The Lord of the Rings: Circle of Conflict Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
  • Dice Faces
• Game Setup
• Player Setup
  • Public and Hidden Information
• Board Diagrams
• Marking Spaces
• Game Rounds
  • 1. Roll Dice
  • 2. Gollum/Sméagol Actions
  • 3. Allocate Dice
  • 4. Use Icons & Take Secret Actions
    • Icons
    • Move The Fellowship (Secret Action)
    • Keeping Track of Icons
  • 5. Free Peoples Public Actions
    • Types of Actions
    • March/Commit
  • 6. Shadow Public Actions
• Characters
• Nations
  • Nation Map Regions
  • Nation Alarm Tracks
    • Nation Dice
  • Nation Muster Tracks
• Game End Scoring
• Character Clarifications
• Playing With More Than 4 Players
• Actions Quick Reference
  • Use Icons Actions
  • Take Secret Actions
  • Take Free Peoples and Shadow Public Actions

Components

• 2 Middle-earth Dice
• 6 Nation Dice: 1 each of Gondor, Elves, Rohan, Mordor, Southrons & Easterlings, and Isengard
• 4 Reference Cards
• 4 Player Boards (each with a Free Peoples Board and a Shadow Board and with unique back art)
• The One Ring Board (with a scoreboard on the reverse side)
• 4 Battle Boards
• 4 Dry-Erase Markers
• 1 Lead Player Token
• 1 Gollum Marker

Dice Faces

• Middle-earth: ring, time, time, time, sword-and-flag, sword-and-flag, sword-and-flag
• Gondor: boot, character, sword, sword, blank, blank
• Mordor: boot, character, sword, sword, blank, blank
• Elves: time, sword-and-flag, boot, sword, blank, blank
• Southrons & Easterlings: time, sword-and-flag, boot, sword, blank, blank
• Rohan: boot, boot, character, sword, blank, blank
• Isengard: boot, boot, character, sword, blank, blank

Game Setup

1. Place The One Ring board in the center of the table and the Gollum marker on the first space (with the arrow).
2. Place the dice on The One Ring board in the spaces that match their respective color.
3. The lead player token should be given to the most experienced player. Alternatively, give this out at random.

Player Setup

Each player takes the following components:

• 1 Player Board
• 1 Battle Board
• 1 Reference Card
• 1 Dry-Erase Marker

4. Each player places their player board in front of them. Each player places their battle board between themselves and the player to their left, with the Gondor/Rohan side facing them.
5. Each player uses their dry-erase marker to mark an X on the 8-pointed shape labeled "The Shire" on The Free Peoples board of their player board.

You're ready to start the game!

It is recommended that you read and teach the rules through p. 16 before starting the game.

Public and Hidden Information

The information on each player board is not to be shared with other players. The information on The One Ring board and the battle boards is public.

Board Diagrams

Each player board has a Free Peoples board on the left and a Shadow board on the right. During 2-player games, each player pits their Free Peoples board and Shadow board against the other player.

Each side of the player board provides information for 1 of the conflicts taking place: the Free Peoples map, a victory point (VP) icon, a scratchpad (icons to spend), and the Shadow map, plus a march/commit row, a resolve track / hunt track, a characters row, a nation alarm row, and a nation muster row.

The Free Peoples board and information are used for the conflict with the player to the left. The Shadow board and information are used for the conflict with the player to the right.

Each battle board has a Free People's section (gold) and Shadow section (grey) which represent two pivotal battles against your opponent(s). The gold section will be used on your left in conjunction with your Free People's Board, and on your right, you will use the grey section in conjunction with your Shadow board.

The battle board shows, for each side: a Gondor/Elves (or Rohan) activated/motivated spot and army strength, a Gondor/Mordor shared commitment track, a Gondor/Mordor shared march to battle track, a Mordor activated/motivated spot and army strength, a Southrons & Easterlings activated/motivated spot, a victory point (VP) track, and — on the other side — an Isengard/Rohan shared commitment track, an Isengard/Rohan shared march to battle track, a defender bonus, an Isengard army strength and activated/motivated spot, and a corruption track.

