Comprehensive Rules 4.0
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THE LORD OF THE RINGS™ Trading Card Game Comprehensive Rules 4.0 THE LORD OF THE RINGS™ IMPORTANT CONCEPTS SITE TRADING CARD GAME KINDS OF CARDS COMPREHENSIVE RULES 4.0 Most cards in The Lord of the Rings TCG are If you have never played a trading one of two basic kinds: Free Peoples or Shadow. card game... There are also sites and The One Ring, which are neither Free Peoples cards nor Shadow cards. The best way to learn is from a friend who already knows how to play. If your friends aren’t Free Peoples cards players yet, we suggest you begin with a Starter Free Peoples cards represent the forces Rulebook, which is included in starter decks and of good. Each player has his own available for download. fellowship, made up of a Ring-bearer and other If you have played this game before... companions. When you take your turn, you play and use your Free Peoples cards. These Comprehensive Rules provides complete Site cards represent locations in Middle-earth, Free Peoples cards have a light colored documentation of all rules for The Lord of the and are used to chart the progress of the game. circular field in the upper left corner. Rings TCG as of October 2004. It replaces and Nine sites are placed in your adventure deck, and supersedes all previous rulebooks. It is divided Shadow cards are kept separately from the other cards you draw into three sections. Shadow cards represent the forces of and play during the game, which are placed in Section One is a chronological overview of evil and corruption. When another the draw deck. gameplay. Section Two provides complete rules player takes his turn, you play and use your Site cards have a dark compass in to the game, organized alphabetically by topic. Shadow cards to hinder that player. the upper left corner. Section Three provides entries on individual Shadow cards have a dark colored diamond- This symbol is used on sites from the cards, including errata and clarifications. shaped field in the upper left corner. Shadows expansion set onward, differentiating WHAT’S NEW? CARD TYPES them from sites found in previous sets (which use a different compass symbol, and may also use a All material from the Shadows Starter Rulebook There are nine different card types in the game: block symbol). is included here. The most important updates The One Ring, site, companion, ally, minion, are: possession, artifact, event, and condition. COMPANION • Changes in the Open format to the way sites are Companion, ally, and minion cards are also played on the adventure path, and the addition collectively referred to as character cards. of regions. (See Section One: “Moving your THE ONE RING fellowship,” “Playing sites,” “Adding twilight tokens for movement,” and “Building Your Deck”; or Section Two: “building your deck,” “moving your fellowship,” “region,” and “site.”) • The increased role of resistance in the game, and the effect that has on burdens. (See “resistance” in Section One or Two.) • The addition of the keywords “lurker,” “muster,” and “toil.” (See the Section Two entries for those terms.) Note that none of these new rules take effect A companion is a Free Peoples character in your until the release of Shadows. Until then, Open fellowship. format games continue to use King block sites, and players still play them to the adventure path ALLY and add pool as before – that is, as defined for This card type represents the uniquely powerful the Fellowship block, Tower block, and King item that is the focus of the story of The Lord of block formats. (See Section One: “Formats” or the Rings. In the middle of the card, The One Section Two: “format.”) Ring has its subtitle. It has no twilight cost. There are several versions of The One Ring, ECTION NE VERVIEW represented by different cards, but you’ll only use S O : O one version at a time. This section of the Comprehensive Rules mirrors the presentation of a Starter Rulebook. Important concepts are explained first, followed by game setup and an explanation of the turn sequence in order. This section is offered only as a chronological overview of gameplay. There are few examples of play, and few specific rulings. For such material, An ally is a character that helps your companions refer to Section Two. from afar but does not move with them. Again, if you are not familiar with the game, we strongly suggest you begin with a Starter Rulebook, rather than the Comprehensive Rules. Page 1 THE LORD OF THE RINGS™ Trading Card Game Comprehensive Rules 4.0 MINION EVENT Wounds When a character is wounded by an enemy attack, his vitality is depleted. Place a wound token on the character