The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship
114 questions players ask about The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship, answered in plain words and graded by where the answer comes from. See also the full rulebook.
Updated 2026-10-29.
114 questions players ask about The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship, answered in plain words and graded by where the answer comes from. See also the full rulebook.
Updated 2026-10-29.
The rulebook's difficulty table lists every level; the publisher confirmed the Legendary objective count.
Introductory uses 4 Skies Darken and 4 objectives, Standard 5 and 4, Heroic 5 and 5, Epic 6 and 5, and Legendary 6 and 6. The objective count includes Destroy the One Ring, which is always in the set.
The publisher confirmed one Skies Darken card per pile, matching the rulebook's difficulty table.
Make one facedown stack per Skies Darken card in the game, so 6 stacks on Epic and Legendary, and shuffle one Skies Darken card into each. Stack the piles back together afterwards to form the draw deck.
The designer described the intent of equal or near-equal stacks, and the rulebook says larger piles go on top.
Not exactly. Make the stacks the same size, or as close as you can get, and put any larger stacks on top of the deck. The designer said this was the intent.
The publisher explained this in the thread and the rulebook's Skies Darken steps match.
Both start in the shadow discard pile. They join the shadow deck the first time a Skies Darken card is resolved, when the whole discard pile is shuffled and put on top of the deck. Don't shuffle the nine setup shadow cards before that, and the deck doesn't need to run out first.
One poster did the arithmetic and another agreed; no official statement.
Use 48 shadow troops. 18 go on the board as the setup diagram shows, 9 more arrive with the nine setup shadow cards, which leaves 21 in the supply. Some boxes ship with an extra troop.
This is a printed note under the difficulty table.
Shuffle the objectives and draw a new set. A 2-player game has 4 characters and a solo game 5, and some objectives need specific characters.
One poster explained this from the objective cards; no official ruling.
Yes. Destroy the One Ring is always an objective and requires Frodo and Sam, so they are set aside as required characters before the other characters are dealt out.
Put one Dwarven troop in Ered Luin. Its troop spot is printed slightly off to the side, so it is easy to miss.
The rulebook's Cards section says both characters share the hand and tokens.
Yes. Both characters you control draw on one hand of cards and one pool of tokens, wherever they are on the board. A card or token gained with one character can be spent by the other. Only the Fellowship action needs two characters together, and only to hand over cards to another player.
The publisher confirmed it, and it follows the rulebook's Spending Symbols rule.
Yes. Any symbol cost can be paid by discarding player cards that show the symbol, returning tokens, or any combination, including special path costs and objective costs. Cards do not have to be converted to tokens first.
The publisher distinguished action costs, paid by the active character, from battle and search spending.
The player controlling the character taking the action pays, from their own hand and tokens. Players travelling along, or standing in the same space, cannot chip in for capture Valor, special path costs, objective costs or another character's ability. Battles and searches are the exception, where every player with a present character can spend Resistance or Valor.
The publisher defined it in a rules thread, and the rulebook's search and battle rules use locations.
A character is present only in the same location, not just the same region. Nazgul and the Eye of Sauron cover a whole region, so they count as present in every location of it.
The publisher defined adjacency for locations and regions.
Locations are adjacent when any line joins them: a normal path, a battle line, or a special path, and arrow direction is irrelevant. Regions are adjacent only if they share a border. Nazgul moves follow borders, not travel paths.
Back to their supply, friendly and shadow alike, so they can be mustered or placed again. Only the Nazgul that Eowyn removes leave the game for good.
Several players agree and cite the collected clarifications; no direct designer quote.
No. Characters are never troops and are not hurt by battle results. A lone character can't be attacked, doesn't start or defend a battle, and doesn't keep a haven from falling. A reference to friendly troops never counts characters, so Gollum, for example, can't bring friendly troops along when he travels, though characters can go with him.
The Fine Points section states when the Eye does and doesn't move.
