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IntroductionYou have done well to come, said Elrond. You willhear today all that you need to understand the purposeof the Enemy. There is naught that you can do, otherthan to resist, with hope or without it. But you do notstand alone. You will learn that your trouble is but part

of the trouble of all the western world.from the chapter The Council of ElrondThe Lord of the Rings,The Fellowship of the Ring

Welcome to Middle-earth, a land of Hobbits, Elves,Dwarves, Wizards, and Men. From the bright townsand elds of the Shire, to the wilds of MirkwoodForest and Rhovanion, and to the powerful kingdomsof Gondor and Rohan, the various peoples of this landstruggle against the foul minions and the ancient, evilthreat of the Dark Lord, Sauron.

G ame O verview

TheLord of the Rings: The Card Game is a game ofheroes, perilous journeys, and adventure set in thelands described in the epic fantasy masterpiece created

by J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings. In this game,players take on the role of a party of heroes whoare attempting to complete dangerous quests. Thesequests take place during a timespan of 17 years: fromwhen Bilbo celebrates his 111th birthday (and Frodos33rd) to days just prior to Frodos leaving the Shire.Instead of directly retelling the classic stories that have

previously been narrated, this game provides playerswith a variety of elementscharacters, settings,enemies, events, items, artifacts, scenariosthat allowthem to embark upon new adventures and share newexperiences with the beloved The Lord of the Ringscharacters and settings during this period of Middle-earth history.

Unlike most card games, in which the players competeagainst each other, TheLord of the Rings: The CardGame is a cooperative game in which the playerswork together, competing against a scenario that is runautomatically by the game. In each game the playersattempt to overcome the particular encounters, enemies,and challenges of a scenario, against which they eitherwin or lose together.

T he Living C ard G ameTheLord of the Rings: The Card Game is a one totwo player game that can be played using only thecontents of this core set. (Up to four players can playthe game cooperatively with a second copy of the coreset.) In addition, TheLord of the Rings: The Card

Game is a Living Card Game, and the enjoymentand experience of the game can be customized andenhanced through the purchase of regularly released60 card expansions called Adventure Packs. EachAdventure Pack provides players with new optionsand strategies for their decks (see page 27), as wellas an entirely new scenario against which to play.Additionally, deluxe Quest Packs introduce new areasof Middle-earth in which players can journey, explore,and seek new adventures. TheLord of the Rings: TheCard Game can be played both casually, with friends,or through the organized play program that is ofciallysanctioned by Fantasy Flight Games.

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C omponent O verviewTheLord of the Rings: The Card Game core setincludes the following components:

ThisRulebook

226cards,consistingof:

12HeroCards

120PlayerCards

84EncounterCards

10QuestCards

2ThreatTrackers(eachconsistingof1faceplate,2dials,and4plasticdialconnectors)

40DamageTokens

26ProgressTokens

30ResourceTokens

1FirstPlayerToken

CardsTheLord of the Rings: The Card Game core setfeatures 226 cards. Four starter decks, each builtaround a distinct sphere of inuence (Leadership, Lore,Spirit, and Tactics), can be played right out of the boxin the introductory game, or the cards in these deckscan be combined together to create tournament legaldecks. Also included in this set are 3 scenarios and 84encounter cards for the players to compete against. Fora complete explanation of each card type, see

pages 5-9.

T hreat T rackersThreat trackers are used to track a players threat levelthroughout the game. Threat represents the level of riska player has taken on during a scenario. If a playersthreat level reaches a certain threshold, that player iseliminated from the game. A players threat level can

also draw out enemy encounters and set off unfortunatecircumstances throughout the course of the game.

To assemble a threat tracker, use the plastic dialconnectors to attach two dials to each faceplate asshown in the diagram below.

Damage andProgr ess T okensDamage tokens represent

physical damage that hasbeen inicted on charactersand enemies. Progresstokens represent progressthat has been made on a

quest.

Resource T okensThese tokens represent thevarious resources at a herosdisposal. Resource tokensare collected by a playersheroes, and are usedthroughout the game to payfor cards and card effects.

First Player

T okenThe rst player tokendetermines which playeracts rst each phase. Atthe end of each round, therst player token passesclockwise to a new player.

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G ameplay O verviewIn each game ofTheLord of the Rings: The CardGame, players begin by choosing a scenario, and thenwork together in an attempt to complete it. A scenariois completed by successfully moving through all stagesof the quest deck. During a scenario, the encounter

deck aims to harm the heroes and to raise each playersthreat level. A player is eliminated from the game ifall of his heroes are destroyed, or if his threat levelreaches 50. If all players are eliminated from the game,the players have lost. If at least one player survives andcompletes the nal stage of the quest deck, all playersare victorious.

Spheres of InfluenceThere are four different spheres of inuence in TheLord of the Rings: The Card Game , and each has itsown distinct avor and identity. Most player cards fall

under one of these spheres, represented by a uniqueicon, as well as by a unique color on its card border.Each hero has an emphasis in one of these four spheres.A heros sphere dictates the types of cards that heroallows a player to use.

LeadershipThe sphere of Leadershipemphasizes the charismaticand inspirational inuenceof a hero, and that heros

potential to lead, inspire, andcommand both allies and

other heroes alike.

LoreThe sphere of Loreemphasizes the potentialof a heros mind. Intellect,wisdom, experience, andspecialized knowledge areall under the domain ofthis sphere.

SpiritThe sphere of Spiritemphasizes the strength of aheros will. Determination,resilience, courage, loyalty,and heart are all aspects of

this sphere.

T acticsThe sphere of Tacticsemphasizes a heros martial

prowess, particularly as itrelates to combat and toovercoming other tacticalchallenges that mightconfront the players during

a quest.

T he G olden RuleIf the game text of a card contradicts the text of thisrulebook, the text on the card takes precedence.

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T he Encounter DeckThe encounter deck represents the villains, hazards,

places, and circumstances that stand between theplayers and the successful completion of their quest.An encounter deck consists of enemy, location, andtreachery cards. The contents of the encounter deck are

determined by the scenario the players are attempting(see Scenario Overview on page 26). The encounterdeck is shufed at the beginning of the game.

C ard A natomy Key - T he

Encount er Deck

1. Card Title: The name of this card.

2. Engagement Cost: This number determines whenthis enemy card will move from the staging area andengage a player.

3. Threat Strength ($): The degree of danger thisenemy or location represents when it threatens the

players from the staging area.

4. Attack Strength (): The effectiveness of thisenemy when it attacks.

5. Defense Strength (): The effectiveness of thisenemy when it defends.

6. Quest Points: The number of progress tokens thatmust be placed on this location to fully explore thelocation and discard it from play.

7. Hit Points: The amount of damage required todestroy this card.

8. Encounter Set Icon: Indicates which set of

encounter cards this card belongs to. Used inconjunction with the Encounter Information iconson side A of the quest cards of any scenario todetermine which encounter sets are used to build theencounter deck.

9. Traits: Text designators that, while carrying no rulesin themselves, may be affected by other cards in play.

10. Game Text: The special abilities unique to thisparticular card when it is in play.

11. Shadow Effect Icon: If a card has a shadoweffect, that effect is denoted by this icon, which alsoserves to separate the shadow effect from the cards in

play effect.12. Card Type: Indicates whether this card is anenemy, location, treachery, or objective.

13. Set Information: Every card has an icon denotingthe set it belongs to, as well as a unique identicationnumber within the set.

14. ScenarioTitle: The name of the scenario to whichthis objective card belongs.

Enemy C ardsEnemy cards represent the villains, creatures, monsters,and minions that attempt to capture, destroy, or misleadthe heroes as they pursue their quest. Enemy cardsengage individual players and remain in play until theyare defeated.

Locat ion C ardsLocation cards represent the perilous places to whichthe players may travel during a scenario. They are adistant threat to the players from the staging area (see

page 10), and during the course of the quest playersmay opt to travel to a location to confront its threat.

