Last updated: 2024-03-01
This page is only intended to be used when playing a game involving ALeP cards in some manner. This could mean playing an older, official quest using a deck that contains ALeP player cards or playing any of the ALeP quests. It is not intended to be used when playing strictly within the official card pool (Though it should work just fine, and we won’t stop you!)
This FAQ contains three parts: the ALeP Errata, the ALeP FAQ, and the Free To Choose List.
1) The ALeP Errata section contains a series of small changes and fixes to the ALeP cards, meant to fix a few mistakes and rule ambiguities discovered in the last years.
2) The ALeP FAQ contains a few in-depth explanations about how certain ALeP cards work and interact with each other or with some official FFG cards.
3) The Free To Choose List (FTCL) is a set of optional balance tweaks that players may use, in whole or in part, if they want suggestions to rein in some powerful combos. The ALeP team uses the FTCL during playtesting, and we have come to enjoy finding new ways to employ powerful cards without stretching the game too much. But we recognize that these tweaks aren’t going to be for everyone! Your ALeP games are 100% legitimate whether you decide to use the FTCL or not.
We hope you find these documents helpful, and as always, thank you for playing!
ALeP Errata
Children of Eorl Expansion (CoE)
Children of Eorl Rules Sheet
Looter X
In Ambush at Erelas, the explanation of the Looter X keyword should also include this part: “.., cards in a loot pile are not in play and are under no player’s control.”
Devoted
The rules for the Devoted keyword should read: “While each non-[fellowship], non-[baggins] hero you control shares at least one trait with an ally a card with the Devoted keyword, that ally card does not require a resource match.”
ALeP’s note: The presence of Fellowship or Baggins heroes was not meant to impact the functionality of the Devoted keyword. Furthermore, non-ally cards with the Devoted keyword were introduced only along the Oaths of the Rohirrim expansion.
Children of Eorl cards
Wild Country [CoE 21] [added 2023-11-16]
Should read: “Forced: At the end of the travel phase, if the active location is not vast if there is no vast active location, each player deals 1 damage to a character they control.”
Endless Grasslands [CoE 22] [added 2023-11-16]
Should read: “Forced: At the end of the travel phase, if the active location is not vast if there is no vast active location, each player exhausts an ally they control.”
Windworn Villages [CoE 23] [added 2023-11-16]
Should read: “Forced: At the end of the travel phase, if the active location is not vast if there is no vast active location, each player chooses and discards 1 card from their hand.”
Humpbacked Downs [CoE 24] [added 2023-11-16]
Should read: “Forced: At the end of the travel phase, if the active location is not vast if there is no vast active location, each player raises their threat by 1.”
ALeP’s Note: The intent for these vast locations was to add pressure for players who did not travel to vast locations, so they were meant to trigger both when the active location was not vast and when there was no active location at all. The previous wording did not convey this intent clearly, so we changed it.
Oaths of the Rohirrim Expansion [OotR]
Lily Cotton [OotR 3]
Should read: “Action: Exhaust Lily Cotton to ready a different Hobbit ally and add Lily Cotton’s [willpower], [attack], and [defense] to that ally’s [willpower], [attack], and [defense] respectively until the end of the phase. At the end of the phase, if that ally is still in play, return it to your its owner’s hand. (Limit once per phase.)”
Gavin [OotR 11]
Should read: “Response: After resolving the staging of an encounter card without surge, After an encounter card without surge is revealed, exhaust Gavin to give that card surge and add 1 resource to the pool of a Scout hero you control. If the next encounter card revealed is not a location, discard it without resolving its effects.”
ALeP’s note: This does not change the way most people have been using Gavin. The slight rewording is just to bring it more in line with how ALeP understands the mechanics of revealing encounter cards. It was always intended for Lanwyn [TDC 30/TDCHE 06] to be able to trigger off of Gavin’s surge, and this rewording now makes that interaction more clear.
Exhausted Pursuit [OotR 66] [added 2023-11-16]
Should read: “When Revealed: Either each enemy in play captures its steeds, or exhaust each ready damaged character.”
ALeP’s Note: As initially written, you could select the second option of this treachery only if each damaged character in the game was still ready. If even a single damaged character was already exhausted you could not fully resolve the second option, so you had to choose the first one. This was not the intent of this card, so we updated the wording.
Gálmód’s Escort [OotR 85]
Should read: “Immune to player card effects. Gálmód’s Escort cannot leave the staging area while it has hit points remaining. Cannot leave the staging area (except by being destroyed), but is considered to be engaged with each player.”
Recapture the Traitor – Side B [OotR 100]
Should read: “The players cannot defeat this stage while Gálmód is guarded by an enemy. When Gálmód is free of encounters, he is captured and the players win the game.”
Wonders of Aglarond [OotR 115]
Should read: “Forced: After Wonders of Aglarond leaves play, place 4 progress on any 1 cave without a player token and reveal an encounter card.”
ALeP’s note: Due to the plural ambiguity of “any” in this sentence we decided to add “1” too, to better clarify our intent on how this location works and to avoid any possible confusion about it.
Folcwine [OotR 166b] [added 2023-11-16]
Should read:
“When Revealed: The first player chooses a player to take control of Folcwine. That player attaches Folcwine to a hero they control. Attach to an hero.