The Eye shifts when players do an Attack action, when a stronghold is captured, and when cards such as Skies Darken or Put on the Ring say so. It does not move when a Skies Darken or shadow card starts a battle, or when abilities like Aragorn's Andúril or Legolas's Sure Shot remove shadow troops.
The Reinforce and Skies Darken rules state the hope loss.
Lose 1 hope for each shadow troop you cannot place. There are no substitute pieces, and locations have no troop cap.
The rulebook allows additional Resistance to reroll again.
Yes, for battle and search dice alike. Each Resistance spent rerolls one die, and you can spend more to reroll the same die again.
The rulebook says only characters present may spend Valor and Resistance on a battle.
You need a character present at the battle. With troops but no character there, nobody can reroll or use Valor. Any player with a character present can spend on it even on another player's turn.
The rulebook's Travel section states the choice.
Yes, one or the other. Whenever Frodo travels, alone or carried by another character, the traveller either spends 1 Stealth or a search is rolled at the destination. This is in addition to any special path cost, and spending the Stealth is always optional.
The Rolling a Search box defines the dice count.
One die per Nazgul in the destination's region plus one per shadow troop in the destination location, maximum 7. Troops in other locations of the region don't count, and neither does where Frodo started. Searches are also based on the destination for Exposed and haven checks.
The rulebook says not to roll when no Nazgul or shadow troops are present.
No. With nothing to count, the search rolls no dice, so Stealth is pointless and Frodo moves freely. Nothing can stop him moving for lack of a Stealth token. There is no minimum of one die.
The rulebook says the Frodo travel cost is in addition to special path costs.
No. A special path's cost and the Stealth that avoids a search are separate payments. If a path costs 2 Stealth and you also want to skip the search, pay 3 in total. This is true for Mordor paths too, and when a companion brings Frodo along.
The publisher confirmed this, citing the rulebook's Travel and final search text.
No. Stealth avoids a search only as part of a Travel action involving Frodo. Searches from shadow cards, the Eagles event, and the final roll must be rolled.
The designer replied that no search is triggered.
No. A search is rolled only when Frodo travels (or is carried) or a card tells you to roll one. Advancing or spawning shadow troops onto Frodo's space doesn't trigger one, though later searches count those troops.
The publisher said characters present may reroll, and the rulebook's Fate text agrees.
Any character in Frodo's location when the search is rolled, whether or not they travelled with him and whichever player's turn it is. Each Resistance rerolls one die, and Frodo's own player can always do so. Aragorn's reroll also needs him in the same location, not merely the same region.
The Rolling a Search results list says to ignore Exposed in a haven only.
Only from Exposed. In a haven you ignore Exposed results, but every Weary result still costs 1 hope.
The rulebook lists no effect for Recall when Frodo is in Mordor.
Nothing. Recall moves one Nazgul to Mordor only when Nazgul are present and Frodo isn't already there.
The Travel rule applies each time Frodo does or is brought on a Travel action.
Yes. Each Travel action moves one connected step and triggers its own Stealth-or-search choice at that step's destination. A four-step journey can mean four searches, or four Stealth spent.
The rulebook says companions must be at the starting location; players read this as per Travel action.
Within one Travel action, only characters and troops in the starting location can come along. If you take several Travel actions, each new stop is the start of the next action, so you can collect more companions at each stop.
The rulebook says you may take any friendly troops, and troops can't travel alone.
You may take any number of the friendly troops, or none. Troops can't move on their own, only with a character doing the Travel action.
The publisher described the conditions; a line with a cost counts as a special path.
Gandalf moves two locations for one Travel action, but only if he travels alone with no characters or troops and doesn't use a special path. Moving once, doing something else, then moving again takes separate actions.
Yes for a path costing 1: his reduction of 1 has no stated minimum, so it becomes free. It applies only to special path costs and doesn't change the search Frodo rolls.
It removes searches only. Cloak costs on special paths must still be paid, and with no search rolled Frodo has no reason to put on the Ring.
The Fine Points describe Putting on the Ring; players confirmed it works on others' turns.