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T reachery C ardsTreachery cards represent traps, curses, maneuvers,

pitfalls, and other surprises the players might confrontduring a scenario. When a treachery card is revealedfrom the encounter deck, its text effects are resolvedimmediately, and it is then placed in the encounter

discard pile.

O bjective C ardsDepending on the scenario, objective cards canrepresent a number of different elements, ranging fromthe goals of a scenario, to allies who assist the players,to keys that allow the players to advance to the nextstage of a quest, to artifacts that are necessary to defeat

a difcult enemy or overcome a particular challenge.Unless otherwise specied, objective cards are shufedinto the encounter deck when setting up a scenario.

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Hero C ards

Hero cards represent the main characters a playercontrols in an attempt to complete a scenario. Heroesstart in play, and they provide the resources that areused to pay for the cards (allies, attachments, andevents) in a players deck. Heroes can also commit toquests, attack, defend, and in many cases they bringtheir own card abilities to the game. Each playerchooses 1-3 hero cards and starts the game with themin play.

Unique C ardsSome cards in this game represent specic,formally named characters, locations, and items fromthe Middle-earth setting. These cards are referredto in the game as unique. They are marked witha symbol before their card title to indicate theiruniqueness.

Ifany player has a unique card in play, no player canplay or put into play another card with the same title.Any attempt to do so will fail to the extent that the cardattempting to enter play remains in its current location(hand, deck, discard pile) and does not enter play. Thisrule applies to all unique hero, ally, attachment, andevent cards that might enter play. Note that a uniquecard is eligible to enter play if another card with thesame title is in a players discard pile but not currentlyin play.

Multiple copies of the same non-unique card can be inplay simultaneously.

C ard A natomy K ey - H ero C ards and

T he Player Deck

1. Card Title: The name of this card. A card with asymbol next to its name is unique. (See UniqueCards, page 8.)

2. Cost: The number of resources a player must spendfrom the appropriate resource pool(s) to play this cardfrom his hand. Cost is not found on hero cards.

3. Threat Cost: Found only on hero cards, this numberis the amount of threat a player must add to his threattracker at the beginning of any game in which he isusing this hero.

4. Sphere of Inuence Icon: Indicates which spherethis card belongs to. The cards template color alsoindicates this. Neutral cards have a grey template andno sphere of inuence icon.

5. Willpower Strength (): The effectiveness of this

character when it commits to a quest.6. Attack Strength (): The effectiveness of thischaracter when it attacks.

7. Defense Strength (): The effectiveness of thischaracter when it defends.

8. Hit Points: The amount of damage required todestroy this card.

9. Resource Icons: Found only on hero cards, theseicons indicate the sphere(s) of inuence to whichresource tokens in this heros resource pool belong.They also indicate to which sphere(s) the hero carditself belongs.

10. Traits: Text designators that, while carrying norules in themselves, may be affected by other cards in

play.

11. Game Text: The special abilities unique to thisparticular card. Some cards have italicized avor text,featuring quotations from The Lord of the Rings novels.

12. Card Type: Indicates whether this card is a hero,ally, attachment, or event.

13. Set Information: Every card has an icon denotingthe set it belongs to, as well as a unique identicationnumber within the set.

C har act er C ar d sSometimes, game or rules text will refer to charactercards. Both heroes and allies are considered to becharacters. Card text that says choose a characterallows a player to choose either a hero or an ally cardas the target of the effect.

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T he Player Deck

The player deck includes a combination of ally,attachment, and event cards shufed into a deck fromwhich a player draws his cards throughout the game.

No more than three copies of any ally, attachment, orevent card, by title, can be included in a players deck.Each of the four 30-card starter decks in this core setcan be played out of the box as an introduction to thegame. For advanced play, the cards in these starterdecks can be combined with one another, or furtherdeveloped with cards from Adventure Pack expansions,to create 50-card tournament decks. (For more on theart of customizing a player deck, see TournamentDeckbuilding and Customization, page 27.)

A tt achment C ards

Attachment cards represent weapons, armor, artifacts,equipment, skills, and conditions. When played, theyare always attached to (placed slightly under) another

card, and they tend to modify or inuence the activityof the card to which they are attached. If the cardto which an attachment is attached leaves play, theattachment card is discarded.

A lly C ards

Ally cards represent characters (friends, followers,creatures, and hirelings) that assist a players heroes onthe quest. Ally cards are played from a players hand,and they remain in play until they are destroyed orremoved from play by a card effect.

Event C ards

Event cards represent maneuvers, actions, tactics,spells, and other instantaneous effects at a playersdisposal. An event card is played from a players hand,its text effects are resolved, and the card is then placed

in its owners discard pile.

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For the First GameFor the rst game, each player chooses one of the fourspheres of inuence and uses the starter deck for thatsphere. The card numbers of each of the four spheresare listed below. Each sphere is also listed with thethree heroes that should be used with that starter deck.

Leadership (cards 13-27; heroes Aragorn, Glin,Thodred)

Tactics (cards 28-42; heroes Legolas, Gimli, Thalin)

Spirit (cards 43-57; heroes owyn, Dunhere, Eleanor)

Lore (cards 58-72; heroes Glorndel, Denethor,Beravor)

Each starter deck should also include 1 copy of theneutral ally card, Gandalf (card 73).

Next, the players select a scenario they would like toplay. For the rst game, players should try the PassageThrough Mirkwood scenario, which was designed asan introductory scenario. Separate the cards for thisscenario (see page 26). These consist of the quest cards(numbered 120-123), and the encounter cards markedwith the Passage Through Mirkwood, Spiders ofMirkwood, and Dol Guldur Orcs symbols (see

page 26).

For tournament deckbuilding rules, see page 27.

Playing the Game

SetupBefore playing TheLord of the Rings: The Card Game ,follow these quick steps in order.

1. Shufe Decks

As with a deck of playing cards, shufe all playerdecks and the encounter deck separately until they arerandomized. Do not shufe the quest cards into theencounter deck, and do not shufe the hero cards intothe player decks.

2. Place Heroes and Set Initial Threat Levels

Each player places his heroes in front of him, addsup the threat cost of the heroes he controls, and sets

his threat tracker at the same value. This value is thatplayers starting threat level for the game.

3. Setup Token Bank

Place the damage tokens, progress tokens, and resourcetokens in a pile next to the encounter deck. All playerstake tokens from this bank as needed throughoutthe game.

4. Determine First Player

The players determine a firstplayerbased on amajority group decision. If this proves impossible,determine a rst player at random. Once determined,the rst player takes the rst player token and places itin front of him as reference.

5. Draw Setup Hand

Each player draws 6 cards from the top of his playerdeck. If a player does not wish to keep his startinghand, he may take a single mulligan, by shufingthese 6 cards back into his deck and drawing 6 newcards. A player who takes a mulligan must keep hissecond hand.

6. Set Quest Cards

Arrange the quest cards in sequential order, based offthe numbers on the back of each card. Stage 1A should

be on top, with the numbers increasing in sequencemoving down the stack. Place the quest deck near the

encounter deck, in the center of the play area.7. Follow Scenario Setup Instruction

The back of the rst quest card sometimes providessetup instructions for a scenario. Follow theseinstructions before ipping the quest card.

Players then begin the game starting with the rstgame round.

T he Staging A rea

The staging area is a unique element of the gamesplaying eld. It represents the potential dangers theplayers might face as they progress on their quest.

During the quest phase, enemy and location cards arerevealed from the encounter deck and placed in thestaging area. Cards in the staging area are imminentthreats to the players, including enemies that need to

be defeated and locations that need to be explored.While a location is in the staging area, the players arenot considered atthat location; instead it represents adistant threat. Players have the option of traveling to alocation during the travel phase. Similarly, enemies inthe staging area are not yet engaged with any of the

players. Enemies engage players when a players threatlevel is high enough to draw out that enemy. Playersalso have the option to voluntarily engage enemies

during the encounter phase. (For more on engagingenemies and traveling to locations, see pages 15-16).