Action: Exhaust [name] to either ready attached hero, or give attached hero +1 [willpower], +1 [attack], and +1 [defense] until the end of the phase.
If Folcwine leaves play, remove it from the game.”
ALeP’s Note: With the previous text it was not clear how the players took control of Folcwine and who it attached to, so we fixed it. The same was true about what happened to Folcwine if it left play, for example if the attached hero is destroyed.
The Scouring of the Shire Standalone Scenario [TSotS]
Raise the Shire – Side B [TSotS 3]
Should read: “Forced: After a side quest is defeated, search the encounter deck and discard pile for a Shirriff enemy and add it to the staging area. Shuffle the encounter deck.”
Watch the East Road [TSotS 22a] [added 2023-11-16]
Should read: “Response: At the beginning of the staging step, the first player places any number of progress here and reveals an equal number of encounter cards.”
ALeP’s Note: within the Saga Campaign each time a card is revealed from the encounter deck it must be done by a single player, to account for the usage of “you” and the keyword Peril. In this instance it was not clear which player actually revealed the card(s), so we clarified it.
The Siege of Erebor Standalone Scenario [TSoEr]
Eastern Assault – Normal Side [TSoEr 7a] [added 2023-10-22]
Should read: “Forced: After a card effect is canceled by a player a player card effect cancels an encounter card effect at any stage, deal 1 damage to the eastmost stage’s main quest.”
ALeP’s Note: the previous wording had some unintended interactions with The Desolation of Smaug [TSoEr 23] and Gandalf [OHaUH 10], so we offer this new wording that is more in line with our intent for the card.
ALeP FAQ
Children of Eorl Deluxe Expansion [CoE]
Stolen Steeds [CoE 71] [added 2023-11-16]
Q: How do Stolen Steeds work when claiming multiple Mount objectives? Is the end of round Forced effect of Stolen Steeds meant to bypass the active location?
A: In the moment when a card with multiple Mount objectives attached to it leaves play, those Mount objectives are detached all at once (since they would be discarded as they are also attachments in that moment, but the effect of Stolen Steeds keeps them in play) and then the players claim each detached Mount objective one by one. This also means that if there is a Pommel-pouncer [CoE 79] in the staging area when this happens, the Pommel-pouncer will snatch only one Mount objective from the players.
The end of round Forced effect of Stolen Steed does not bypass the active location, since it doesn’t specifically tell the players to do so, so those progress tokens will go on the active location, if there is one. If the active location is explored by this effect and there are still progress tokens left to place, those are placed directly on the quest card.
The Last Alliance [CoE 85] [added 2023-04-14]
Q: The whole A/B formatting is a bit hard to understand, could you clarify what it’s meant to express?
A: Let’s make some examples, speaking about a Gondor (A) and Ranger (B) deck I might want to build.
1) Each of my starting heroes must have either the Gondor or the Ranger trait, but not both. So I can include any (non-Fellowship) version of hero Aragorn and either version of hero Denethor, but I can’t include either version of hero Faramir, since he always has both the Gondor and the Ranger traits. The same restrictions apply to my allies, so I also can’t include either version of ally Faramir since he once again always has both the Gondor and Ranger traits.
2) I have to choose as starting heroes at least 1 Gondor hero and at least 1 Ranger hero, so I can’t go for an all-Gondor hero lineup without any Ranger heroes.
3) I have to include in my deck at least 10 Gondor allies as well as at least 10 Ranger allies.
4) After flipping the contract during Setup, I will have access for the rest of the game to a passive cost reduction for my Gondor or Ranger allies. While I control more Gondor characters than Ranger characters, the first Ranger character I play each round has its cost reduced by 1. While I control more Ranger characters than Gondor characters, the first Gondor character I play each round has its cost reduced by 1. If I play around with this carefully I could even end up benefiting from both cost reductions in the same round!
5) The cost reduction of the contract can reduce the cost of my characters down to 0 (but not to a negative number) since there is no cost limit mentioned. When combined with other cost-reduction abilities, the order in which they are applied is up to the player.
6) During the game I can exhaust the contract to activate its Action and change the printed ability text of a card in my hand or in play under my control so that, instead of mentioning only Gondor or Ranger, that card ability text now mentions “Gondor or Ranger”. So for example, if I play an Envoy of Pelargir [HoN 18/DoG 13] it can give 1 resource to either a Gondor or a Ranger hero, or I can play a Ranger Bow [AtS 88] on either a Gondor or a Ranger, or I can use For Gondor! [CORE 22] to grant all Gondor or Ranger characters +1 [defense] until the end of the phase.
Q: What exactly does “ability text” cover? What gets changed when using the contract’s Action?
A: Let’s review all aspects of a card’s text box:
Printed Traits: The printed traits of a card are not affected by the contract’s Action. So for example in a Gondor/Ranger The Last Alliance (TLA) deck, you can’t use the contract’s Action to give Lothíriel [TVoM 27/RoR 3] the printed Ranger trait in order to use her Response to put a Ranger ally into play.
Play Restrictions and Cost Modifiers: These are passive abilities that affect when or how you can play a card or change a card’s cost, thus they are affected by TLA’s action. So in a Noldor/Dúnedain TLA deck, you can play Light of Valinor [D 107] on a Dúnedain hero by using the contract’s Action. Furthermore, in a Gondor/Rohan TLA deck you can have a Citadel Custodian [HoN 4] discounted by both Gondor and Rohan characters in play by using the contract’s Action.
