The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-earth
The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-earth Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Overview
- Component List
- First Campaign Setup
- Roles
- Playing the Game
- Action Phase
- Shadow Phase
- Rally Phase
- Completing an Adventure
- Tests
- Attack Tests
- Damage and Fear
- Last Stands
- Enemies
- Skill Cards
- Item Cards
- Modifiers
- Additional Rules
- Golden Rules
- Advanced Rules
- Campaign Rules
- Quick Reference
- Credits
Overview
The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-earth is an app-driven, cooperative game. Each game is one adventure of a greater campaign. During each adventure, the heroes attempt to complete a series of objectives before they are overwhelmed by the evils of Middle-earth. No matter the outcome of a particular adventure, the heroes and the campaign progress. Eventually, after completing a series of adventures, the campaign will reach a climactic conclusion that ends in success or failure for the entire party of heroes.
An Epic Campaign
Each time the players begin an adventure, the Journeys in Middle-earth app fills that adventure with content from a host of many possibilities. The same adventure can vary in many aspects: the size and layout of the map, the enemies and allies that are encountered, the events that plague the heroes, and much more. As a result, players can play the same campaign repeatedly and live a new story each time.
The App
To play the game, one player must download the free Journeys in Middle-earth app on a compatible device. The app determines the challenges and content that the heroes encounter during the game, from tile and token placement to enemy behavior. The app also allows the heroes to save their campaign, allowing them to complete it over the course of several gaming sessions. The app provides narratives and objectives, generates maps and enemies, determines when the heroes win or lose an adventure, and manages the party's inventory. The collection manager in the app allows players to select which Journeys in Middle-earth products they want to incorporate into the game's procedurally generated adventures.
The Two Rulebooks
This document combines the game's two official rules books. The Learn to Play teaches new players how to play. The Rules Reference is the definitive source for all rules and describes detailed rules and exceptions, including the Advanced Rules and Campaign Rules that appear in the campaign after the first adventure. As questions arise during the game, players should consult the Rules Reference rules over the Learn to Play.
Component List
- 1 Rules Reference
- 22 Journey Map Tiles
- 2 Battle Map Tiles
- 31 Plastic Figures (6 Heroes, 25 Enemies)
- 83 Item Cards
- 15 Boon Cards
- 28 Fear Cards
- 28 Damage Cards
- 10 Terrain Cards
- 30 Basic Skill Cards
- 30 Hero Skill Cards
- 72 Role Skill Cards
- 20 Weakness Skill Cards
- 21 Title Skill Cards
- 6 Hero Cards
- 12 Enemy Banners and Plastic Stands
- 20 Search/Threat Tokens
- 30 Inspiration/Exploration Tokens
- 21 Depletion Tokens
- 8 Person Tokens (4 variations)
- 5 Darkness Tokens
- Terrain Tokens (Fire Pit/Statue, Barrels/Table, Pit/Mist, Stream/Wall, Bush/Boulder)
First Campaign Setup
To set up their first campaign of Journeys in Middle-earth, players follow the steps presented in this section.
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Select Campaign and Difficulty: Select the "New Game" button on the app's title screen. Then, the app will guide the players through a series of screens for selecting a campaign, a difficulty, and a save slot. It is recommended that players select the "Bones of Arnor" campaign and "Normal" difficulty.
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Create Party and Select Heroes: Each player selects a hero in the app, takes their hero's corresponding figure and hero card, and places them in their play area. These heroes will be used for the duration of the campaign, which spans several adventures. If playing single-player, the player chooses two heroes and controls both of them.
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Gather Starting Items: The app assigns starting items for each hero. Each player finds the item cards that match the name and tier displayed in the app and places them near their hero card. Players may select different starting items in the app if they wish.
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Create Damage, Fear, and Weakness Decks: Shuffle the damage cards, fear cards, and weakness skill cards (only weakness skill cards, not other skill cards) into separate decks and place them in the center of the play area where all players can reach them.
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Create Supply: Separate the exploration/inspiration, search/threat, person, and enemy banner tokens as well as the three types of boon cards into separate piles to create the supply. Set aside all map tiles and enemy figures; some of them will be used during the adventure. Return the battle map tiles and terrain tokens to the box — they are not used in the first adventure.
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Begin Campaign: The players input a group name, and then select "Begin" in the app and watch the short cutscene that introduces the story and the heroes' quest.
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Choose Role: Each player selects a role in the app — this is the role their hero takes for the first adventure. A player can choose any role from the menu, but the recommended starting role for each hero is as follows: Aragorn: Captain; Beravor: Pathfinder; Bilbo: Burglar; Elena: Musician; Gimli: Guardian; Legolas: Hunter. Role selection is not permanent — heroes can change roles between adventures.
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Gather Skill Cards: Each hero gathers the following 15 skill cards:
- one copy of each skill card numbered 1–6 that has the word "Basic" on the bottom of the card
- the skill cards numbered 1–5 that have the name of their hero on the bottom of the card
- the skill cards numbered 1–3 that have their role on the bottom of the card (the text boxes on these cards are colored green to help players quickly identify them)
- one weakness card from the top of the weakness deck
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Prepare Role Card and Create Skill Decks: Each hero finds the starting skill card for their role. Each starting skill card has the number "1" after the role name at the bottom of the card and has stars next to the card name. Each hero prepares their starting skill card by placing it faceup below their hero card. Then, each player shuffles their remaining 14 cards together to create their skill deck and places it facedown in their play area.
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Place Starting Tiles and Tokens: Select "Embark" in the app and follow the app's instructions, placing map tiles and tokens in the play area as shown in the app to create the game map. A unique alphanumeric code is printed on each map tile to make it easy both to find the tiles and to orient them when placing them. Be sure to leave extra room for additional map tiles to be placed during the game — the app displays fog next to the starting map tiles to indicate roughly where map tiles will be added later. After following all instructions in the app, the players begin their adventure.
