Learn To Play

Turn Sequence

• Play cards from your hand. • Total up your Power and purchase cards with combined cost less than or equal to that total. • As soon as you buy or gain a card, place it into your discard pile, unless instructed otherwise. • You may play additional cards even after making purchases.

End of Turn

• Resolve any “at the end of your turn” effects. • Place all the cards you played and any remaining cards from your hand into your discard pile, and draw a new hand of five cards. • Fill each empty slot in the Path with a card from the top of the main deck. • If the top card of the Archenemy stack is face down, flip it face up and read aloud the next Archenemy’s Group Ambush.

Do not reshuffle your discard pile just because you have no cards in your deck. Wait until you must draw, discard, or reveal a card from your deck. Then shuffle your discard pile, and it becomes your new deck. The game ends immediately when either of the following two conditions is met: • The final Archenemy, The Eye of Sauron, is defeated. • You are unable to refill all five slots of the Path. Impossible Mode

• Place destroyed Corruptions back onto the Corruption stack instead of removing them from the game. • When the player to your right is Ambushed by a card in the Path, you may play a Defense card to protect them.

© 2014 New Line Productions, Inc. All rights reserved. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and the names of the characters, items, events and places therein are trademarks of The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Middle-earth Enterprises under license to New Line Productions, Inc. THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY: © WBEI ™ Middle-earth Ent. Lic. to New Line. (s14) ©2014 Cryptozoic Entertainment. 25351 Commercentre Drive Suite 250, Lake Forest, CA 92630. www.cryptozoic.com Made in China.

Overview In The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King™ Deck-building Game, you take on the role of Frodo Baggins™, Aragorn™, or one of the other brave and heroic members of the fellowship of the ring and their allies Éowyn and King Théoden. While you begin armed with only the Courage of the free peoples of Middle-earth™, as the game progresses, you will add new, more powerful cards to your deck, with the goal of defeating as many Archenemies as you can. Defeating Archenemies will cause The Ring to move closer to Mount Doom. But ambushes and other calamities can move The Ring away from its destiny. Can you destroy The One Ring™ in time to save Middle-earth? In the end, the player who has accumulated the most Victory Points (VPs) from the cards in his or her deck wins the game. Cont e n t s

224 Game Cards

• 31 Courage Starting Cards • 16 Despair Starting Cards • 114 Main Deck Cards • 16 Valor Cards • 12 Archenemy Cards • 20 Corruption Cards • 7 Unique Hero Starting Deck Cards • 8 “Impossible Mode” Archenemy Cards (For advanced players only!)

7 Oversized Hero Cards

1 Rulebook

1 Final Journey of The One Ring Map and Ring Token

Set up f o r Y o ur First Game

I JUST WANT LOOK AT IT

TO

1. Heroes and Starting Decks Each player is dealt a random Hero. (Or, as an option, players choose their favorite character.) Every Hero has a starting card unique to that Hero. You begin the game with your Hero’s starting card, 6 Courage cards and 3 Despair cards. Shuffle your 10-card deck.

MANEUVER

Pippin Starting Card

+1 Power Reveal the top card of your deck. If it has cost 0, additional +1 Power.

You will use your Courage cards to buy more powerful cards to add to your deck. As the game moves along, players improve their decks.

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Despair cards cause Fellowship members to weaken and falter. It’s best to get rid of them as soon as possible (more on how to do that later). COURAGE COURAGE COURAGE COURAGE COURAGE COURAGE

DESPAIR DESPAIR DESPAIR

STARTER STARTER +1 Power STARTER +1 Power STARTER +1 Power STARTER +1 Power STARTER +1 Power

STARTER STARTER STARTER

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TYPE S OF C A R D S

DESPAIR

PIPPIN COURAGE

HOBBIT ™ HERO

STARTER STARTER

Card Type

You start the game with I Just Want to Look At It in your deck.

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HERO

STARTer CARDS

GURITZ

ENEMY

LEVEL 2 ARCHENEMY

10

Cost

OSGILIATH

ENEMY

LOCATION

+3 Power Attack: Each other player discards a card. Ambush: Discard two cards, then move the Ring token backwards one space.

When you play this card, leave it in front of you for the rest of the game.

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CORRUPTION

Corruption cards reduce your score at the end of the game.

