Rhovanion to Rohan or from Haradwaith to Gondor.)
Special Shadow Cards
The Drums of War and The Wheels of Saruman operate differently from the other shadow cards. If either of these cards is drawn, follow the instructions on the card instead of advancing or reinforcing.
Winning and Losing
The players win the game when Frodo successfully completes the Destroy the One Ring objective.
You all lose the game if Frodo loses all hope (i.e., the hope marker reaches the 0 space on the hope track).
Completing Objectives
The requirements for completing each objective are listed on each card. When these are met, follow the When Completed rules on the card, then turn the objective card facedown to mark that it is done.
You may complete the Destroy the One Ring objective only after you have completed all the other objective cards.
Losing Hope
These are the main ways to lose hope:
- If you roll a search and get Weary or Exposed results (lose 1 each).
- If you draw a Skies Darken card when the Eye of Sauron is in Frodo's region (lose 2).
- If shadow troops take over a haven (lose 3).
- If you need to add a shadow troop when there aren't any in the supply (lose 1 per missing troop).
- If you need to draw a player card when there aren't any in the deck (lose 1 per missing card).
Gaining Hope
If you capture a shadow stronghold, gain 2 hope. Many objectives and some abilities also let you gain hope. If the hope marker is at the top of the track, you cannot gain any more hope.
Fine Points
Timing
- Most events and some character abilities can be used at any time. These events and abilities can be used on any player's turn except while a search, a battle, or another card or character ability is resolving unless explicitly allowed. For example, you cannot play an event until after all the steps on a shadow card are resolved (but you can play events before drawing the next shadow card).
- Skies Darken cards and shadow cards are immediately resolved as soon as they are drawn.
- If a haven has shadow troops and no friendly troops present after resolving a battle, an action, or any other effect, lose 3 hope and turn it into a shadow stronghold.
- If 2 card effects happen simultaneously, the players may freely choose the order in which they occur.
Cards
- Both of your characters share your hand of cards (and your tokens). You can gain a card (or a token) with one character and use it with the other character.
- You may spend symbols on cards in any location regardless of the region on the card. The region on the card relates to some actions and character abilities.
- Keep your player cards faceup for all players to see.
- Only player cards count toward your hand limit of 7.
- You may inspect the player discard pile and the shadow discard pile at any time. You may not examine the backs of the shadow cards in the shadow draw pile (except for the card on top).
Rolling Battles
- Shift the Eye of Sauron when players do the Attack action. Do not move it when Skies Darken cards or shadow cards initiate a battle roll or when other abilities remove shadow troops.
- Any characters who are present in the battle location may spend Valor and Resistance to affect the outcome after the battle dice are rolled. After spending Resistance to reroll, you may spend additional Resistance to reroll again.
- If friendly troops must be removed when different friendly armies are present (whether Gondor, Rohirrim, Elven, or Dwarven), the current player decides which troops to remove.
- If you need to remove more friendly troops or shadow troops than are present, remove what you can and ignore the excess.
- You cannot do the Attack action in a location that has no shadow troops.
- When you do the Attack action, you must roll at least 1 battle die.
Rolling Searches
- When Frodo Puts on the Ring, he loses 1 hope, shifts the Eye to his region, then rolls a search ignoring all shadow troops in his location. Nazgûl are not ignored.
- Any characters who are present in Frodo's location may spend Resistance to affect the outcome after the search dice are rolled. After spending Resistance to reroll, you may spend additional Resistance to reroll again.
Your Next Game
Use a different mix of characters, objectives, events, and Skies Darken cards every time you play.
If you lose the game, don't despair—try again. If you find that you can regularly win the introductory and standard games, try the heroic, epic, or legendary games. Each level uses different numbers of Skies Darken and objective cards during setup.
| Level | Skies Darken | Objectives |
|---|---|---|
| Introductory | 4 | 4 |
| Standard | 5 | 4 |
| Heroic | 5 | 5 |
| Epic | 6 | 5 |
| Legendary | 6 | 6 |
Note: When playing a solo or 2-player game, if the objective cards you draw require more characters than are permitted (4 total characters for 2-player games or 5 total characters for solo games), shuffle the objectives and draw a new set.
Suggested Scenarios
Here are some suggested sets of objectives to try at each difficulty level.
