The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – Revised Core Set

2022

Dive into an immersive journey with the revised edition of this classic LCG game! Now supporting up to 4 players, it offers new mechanics, a narrative campaign, and improved gameplay.

90
minutes

1 - 4
player(s)

14+

Medium Heavy

About the game

Welcome to the magical world of The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – Revised Core Set. This game transports you straight into the heart of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-Earth, a realm filled with noble warriors, cunning hobbits, and ancient, powerful elves. As you embark on this journey, you will face fearsome orcs, terrifying Ringwraiths, and the all-seeing Eye of Sauron himself.

This is a cooperative game, where players come together as a team to face the challenges that Middle-Earth throws at them. Each player controls a group of heroes and uses their unique abilities to overcome various obstacles, solve riddles, and battle enemies. The game is built on a unique Living Card Game format, which means no random booster packs are there. Instead, a fixed set of cards is provided, allowing you to customize your deck and strategize your game right from the start.

Game components Unboxing the fun!

The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – Revised Core Set includes several key components which are essential for gameplay. Each component serves a unique purpose and interacts with the game in its own way.

1. Game Cards

The game includes a set of 216 game cards. These cards are divided into player cards and encounter cards. Player cards represent the heroes, allies, events, and attachments controlled by the players. Encounter cards, on the other hand, represent the various challenges that players must overcome during the game. Players draw cards from their own decks and the encounter deck to progress through the game.

2. Threat Trackers

Each player is given a threat tracker. This component is used to keep track of a player’s threat level which can increase or decrease based on various game events. If a player’s threat level reaches a certain point, they can lose the game.

3. Tokens

The game includes a variety of tokens. Damage tokens are used to track the amount of damage a character has taken. Resource tokens are used to pay for the cost of playing cards. Progress tokens are used to track progress made towards completing quests. Condition tokens represent various states that can affect characters, such as being exhausted or poisoned.

4. Scenario Sheets

The game includes three scenario sheets. Each scenario sheet describes a different adventure that players can embark on, and includes special rules and setup instructions for that scenario.

5. Quest Cards

Quest cards are drawn from the encounter deck and represent the steps players must take to complete a scenario. Each quest card includes a story element, a set of challenges, and the rewards for completing the quest.

6. Hero Cards

Hero cards represent the characters controlled by the players. Each hero card includes a set of stats and abilities that determine how that hero can interact with other game elements.

7. Encounter Deck

The encounter deck is made up of encounter cards that represent the challenges players must overcome to complete their quest. The deck is shuffled and drawn from during the game to add unpredictability and tension.

These components are all essential to gameplay in ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – Revised Core Set’. They interact with each other and the players to create a dynamic, challenging, and engaging experience.

Game setup Lay it out, line it up, let’s go

The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – Revised Core Set is an immersive and strategic card game that allows players to control characters and artifacts from the Lord of the Rings universe. Here’s a step-by-step guide to setting up the game:

Step 1: Choose Player Roles

Each player must select a role to play in the game. These roles are represented by different ‘hero’ cards. Each player chooses three hero cards from the available deck. It’s important to note that each hero has unique attributes and abilities which will affect the gameplay.

Step 2: Set Up Player Decks

Each player then creates their player deck. This deck consists of a combination of ally, event, and attachment cards. The players choose these cards based on the heroes they have chosen. Each player deck should contain exactly 50 cards.

Step 3: Determining the Initial Resources

Each player starts the game with resources equal to the total of the ‘resource icons’ on their chosen heroes. These resources are used to play cards from the player deck.

Step 4: Set Up the Quest Deck

Players must choose a quest to embark on. The quest is represented by a quest deck, which is a set of scenario cards. The chosen quest deck is placed in the center of the play area.

Step 5: Set Up the Encounter Deck

The encounter deck is made up of enemy, location, and treachery cards. These cards represent the challenges players must overcome during their quest. The encounter deck is shuffled and placed face down next to the quest deck.

Step 6: Draw Initial Hands

Each player draws six cards from their player deck to form their initial hand. If a player is not happy with their initial hand, they can choose to mulligan. This means they shuffle their initial hand back into their player deck and draw a new hand of six cards. However, each player can only do this once.

Step 7: Set Up the Staging Area

The top card of the encounter deck is revealed and placed in the staging area. This area represents the active challenges that players must face during their quest.

Step 8: Begin the Game

The game begins with the first player taking their turn. Players take turns in a clockwise direction.

Remember, the objective of ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – Revised Core Set’ is to complete the quest before the collective ‘threat level’ of all players reaches a certain point. Good luck and enjoy the game!

