The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Deck-Building Game
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Deck-Building Game Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 226 Game Cards
- 31 Courage Starting Cards
- 16 Despair Starting Cards
- 116 Main Deck Cards
- 16 Valor Cards
- 12 Archenemy Cards
- 20 Corruption Cards
- 7 Unique Hero Starting Deck Cards
- 8 "Impossible Mode" Archenemy Cards (For advanced players only!)
- 7 Oversized Hero Cards
- 1 Rulebook
Types of Cards
The different card types that you can play are: Starter, Enemy, Location, Ally, Maneuver, Artifact, and Fortune. Corruption cards have no card type.
Hero
An oversized card such as Frodo, Hobbit Hero. Its text box tells you what you start the game with — for example, "You start the game with The One Ring in your deck."
Starting Cards
Courage and Despair are your starting cards, each marked STARTER. Courage cards read "+1 Power." Despair cards have no effect.
Corruption
Corruption cards reduce your score at the end of the game. Each Corruption card shows its Victory Point penalty (for example, -1) in the Victory Points corner.
Archenemy
Archenemy cards show the Archenemy's Level (e.g., "LEVEL 1 ARCHENEMY"), a Cost, and Special Rules Text, plus a Group Ambush ability that triggers when the card is revealed on top of the Archenemy stack.
Enemy
Enemy cards show a Power bonus and card text, such as a Quest ability that scores bonus VPs at the end of the game under certain conditions.
Location
Location cards show a Card Type of "LOCATION." Their text reads: "When you play this card, leave it in front of you for the rest of the game," followed by an Ongoing effect.
Enemy with Attack & Ambush
Some Enemy cards carry both an Attack ability (resolved when the card is played) and an Ambush ability (resolved when the card enters the Path between turns and you are the next player to take a turn).
Ally
Ally cards show a Card Name, a Power bonus, card text, and a Victory Points value in the corner.
Maneuver
Maneuver cards show a Power bonus and card text, and often a Defense ability, such as "You may discard this card to avoid an Attack or Ambush. If you do, draw a card."
Artifact
Artifact cards show a Power bonus, a Cost, and a Quest ability similar to Enemy cards.
Fortune
Fortune cards show "FORTUNE" as their type. Their text reads: "When you buy or gain this card, play it immediately, then destroy it," followed by the one-time effect (for example, "+3 Power this turn").
Setup for Your First Game
1. Heroes and Starting Decks
Each player is dealt a random Hero from among the following: Frodo, Legolas, Gandalf, Aragorn, and Samwise. Alternatively, each player may choose a favorite from amongst these characters. Set aside the other Heroes for future games. Each Hero has a starting card that is unique to that Hero. Each Hero also begins with a starting deck of that unique card, six Courage cards, and three Despair cards. Shuffling these cards together gives each player a starting deck of exactly ten cards. You will use your Courage cards to buy more powerful cards to add to your deck, improving it as the game goes on. Despair cards represent the things that cause the members of the Fellowship to falter. They don't do anything for you when drawn or played, so it's best to get rid of them as soon as possible (more on how to do that later).
2. The Main Deck
Most of the cards that you will add to your deck as the game progresses come from the main deck. Shuffle the main deck and place it in the middle of the table. None of the following cards should ever be placed into the main deck: Archenemy, Courage, Despair, Valor, Corruption, the unique Hero Starting Cards, or the oversized Hero cards. The main deck is made up of every other card in the game (116 cards total).
3. The Archenemy Stack
There are twelve different Archenemy cards available to use each game. Typically, eight Archenemy cards are used for a standard game. For a longer game, use more than eight. No matter how many you use, you will always use Nazgûl. On that card is text that reads, "This card starts the game on top of the Archenemy stack."