Constant Abilities and Triggered Abilities: All of these are affected by TLA’s action. So in a Dwarf/Silvan TLA deck, you can use the contract’s Action to have the constant boosts from Celeborn [TRM 1/EoL 1] or Dáin Ironfoot [SoM 116/DoD 1] affect both Dwarf and Silvan characters, or to have Brok Ironfist’s [CORE 19] Response trigger based off on both a Dwarf or Silvan hero leaving play, or to use Thranduil’s [EM 56] Combat Action to play either a Dwarf or a Silvan ally.
Shadow Effect or Flavour Text: Just to cover every possible part of a card, Shadow Effects (in those few rare cases where it would matter) and Flavour Text are not affected by TLA’s Action.
Q: How does the [with “A or B”] bit work exactly? Is it meant to be inclusive?
A: The “or” in that part of the text is indeed meant to be inclusive “or”, that is to say for game purposes to grant both traits to the card’s ability text. Here are some examples:
1) If I am playing a Dwarf/Noldor TLA deck, and I target Lure of Moria [D 30/DoD 22] with the contract’s Action, it would now read “Ready all Dwarf or Noldor characters” so all characters with the Dwarf, as well as all character with the Noldor trait (or with both, if I happened to play a card like Elf-friend [AA 93/AAHE 70]), are readied by Lure of Moria.
2) If I am playing a Gondor/Rohan TLA deck and I target a Steward of Gondor [CORE 26] I control, Steward of Gondor would effectively grant the attached hero both the Gondor and Rohan traits for all game purposes until the end of the round.
Q: Can I choose Lothíriel [TVoM 27/RoR 3] as one of the starting heroes in a Gondor/Rohan TLA deck if one of the other starting heroes in the game is Éomer [TVoI 1/RoR 1]?
A: When choosing starting heroes based on deckbuilding restrictions, their game text is not yet active. Since Lothíriel’s constant ability is not yet active she doesn’t have the Rohan trait, making her a viable choice.
Q: I am running a Dwarf/Noldor TLA with Spirit Dáin Ironfoot [EM 84] as one of my heroes. I use Thorongil [TVoM 146] to bring Leadership Dáin Ironfoot [SoM 116/DoD 1] onto the table, attached to Thorongil. Can I target Leadership Dáin Ironfoot (or Spirit Dáin Ironfoot) with the contract’s Action in order to give all of my Noldor +1 WP/Attack?
A: In that situation, Leadership Dáin Ironfoot is not really in play so you can’t target him with the contract’s Action, and while Spirit Dáin Ironfoot has indeed gained Leadership Dáin Ironfoot’s text it hasn’t gained it as printed text so you can’t target Spirit Dáin Ironfoot with the contract’s Action either.
The Scouring of the Shire Saga Expansion [TSotS]
Into the West [TSotS 42] [added 2023-04-14]
Q: How does the second Forced effect of the contract Into the West work in regard to an ally “leaving play”? Can it be “rescued” by Eagles of the Misty Mountains [SoM 119]?
A: An ally that is removed from the game by the second Forced effect of Into the West has indeed left play, so it will trigger the Response of a Horn of the Mark [TVoM 35/RoR 17] (if the ally who left play shares a trait with the attached hero) or the Forced effect of a Silvan Refugee [AtS 37/EoL 13]. Note though that since that ally has been removed from the game it will have “no further interaction with the game in any manner for the duration of its removal” (according to the Rules Reference), so if the ally that was removed from the game by the contract was an Eagle ally, a player cannot trigger the Response of an Eagles of the Misty Mountain to attach that Eagle facedown to the Eagles of the Misty Mountains.
Oaths of the Rohirrim Cycle [OotR]
Seasoned Forager [OotR 77] [added 2023-04-14]
Q: How does Seasoned Foraged and its “Limit 1 per player” work when a hero changes the controller and is passed to a player that already controls a Seasoned Forager?
A: Let’s say Player A has Seasoned Forager attached to their Glorfindel [CORE 12] and Player B plays Desperate Alliance [OtD 10], passing them Beravor [CORE 11], also with a copy of Seasoned Forager attached. When Player A takes control of Beravor, they end up controlling two attachments with the same title and “Limit 1 per player”. The second copy of Seasoned Forager that Player A has just taken control of is discarded from play (going back to Player B’s discard pile). For reference, this is similar to how side quests with “Limit 1 copy of [this side quest] in the victory display” work, as explained in The Sands of Harad rules booklet.
Osbera [OotR 145] [added 2023-04-14]
Q: How does Osbera flipping work? Is she readied by flipping if exhausted? Does she keep her resource tokens, damage tokens, and attachments? Is she considered to be leaving play?
A: Only the text of the side currently face-up is active. When Osbera flips, she is simply changing to another aspect of herself, she is no more bear than she is human. Many things remain unchanged:
- She keeps her ready or exhausted status.
- She keeps all tokens and all attachments (note though that since her Tactics side has the “Cannot have restricted attachments” text, any such cards will be discarded when she flips to that side).
- She is not considered to have left play when she flips from one side to the other.
- If any lasting effects created by card effects are affecting her (for example, if a treachery card has given her -2 willpower until the end of the round, or if you chose her as the target for The Last Alliance [CoE 85]’s Action) those effects will continue to affect her even after she flips.