Ongoing: Courage cards you play have +1 Power.

Abilities


Card Type

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Archenemy Level

+1 Power for each card you play or have played this turn with cost 4 or less. Group Ambush: Each player gains a Corruption for each Enemy in the Path.

SHAGRAT

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Victory Points

ARCHENEMY

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Victory Points

ENEMY

LOCATION

COURAGE IS THE BEST DEFENSE

MERRY, ESQUIRE OF ROHAN


CORRUPTION

PALANTÍR

THE

REFORGING ANDÚRIL

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Card Name

MANEUVER

ARTIFACT

FORTUNE

+1 Power If you play or have played an Enemy this turn, draw a card.

+2 Power Defense: You may discard this card, or reveal it and discard a Courage to avoid an Attack or Ambush. If you do, draw a card.

Each player (including you) reveals the top card of his deck. Play up to two cards revealed this way, then return them to the top of their owners' decks. Gain each Corruption revealed this way.

When you buy or gain this card, play it immediately, then destroy it. Gain an Artifact from the Path or destroyed pile and put it into your hand. Move the Ring token forward one space.

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Victory Points

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Abilities

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MANEUVER

ARTIFACT

FORTUNE

The different card types that you can play are: Starter, Enemy, Location, Ally, Maneuver, Artifact, and Fortune. Corruption cards have no card type.

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2. The Main Deck Most of the cards that you will add to your deck as the game progresses come from the main deck. Shuffle the main deck and place it in the middle of the table. None of the following cards should ever be placed into the main deck: Archenemy, Courage, Despair, Valor, Corruption, the unique Hero Starting Cards, or the oversized Hero cards. The main deck is made up of every other card in the game (114 cards total).

3. The Archenemy Stack There are twelve different Archenemy cards available to use each game. Typically, eight Archenemy cards are used for a standard game. For a longer game, use more than eight. No matter how many you use, you will always use Saruman, the Defeated. On that card is text that reads, “This card starts the game on top of the Archenemy stack.” The Archenemies are broken up into five Levels: • There is a single Level 1 Archenemy (Saruman, the Defeated) • There are four Level 2 and five Level 3 Archenemy cards • There is a single Level 4 Archenemy (The Witch-king of Angmar) • There is a single Level 5 Archenemy (The Eye of Sauron) The Eye of Sauron is the lone Level 5 Archenemy, and he will be the last Archenemy you face each game. Place his card face down. Place the lone Level 4 Archenemy, The Witchking of Angmar, face down on top of him.

SARUMAN, THE DEFEATED

ENEMY

LEVEL 1 ARCHENEMY

You may put a card from your discard pile into your hand. If you choose not to, +3 Power. (This card starts the game on top of the Archenemy stack.)

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EYE OF SAURON

Next, shuffle the five Level 3 Archenemies. Randomly select three cards. Place them face down on top of the Level 4 card. Set the rest of the Level 3 Archenemies aside, still face down. Then, shuffle the four Level 2 Archenemy cards. Randomly select 2 cards and place them face down on top of the Archenemy stack. Gather the unused Level 2 and Level 3 cards and set them aside face down (in the game box is recommended). Finally, place Saruman, the Defeated face up on top of the Archenemy stack. In a typical eight-Archenemy game, the stack will now appear as: Level 1, followed by two Level 2 cards and three Level 3 cards, and ending with one Level 4 and one Level 5.

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ENEMY

LEVEL 5 ARCHENEMY

Ongoing: If the Ring has been destroyed, pay 10 less to defeat this Archenemy. Group Ambush: This Ambush can't be avoided. Each player reveals his hand. Each player with more cards of a type than all other players discards each of those cards. (This card starts on the bottom of the Archenemy stack.)

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Destroy a random card in your discard pile. +Power equal to that card's cost. If there are no cards in your discard pile to destroy, +2 Power instead.

MANEUVER

HAIL THE VICTORIOUS DEAD

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+2 Power Attack: Each other player reveals his hand and discards a card with cost 0.

ENEMY

ORC ARCHER

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ALLY +5 Power and reveal the top card of your deck. If it has an even cost, destroy this card at end of turn. (0 is even.)

