The Fellowship of the Ring: Trick-Taking Game
94 questions players ask about The Fellowship of the Ring: Trick-Taking Game, answered in plain words and graded by where the answer comes from. See also the full rulebook.
Updated 2026-10-29.
94 questions players ask about The Fellowship of the Ring: Trick-Taking Game, answered in plain words and graded by where the answer comes from. See also the full rulebook.
Updated 2026-10-29.
The rulebook states this directly.
Yes, an exchange must happen, but the card you pass back may be the very card you just received, so the exchange can leave both hands unchanged.
The rulebook states this directly.
The exchange is skipped for that character. Characters who are not in the round cannot take part in an exchange, for example Merry or Sam on Pippin's card when they are not in the chapter.
The rulebook states this directly.
The player dealt the 1 of Rings chooses first, then choice continues to their left. That player also performs their setup action first and always takes the Ring token.
Based on a small number of forum replies; no official ruling.
Following the rulebook's step 7, setup actions start with the player to Frodo's left. The Ring holder goes first only when Frodo is absent (see Frodo's Absence). Some forum players read it as always starting with the Ring holder, but the rulebook text names the player to Frodo's left.
The rulebook states this directly.
Yes. Everyone picks a character first, starting to Frodo's left, and only then are setup actions resolved. Characters with a star token must be chosen this round, though not necessarily by the first chooser.
After. Each character draws or selects its Threat card during its own setup action, so nobody knows the target while picking characters. Each character draws its own Threat card; they are never shared.
The rulebook states this directly.
Draw a new Threat card. For example, if the 3 of Hills is the lost card and Sam draws the 3 Black Rider, he draws another.
The rulebook states this directly.
No. If the 1 of Rings would be the lost card, deal another card as the lost card and shuffle the 1 of Rings back into the deck.
Several players agree and nothing official contradicts it.
It simply stays set aside and out of play for that round. Only characters such as Gandalf, Tom Bombadil or Glorfindel interact with it.
Several players agree and nothing official contradicts it.
No, not when you choose him. His required Hills card is set by the Threat card he draws in his setup action, which happens after all characters are chosen.
The rulebook states this directly.
Yes. Only starred characters must be chosen; the others can be skipped as long as there are enough characters for all players. A starred character must be chosen in the round the chapter requires.
Based on a small number of forum replies; no official ruling.
Treat them as part of chapter setup, before characters are chosen. For example, Chapter 5's Old Forest event removes the Forests suit before the deck is shuffled and dealt. The rulebook gives no exact step, and one forum player places it between steps 2 and 3 of setup. A chapter card can name a different time, as in Chapter 9.
The rulebook states this directly.
Yes. You must play a card of the lead suit if you have one, in multiplayer and solo alike. Only a player who cannot follow suit may play any card.
The rulebook states this directly.
No. You may play a Rings card only when you cannot follow the lead suit (or when Rings is the lead suit).
The rulebook states this directly.
Only after a Rings card has been played into an earlier trick (flip the Ring token then), or if the lead player holds nothing but Rings cards. This applies in solo play too.
The rulebook states this directly.
Lead a suit that another player has run out of, so they play a Rings card on it. Once any Rings card has been played into a trick, flip the Ring token and anyone may lead Rings afterward.
The rulebook states this directly.
No. The only choice is whether to win automatically. If you decline, the 1 of Rings counts as an ordinary rank-1 Rings card, so it can win only when Rings is the lead suit and nobody plays a higher Rings card. It must still follow the normal suit rules to be played.
Several players agree and nothing official contradicts it.
When the card is played, before later players add their cards, not after the trick is complete. The rulebook says the player decides when they play the 1 of Rings.
The rulebook states this directly.
Yes. The winner takes every card in the trick, so Rings cards played into it count toward goals such as Frodo's.
The rulebook states this directly.
No. Only the 1 of Rings can win any trick, and only when its player chooses. The 2 through 5 of Rings behave like cards of any other suit.
The rulebook states this directly.
Yes. Whoever holds and legally plays the 1 of Rings may choose to win with it, even if that is a poor idea for their character.
Several players agree and nothing official contradicts it.