The Archenemies are broken up into four Levels. There are a single Level 1 Archenemy (Nazgûl), five Level 2 Archenemies, five Level 3 Archenemies, and a single Level 4 Archenemy. Lurtz is the lone Level 4 Archenemy, and as the last villain the Fellowship encounters in the first movie, he will be the last Archenemy you face in the game. Place Lurtz face down now. Next, shuffle the five Level 3 Archenemies face down. Randomly select three of those cards and place them face down on top of the now face-down Lurtz card. Set the rest of the Level 3 Archenemies aside, still face down.
Then, shuffle the five Level 2 Archenemy cards face down. Randomly select three of those cards and place them face down on top of the face-down Archenemy stack. Gather the unused Level 2 and Level 3 cards and set them aside face down (in the box is best). That way no one will be able to see which Archenemy cards are being used and which ones are not.
Finally, place Nazgûl face up on top of the Archenemy stack. In a typical eight-Archenemy game, the Archenemies will now appear as: Level 1, followed by three Level 2 cards and three Level 3 cards, and ending with the Level 4 Lurtz.
4. The Path
After shuffling the main deck, place the top five cards from the main deck into the Path face up. The Path is where the members of the Fellowship will have dangerous and fantastical encounters. There is no board necessary to reach them; just reserve space for each card.
NOTE: The player taking the first turn is unaffected by Ambush cards that entered the Path at the start of the game, if there are any Fortune cards in the Path, put them on the bottom of the main deck and replace them.
Next, place the Valor, Archenemy, and Corruption stacks at the end of the Path perpendicular to the board so that everyone can reach them. The Valor stack always starts with 16 cards. The number of Archenemy cards you use will vary based on your desired game length. Valor and Archenemy cards are always available to be bought or defeated during your turn (while cards remain in their stacks). Corruptions are never bought; they are gained only through unfriendly card effects. The main deck and the three stacks of cards on the end are not part of the Path.
Once you have arranged the main deck, the Path, and the other stacks, it will look something like the above. Your opening five cards in the Path will vary. At the start of the game, there should be 16 Valors, 8 Archenemies, and 20 Corruptions in their respective stacks.
Gameplay
Randomly determine a player to go first. Each player begins by shuffling his or her deck and drawing five cards. Players take turns in clockwise order.
Each turn, you may buy cards from the Path, Valor cards, and/or the top card of the Archenemy stack to improve your deck. Cards you buy or gain are always immediately placed into your discard pile unless you are instructed otherwise. Discard piles are always face up. Soon they'll be shuffled into your deck, and then you'll be drawing these newer, more powerful cards into your hand so you can play them. Buying powerful cards builds up the effectiveness of your deck. That's why it's called a "deck-building game."
You can buy any number of available cards with combined cost less than or equal to the amount of Power you have for the turn. For example, your Courage cards each give you +1 Power. If you draw four of them and no other cards with any Power bonuses, your total Power for the turn is 4. You can buy a single card with cost 2, 3, or 4, or even two cards each with cost 2, assuming these options are available. Valor cards are (usually) available if the cards in the Path are too expensive, and you may buy more than one during your turn if you wish. You may pass if you can't buy or do not wish to buy any cards.
Despair and Corruption cards provide no Power. Since they weaken your draws and deck, you should try to destroy them as soon as possible (more on how to do that later). You may play them if you wish, but they have no effect when played. They are not discarded until the end of your turn when you discard all cards you have played and any cards that you have kept in your hand.
Order of Playing Your Cards
On your turn, you get to play the cards in your hand in the order of your choice. When you play a card, its game text resolves immediately. When you have played all the cards you wish to play at that time, total up the Power you have accumulated and buy what you wish to buy from the Path or the face-up stacks. You do not have to play all of the cards in your hand before you start making purchases if you don't wish to.
Most cards you play have simple effects, like +Power, card drawing, or an Attack. The order in which you play these cards typically does not matter.
Ending Your Turn
- Once you have finished your turn, place all the cards you played and any cards remaining in your hand into your discard pile. Any unspent Power from cards played during the turn is lost. Draw a new hand of five cards and pass the turn to the player on your left.