Roles
A hero's role during an adventure determines some of that hero's capabilities. Each role has a general purpose:
- Burglar: Evades enemies and is self-sufficient
- Captain: Helps the party prepare for any situation
- Guardian: Protects others and has strong defenses
- Hunter: Attacks for heavy damage
- Musician: Inspires others to succeed at their tasks
- Pathfinder: Helps the party move quickly
Role selection is not permanent — heroes can change roles between adventures. The role a hero chooses during setup determines the three role-specific skill cards (numbered 1–3) that become part of that hero's skill deck.
Playing the Game
A game of Journeys in Middle-earth is played over a series of rounds. Each round has three phases that players resolve in the following order:
- Action Phase: During this phase, the heroes move around the map, interact with the world, and attack enemies.
- Shadow Phase: During this phase, the enemies move and attack heroes, and other dark threats grow stronger.
- Rally Phase: During this phase, the heroes prepare for the next round.
After resolving each phase, a new round begins with the action phase. Players continue to resolve game rounds in this manner until the adventure ends.
Action Phase
During the action phase, each hero takes a turn by performing actions to search, fight, and journey through the lands of Middle-earth. The heroes take turns in the order of their choice, and this order can change from round to round. Each hero must resolve their turn completely before another hero takes their turn.
During a hero's turn, they can perform two actions, which may be the same action twice. A hero may choose to perform zero actions or one action instead of two. The actions are:
- Travel
- Attack
- Interact
After all heroes have taken a turn, they select the hourglass button in the lower-right corner of the app screen to proceed to the shadow phase.
Abilities may allow heroes to resolve game effects other than actions during their turn. If an ability allows a hero to move, attack, or interact, these abilities are not actions even though the effects are identical to those granted by performing actions.
Travel Action
The travel action allows a hero to move around the game map. The game map is composed of map tiles, each of which is divided into one or more spaces. A space is an area of the board enclosed by gray borders. Spaces that share a gray border are adjacent to each other.
When a hero performs a travel action, they can move twice. Each time a hero moves, they move to an adjacent space. A hero can interrupt their two moves to perform the second action of their turn. For example, a hero can move one space, perform their second action, and then move one additional space.
Exploration
Each journey map tile has a square box where an exploration token may be placed, as indicated by the app. A map tile that has an exploration token on it is unexplored. When a hero moves into any space on an unexplored tile, they must immediately explore the tile.
To explore a tile, the hero selects the appropriate exploration token in the app and then selects the "Confirm" button. The app instructs the hero to discard the exploration token and gain one inspiration. To do this, the hero can simply flip the exploration token and place it on their hero card.
Exploring a tile is not a separate action; it is simply the result of a hero moving onto a tile that has an exploration token. Exploring is not optional and does not require that the hero end their movement in a space on that tile.
Attack Action
The attack action allows heroes to attack an enemy group, attempting to remove it from the map. An enemy group is one or more plastic figures of the same type that move and attack together. Each enemy group has a corresponding portrait in the app.
To perform an attack, the hero chooses an item to attack with. The item must have a stat icon in the upper-left corner of the card. The hero also must choose one enemy group that is in range. If an enemy group is in the same space as the hero, that enemy group is in range. Enemy groups in spaces adjacent to the hero are also in range if the hero is attacking with an item card that has the ranged icon in the upper-right corner.
After the hero chooses an item and enemy group, they resolve an attack test against that enemy group (see "Tests" and "Attack Tests" below).
Interact Action
The interact action allows heroes to encounter points of interest on the map, which are indicated by search, person, and threat tokens. Interacting with these tokens is how heroes progress the adventure, discover items, gain experience, and neutralize threats.
If a hero is in the same space as a search, person, or threat token, that hero can perform an interact action by selecting the token in the app and then selecting the button with the interact (action) icon. When performing an interact action, the app provides the hero with instructions to follow. Then, the hero continues their turn.
Players can inspect tokens in the app at any time by selecting them and reading their text, which usually describes what the token represents. Inspecting is not an action. However, if a player selects a button preceded by the interact icon, they are performing an interact action and must meet the requirements for doing so.
Adding Map Tiles
The app instructs players to place new map tiles when certain conditions are met — these conditions include exploring and interacting with tokens, defeating enemies, etc. When the app instructs the players to place a tile, it highlights the alphanumeric code on that tile. The players should use this highlight to help orient the tile with the rest of the map. The fog depicted near the edges of tiles in the app indicates where new map tiles will be placed.
Shadow Phase
The shadow phase is evil's opportunity to strike back and hinder the heroes' progress. To resolve the shadow phase, the app guides the heroes through the following steps: enemy activation, darkness, and threat. After the shadow phase, the heroes proceed to the rally phase.
Enemy Activation Step
During the enemy activation step, each readied enemy group attempts to move and attack. The app provides an enemy group with a target to move toward and attack.
First, the enemy group moves up to the indicated number of spaces toward the targeted hero, taking the shortest path of spaces possible. The enemy group stops when it is in range of that hero. The enemy is in range if it is in the hero's space or if it is in an adjacent space and has the ranged icon on its enemy portrait. Each space that the enemy group moves into must reduce the distance between that enemy group and the space containing its target. If multiple paths are tied for being the shortest, the party chooses which path the enemy moves along.
If the enemy group cannot get in range of its target but it can get in range of another hero, that closer hero becomes the new target. If multiple heroes satisfy this condition, the heroes choose which one becomes the new target.
If the enemy can get in range of a target, the "Attack" button is selected and the app displays the amount of damage and fear that the hero might suffer. If the enemy group cannot get in range of any target, it ignores the entire instruction (including movement) and the "No Target" button is selected. This provides the enemy with a new instruction, which usually moves the enemy closer to a hero.
When all enemy groups are exhausted, the shadow phase proceeds to the darkness step.
Darkness Step
During the darkness step, darkness strikes fear into the hearts and minds of the heroes. Because darkness is not always present during an adventure, the heroes only resolve this step when the app instructs them to do so.
