The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-earth – Shadowed Paths Expansion Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Using this Expansion
• Expansion Icon
• Overview
• Component List
  • Changing Paths
  • Roles
• Expansion Rules
  • Branching Choices
  • Corruption
  • Difficult Ground
  • Elevation (Terrain)
  • Log (Terrain)
  • Rubble (Terrain)
  • Web (Terrain)
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Quick Reference
  • Round Structure
  • Actions
  • Resetting Skill Decks
  • Frequently Overlooked Rules
  • Attack Modifiers
  • Keywords
  • Icons

Using this Expansion

Before playing a game of Shadowed Paths, update the Journeys in Middle-earth app and add this expansion to the collection in the app's collection manager.

Then, before starting a Shadowed Paths adventure, combine this expansion's components with those found in the base game by adding the corruption and unstable ground tokens to the supply and adding all cards to their respective decks. The terrain tokens can be set aside with the base game's terrain tokens until a scenario requires them.

Expansion Icon

Each card and tile in this expansion is marked with the Shadowed Paths expansion icon (a spider's web) to distinguish these components from the cards and tiles in The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-earth base game.

Overview

Shadowed Paths is an expansion for The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-earth, in which the heroes explore the tangle of Mirkwood forest and the abandoned halls of Moria. This expansion unlocks a branching digital campaign of 13 new adventures as well as new tiles, terrain, enemies, items, titles, and roles. The campaign, which pits the heroes against the evil growing in the shadows, introduces corruption and difficult terrain to further challenge and hinder the heroes as they adventure in Middle-earth.

Component List

• 30 Plastic Figures (5 Heroes, 25 Enemies)
• 20 Journey Map Tiles
• 5 Hero Cards
• 42 Item Cards
• 3 Title Skill Cards
• 25 Hero Skill Cards
• 60 Role Skill Cards
• 4 Terrain Cards
• 4 Elevation/Log Terrain Tokens
• 9 Web/Rubble Terrain Tokens
• 5 Difficult Ground Tokens
• 20 Corruption Tokens
• 28 Assorted Tokens (4 Person, 17 Depletion, 7 Inspiration/Exploration)

Changing Paths

The Journeys in Middle-earth app includes content from all expansions enabled in its collection manager to each adventure. When an expansion is enabled in the collection manager, its enemies, tiles, heroes, roles, items, and encounters can show up in other campaigns. The Shadowed Paths content can even add variablity to the base game campaign, challenging veteran players with foes they have never faced before!

Roles

This expansion includes five new roles. Heroes may choose these roles when starting or continuing a campaign.

A hero's role during an adventure determines some of that hero's capabilities. Each role has a general purpose:

• Herbalist: Heals the party and helps scout.
• Delver: Takes risks and uses darkness for advantage.
• Traveller: Moves quickly, exploring tiles and tokens.
• Smith: Uses trinkets and items in new ways.
• Meddler: Manipulates decks to succeed.

Role selection is not permanent—heroes can change roles between adventures.

Expansion Rules

Branching Choices

At the end of an adventure, the players may have a choice of which adventure to play next. When this happens, the app alerts the players to the choice, and they have a chance to review each option in the map scene before choosing which adventure to play next.

• To review an option, players select the adventure they want to review using the left and right arrows, and click "Continue" to read its information.
  • Players can still tap the left and right arrows to switch between options on the information window.
• When players have made a decision, they select the chosen option and tap "Continue" again to proceed to the camp screen.

After selecting an adventure, players can still use the left and right arrows to switch between options and read each adventure's information. When they are ready to make a decision, they tap "Continue" to proceed to the camp screen.

Corruption

Corruption represents the growing forces of greed, despair, and suspicion that influence the heroes. Unlike damage or fear, corruption stays with the heroes throughout the entire campaign, and is tracked by the app.

• When a hero gains a corruption, they place a corruption token in their play area. When a hero loses a corruption, they remove a corruption token from their play area and place it in the supply. A hero who has one or more corruption tokens is corrupted. A hero who has no corruption tokens is uncorrupted.
  • Some game effects may require a hero to be corrupted or uncorrupted to resolve them.
• If a hero with three corruption tokens would gain their fourth corruption, that hero is instead prompted by the app to perform a last stand test.
  • If they fail that test, they are defeated.
  • If they pass that test, they do not gain a fourth corruption, and they continue with the adventure.
• After each adventure, players return all corruption tokens to the supply.
• Before embarking on a new adventure, each player places corruption tokens in their play area equal to their corruption.

Eleanor has 1 corruption, as displayed under her hero portrait in the camp screen.

Difficult Ground

Difficult ground is a property of some spaces on the map that makes those spaces more difficult to move through.

