The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Deck-Building Game
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Deck-Building Game Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 243 Game Cards
- 31 Courage Starting Cards
- 16 Despair Starting Cards
- 106 Main Deck Cards
- The One Ring
- 16 Valor Cards
- 12 Archenemy Cards
- 20 Corruption Cards
- 26 Wall Deck Cards
- 7 Unique Hero Starting Deck Cards
- 8 "Impossible Mode" Archenemy Cards (For advanced players only!)
- 7 Oversized Hero Cards
- 1 Rulebook
Types of Cards
The different card types that you can play are: Starter, Enemy, Location, Ally, Maneuver, Artifact, and Fortune. Corruption cards have no card type.
Hero
An oversized card such as Frodo Baggins, Hobbit Hero. Its text box tells you what you start the game with — for example, "You start the game with It's Getting Heavier in your deck."
Starting Cards
Courage and Despair are your starting cards, each marked STARTER. Courage cards read "+1 Power." Despair cards have no effect.
Wall Card
Wall Cards come from The Wall deck. For example, Breached reads "Discard a random card from your hand."
Archenemy
Archenemy cards show the Archenemy's Level (e.g., "LEVEL 3 ARCHENEMY"), a Cost, and a Card Type, plus a Group Ambush ability that triggers when the card is revealed on top of the Archenemy stack.
Enemy
Enemy cards show a Power bonus and card text. Some, like Gríma Wormtongue, show a Victory Points value in the corner.
Location
Location cards show a Card Type of "LOCATION." Their text reads: "When you play this card, leave it in front of you for the rest of the game," followed by an Ongoing effect, such as The Tower of Orthanc's "Ongoing: +1 Power for each Tower you control."
Corruption
Corruption cards reduce your score at the end of the game.
Ally
Ally cards show a Card Name, a Power bonus, card text, and a Victory Points value in the corner.
Maneuver
Maneuver cards show a Power bonus and card text, such as What Do You Smell?'s "Reveal the top card of your deck. If it's an Enemy, draw it. If not, you may destroy it."
Artifact
Artifact cards show a Card Name, a Power bonus, a Cost, and an Abilities section, such as Longbottom Leaf's "+1 Power for each Longbottom Leaf you play or have played this turn."
Fortune
Fortune cards represent moments of good luck. Their text reads: "When you buy or gain this card, play it, then destroy it," followed by the one-time effect — for example, First Light on the Fifth Day's "Gain an Enemy from the Path and put two random Wall Cards on the bottom of the Wall deck."
Setup for Your First Game
1. Heroes and Starting Decks
Each player is dealt a random Hero. (Or, as an option, players choose their favorite character.) Every Hero has a starting card unique to that Hero. You begin the game with your Hero's starting card, 6 Courage cards and 3 Despair cards. Shuffle your 10-card deck.
You will use your Courage cards to buy more powerful cards to add to your deck. As the game moves along, players improve their decks.
Despair cards cause Fellowship members to weaken and falter. It's best to get rid of them as soon as possible (more on how to do that later).
2. The Main Deck
Most of the cards that you will add to your deck as the game progresses come from the main deck. Shuffle the main deck and place it in the middle of the table. None of the following cards should ever be placed into the main deck: Archenemy, Courage, Despair, Valor, Corruption, The One Ring, the unique Hero Starting Cards, Wall Cards, or the oversized Hero cards. The main deck is made up of every other card in the game (106 cards total).
3. The Archenemy Stack
There are twelve different Archenemy cards available to use each game. Typically, eight Archenemy cards are used for a standard game. For a longer game, use more than eight. No matter how many you use, you will always use Corrupted King Théoden. On that card is text that reads, "This card starts the game on top of the Archenemy stack."
The Archenemies are broken up into four Levels:
- There is a single Level 1 Archenemy (Corrupted King Théoden)
- There are five Level 2 and five Level 3 Archenemy cards
- There is a single Level 4 Archenemy (Saruman, Lord of Isengard)
Saruman, Lord of Isengard is the lone Level 4 Archenemy, and he will be the last Archenemy you face each game. Place his card face down.
Next, shuffle the five Level 3 Archenemies. Randomly select three cards. Place them face down on top of the Saruman card. Set the rest of the Level 3 Archenemies aside, still face down.
Then, shuffle the five Level 2 Archenemy cards. Randomly select 3 cards and place them face down on top of the Archenemy stack. Gather the unused Level 2 and Level 3 cards and set them aside face down (in the game box is recommended).