Yes. The Old Man Willow card says the 1 of Rings beats any Old Forest card. It still has to be a legal play, so you can't play it if you could follow suit.
No rule settles it; players are split.
The rules don't say. Won tricks are kept face down to the side so they aren't confused with hand cards, and communication rules allow only cards relevant to a goal to stay face up. Many groups look through them to track goals; others don't. Decide as a table.
The rulebook states this directly.
Frodo does by default. Glorfindel leads in Chapter 9 even when Frodo is in the round. Chapters without Frodo name another leader, such as Mr. Underhill (Chapter 7), Elrond (Chapter 10) and Orophin and Rúmil (Chapter 15). In Chapter 18, Group 1 uses Frodo and Group 2 uses the One Ring holder.
Several players agree and nothing official contradicts it.
No. They need strictly more than every other player, so a tie fails.
The rulebook states this directly.
Yes. Merry fails if he wins none or more than two tricks. The Chapter 2 clarification in the rulebook spells this out.
The rulebook states this directly.
Yes. Zero counts as fewer than any number, so Pippin in Chapter 1 and Strider's fewer option are both satisfied by winning no tricks.
Several players agree and nothing official contradicts it.
Tricks. A trick containing several matching cards counts once, so a goal to win N tricks needs N separate tricks.
The rulebook states this directly.
No. He must win strictly more or strictly fewer tricks than the Threat value; exactly equal fails. He keeps the Threat card hidden and announces when his goal is complete.
Several players agree and nothing official contradicts it.
Yes. Any Rings cards in tricks he wins count, whoever played them, including ones he played himself.
The rulebook states this directly.
Consecutive tricks in play order. The ranks of the cards don't matter. She must win exactly 3 tricks, and no others.
Several players agree and nothing official contradicts it.
At the end of the round, pick one card still in Tom's hand; he needs to have won at least three cards of that card's suit. Different leftover suits don't combine.
Several players agree and nothing official contradicts it.
No. He needs at least two cards of the Threat rank by the end of the round; they can come from one trick or several.
Several players agree and nothing official contradicts it.
No. Cards won in tricks the character wins count, regardless of who played them.
Several players agree and nothing official contradicts it.
No. Solo hands are refilled after every trick, so the whole deck reaches the table and the card will turn up. Only a lost-card match triggers a Threat redraw.
Several players agree and nothing official contradicts it.
No. Only winning the 1 of Rings fails him, though winning other Rings cards makes Frodo's goal harder. Burdened Boromir may not win any Rings card.
Several players agree and nothing official contradicts it.
Yes. Sam only needs the specified Hills card in a trick he wins, and can absorb additional tricks others must avoid.
Yes. On the German and French cards both sides of Frodo print the same Rings goal, which is an error. The publisher has posted errata and offers free replacement cards.
The rulebook states this directly.
Yes, but only if no remaining trick could make any chosen character fail. Characters like Merry, Pippin or Bill the Pony, or Gildor, who is decided on the last trick, mean the round must be played out.
The rulebook states this directly.
Stop the round as soon as you know it is failed and start over; the rulebook explicitly allows ending early on a failed goal.
The designer's answer, relayed or posted in the forum, supports this.
Only the starred character(s) in the chapter setup, which is not always Frodo. Other characters need to be completed only once across the rounds, and some chapters have optional characters.
The rulebook states this directly.
Yes. Every chosen character, including one already completed in an earlier round, must meet their goal in that round, or the round is lost. Completion only means you need not pick them again.
The rulebook states this directly.
Yes. They are chosen after hands are dealt, so you may re-pick one if your hand suits it, though that may cost an extra round.
The rulebook states this directly.
Only characters completed in earlier successful rounds. You may restart the chapter or replay the failed round keeping them; characters in the failed round count as not completed.
The rulebook states this directly.
You can win the chapter without ever choosing them, but if you choose one in a round you must still complete their goal that round.
The designer's answer is relayed second-hand by forum members, not posted by the designer.
Once per chapter, not once per round. An assigned but unused Gift carries over to later rounds. A Gift you have used stays used even if that round was lost and you replay it keeping your completed characters. The sources don't state whether restarting the chapter from scratch returns it; a forum player assumes it does.
Based on a small number of forum replies; no official ruling.