A hero is in darkness if any of the following three conditions apply:
- They are in a space with a printed darkness icon.
- They are in a space with a darkness token.
- The app states that they are in darkness. (The app may indicate that the entire game map is in darkness.)
To resolve the darkness step, each hero in darkness suffers an amount of fear indicated by the app. Typically, a hero has an opportunity to negate this fear.
Threat Step
As time passes for the heroes, the threats of Middle-earth draw closer and become more dangerous. During the threat step, threat increases and threat events may occur.
Threat is represented by a threat bar at the top of the app screen, which fills as threat increases. When threat increases to a threshold, a threat event is activated in the app and heroes resolve it by following its instructions. Each threshold has a number that indicates the amount of threat required for it to activate. If the threat bar ever fills completely, the game ends and the heroes fail the adventure.
Threat increases during each threat step by the following amounts:
- two for each hero playing
- one for each threat token on the map
- one for each unexplored tile
Additionally, some effects can cause threat to increase during other game phases. The app always calculates and increases threat automatically. At the end of the shadow phase, all exhausted enemies are automatically readied.
Rally Phase
After the shadow phase, the app instructs the heroes to plan for the next round. To resolve the rally phase, heroes perform the following steps in order:
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Reset: Each hero resets their skill deck by shuffling their discard pile into their deck. If a hero does not have any skill cards in their discard pile, they still shuffle their skill deck.
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Scout: The app instructs the heroes to "Scout 2." A hero does this by revealing the top two cards of their skill deck. Then, the hero may prepare one of them by placing it below their hero card. If a card is prepared, the abilities on that card are available to be used. After choosing whether or not to prepare a card, each hero places their cards that were not prepared on the top or bottom of their deck in any order. By placing useless cards, like weaknesses, on the bottom of their deck and useful cards, such as cards that have the success icon, on the top of their deck, a hero can help ensure that their upcoming actions have positive outcomes.
A hero can only have four skill cards prepared at a time. If a hero ever has more than four prepared cards, they must discard cards until only four prepared cards remain.
After scouting, the heroes select the "Continue" button and proceed to a new round, starting with the action phase.
Completing an Adventure
The party of heroes wins or loses an adventure together. Winning an adventure provides the heroes with greater rewards; however, whether they win or lose, all of the heroes proceed to the next adventure of the campaign.
Objectives
Each adventure provides the heroes with a series of objectives. During an adventure, the heroes' current objective is displayed beneath the threat bar. After the heroes complete one objective, the app provides the heroes with a new objective automatically.
If the heroes complete the final objective before the threat bar is full, they win the adventure. If a hero is defeated, the remaining heroes continue playing; however, if they do not complete the final objective by the start of the next shadow phase, they lose the adventure. An adventure also ends in a loss when the threat bar fills completely.
After the adventure ends, the app provides the heroes with an adventure epilogue and then proceeds to the camp screen where heroes can buy skills and upgrade items prior to beginning the next adventure. If the adventure ends the campaign, the app provides a campaign epilogue.
Tests
Tests are the primary way that heroes interact with the world and attack enemies. Heroes regularly perform tests when they are exploring, encountering threats, attacking enemies, and interacting with the people of Middle-earth.
Each test requires a hero to use one of their stats, which are listed on their hero card: agility, might, spirit, wisdom, or wit. A hero may be instructed to perform a test of a specific stat, of one stat from a list of options, or of any stat of their choice. To perform a test, a hero resolves the following steps in order:
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Reveal Cards: The hero reveals a number of cards from the top of their skill deck equal to the value of the stat being tested. Beravor's might is "3," so when she performs a might test, she reveals three cards from her deck. A hero always reveals a minimum of one card while performing a test, even if the number of revealed cards is modified below one. The text on all revealed cards is ignored — during a test, only the success and fate icons in the upper-left corner of the revealed cards are relevant.
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Convert Fate: The hero may spend any number of their inspiration tokens. For each inspiration token they spend, they can convert one fate icon on their revealed skill cards to one success icon. Abilities that a hero can resolve when performing a test are resolved during this step.
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Calculate Results: The hero calculates the total number of success icons the test produced and applies them according to the test's instructions.
After completing the test, the hero places all the cards they revealed during the test into their skill deck discard pile.
Using Successes
The hero uses successes differently depending on the test:
- Some tests require the hero to input the number of successes into the app by selecting the "+" button. Then, the app provides the outcome of the test. The successes for some of these tests are cumulative; the heroes can perform the test multiple times, and the app tracks the total number of successes.
- Some tests provide a number that indicates how many successes are required to pass (e.g., "Test agility; 1"). If the hero has successes equal to or greater than the required number, they pass the test. Otherwise, they fail. In either situation, the app provides the hero with further instructions.
- Successes are used in different ways when attacking enemies and when negating damage and fear, both of which are described later. Success icons that a test produces in excess of the required number have no effect.
Fate and Inspiration
During a test, a hero's revealed cards may contain fate icons. Fate icons have no inherent effect; however, the hero can spend inspiration tokens to convert fate icons to success icons. Each inspiration spent converts a single fate icon. To spend an inspiration, the hero takes an inspiration from their hero card and returns it to the supply.
When a hero gains inspiration, they take an inspiration token from the supply and place it on their hero card. A hero cannot have more inspiration tokens than the inspiration limit indicated on their hero card. If a hero gains inspiration but already has inspiration equal to their limit, they cannot gain that inspiration.
After a fate icon is converted to a success icon, the fate icon cannot be used for any other purpose and is no longer treated as a fate icon. When a skill card is prepared, any success and fate icons on that card have no effect and are ignored.
Attack Tests
Attack tests are performed during a hero's attack after the hero chooses an enemy group to attack and an item to attack with. A hero resolves an attack by performing the following steps, in order:
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Choose Item and Stat: The hero chooses any number of their equipped items to use for the attack. If the hero chooses multiple items, all chosen items must have at least one stat in common, and the chosen stat must match an icon on all of them. Then, the hero chooses one of the stats listed in the upper-left corner of the item card(s) and tests that stat.