Whenever a search is rolled, Frodo can put on the Ring: he loses 1 hope, the Eye shifts to his region, and the search ignores every shadow troop in his location. Nazgul still count. It is usable on any search, including one triggered on another player's turn. If the Eye is already in his region it simply stays there.
Players agree and cite the collected clarifications.
The player controlling Frodo and Sam pays its Friendship cost, not whoever moved them. It works whenever a search is rolled with Frodo and Sam present, even on another player's turn, including the final roll.
The Destroying the One Ring rule gives the formula, and the publisher confirmed it.
One die per Nazgul in Mordor and each shadow troop in Mount Doom, plus one for every hope missing from the 8-space hope track, to a maximum of 7. At 3 hope you add 5 dice. Characters present can spend Resistance to reroll as in any search.
The designer confirmed the Ring; the Gollum order comes from players reading the card.
Yes to both. The designer confirmed Frodo can put the Ring on for the final search, ignoring shadow troops on Mount Doom, at the cost of 1 hope. Players also read Gollum's ability as subtracting 3 dice before the 7-die cap is applied, so he can still leave you rolling 7.
Players agree and quote the clarifications.
Only Frodo can take the action and pay the 5 Resistance, so his player must be the active player and rolls the dice. Any other character at Mount Doom can still spend Resistance to reroll, or use abilities, during the search.
Most players read the final roll as always happening; one reads the ordinary 'no dice, no roll' rule as still applying, and the rulebook's 'must make a final search roll' wording favours rolling.
Yes, whenever hope is below the maximum. The missing-hope dice make the roll happen even with an empty Mount Doom; the "don't roll if no dice" rule is for ordinary searches. At full hope there would be nothing to roll.
The rulebook allows the action only once the other objectives are done.
Yes. Travelling into Mount Doom is its own Travel action with its normal Stealth-or-search choice. Destroying the Ring is then a separate action, with its own final roll, and only after every other objective is complete.
The publisher confirmed movement doesn't start battles, matching the Attack rule.
No. Moving into or through shadow troops doesn't start a battle, and you can carry on. To fight them you spend an Attack action. A battle starts without an action only when shadow troops are added or advance into friendly troops.
The designer and publisher both gave this list of triggers.
A battle is rolled by the Attack action, by a shadow card's Advance or Reinforce, by Skies Darken placing troops where friendly troops are, or by an event that says so. Shadow troops that Drums of War, events or objectives add or move into friendly troops do not start a battle unless the card says to roll one. Moving friendly troops into shadow troops never starts one.
The Rolling a Battle box gives both counts.
On an Attack action you choose 1 up to the number of friendly troops in the location, max 3. When a shadow card or Skies Darken starts the battle, roll one die per shadow troop there, max 3, with no option to roll fewer.
The publisher confirmed it, and the rulebook says to remove what you can and ignore excess.
Yes. Pick the number first, roll them all at once, and resolve every result as far as you can, including losses beyond the troops present. You can't stop partway to avoid a bad die, so roll fewer dice if you want less risk.
The rulebook says at least 1 die and no Attack without shadow troops; the designer agreed for Red Arrow.
No to both. An Attack needs friendly troops and shadow troops in the location, and you must roll at least 1 die. A lone character can't start a battle just to shift the Eye. Even Red Arrow can't roll a battle where no shadow troops are.
The Rolling Battles points cover removal choice and excess.
The current player chooses which troops to remove when different armies are present. There is no fixed order between results, they apply together, and friendly and shadow losses are independent. If more must be removed than exist, remove what you can.
The Rolling a Battle results say to ignore Overrun in a haven only.
No. Overrun is ignored only in a haven. A shadow stronghold isn't a haven, so friendly troops there are lost to it.
The rulebook states the Nazgul result; Eowyn's interplay is from player reading of her card.
It removes 2 friendly troops, only if Nazgul are present in the battle's region, and can remove all your troops if enough dice show it. Eowyn present deals with the Nazgul first, so those results then have no effect.
Attack and Capture are separate actions in the rulebook.
