The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game

To set up the game, place the main quest card, 'Stop the War Party', in the quest area. Then, add one 'Orc War Party' enemy and one 'Shrouded Hills' location to the staging area. The first player gains control of the 'Iarion' objective ally, whose Willpower, Attack, and Defense are equal to the number of quest cards in play. Since there is only one quest card initially, 'Iarion' starts with 1 Willpower, 1 Attack, and 1 Defense. Shuffle the encounter deck.

The primary objective is to accumulate 30 progress tokens on the main quest card, 'Stop the War Party'. However, players cannot win the game if any 'Orc War Party' enemies are in play. Additionally, the first player must control the 'Iarion' objective ally to win. If 'Iarion' leaves play, the players lose the game.

Each round of the game follows a structured sequence of phases. The resource phase involves gaining resources for heroes and drawing cards. The planning phase allows players to play cards from their hand. The quest phase is where players commit characters to quest, reveal encounter cards, and resolve questing by comparing total willpower to total threat. The travel phase provides an opportunity to travel to a location. The encounter phase is for engaging enemies. The combat phase resolves attacks between engaged enemies and player characters. Finally, the refresh phase readies all cards, raises each player's threat by one for each enemy in the staging area, and passes the first player token.

Progress tokens are the primary measure of advancement towards the objective. These tokens are placed on the current quest card during the quest phase. The number of progress tokens added is determined by the total Willpower committed by players minus the total threat of cards in the staging area. Damage tokens are applied to enemies during the combat phase based on successful attacks. The game's objective requires accumulating 30 progress tokens on the main quest card.

The game concludes when one of three conditions is met. Players achieve victory by accumulating 30 progress tokens on the main quest card, provided there are no 'Orc War Party' enemies in play and the first player controls 'Iarion'. Conversely, players lose if any player's threat reaches 50, or if any player is eliminated from the game (e.g., all heroes are defeated).