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Choose Target: The hero chooses an enemy group as the target of the attack. The hero can target any enemy group in the same space. The hero can target an enemy group in an adjacent space if all of that hero's chosen items have the ranged icon.
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Perform Attack Test: An attack test follows the same rules as a standard test; however, the successes are spent to resolve abilities on the item cards being used for the attack. Each ability indicates how many successes must be spent to resolve it, and each ability can be resolved only once per attack. To resolve an ability, the hero spends the required number of successes and then resolves the ability's text.
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Counterattack: After a hero attacks an enemy group, that enemy group may be able to attack the hero who attacked it. If the app provides a counterattack prompt, the hero selects "Yes" if the enemy is in range of the hero who attacked it. Otherwise, the hero selects "No."
Applying Hits
Most item abilities add hits to enemies. To add hits, the hero selects the enemy's portrait to display the enemy menu, then the attack tab to display the attack pane. Then, the hero selects the "+" button in the attack pane to input each hit. For example, one success spent on "Sword" can apply two hits, and two successes applies five hits.
In addition to applying hits, abilities may provide heroes with attack modifiers, such as "pierce," which allows a hero to bypass an enemy's armor. If an ability has a modifier, the hero selects the matching modifier in the app. The app calculates the effect of each modifier automatically.
The enemy menu displays a health value for each figure in the enemy group as well as each figure's armor or sorcery value. If an enemy has armor or sorcery, hits reduce those values first. If an enemy does not have armor or sorcery, hits reduce the enemy's health. If an enemy has both armor and sorcery, hits are applied to that enemy's armor before its sorcery. The app applies hits to a single enemy within an enemy group, attempting to defeat one enemy before applying hits to another.
After inputting all hits and modifiers, the hero selects the "Apply" button to apply the hits to the enemies (even if the hero had no hits — this can still cause a counterattack). If an enemy's health is reduced to zero, that enemy is defeated and the app instructs the heroes to remove the enemy's figure from the board. If an enemy is not defeated, it regains all of its armor and sorcery, and it may be prompted to counterattack.
Add and Apply
Abilities that "add" hits or modifiers (such as "Strike X") alter an attack that is in progress. Abilities that explicitly state to "apply" hits or modifiers resolve outside of an attack — they are not attacks and cannot cause counterattacks. To resolve an apply ability, the hero inputs hits and modifiers in the enemy's menu and selects "Apply," but the hero always selects "No" if the app prompts a counterattack.
Damage and Fear
Middle-earth is rife with dangerous enemies and other threats that imperil the intrepid heroes. As a result, the heroes may suffer damage and fear. If a hero suffers too much damage or fear, they are on the verge of being defeated and must perform a last-stand test.
When a hero suffers a damage or fear, they reveal a damage or fear card from the appropriate deck and place it faceup in their play area. Then, they resolve the card's effect. Many of these cards instruct the hero to flip the card facedown or discard it. If a hero is instructed to keep the card faceup, it has a persistent effect that continues to apply to that hero. If a hero suffers multiple damage or fear at the same time from a single source, they reveal each card one at a time, resolving the card completely before revealing another.
Occasionally, a hero is specifically instructed to suffer facedown damage or fear. When this occurs, the hero places that damage or fear facedown next to their hero card without reading the card's text. A hero cannot look at the front of a facedown damage or fear card unless a game effect specifically allows it.
Negating Damage and Fear
A hero may be granted a chance to negate damage or fear before they suffer it. This typically occurs during an enemy attack or during the darkness step. When this occurs, the app provides the hero with a stat to test followed by the word "negates" (e.g., "Each hero in darkness suffers 2 fear; might negates."). Before suffering the damage or fear, the hero may test the indicated stat, and each success icon produced during that test prevents one damage or fear. Heroes do not suffer damage or fear that is prevented — the cards are not revealed. If a hero would suffer both damage and fear at the same time, the hero can choose whether each success negates one damage or one fear.
Abilities that explicitly use the word "prevent" always reduce damage or fear without the hero needing to perform a test. If a hero can both prevent and negate, they may negate first and then resolve abilities that prevent.
Discarding Damage and Fear
Some game effects allow a hero to discard damage or fear. When a hero discards a card, they may discard a faceup card of their choice or a random facedown card, and place it at the bottom of the appropriate deck. Facedown damage or fear is always discarded randomly.
Last Stands
Through their trials and ordeals, the heroes may be brought to the limits of what their bodies and spirits can endure. Each hero has damage and fear limits on their hero card. Some game effects may increase or decrease these limits; multiple such effects are cumulative.
After a hero has suffered damage or fear, if they have a number of damage cards (faceup or facedown) equal to or greater than their damage limit, or a number of fear cards equal to or greater than their fear limit, that hero must perform a last stand. When suffering multiple damage or fear from a single source, the hero does not determine whether they have reached a limit until all the cards from that source are resolved.
To perform a last stand, the hero selects the party button in the lower-left corner of the app. Then, they select the hero's portrait and the limit (damage or fear) that was reached, and follow the app's instructions. A last stand includes a test: if the hero fails the test, they are defeated. If the hero passes the test, they follow the instructions provided by the app.
If a hero reaches both of their limits, they perform two successive last stands in the order of their choice.
Defeated
A hero is defeated when they fail a last stand. When a hero is defeated, their figure is removed from the map and they can no longer participate in the adventure. Any damage cards, fear cards, and tokens in the defeated hero's play area remain there until the adventure is complete. Defeated heroes still gain experience and can participate in the next adventure as normal.
After a hero is defeated, at the beginning of the next shadow phase, the adventure automatically ends and the heroes lose. It is possible for the heroes to win the adventure, but they must do so before the next shadow phase begins.