Yes. Attacking needs only friendly troops and an action, not Valor. Capture is a separate action with its own conditions. Your troops can stay there, but shadow troops added or advancing in later will start a battle.
The Capture section lists the requirements.
A character at the stronghold, at least one friendly troop, no shadow troops, and 3 Valor spent by the acting character. Capturing also moves the Eye to that region and gains 2 hope. The Eye already being there, or Nazgul in the region, doesn't prevent it.
The publisher confirmed a captured Mordor location becomes a haven.
Yes. The four named strongholds are just the ones where shadow troops stop spawning; any shadow stronghold can be captured, including Mordor ones, which become havens. The Eye shifts and you gain 2 hope as usual.
The designer said they can be captured only under such an objective, and the publisher confirmed the 2 hope.
Only while an objective such as Deal with Freca's Heirs or Secure the Crossing of the Anduin allows it. Then it is a normal Capture, so you pay 3 Valor, shift the Eye and gain 2 hope. Other non-stronghold locations can't be captured.
The Timing section states this; the publisher said any other effect includes moving troops away.
Immediately, once only shadow troops are in it after a battle, action or other effect. Moving the last friendly troops out, by Travel or another effect, counts. You lose 3 hope and the haven becomes a shadow stronghold. Characters alone don't hold it.
The Capture and Losing a Haven rules cover this.
Yes. Capturing, including recapturing a fallen haven, gains 2 hope. When shadow troops retake it you lose 3, and it reverts to a shadow stronghold. The 3 lost earlier is not refunded.
The publisher confirmed this analysis of fallen havens.
Muster only works in a Dwarven, Elven, Rohirrim or Gondor location, not white or red ones, so not the Shire. A captured stronghold gains no muster symbol. Prepare needs a haven, so a fallen one fails, and a shadow stronghold token covers its symbol. Shadow troops don't stop you mustering.
Players agree and quote the card and the collected clarifications.
The Eagles event isn't a Travel action, so Stealth can't avoid a search it causes. If the moved character is Frodo, a search is rolled; moving anyone else rolls nothing unless they bring Frodo along. Friendly troops may not accompany the moved character.
Yes. These events move the troops and roll the battle themselves, so no character is needed. A character is needed only for the Attack action. There still has to be a shadow troop at the destination.
The designer called the restriction a bug.
Yes. The card lets troops from more than one adjacent location move into the chosen location, but not along special paths. The Board Game Arena version, which made you pick a single origin first, was called a bug by the designer.
Yes. Conflicting Orders and Gollum's Cunning can move troops along any line in either direction, white paths, battle lines and special paths. Gwaihir Brings News is the exception: no special paths.
The Draw 2 Player Cards rule states the hope loss.
Nothing immediately, and it is never reshuffled. Each player card you can't draw costs 1 hope, so the deck works as a game timer and you can still win afterwards.
The Hand Limit and Fellowship sections state this, and the publisher confirmed the trade case.
Yes, draw both cards, resolve any Skies Darken, then discard cards or play events until you hold 7. After a Fellowship trade you must discard or play an event immediately. Event cards count toward the limit.
Yes. The Eye and three Nazgul go to the chosen character's region, so if the Eye is already there only the Nazgul move. The designer corrected an earlier answer.
Players quote the card text and agree.
You place up to 3 Ent troops, which are Elven figures from the supply, so you can place fewer, even 0, and not from the board. They count as Elves afterwards. If you then move them, they all go together to one adjacent location, with no other troops, and characters may come along or not.
Yes to both. Adjacent means any connecting line, and when an event says to move all troops in a location, all must move.
No. It moves the chosen characters straight to Rivendell with no Travel action or search. In solo only its token-passing paragraph is replaced, and you Prepare 1 card free instead.
The designer confirmed two actions in solo; the card text limits it to Do Actions.
Play it only during the active player's Do Actions step. It gives two additional actions to one character of that player's choice, and both go to the same character. In solo it gives Frodo two actions. It can't be played during the draw step.
The Draw Shadow Cards section describes the procedure.