Q: Does Osbera enter play on a specific side? Or is it by the player’s choice?
A: Whenever Osbera enters play, be it during Setup or later on during the game (through card effects like Fortune or Fate [CORE 54] or Helm of Secrecy [TVoM 90/DoG 33], for example) she starts on the side chosen by the player who controls her. Note that if you don’t have an enemy engaged with you and you put her in play on her Tactics side, she will immediately flip over to her Lore side through her constant ability.
Q: If a quest Setup puts an enemy in play engaged with me, can I put Osbera in play on her Tactics side and keep her on that side?
A: Since the Setup effects of quest and encounter cards trigger after placing heroes on the table, Osbera will have already flipped to her Lore side by then. Note that if she has a resource to spend (maybe cause you are playing with the Core Set rules Easy Mode) when an enemy is put in play engaged with you during Setup, you can spend that resource to flip her from her Lore to Tactics side as usual.
Q: Which printed sphere does Osbera have?
A: Osbera has the printed sphere of the side she is currently on. So if she is on her Lore side she will be counted for the discount on Scroll of Isildur [AtS 142], but if she is on her Tactics side she will not.
Q: How does Osbera interact with cards like The Last Alliance [CoE 85]?
A: For deck-building restrictions, you have to consider the side you will choose for her to be put in play as. So you can include her in a Creature/XXX The Last Alliance deck if you choose for her to be put in play on her Tactics side during Setup. Note that, as explained above, she will then immediately flip to her Lore side after being put into play and she will then usually start the first round as a simple Beorning.
Q: How does Osbera interact with Mirlonde [AtS 32] if we put her in play on her Tactics side during Setup?
A: Since her flipping from Tactics to Lore side is a passive effect always active (even in Setup, similar to how hero Gandalf [RD 2/TFotR 7] allows you to peek at the top card of your deck even then), the same type of effect as Mirlonde’s threat cost reduction, you can choose the order in which they apply. So if you put her in play on her Tactics side during Setup (maybe due to some deck-building restrictions), you can still benefit from Mirlonde’s threat cost reduction if you decide to let Osbera’s constant ability that flips her back to her Lore side resolve first. This is also due to the fact that in Setup you first put heroes in play and only afterward you determine your starting threat.
Q: If I have a second Osbera in my collection can I use Thorongil [TVoM 146] to put her other side in play through that card’s effect?
A: Thorongil asks for a “different version” of the hero, while both sides of Osbera are simply two aspects of the same hero. So you can’t use Thorongil to bring your second copy of Osbera into play on the other side.
Q: How does Tactics Osbera’s Response work? Can I use it to cancel 1 damage that would be dealt to one of my characters or must it be 2?
A: Tactics Osbera’s Response is meant to be used only when one of your characters is dealt 2 (or more) damage, it cannot be triggered when one of your characters is dealt only 1 damage.
Gilraen [OotR 182] [added 2023-05-25]
Q: How does Star Brooch (TLR 13/AAHE 47) interact with Gilraen’s self-reduction of [willpower]? And if the Brooch counteracts it, do the other Dúnedain heroes lose their [willpower] bonus?
A: Star Brooch uses the wording “cannot have its [willpower] reduced” and as defined by the FFG FAQ 1.14 “cannot” is an “absolute [that] cannot be overridden by other effects”. So yes, Star Brooch can counteract Gilraen’s [willpower] reduction, in the same way that it counteracts cards like Dark Knowledge (CORE 72) or A Fell Dread (AA 163/AACE 154). The [willpower] boost Gilraen provides to the other Dúnedain heroes is not affected by this
Aragorn [OotR 183] [added 2023-05-25]
Q: Can I use the Setup ability of Neutral Aragorn to attach a Title attachment to him that he is not eligible for, like Captain of Gondor [TRM 140/DoG 15] or The Elvenking [EM 57]?
A: No, when you try to attach to Neutral Aragorn the Title attachment he fetched with his own Setup ability, he needs to be eligible for it at that moment. But if you are running him with The Grey Wanderer [TVoM 24] contract, you could use the contract Setup effect to put Mighty Warrior [TH 31] or Elf-friend [AA 93/AAHE 70] in play attached to Aragorn before attempting to attach Captain of Gondor or The Elvenking, for which Aragorn will then be eligible.
Grimrede [OotR 194] [added 2023-11-16]
Q: In multiplayer, if Grimrede gets Rohan Renegade [OotS 196] as a shadow card during Stage 2B of Blood in the Isen, who will he attack during the immediate attack?
A: When the shadow effect of Rohan Renegade moves Grimrede to the next player, the constant ability of The Battle is Joined [OotR 208] will move Grimrede back to the first player before the immediate attack begins. For similar situations when a constant ability interrupts a card effect mid-sentence, you can see Ruling A and Ruling B below. So in the above situation Grimrede will resolve the immediate attack due to Rohan Renegade’s shadow effect against the first player.