- If any of the slots in the Path are empty, draw cards off the main deck and add them to the Path. Do not replace empty slots as soon as you buy or gain a card from the Path.
- If the top card of the Archenemy stack is face down, flip it face up. This will reveal the next Archenemy out to terrorize the Heroes.
Sample Turn Sequence
After shuffling up your starting cards, you draw a hand of four Courages and one Despair for your first turn. You may play the four Courages for a total of 4 Power, which is enough to buy It Comes in Pints? from the Path. After buying it, you put it into your discard pile. The Despair provides you with no additional Power. Once you have played and bought all the cards you want, discard the cards you have played and any remaining in your hand and then draw a new hand of five cards. Play then proceeds to the player on your left.
End of Game
The game ends immediately when either of the following two conditions is met:
- The final Archenemy, Lurtz, is defeated.
- You are unable to refill all five slots of the Path.
Once the game has ended, players total up the Victory Points on cards in their deck. Corruption cards in your deck at the end of the game will subtract Victory Points (VP) from your total. The player with the highest VP total is crowned the winner! In case of a tie, the player with more Archenemy cards wins.
After a winner has been determined, all players will need to take apart their decks, placing all of the cards back into their proper stacks. Be sure to return any Archenemy cards that were not used during the game to the Archenemy stack, so they can be used in the next game.
Additional Rules
Attacks and Defenses
Some cards allow you to make an Attack against the other players in the game. When you play a card with an Attack ability, each other player has an opportunity to avoid the Attack with a card that has a Defense ability. A player using a Defense card's ability negates the Attack only for that defending player. A player may only play one Defense card per Attack. Any players who don't avoid the Attack are then affected by the Attack card's ability. Avoiding an Attack does not negate any other abilities (like +3 Power) of a card, unless an ability specifically counts the players successfully hit by the Attack.
Ambush
An Ambush is a type of Attack found on Enemy cards in the main deck. When a card with the word "Ambush" in its text box enters the Path between turns and you are the next player to take a turn, you are Ambushed at the start of your turn. If a card played during a turn adds new cards to the Path, any Ambushes do not happen.
Example: The person playing Frodo to your right buys two cards from the Path. He ends his turn, and you flip the top two cards of the main deck into the Path. One of them has an Ambush. You resolve the Ambush, then continue your turn.
If you are Ambushed by multiple cards, you may choose the order in which they resolve. After resolving each Ambush card, your turn continues as normal. Defense cards may be used to avoid Ambushes, but it takes a separate Defense card to avoid each Ambush. A player may only play one Defense card per Ambush.
Fortunes
Fortune cards represent the moments of good luck that the Fellowship encounters or other significant story moments. Fortunes have a cost of 0, so even a player with no cards in hand can buy a Fortune during his turn. When a Fortune is bought or gained (by any means), it is always immediately played, resolved, and then destroyed. If you gain a Fortune during another player's turn, it will resolve as usual. However, the +3 Power from Raging River is not usable during another player's turn. After resolving a Fortune, the current player's turn continues as normal. Note that if there are any Fortune cards in the Path during the Setup of a game, you must put them on the bottom of the main deck and replace them.
Corruption
Some Attack and Ambush cards force the affected players to gain a Corruption. When this happens, the affected players usually place the Corruption cards into their discard piles (unless a card tells them otherwise), effectively adding them to their decks. Corruption cards have no ability and can be played or kept in your hand and discarded at the end of your turn. At the end of the game, each Corruption in your deck subtracts 1 Victory Point from your VP total, so you'll need a plan for destroying them at some point! If the Corruption deck runs out, effects that would cause a player to gain a Corruption do not do so, but any other effects those cards have still resolve as usual. A player may still play a Defense to avoid an Attack or Ambush, even when there are no Corruptions available to be gained.