Flip the top card, then look at the card now on top of the deck. A red flag means resolve the flipped card's top half (Advance), a black banner means the bottom half (Reinforce). The back of the card you flipped doesn't matter.
The Advance rules give the order and the end-of-line exception.
Move troops along the line starting with the frontmost, even from places with friendly troops. Then roll a battle where shadow and friendly troops now share a space, frontmost first. Troops at the end of the line stay put but still roll a battle against friendly troops. Troops don't fight at their starting space.
The designer and publisher both said captured havens get no reinforcements.
No. Once a stronghold is a haven, Reinforce adds nothing there, whichever stronghold it is, Mordor ones too. The rest of the card still resolves. If shadow retakes it, troops can appear again.
The Reinforce steps are in the rulebook; the publisher confirmed it.
Yes. Add the troop, then roll a battle if friendly troops are present, then follow the special orders. The special orders still happen even if the stronghold was captured and nothing was added.
The publisher said they must be different Nazgul.
No. Two different Nazgul each move one region, choosing the two closest to Frodo. If only one remains outside his region, it moves once.
Players disagree and no official ruling exists.
Disputed. One reading, from the rulebook example, is that it only has to end up fewer regions from Frodo. The stricter reading measures closeness along the shortest route. The current player chooses among equal paths.
Players cite the rulebook's examples; no official statement.
Between bordering regions only; travel paths are ignored for their movement.
The Skies Darken steps state it, and the publisher confirmed it.
Each Skies Darken card shuffles the whole shadow discard pile and puts it on top of the deck, so cards recur and the deck effectively never runs out. This is intended and the threat rate rises over the game.
By design. Skies Darken places troops at its named location instead, which does the bottom card's job.
The Skies Darken steps state this.
Yes, when the 3 troops land on friendly troops. Roll one die per shadow troop in the location, max 3. If the Eye is already in Frodo's region you lose 2 hope instead of moving it.
The rulebook says to follow the When Completed rules when the requirements are met.
No. As soon as the requirements are met you follow the When Completed text, then flip the card. Destroy the One Ring is completed last.
The rulebook's Timing section sets these windows.
On any player's turn, but never in the middle of a search, battle or another card or ability resolving. That includes between a shadow card's moves and its battle, and between the two player cards you draw. You can play them before drawing the next shadow card.
One player's reading of the Timing rule.
Only the reroll half. Events can't be played mid-search unless the card allows it, so you can't also gain the hope.
The rulebook allows free ordering and the designer added the Gandalf tip.
The players choose freely. If Gandalf the White's return coincides with a Skies Darken hope loss, the designer's tip is to take the 2 hope first.
The rulebook says the players lose when the marker reaches 0.
No. Reaching 0 hope loses the game at once.
The Do Actions section sets the split and the finish-first rule.
Each turn one character may act four times and the other once, in whichever order you like, and you may take fewer actions or none. Nothing has to be declared in advance, but after a second action with one character you must finish with that character before the other acts. You can repeat the same action.
Players agree from the card wording; no official ruling.
Only if its text starts with Action or says it is an action. Other abilities are free, and the card states how often and when it can be used. At-any-time abilities like Sure Shot, Distraction and Lady of Light can be repeated if you can pay.
The player controlling that character, who pays any cost. A player's two characters share cards and tokens, but one character can't pay for another player's character.
Several players agree from the card text.
No. It works only on the Rout face, not Exchange or other faces.
Andúril can be used once per turn, after at least one objective is complete, and removes shadow troops without being an Attack, so no troops are needed and the Eye doesn't move. Ranger of the North's reroll needs him in Frodo's location, not just region.
It ignores one friendly troop loss per battle roll, with no per-turn cap. A lone Rohirrim troop still dies to two losses.
Once per turn, a free Travel that doesn't count toward his actions, usable any time in his turn including with a single action. It can't be used on another player's turn, as events only add actions to the active player.
Players agree from the character card; no official ruling.