Marking Spaces

Throughout the game, players will gain icons from dice or from the spaces on their player boards. Each player will spend those icons by marking spaces in the various areas of their player board.

Each area of the player board indicates which icons can be spent to mark spaces on that track. For example, the resolve track needs either a boot icon or a sword icon.

When marking spaces, players must keep in mind the following rules:

• Tracks must always be marked from left to right, unless marked otherwise with an arrow. For example, the direction of the Corruption track is indicated with an arrow, as is the direction of the right commitment track.
• When a player marks a space with an icon, they immediately gain that icon. They must spend the icon on the same side of their player board where they gained it. For example, if you gain an icon on The Shadow board, you must spend it on The Shadow board. For example, when the first space of the Hunt track is marked, you gain an icon to spend on your Shadow board, including on another space of the Hunt track.

The spaces on the player boards have 2 shapes — circles and squares:

• Circle spaces (Free Peoples Circles, Shadow Circles) can be erased later in the game to pay for various actions. You will erase as many spaces as called for by the actions as you take them. When you erase circles, erase them from right to left. After you have erased the spaces, you can mark them again later and will gain any icons anytime you mark the appropriate spaces.
• Square spaces (Free Peoples Squares, Shadow Squares) are never erased. Some square spaces have action arches above them. When you use this special action, mark the arch. Arches over squares are never erased.

Game Rounds

Players resolve each round together, using the following phases:

1. Roll Dice
2. Gollum/Sméagol Actions
3. Allocate Dice
4. Use Icons & Take Secret Actions
5. Free Peoples Public Actions
6. Shadow Public Actions
7. Battle Resolution
8. Game End Check

1. Roll Dice

The lead player takes the 2 white Middle-earth dice, plus any nation dice that have been Activated by any player later in the game (see Nations), and rolls them where all players can see them.

2. Gollum/Sméagol Actions

This phase is only used if a ring (The One Ring) icon is rolled; otherwise, skip this phase.

Move the Gollum marker 1 space clockwise for each ring rolled. If a Gollum icon on the track is reached or passed, perform Gollum/Sméagol actions. Otherwise, proceed to phase 3.

Each player secretly takes either a Gollum action or a Sméagol action:

• Gollum Action: The player marks all Hunt spaces on their Shadow board.
• Sméagol Action: The player marks all Resolve spaces on their Free Peoples board.

Players do not gain any icons marked on their boards during a Gollum or Sméagol action.

When all players are done taking either action, each player announces which action they took, starting with the lead player and proceeding clockwise.

Each player who took a Gollum action now forces their Free Peoples opponent to announce the exact location of The Fellowship on their Free Peoples board. Players may use the map on their Shadow board to mark the information gained when taking a Gollum action.

If the Gollum marker reaches the last space on the track, perform Gollum/Sméagol actions for all further rings rolled.

Note: If the marker reaches the last space and 2 ring icons are rolled on a turn, perform only 1 Gollum/Sméagol action.

3. Allocate Dice

Each player secretly selects 1 Middle-earth die result to use on their Free Peoples board and the other Middle-earth die result to use on their Shadow board. Players cannot use both Middle-earth dice on the same board.

Note: All players use the same dice roll.

As you Activate and Motivate the nations, you will unlock more dice to allocate. See Nations for rules on unlocking nation dice.

4. Use Icons & Take Secret Actions

Each player secretly uses all icons allocated from the dice on their Free Peoples and Shadow boards. The cloak icon indicates that an action is taken in secret.

• If a die with 1 or more icons has been rolled, you must use all icons on the allocated board, but you can use each individual icon in any eligible space.
• You may use icons in any order.
• When you mark a space that has an icon in it, you get to use that icon to mark any eligible space on the board on which you earned it. For example, you spend 1 boot icon to mark the first space of the Resolve track and immediately gain 1 boot icon to spend anywhere on your Free Peoples board.
• You may perform secret actions before, in between, or after using any icons.
• When you finish using icons and performing secret actions, you should close your player board and lay it down to show that you have completed this phase. Any icons not used are lost at the end of the phase.