Ruling A
Q: How do Caldara and Prince Imrahil from Flame of the West interact, with the scenario that my 3 starting heroes have the printed spirit icon, one is Caldara, the Prince Imrahil ally is in play and is still an ally. Then, I trigger Caldara’s ability. How many allies do I get out of the discard pile? And here is his response:
A: Prince Imrahil’s text is a passive effect that is constantly checking the game state to see if there is a hero in your discard pile, so the instant that Caldara is placed in your discard pile he becomes a hero. As for Caldara, the cost to trigger her effect is to place her in the discard pile, and you cannot trigger an effect without paying the cost first. So, you must discard Caldara before you can resolve the rest of her effect. That means Imrahil is a hero at the time that you calculate how many allies you put into play, which means you can get up to 3 allies into play with Caldara’s effect (or even 4 if you make a unique spirit ally a hero with Sword-thain first).
Cheers,
Caleb!
Ruling B
Q: I have a question regarding the new spoiled Faramir (A Shadow in the East): if there’s a trap unattached on my play area (i.e. Outmatched or Followed) at Planning phase, I play Faramir, engage an enemy and deal damage to that enemy… Do I deal 4 (because in the process of engagement you attach that trap) or just 2?
Reading the Faramir card it says ‘Engage that enemy AND deal 2 damage…’ instead of ‘Engage that enemy, THEN deal 2 damage…’ Not sure if there’s a chance to attach a trap if the wording is ‘A and B’ instead of ‘A, then B’.
Thanks a lot!
A: Both Followed and Outmatched created constant abilities while unattached in your play area. Constant abilities must be resolved instantly when their triggering condition is met, which means that they would be attached to the enemy the instant you engaged it. That means they will attach to the enemy at the same time that the damage is applied. Whenever two effects would resolve at the same time, the first player decides which one to resolve first. So it is up to you if you want to do 2 damage or 4.
Cheers,
Caleb!
The Nine are Abroad Standalone Scenario [TNaA]
Regions and Investigate Rumors [added 2023-05-25]
Q: Where do we put the current region token in Stage 1A Setup of The Nine are Abroad when there are multiple regions that are tied for the greatest number of traits shared with heroes in play?
A: When there is a tie between more than one region card sharing a trait with the highest number of heroes in your group, the first player will choose where to place the progress token among those region cards. Such a tie can also occur when all heroes in the group share zero traits with all the region cards (for example, when playing solo with a Gandalf The Grey Wanderer deck). In such a case the first player will choose where to place the progress token among all the region cards.
Q: Is “investigate rumors” a mandatory process, if the players control at least 1 ready character? Or can the group completely skip it? Why does only The Anduin River [TNaA 40] say “must investigate rumors”?
A: If the players control at least 1 ready character among themselves when they trigger an “investigate rumors” effect, they must indeed do so. As always, though, they can end the process after having exhausted only 1 character and without having found or chosen a Rumor effect. To make this more clear we have slightly updated the wording in the rules cards and brought the wording of The Anduin River in line with the other “investigate rumors” effects, to avoid doubts arising from the use of “must” only in that location.
Q: How do staging area Traps or Guarded (X) player cards interact with the peculiar staging area of The Nine Are Abroad?
A: Traps played in the staging area are attached to the first eligible enemy through a constant ability. All non-Nazgûl enemies in this quest also have a constant ability that will move them to a specific region as soon as that encounter card starts being revealed. That passive effect on enemies will take priority over the Trap attaching, in the same way as it takes precedence over something like Thalin [CORE 6]’s ability (as pointed out by the first FAQ included in the Nine are Abroad pack). So basically, staging area Traps will attach only to an enemy that is placed on the group’s current region when it’s revealed.
Guarded (X) cards will behave in a similar way for enemies, that is to say the enemy’s constant ability that places it onto its corresponding region will take effect as soon as starts being revealed, before the Guarded (X) card can be attached to it, unless of course the enemy ends up in the group’s current region. So when determining if an enemy is an eligible target for the Guarded (X) keyword you need to keep discarding cards until you find an enemy that will be placed on the group’s current region.
Guarded (X) cards will work relatively normally on locations, since locations are placed on regions through a “Forced: After [this location] enters play” effect, so the Guarded (X) card has time to attach itself to a location before it’s placed on its corresponding region. This is similar to how enemies with “immune to player cards effects” or “cannot have attachments” are not eligible for the Guarded (X) keyword (see Ruling A below).
So to sum up, when resolving a Guarded (enemy or location) keyword in The Nine Are Abroad the eligible targets for it are all locations, or all enemies that will end up being placed in your region (keep in mind that Nazgûl enemies are immune to player card effects in all areas of the game due to the effect on Shadows of Terror [TNaA 14]).
In the rare event where you will go through the entire encounter deck without finding any viable target in the deck at all, you will get the Guarded (X) card for free (see Ruling B below).
Ruling A
Q: What happens if I play Necklace of Girion and it finds a Goblin Troop for its guarded effect? Is there a distinction between a card being an attachment vs being attached? Granted Necklace of Girion is also an “attachment” card, but it is not being attached in a conventional way. I feel like the intent is that the necklace attaches to the goblins, but I am not sure. The word “Cannot” is always supposed to be absolute. Have I missed a clarification in the Guarded keyword player card rules?
A: Since the Goblin Troop cannot have player card attachments, you would need to continue discarding from the encounter deck until you discard an eligible enemy or location.
I hope you’re enjoying The Wilds of Rhovanion!