Introductory/Standard (4 Objectives):
- Your First Game: Attain the Blessing of the Elves; "Saruman, Your Staff Is Broken"; Challenge Sauron; Destroy the One Ring
- Keep the Darkness at Bay: Confront the Balrog; Oathbreakers Fulfill Their Duty; Subdue Umbar; Destroy the One Ring
Heroic/Epic (5 Objectives):
- Riders of Rohan: Ride with the Éored; Free Theoden's Mind; Deal with Freca's Heirs; Shieldmaiden No Longer; Destroy the One Ring
- Fate of the Elves: "That Makes Six!"; Arwen Unfurls the Banner; Lay Bare the Pits; Bring Light to Mirkwood; Destroy the One Ring
- Sons of the Steward: Boromir Reclaims His Honor; Secure the Crossing of the Anduin; Unseat Denethor; Infiltrate Minas Morgul; Destroy the One Ring
Legendary (6 Objectives):
- No Hero Too Small: Avenge Balin!; Lift Shadow from Dwarven Lands; Rangers Secure Eriador; Hobbits Pledge Their Loyalty; Shelob's Lair; Destroy the One Ring
Solo Games
When playing Fate of the Fellowship as a single player, you coordinate the efforts of Frodo & Sam and 4 other characters.
Setup
Set up the game as normal, with the following changes:
- Place the Frodo & Sam character card by the side of the game board.
- Randomly select 4 other character cards and place them faceup and side by side in a row in front of you. Suggestion: If this is your first time playing the game, use Merry & Pippin, Éowyn, Legolas, and Gandalf.
- Put the solo token on the leftmost character card.
- Place the figures for all of these characters in their starting locations (see p. 7).
Playing the Game
During your turn, the character with the solo token on them can do up to 4 actions. On the first turn, this is the leftmost character in front of you. Either before or after you do all of that character's actions, you may do 1 bonus action with Frodo & Sam.
After doing all of these actions, complete the rest of the turn as usual. (Draw 2 player cards and then resolve shadow cards equal to the threat level.)
Next, shift the solo token to the right onto the next character in line. After all 4 characters in front of you have had a turn, return the solo token to the leftmost character.
Since you never place the solo token on the Frodo & Sam character card, they never get a 4-action turn.
All 5 of your characters share the same hand of player cards and symbol tokens.
Tip: Although Frodo & Sam will normally do only 1 action per turn, you can have other characters Travel with them to help advance them toward Mount Doom.
Actions
The following 2 actions are modified when playing as a single player:
Prepare: When doing the Prepare action, your character must be in the card's region in addition to being in a haven.
Note: You cannot Prepare certain region cards since some regions do not have havens.
Prepare Example: Legolas discards the Friendship region card for Mirkwood to gain a Friendship token while in the Woodland Realm (a haven in Mirkwood).
Fellowship: Do not use the Fellowship action when playing as a single player since all of your characters share the same hand of cards.
Symbols
Friendship
- Spend 1 when Mustering to add 1 friendly troop to a Dwarven, Elven, Rohirrim, or Gondor location
Valor
- Spend 1 during a battle to remove 1 shadow troop
- Spend 3 when Capturing
Stealth
- Spend 1 when Traveling with Frodo to avoid rolling a search
Resistance
- Spend 1 to reroll a search die
- Spend 1 to reroll a battle die
Other Icons
The rulebook also identifies icons for the following (the manual shows each as a pictogram):
- Board and piece icons: Haven, Shadow Stronghold, Eye of Sauron, Nazgûl, Shadow Troop, Friendly Troop, Dwarven Troop, Elven Troop, Rohirrim Troop, Gondor Troop
- Track and token icons: Hope, Despair, Threat Rate Marker, Hope Marker, Solo Token
- Location icons: Shadow Location, Dwarven Location, Elven Location, Rohirrim Location, Gondor Location
- Search die icons: Search Die, Slip By, Weary, Exposed, Recall
- Battle die icons: Battle Die, Rout, Exchange, Overrun, Nazgûl!
Setup Reference
Player Cards
| Players | Events | Starting Hands |
|---|---|---|
| 5 Players | 9 | 2 |
| 4 Players | 7 | 2 |
| 3 Players | 6 | 3 |
| 2 Players | 6 | 4 |
| 1 Player | 5 | 4 |
Difficulty Setting
| Level | Skies Darken | Objectives |
|---|---|---|
| Introductory | 4 | 4 |
| Standard | 5 | 4 |
| Heroic | 5 | 5 |
| Epic | 6 | 5 |
| Legendary | 6 | 6 |
Credits
Game Design: Matt Leacock
Z-Man Games — Head of Studio: Mike Hummel. Development: Kevin Ellenburg. Creative Direction: Bree Woodward. Art Direction: Jay Hernishin. Graphic Design: Jay Hernishin, Randy Delven, Sam Shimota, Tony Mastrangeli, Katherine Boils, David Ardila, Preston Wing. Sculpting: Luigi Terzi. Cover and Interior Art: Cory Godbey. Cartography Art: Jared Blando. Production: Guadalupe Gonzalez, Ellie Gentry. Copy Editing: Dan Varrette. Marketing: Krystal Rose, Preston Wing. Engineering: David Killing. 3D Rendering: Jon "Jags" Nee.
Asmodee North America — Head of Licensing: Ariel Didier. Licensing Approvals: Kaitlin Souza. Licensing Coordination: Emerald Thompson, Kira Hartke.