Enemies
Enemy Groups
An enemy group is represented on the game map by one or more plastic figures and is represented digitally in the app by a portrait and an enemy menu. An enemy group always moves, activates, and attacks together. Each enemy menu displays the name of the enemy group, any bonuses the group has, and a number of health bars equal to the number of enemies in the group. If an ability or game effect refers to an "enemy," it is referencing an enemy group.
When an enemy group needs to be placed on the map, the app indicates where the group is placed and how many figures are in the group. There should be one enemy group (containing one or more figures) on the game map for each enemy portrait shown in the app.
Readied and Exhausted
An enemy group is either readied or exhausted. Enemies become exhausted either after the app activates them or after they attack. When an enemy is exhausted, its portrait in the app is darkened. Exhausted enemies cannot activate, counterattack, or be provoked (elite enemies are exceptions to counterattacking). The app readies all enemy groups at the end of the shadow phase.
Provoking Enemies
While a hero is in the same space as a readied enemy group, certain actions will provoke that enemy, causing it to attack. A hero must provoke an enemy during each of the following situations:
- before a hero moves out of a space that has a readied enemy
- before a hero interacts with a token in a space that has a readied enemy
To provoke an enemy, a hero selects the provoke button to the left of the enemy portraits in the app. Then, they select the portrait of the enemy that is provoked. That enemy immediately resolves an enemy attack against the hero as instructed by the app. After the enemy attacks, the hero can move out of that enemy's space or perform an interact action as intended. Unlike an enemy activation or counterattack, an enemy group is not exhausted when it is provoked. A hero must provoke each enemy group in their space for each interact action they wish to perform.
Counterattack
After a hero attacks an enemy group, that enemy group may be able to attack the hero who attacked it. When the app provides a counterattack prompt, if the enemy group can attack, the hero selects "Yes." Otherwise, the hero selects "No." An enemy group can counterattack if it is in range of who attacked it. A non-elite enemy group cannot counterattack if it is exhausted. Elite enemy groups can counterattack even if they are exhausted. If a hero applies hits or modifiers to an enemy group because of a game effect other than an attack, that enemy group cannot counterattack.
Enemy Attacks
Enemy groups can attack heroes to defeat them. Typically, an enemy group attacks a hero when it activates, when it counterattacks, or when it is provoked. When an enemy group attacks, the app provides the hero with a damage value and a fear value, representing the amount of damage and fear the hero suffers. Typically, the hero has a chance to perform a test to negate damage and fear before they suffer it.
Elite Enemies
Elite enemy groups are stronger than standard enemies, and they have special bonuses. An elite enemy group's portrait has a spiked frame and banner icon. When an elite enemy group is placed on the map, the heroes place the elite banner token (red background) that matches that enemy group's banner icon along with the enemy figures. An elite enemy group's bonuses are listed in its enemy menu; the app automatically applies them. In addition to their listed bonuses, all elite enemies are able to perform counterattacks even when they are exhausted.
Enemy Banners and Duplicate Groups
Enemy banners distinguish elite enemy groups and multiple enemy groups of the same type. It is possible for there to be multiple non-elite enemy groups of the same type. When this happens, each additional enemy group is automatically assigned an enemy banner, presented next to that enemy's portrait in the app. When the heroes place the duplicate enemy group on the board, they place the matching enemy banner token next to that group's figures. If an enemy group that has a banner moves to a new space, its banner is moved with it; if the group is removed from the map, its banner is also removed.
Armor and Sorcery
Enemies and heroes can have armor, which makes them more difficult to defeat. An enemy group's armor is displayed as gray units on its health bar. When a hero applies hits to an enemy that has armor, the hits are applied to armor before health. After a hero applies hits, any enemy that was not defeated regains any armor it had lost. The "pierce" modifier ignores armor; the "sunder" modifier permanently reduces armor.
Some enemy groups have sorcery, which works like armor: hits reduce sorcery before health, and any enemy not defeated regains its sorcery. The "smite" modifier ignores sorcery. If an enemy has both armor and sorcery, hits are applied to armor before sorcery.
Interrupting Enemy Activations
Some abilities can interrupt an enemy's activation to apply hits or modifiers. To resolve these abilities, the hero selects the enemy's portrait, inputs and applies hits or modifiers indicated by the ability, then continues the enemy's activation.
Skill Cards
Each hero has a deck of skill cards that represents their capabilities. A hero's skill deck consists of one of each Basic card numbered 1–6, the cards numbered 1–5 with the hero's name, the cards numbered 1–3 with the hero's role, one weakness card, any skill cards purchased during the campaign, and any title cards gained during the campaign.
Like hero and item cards, skill cards have abilities that help the heroes accomplish their goals. However, a skill card's abilities can be used only while that card is prepared — in other words, the heroes ignore abilities on skill cards that are revealed for a test. Each card ability describes when the ability can be used. Many skill card abilities instruct the hero to discard the card from their prepared area.
Prepared Skill Cards
When a hero scouts cards, that hero can prepare one of those cards by placing it faceup below their hero card. A hero cannot have more than four prepared cards; if they would prepare a fifth card, they must discard one of their prepared cards. During setup, each hero prepares the "1" card that corresponds to their chosen role (this card has stars on each side of its name).
Resetting Skill Decks
A hero must reset their skill card deck at the following times: during the rally phase, when there are no cards remaining in their deck, and when an effect instructs them to do so. A hero resets their deck by shuffling their discard pile with any remaining cards in their deck and placing the newly shuffled deck facedown. Prepared cards are not shuffled into the deck. Skill cards, including weaknesses, are discarded to the skill card discard pile of the hero to whom the skill cards belong.
Keywords
Most skill cards contain one or more bolded keywords, which are shorthand for abilities that appear on cards frequently. A hero can only discard a card to use a keyword if that card is prepared.
- Scout X: Reveal X cards from the top of your skill deck. You may prepare one of those cards (place it faceup under your hero card). Then, place each of the remaining revealed cards on the top or bottom of your skill deck in any order.