Icons

The following icons represent various player resources and actions.

• Time: This icon is used as either a boot icon or a sword icon. It represents the passage of time as The Fellowship travels and as important characters join the game.
• Boot: This icon represents The Fellowship moving around Middle-earth and The Shadow hunting for The One Ring. It also represents nations marching to battle.
• Character: This icon represents important characters joining the game. It can represent The Free Peoples or The Shadow as well as any race (Elves, Humans, Orcs, etc.).
• Armies (sword-and-flag): This icon is used as either a sword icon or a horn icon. It represents armies mustering for battle and the nations becoming motivated to join the war.
• Sword: This icon represents different military units joining a battle. This allows both The Free Peoples and The Shadow to recruit small, medium, or large units.
• Horn: This represents the nations being motivated to join the war. Each nation starts out neutral in the war, and as the horn icon activates, they eventually become Activated and finally Motivated.
• Ring: This icon represents the influence of The One Ring on the world. See Game Setup and Gollum/Sméagol Actions for the rules on The One Ring board and Gollum.

Move The Fellowship (Secret Action)

Each 8-pointed shape on the map represents a location in Middle-earth. Locations are considered adjacent if they are connected by a line.

By spending (erasing) Resolve on your Free Peoples board, you may secretly move The Fellowship to an adjacent location. The amount of Resolve required is equal to the number in the new location. Use the following steps after you move to a new location:

1. Erase the required amount of Resolve from the Resolve track. Example: You Move from The Shire to Bree. Erase 3 filled circles on the Resolve track.
2. Fill in the line to connect the old location to the new location.
3. Write an X in the 8-pointed shape of the new location. The X indicates The Fellowship's current location after it has moved.
4. Fill in the 8-pointed shape from the previous location so its X is now a solid color.
5. Gain and use any icons acquired from the new location. For example, when you move to Bree, you gain 1 boot icon.

You may move The Fellowship at any point while performing secret actions. For example, you can add boot / sword icons to the Resolve track, move, and then mark spaces again on the Resolve track with other icons, if able. The following rules also apply:

• You may perform Move The Fellowship only once each round, even if you have more Resolve to spend.
• The Fellowship always moves secretly. Never announce the Move The Fellowship action.
• Once The Fellowship leaves a location, it may never move back to that location.
• If The Fellowship moves to Mount Doom, you must perform the Destroy The Ring action (see Free Peoples Public Actions) during The Free Peoples Public Actions phase this turn.

When all players have completed Phase 4, move to Phase 5.

Keeping Track of Icons

It is highly recommended that you complete Use Icons & Take Secret Actions on 1 of your boards before doing so on your second board. This will help you make the correct marks on 1 board before moving to the next.

This scratchpad of spaces on the right side of each map can help you track which icons are available to use. Simply mark any gained icons and erase them as you use them. Any icons not used are lost at the end of the phase. This is an optional player aid that may be helpful later in the game when you gain icons from several nation dice.

5. Free Peoples Public Actions

The lead player announces and performs any Free Peoples public actions (in any order). Then each other player does so in clockwise order.

Note: During early rounds of the game, players might not have any public actions to announce.

A. Activate Nation: Announce the nation that you have Activated. Mark this in the appropriate section of your battle board. Starting on the next round, you will now gain icons from the nation's die (see Nations).

B. Motivate Nation: Announce the nation that you have Motivated. Mark this in the appropriate section of your battle board. Starting on the next round, you will now gain double icons from the nation's die (see Nations).

C. Use Character: Announce a character that has a ready public action and resolve the effect (see Merry, Strider, and Boromir under Character Clarifications).