• Some spaces on the map have a difficult ground icon printed on them. These spaces have difficult ground.
• Game effects can add difficult ground to specific spaces on the map. When this happens, a difficult ground token is placed on that space to represent that the space is more difficult to move through.
• When a hero moves into a space with difficult ground, that hero can discard one prepared card. If they do not discard a card, they cannot move out of that space this turn.
  • If a hero does not discard a card, any unspent movement from a travel action or Sprint X ability is lost. That hero cannot gain any additional movement this turn through travel actions or other abilities.
• If a game effect "places" a hero in a space with difficult ground, that hero ignores the effects of that difficult ground.

Eleanor discards a prepared skill with Sprint 3. She moves twice, entering a space with difficult ground. She does not have another prepared card to discard, so she must end her movement for that turn.

Elevation (Terrain)

Elevation is a type of terrain that can be placed on the battle map. Elevation extends the range of ranged attacks and provides some protection against attacks.

• If a hero or enemy group is in a space with elevation, they are in range of an attack target if the target is up to two spaces away.
• If a hero or enemy group is in a space with elevation, they may be targeted by an attack only if the hero or enemy attacking them occupies a space with elevation.

The Pit Goblin targets Arwen for its ranged attack. Even though Arwen is in an adjacent space, she is in a space with elevation, so she is not a valid target for the Pit Goblin unless it moves into her space first.

Log (Terrain)

A log is a type of terrain that can be placed on the battle map.

• During the action phase, if a hero is in a space with a log token, that hero can perform an interact action to interact with that log.
• When a hero interacts with a log token, they perform an agility test.
  • If the test produces at least one success icon, the hero passes the test and gains one inspiration token and becomes determined.
  • If the test does not produce at least one success icon, the hero fails the test and nothing happens.
• A hero can interact with a log even if they are already determined, have a number of inspiration tokens equal to their limit, or both.
• A hero that is already determined can still gain an inspiration token.
• A hero that has a number of inspiration tokens equal to their limit can still become determined.
• If a hero is in a space with an enemy, performing an interact action to interact with a log does not provoke enemy attacks.

Rubble (Terrain)

Rubble is a type of terrain that can be placed on the battle map.

• If a hero is in a space with rubble while choosing items for an attack, that hero may choose to use the rubble in addition to equipped items.
  • If the hero chooses to use rubble, the hero tests their wit.
  • To resolve an ability on rubble, the hero must spend a number of success icons produced by the attack test equal to the ability's cost. Then they resolve the ability's text.
  • If the hero chooses rubble in addition to other equipped items, all equipped items that they choose must have a wit icon.
• Rubble does not have a hand or two-hand icon, and a hero does not have to equip it to use it.

Web (Terrain)

A web is a type of terrain that can be placed on the battle map.

• If a hero wishes to move out of a space that contains a web, they must perform a might test before they move.
  • If the test produces at least one success icon, the hero passes the test and can move to an adjacent space.
  • If the test produces fewer than one success icon, the hero fails the test, loses that movement, and does not move out of the space.
• That hero can attempt to move out of the space again with any remaining movement.

Balin wants to move into the top space to interact with the threat token, but first he must pass a might test to escape the web.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: "When can I use Dís's ability?"

A: Dís's ability can be used after the "Calculate Results" step of any test, before you discard all skill cards that were revealed during the test.

Q: "Do I have to spend inspiration to use Dís's ability?"

A: No, when you use Dís's ability after a test, you must spend one unspent fate icon revealed during the test to place one card from the test on top of your deck.

Q: "Does the 'Hammer and Tongs' item count as my one allowed trinket at the start of an adventure?"

A: No, the "Hammer and Tongs" can only be gained after setup when a hero starts an adventure with the "Reforging" skill prepared. It cannot be counted when heroes normally assign trinkets, and is returned to the supply at the end of that adventure.

Quick Reference

Round Structure

Each game round consists of the following three phases:

1. Action Phase: Each hero takes a turn by performing two actions.
2. Shadow Phase: Enemies activate, darkness is resolved (if necessary), and threat increases—threat events are activated if threat reaches a threshold.
3. Rally Phase: Each hero resets their skill deck and then scouts two cards.

Actions

During a hero's turn, they can perform two actions. A hero can perform 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.

Resetting Skill Decks

A hero must reset their deck at the following times:

• during the rally phase
• when there are no cards remaining in their deck
• when an effect instructs them to do so

A hero resets their deck by shuffling their discard pile with any remaining cards from their deck and placing the newly shuffled deck facedown. Prepared cards are not shuffled into the deck.

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.

Attack Modifiers

There are six modifiers that can benefit heroes during an attack:

• 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).
• Cleave: Each enemy in the group suffers the full number of hits.
• Lethal: If this attack reduces the enemy's current health 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.

Keywords

• Scout X: When an effect instructs you to "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.
• 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.

Icons

• Success
• Fate (Each inspiration spent during a test converts 1 fate to 1 success)
• Damage
• Fear
• Ranged (Can attack a target in an adjacent space)
• Lore
• Interact Action

Hero Stats: Agility, Spirit, Wit, Might, Wisdom

Items: Trinket, One-Handed Item, Armor, Two-Handed Item