In Impossible Mode, place destroyed Corruptions back onto the Corruption stack instead of removing them from the game.
Shuffling Your Deck
You don't reshuffle your discard pile into your deck as soon as you run out of cards. However, if at any point during the game if there are no cards in your deck and you need to draw, discard, or reveal a card from your deck, immediately reshuffle your discard pile, and it becomes your new deck.
Locations
Location cards go straight to your discard pile when bought or gained, just like any other card. However, when you later draw and play a Location, that card will remain face up and in play in front of you for the rest of the game. Each Location has an effect that will happen based on the game text of the card. The word Ongoing is a reminder that this card keeps working for you turn after turn. You can have any number of Locations in play at once. Once a Location is in play, it no longer counts as a card in your hand.
Destroying Cards
Some cards have an ability that allows you to destroy a card from your hand, your deck, your graveyard, or even the Path. When you destroy a card, place it into a face-up pile of destroyed cards anywhere away from the play area, removing it from your deck and the game. You will often get to choose which of your cards to destroy. Destroying Despair and Corruption cards will improve your deck greatly! If Valor and Corruption cards are destroyed, they do not go back to their respective stacks.
Gaining Cards
When a card tells you to gain a particular card or a card of your choice, that card is taken and immediately placed in your discard pile, at no additional cost, unless otherwise directed by the card. If a card tells to you gain a card with a specific name, card type, or cost and there are none available, you simply don't gain the card.
Resolving Card Abilities
If a card's ability affects multiple players, and the order matters (for example, an Attack that has each of three opponents gain a Corruption, with only two Corruptions remaining in the stack), resolve that ability for each affected player in clockwise order, starting from the player who played the ability. When you play a card that triggers another effect, like on a Location you control, fully resolve the card you are playing before resolving any secondary effects triggered by your card play.
Example: The Moria Swarm Archenemy gives you +3 Power and you may gain an Artifact from the Path into your hand. If you have The Mines of Moria Location in play, you get to draw a card when you play an Enemy (which Archenemies are). However, when you play the Moria Swarm, you must choose an Artifact in the Path before you get to draw a card from the Mines.
Archenemy Cards in Your Deck
Like any other card you acquire, the experience gained defeating an Archenemy will aid you in your future turns. When you play an Archenemy card from your hand, the text at the top of the text box is the relevant text. The Group Ambush is no longer applicable, as the Archenemy already performed that when he was first revealed from the Archenemy stack. Archenemies are Enemy cards. Archenemy is a title, not a card type, so playing an Archenemy does not count as playing two different card types.
Impossible Mode
When you have mastered the game and want to take on a true challenge, a test of your mettle not unlike Frodo's grueling march to Mount Doom, then break out the eight Impossible Mode Archenemies. When you open the pack, don't peek at any of the cards! Remove the warning card, then leave the Impossible Nazgûl face up. The rest of the Archenemies are in order and ready to go, but peeking at them ahead of time is frowned upon. You wanted a challenge, so no preparing for the onslaught. When using the Impossible Mode Archenemies, the regular 12 Archenemies will not be used.
One rule change: In Impossible Mode, when a Corruption is destroyed, return it to its stack instead of removing it from the game.
Good luck . . . you'll need it!
The Archenemies
When you have accumulated enough Power in a turn, you can choose to defeat an Archenemy. If you do, take the topmost face-up card from the stack and place it into your discard pile, unless instructed otherwise. The next card in the Archenemy stack remains face down until your turn is over, so a player may only defeat one Archenemy per turn. Archenemy cards range in cost from 8 to 14, and their stack is randomized at the start of each game, so check the stack for the current Archenemy's cost.