D. March or Raise Commitment: Announce whether you March or Raise Commitment, then mark on your battle board either the next:

• March to Battle space (see Battle Resolution), OR
• Commitment space (see Commitment, under Battle Resolution)

E. Muster Army: Announce the unit on a nation's Muster track that has been completed. Add the strength of that unit to the corresponding army strength for that nation on the battle board, then erase the unit's spaces on the Muster track (see Nation Muster Tracks).

F. Destroy The Ring: Announce if The Fellowship has moved to Mount Doom (see Game End Check).

Types of Actions

• Secret actions are performed during the Use Icons & Take Secret Actions phase without being revealed to other players.
• Public actions are announced and performed during The Free Peoples Public Actions phase and The Shadow Public Actions phase. Spaces are usually marked during the Use Icons & Take Secret Actions phase, but the effects are resolved during the public actions phases.
• Reactions are performed in response to a public action when applicable.
• Battle actions are performed during the Battle Resolution phase.

March/Commit

If you marked the March/Commit space on your Free Peoples or Shadow board, you will either bring a battle closer to resolution or increase the value of the battle for the winner.

During your public actions, you will erase the mark on the March/Commit space to mark either a March to Battle space or a Commitment space. These tracks are shared by both sides of the battle.

If you marked the March/Commit space on your Free Peoples board, you will mark a space on the battle board to your left. If you marked the March/Commit space on your Shadow board, you will mark a space on the battle board to your right.

6. Shadow Public Actions

Using the same procedure as Phase 5: Free Peoples Public Actions, perform and announce steps 5A through 5E (in any order) for The Shadow side. The Shadow characters with public actions are Nazgûl, Saruman, Wormtongue, and Shelob.

Note: There is an additional public action available to The Shadow: Hunt The Fellowship.

Hunt The Fellowship

You may Hunt The Fellowship in any location if you have a number of Hunt spaces marked equal to or greater than the location's number on The Shadow board. Note that there is an X in the Mount Doom location because you cannot Hunt there.

Erase Hunt spaces equal to the location's number and announce the target location to your Free Peoples opponent.

Your Free Peoples opponent must announce 1 of the following:

• Their Fellowship is not in the target location, which means the Hunt was unsuccessful. They must then announce how many locations away their Fellowship is from the target location, using the shortest distance. OR
• Their Fellowship is in the target location, which means the Hunt was successful!

If the Hunt was successful, you will now cause Corruption using the following steps:

1. Announce how much additional Hunt you will spend. This can be 0 if you wish.
2. Erase a number of Hunt spaces equal to the additional Hunt you will spend.
3. The Free Peoples opponent erases Resolve equal to the additional Hunt that you spent. If the amount of Resolve to be erased is greater than their current Resolve, all of it is erased.
4. If the remaining Resolve of The Free Peoples opponent is:
   • Greater than 0: The Shadow opponent marks 1 space on their Corruption track (on the battle board to their right).
   • 0: The Shadow opponent marks 2 spaces on their Corruption track.

When you mark a space on the Corruption track with an icon in it, you get to use that icon to mark any eligible space on The Shadow board next round during Phase 4: Use Icons & Take Secret Actions. Mark it on your scratchpad now.

You may Hunt The Fellowship only once each round, even if you have more Hunt to spend.

Note: You will not be "moving" on The Shadow map. The location connections are shown to help deduce Fellowship movement. You may write or draw on The Shadow map to take notes on previous Hunts.

Hunt The Fellowship Example: During The Shadow Public Actions phase, Stephen chooses to Hunt The Fellowship in Moria and erases 1 Hunt since that is the location's number on The Shadow board. Unfortunately for his Free Peoples opponent, Geoff, The Fellowship is in Moria. Geoff announces that the Hunt was successful! Stephen erases an additional 3 Hunt in an attempt to cause extra Corruption. Geoff must now erase 3 Resolve. He has only 2 Resolve remaining, so it is lowered to 0. Geoff announces that he does not have any Resolve remaining, so Stephen marks 2 spaces on his Corruption track.

7. Battle Resolution

A battle occurs when a March to Battle track has all 3 spaces marked on a battle board; otherwise, skip this phase.