+1 Power for each Lembas Bread you have played this turn. Defense: You may put this card on top of your deck to avoid an Attack or Ambush. If you do, put all Lembas Bread from your discard pile into your hand.

FARAMIR, THE VALIANT

ARTIFACT

LEMBAS BREAD

Once you have arranged the main deck, the Path, and the other stacks, it will look something like the above. Your opening five cards in the Path will vary. At the start of the game, there should be 16 Valors, 8 Archenemies, and 20 Corruptions in their respective stacks.

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When you play this card, leave it in front of you for the rest of the game. Ongoing: The first time you play an Ally on each of your turns, draw a card.

LOCATION

MINAS TIRITH

T HE P AT H

Next, place the Valor, Archenemy, and Corruption stacks at the end of the Path. You may want to turn these stacks perpendicular to the board so that everyone can reach them. The Valor stack always starts with 16 cards and the Corruption stack starts with 20, no matter how many players are in the game. The number of Archenemy cards you use will vary based on your desired game length. Valor and Archenemy cards are always available to be bought or defeated during your turn (while cards remain in their stacks). Corruptions are never bought; they are gained only through unfriendly card effects. The main deck and the three stacks of cards on the end are not part of the Path.

NOTE: The player taking the first turn is unaffected by Ambush cards that entered the Path during Setup. Also, if there are any Fortune cards in the Path at the start of the game, put them on the bottom of the main deck and replace them.

After shuffling the main deck, place the top five cards from the main deck into the Path face up. The Path is where the members of the Fellowship will have dangerous and fantastical encounters. There is no board necessary to play this game; just reserve space for each card.

4. The Path

MAIN DECK

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LEVEL 1 ARCHENEMY

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of endofof theend atthe scoreatat yourscore Corruption cards reduce your score the end reduceyour cardsreduce Corruptioncards Corruption the game. Corruption cards reduce your score at the end of game. the the game. the game.

CORRUPTION ION CORRUPT CORRUPTION CORRUPTION

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You may put a card from your discard pile into your hand. If you choose not to, +3 Power. (This card starts the game on top of the Archenemy stack.)

ENEMY

SARUMAN, THE DEFEATED

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+2 Power +2 Power Power +2

MANEUVER MANEUVER MANEUVER

VALOR VALOR VALOR

THE STACKS

5. The Final Journey of The One Ring Map As The Return of the King movie opens, Sam and Frodo are in Ithilien, so the Ring token begins the game there. Each time the Ring token moves one space, it moves to the next area shown. Page 8 has the full explanation of the Map. There is an area on the Map to hold your destroyed cards. All destroyed cards should be placed into this one area, as there are some cards that interact with the destroyed card pile. GAMEPLAY Randomly determine a player to go first. Each player begins by shuffling his or her deck and drawing five cards. Players take turns in clockwise order. Each turn, you may buy cards from the Path, Valor cards, and/or the top card of the Archenemy stack to improve your deck. Cards you buy or gain are always immediately placed into your discard pile unless you are instructed otherwise. Discard piles are always face up. Soon they’ll be shuffled into your deck, and then you’ll be drawing these newer, more powerful cards into your hand so you can play them. Buying powerful cards builds up the effectiveness of your deck. That’s why it’s called a “deck-building game.” You can buy any number of available cards with combined cost less than or equal to the amount of Power you have for the turn. For example, your Courage cards each give you +1 Power. If you draw four of them and no other cards with any Power bonuses, your total Power for the turn is 4. You can buy a single card with cost 2, 3, or 4, or even two cards each with cost 2, assuming these options are available. Valor cards are (usually) available if the cards in the Path are too expensive, and you may buy more than one during your turn if you wish. You may pass if you can’t buy or do not wish to buy any cards. Despair and Corruption cards provide no Power. Since they weaken your draws and deck, you should try to destroy them as soon as possible (more on how to do that later). You may play them if you wish, but they have no effect when played. They are not discarded until the end of your turn when you discard all cards you have played and any cards that you have kept in your hand.

Order of Playing Your Cards On your turn, you get to play the cards in your hand in the order of your choice. When you play a card, its game text resolves immediately. When you have played all the cards you wish to play at that time, total up the Power you have accumulated and buy what you wish to buy from the Path or the face-up stacks. You do not have to play all of the cards in your hand before you start making purchases if you don’t wish to. You may play additional cards even after making purchases. Most cards you play have simple effects, like +Power, card drawing, or an Attack. The order in which you play these cards typically does not matter.