She must be at the battle's location, not just the region. Nazgul she removes leave the game for good, and if all are gone, cards that place Nazgul do nothing.
The publisher confirmed search comes before the bonus Attack.
When he does Travel with a friendly troop from his start, the bonus Attack is free and has no per-turn limit. Roll the search first, then attack. Only the bonus Attack gets the Rout change, and it doesn't trigger when someone else moves him.
No. The discount reduces only the Valor cost, so a normal Capture costs him 2 Valor. It does not reduce Stealth or other symbols an objective asks for. It does apply to captures that cost Valor, including Minas Morgul's Capture action and Dol Guldur.
Players interpret the cards; no official ruling.
Nenya lets her reroll a battle die regardless of its outcome. Lady of Light has no turn limit, so it can be used repeatedly while you can pay.
The designer and publisher both addressed this.
After the roll. For Confront the Balrog, roll all three dice and then spend symbols to mitigate. The hope lost from the three dice is cumulative, so bring enough rings and swords to cover a bad roll.
Several posters, quoting a preview, agree.
No. It is cosmetic; the rules are the same, as the Confront the Balrog objective applies them either way.
The publisher confirmed Cunning.
Gollum can't Muster or Attack. He may Prepare anywhere, moving a shadow troop, and spend Resistance to reroll. Cunning moves one shadow troop one step to any connected location, along a path or battle line in either direction. Guide applies wherever he is present. Slinker takes one card, not several.
The publisher confirmed the card look.
Keen Sight lets him look at the top card of the shadow deck and also the back of the next card beneath it. Sure Shot costs Stealth and can be used repeatedly.
The card's wording is disputed.
You choose which Nazgul move, and they can come from anywhere. The card works when the region has fewer than four Nazgul, so it can bring up to two more in, for example taking a region from three to five. One poster reads the limit as four or fewer, which isn't official.
The publisher stated this with those exceptions.
No. Once it is flipped, its text stops applying, except for effects that continue by design, such as Confront the Balrog and Boromir Reclaims His Honor. Completed objectives need no further defending.
No, unless the objective says to roll a battle. After a completed objective moves troops, characters don't move; only the named troops do.
The publisher confirmed the Capture action includes the 2 hope, and players agree it applies to objective captures.
Yes. Any Capture, even with Stealth instead of Valor or at Minas Morgul, gains 2 hope and moves the Eye, along with the objective's reward. Cloaks replace only the sword cost.
Players quote the card text; a dissenter disagreed.
Follow the objective card: remove the haven token and lose 3 hope. The card doesn't mention placing a shadow stronghold, though one player said it does.
Players agree from the card text.
Yes. Objectives like Challenge Sauron or Free Theoden's Mind use one action and pay the whole cost in that action. One character must hold all of the requirements, since tokens can't be pooled.
The publisher said so.
Yes. A haven is required only when the card's Complete if section says so.
Players quote the card.
Each player with at least one character in Rivendell gets one token regardless of how many characters are there.
No. Objective dice are not battle or search dice, so Resistance can't reroll them and others can't spend symbols there. Pass the cards over with Fellowship beforehand.
Two players played it this way.
Yes, according to the players who resolved it that way; the card moves all Mordor shadow troops.
One action every turn, before or after the solo character's 4 actions, even when another character is off the board. Fixed order: the solo token moves one character to the right each turn.
Players describe the official solo setup.
Five, with Frodo and Sam counted as one, sharing one hand and one 7-card limit. Multi-hand solo gives each hand two characters.
The publisher said the order remains fixed.
No. Arrange them once; the order stays fixed all game.
The publisher said solo restricts Prepare to the card's region.
Prepare only at a haven in the card's region, and region cards from regions with no haven can't be prepared and must be spent from hand. This includes Gollum.
The publisher said to use the solo text.
Yes, it has solo text: lose 1 hope per Resistance card you hold.
One player's explanation.
No. The character at the location pays and acts; only cards and tokens are shared.
Players agree.
No, he's unavailable, but you keep playing and Frodo and Sam act each turn.