Finally, place Corrupted King Théoden face up on top of the Archenemy stack. In a typical eight-Archenemy game, the stack will now appear as: Level 1, followed by three Level 2 cards and three Level 3 cards, and ending with the Level 4 Saruman.
4. The Path
After shuffling the main deck, place the top five cards from the main deck into the Path face up. The Path is where the members of the Fellowship will have dangerous and fantastical encounters. There is no board necessary to play this game; just reserve space for each card.
NOTE: The player taking the first turn is unaffected by Ambush cards that entered the Path at the start of the game. Also, if there are any Fortune cards in the Path at the start of the game, put them on the bottom of the main deck and replace them.
Next, place the Valor, Archenemy, and Corruption stacks at the end of the Path. You may want to turn these stacks perpendicular to the board so that everyone can reach them. The Valor stack always starts with 16 cards and the Corruption stack starts with 20, no matter how many players are in the game. The number of Archenemy cards you use will vary based on your desired game length during setup. Valor and Archenemy cards are always available to be bought or defeated (while cards remain in their stacks). Corruptions are never bought; they are gained only through unfriendly card effects. The main deck and the three stacks of cards on the end are not part of the Path.
Once you have arranged the main deck, the Path, and the other stacks, it will look something like the above. Your opening five cards in the Path will vary. At the start of the game, there should be 16 Valors, 8 Archenemies, and 20 Corruptions in their respective stacks.
5. The Wall Deck
The Wall at Helm's Deep is a separate deck that is placed face down behind the stacks. The Wall Deck should contain five Wall Cards per player, plus one special Wall Card. In a 5-player game, you will use all 26 cards. Just shuffle them and go.
If you are playing with 4 or fewer players, remove the lone card named Breached from the rest of the Wall Cards. Shuffle the remaining 25 cards. Count out cards until you have 5 per player. Place the excess Wall Cards back in the box. Place the Breached card into your counted out pile of cards, then shuffle the resulting deck thoroughly and place it behind the stacks. (More on how The Wall will be used later.)
Example: In a 3-player game, shuffle the 25 Wall Cards, and count out 15. Then shuffle the Breached card in with the 15 to create a Wall Deck of 16 cards.
6. The One Ring
Finally, place The One Ring behind the stacks. More on how to use it later.
Gameplay
Randomly determine a player to go first. Each player begins by shuffling his or her deck and drawing five cards. Players take turns in clockwise order.
Each turn, you may buy cards from the Path, Valor cards, and/or the top card of the Archenemy stack to improve your deck. Cards you buy or gain are always immediately placed into your discard pile unless you are instructed otherwise. Discard piles are always face up. Soon they'll be shuffled into your deck, and then you'll be drawing these newer, more powerful cards into your hand so you can play them. Buying powerful cards builds up the effectiveness of your deck. That's why it's called a "deck-building game."
You can buy any number of available cards with combined cost less than or equal to the amount of Power you have for the turn. For example, your Courage cards each give you +1 Power. If you draw four of them and no other cards with any Power bonuses, your total Power for the turn is 4. You can buy a single card with cost 2, 3, or 4, or even two cards each with cost 2, assuming these options are available. Valor cards are (usually) available if the cards in the Path are too expensive, and you may buy more than one during your turn if you wish. You may pass if you can't buy or do not wish to buy any cards.
Despair and Corruption cards provide no Power. Since they weaken your draws and deck, you should try to destroy them as soon as possible (more on how to do that later). You may play them if you wish, but they have no effect when played. They are not discarded until the end of your turn when you discard all cards you have played and any cards that you have kept in your hand.
Order of Playing Your Cards
On your turn, you get to play the cards in your hand in the order of your choice. When you play a card, its game text resolves immediately. When you have played all the cards you wish to play at that time, total up the Power you have accumulated and buy what you wish to buy from the Path or the face-up stacks. You do not have to play all of the cards in your hand before you start making purchases if you don't wish to. You may play additional cards even after making purchases.
Most cards you play have simple effects, like +Power, card drawing, or an Attack. The order in which you play these cards typically does not matter.
Ending Your Turn
- Once you have finished your turn, place all the cards you played and any cards remaining in your hand into your discard pile. Any unspent Power from cards played during the turn is lost. Draw a new hand of five cards and pass the turn to the player on your left.
- If any of the slots in the Path are empty, draw cards off the main deck and add them to the Path. Do not replace empty slots as soon as you buy or gain a card from the Path.
- If the top card of the Archenemy stack is face down, flip it face up. This will reveal the next Archenemy out to terrorize the Heroes.