No. One forum reading is that a discard-to-gain Gift is optional, so you choose when to play it.
Based on a small number of forum replies; no official ruling.
Most likely yes: the card covers any character who did not complete their goal, including one who won too many tricks. This is a forum reading, not an official ruling. Forum players also think it can't override a loss the game states outright, such as a Durin's Bane round loss or Boromir winning the One Ring.
Based on one forum reply that the asker accepted; no official ruling.
Yes. Reshuffle the numbered Threat cards each round so characters get fresh random Threat cards.
The designer's answer is relayed second-hand by forum members.
No. Tricks taken by Old Man Willow are ignored when comparing trick totals for Pippin. Willow can still win a card that another goal needs.
Based on a small number of forum replies; no official ruling.
The player who led that trick leads again, per the Old Man Willow card.
Based on a small number of forum replies; no official ruling.
Seven tricks, and Old Man Willow reveals a card before every one of them; his nine-card Old Forest deck is more than enough.
Based on a small number of forum replies; no official ruling.
Pull the eight Forests cards before shuffling and add the 9 Old Man Willow card to form the Old Forest deck. Deal the rest: 9 cards each with two lost cards at 2-3 players, or 7 cards each with one lost card at 4 players. Tom takes the lost cards. Solo uses the solo setup, leaving a 12-card draw deck.
Several players agree and nothing official contradicts it.
No lost card is dealt. Set the five Rings aside, make a Barrow deck from non-Rings cards (10 at 2-3 players, 5 at solo or four), then return the Rings to the deck before dealing. Tom ends the round with five cards left.
The rulebook covers Frodo and Glorfindel in Chapter 9; the designer reply is relayed second-hand.
No. Only Glorfindel is required every round. Frodo (taken by the One Ring holder when included) needs to be completed once, in any round, so he can wait. Glorfindel leads the first trick when both are in play.
The rulebook states this directly.
When they are picked; each character gets their own specific Black Rider. The numbered Black Rider Threat deck is not used in Chapter 10 or any later chapter; the Threat cards from then on are the numbered 1-7 cards.
Several players agree and nothing official contradicts it.
Both players pick their card face down before either sees the other's, then swap at once. Setup order is still clockwise. Glorfindel in Chapter 9 passes his cards out first, then each recipient chooses a card to give back. Bill the Pony passes to Frodo and Sam at the same time.
Several players agree and nothing official contradicts it.
No, once for the whole chapter. Using it still counts the Moria event as completed.
The rulebook states this directly.
Any order, but the Bridge event must be last, and all three Moria events must be completed. Only The Long Dark can be done more than once. Characters can still be finished during the Bridge round.
Based on a small number of forum replies; no official ruling.
The eight Shadows cards plus the Balrog card, used only in this chapter. Players compare the sum of the Balrog cards against the sum of the cards played to the trick. One poster stresses that the players must beat the Balrog total, which is easy to read backwards, so check the event card.
Several players agree and nothing official contradicts it.
Only in the Bridge event. Regular Gandalf is used for the other events, and the Bridge is the only way to complete his goal.
Based on a small number of forum replies; no official ruling.
No. You need at least one card each of Mountains, Forests and Hills, in any number of tricks.
The rulebook states this directly.
His two set-aside cards (one may be a Rings card) are played into the first and last tricks and may be off-suit. They only set the lead suit if Radagast would lead that trick anyway.
The rulebook states this directly.
Yes. The event needs at least one card of each rank 1 to 8, and the 1 of Rings counts as the 1.
The designer's answer is relayed second-hand by a forum member.
No. You can win without him, but if you pick him you must complete his goal. Frodo is the only starred character in Chapter 13, so he is in every round.
The rulebook states this directly.
Treat them as trump that lose only to the 1 of Rings. You must still follow the lead suit when able, and the River suit does not need to be broken before it can be led.
Based on a small number of forum replies; no official ruling.
You must succeed with both groups, in either order and across several attempts. Frodo, if in the group, must be taken by the One Ring holder; Group 2 without Frodo is led by the One Ring holder. River cards are not trump there; six Rivers are used at three players.
Based on a small number of forum replies; no official ruling.
You lose the chapter, as a failed short chapter. Merry must also avoid winning any rank 8 card thanks to his Black Rider.