- Strike X: During your attack test, you may discard a card that has the "Strike X" keyword to add X hits to the attack.
- Guard X: When you or a hero in your space would suffer damage or fear, you may discard a card that has the "Guard X" keyword to prevent any combination of X damage and fear. A hero must choose to use "Guard X" before damage and fear cards are revealed.
- Sprint X: During your turn, you can discard a card that has the "Sprint X" keyword to move X additional spaces. You can perform actions between each movement.
- Rest X: At the end of your turn, you can discard a card that has the "Rest X" keyword to discard any combination of X of your facedown damage or fear cards.
- Hide: After performing a test, you can discard a card that has the "Hide" keyword to gain a "Hidden" boon card. A hero cannot use "Hide" if they are already hidden.
If a card adds a keyword to a card that already has that keyword, the card is treated as having the better version (e.g., "Strike 2" gaining "Strike 1" is still "Strike 2").
Traits
Some skill cards (and item cards) contain italicized traits such as "Dwarf" and "Tactic." Traits have no inherent effects; however, other game effects may refer to cards that have traits.
Special Skill Cards: Weaknesses and Titles
Weakness and title cards are special types of skill cards that are part of the heroes' skill decks.
Weakness Cards: Each hero begins the game with one weakness card in their skill deck. Weakness cards have no inherent effect — their purpose is to be useless to heroes, cluttering skill decks and contributing no icons during tests. When a hero gains a weakness card during an adventure, they take the top card of the weakness deck and place it in their skill deck discard pile. A hero can prepare a weakness card to temporarily remove it from their skill deck even though it does not grant any abilities (it counts as one of the hero's four prepared cards). All of a hero's weakness cards are removed from their skill deck between adventures.
Title Cards: Title cards reflect a hero's memorable choices during a campaign. Title cards usually have powerful abilities that can be used only once during an adventure. When a hero gains a title card, they search the unused title skill cards for the specified card and prepare it immediately. After a hero gains a title card, it is part of that hero's inventory for the duration of the campaign. Abilities on many title cards instruct the hero to remove that skill card from the adventure; it is set aside and cannot be used again until the next adventure, when it is shuffled back into the hero's skill deck during setup.
Item Cards
Item cards represent the weapons, armor, trinkets, instruments, and other equipment that the heroes use during their adventure. Item cards have unique abilities for heroes to use at various times. Abilities prefaced by a numeral and success icon can only be used by spending success icons during an attack test. Items that can be used during an attack test contain one or more stats in the upper-left corner of the card.
A hero can equip up to one armor card, a number of item cards that have a total of two or fewer hand icons (two one-handed items or one two-handed item), and one trinket. Each item type is represented by an icon: armor, one-handed, two-handed, or trinket.
Hero Armor (Items)
Each hero has one armor item equipped during the campaign, with an armor icon printed on it. Each armor item provides one or more abilities that describe when they are used, typically allowing a hero to prevent damage and fear. During the camp screen between adventures, a hero may be able to upgrade their armor if they have gained enough lore.
Dual-Wielding
A hero can attack with more than one item if those items all share the stat that is being tested. When attacking with more than one item, the hero can spend successes to resolve abilities on any of the chosen items. If the hero is attacking an adjacent enemy group, all of the chosen items must have the ranged icon.
Trinket Item Cards
Heroes may find trinkets during their adventures. Trinkets are item cards that have the trinket icon along the bottom. When a hero gains a trinket, they search the unused item cards for the specified card and place it faceup next to their other items. Then, they place a number of depletion tokens on the trinket equal to the number in the lower-left corner of the card.
If a hero is instructed to deplete a trinket, they must spend one depletion token by removing it from that trinket's card. After a trinket's last depletion token is spent, the trinket is flipped facedown and cannot be used again during that adventure (the hero cannot resolve any of its abilities, even passive ones, while it is facedown). Trinkets receive their starting number of depletion tokens at the beginning of each adventure. Unlike other items, trinkets belong to the entire party instead of individual heroes; during setup before each adventure, each hero can equip one trinket from among all the trinkets the heroes have gained. If a game effect allows a hero to place a depletion token on a facedown trinket, the trinket is flipped faceup and its abilities become available.
Modifiers
There are six attack modifiers that can benefit heroes during an attack. Multiple modifiers can be applied to the same attack and all of their effects combine, but the same modifier cannot be applied multiple times during a single attack. Some enemy abilities prohibit certain modifiers; a prohibited modifier has no effect.
- Pierce: This attack ignores the enemy's armor.
- Smite: This attack ignores the enemy's sorcery.
- Sunder: This attack permanently reduces the enemy's armor by one (before hits are applied). The topmost enemy displayed loses one armor; if it is defeated, the next enemy also loses one armor.
- Cleave: Each enemy in the group suffers the full number of hits.
- Lethal: If this attack reduces the enemy's current health (not armor or sorcery) by at least half, the enemy is defeated.
- Stun: This attack exhausts the enemy group. If the group is elite, it also cannot counterattack this attack.
Additional Rules
Nearby
Some abilities and rules refer to nearby components or spaces. A component is nearby another component if they share the same space or are in spaces that are adjacent to each other. A nearby space refers to that space and all spaces adjacent to it. A component is not nearby itself.
Boon Cards
Heroes can become hidden, emboldened, or determined. These are boons that improve a hero's chances to battle enemies and pass tests. If a hero gains a boon, they take a boon card of the appropriate type and place it in their play area. The effect of each boon is described on the card. When a hero would gain a boon card that matches one they already have, they do not gain another copy.
Lore and Experience
During an adventure, the heroes may be rewarded with lore and experience. These resources are tracked in the app and allow the heroes to upgrade items and purchase new skills between adventures. (These are described in the Campaign Rules below and can be ignored during the first adventure.)
Golden Rules
The golden rules are the fundamental concepts on which all other game rules are built.