Discard Piles

Each player has his own discard pile, and the encounterdeck also has its own discard pile. Whenever a card isdiscarded, it goes to the discard pile belonging to thecards originating deck.

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T oms Discard

Pile

Encounter

Discard Pile

K riss Discard Pile

T oken Bank

EncounterDeck

K riss Player Deck

T oms Player

Deck

T oms T hreat Dial

K riss T hreat

Dial

Q uest Deck

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Round SequenceTheLord of the Rings: The Card Game is played over aseries ofrounds. Each round is divided into 7 phases.Some phases are played simultaneously by all players,while in other phases the players act separately,with the rst player acting rst and play proceeding

clockwise around the table.The 7 phases are, in order:

1. Resource

2. Planning

3. Quest

4. Travel

5. Encounter

6. Combat

7. Refresh

Once all 7 phases are complete, the round is over, andplay proceeds to the resource phase of the next round.A turn sequence diagram of all the phases, and thegame events that occur during each phase, can be foundon pages 30-31 of this rulebook.

Phase 1: Resour ce

Each player simultaneously adds 1 resource token toeach of his heroes resourcepools. A resource pool isa collection of resource tokens stored near a hero card.These tokens belong to that heros pool, and can beused to pay for cards that belong to that heros sphereof inuence. Each hero has 1 resource pool.

After collecting resources, each player draws 1 cardfrom his player deck and adds it to his hand.

When a player is instructed to draw one or morecards, he always draws those cards from the top of hisown player deck. If a player has no cards remaining inhis player deck, he does not draw.

Phase 2: Planning

This is the only phase in which a player can play allyand attachment cards from his hand. The rst player

plays any and all ally and attachment cards he wishes toplay rst. The opportunity to play cards then proceedsclockwise around the table.

In order for a player to play a card from his hand (orto activate certain card effects), he must pay for it byspending resource tokens from the resource pool of ahero who has a resource icon that matches the cardssphere of inuence. This is called a resourcematch.Resources that are spent to pay for cards or card effectsare taken from their heros resource pool and placed inthe general token bank.

If a hero is exhausted (see page 14), resources may stillbe spent from that heros resource pool.

Cards with a cost of zero do not require a resource to bespent in order to pay their cost, but they do requireat least one hero under that players control to have aresource icon that matches the cards sphere.

After a player plays an ally or attachment card fromhis hand, he places it faceup and ready in his playarea. Attachment cards should be placed partiallyoverlapping, either above or below, the card to whichthey are attached.

If a player has multiple heroes with similar resourceicons, he may use resources from multiple pools of thesame sphere to pay for a single card or effect.

Example: Tom has 3 heroes: Glin (who hasa Leadership resource icon and 3 resources

in his pool), owyn (who has a Spiritresource icon and 2 resources in her pool),and Eleanor (who has a Spirit resource iconand 2 resources in her pool). Tom wishes toplay the Guard of the Citadel card from hishand. The Guard of the Citadel belongs tothe Leadership sphere, so Tom must spendresources from Glins pool to play this card.Since the Guard of the Citadel has a cost of2, Tom moves 2 resources from Glins poolto the token bank and places the Guard of theCitadel into his play area. Tom also wishes toplay the Northern Tracker card from his hand,which belongs to the sphere of Spirit, andhas a cost of 4. To play this card, Tom takes 2

resources from owyns pool, and 2 resourcesfrom Eleanors pool, for a total of 4. He cando this because both owyn and Eleanor haveSpirit resource icons. Tom spends these tokensand places them in the token bank, and thenplaces the Northern Tracker in his play area.(See diagram on page 13.)

Paying for Neutr al C ards

Neutralcards,whichbelongtonosphereofinuence,requirenoresourcematchtoplay.Thismeansthattheycanbepayedforwithresourcesfromanyherospool.Also,whenpayingforaneutralcard,aplayermaycombineresourcesfromheroeswithdifferentresourceicons.Gandalfistheonlyneutralcardinthecoreset.

Paying for C ard A bilit ies

Some cards have abilities that can be triggered fromplay, but still require the triggering player to payresources. Triggering a card ability from a card alreadyin play requires no resource match, unless otherwisespecied by the ability.

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Example: Paying f or C ard s

1. Glin has a Leadership resource icon and 3 resource tokens in his resourcepool. owyn and Eleanor each have a Spirit resource icon, and 2 resource tokensin their resource pools.

2. To play the Guard of the Citadel from his hand, Tom spends 2 resource tokensfrom Glins pool, returning the tokens to the token bank. 1 resource tokenremains unspent in Glins resource pool.

3. To play the Northern Tracker from his hand, Tom spends 2 resource tokensfrom owyns resource pool and he spends 2 resource tokens from Eleanorsresource pool, returning the tokens to the token bank.

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Ready and ExhaustedCharacters and attachment cards enter the game in theready positionthat is, faceup on the playing surfacein front of their controller.

When a card has been used for some purpose, such

as to commit to a quest, to attack, to defend, or to usea character ability that requires the card to exhaust,it is turned 90 degrees sideways and consideredexhausted. An exhausted card cannot exhaust again(and therefore cannot partake in any action thatrequires exhaustion) until it has been readied oncemore. When a player is instructed by the game or bya card effect to ready a card, he moves that card to itsnormal upright position.

Phase 3: Q uestIn the quest phase, the players attempt to make progresson the current stage of their quest. This phase is brokeninto three steps: 1) commit characters, 2) staging, and3) quest resolution. Players have the opportunity to takeactions and play event cards at the end of each step.

St ep 1: C ommit C haracter s

Each player may commit characters to the current questcard. Characters are exhausted when they commit toa quest. Players commit characters to the quest as ateam, starting with the rst player, and then proceedingclockwise around the table. Each player may commit asmany of his characters to the quest as he would like.

Step 2: Staging

After each player has had the opportunity to commitcharacters to the quest, the encounter deck revealsone card per player. This is known in the game asstaging. These encounter cards are revealed one at a

time, with any when revealed effects being resolvedbefore the next card is revealed. Enemy and locationcards revealed in this manner are placed in the stagingarea, treachery cards are resolved and (unless otherwiseindicated by the card text) placed in the discard pile.If the encounter deck is ever empty during the quest

phase, the encounter discard pile is shufed and resetback into the encounter deck.

Step 3: Q uest Resolution

Finally, the players compare the combined willpowerstrength () of all committed characters against thecombined threat strength ($) of all cards in the stagingarea.

If the is higher, the players have successfullyquested, and they make progress on the quest. Anumber of progress tokens equal to the amount bywhich their overcame the$ are placed on thecurrent quest card. Note that if there is an activelocation (see page 15), progress tokens are placed onthat location until it is explored, and the remainder arethen placed on the current quest.

If the$ is higher, the players have unsuccessfullyquested, and they are driven back by the encounterdeck. Each player must raise his threat dial by theamount by which the$ was higher than the combined of all committed characters.

If the combined committed score is equal to thecombined$ score in the staging area: no progresstokens are placed, and the players do not increase theirthreat dials.

Characters committed to a quest are consideredcommitted to that quest through the end of the quest

phase, unless removed from the quest by a card effect.They do remain exhausted once this step is complete.

Ready Exhaust ed

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Example: Tom commits owyn (4 ), andKris commits both Aragorn (2 ) and aGuard of the Citadel (1 ) to the currentquest. A Gladden Fields location card (3$)is in the staging area. After all players havecommitted their characters, the encounterdeck reveals 1 card per player: an East BightPatrol (3$) and a Hummerhorns (1 $). Theplayers have a combined of 7, and the questdeck has a combined$ of 7. As it stands, thisquest attempt will end in a draw. However,Tom decides to use owyns ability, whichallows him to discard 1 card from his handto increase her by 1, taking the playerscombined committed to 8, so the playersplace 1 progress token on the currentquest card. (See diagram above.)

Phase 4 : T ravel

During the travel phase, the players may travel as agroup to any one location in the staging area by movingit from the staging area and placing it alongside thecurrent quest card, causing it to become the activelocation. The players can only travel to one locationat a time. The rst player makes the nal decision onwhether and where to travel.