Sample Turn Sequence
After shuffling up your starting cards, you draw a hand of four Courages and one Despair for your first turn. You may play the four Courages for a total of 4 Power, which is enough to buy Edoras from the Path. After buying it, you put it into your discard pile. The Despair provides you with no additional Power. Once you have played and bought all the cards you want, discard the cards you have played and any remaining in your hand and then draw a new hand of five cards. Play then proceeds to the player on your left.
End of Game
The game ends immediately when any one of the following three conditions is met:
- The final Archenemy, Saruman, is defeated.
- You are unable to refill all five slots of the Path.
- The Wall deck is depleted.
Once the game has ended, players total up the Victory Points on cards in their deck. Corruption cards in your deck at the end of the game will subtract Victory Points (VP) from your total. The player with the highest VP total is crowned the winner! In case of a tie, the player with more Archenemy cards wins.
After a winner has been determined, all players will need to take apart their decks, placing all of the cards back into their proper stacks. Be sure to return any cards that were placed into the box back in their stacks. These will be used in the next game.
Additional Rules
Attacks and Defenses
Some cards allow you to make an Attack against the other players in the game. When you play a card with an Attack ability, each other player has an opportunity to avoid the Attack with a card that has a Defense ability. A player using a Defense card's ability negates the Attack only for that defending player. A player may only play one Defense card per Attack. Any players who don't avoid the Attack are then affected by the Attack card's ability. Avoiding an Attack does not negate any other abilities (like +2 Power) of a card, unless an ability specifically counts the players successfully hit by the Attack.
Ambush
An Ambush is a type of Attack found on some cards in the main deck. When a card with the word "Ambush" in its text box enters the Path between turns and you are the next player to take a turn, you are Ambushed at the start of your turn. If a card played during a turn adds new cards to the Path, any Ambushes do not happen.
Example: The person playing Gimli to your right buys two cards from the Path. He ends his turn, and you flip the top two cards of the main deck into the Path. One of them has an Ambush. You resolve the Ambush, then continue your turn.
If you are Ambushed by multiple cards, you may choose the order in which they resolve. After resolving each Ambush card, your turn continues as normal. Defense cards may be used to avoid Ambushes, but it takes a separate Defense card to avoid each Ambush. A player may only play one Defense card per Ambush.
Fortunes
Fortune cards represent the moments of good luck the Fellowship encounters. Fortunes have a cost of 0, so even a player with no cards in hand can buy a Fortune during his turn. When a Fortune is bought or gained (by any means), it is always immediately played, resolved, and then destroyed. If you gain a Fortune during another player's turn, it will resolve as usual. After resolving a Fortune, the current player's turn continues as normal. A player may choose to buy a Fortune at any time during his turn or may decline to buy it, just as with any other card in the Path. Even if you cannot benefit from a Fortune, you may still choose to buy it to ensure another player doesn't benefit from it. Note that if there are any Fortune cards in the Path during the Setup of a game, you must put them on the bottom of the main deck and replace them.
Corruption
Some Attack and Ambush cards force the affected players to gain a Corruption. When this happens, the affected players usually place the Corruption cards into their discard piles (unless a card tells them otherwise), effectively adding them to their decks. Corruption cards have no ability and can be played or kept in your hand and discarded at the end of your turn. At the end of the game, each Corruption in your deck subtracts 1 Victory Point from your VP total, so you'll need a plan for destroying them at some point! If the Corruption deck runs out, effects that would cause a player to gain a Corruption do not do so, but any other effects those cards have still resolve as usual. A player may still play a Defense to avoid an Attack or Ambush, even when there are no Corruptions available to be gained.
In Impossible Mode, place destroyed Corruptions back onto the Corruption stack instead of removing them from the game.
Shuffling Your Deck
You don't reshuffle your discard pile into your deck as soon as you run out of cards. However, if at any point during the game if there are no cards in your deck and you need to draw, discard, or reveal a card from your deck, immediately reshuffle your discard pile, and it becomes your new deck.
Locations
Location cards go straight to your discard pile when bought or gained, just like any other card. However, when you later draw and play a Location, that card will remain face up and in play in front of you for the rest of the game. Each Location has an effect that will happen based on the game text of the card. The word Ongoing is a reminder that this card keeps working for you turn after turn. You can have any number of Locations in play at once. Once a Location is in play, it no longer counts as a card in your hand.