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Ending Your Turn 1. Resolve any “at the end of your turn” effects.

2. Once you have finished your turn, place all the cards you played and any cards remaining in your hand into your discard pile. Any unspent Power from cards played during the turn is lost. Draw a new hand of five cards and pass the turn to the player on your left.

3. If any of the slots in the Path are empty, draw cards off the main deck and add them to the Path. Do not replace empty slots as soon as you buy or gain a card from the Path. 4. If the top card of the Archenemy stack is face down, flip it face up. This will reveal the next Archenemy out to terrorize the Heroes.

Sample Turn Sequence After shuffling up your starting cards, you draw a hand of four Courages and one Despair for your first turn. You may play the four Courages for a total of 4 Power, which is enough to buy Hail the Victorious Dead from the Path. After buying it, you put it into your discard pile. The Despair provides you with no additional Power. Once you have played and bought all the cards you want, discard the cards you have played and any remaining in your hand and then draw a new hand of five cards. Play then proceeds to the player on your left. DESPAIR

+

STARTER

COURAGE COURAGE COURAGE COURAGE

=

STARTER STARTER +1 Power STARTER +1 Power STARTER +1 Power +1 Power

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HAIL THE VICTORIOUS DEAD

MANEUVER Destroy a random card in your discard pile. +Power equal to that card's cost. If there are no cards in your discard pile to destroy, +2 Power instead.

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End of Game The game ends immediately when either one of the following two conditions is met: • The final Archenemy, The Eye of Sauron, is defeated. • You are unable to refill all five slots of the Path. Once the game has ended, players total up the Victory Points on cards in their deck. Corruption cards in your deck at the end of the game will subtract Victory Points (VP) from your total. The player with the highest VP total is crowned the winner! In case of a tie, the player with more Archenemy cards wins. If there is still a tie, the tied player with the most cards in his deck is the winner. After a winner has been determined, all players will need to take apart their decks, placing all of the cards back into their proper stacks. Be sure to return any cards that were placed into the box back in their stacks. These will be used in the next game.

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Additional Rules

ORC ARCHER

Attacks and Defenses Some cards allow you to make an Attack against the other players in the game. When you play a card with an Attack ability, each other player has an opportunity to avoid the Attack with a card that has a Defense ability. A player using a Defense card’s ability negates the Attack only for that defending player. A player may only play one Defense card per Attack. Any players who don’t avoid the Attack are then affected by the Attack card’s ability. Avoiding an Attack does not negate any other abilities (like +2 Power) of a card, unless an ability specifically counts the players successfully hit by the Attack.

ENEMY +2 Power Attack: Each other player reveals his hand and discards a card with cost 0.

GUARD OF THE CITADEL ©2014 CZE UNIFORM

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Example: The person playing Merry to your right buys two cards from the Path. He ends his turn, and you flip the top two cards of the main deck into the Path. One of them has an Ambush. You resolve the Ambush, then continue your turn. If you are Ambushed by multiple cards, you may choose the order in which they resolve. After resolving each Ambush card, your turn continues as normal. Defense cards may be used to avoid Ambushes, but it takes a separate Defense card to avoid each Ambush. A player may only play one Defense card per Ambush.

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ARTIFACT +2 Power Defense: You may discard this card to avoid an Attack or Ambush. If you do, draw a card. If you avoid a Group Ambush this way, draw two additional cards.

Ambush An Ambush is a type of Attack found on some cards in the main deck. When a card with the word “Ambush” in its text box enters the Path between turns and you are the next player to take a turn, you are Ambushed at the start of your turn. If a card played during a turn adds new cards to the Path, any Ambushes do not happen.


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ENEMY +2 Power and draw a card. Ambush: Reveal your hand and discard a card with cost 6 or greater, then move the Ring token backwards one space.