- If information in the Rules Reference contradicts the Learn to Play book, the Rules Reference takes precedence.
- If a card ability contradicts information in the Rules Reference, the card takes precedence. If both the card and the rules can be followed at the same time, they should be.
- If a card ability uses the word "cannot," it is absolute and cannot be overridden by other abilities.
- If an ability in the app contradicts information in the Rules Reference or on cards, the app takes precedence.
Conflicts
If multiple game effects occur at the same time, the players, as a group, determine the order in which those effects are resolved. If a game effect can have more than one possible outcome, the players as a group determine the outcome.
Ability Timing
The timing of an ability refers to when a hero can resolve it. "After" resolves immediately after the described event; "before" resolves immediately before it; "when" resolves at the moment of the event. Effects that occur "when" an event occurs take precedence over effects that occur "after" that same event. If an ability uses the word "then," the hero resolves the effect before "then," followed by the effect after "then."
When using an ability on a card with multiple abilities, only one can be used unless an ability specifically states it is used before, when, or after the other. Many abilities have a cost (spending successes, spending inspiration, discarding cards, depleting trinkets) that a hero must resolve to use the ability. A hero cannot resolve an ability if they cannot resolve its cost. If multiple abilities share the same cost, a hero cannot resolve the cost once to resolve each; only one ability can be resolved per cost.
Advanced Rules
The following rules appear in the campaign after the first adventure.
Black Borders
The edges of the dark journey map tiles that make up Middle-earth's mountains, caves, and halls have both gray borders and black borders. Spaces separated by black borders are not adjacent unless they are connected by gray borders that are aligned together. Arrows point to gray borders to help players identify them — when two gray borders are aligned, the arrows on each side of the aligned borders point toward each other. If a gray border meets a black border, those spaces are not adjacent. Neither heroes nor enemies can move across black borders.
The Battle Map and Terrain
Some adventures use a battle map composed of battle map tiles instead of the typical journey map tiles. The battle map is used when the focus of the campaign shifts from travel and exploration to a pivotal moment in the journey. When playing on a battle map, all of the rules of the game remain the same, with these exceptions: there are no unexplored battle map tiles, so heroes do not explore when they move; and battle maps may feature terrain tokens, which can affect movement and attack rules.
When setting up a battle map, the heroes place terrain tokens as indicated in the app. Some terrain tokens are placed in spaces and others on borders, altering the rules of that border. A player can select a terrain token in the app to review the terrain's rules, which may include the option of an interact action. Each terrain token has a corresponding terrain card that describes its effects. Some adventures use adventure-specific terrain, highlighted in the app by a sparkle effect; their effects differ from the terrain cards, so heroes should select those tokens in the app to review their rules.
Terrain Types
- Barrels: During the action phase, if a hero is nearby an enemy group and in a space with a barrels token, they can perform an interact action (this does not provoke enemies). They perform a wisdom test; on at least two successes, they apply four hits and stun to one nearby enemy group, then discard the token.
- Boulder: If a hero in a space with a boulder token performs a test to negate damage and fear, they may convert one fate icon to one success icon without spending inspiration. Each boulder token can be used once per negate test.
- Bush: During the action phase, if a hero ends their turn in a space with a bush token, they may perform a wit test; on at least two successes, they become hidden.
- Fire Pit: When resolving an attack, if a hero is in a space with a fire pit token, they can discard one card with a fate icon revealed during that attack test to apply either "pierce" or "smite" to the enemy group being attacked.
- Mist: If a hero would suffer damage while in a space with a mist token, that damage is suffered facedown. When attacking an enemy group in a space with a mist token, the hero cannot convert fate icons to success icons during the attack test.
- Pit: If a hero moves into a space with a pit token (even while moving through it), they must perform an agility test; on fewer than two successes, they suffer two damage.
- Statue: During the action phase, if a hero is in a space with a statue token, they can perform an interact action (this does not provoke enemies). They perform a might test; on at least two successes, they apply four hits and sunder to one enemy group in their space, then discard the token.
- Stream: A stream token is placed over a border. Two spaces on opposite sides of a stream token are adjacent. If a hero moves across a stream token during the action phase, their turn ends immediately. If an enemy moves across a stream token, its activation ends immediately. A hero or enemy performing a ranged attack can be in range of a target on the other side of a stream.
- Table: During the action phase, if a hero is in a space with a table token, they can perform an interact action (this does not provoke enemies). They perform a spirit test; on at least one success, they gain one inspiration token and become emboldened.
- Wall: A wall token is placed over a border. Spaces on opposite sides of a wall token are not adjacent — a hero or enemy cannot move across it. Some ranged attack abilities can reach a target on the opposite side of a wall.
Difficulty
There are two difficulty settings: normal and hard. Players select a difficulty when setting up their first adventure; it cannot be changed during a campaign. The hard setting adds more enemies and enemy abilities, and heroes do not gain inspiration tokens when they explore an unexplored map tile.
Single-Player Game
If playing with only a single player, that player controls two to four heroes. All other rules of the game remain the same. The player maintains a separate play area for each hero they control; heroes do not share items, tokens, skill card decks, etc. During the action phase, the player must completely resolve a hero's turn before resolving another hero's turn.
Campaign Rules
Each campaign of Journeys in Middle-earth contains a series of adventures. This section describes rules for hero advancement between adventures, such as upgrading items, purchasing skills, and changing roles.
After Each Adventure
After each adventure, each hero discards all of their tokens and their damage, fear, and boon cards. Then, they return their weakness cards to the supply and return all other skill cards to their skill deck.
Camp
After the heroes complete an adventure, a camp screen appears. While at camp, heroes can upgrade their items and purchase new skill cards. Then, the heroes can either select "Save & Quit" to save their campaign and return to the app's title screen, or "Continue" to proceed to the role selection screen prior to beginning their next adventure.