Game flow Round and round we go

The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – Revised Core Set is a cooperative strategy game where players work together to complete a series of quests. Each game round is divided into seven phases, and each player performs specific actions during these phases. Let’s look at each phase in detail:

1. Resource Phase: In this phase, each player performs the following actions in order:

Add one resource token to each hero’s resource pool.
Draw one card from the player deck.

2. Planning Phase: In this phase, players can play ally and attachment cards from their hands. The cost to play each card is paid from the resource pool of the hero that matches the sphere of influence of the card. Players can play as many cards as they can afford.

3. Quest Phase: Players commit characters to the quest. Each character committed to the quest exhausts (tilts sideways). Then, encounter cards are revealed, and their threat is compared to the total willpower of the committed characters. If the willpower is higher, players make progress on the quest. If the threat is higher, players increase their threat level.

4. Travel Phase: If there is an active location, players may travel to a new location. The active location is put into the victory display if its progress tokens equal or exceed its quest points.

5. Encounter Phase: Players engage enemies. Starting with the first player, each player may choose one enemy in the staging area to engage.

6. Combat Phase: Each engaged enemy makes an attack. Players deal a shadow card to each enemy, then choose a character to defend. Players then resolve enemy attacks, player attacks, and then determine combat damage.

7. Refresh Phase: Players refresh all exhausted cards, increase their threat level by one, and pass the first player token to the next player.

The game continues in this manner until the players either complete the quest, or all players are eliminated.

Players'turn One turn to rule them all

‘The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – Revised Core Set’ is a cooperative card game where players form a fellowship of heroes to take on quests and foes from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth. During a player’s turn, they are allowed to perform a sequence of actions which can significantly affect the gameplay. Here’s a thorough breakdown of what happens during a player’s turn:

1. Resource Phase:

Resource Tokens: Each player adds one resource token to each hero’s resource pool. These tokens act as currency for playing cards from hand.
Draw Cards: Each player draws one card from their player deck.

2. Planning Phase:

Play Ally and Attachment Cards: Players can play ally and attachment cards from their hand by paying the cost in resource tokens. Strategic choices here relate to which heroes or allies to bolster with attachments and when to expand the fellowship with new allies.

3. Quest Phase:

Commit Characters: Players can commit characters to the quest by exhausting them (turning them sideways). Committed characters add their willpower to the total quest progress.
Staging: The top card of the encounter deck is revealed and adds its threat to the staging area. Strategic choices here revolve around how many characters to commit to the quest, balancing the need for progress against the risk of leaving the fellowship vulnerable to enemy attacks.
Quest Resolution: If the total willpower of the committed characters is greater than the total threat in the staging area, the players make progress on the quest. This can lead to victory if enough progress is made.

4. Travel Phase:

Travel: Players may travel to a location in the staging area by moving it to the active location spot. This can reduce the total threat in the staging area but may trigger harmful travel effects.

5. Encounter Phase:

Engagement Check: Each enemy in the staging area checks its engagement cost against the threat level of each player. If the threat level is equal to or higher than the engagement cost, the enemy engages that player and moves to the engagement area.
Player Engagement: Each player may optionally engage one enemy in the staging area.

6. Combat Phase:

Enemy Attack: Each engaged enemy makes an attack. The player can declare one character as a defender against each attack.
Player Attack: After all enemies have attacked, the player can declare attacks against engaged enemies. Strategic choices here involve deciding which characters to risk in defense and which to reserve for attack.

7. Refresh Phase:

Refresh: All exhausted cards are refreshed (turned upright).
Threat Increase: Each player increases their threat level by 1.
Pass First Player Token: The first player token is passed to the next player.

These seven phases constitute a single round of play in ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – Revised Core Set’. The game continues round by round until the players either complete the quest, or are defeated.

End of the game All good games must come to an end

The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – Revised Core Set is a cooperative game where players work together to complete a series of quests. The game ends in two possible ways: either the players successfully complete all the quests, or all the players are eliminated.

Victory Conditions:

Successful completion of all quests: The primary victory condition is for the players to successfully complete all the quests in the scenario. Each scenario card provides specific instructions on how to complete the quest, as well as any special victory conditions that may apply.
Elimination of all players: If all players are eliminated (either due to loss of all characters or exhaustion of the player deck), the game ends immediately. This is considered a loss for the players.

Final Scoring:

At the end of the game, players calculate their scores. The fewer points scored, the better the players’ performance.

Time Count: The players add the total number of rounds it took to complete the game to their score. One round is considered complete when all players have had a turn.
Damaged Characters: Players add 1 point to their score for each damage token on a character controlled by a player at the end of the game.
Dead Heroes: If any hero characters were killed during the game, 10 points are added to the score for each dead hero.

In addition to the above, some scenarios may have additional scoring conditions. These will be outlined in the specific scenario’s rules.