The player who has marked the third March to Battle space is considered the attacker, and their opponent is the defender.

Battles between 2 nations are conducted using the following steps:

1. The defender gains a bonus defense strength of 3, as indicated by the 3 on their battle board.
2. Each player then secretly and simultaneously does the following:
   • Marks any battle resolution character abilities they would like to use.
   • Calculates their full army strength by adding any character abilities used. Players temporarily write this number on their player board.
3. Each player announces their full army strength and writes the number in their space at the battle. Players also announce any characters they used during the battle.
4. The player with the higher full army strength wins the battle. The winner circles the victory points (VP) at the battle based on the Commitment level. If the players' army strength is a tie, neither player wins and no VP are awarded.

Each battle can be fought only once on each battle board. After a battle has been fought, those players can no longer add strength to that battle.

Commitment

A. Each battle begins the game with the first space on its Commitment track marked, which awards 1 VP to the winner.

B. If any player marks the second Commitment space, the winner will be awarded a total of 3 VP (1 VP from the first space and 2 VP from the second space).

C. If all 3 spaces on the Commitment track are marked, the battle is worth a total of 5 VP (1 VP from the first space, 2 VP from the second space, and 2 VP from the third space).

Important: Players also gain 1 VP per 10 army strength (including characters) at the end of the game, whether they win or lose the battle, or whether it is even resolved. See Game End Scoring for game end scoring.

Battle Resolution Example: Stephen (shown in red marker) has marked the third of 3 spaces in March to Battle for Mordor, so the Mordor–Gondor battle will be resolved. Stephen had also previously marked 1 of the Commitment spaces at this battle, which makes this battle worth an additional 2 VP.

Stephen is the attacker and announces his current army strength of 19 in the army strength space of Mordor.

Geoff (shown in blue marker) has an army strength of 10 in the army strength space of Gondor, but he is also the defender and so adds 3 to this. He announces his current army strength of 13.

After secretly and simultaneously determining which characters will be brought to the battle, Stephen announces that his full army strength is still 19, as he is bringing no characters to the battle.

Geoff is sneaky and brings both Legolas (+4) and Gimli (+4) to this battle. He marks their battle arches. Geoff has a total army strength of 21 (10 army strength + 3 bonus defense strength + 4 Legolas + 4 Gimli = 21).

Geoff wins the battle and gains 3 VP since Stephen had raised the Commitment level.

Both players write their total army strength after the battle is resolved. Since Geoff's total increased during the battle, he writes his new total of 21 army strength.

8. Game End Check

If ANY of the following 3 conditions have been met, the game ends:

• The Fellowship has reached Mount Doom on a Free Peoples board.
• The final space has been marked on a Corruption track on a battle board.
• Both battles have been fought on a battle board.

If none of the game end conditions have been met, pass the lead player token clockwise to the next player and start a new round. See Game End Scoring for scoring rules.

Characters

Character tracks feature 1 or more arches. Each arch allows you to use the character when the space below it is marked. You may use the character in the same turn that you mark the space, or you can save it for later use.

After you use a character ability, mark off the corresponding arch, as you cannot use it again.

You may use a character only once per round, even if multiple arches on that character track are ready. For example, you cannot use Legolas at the same battle twice, nor can you use Legolas at 2 different battles in the same round.

See Character Clarifications for details.

Nations

There are 6 nations represented by color:

Free Peoples Nations:

• Gondor: Blue
• Rohan: Brown
• Elves: Green

Shadow Nations:

• Mordor: Red
• Isengard: Grey
• Southrons & Easterlings: Yellow

Nations are represented in 3 ways on player boards:

• Nation Regions
• Nation Alarm Tracks
• Nation Muster Tracks

Nation Map Regions

Nation regions are locations on the maps of The Free Peoples board and The Shadow board.

• Free Peoples Regions: Gondor, Rohan, Elves
• Shadow Regions: Mordor, Isengard, Southrons & Easterlings
• Neutral Regions: Open, Mountain — these locations are not associated with any nation but may be important for character abilities such as the Nazgûl.