Cheers,
Caleb
Ruling B
Q: Bring Sting to a quest with no enemies in the deck (Battle of Lake-Town), or few enemies but get them all in play (Lonely Mountain, We Must Away Ere Break of Day). Then what? Sting needs an enemy.
A: In most cases, when you are instructed to discard cards from the encounter deck until you discard the appropriate card, you will reshuffle and continue discarding until you find that card. If you go through the entire deck, and there is no viable target in the deck at all, then you resolve the card to the best of your ability. In the case of Sting, you would immediately take control of it.
Cheers,
Caleb
Shadows of Terror [TNaA 14] [added 2023-05-25]
The Shadows of Terror objective is meant to grant Nazgûl enemies immunity from player card effects even when those enemies are in out of play areas, such as in the encounter deck or in the encounter discard pile.
The Siege of Erebor Standalone Scenario [TSoEr]
Staging and Separate Stages [added 2023-09-07]
Q: How do cards like Thalin (CORE 6) or A Test of Will (CORE 50) work in The Siege of Erebor? And what about Spirit Merry (AA 1/AAHE 6)?
A: When playing The Siege of Erebor, while a card is being revealed (be it during the staging step or at any other moment) “any player at any stage can interact with it as normal”. This means that cards that will take effect while a card is being revealed (like Thalin or A Test of Will) can interact with the revealed card, no matter at which stage the player that controls that card is currently at. But if a player card tries to interact with an encounter card after it’s been revealed, like is the case for the Response on Spirit Merry, it will only be able to do so if the player card still shares a stage with the revealed encounter card after it has been added to its corresponding staging area.
Q: How do Ranger of the North (TLR 15/AAHE 22) or Eagle of the North (EM 35) work in The Siege of Erebor? More in general, what about cards being revealed that involve a first player’s choice?
A: When a Ranger of the North or an Eagle of the North is revealed while playing The Siege of Erebor, the first player in the game will choose a player at any stage to take control of it. When that player takes control of it the ally will move to the chosen player’s stage. Only at that point will the second phrase of the Encounter ally start to resolve, being able to affect only cards at the chosen player’s stage. More generally speaking, a card being revealed in The Siege of Erebor that involves a choice made by the first player will consider the first player in the game (not the first player in turn order at a specific stage).
Q: How do Doomed events like Legacy of Númenor (TVoI 11) work in The Siege of Erebor?
A: In The Siege of Erebor, when you “apply the effects of a player card ability, only consider the players and cards at your stage as part of the game”. This also means that a card like Legacy of Númenor will apply its Doomed keyword (and its resource gaining) only to the players at the same stage of the player who played it.
Q: How do Guarded (X) cards interact with the locations and enemies of The Siege of Erebor? At which staging area will they be added?
A: The specific rule of The Siege of Erebor that makes it so that enemies and locations are added to the staging area indicated in their bottom-right corner, applies only when an enemy or location is revealed. The process of resolving the Guarded (X) keyword includes discarding cards from the encounter deck until an eligible (X) card is discarded and then adding that card to the staging area. Thus, the enemy or location guarding the player card with Guarded (X) will be added to the staging area of the stage where the player who played the Guarded (X) card is currently at.
Q: How do player cards like Wait no Longer (TH 5/RoR 26) that reduce the number of encounter cards revealed during the staging step work in The Siege of Erebor? Do they only affect the number of encounter cards revealed when they are played by the first player?
A: Since the effect on Eastern Assault (TSoEr 7) makes it so that the staging step is resolved by all the stages together, instead of each stage resolving it separately, it doesn’t matter at which stage the player who plays Wait no Longer (or a similar card) is or where they are placed in the turn order. The reduction of the number of encounter cards revealed during the staging step will still apply.
The Shire’s Reckoning Deluxe Expansion [TSR]
Player Objectives [added 2024-03-01]
Q: How and by whom can the Actions and Responses on player objectives be triggered?
A: Here is an example that might shed some light on how player objectives work. Three players (let’s call them A, B, and C) have their respective starting threats set at 22, 20, and 20 and they put Keep it Secret [TSR 21] into play at the end of Setup. Player A and Player B decide to opt in to the player objective (each adding 1 threat token to Keep It Secret) then they flip it over. During the first resource phase, Player A decides to trigger the Action of Keep It Secret twice, which brings the secrecy level of Player A up to 22 (and its threat elimination level down to 46). At the beginning of the first planning phase, since there are at least 3 players in the game and they are all in secrecy, Player A and Player B can both separately decide to trigger the Response of Keep It Secret. However, Player C cannot trigger it, since they did not opt in to it.
Q: When exactly is “the end of Setup”?
A: The correct timing for putting into play player objectives comes in the very last part of Setup, but before the beginning of the first round: If you are using the rules presented in the Core Set (Revised or old), this happens after Step 7 of Setup, that is to say after resolving all Setup effects of player, encounter, quest, campaign and nightmare cards. If you are using one of two versions of the Reworked Setup proposed below, this happens in Step 5 of Setup.
Lobelia [TSR 4] [added 2024-03-01]
Q: So what exactly can Lobelia “burgle”? How does her ability work with the restricted keyword, with “play only if” attachments, with “limit 1 per character” attachments? What about Item objectives?