The One Ring
The One Ring does not start in any player's deck or in the main deck. Instead, it begins the game behind the stacks. This card cannot be bought or gained, but certain cards will allow you to put it in front of you. While it is in front of you, you'll have an Ongoing ability of +1 Power and The One Ring is also "in play." Some cards look to see if The One Ring is in play or not. You will never place this card into your hand, deck, or discard pile. It also can't be destroyed... not yet, at least.
If The One Ring is in front of you, you may use it as a Defense to avoid an Attack or Ambush by placing it behind the stacks. While it is behind the stacks, it is not "in play." While it is in front of you, cards the other players play may steal it away from you by playing certain cards, just as if it were behind the stacks. Stealing The One Ring is not an Attack, so you can't defend against it.
Destroying Cards
Some cards have an ability that allows you to destroy a card from your hand, your deck, your discard pile, or even the Path. When you destroy a card, place it into a face-up pile of destroyed cards anywhere away from the play area, removing it from your deck and the game. You will often get to choose which of your cards to destroy. Destroying Despair and Corruption cards will improve your deck greatly! If Valors and Corruptions are destroyed, they do not go back to their respective stacks.
Gaining Cards
When a card tells a player to gain a particular card or a card of your choice, that card is taken and immediately placed in that player's discard pile, at no additional cost, unless otherwise directed by the card. If a card tells to you gain a card with a specific name, card type, or cost and there are none available, you simply don't gain the card.
Resolving Card Abilities
If a card's ability affects multiple players, and the order matters (for example, an Attack that has each of three opponents gain a Corruption, with only two Corruptions remaining in the stack), resolve that ability for each affected player in clockwise order, starting from the player who played the ability. When you play a card that triggers another effect, such as on a Location you control, fully resolve the card you are playing before resolving any secondary effects triggered by your card play.
The Archenemies
When you have accumulated enough Power in a turn, you can choose to defeat an Archenemy. If you do, take the topmost face-up card from the stack and place it into your discard pile, unless instructed otherwise. The next card in the Archenemy stack remains face down until your turn is over, so a player may only defeat one Archenemy per turn. Archenemy cards range in cost from 8 to 14, and their stack is randomized at the start of each game. Check the stack for the current Archenemy's cost.
While the Corrupted King Théoden is content to gaze menacingly at the players from his lofty perch atop the Archenemy stack, the rest of the Archenemies take a more hands-on approach. When a new Archenemy card is revealed, it makes a Group Ambush. On each Archenemy (other than Corrupted King Théoden), you will find that Archenemy card's Group Ambush. When revealed on the Archenemy stack, this Ambush resolves immediately against each player in the game. Any player with a Defense card may defend against the Group Ambush, unless the card says otherwise. The Ambush will resolve against any players who do not defend themselves. Group Ambushes do not happen during any player's turn and therefore take place before any regular Ambushes occur. Keep track of the regular Ambushes that will occur after the Archenemy's Group Ambush by moving the Ambushing cards slightly out of the Path. After the Ambushes, line them back up with the rest of the cards.
Archenemy Cards in Your Deck
Like any other card you acquire, the experience gained defeating an Archenemy will aid you in your future turns. When you play an Archenemy card from your hand, the text at the top of the text box is the relevant text. The Group Ambush is no longer applicable, as the Archenemy already performed that when he was first revealed from the Archenemy stack. Archenemies are Enemy cards. Archenemy is a title, not a card type, so playing an Archenemy does not count as playing two different card types.
The Wall
The Wall at Helm's Deep is besieged by the forces of Saruman! You must protect The Wall or suffer the consequences. The Wall contains cards that are harmful to players; you should avoid drawing Wall Cards if at all possible. In order to avoid drawing Wall Cards, you must avoid various Ambush and Group Ambush effects. You cannot wait to see what Wall Card(s) you would draw before deciding whether or not to play a Defense card. When you would draw multiple Wall Cards at once, draw and resolve them one at a time. When The Wall deck is depleted and the last card drawn from it has resolved, the game ends immediately. Count VPs and determine a winner.
There is one card in The Wall deck that all players will be sorry to see. The Breached card is a special Wall Card that sticks to the player who is unlucky enough to draw it from The Wall deck and it remains in play for the rest of the game. Some cards refer to whether or not The Wall has been "breached." If the Breached card has been drawn, The Wall has been breached. Some cards allow players to add random Wall Cards to the bottom of The Wall deck. These only come from The Wall discard pile, which should be kept near The Wall deck. Do not mix these cards with destroyed cards or other cards that are not being used during the game.