The rulebook states this directly.
No. Mr. Underhill is not Frodo for any other card, so Sam can't exchange with him. Anyone can choose him, and if he holds the 1 of Rings he can exchange it.
The designer's reply is relayed by a forum member; the rulebook only says Gimli plays normally.
Yes. He declares his choice to win as he plays it.
Based on a small number of forum replies; no official ruling.
Yes. Frodo can't exchange the Ring away himself, but a character who holds it may pass it to him.
Based on a small number of forum replies; no official ruling.
No. Frodo gets it only in Chapters 13, 14 and 17.
Based on a small number of forum replies; no official ruling.
The character who drew it, on their own turn, and each may redraw once. Meriadoc's ability does nothing if he isn't in the round, solo included. Burdened Samwise has no exchange.
The rulebook covers only looking at the card; the rest is a forum reading.
The rulebook says Shadowfax can look at his tucked card at any time. Forum players read the tucked card as no longer being in hand, so while it is tucked the player is void in its suit and need not follow it.
The rulebook states this directly.
Yes. Elrond's goal doesn't replace anyone else's; every character must complete theirs.
The designer's answer, relayed or posted in the forum, supports this.
Gifts like Sting and Glamdring are tied to specific characters, as setup text says. Otherwise the players decide together who takes it.
Several players relay the designer's answer; it is not a direct designer post.
No. The designer says he should not be used; his number box should be white.
The rulebook states this directly.
No. It must be used in one round, any round, and given to a non-burdened character. The Unseen rider goes to a character that uses a Threat card.
The rulebook confirms Frodo each round; the Gandalf point rests on one forum reply.
Frodo is used every round. Gandalf is one of the other characters in the pool; a forum player reads him as not required every round.
The rulebook mentions burdened sides only in passing; the description rests on a forum reply.
Some characters are double-sided; the burdened side changes their goal or setup. The Road Goes Ever On randomly puts some on the burdened side.
The rulebook states this directly.
Yes. If several characters can use it, the group decides who takes it.
The rulebook states this directly.
No. It plays only uncovered cards; the bottom row at the start of a round. Face-down cards flip up when nothing covers them at the end of a trick.
The rulebook states this directly.
The player dealt the 1 of Rings controls it; if the pyramid itself is dealt the 1 of Rings, it is Frodo and the player to its right controls it. It acts as the third player in the round. A designer answer relayed on the forum says it sits between the two players in the same spot either way.
The rulebook states this directly.
The controlling player plays the pyramid's cards. Only information visible to everyone may be discussed, such as face-up pyramid cards; hints about hidden cards are not allowed.
The rulebook states this directly.
Beside the bottom row, face up, never covering any card.
The rulebook states this directly.
Yes. It counts as a third player, and if its goal fails everyone loses. The controller makes decisions such as Strider's more-or-fewer call.
Based on a small number of forum replies; no official ruling.
No ruling covers it. The rulebook requires the Horn of Gondor in Chapter 11 and drops it in solo. Forum players think it can't be used when the pyramid controls Boromir; a suggested adaptation, mirroring solo, is to use it only when a human controls Boromir. This is not official.
The rulebook states this directly.
One character's exchange per round, any character's, not just the first in order; zero is allowed. Fatty Bolger's setup in Chapter 4 is not an exchange.
The rulebook states this directly.
The three-player side, which needs four or more Rings cards.
The rulebook states this directly.
Set aside one lost card, deal four hands of four (one including the 1 of Rings), and put the rest in a draw deck. After each trick every hand draws one face-up card while the deck lasts.
Several players agree and nothing official contradicts it.
No. It ends when every participating goal is decided. A solo round typically has nine tricks.
The rulebook states this directly.
Nine, dealt at setup. He gives one to each other character, receives none back, and does not draw after tricks.
The rulebook states this directly.
Set up as a normal solo game (Frodo on the three-player side) but with a 12-card draw deck, ignoring the Long Dark setup text. Build a nine-card Balrog deck from the eight Shadows and the Balrog card, deal 16 cards to the four hands including the 1 of Rings, and set aside a lost card.
No fix needed. New cards are drawn after every trick so all cards reach the table.