A: With her Action, Lobelia can attach to herself Item attachments from all spheres as well as Item attachments that can be attached only to characters with a certain trait, sphere, or title. So she could for example wield both Gandalf’s Staff [TRD 8/TFotR 22] and Herugrim [TToS 10/TTTo 16], but she is still subject to general limitation for all characters to only have 2 restricted attachments, so if she tries to attach A Burning Brand [SoM 33] she will need to discard one of those 3 restricted attachments. The “limit 1 per character” restriction also applies to her, so if she tries to attach a second copy of Gondorian Shield [AtS 5/DoG 16] to herself the first one will be discarded. She can attach to herself cards like Ent Draught [TToS 9/TTTo 22] even if you don’t control an Ent since she is not actually playing the attachments so any “play only if” restrictions do not apply (see Ruling A below for a similar situation). If an Item attachment has a null cost or no cost (like some encounter objectives), it can’t be a target of Lobelia’s ability.
Ruling A
Q: Does Vilya ignore requirements to be able to play a card like Ent Draught (since you can “put into play” the card instead of “playing” it)?
A:Yes. The play restriction on Ent Draught is irrelevant because you are putting it into play, not playing it.
Cheers,
Caleb
Q: How does Lobelia’s Action interact with Guarded (X) cards? And more in general with guarded attachments?
A: If she targets a Guarded (X) card in a player’s hand, the Guarded (X) keyword will still trigger when the attachment enters play, so the Item will attach to Lobelia for a “hot second” (see Ruling A below for a similar situation) before the Guarded (X) keyword triggers and the attachment is moved to the enemy/location just added to the staging area to fulfill the keyword.
If she targets an encounter guarded attachment or a Guarded (X) player card that is already attached to an enemy/location in play, she will get to move that Item attachment from the encounter card to herself.
Ruling A
Q: What happens if I discard a Guarded (X) card, say Durin’s Axe, with Well-equipped? Can I attach it directly to a Dwarf hero?
A: You cannot “cheat” guarded attachments. The guarded keyword triggers after it enters play; so no matter what you do, you will have to attach it to an enemy or location. In the case of Well-equipped, it would attach to the Dwarf for a hot second before forcing you to mill for an enemy or location and attach it to that encounter card.
Cheers,
Caleb
Q: Which resources can I spend on Lobelia’s ability? Only her own? Do I have to have a resource match with the Item attachment?
A: When paying for Lobelia’s ability you can spend her resources, but also those of other heroes you control, as well as those in the resource pool of a player card that collects resources (like the ally version of Radagast [SoM 59] and Treebeard [TRM 146]). You can’t spend resources from a player card that does not have a resource pool (like Keeping Count [D 5]). You do not need to have a resource match with the Item attachment
The Riddle-game [TSR 22] [added 2024-03-01]
Q: What happens if a shadow card dealt to Hungry Creature [TSR 23] is a treachery or has X threat?
A: If the shadow card dealt to Hungry Creature does not have a printed numerical value for threat (be it because it’s a treachery, an objective, or has a value of X), then it’s considered to have 0 threat for the purposes of resolving Hungry Creature’s Forced effect. So it might be a good idea to consider adding a decent amount of 0 cost player cards in decks that will use this contract. Note that something similar is true for cards in a player’s hand: a player card with a printed cost of X will be considered to have a cost of 0 when resolving Hungry Creature’s Forced effect and the same is true for an encounter card that somehow ended in a player’s hand and can be discarded (like The Searching Eye [LoS 15/TTTo 105]).
Q: Is the progress token I place on Side A of The Riddle-game due to the Thief being a Hobbit kept when I flip it to Side B?
A: Yes. Generally speaking, when a card is flipped without leaving play and has the same title on both sides, it will also keep any tokens or attachments on it, unless something explicitly says otherwise (like it happens for progress tokens on Uncharted locations) or the new side cannot have certain kinds of tokens or attachments (for example the Tactics side of Osbera [OotR 145] with her “cannot have restricted attachments” text).
Q: What does a unique contract imply? How do we decide which player can put in play its copy of The Riddle-game if more than one person wants to play with it?
A: During the preparation of the player decks when setting up a game, each player can decide if they want to bring a contract into the game (if you are using our proposed Reworked Setup this happens at Step 2-1). At that moment, if more than one player wants to play with a unique contract, the players will discuss as a group and decide who will be able to do so since only one copy of a unique card can be in play at any moment. If the players are unable to reach an agreement, the first player will decide which player can play with their copy of the unique contract.
Free to Choose List (FTCL)
We know that game text not written on the cards adds mental overhead to playing the game. For that reason, our philosophy is to be as sparing as possible and try to preserve a card’s common use case, even with the optional FTCL. As was the case with FFG’s errata, the FTCL is not about balancing overpowered cards. We only focus on cards that, when combined with certain other cards, create novel and “game-breaking” effects beyond what the original designers likely intended. Cards that lead to infinite combos or trivialize a whole aspect of the game for multiple players are examples of effects that might qualify for the FTCL. A card like Steward of Gondor [CORE 26], while very powerful, would not qualify for the FTCL, as it seems to be used as intended, and any modification is likely to impact its regular use case.
In addition to some card changes, the FTCL contains a few minor rule changes, not all of which are related to powerful combos, but in some cases just to help simplify areas of the official rules that we have found particularly confusing for players. Since these changes directly contradict printed cards or official rulings, we have placed them in the FTCL rather than in the “FFG Semi-official FAQ” page.