Nation Alarm Tracks

Alarm tracks show each nation's readiness, which can be Neutral, Activated (die icon), or Motivated (double-die icon).

When you mark the first space containing a die symbol, the nation changes from Neutral to Activated. When you mark the last space of the track, the nation changes from Activated to Motivated.

When the state of a nation changes, mark the corresponding space on the battle board for that nation.

Nations are always in 1 of 3 states:

• Neutral: All nations start the game Neutral.
• Activated: Once a nation is Activated, the player immediately gains 2 of that nation's icon. Also, the die of that nation is unlocked for future turns. (However, you cannot use a nation die during the same round you unlock it.) That die is now rolled each turn, and it can be used by players who have that nation Activated or Motivated. The strength of Mustered armies also increases.
• Motivated: Once a nation is Motivated, the player immediately gains 2 of that nation's icon. The die for that nation is still rolled each turn, but the icon on the die is doubled for players who have that nation Motivated. (You cannot double a nation die during the same round you Motivated it.) The strength of Mustered army units also increases.

Nation Dice

Nation dice can only be used by the players who have Activated that nation. If the nation is Motivated, gain double the icons from the die. Nation dice must be allocated to the board of that nation, but you can use them on any eligible space on that board, not necessarily a space for that given nation. A nation die that rolls a blank offers no icon that turn.

Example: You may use an icon on the blue Gondor die on any eligible space on The Free Peoples board but not on The Shadow board.

Nation Muster Tracks

Muster tracks represent army units that can be Mustered to increase a nation's army strength. When you mark all the spaces of a unit, during the public actions phase, you may Muster the unit, which does the following:

• Adds that unit's strength to the total army strength of that nation in that battle.
• Erases all of the spaces for that unit, enabling it to be Mustered again.

The strength added depends on whether the nation is Neutral, Active, or Motivated. Example: The Isengard soldier units are 1 strength if the nation is Neutral, 2 strength if it is Activated, or 4 strength if it is Motivated. If you Muster a unit when the nation is Neutral, add the lower number to the army strength on the battle board. Later, when the nation is Activated, the strength does not increase for previously Mustered units, but future units will be added at the increased strength.

The Elves units can add their strength to the Gondor or Rohan battles. The Southrons & Easterlings units can add their strength to the Mordor or Isengard battles.

Units cannot add their strength to a battle that has already been fought.

Muster Example: Gondor is Activated since the space with the blue die symbol is marked. You have marked all the spaces for your soldiers but only 2 out of 4 spaces for your trebuchet. You previously increased your Gondor army strength to 3. During public actions, you decide to announce that you are Mustering. You erase the 3 spaces from the soldiers and add 2 strength to the Gondor army strength since Gondor is Activated, increasing it to 5.

Game End Scoring

If any game end condition has occurred, continue playing until the round has ended, then each player adds up VP they have earned. The One Ring board should be turned over to record VP.

Free Peoples VP:

• Battle VP:
  • 1, 3, or 5 VP based on the Commitment level for each battle won.
  • 1 VP for every 10 points of army strength at each battle. These points are scored even if the player lost the battle or the battle wasn't fought.
• Ring VP:
  • VP next to all marked locations that The Fellowship moved to.

Shadow VP:

• Battle VP:
  • 1, 3, or 5 VP based on the Commitment level for each battle won.
  • 1 VP for every 10 points of army strength at each battle. These points are scored even if the player lost the battle or the battle wasn't fought.
• Corruption VP:
  • VP next to all marked spaces on the Corruption track.

The player with the highest total VP wins! In the case of a tie, the player whose Fellowship is closest to Mount Doom on their Free Peoples board wins. If there is still a tie, the player with the most VP scored on their Corruption track wins. If still tied, the players share the victory.

Scoring Example: The game ends, and it's time for Geoff to determine his total VP.