While in the staging area, location cards add to theencounter decks$. Once the players have traveledto a location, that location no longer contributes its$, as the players are considered to have traveled to thelocation and are confronting its threat.

Instead, an active location acts as a buffer for thecurrently revealed quest card. Any progress tokensthat would be placed on a quest card are instead placedon the active location. If a location everhas as many

progress tokens as it has quest points, that location isconsidered explored and is discarded from play.

Players cannottravel to a new location if anotherlocation card is active; the players must explore theactive location before traveling elsewhere. Somelocations have a travel effect, which is an additionalcost that must be payed when the players travel there(see Travel Effects, page 23).

Example: Tom and Kris have just scored 3progress tokens against the current quest card.The Enchanted Stream location, which has2 quest points, is active. 2 progress tokensare placed on the Enchanted Stream card,discarding it from play. The other progresstoken is then placed on the current quest card.

Example: Resolving a Q uest

1. Tom exhausts owyn to commit her to the quest. Kris exhausts both Aragorn and the Guard of theCitadel to commit them to the quest. A Gladden Fields location card is already in the staging area.

2. The players reveal 1 card per player from the encounter deck, and add them to the staging area.

3. The players add up the total committed and compare it to the total$ in the staging area. Thisresults in a 7to7$stalemate.Tomusesowyn'scardabilitytogivetheplayersanadditionalpointof,whichallowsthemtoplace1progresstokenonthecurrentquestcard.

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Phase 5: EncounterThe encounter phase consists of two steps: playerengagement, and engagement checks.

St ep 1: Player Engagement

First, each player has the option to engage one enemy

in the staging area. This is done by moving the enemyfrom the staging area and placing it in front of theengaging player.

Each player has one chance to optionally engage oneenemy during this step, and an enemys engagementcost has no bearing on this procedure.

St ep 2 : Engagement C hecks

Second, the players must make a series of engagementchecks, to see if any of the enemies remaining in thestaging area engage them. The rst player compares histhreat level against the engagement cost of each of theenemy cards in the staging area. The enemy with the

highest engagement cost that is equal to or lower thanthis players threat level engages this player, and movesfrom the staging area to the space in front of him. Thisis called making an engagementcheck. After the rst

player makes an engagement check, the player to hisleft makes his own engagement check. This playercompares his threat level against the engagementcost of each of the remaining enemy cards in thestaging area, and engages the enemy with the highestengagement cost that is equal to or lower than his ownthreat level.

This process continues through all the players,proceeding clockwise around the table. Once all players

have made an engagement check, the rst player makesa second engagement check. Players continue makingengagement checks in this manner until there are noenemies remaining in the staging area that can engageany of the players.

Whether an enemy is engaged through an engagementcheck, through a card effect, or through a playerschoice, the end result is the same, with the enemyand the player engaging one another. In all cases, the

player is considered to have engaged the enemy and theenemy is considered to have engaged the player.

Note that during this phase enemies do not attackplayers, they merely engage players. Enemies attack

the players with whom they are engaged during thecombat phase (see page 18).

Example: The rst player, Tom, has a threatlevel of 24. The second player, Kris, has athreat level of 35. There are 4 enemies in thestaging area: a King Spider (engagement costof 20), a Forest Spider (engagement cost of

25), Ungoliants Spawn (engagement cost of32), and Hummerhorns (engagement cost of40).

Tom and Kris both pass during the playerengagement step, declining their opportunityto optionally engage enemies.

Since he is the rst player, Tom makes the rstengagement check. Toms threat level of 24 iscompared against each enemy in the stagingarea. The Hummerhorns (40), UngoliantsSpawn (32), and the Forest Spider (25) eachhave an engagement cost that is higher thanToms threat level, so none of these enemiesengage Tom. The King Spider (20), however,

has an engagement cost that is equal to orlower than Toms threat level, so the KingSpider engages Tom. This card is moved out ofthe staging area and placed in front of Tomsplay area.

Next, Kris makes an engagement check,comparing his threat level of 34 againstthe remaining enemies in the staging area.The Hummerhorns (40) do not engage Kris.Ungoliants Spawn, with an engagement costof 32, is the enemy with the highest cost thatis equal to or below Kris's threat level, so thiscard engages Kris.

Tom then makes another engagement check,and since his threat level and the enemiesin the staging area have not changed, nofurther enemies engage him. Kris makesanother engagement check, and this time theForest Spider (25) engages him. Toms nextengagement check passes, and then Krismakes a nal engagement check, in whichnothing engages him.

The end result, then, leaves Tom engaged withthe King Spider and Kris engaged with bothUngoliants Spawn and the Forest Spider. TheHummerhorns remain in the staging area. (Seediagram on page 17.)

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Example: M aking Engagement C hecks

1. The rst player, Tom, makes the rstengagement check. The King Spider has thehighest engagement cost (20) that is equal to orlower than Tom's threat level of 24, so the King

Spider engages Tom.2. Kris makes the next engagement check.Ungoliant's Spawn has the highest engagementcost (32) that is equal to or lower than Kris's threatlevel of 35, so Ungoliant's Spawn engages Kris.

3. Tom makes the next engagement check. Histhreat level is lower than the engagement costof the enemies remaining in the staging area, soneither of those enemies engage Tom.

4. Kris makes the next engagement check. TheForest Spider has the highest engagement cost (25)that is equal to or lower than Kris's threat level of35, so the Forest Spider engages Kris.

5. Tom, and then Kris, each make anotherengagement check. The Hummerhorns'engagement cost is higher than each of theirthreat levels, so it remains in the staging area atthis time. Since all players have made successiveengagement checks without being engaged by anyenemies, the "engagement checks" step is nowcomplete.

T om Kris

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Staging A rea

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Phase 6: C ombatIn the combat phase, enemies attack rst. All enemiesthat are engaged with the players attack each round,and the players resolve those attacks one at a time.

At the beginning of the combat phase, the players deal1 shadow card to each engaged enemy. Deal the topcard of the encounter deck, face down, to each engagedenemy. When dealing cards to a single playersenemies, always deal to the enemy with the highestengagement cost rst. Cards should rst be dealt to theenemies attacking the rst player, and then proceedaround the board until all enemies have 1 card.

If the encounter deck runs out of cards, any enemiesthat have not been dealt shadow cards are not dealtshadow cards this round. An empty encounter deckonly resets during the quest phase (see page 14).

Resolving Enemy A t tacks

When resolving enemy attacks, the players follow these4 steps, in order. Players may play event cards and takeactions at the end of each step.

1. Choose an enemy. The rst player chooses whichattack (among the enemies to which he is engaged) toresolve rst.

2. Declare defender. A character must exhaust tobe declared as a defender. Only one character canbe declared as a defender against each attackingenemy. A player also has the option to let an attack goundefended, and declare no defenders for that attack.Unless a card effect species otherwise, players canonly declare defenders against enemies with whomthey are engaged.

3. Resolve shadow effect. The active player ips thatenemys shadow card faceup and resolves any shadoweffect that card might have.

4. Determine combat damage. This is done bysubtracting the defense strength () of the defendingcharacter from the attack strength () of the attackingenemy. The remaining value is the amount of damagethat must immediately be dealt to the defendingcharacter, possibly destroying that character (seeHit Points and Damage, page 20). If a characteris destroyed by an attack, additional damage is notassigned to another character. If the is equal to or

higher than the, no damage is dealt.If an attack is undefended, all damage from theattack must be assigned to a single hero controlled

by the active player. Allies cannot take damage fromundefended attacks. If a defending character leaves

play or is removed from combat before damage isassigned, the attack is considered undefended. Acharacters does notabsorb damage from undefendedattacks or from card effects.

Example: Kris is engaged with 2 enemies,the Forest Spider and Ungoliants Spawn.One card from the encounter deck is dealt

face down to each engaged enemy, rst toUngoliants Spawn and second to the ForestSpider, as Ungoliants Spawn has a higherengagement cost. These cards determine anyshadow effects that might affect the resolutionof the attack. Kris can resolve the attacksagainst him in any order; he decides to resolvethe attack made by Ungoliants Spawn rst.