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Fortunes Fortune cards represent the moments of good luck the Fellowship encounters. Fortunes have a cost of 0, so even a player with no cards in hand can buy a Fortune during his turn. When a Fortune is bought or gained (by any means), it is always immediately played, resolved, and then destroyed. If you gain a Fortune during another player’s turn, it will resolve as usual. After resolving a Fortune, the current player’s turn continues as normal. A player may choose to buy a Fortune at any time during his turn or may decline to buy it, just as with any other card in the Path. Even if you cannot benefit from a Fortune, you may still choose to buy it to ensure another player doesn’t benefit from it. Note that if there are any Fortune cards in the Path during the Setup of a game, you must put them on the bottom of the main deck and replace them.

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GIANT EAGLES SAVE THE DAY

FORTUNE When you buy or gain this card, play it immediately, then destroy it. Put up to three random cards from your discard pile into your hand.


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Corruption Some Attack and Ambush cards force the affected players to gain a Corruption. When this happens, the affected players usually place the Corruption cards into their discard piles (unless a card tells them otherwise), effectively adding them to their decks. Corruption cards have no ability and can be played or kept in your hand and discarded at the end of your turn. At the end of the game, each Corruption in your deck subtracts 1 Victory Point from your VP total, so you’ll need a plan for destroying them at some point! If the Corruption deck runs out, effects that would cause a player to gain a Corruption do not do so, but any other effects those cards have still resolve as usual. A player may still play a Defense to avoid an Attack or Ambush, even when there are no Corruptions available to be gained.

CORRUPTION

Corruption cards reduce your score at the end of the game.

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In Impossible Mode, place destroyed Corruptions back onto the Corruption stack instead of removing them from the game. THE PLAINS OF GORGOROTH

Locations Location cards go straight to your discard pile when bought or gained, just like any other card. However, when you later draw and play a Location, that card will remain face up and in play in front of you for the rest of the game. Each Location has an effect that will happen based on the game text of the card. The word Ongoing is a reminder that this card keeps working for you turn after turn. You can have any number of Locations in play at once. Once a Location is in play, it no longer counts as a card in your hand.

LOCATION When you play this card, leave it in front of you for the rest of the game. Ongoing: When you avoid an Attack or Ambush, draw a card and move the Ring token forward one space.

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The Final Journey of The One Ring Your actions will determine the fate of the Ring. When you defeat an Archenemy, the Ring moves forward one space on the Map. When you defeat an Archenemy, immediately move the Ring forward one space on the Map. Don’t wait until the end of your turn to move it. Some Ambushes will move the Ring backwards. When the Ring reaches the Tower of Cirith Ungol for the first time, each player may immediately destroy a card in his hand or discard pile. This represents the moment when Sam storms the Tower and rescues Frodo. It’s a turning point in the story, as Sam becomes the main force behind the movement of the Ring for the rest of the quest. When (or if) the Ring makes it all the way to The Crack of Doom, The One Ring may now be destroyed. Any card that can destroy another card can instead destroy the Ring, but only during your own turn. When the Ring is destroyed, flip it over and place it on your oversized Hero card. It is worth 5 VPs at end of game. Here is a list of ROTK cards that are capable of destroying the Ring: Éomer the Lieutenant, Hobbit™-Sized Armor, Gollum™ the Villain, Grond, Lord Denethor, Mount Doom, Death is Just Another Path, Go Back to the Abyss, The Filth of Saruman is Washing Away, and Hail the Victorious Dead. Cards that destroy themselves (Faramir and That Still Only Counts as One) cannot destroy the Ring. Any extra effect that the card destruction would enable is disabled when you target the Ring for destruction. For example, if you destroy the Ring using Go Back to the Abyss, you do not draw any cards. With Grond, draw one card and place one back on top of your deck. Cards from past sets that destroy other cards may also be used to destroy the Ring.

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Destroying Cards Some cards have an ability that allows you to destroy a card from your hand, your deck, your discard pile, or even the Path. When you destroy a card, place it into a face-up pile of destroyed cards on The Final Journey of The One Ring Map, removing it from your deck. You will often get to choose which of your cards to destroy. Destroying Despair and Corruption cards will improve your deck greatly! If Valors and Corruptions are destroyed, they do not go back to their respective stacks.

Gaining Cards When a card tells a player to gain a particular card or a card of your choice, that card is taken and immediately placed in that player’s discard pile, at no additional cost, unless otherwise directed by the card. If a card tells to you gain a card with a specific name, card type, or cost and there are none available, you simply don’t gain the card. If you gain a card from the top of the main deck, show it to all players.

