The Lord Of The Rings™ TCG Help Clinic
Part 1 - Movement
by Mark Tuttle (elrond@decipher.com)
In J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord Of The Rings, the path taken by Frodo,
Sam ,and their companions was a long one. By some accounts, the Fellowship traveled
upwards of a thousand miles. In The Lord Of The Rings Trading Card Game,
the distance is not nearly so great, but it is still filled with danger and
adventure! Moving your fellowship through many perils requires careful strategy,
the right support cards, and often reckless abandon! This article describes
the mechanics and strategy of your adventure deck and how your fellowship moves
down the adventure path.
THE ADVENTURE DECK
Rule Summary: Each player brings their own 9-card adventure deck to the
game. The number in the upper left-hand corner of a site is the site number,
and a player's adventure deck must contain one site for each site number from
1 to 9. The order of cards in the adventure deck is unimportant, since whenever
a site is required from your adventure deck, you simply pick the entire adventure
deck up and search through it for the site you need.
Strategy: With several cards available for each site number, building
this deck requires careful planning. Your site deck could be designed offensively
to hinder your opponent as he moves through your sites, or defensively to protect
and aid your fellowship. Whichever you decide, whether or not your site enters
play depends upon a few factors.
IT'S ALL IN THE BID
Rule Summary: When you bid for turn placement at the start of the game,
you're vying for the right to choose where your turn will be in the play order.
The player who goes first will play site number 1 from their adventure deck.
Strategy: If your deck or companion requirements depend upon getting
certain cards into play quickly, you will want to bid higher. For example, if
you want Aragorn in play early, but do not want to start with him in your fellowship,
bid high, go first, and play The Prancing Pony. Or perhaps you have a strategy
based around Hobbits and would like to get Sam out quickly. The Green Dragon
Inn is your key. But always remember that bidding high places more burdens on
your Ring-bearer!
Example: Imagine a game with two players, Bill and Mike. Bill reveals
a bid of 4 tokens to Mike's 2. Bill chooses to go first and plays The Prancing
Pony. Mike's site number 1, Bag End, will now probably not see play at all.
MOVE IT, PEOPLE!
Rule Summary: The Free Peoples player must move to the site with the next
highest site number at the end of their fellowship phase. There is no choice
in this move. The quest of the Ring is an urgent one, and no loitering (or moving
backwards) will be tolerated!
If the next site is not on table, the Free Peoples player looks at the arrow
on the current site card. From his perspective, it will show who plays the next
site – either the player to the left or the player to the right. Of course,
in a two-player game this is always the same person, your opponent! That player
simply looks through his adventure deck and plays the site of the appropriate
number (one higher than the site number of the site being moved from).
If the next site is already on the table, simply move your fellowship marker
to that site. Add twilight tokens for the new site's shadow number and the number
of companions as described in the rule book on page 19.
Strategy: An easy rule of thumb, and important strategy note, is that
the Free Peoples player who is in the lead will be traveling on sites played
by his opponent(s)! If you want to win, you must face whatever evil your opponent
has designed for you. Additionally, the player who is trying to catch up will
have the benefit of his own sites (especially in two player games).
Example: Bill has played all the cards he wants to in his first turn
fellowship phase, and is now forced to move to site 2. Since he is leading the
charge, site 2 is not on the table. Bill looks at site #1, The Prancing Pony,
and specifically at the arrow on the bottom of the card. When oriented to face
Bill, the arrow is pointing to the left. This means that the player to his left
gets to play site #2 out of his adventure deck. Mike looks through his adventure
deck and plays Ettenmoors, placing it next to site number 1. Bill moves his
fellowship marker there, and adds the appropriate number of tokens to the twilight
pool for the number of companions and the shadow number on the Ettenmoors site.
(Note: It's very convenient to lay your adventure Path up the side of the table,
perpendicular to the Fellowship and Support areas of the players. For a visual,
check out the recommended table layout graphic here.)
Please note also that both players are using the same adventure path, and
no more than 9 sites are ever in play at anytime.
SHALL WE CONTINUE?
Rule Summary: When the fellowship player reaches his regroup phase, he faces
one of his biggest choices. Firstly, any regroup actions may be played, and
the shadow players may then discard a card from hand and then draw or discard
to reconcile their hand size to exactly 8 cards. Now the fellowship must choose
to either:
(a) Discard a card from hand (optional), and then he must draw/discard to exactly
8 cards. OR
(b) Move again.
Moving again is only possible if the move limit permits. Your move limit defines
the maximum number of times your fellowship can move on your turn. For a multiplayer
game it is equal to the number of opponents you had at the start of the game.
Thus in a 4 player game, your move limit is 3. The move limit for a 2 player
game is 2, which means in a normal turn, a fellowship player may move twice
(one forced move during his fellowship phase, and one optional move during his
regroup phase). Some cards and sites affect the move limit, permitting additional
moves if the Free Peoples player chooses.
Strategy: Remember, if you choose to move during your regroup phase,
there are a number of factors working against you.
- Any surviving minions will chase you to the next site, and attack again.
- The shadow players have all refilled their hands. You have not.
- Any leftover pool remains, and will be added to by your movement.
- The turn sequence returns to a shadow phase. Thus you get no fellowship
phase, and therefore no chance to play more companions, allies, possessions
or conditions.
Be very sure. This decision can be the difference between victory and defeat.
Example: Bill survives all the skirmishes at the Ettenmoors, and no
player has any regroup actions. The shadow player discards a card from hand,
and draws back up to 8. Bill thinks he is in good shape and decides to push
on to the sanctuary of site 3. He declares he will move again (his second move
this turn, permissible as the move limit is 2). There is no site 3 on table,
so Mike searches his adventure deck and places his site 3, Rivendell Waterfall,
at the end of the adventure path. Bill moves his marker, adds twilight tokens
for site number (which is 0 in this case) and number of companions, and then
Mike unleashes more minions to thwart him.
THE WINDS OF CHANGE
Strategy: Several cards allow you to play or replace a site with your own
version of that same site number from your adventure deck. This is especially
handy if you're using a card like the Elven ally Silinde, which allows you to
copy the text of a site. Using the game text of cards like Hobbit Farmer, you
may replace your opponent's site with your own. (Your opponent's site is returned
to his adventure Deck.) Plus, cards like Pathfinder allow you to play the next
site instead of an opponent, and can be played strategically when you need to
move into your own site to either avoid a bad situation, or to use your own
site's game text.
Example: Bill survives all the skirmishes at the the Rivendell Waterfall.
He now enters his second regroup phase this turn. as the first regroup action,
he plays the Gondor event Pathfinder, using Aragorn as his ranger. Pathfinder
instructs him to immediately play the next site from his adventure deck. He
plays his site 4, Pass Of Caradhras, so he can use its game text when he is
the shadow player, as well as avoiding going underground too early (he is worried
that Mike is playing with Cave Trolls!)
Normally, Bill's turn would end now, but the text of Rivendell Waterfall says
"While you can spot a ranger at Rivendell Waterfall, the move limit is +1 for
this turn." This means that Bill's move limit is now 3 for the rest of the turn,
so he can choose advance to the Pass of Caradhras now! Should he try to stretch
his lead, or should he stop at the sancturay and take advantage of the healing,
and perhaps use the extra move limit next turn (for he will begin his next turn
with that same game text in effect). Tough decision!
CONCLUSION
This is all you need to know about movement! The strategy of movement in The
Lord of The Rings Trading Card Game goes beyond what we've discussed here, but
you will discover that as you play more. For now, address your rules questions
to elrond@decipher.com, and stay tuned
for more articles to help you on your way to adventure!
December 10, 2001
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