Kris rst declares a defender for this attack.Kris exhausts his Silverlode Archer, declaringit as a defender against Ungoliants Spawn. Toresolve this attack, Kris ips the shadow cardthat was dealt to Ungoliants Spawn faceup.The card is the East Bight Patrol, which hasthe shadow effect Shadow: Attacking enemygets +1. (If this attack was undefended,also raise your threat by 3.) Kris resolvesthis shadow effect rst, increasing UngoliantsSpawns by 1. He then determines theattacking enemys total (6) and subtractsthe defenders (0), and the result is thenumber of damage tokens he must deal to thedefender (6). Since the Silverlode Archer onlyhas 1 hit point, it is immediately destroyed.

Kris now resolves the other attack beingmade against him. He declares this attackundefended. He ips the shadow card thatwas dealt to the Forest Spider faceup. Thiscard is the Enchanted Stream, which doesnot have a shadow effect. The attack resolvesnormally, with no additional modications or

effects. Kris determines the attacking enemystotal (2), and since there is no defender,he must deal this much damage to one of hisheroes. Kriss only hero is Aragorn, who has5 hit points. Kris places 2 damage tokens onAragorn, who survives the attack with 3 hitpoints remaining. (See diagram on page 19.)

The rst player then repeats these 4 steps for eachenemy that he is engaged with. After the rst player hasresolved all enemy attacks against himself, the playerto his left resolves the attacks his enemies are making

against him, following steps 1-4 in turn for each enemy.If playing with more than 2 players, proceed clockwisearound the table with each player resolving all of hisenemies attacks.

Characters that are declared as defenders are onlyconsidered to be defending through the resolution ofthe attack. Once an attack has resolved, the charactersare no longer considered defenders, but they doremain exhausted.

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Example: Defending A gainst Enemy A t t acks

1. Kris is engaged with 2 enemies, the ForestSpider and Ungoliant's Spawn. At the beginning ofthe combat phase, 1 card from the encounter deckis dealt face down to each engaged enemy, as ashadow card.

2. Kris decides to resolve the attack made byUngoliant's Spawn rst. He exhausts the SilverlodeArcher, declaring it as a defender against thisattack.

3. To resolve the attack, Kris rst ips theattacker's shadow card faceup. The shadow cardis the East Bight Patrol, which gives the attackingenemy +1. Kris compares the enemy's totalattack (6) against the Silverlode Archer's

defense (0 ), and places 6 damage tokens on thedefending character. Since the Silverlode Archeronly has 1 hit point, it is destroyed and discardedfrom play.

4. Next, Kris resolves the attack made by the East

Bight Patrol. He declares this attack "undefended."5. To resolve the attack, Kris rst ips theattacker's shadow card faceup. The shadow card isthe Enchanted Stream, which has no shadow effect.The Forest Spider's attack is 2. Since this attackwas undefended, Kris must place all the damageon a single hero he controls. He places 2 damagetokens on Aragorn, who survives the attack with 3hit points remaining.

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A tt acking Enemies

Once all players have resolved enemy attacks, eachplayer (starting with the rst player and proceedingclockwise) has the opportunity to strike back anddeclare attacks against his enemies.

In order to declare an attack, a player must exhaust atleast 1 ready character. A character must exhaust to bedeclared as an attacker. When declaring an attack, a

player must also declare which enemy is the target ofthe attack. A playermay declare multiple charactersas attackers against a single enemy, pooling theirattack strength into a single value. A player has theopportunity to declare 1 attack against each enemy withwhich he is engaged.

To resolve an attack against an enemy, a player followsthese 3 steps, in order. Players may play event cardsand take actions at the end of each step.

1. Declare target of attack, and declare attackers.

A player does this by choosing 1 enemy with whomhe is currently engaged, and exhausting any number ofcharacters as attackers.

2. Determine attack strength. Add up the total attackstrength () of the attacking characters that have beendeclared against that target.

3. Determine combat damage. This is done bysubtracting the target enemys defense strength ()from the combined of all the attacking characters.The remaining value is the amount of damage that isimmediately dealt to the target. If the is equal to orhigher than the, no damage is dealt.

Characters that are declared as attackers are onlyconsidered to be attacking through the resolution of theattack. Once an attack has resolved, the characters areno longer considered attackers, but they do remainexhausted.

After a players rst attack has resolved, he can declareanother attack against any eligible enemy target that hehas not yet attacked this round. Each player can declarean attack (with any number of eligible attackers hecontrols) against each enemy with which he is engagedonce each round. Once all of a players attacks resolve,

play proceeds clockwise from the rst player until allplayers have resolved all of their attacks.

Shadow C ard s Leaving PlayShadow cards remain on the enemy to which they weredealt throughout the combat phase. If that enemy leaves

play, discard its shadow card from play. At the end ofthe combat phase, discard all shadow cards that weredealt this round.

Example: Tom is engaged with two enemies,the Dol Guldur Beastmaster and the DolGuldur Orcs. He can declare one attackagainst each of these enemies this round, buthe must declare and resolve these attacks oneat a time.

Tom declares his rst attack against the DolGuldur Orcs, and exhausts Glorndel todeclare him as an attacker. Tom determinesGlorndels (3) and then subtracts from itthe Dol Guldur Orcs' (0), and gets a resultof 3. Tom places 3 damage tokens from thetoken bank on the Dol Guldur Orcs. Since theDol Guldur Orcs only have 3 hit points, theyare destroyed, and the Dol Guldur Orcs cardis placed in the encounter discard pile.

Next, Tom declares Legolas and theGondorian Spearman as attackers against theDol Guldur Beastmaster. Legolas (3 ) and

the Gondorian Spearman (1) pool theirattack strength together, for a total of 4.The Dol Guldur Beastmaster has a of 1, so3 points of the attack are dealt as damage.Tom places 3 damage tokens from the tokenbank on the Dol Guldur Beastmaster. Sincethis enemy started with 5 hit points, it survivesthe attack with 2 hit points remaining. Thedamage tokens remain on the Dol GuldurBeastmaster to indicate that it is damaged.(See diagram on page 21.)

Hit Points and DamageFor each point of damage dealt to a character or enemy,one damage token is placed on the character or enemycard. Each damage token on a hero, ally, or enemycard reduces that cards hit points by 1. Damage tokensremain on a card until another effect heals or moves thedamage off of the card, or until the card leaves play.

Any time one of these cards has 0 hit points, it isimmediately defeated. Defeated characters are placedin their owners discard pile, and defeated enemies are

placed in the encounter discard pile. Note that herocards that are defeated are placed in their ownersdiscard pile. When resolving effects that move cards

from a players discard pile to his hand or deck, herocards in the discard pile are ignored, as hero cardscannot move to a players hand or deck.

Any enemy cards that are not defeated remain engagedwith a player until they are defeated or removed by acard effect, or until that player is eliminated from thegame (see Player Elimination, page 22).

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Example: A t t acking Enemies

Tom is engaged with 2 enemies, the Dol GuldurBeastmaster and the Dol Guldur Orcs.

1. Tom rst declares an attack against the DolGuldur Orcs, and exhausts Glorndel as anattacker.

2. Tom takes Glorndel's attack (3) andsubtracts the Dol Guldur Orcs' defense (0 ), andgets a result of 3. Tom places 3 damage tokensfrom the token bank on the Dol Guldur Orcs. Thisenemy started with 3 hit points, so it is destroyedand discarded from play.

3.Tom next declares an attack against the DolGuldur Beastmaster, and exhausts both Legolas(3) and the Gondorian Spearman (1 ) asattackers.

4. Tom takes his combined attack (4 ) andsubtracts the Dol Guldur Beastmaster's' defense(1 ), and gets a result of 3. Tom places 3 damagetokens from the token bank on the Dol GuldurBeastmaster. This enemy started with 5 hit

points, so it survives the attack with 2 hit pointsremaining. The damage tokens stay on the enemyto indicate that it is damaged.