Quests Some cards have a in the lower left VP area. These are Quest cards that challenge you to gain certain cards during the game or accomplish some other in-game task, such as with Samwise, the Hero shown here. If a card’s Quest is completed at the end of the game, your Victory Point reward is listed in the card’s game text. If you fail to complete the Quest, the card isn’t worth any VPs. Quest cards allow you to focus your strategy on acquiring certain cards. But be on the lookout for your opponents doing the same thing! Sometimes you may need to buy or gain a card that might not be right for your deck just to make sure an opponent doesn’t complete their Quest. Naturally, this is a two-way street...

THE FILTH OF SARUMAN IS WASHING AWAY

MANEUVER Destroy a card in the Path and replace it. +Power equal to the replacement card's VP value ( = 3). (Ambushes that enter the Path this way have no effect.)

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STING™, THE SPIDER’S BANE

ARTIFACT You may gain all Enemies in the Path. If you choose not to, +3 Power.

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SAMWISE GAMGEE , THE HERO ™

ALLY +2 Power and move the Ring token forward one space. Quest: At end of game, if the Ring has been destroyed, this card is worth 3 VPs.

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Resolving Card Abilities If a card’s ability affects multiple players, and the order matters (for example, an Attack that has each of three opponents gain a Corruption, with only two Corruptions remaining in the stack), resolve that ability for each affected player in clockwise order, starting from the player who played the ability. When you play a card that triggers another effect, such as on a Location you control, fully resolve the card you are playing before resolving any secondary effects triggered by your card play.

Shuffling Your Deck You don’t reshuffle your discard pile into your deck as soon as you run out of cards. However, if at any point during the game if there are no cards in your deck and you need to draw, discard, or reveal a card from your deck, immediately reshuffle your discard pile, and it becomes your new deck.

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The Archenemies When you have accumulated enough Power in a turn, you can choose to defeat an Archenemy. If you do, take the topmost face-up card from the stack and place it into your discard pile, unless instructed otherwise. The next card in the Archenemy stack remains face down until your turn is over, so a player may only defeat one Archenemy per turn. Archenemy cards range in cost from 8 to 15, and their stack is randomized at the start of each game. Check the stack for the current Archenemy’s cost.

LORD DENETHOR

ENEMY

LEVEL 2 ARCHENEMY

You may destroy an Ally in the Path or your discard pile. If you do, +Power equal to the destroyed card's cost. If you choose not to, +3 Power. Group Ambush: Each player gains a Corruption for each Ally in the Path.

10 6 While Saruman, the Defeated is content to gaze menacingly at the players from his lofty perch atop the Archenemy stack, the rest of the Archenemies take a more hands-on approach. When a new Archenemy card is revealed, it makes a Group Ambush. On each Archenemy (other than Saruman, the Defeated), you will find that Archenemy card’s Group Ambush. When revealed on the Archenemy stack, this Ambush resolves immediately against each player in the game. Any player with a Defense card may avoid the Group Ambush, unless the card says otherwise. The Ambush will resolve against any players who do not defend themselves. Group Ambushes do not happen during any player’s turn and therefore take place before any regular Ambushes occur. Keep track of the regular Ambushes that will occur after the Archenemy’s Group Ambush by moving the Ambushing cards slightly out of the Path. After the Ambushes, line them back up with the rest of the cards. ©2014 CZE


Archenemy Cards in Your Deck Like any other card you acquire, the experience gained defeating an Archenemy will aid you in your future turns. When you play an Archenemy card from your hand, the text at the top of the text box is the relevant text. The Group Ambush is no longer applicable, as the Archenemy already performed that when he was first revealed from the Archenemy stack. Archenemies are Enemy cards. Archenemy is a title, not a card type, so playing an Archenemy does not count as playing two different card types.

SHELOB

ENEMY

LEVEL 3 ARCHENEMY

Draw four cards, then discard a random card. Group Ambush: Each player discards down to four cards and draws back up to four cards at the end of each of his turns until this Archenemy is defeated.