Impossible Mode
When you have mastered the game and want to take on a true challenge, a test of your mettle not unlike Frodo's grueling march to Mount Doom, then break out the eight Impossible Mode Archenemies.
When you open the pack, don't peek at any of the cards! Remove the warning card, and then leave the Impossible Corrupted King Théoden face up. The rest of the Archenemies are in order and ready to go, but looking at them ahead of time is frowned upon. You wanted a challenge, so no preparing for the onslaught. When using the Impossible Mode Archenemies, the regular 12 Archenemies will not be used.
Impossible Mode Changes:
- When a Corruption is destroyed, return it to its stack instead of removing it from the game.
- When the player to your right is Ambushed by a card in the Path, you may play a Defense card to protect them (and The Wall). However, you still gain any reward listed on your Defense card. They can't refuse the aid, but if they play a Defense card of their own, you cannot also play one. You cannot protect them from an Archenemy's Group Ambush, as those aren't in the Path.
- If The Wall deck is depleted, the game ends immediately and all players lose the game! Don't bother counting VPs, as the forces of Saruman have triumphed over the forces of good.
In order to protect The Wall, you will need to work together. Good luck...you'll need it!
Combining The Fellowship of the Ring With The Two Towers
When combining your sets, you could just shuffle both main decks together, but that will dilute some of the card combos and shuffling that many cards together will be quite a feat! Once your two sets are mixed together, separating them again will be a daunting task. Here are other ways to create a main deck out of your mix of the two sets.
Plan #1: The next time you set up to play, just create piles of the different card types until you hit the following counts:
a. Allies: 30 b. Enemies: 30 c. Artifacts: 30 d. Maneuvers: 15 e. Locations: 5 f. Fortunes: 5
Once you hit a listed count, discard additional cards of that type until you have hit each different card count. That creates a random 115 card main deck in the standard proportions. There may be more cards from one set or the other, but that's OK.
Plan #2: Shuffle the 220+ deck, then split it in half. Play one game using one half of the deck and a second game using the other half of the deck. Choose starting Heroes for the second game based on points scored in game #1, with the lowest scorer choosing first. You will have some idea of what kind of cards you might see in game #2 based on what you saw in game #1, as none of them will be used in game #2. Combine your scores between the two games to determine the match winner. Use a different set of Archenemies and Starting Heroes for each game.
A Less Random Plan
The preferred method of combining sets involves choosing card types by set. Combining these sets of card types then creates a standard sized main deck and keeps the card synergies intact, while also creating new and exciting ones! This method does require a bit of sorting before and after each game, however.
For your first combined set game experience, we recommend:
| Fellowship | Two Towers |
|---|---|
| Artifacts | Allies |
| Maneuvers | Enemies |
| Fortunes | Locations |
| Archenemies | Heroes |
Whenever you use The Two Towers' Enemies, Archenemies, and/or Artifacts, keep The Wall deck handy, as it allows you to resolve their Ambushes. If you aren't playing with any of those card types, you need not play with The Wall deck. Just ignore any text that references The Wall if you aren't using it.
Three The Two Towers cards change slightly in some configurations:
Raw Recruits of Rohan: If The Wall deck is not being used, it will never be breached, so you don't have to worry about losing this card.
Battlements on The Wall: If The Wall deck is not being used, this card's VP value should be considered 3 instead of the Quest symbol (and ignore the Quest).
The One Ring: This can exist alongside Frodo's Starting Card from The Fellowship of the Ring. Frodo's Starting The One Ring Card is never considered "in play." If you are instructed to put The One Ring in front of you, it refers only to The Two Tower's version.
Feel free to follow our advice or come up with your own crazy ideas on how to mix and match the two sets. Or custom build your very own main deck!
Specific Card Clarifications
Breaching Bomb: Find the level of the current Archenemy by looking at the middle bar of the face-up Archenemy currently on the stack.
Dead Marshes: You control cards in your hand, deck, discard pile, in front of you on an ongoing basis, or one that you are currently playing. This Location's effect can even happen when it is not your turn. Continue to place destroyed cards under this Location and draw cards even after you have completed the Quest. If a card such as Haldir and the Elven Archers or Raw Recruits of Rohan is destroyed at the end of your turn, you will draw the card into your next hand. With a card like Leave Now and Never Come Back, you will draw from the destroy effect immediately.
Elvish Rope: This card only works to its full effect if you hold it in your hand until after you have bought or gained an Ally.
Entdraught: This card counts itself.