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Phase 7 : Refr esh

During the refresh phase, all exhausted cards ready,each player increases his threat by 1, and the rst

player passes the rst player token to the next playerclockwise on his left. That player becomes the new rst

player. Play then proceeds to the resource phase of the

next round.

Ending t he G ame

The game ends in one of two ways, with the playerseither winning or losing as a team. The players areconsidered to have lost if all players are eliminated

before the completion of the nal stage of the scenariodeck. The players are considered to have won if at leastone player survives through the completion of the nalstage of the scenario.

Player Elimination

A player is eliminated from the game if all of his

heroes are killed, if his threat level reaches 50, or if acard effect forces his elimination. (Future expansionscenarios may have threat elimination levels at valuesother than 50; for all of the scenarios included in thecore set, a player is eliminated when his threat levelreaches 50.)

When a player is eliminated, his hand, all of the cardshe controls, and his deck are placed in their ownersdiscard piles. Any encounter cards with which that

player was engaged are returned to the staging area,retaining any wound tokens that have been placed onthem. The remaining players continue to play the game.

Note that after a player is eliminated, one less card is

revealed from the encounter deck during the stagingstep of the quest phase, as there is now one less playerinvolved in the game.

If all players are eliminated, the game ends in a lossfor the players.

Q uest A dvancement

Players immediately advance to the next stage of aquest as soon as they place a number of progress tokensequal to or greater than the number of quest pointsthe current quest card has. Additional progress tokensearned against the quest do not carry over to the nextstage. All progress tokens on the quest are returned to

the token bank when players advance to the next stage.Players follow any instructions on the newly revealedquest card as it is revealed.

The game state of other cards does not change; cardsin the staging area remain in the staging area, cardsengaged with players remain engaged, exhaustedcharacters remain exhausted, damage tokens andresources remain as they are placed, and the roundsequence is not interrupted.

W inning the G ame

If at least one player survives through thecompletion of the nal stage of the scenario, thegame ends in a victory for the players.

Scoring

If the players win the game, use this process todetermine their group's score for the game. Agroup's score is determined by adding together threeundesirable elements (the nal threat level of each

player, the threat penalty on all dead heroes, and thenumber of damage tokens on all surviving heroes),and then subtracting any victory points that have beencollected. Players collect victory points by defeatingenemies and exploring locations that grant victory

points (see page 24).

When a player is eliminated, his threat is considered tobe 50, and all of his heroes are considered dead. Notethat an eliminated players threat does not, however,increase beyond his threat elimination level (50,unless otherwise specied by the quest rules or by acard effect).

With this scoring system, a victory with a low score ismore desirable than a victory with a high score, and itis even possible, if the players do remarkably well, toachieve a negative score on a quest.

Scoring is a useful tool in evaluating the performanceof a deck or a party over time, or in comparing onedeck or group of decks to another. This enables

players to play the same scenario multiple times withdifferent hero and deck combinations, evaluating their

effectiveness in each game. A scoresheet is provided onthe back cover of this rulebook.

Example: Tom, playing a solo game, hasdefeated the Passage Through Mirkwoodquest, with a threat level of 43, one deadhero (with a threat cost of 8), 6 damage onhis remaining heroes, and 5 victory points.

His nal score is calculated in the followingmanner:

Final Threat Level (43)+ Threat Cost of Each Dead Hero (8)+ Damage Tokens on Heroes (6) Number of Victory Points Earned (5)

Toms Final Score (52)

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A dvanced C oncept sThis section details some of the more advancedconcepts players might encounter as they delve deeperinto the TheLord of the Rings: The Card Game .

C ard Effects

There are several kinds of card effects in TheLord ofthe Rings: The Card Game. On the hero and playercards, card effects fall into one of 5 categories:constant effects, actions, responses, forced effects,and keywords. On the cards found in the questand encounter decks, card effects fall into one of6 categories: constant effects, forced effects, whenrevealed effects, shadow effects, travel effects, andkeywords. Each of these card effect types is explained

below.

C onstant Effects

Constant effects continually affect the game state as

long as the card is in play and any other speciedconditions are met. These effects have no bold trigger,as they are always active.

The location card Enchanted Stream provides anexample of a constant effect.

A ctions

Actions are denoted by a bold Action: trigger on acard. Actions are always optional, and can be triggered

by their controller during any action window in thegame sequence. In order to trigger an action on a hero,ally, or attachment card, the card on which the action

is printed must be in play, unless the action speciesthat it can be triggered from an out of play state.Event cards are actions that are played directly from a

players hand.

Some action triggers are preceded by a specicphase of the game. This type of trigger means thatthe following action can only be triggered during thespecied phase. For example, an effect with the triggerQuest Action: can only be triggered during an actionwindow of the quest phase. Actions without a specied

phase can be triggered during any action windowthroughout the round. (See the Turn Sequence charton pages 30-31.)

The hero card Glorndel provides an example ofan action that can be used during any player actionwindow. The event card Radagasts Cunning providesan example of an action that can only be used duringthe quest phase.

ResponsesResponses are denoted by a bold Response: triggeron a card. Responses are always optional, and can

be triggered by their controller in response to (i.e.immediately after) a specied game occurrence. Inorder to trigger a response on a hero, ally, or attachment

card, the card on which the response is printed mustbe in play, unless the response species that it can betriggered from an out of play state. Event cards withResponse: effects are responses that are played froma players hand.

The ally card Son of Arnor provides an example ofa response effect that can be triggered (at a playersdiscretion) whenever its specied trigger (after Son ofArnor enters play) is met.

Forced and W hen Revealed Effect s

Forced effects are initiated by specic occurrencesthroughout a game, and they occur automatically,

whether the cards controller wants them to or not.They are denoted by a bold Forced: trigger on acard. These effects initiate and resolve immediately,whenever their specied prerequisite occurs. Theenemy card Marsh Adder provides an example ofa forced effect that must be triggered whenever itsspecied trigger (each time Marsh Adder attacks) ismet.

When revealed effects are a special case of forcedeffects, that occur automatically as soon as theencounter card is revealed. They are denoted by a boldWhen Revealed: trigger on a card. When revealedeffects do not resolve when the card is revealed as a

shadow effect.

Shadow Effects

Some of the cards in the encounter deck have asecondary effect that is known as a shadow effect.These effects are offset from a cards non-shadowgame effects by the graphic shown above, and theyare formatted in italic type. Shadow effects are alsodenoted by a bold and italic Shadow: trigger on thecard. Shadow effects only resolve when the card isdealt to an attacking enemy during combat.

The enemy card Dol Guldur Orcs provides an exampleof a shadow effect that triggers whenever the card is

dealt to an attacking enemy as a shadow card.

T ravel Effects

Some location cards have travel effects, which aredenoted by a bold Travel: trigger on a card. Traveleffects are costs or restrictions that some or all playersmust pay or meet in order to travel to that location. Ifthe players cannot fulll the requirement of a locationstravel effect, the players cannot travel to that location.

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K eywords

Keywords are used as shorthand for commongame effects that appear on a number of cards. Thekeywords and their role in the game are explained

below. Keywords are denoted textually, usually at thebeginning of a cards rules text.

Doomed X

If an encounter card with the doomed keyword isrevealed during the staging step of the quest phase,each player must raise his threat level by the speciedvalue.

Guarded

The guarded keyword is a reminder on some objectivecards to reveal and attach the next card of the encounterdeck to the objective when it enters the staging areafrom the encounter deck, and place them both in thestaging area. The objective cannot be claimed as long

as any encounter card is attached. Once that encounteris dealt with, the objective remains in the staging areauntil it is claimed. If another objective card comes upwhile attaching a card for the guarded keyword, placethe second objective in the staging area, and use thenext card of the encounter deck to fulll the originalkeyword effect.