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Impossible Mode When you have mastered the game and want to take on a true challenge, a test of your mettle not unlike Frodo’s grueling march to Mount Doom, then break out the eight Impossible Mode Archenemies. When you open the pack, don’t peek at any of the cards! Remove the warning card, and then leave the Impossible Saruman, the Defeated face up. The rest of the Archenemies are in order and ready to go, but looking at them ahead of time is frowned upon. You wanted a challenge, so no preparing for the onslaught. When using the Impossible Mode Archenemies, the regular 12 Archenemies will not be used.

DO NOT OPEN UNTIL ALL PLAYERS ARE VERY FAMILIAR WITH THE MAIN GAME. WHEN YOU ARE READY FOR THE MOST TORTUROUS, DIFFICULT, SOUL-CRUSHING EXPERIENCE ON MIDDLE-EARTH™, LEAVE THESE ARCHENEMIES SECRET, WITH ONLY SARUMAN, THE DEFEATED FACE UP ON TOP OF THE STACK, AND FIGHT THEM IN ORDER. ADDITIONAL RULES APPLY TO IMPOSSIBLE MODE. SEE PAGE 11 OF THE RULEBOOK FOR MORE INFORMATION.

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Impossible Mode Changes: • When a Corruption is destroyed, return it to its stack instead of removing it from the game. • When the player to your right is Ambushed by a card in the Path, you may play a Defense card to protect them. However, you still gain any reward listed on your Defense card. They can’t refuse the aid, but if they play a Defense card of their own, you cannot also play one. You cannot protect them from an Archenemy’s Group Ambush, as those aren’t in the Path. Combining The Return & The Two Towers

of the

King

with

The Fellowship

of the

Ring

When combining your sets, you could just shuffle all three decks together, but that will dilute some of the card combos and shuffling that many cards together will be quite a feat! Once your sets are mixed together, separating them again will be a daunting task. Here are other ways to create a main deck out of your mix of the three sets. Plan #1: The next time you set up to play, just create piles of the different card types until you hit the following counts: a. Allies: 30 b. Enemies: 30 c. Artifacts: 30 d. Maneuvers: 15 e. Locations: 5 f. Fortunes: 5 Once you hit a listed count, discard additional cards of that type until you have hit each different card count. That creates a random 115 card main deck in the standard proportions. There may be more cards from one set, but that’s OK. Plan #2: Shuffle the 330+ card deck, then split it in thirds. Play a three game match using all three decks. Choose starting Heroes for the second game based on points scored in game #1, with the lowest scorer choosing first. You will have some idea of what kind of cards you might see in game #2 based on what you saw in game #1, as none of them will be used in game #2. Before game #3, the lowest scoring player gets first choice of Hero. Combine your scores between the three games to determine the match winner. Use a different set of Archenemies and Starting Heroes for each game. A Less Random Plan The preferred method of combining sets involves choosing card types by set. Combining these sets of card types then creates a standard sized main deck and keeps the card synergies intact, while also creating new and exciting ones! This method does require a bit of sorting before and after each game, however.

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For your first combined set game experience, we recommend: The Fellowship of the Ring The Two Towers Artifacts Locations Maneuvers Heroes

The Return of the King Allies Enemies Archenemies Fortunes

Whenever you use The Return of the King’s Allies, Enemies, Archenemies, Fortunes, and/or Locations, use The Final Journey of The One Ring Map. If you don’t wish to use the Ring Map, just ignore any references to the Ring token and you might not want to use The Eye of Sauron as your final Archenemy... Two The Return of the King cards change slightly in some configurations: FRODO BAGGINS THE CONFLICTED

™

Samwise, the Hero: This card is worth 2 VPs if the Map is not being used.

,

Frodo Baggins, the Conflicted: If you have a Corruption in your discard pile, you gain another one, even though the Ring didn’t move. Feel free to follow our advice or come up with your own crazy ideas on how to mix and match the three sets. Or custom build your very own main deck!

ALLY +3 Power and move the Ring token forward one space. If you have a Corruption in your discard pile, move the Ring token backwards one space instead and gain a Corruption.

2


3

Sp e c i f i c C a r d Clarification s Beacon of Gondor: If you play a second Beacon, it will work for you just that turn, and then is discarded at the end of your turn. During your turn, it will count the number of other players with a Beacon in play as usual. THE

The Broken Horn of Gondor: This card will count itself.