1. Geoff scores a total of 4 VP on his Free Peoples map: 1 VP from Minas Tirith, 1 VP from Osgiliath, and 2 VP from Minas Morgul.
2. Geoff won the battle at Gondor and scores 3 VP since the level of Commitment was raised. His total army strength is 21, which scores an additional 2 VP (1 point for every 10 army strength).
3. Geoff lost the battle at Rohan, but his total army strength is 11, which scores 1 VP.
4. The battle at Mordor was not resolved, so no player there scores VP from Commitment. Geoff's total army strength is less than 10, so he does not score any VP from that battle.
5. Geoff won the battle at Isengard and scores 1 VP since the first Commitment space is always considered marked. His total army strength is 16, which scores an additional 1 VP.
6. Geoff scores 2 VP from his Corruption track.

Geoff ends the game with a total score of 14 VP and hopes this is high enough to beat the other players.

Character Clarifications

Gandalf: When your Shadow opponent finds The Fellowship during a Hunt, you may use Gandalf to consider the Hunt unsuccessful and secretly move to an adjacent location without spending any Resolve. You gain any icons from the new location The Fellowship moves into as normal. You cannot move to Mount Doom or a location that you have already moved to. If you cannot move to an adjacent location, you cannot use Gandalf to cancel the Hunt. The Shadow opponent does not score any Corruption. You must use Gandalf before your Shadow opponent announces how much additional Hunt they will spend. The Shadow opponent may use Flocks of Crebain to Hunt again, if able.

Gimli: During the Battle Resolution phase, you may use Gimli to add 2 to your army strength at the current battle. If you also used Legolas at that battle, Gimli adds an additional 2 to your army strength (for a total of +4 strength).

Merry: During The Free Peoples Public Actions phase, after marking a space on the March to Battle track for Gondor or Rohan, you may use Merry to mark 1 additional March to Battle space at the same battle.

Arwen: After you move The Fellowship during the Use Icons & Take Secret Actions phase, you may use Arwen to move The Fellowship again.

Strider: During The Free Peoples Public Actions phase, if The Fellowship on your Free Peoples board is in or adjacent to a Gondor, Rohan, or Elves location, you may use Strider to mark up to 4 spaces on that nation's Alarm track. You do not gain icons from marked spaces, but the nation is still Activated or Motivated as normal.

Galadriel: When you move The Fellowship into a Shadow location (Mordor, Isengard, or Southrons & Easterlings), you may use Galadriel to reduce the amount of Resolve required by 3 to a minimum of 1 Resolve. You may use both Arwen and Galadriel during the same move but must still spend at least 1 Resolve for each space.

Boromir: During The Free Peoples Public Actions phase, you may use Boromir to mark all of your Resolve spaces. You do not gain any icons from marked spaces.

Legolas: During the Battle Resolution phase, you may use Legolas to add 4 to your army strength at the current battle.

Pippin: When your Shadow opponent uses a Nazgûl to announce the region of The Fellowship's location, you may cancel the ability. The Nazgûl's ability is still marked as being used.

Nazgûl: During The Shadow Public Actions phase, you may use the Nazgûl to have your Free Peoples opponent announce the region of The Fellowship's location. Your opponent should be careful not to reveal the actual location of The Fellowship; only the region is announced.

• Free Peoples Regions: Gondor, Rohan, Elves
• Shadow Regions: Mordor, Isengard, Southrons & Easterlings
• Neutral Regions: Open, Mountain

Saruman: During The Shadow Public Actions phase, you may use Saruman to transfer strength between the Mordor battle and the Isengard battle. To do so, reduce up to 10 army strength at a battle and add it to the other battle. You cannot reduce more army strength than you already have at a battle.

The Uruk-hai: During the Battle Resolution phase, you may use The Uruk-hai to add 4 to your army strength at the current battle. You may use The Uruk-hai to increase the army strength of Mordor or Isengard only.

The Mouth of Sauron: During The Shadow Public Actions phase, if you successfully Hunt in a Shadow location (Mordor, Isengard, or Southrons & Easterlings), you may use the Mouth of Sauron to mark 1 additional space on your Corruption track.