Enemy and location cards attached to guardedobjectives do still count their threat while the enemyor location is in the staging area. An encounter cardattached to a guarded objective is dealt with in thefollowing method, depending on its card type:

Enemy: The enemy leaves play, either by being

defeated or as the result of a card effect.

Location: The location leaves play, either by beingfully explored or as the result of a card effect.

Treachery: The treacherys effects resolve, or arecanceled. (Treachery cards are immediately triggeredwhen they are revealed.)

Once all encounter cards attached to a guardedobjective are dealt with, the players can claim theobjective in the manner specied by its card text.

Ranged

A character with the ranged keyword can be declared

by its controller as an attacker against enemies that areengaged with other players. A character can declareranged attacks against these targets while its owner isdeclaring attacks, or it can participate in attacks that aredeclared by other players. In either case, the charactermust exhaust and meet any other requirementsnecessary to make the attack.

Restricted

Some attachments have the restricted keyword. Acharacter can never have more than two attachmentswith the restricted keyword attached. If a thirdrestricted attachment is ever attached to a character,one of the restricted attachments must immediately be

moved to its owners discard pile.Sentinel

A character with the sentinel keyword can be declaredby its controller as a defender during enemy attacksthat are made against other players. A character candeclare sentinel defense after the player engaged withthe enemy making the attack declares no defenders.The defending sentinel character must exhaust andmeet any other requirements necessary to defend theattack.

Surge

When an encounter card with the surge keyword isrevealed during the staging step of the quest phase,reveal 1 additional card from the encounter deck.Resolve the surge keyword immediately after resolvingany when revealed effects on the card.

V ictory X

Some enemy and location cards award victory pointswhen they are defeated. When such a card leaves play,one player should place it near his threat dial to remindthe players of the victory points when they are scoringat the end of the game. It is recommended that one

player collects all the victory cards the players earnduring the scenario, as victory points are applied to the

score of the entire group. (See Scoring, page 22.)

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Lasting Effects

Many effects last only for the duration of one action(immediately after being triggered), but some effectslast for a set period of time, or even indenitely. Effectsthat last for longer than a single action are calledlasting effects.

Multiple lasting effects may affect the same card atthe same time. The order in which the lasting effectstake place is irrelevant, since the net sum of all lastingeffects is applied to the card.

If one of a heros, allys, enemys, or locationsstatistics (, ,$, or) is ever lower than 0 after alleffects are applied, that statistic is rounded up to 0. Anytime a new effect is applied to a card, the net sum of allactive effects should be recalculated.

Paying C ost s

Many cards are written in a pay or exhaust X to do

Y manner. When confronted with such a construct,everything before the word to is considered the cost,and everything after the word to is considered aneffect.

Costs can only be payed with cards or resources that aplayer controls. If an effect is canceled, the cost is stillconsidered to have been paid.

C ont rol and O wnership

A player owns his heroes and the cards that he haschosen for the player deck he is playing. A playercontrols all cards that he owns, unless another playeror the encounter deck takes control of the card through

a game effect. Any time a card leaves play, it reverts toits owners hand, deck, or discard pile (as directed bythe effect forcing the card out of play).

When a player plays an ally card, it comes into playunder his control and is placed in his play area. Ifanother player takes control of that ally, it is moved tothe controlling player's play area. Ally cards cannot be

played under the control of another player, they canonly change control through card effects.

When a player plays an attachment card, he has theoption of giving control of that card to another player

by attaching the card to one of that players characters.Players always assume control of attachments that

have been played on their characters. If control ofthat character changes, so does the control of anyattachments on that character.

In Play and O ut of Play

"In play" refers to cards that have been played or putinto play (in a players play area), to cards that arewaiting in the staging area, to the currently revealedquest card, and to encounter cards that are engagedwith that player. "Out of play" states are" in a player'shand," "in a deck," or "in a discard pile. Card effectsdo not interact with cards in an out of play state unlessthe effect specically refers to that state.

Running O ut of C ards

If a player runs out of cards in his player deck, hecontinues to play the game with the cards he has in playand in his hand. He does not reshufe his discard pile.

If the encounter deck is ever out of cards during thequest phase, the encounter discard pile is shufed andreset back into the encounter deck.

T able T alk

Players are permitted and encouraged to talk to oneanother during play, and to work as a team to plan andexecute the best course of action. Players can discussanything they would like, but they cannot name or readout loud directly from cards in their hand, or from cardsthat they have seen but the rest of the players have not.

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Scenario O verviewThere are 3 unique scenarios included in this core set.Each is introduced, along with a list of encounter setsfor that scenarios encounter deck, below.

Passage T hrough M irkwood

Difculty level = 1

Mirkwood has long been a dangerous place, andrecently one of King Thranduils patrols has uncovereddisconcerting signs of a gathering menace in thevicinity of Dol Guldur. A party of heroes, controlled bythe players, has been assembled to carry a messagethrough Mirkwood, down the Anduin, and eventually toLrien, to warn Lady Galadriel of the imminent danger.

The Passage Through Mirkwood encounter deck isbuilt with all the cards from the following encountersets: Passage Through Mirkwood, Spiders ofMirkwood, and Dol Guldur Orcs. These sets are

indicated by the following icons:

Journey Down the A nduin

Difculty level = 4

Having survived the dangers of Mirkwood Forest,the heroes continue their journey along the banks ofthe Anduin river, toward Lrien, with dire news of agathering threat in Southern Mirkwood.

The Journey Down the Anduin encounter deck is builtwith all the cards from the following encounter sets:Journey Down the Anduin, Saurons Reach, Dol GuldurOrcs, and Wilderlands. These sets are indicated by thefollowing icons:

Escape fr om Dol G uldurDifculty level = 7

While exploring in the vicinity of Dol Guldur at LadyGaladriel's request, one of the heroes' companionsis captured by the Necromancer's forces, and is now

awaiting interrogation in a dungeon beneath the hill.Knowing their friend's time is short, the heroes decideto attempt a desperate rescue.

The Escape from Dol Guldur encounter deck is builtwith all the cards from the following encounter sets:Escape from Dol Guldur, Spiders of Mirkwood, andDol Guldur Orcs. These sets are indicated by thefollowing icons:

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T ournament Deckbuildingand C ust omiz at ion

Much of the depth and fun ofTheLord of the Rings:The Card Game comes when players conceive and

construct original decks, using the cards of this coreset and those found in Adventure Pack expansions. Atournament deck must contain a minimum of50 cards.Additionally, no more than three copies of any card, bytitle, can be included in a players deck. Within theseguidelines any combination of allies, attachments, andevents can be used in the player deck.

Each player also starts the game with 1-3 heroes.Players may confer together before each game toselect the heroes they would each like to use duringthat game. If more than one player desires to use thesame hero, they must decide among themselves beforethe game begins, and the other player(s) must choosedifferent heroes. In such situations, if the playerscannot decide who will control a certain hero, a randommethod should be used to determine control of thathero.

When building a deck, it is important for a player toconsider how he intends to pay for the cards he isincluding in his deck. It may be tempting to use themost powerful trio of heroes available, but is it worthstarting the game with the high threat level those heroeswould bring? Similarly, a deck full of high cost cardsand effects might look powerful on paper, but the timeit takes to build up the resources to play those cardscould become rather problematic as the enemies mounttheir assault. A player should also make sure that all

the cards in his deck belong to a sphere that matchesat least one of his heroes resource icons, lest he ndhimself with a dead card he cannot hope to play.

Each sphere of inuence has a distinct avor, whichcan be used to a players advantage when building adeck around that sphere. For instance, a deck could be

built around the sphere of tactics to support its heroeswith an impressive array of armor and weaponry, andthen take the ght directly to the enemies that emergefrom the encounter deck. As the card pool grows withAdventure Pack expansions, each of the four basicstarter decks in this core set can be developed into fully

playable tournament decks.

It is also possible to focus on multiple spheres whenbuilding a deck. A deck built around both the sphere ofspirit and around the sphere of lore could focus on self-

preservation, with numerous effects that heal hit pointsand reduce threat. The trick to building around multiplespheres is resource management; having the righttype of resource available at the right time becomesmore difcult when a deck is built around two or threedifferent spheres.