to illustrate this. Glass beads (preferably blood red) make good tokens for this purpose. When you “wound a character,” you place only one wound. Each wound a character has reduces its vitality by 1. When a character’s vitality is reduced to zero, that character is immediately killed. (Reducing a character’s strength to zero does not kill that character.) Healing When a wound is removed from a character, this A minion is a Shadow character that attacks An event is a card played from your hand represents resting or healing. When you “heal a other players’ fellowships. representing an important occurrence, which you character,” you remove one wound. POSSESSION discard after you play it. Generally, your fellowship only heals at a CONDITION sanctuary – that is, a site 3 or site 6 – you reach on the adventure path. At the start of your turn when your fellowship is at a sanctuary, you may heal up to 5 wounds from your companions (not allies). Killed When a character’s vitality is reduced to zero, that character is immediately killed. Place killed Free Peoples characters (companions and allies) in your dead pile. The dead pile is separate from and next to your discard pile. Place killed minions in your discard pile. When you have a unique companion or ally in your dead pile, you cannot play another copy of A possession is a weapon, suit of armor, or other that card, or any other card with the same title. kind of object used by a character. A condition is a card representing a significant (You may play another copy of a non-unique Most possessions tell you who their bearer can change in the world, which stays in play until card that is in your dead pile.) be, which is the kind of character you can play discarded. Most conditions play to your support Exert them on. area, though some play on other cards, and tell you who or what their bearer can be. Sometimes you may exert a character by placing ARTIFACT a wound on that card to show that the character CULTURE takes an action that depletes his vitality. Most cards are part of a specific culture. A card’s Exerting a character is different from wounding color, its background texture, and an icon in its a character, even though both require placement upper right corner indicate its culture. Your deck of a wound token. Cards that prevent wounds may contain cards from several different cultures. cannot prevent a wound token placed by Site cards and The One Ring are not part of any exerting. culture. Once a wound token is placed, whether from Culture names and symbols exerting or wounding, it can be healed by any Free Peoples cards Shadow cards effect that heals a wound. ∂ Dwarven ≤ Dunland No player may exert a character who is exhausted π Elven ◊ Gollum (who has only 1 vitality). If the effect of an ∑ Gandalf Ω Isengard action says a character “must exert” and that ◊ Gollum † Men character is exhausted, then nothing happens. To exhaust a character means to exert that character An artifact is a unique weapon, suit of armor, or µ Gondor ∆ Moria as many times as you can. other kind of special object used by a character. ≥ Rohan ¥ Orc ESISTANCE Though artifacts are played and used much ∫ Shire ∞ Raider R Companion cards have resistance. like possessions, they are a different card type. √ Sauron This number represents a companion’s Artifacts are not affected by cards that affect ¢ Uruk-hai possessions. ability to withstand the lure of The ≈ Wraith One Ring. Some characters have a ring around VITALITY their resistance icon, meaning they can be chosen All characters in the game have vitality. This begin the game as your Ring-bearer. number represents a character’s life force, Companions preceding the Shadows expansion stamina, sturdiness, and will to live. set (other than versions of Frodo or Sam) do not Page 2 THE LORD OF THE RINGS™ Trading Card Game Comprehensive Rules 4.0 have their resistance printed on the card. These words are printed in boldface and followed by a companions have a resistance of 6. colon. SETTING UP THE GAME Allies have a resistance of zero. Each phase action lasts for the duration of Players need a supply of wound tokens Burdens the phase named in the boldface word (unless (preferably red) and twilight tokens (preferably black). Each player will also need a player marker When your Ring-bearer loses will against the otherwise specified). The effects of a phase action with the keyword (a differently-colored token) that shows where power of The One Ring, you place a burden his fellowship is on the adventure path. token on him. Glass beads (preferably black) Skirmish: last only for the skirmish phase in which make good burden tokens, but anything you it is used.