While the Nazgûl is content to gaze menacingly at the players from his lofty perch atop the Archenemy stack, the rest of the Archenemies take a more hands-on approach. When a new Archenemy card is revealed, it makes a Group Ambush. On each Archenemy (other than Nazgûl), you will find that Archenemy card's Group Ambush. When revealed on the Archenemy stack, this Ambush resolves immediately against each player in the game. Any player with a Defense card may defend against the Group Ambush, unless the card says otherwise. The Ambush will resolve against any players who do not defend themselves. Group Ambushes do not happen during any player's turn and therefore happen before any regular Ambushes occur. Keep track of the regular Ambushes that will happen after the Archenemy's Group Ambush by moving the Ambushing cards slightly out of the Path. After the Ambushes, line them back up with the rest of the cards.
Specific Card Clarifications
(This section includes Impossible Mode spoilers.)
Lurtz: Costs are numbers between 0 and however high you wish to name.
Impossible Lurtz: If the main deck runs out of cards, the Fellowship is defeated, which means the game ends immediately and all players lose the game. A player does not get to take a final turn when Lurtz's Ongoing destroy effect or the usual refilling of the Path removes the last card from the main deck.
Impossible Saruman: During this Group Ambush, if a player avoids it, he passes no cards and no cards are passed to him. Each player who does not avoid it must choose one card from his current hand. Place that card face down in front of you, then pass the remaining cards in hand to the player on your left. Soon you will be passed cards by the player on your right. You choose one of those cards and add it to the first card you chose. Continue choosing one and passing the rest until no cards are passed to you.
The cards you "drafted" (chose) are your new hand and the cards you did not choose are no longer a part of your hand/deck. Note that if players have various quantities of cards in their hands at the start of this Group Ambush, players may end the draft with a greater or lesser number or cards than they started with.
Ulaire Cantea: If you have no cards in your discard pile, you don't suffer from this Group Ambush.
The Witch-king: His Group Ambush reads: "Each player reveals his hand. Each player who reveals the most Courage cards destroys them all and draws that many cards. Then, that player may distribute that many Corruptions among other players who didn't avoid the Ambush."
Example: No one avoids this Ambush, so Johnny reveals three Courage cards, which is more than the other three players reveal. Johnny then destroys those three Courage cards and collects three Corruption cards from the Corruption stack (assuming there are three there). He may then give each of the other three players one Corruption each, or split it up two and one, or give all three to a single player. Those players now gain those Corruptions and they are placed into those players' discard piles.
Impossible Witch-king: During the Group Ambush, if a consensus cannot be reached within a short time, the two highest-cost cards are destroyed.
FAQ
Q: What does the term "defeat" or "defeated" mean?
A: That term is only used referring to Archenemies. You "defeat" an Archenemy when you buy it from the top of the Archenemy stack. That Archenemy has then been "defeated."
Q: I play Orc Overseer and draw the Mines of Moria. I play it, then play Uruk-hai. Since the Mines of Moria was in play when I played Uruk-hai, do I get to draw a card from the Location's Ongoing ability?
A: No, as Uruk-hai was not the first Enemy you played that turn. Orc Overseer was, and the Mines of Moria was not in play at that time.
Quick Reference
Turn Sequence
- Play cards from your hand.
- Total up your Power and purchase cards with combined cost less than or equal to that total.
- As soon as you buy or gain a card, place it into your discard pile, unless instructed otherwise.
End of Turn
- Place all the cards you played and any remaining cards from your hand into your discard pile, and draw a new hand of five cards.
- Fill each empty slot in the Path with a card from the top of the main deck.
- If the top card of the Archenemy stack is face down, flip it face up and read aloud the next Archenemy's Group Ambush.
Do not reshuffle your discard pile just because you have no cards in your deck. Wait until you must draw, discard, or reveal a card from your deck. Then shuffle your discard pile, and it becomes your new deck.
The game ends immediately when either of the following two conditions is met:
- The final Archenemy, Lurtz, is defeated.
- You are unable to refill all five slots of the Path.
Impossible Mode Only: Place destroyed Corruptions back onto the Corruption stack instead of removing them from the game.