Actions Before Final Scoring:

Before final scoring, players need to ensure that all game steps have been completed for the final round. This includes:

Resource Phase: Each player adds one resource to each of their hero’s resource pools.
Draw Phase: Each player draws one card from their player deck.
Quest Phase: Players commit characters to the quest.
Travel Phase: The players can travel to one location.
Encounter Phase: The players engage enemies.
Combat Phase: Players resolve enemy attacks and can then attack enemies.
Refresh Phase: All exhausted cards are refreshed, and play passes to the next player.

Once all these steps have been completed, final scoring can take place.

Scoring Did you outsmart your rivals?

The scoring system in ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – Revised Core Set’ is based on a combination of the player’s remaining life points, the number of quest points achieved, and the number of enemy forces defeated. The goal is to have the highest score at the end of the game, which indicates the player’s success in their quest.

Points Awarding:

Points are awarded as follows:

Life Points: At the end of the game, players receive points equal to the remaining life points of their heroes. Each remaining life point is worth one point.
Quest Points: Players receive points corresponding to the number of quest points they have achieved. Each quest point is worth one point.
Enemy Forces: Players earn points for each enemy force they have defeated. The point value for each defeated enemy force is indicated on its card.

Tie-Breaking Rules:

In the event of a tie, the following tie-breaking rules are applied:

The player with the most remaining life points wins the tie.
If there is still a tie, the player with the most completed quests wins.
If there is still a tie, the player who has defeated the most enemy forces wins.
If there is still a tie, the player who played first wins.

Note that these rules are applied in order until a winner is found.

Particular Cases and Exceptions Wait… is that legal?

The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – Revised Core Set is a well-structured and complex cooperative game. However, with such complexity, it can often breed some confusion. The following are some key clarifications, special rules, and exceptions that might be critical to understand while playing the game:

1. Engagement Checks:

Every player performs an engagement check during the encounter phase. It is important to remember that enemies do not engage players during the staging step of the quest phase. Also, the player has the choice to engage only one enemy from the staging area during the encounter phase, irrespective of the number of enemies present.

2. Attachment Cards:

Attachment cards can be played on any eligible target, not just your own. However, once attached, control of the attachment does not change if the attached card changes control. Additionally, if an attached card leaves play, the attachment is discarded.

3. The One Ring:

The One Ring is a unique card and cannot be discarded from play by any card effect. It is immune to player card effects and can only be manipulated by encounter card effects that specifically reference The One Ring.

4. Mulligan Rule:

In the revised core set, each player is allowed a single mulligan at the start of the game. This means that after drawing their initial hand of cards, a player may choose to discard it and draw a new hand of cards. However, the player must keep their second hand of cards.

5. Combat Action Window:

Between the resolution of each enemy attack, a player action window opens. This means that player cards with “Action:” abilities can be used between enemy attacks. Remember, this window does not open between declaring defenders and resolving enemy attacks.

6. Shadow Effects:

Shadow effects on encounter cards only resolve if the card is flipped face-up as a shadow card during combat. Shadow effects on active location or revealed encounter cards do not resolve.

7. Healing Damage:

Healing damage does not prevent the damage from being assigned in the first place. Damage must first be assigned and then healed. If a character has damage equal to its hit points assigned, it is destroyed before any healing effects can take place.

Tips and tricks Play smarter, not harder!

Advanced Strategies

1. Deck Building: A lot of your success in ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – Revised Core Set’ will come from how well you build your deck. It’s essential to have a balance of cards that allow for attack, defense, questing, and resource generation.

2. Understand Your Heroes: Each hero in your deck has strengths and weaknesses. Understanding these can help you to use them most effectively. For instance, some heroes are better at questing while others excel at combat.

Beginner Tips

1. Start Slow: When you’re first starting out, it’s better to take things slow and learn the game mechanics thoroughly. This will help you in the long run.

2. Use Resources Wisely: Managing your resources is a crucial aspect of the game. Make sure you’re not spending all your resources in one turn, leaving you vulnerable in the next.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Overlooking the Threat Level: Many beginners overlook the threat level of the encounter cards. A high threat level can quickly overwhelm you if you’re not prepared.

2. Ignoring Side Quests: While the main quest is important, don’t ignore side quests. They can provide valuable rewards and help you to gain control of the game.

Ways to Optimize Gameplay

1. Cooperative Play: ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – Revised Core Set’ is a cooperative game, and players can share resources and plan their moves together. This can lead to more effective strategies and a better chance of winning.

2. Understanding the Encounter Deck: The encounter deck can make or break your game. Understanding the various types of encounter cards and how they interact can help you to plan your moves and mitigate risks.