Another useful approach when building decks is tofollow the cohesion that can be discovered by buildingaround a trait. For instance, if a player wants to run adeck built around three different spheres, it might makesense to use Dwarfcards from all three spheres to takeadvantage ofDwarfsynergies and card interactions.

Basic G ameNewer players or players who want a more basicexperience can play and enjoy the game by notdealing shadow cards during the combat phase. Thiseliminates an element of surprise that could make thegame too challenging for a beginner. Once players arecomfortable with this experience, they can then add theshadow effects to make combat less predictable andmore exciting.

Expert GameFor an expert level challenge, players can attempt

to defeat all 3 scenarios using the same combinationof players, decks, and heroes. The score from eachscenario can then be added together to get a singlescore measuring overall success on the entirecampaign. For a nightmare level challenge, do notreset threat, hit points, or player decks at the beginningof each scenario. When playing such a campaign,the players should start with the Passage throughMirkwood scenario, follow with the Journey Downthe Anduin scenario, and nish with the Escape fromDol Guldur scenario.

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C redit sGame Design: Nate French

Graphic Design: Kevin Childress

Additional Graphic Design: Brian Schomburg,Andrew Navaro, and Michael Silsby

Art Administration: Kyle Hough

Art Direction: Zo Robinson

Creative Content Development: Jason Walden

Rules: Nate French

Editing: Kevin Tomczyk

Proofreading: Patricia Meredith and Mark Pollard

Cover Art: Daryl Mandryk

Production Manager: Eric Knight

Producer: Mike David

FFG Lead Game Designer: Corey Conieczka

FFG Lead Game Producer: Michael Hurley

Publisher: Christian T. Petersen

Special thanks to Joe Mandragona, Fredrica Drotos,and Sam Benson at Middle-earth Enterprises for theirpatience and feedback. To a wonderful team of coreplaytesters: Damon Stone, Jonathan Pechon, JerryWarwick, Kathy Warwick, Kat Pealsey, Denise Shepler,Jonathan Benton, Tony Sullivan, Nathan Bradley, ChrisPerry, Rob Jones, Marius Hartland, Eric F. Huigen,Martijn Ketelaars, James Black, Jason Hawthorne,

Ninno Canonico, Jared Duffy, Steve Zamborsky,Cesare Ciccarelli, Will Lentz, Francesco Moggia, JohnGoodenough, Jason Walden, Adam Sadler, and BradySadler. And to everyone who demoed an early versionof the game at GenCon 2010. Thank you, thank you,thank you.

2010 Fantasy Flight Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No partof this product may be reproduced without specic permission. TheHobbit, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, TheReturn of the King, The Lord of the Rings, and the characters,events, items and places therein, are trademarks of The Saul ZaentzCompany d/ b/a Middle-earth Enterprises and are used, underlicense, by Fantasy Flight Games. Fantasy Flight Games, FantasyFlight Supply, and the FFG logo are trademarks of Fantasy FlightPublishing, Inc. Living Card Game, LCG, and the LCG logo areregistered trademarks of Fantasy Flight Publishing, Inc. FantasyFlight Games is located at 1975 West County Road B2, Suite 1,Roseville, Minnesota, 55113, USA, and can be reached by telephoneat 651-639-1905. Retain this information for your records. Notsuitable for children under 36 months due to small parts. Actualcomponents may vary from those shown. Made in China. THISPRODUCT IS NOT A TOY. NOT INTENDED FOR USE OFPERSONS 12 YEARS OF AGE OR YOUNGER.

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2

Section IndexActions 23Advanced Concepts 23Ally Cards 9

Attachment Cards 9

Attacking Enemies 20Attacking Enemies (diagram) 21Basic Game 27Card Effects 23

"Character" Cards 8

Component Overview 3Constant Effects 23Control and Ownership 25Credits 28Decks and Card Types 5

Defeating an Encounter Card 25Defending Against Enemy Attacks (diagram) 19Discard Piles 10Doomed X 24Ending the Game 22Enemy Cards 6

Escape From Dol Guldur 26Event Cards 9

Expert Game 27Forced and When Revealed Effects 23For the First Game 10Game Overview 2

Gameplay Overview 4Guarded 24Hero Cards 8Hit Points and Damage 20In Play and Out of Play 25Introduction 2

Journey Down the Anduin 26Keywords 24Lasting Effects 25Location Cards 6

Making Engagement Checks (diagram) 17Objective Cards 7

Passage Through Mikwood 26Paying Costs 25Paying for Card Abilities 12Paying for Cards (diagram) 13Paying for Neutral Cards 12

Phase 1: Resource 12Phase 2: Planning 12

Phase 3: Quest 14Phase 4: Travel 15Phase 5: Encounter 16

Phase 6: Combat 18Phase 7: Refresh 22Player Elimination 22

Playing the Game 10Quest Advancement 22Quest Cards 5

Ranged 24Ready and Exhausted 14Resolving a Quest (diagram) 15

Resolving Enemy Attacks 18Responses 23

Restricted 24Round Sequence 12Running Out of Cards 25Scenario Overview 26

Scoresheet 32Scoring 22Section Index 29Sentinel 24Setup 10Shadow Cards Leaving Play 20

Shadow Effects 23

Spheres of Inuence 4Suggested Play Field Setup (diagram) 11Surge 24Table Talk 25The Encounter Deck 6

The Golden Rule 4The Living Card Game 2The Player Deck 9The Quest Deck 5The Staging Area 10Tournament Deckbuilding and Customization 27

Travel Effects 23Treachery Cards 7Turn Sequence (chart) 30-31Unique Cards 8Victory X 24

Winning the Game 22

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T urn SequenceThis chart provides a detailed structure of the phasesand steps involved in play. Items presented in red areknown as framework events, as they are mandatoryoccurences dictated by the structure of the game.Action windows in which players are free to takeactions are presented in green.

1. Resour ce Phase

Player actions.

Each player adds 1 resource to each of his heroes resource pools,and draws 1 card.

4 . T ravel Phase

Player actions.

2. Planning Phase

Player actions.

First player plays ally and attachment cards.

Player actions.

Next player plays ally and attachment cards, etc.

3. Q uest Phase

Encounter deck reveals 1 card per player.

Players commit characters to quest.

Resolve questing.

Player actions.

Player actions.

Players may travel to 1 location if there is no currently active location.

Red Players cannot interrupt with actions.Responses can be played if their conditions are met.

Green Any player can take actions generally, or

between the game steps stated in the rules.

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5. Encounter Phase

Player actions.

Each player may choose and engage 1 enemy from the staging area.

Engagement checks are made.

Player actions.

6. C ombat Phase

Player actions.

Deal 1 shadow card to each enemy.

Next player resolves attacks made by his enemies against him, etc.

First player resolves attacks made by enemies against him. (See page 18.)

First player declares and resolves attacks against his enemies. (See page 20.)

Next player declares and resolves attacks against his enemies, etc.

Player actions.

7 . Refr esh Phase

Each player refreshes all cards he controls.

Player actions.

First player token passes to the next player on the left.

Each player raises his threat by 1.

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Final T hreatLevel

Scenario Name

T hrea t Cos tO f Each Dead

Hero

Damage T okenson Remaining

Heroes

Victory PointsEarned

Final Group Score

PlayerSubtotal

Notes

TM

Number of Players

PlayerNames

C ombinedPlayer Subtotals

Final T hreatLevel

Scenario Name

T hrea t Cos tO f Each Dead

Hero

Damage T okenson Remaining

Heroes

Victory PointsEarned

Final Group Score

PlayerSubtotal

Notes

TM

Number of Players

PlayerNames

C ombinedPlayer Subtotals

Final T hreatLevel

Scenario Name

T hrea t Cos tO f Each Dead

Hero

Damage T okenson Remaining

Heroes

Victory PointsEarned

PlayerSubtotal

Notes

TM

Number of Players

PlayerNames

C ombinedPlayer Subtotals