Middle-Earth: the Lidless Eye (MELE), You Play One of These Nine Ringwraiths, the Nazgûl

MELE Rules, v. 2.5 Last Edited 2 February 2007 by Mark Alfano MELE RULES*** CONTENTS . 1 Introduction . 2 Using this Rulesbook . 2 Brief Player Turn Summary . 3 Part I – The Starter Rules . 4 1. The Victory Conditions . 4 2. The Cards and Decks . 6 3. Getting Ready to Play . 8 4. The Player Turn . 9 5. Characters & Companies . 9 6. Movement . 13 7. Combat . 16 8. Corruption . 20 9. Influence . 22 10. Playing and Drawing Cards . 23 Part II – The Standard Rules . 30 1. The Victory Conditions . 30 2. The Cards and Decks . 32 3. Getting Ready to Play . 33 4. The Player Turn . 33 5. Characters & Companies . 33 6. Movement . 35 7. Combat . 36 8. Corruption . 37 9. Influence . 37 10. Playing and Drawing Cards . 39 Part III – Optional Rules . 42 Part IV – Using MELE With METW . 44 1. The Victory Conditions . 44 2. The Cards and Decks . 44 3. Getting Ready to Play . 46 4. The Player Turn . 47 5. Characters & Companies . 47 6. Movement . 47 7. Combat . 48 8. Corruption . 49 9. Influence . 49 10. Playing and Drawing Cards . 49 Part V – The Appendices . 52 Conventions of Tournament Play. 52 Glossary. 53 Full Player Turn Summary . 58 1 MELE Rules, v. 2.5 Last Edited 2 February 2007 by Mark Alfano INTRODUCTION During the Third Age, Sauron the Dark Lord returned and threatened to enslave all of Middle-earth. However, having been defeated and almost destroyed in the Second Age, Sauron hesitated – he wanted to restore himself to full power before starting his final assault on the Free Peoples. This meant he needed to marshal overwhelming tactical and strategic resources; and if possible, he needed to recover the lost reservoir of his vast might, The One Ring. Sauron wanted to remain in the safety of Barad-dûr, in the center of his web of control. So his chief tools for gathering resources were his Ringwraiths, the nine Nazgûl. While Sauron could automatically exert control over any Nazgûl, the Nazgûl maintained a large amount of independence and free will – they were of little use to Sauron without it. In Middle-earth: The Lidless Eye (MELE), you play one of these nine Ringwraiths, the Nazgûl. Your goal is to marshal enough resources so that the Dark Lord will be confident enough to send you and your armies to launch the first blow necessary to crush the Free Peoples. Since your fellow Ringwraiths do not agree on how best to accomplish this goal (and of course none are as worthy as you), you must compete with them to be the first to gather enough forces to gain the Dark Lord’s confidence. If your opponent has access to Middle-earth: The Wizards (METW) cards, you will also be able to play a Ringwraith against a Wizard. In The Lord of the Rings, the Witch-king of Angmar was the first Ringwraith to succeed. Sauron dispatched him and his armies to destroy Gondor. However, due to a subtle twist of fate, he fell on the brink of victory, not against a “man” of great power, but against a woman (Éowyn) and a single Hobbit (Merry). “Dangerous forces” in Middle-earth: The Lidless Eye are represented by hazards that the players use against one another. For example, if you move a character into the Lonely Mountain, your opponent could play a Dragon card as a hazard. These hazards are not “controlled” by the Ringwraiths, but rather they represent the dangerous forces that are abroad in Middle-earth, threatening everyone, good and evil characters alike. All Ringwraiths are working to bring Sauron to full power, 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. USING THIS RULESBOOK These rules are organized into five sections: the Starter Rules, the Standard Rules, the Optional Rules, Using MELE with METW, and the Appendices. The Starter and Standard Rules are for a two-player game; multi-player rules are provided in the Optional Rules. The “Using MELE with METW” section contains the essential rules for integrating METW cards with MELE. The Full Player Turn Summary provided on pages 58-9 is a great reference for getting started. Note: The rules for MELE are very similar to the rules for Middle-earth: The Wizards. Passages with major rules differences are marked with a line of bullets as a sidebar (just as this paragraph is marked). Experienced players of METW can examine these passages and proceed with playing. The Starter Rules – The Starter Rules contain all of the guidelines you need to play MELE. 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.

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