The Party's Inventory
The inventory is a collection of the party's items and skills. The app tracks each hero's armor, one-handed, and two-handed items as well as their skill cards, including titles. The app also tracks the entire party's collection of trinkets. Heroes cannot trade items and purchased skills; however, trinkets can be equipped by different heroes during setup.
Lore and Upgrading Items
The information the heroes have gathered throughout the campaign is represented by lore. All heroes share the lore they have gained, which is tracked in the app. As heroes gain lore, new item upgrades become available. Gained lore is permanent; it cannot be spent or lost.
Each item card has a lore value that indicates the amount of lore the heroes must have to upgrade that item. The item menu displays all of the party's items; items that can be upgraded are highlighted. When a highlighted item is selected, any available upgrades are displayed. To upgrade the item, the upgraded version is selected in the app. Then, the hero gains the card that corresponds to the upgrade and returns the card that was upgraded to the supply. Each item has a tier, represented as a roman numeral on its card. When upgrading an item, a hero always upgrades it to a card of the next higher tier. A hero's starting items are tier "I." If an item reaches the highest tier, it cannot be upgraded further.
Experience and Skills
As heroes complete adventures they gain experience, representing how their abilities grow and change in their travels. Experience is a currency (referred to as "XP" in the app) that heroes spend to purchase new skill cards. Experience is gained by each hero individually and is specific to that hero's role — during an adventure, a hero gains experience for their current role. If a hero changes their role during the campaign, it is possible for them to have experience for multiple roles.
While at camp, each hero can spend experience to purchase any number of skill cards. Skill cards that are available for purchase have an experience value that indicates the amount of experience a hero must spend. A hero can only spend experience from a role to purchase a skill card that matches that role. To purchase a skill card, a hero selects it from the list, the experience is deducted automatically, and the hero adds that skill card to their skill deck. There is no limit to the number of cards a hero can have in their skill deck. Any skill cards a hero purchases remain part of their skill deck even if that hero selects a new role.
Heroes can also sell any skill cards they have purchased. To sell a skill card, a player selects it and the hero gains experience equal to the sold card's experience value automatically (for the role displayed at the bottom of that skill card). Then, the hero removes that skill card from their skill deck and returns it to the available skill cards.
Saving and Continuing
When starting a campaign, the heroes must select a save slot; the app provides multiple slots so players can have multiple campaigns in progress. During an adventure, the app automatically saves the game at the end of each round. Players can quit any time during an adventure or between adventures. The app does not track the positions of enemies or heroes on the map, nor each hero's play area or skill decks — if quitting during an adventure, players must track that information on their own or keep the game set up between sessions. To continue a campaign, the players select "Load Game" from the title screen and select the appropriate save slot.
Continuing a Campaign Setup
To set up subsequent adventures in a campaign, players follow these steps:
- Select Campaign: Select "Load Game" and the appropriate save slot.
- Create Damage, Fear, and Weakness Decks: Shuffle the damage, fear, and weakness cards into separate decks.
- Create Supply: Separate all tokens and boon cards by type. Set aside all map tiles and enemy figures.
- Gather Skill Cards: Each hero gathers, for their skill deck: any skill cards purchased from camp (regardless of role); the cards numbered 1–5 with their hero's name; one copy of each Basic card numbered 1–6; the title cards a hero has gained (if any); and one weakness card from the top of the weakness deck.
- Equip Hero-Specific Items: Each player places their hero card in their play area and equips their items as displayed in the item menu.
- Equip Trinkets: Each hero may equip one trinket from the inventory.
- Choose Role and Create Skill Deck: Each player selects a role for the next adventure. Then, the hero gathers the role cards numbered 1–3, prepares the card numbered 1, and shuffles the cards numbered 2 and 3 with the set-aside cards from Step 4 to form the hero's skill deck.
- Embark: Players select "Embark" in the app to begin the next adventure.
Quick Reference
Round Structure
- Action Phase: Each hero takes a turn by performing two actions.
- Shadow Phase: Enemies activate, darkness is resolved (if necessary), and threat increases — threat events are activated if threat reaches a threshold.
- Rally Phase: Each hero resets their skill deck and then scouts two cards.
Actions
During a hero's turn, they can perform two actions (the same action twice or two different actions):
- Travel: Move up to two times. A hero can perform their second action between their first and second movement.
- Attack: Attack an enemy in your space. If you have a ranged weapon, you can attack a nearby enemy.
- Interact: Interact with a token in your space.
Frequently Overlooked Rules
- When instructed to move and attack, if an enemy cannot get in range of any target, it ignores that entire instruction (including movement). The "No Target" button is selected and the enemy receives a new instruction.
- A readied enemy is provoked when a hero moves out of its space or when a hero interacts with a token in its space.
- A component is nearby another component if they are in the same space or adjacent spaces.
- A hero can have a maximum of four prepared cards at a time.
Hero Stats
Agility, Might, Spirit, Wisdom, Wit. A stat's value determines how many skill cards a hero reveals when performing a test of that stat.
Icons
- Success: Produced by revealed skill cards during a test.
- Fate: Has no inherent effect. Each inspiration spent during a test converts one fate to one success.
- Damage / Fear: Suffered from enemies and threats.
- Ranged: Can attack a target in an adjacent space.
- Lore: The party's shared knowledge, used to upgrade items.
- Interact Action: Marks buttons that require an interact action.
- Item types: Trinket, One-Handed Item, Two-Handed Item, Armor.
Credits
Game Design and Development: Nathan Hajek and Grace Holdinghaus. Additional Development: Kara Centell-Dunk, Daniel Lovat Clark, Brandon Perdue, Colin Phelps, and Yu-Chi Wang. Executive Game Designer: Corey Konieczka. Publisher: Andrew Navaro. ©2018 Fantasy Flight Games. Middle-earth, The Lord of the Rings, and the characters, events, items and places therein are trademarks or registered trademarks of The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Middle-earth Enterprises and are used, under license, by Fantasy Flight Games.