Wormtongue: During The Shadow Public Actions phase, you may use Wormtongue to announce Gondor, Rohan, or Elves. The nation die of the announced nation may not be used by your Free Peoples opponent on future turns until they have Motivated that nation. You may announce a Free Peoples nation even if their die has not yet been unlocked.

The Flocks of Crebain: During The Shadow Public Actions phase, if you unsuccessfully Hunt The Fellowship, you may use The Flocks of Crebain to immediately Hunt again. The amount of Hunt required is reduced by 1 to a minimum of 0. If you do not have enough spaces marked for a second Hunt, you cannot use The Flocks of Crebain.

Shelob: During The Shadow Public Actions phase, you may use Shelob to force your Free Peoples opponent to erase all of their marked Resolve spaces. You may use Shelob before you Hunt The Fellowship but not during a Hunt.

The Witch-king: During the Battle Resolution phase, you may use The Witch-king to add 6 to your army strength at the current battle. You may use The Witch-king to increase the army strength of Mordor or Isengard only.

Palantír: During the Use Icons & Take Secret Actions phase, you may use the Palantír to mark all of your Hunt spaces. You do not gain any icons from the marked spaces.

Playing With More Than 4 Players

Each box of The Lord of the Rings: Circle of Conflict contains components for up to 4 players, but you can combine boxes to play with any number of players. Take the player boards, dry-erase markers, and battle boards from the extra boxes, but the dice and The One Ring board can stay in the box. Have all the players sit in a circle, make sure everyone can see the dice, and have fun!

Actions Quick Reference

Use Icons Actions

Use Icons to:	With These Icons	Marking Where?	Description
Increase Resolve (Free Peoples board only)	boot / sword	Resolve Track	By marking Resolve spaces, players can later spend Resolve to take the secret action Move The Fellowship as well as defend themselves against the Hunt The Fellowship action taken by their Shadow opponent.
Increase Hunt Threat (Shadow board only)	boot / sword	Hunt Track	By marking Hunt spaces, players can later spend Hunt to take the Hunt The Fellowship action, attempting to find The Fellowship's location and cause Corruption.
March or Raise Commitment	boot / sword-and-flag	March/Commit Area	By marking a March or Commitment space, players are either moving a nation from that board closer to battle or increasing the VP that will be won/lost in a battle with that nation.
Empower Character	character	Character Tracks	By marking the next space on a character track, players are preparing a character for use.
Rally Nation	sword-and-flag / horn

Take Secret Actions

Secret Actions	Spending Icons	Spending Where?	Description
Move The Fellowship (Free Peoples board only)	Resolve	Resolve Track	By spending (erasing) Resolve, players immediately and secretly take the secret action Move The Fellowship to move The Fellowship to an adjacent location.
Various Character Actions	n/a	n/a	When you mark a space on the character track with the secret action symbol, that character action has been readied. Once you take the action, mark off the symbol. You cannot take this action again.

Take Free Peoples and Shadow Public Actions

Actions	Spending Icons	Spending Where?	Description
Hunt The Fellowship (Shadow board only)	Hunt	Hunt Track	By spending (erasing) Hunt, players take the Hunt The Fellowship action to attempt to locate The Fellowship and potentially cause Corruption.
Activate Nation	n/a	n/a	If during the Use Icons & Take Secret Actions phase the die space on any Alarm track is marked, that player must take this action. The player announces that the nation is now Activated during the public actions phase. The die of this nation is now rolled at the start of each round, and this player can use that die.
Motivate Nation	n/a	n/a	If during the Use Icons & Take Secret Actions phase the double-die space on any Alarm track is marked, that player must take this action. The player announces that the nation is now Motivated during the public actions phase. This player can use the die of this nation twice on future turns.
Use Character (a character's public action)	Mark off the arch of a public action for a character.	Character Track	When you mark a space on the character track with the public action symbol, that character action has been readied. Once you take the action, mark off the symbol. You cannot take this action again.