BROKEN HORN OF GONDOR

Hail the Victorious Dead, Frodo Baggins, the Conflicted: If you don’t wish to play a card, simply leave it in your hand until the end of your turn. Then discard it along with any cards you played during your turn. ARTIFACT

I Am No Man: X equals the level of the current Archenemy. So if the current Archenemy is Level 3, X = 3 and you pay 3 less to defeat Archenemies this turn. You cannot avoid an unavoidable Ambush, or an effect that is not an Ambush.

For each different non-Starter card name among cards you play or have played this turn, +1 Power.

1


5

Palantír: When a card is played from the top of a player’s deck, it is temporarily removed from that deck until it has fully resolved. Then it is placed back on top before proceeding with your turn. If you gain a Corruption from your own deck, it goes to your discard pile like any other Corruption would.

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Pippin, Knight of Gondor, Arwen’s Vision, Gothmog, The Reforging of Andúril, There is Courage Still: Be sure to keep all destroyed cards in a single pile on the Map. Plains of Gorgoroth: If you avoid an Attack or Ambush with Lembas Bread, you will draw the Lembas Bread card you placed on top of your deck. Osgiliath: Courage cards are the Starter cards, not any card with the word “Courage” in its name. Shelob: If you avoid the Group Ambush, you will continue to draw five cards at the end of each of your turns. Siege Weapons: When this card is discarded from play for any reason, all Courage cards are discarded along with it. Side By Side With a Friend: If you play this card along with two Starter cards, this card provides a total of +2 Power. Note that this card counts as a Maneuver, so you need only play one additional Maneuver along with it to get an additional +1 Power. That Still Only Counts as One: If the Attack is avoided, this card is not destroyed. The Tower of Cirith Ungol: This card works with the Tower Locations from the previous set. It counts as a Tower. Note that there is no reward for avoiding Attacks or Ambushes when using this Location. The Eye of Sauron: With his Group Ambush, if one player has three Maneuvers in his hand and no one else has three or more, he will have to discard all three Maneuvers. If two players each have the most at three, neither of them will discard any Maneuvers. Impossible Spoilers Below Impossible Lord Denethor: When playing this card, you may destroy an Ally in either or both of the two zones mentioned. If you destroy at least one Ally, you do not receive the +4 Power. Impossible Squadron of Nazgûl: If you don’t have any cards with cost 4 or greater in your hand, you won’t destroy any cards or gain any Corruptions. FAQ

Q: What does the term “defeat” or “defeated” mean? A: You “defeat” an Archenemy when you buy or gain one. That Archenemy has then been “defeated.” You “defeat” an Enemy when you buy or gain it from the Path.

Q: If I avoid an Ambush that looks for certain cards in each player’s discard pile, do the other players still look in my discard pile?

A: No

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CrE DIT S

Game Design Game Engine Design

Matt Hyra Matt Hyra & Ben Stoll

Cry p tozoic E nt er t a inment

President & CCO CEO Chief Operating Officer SVP Sales & Business Development

Game Design and Development

Graphic Design

Editing

Director of Operations Brand Management Business Coordinator Office Manager

Cory Jones John Nee Scott Gaeta John Sepenuk Phil Cape, Dan Clark, Matt Dunn, Kevin Jordan, Erik Larsen, Matt Hyra, Ben Stoll, Drew Walker, Chris Woods Glen Llorin (Lead), Larry Renac, Nancy Valdez, John Vineyard Scott Thomas Leisha Cummins Adam Sblendorio Rumi Asai Vanessa Jimenez

Mark eting and Co mmu nit y Javier Casillas, Sara Erickson, Drew Korfe P lay test er s Christopher Allirot, Richard Brady, Tom Driver, Ryan Dromgoole, Robert Gasio III, Russ Greenwald, Herb Haneke, Kent Heidelman, Adam Hensch, Shannon Hunt, Cory Jones, Adam May, Chris Nunn, Melody Nunn, Marcos Payan, Tom Twedell, Nathaniel Yamaguchi and many, many others. Cry p tozoic S pecia l T h a nks Miranda Charsky, Kyle Heuer, Matt Hoffman, Rachel Valverde, Michael Kirchhoff, Lacy Lodes, George Nadeau, Matthias Nagy, Lisa Villaire, and MaryCarmen Wilber Special thanks to Chaz Fitzhugh, Julian Montoya, and Vienna Downes.