Gollum/Sméagol: The parenthetical text at the bottom of this card is "always on," so Gollum/Sméagol can be both an Enemy and Ally simultaneously even while in the Path or on top of the main deck.
Gríma Wormtongue: The Level 1 Archenemy in this set is Corrupted King Théoden. This card works equally well with Level 1 Archenemies from other sets. The "stack" referred to is the Archenemy stack.
Haldir and the Elven Archers: Remember that Archenemies are also Enemy cards. Note that you don't have to play the Haldir card just because he's in your hand. You may simply discard him at the end of your turn.
Saruman, Lord of Isengard: While revealing cards from your deck for his Group Ambush, if you empty your deck, you do not reshuffle it to continue revealing cards. Simply stop revealing cards from your deck and then resolve the second half of the Ambush.
The Ring is Treacherous: Only the chosen player is affected by the Attack, and only that player may play a Defense card to avoid it.
The Tower of Barad-dûr, The Tower of Orthanc: You control a Tower if you have an Ongoing Location in front of you with the word "Tower" in its name. If you control two Tower cards, you will have +2 Power and draw two cards during each of your turns.
Uruk-hai Battering Ram: If the highest cost card in the Path has a cost of 6, then this card grants +6 Power.
FAQ
Q: What does the term "defeat" or "defeated" mean?
A: You "defeat" an Archenemy when you buy it from the top of the Archenemy stack. That Archenemy has then been "defeated." You "defeat" an Enemy when you buy or gain it from the Path.
Q: I have to reveal five cards from the top of my deck, but after revealing three cards, my deck is empty. When I reshuffle my discard pile to continue revealing, should I shuffle in those three cards?
A: No
Credits
Game Design: Matt Hyra
Game Engine Design: Matt Hyra & Ben Stoll
Cryptozoic Entertainment
- President & CCO: Cory Jones
- CEO: John Nee
- Chief Operating Officer: Scott Gaeta
- SVP Sales & Business Development: John Sepenuk
- Game Design and Development: Phil Cape, Dan Clark, Matt Dunn, Kevin Jordan, Erik Larsen, Matt Hyra, Ben Stoll, Drew Walker, Chris Woods
- Graphic Design: Larry Renac (Lead), Marco Sipriaso, Nancy Valdez, John Vineyard
- Editing: Scott Thomas
- VP Controller: Joanne Barron
- Director of Operations: Leisha Cummins
- Brand Management: Laura Waniuk
- Associate Production Manager: Rachel Valverde
- Business Coordinator: Rumi Asai
- Sales: Kurt Nelson
- Global Sales: Ming Wan
- Office Manager: April Jones
- Public Relations: AnnaMaria White
Marketing and Community
Javier Casillas, Alex Charsky, Sara Erickson, Mike Rosenberg, Christina Sims, Laura Waniuk
Playtesters
Patrick Dillon, Tom Driver, Scott Gaeta, Russ Greenwald, Adam Hensch, Cory Jones, Marcos Payan, Nathaniel Yamaguchi and many, many others.
Cryptozoic Special Thanks
Miranda Anderson, Kyle Heuer, Matt Hoffman, Vanessa Jimenez, Michael Kirchhoff, Lacy Lodes, George Nadeau, Matthias Nagy, Jon Nee, Lisa Villaire, Galen Welch, and MaryCarmen Wilbur
Special thanks to Chaz Fitzhugh, Julian Montoya, and Vienna Downes.
Quick Reference
Turn Sequence
- Play cards from your hand.
- Total up your Power and purchase cards with combined cost less than or equal to that total.
- As soon as you buy or gain a card, place it into your discard pile, unless instructed otherwise.
End of Turn
- Place all the cards you played and any remaining cards from your hand into your discard pile, and draw a new hand of five cards.
- Fill each empty slot in the Path with a card from the top of the main deck.
- If the top card of the Archenemy stack is face down, flip it face up and read aloud the next Archenemy's Group Ambush.
Do not reshuffle your discard pile just because you have no cards in your deck. Wait until you must draw, discard, or reveal a card from your deck. Then shuffle your discard pile, and it becomes your new deck.
The game ends immediately when any one of the following three conditions is met:
- The final Archenemy, Saruman, is defeated.
- You are unable to refill all five slots of the Path.
- The Wall deck is depleted.
Impossible Mode
- Place destroyed Corruptions back onto the Corruption stack instead of removing them from the game.
- When the player to your right is Ambushed by a card in the Path, you may play a Defense card to protect them.
- If The Wall deck is depleted, the game ends immediately and all players lose the game!