Finally, in light of FFG’s willingness to introduce small wording updates and mechanical changes to certain cards in their revised content (such as the Noble trait added to Dáin Ironfoot [SoM 116/DoD 1] in the Dwarves of Durin Starter Deck), we may suggest such changes in a few circumstances, such as when we re-release an official card. Note that currently the only official cards we re-release are the alt-art promos in our standalone scenario packs.
Specific Card Changes
Core Set [CORE]
Glóin [CORE 3]
Could read: “Response: After Glóin suffers damage, add 1 resource to his resource pool for each point of damage he just suffered (to a maximum of 3 resources per round).”
ALeP’s note: There is an infinite combo involving Glóin, Elrond [D 128/EoL 31], and Warden of Healing [D 83], which can allow one player to absorb an unlimited amount of damage every round. It depends on all the cards in this combo not having a limit on their ability. So we present a limitation to Glóin, as we believe that his unlimited resource generation was not intended. We feel that a limit of 3 resources per round preserves his use case in most decks, and might even encourage players to return to a hero that they may have previously considered “broken”.
Faramir [CORE 14]
Could read: “Action: Exhaust Faramir to choose a player. Each character controlled by that player gets +1 [willpower] until the end of the phase. (Limit twice per phase.)”
ALeP’s note: When the Core Set was released, a repeatable way to ready allies did not exist, so Faramir was trickier to abuse. However, the lack of a limit has had an oversized impact on the design space for repeatable ally readying, due to the disparity in Faramir’s exhaust ability compared to other allies. By limiting his ability to twice per phase, we preserve existing decks that might be using Messenger of the King [TVoM 134] or Narya [TGH 15/DCHE 71] to get a single extra use out of Faramir, while opening up the design space for ally readying effects that would otherwise result in Faramir exhausting 3 or more times and trivializing the quest phase.
Shadows of Mirkwood Expansion [SoM]
Rivendell Minstrel [SoM 8] [added 2024-03-01]
Could have the Traits: Noldor. Minstrel.
ALeP’s Note: The Minstrel trait had no mechanical value before (aside from very fringe cases), so the lack of it on this card was only a thematic issue. Now that we have introduced a new Minstrel and Instrument archetype we felt it was only right to add the Minstrel trait to this card so that it might better fit into the archetype.
Brand son of Bain [SoM 72] [added 2023-09-07]
Could have the Traits: Dale. Noble. Warrior.
Could read: “Response: After Brand son of Bain attacks and defeats destroys an enemy engaged with another a player, choose and ready one of that player’s characters. (Limit once per phase.)”
ALeP’s note: We made a few changes to this card, of three different kinds:
- Combo fix: the “limit once per phase” was added to avoid a combo between Brand son of Bain and Tactics Merry (TBR 3/TFotR 4) that allowed them to ready each other during the same attack. This would, amongst other things, allow them to attack and possibly kill almost all the enemies on the table when combined with a way to give Merry Ranged.
- Rebalancing changes: removing the word “another” allows Brand son of Bain to have an ability in solo games. The addition of the Noble and Warrior Trait are in line with the changes made by FFG to a few cards in the Revised products.
- Wording update: the change from “defeats” to “destroy” is simply meant to bring this card’s game text in line with all the other official player cards (Brand son of Bain being the only official player card that uses “defeats” while referring to an enemy), while we cut the “choose and” part since it was completely redundant.
Elfhelm [SoM 100]
Could read: “Response: After your threat is raised as the result of questing unsuccessfully, or by an encounter or quest card effect, reduce your threat by 1. (Limit once per round.)”
ALeP’s note: In most cases, Elfhelm offers a good counter to quests that use a threat mechanic as a primary obstacle to overcome. We want to preserve that use case while limiting his ability to completely trivialize such quests.
Dwarrowdelf Expansion [D]
Path of Need [D 103/DoG 34]
Could also contain the text: “Remove Path of Need from the game at the end of the round or after it leaves play.”
ALeP’s note: This card can be used in conjunction with Reforged [EM 153] and Strider’s Path [SoM 9] to be kept on the active location indefinitely, trivializing questing and combat for all players. This change preserves what we feel is its intended use: an emergency card to get out of a temporary bad spot.
Heirs of Númenor Expansion [HoN]
Blood of Númenor [HoN 13]
Could read:
“Attach to a Gondor or Dúnedain hero. Limit 1 per hero.
Action: Exhaust Blood of Númenor and spend 1 resource from attached hero’s resource pool to give attached hero +1 [defense] for each resource in its resource pool until the end of the phase. (Limit once per phase.) (Limit +3 [defense].)”
ALeP’s note: As with Gondorian Fire below, we feel that the ability to stack multiple of these on a single hero and achieve +20 [attack] or [defense] for a couple of resources can trivialize quests with big enemies and is an unintended use case. The change would still provide what we see as its intended use case: a repeatable way to get a modest attack boost for the cost of a resource.
Against the Shadow Expansion [AtS]
Gondorian Fire [AtS 85]
Could read:
“Attach to a Gondor or Dúnedain hero. Limit 1 per hero.
Action: Exhaust Gondorian Fire and spend 1 resource from attached hero’s resource pool to give attached hero +1 [attack] for each resource in its resource pool until the end of the phase. (Limit once per phase.) (Limit +3 [attack].)”
ALeP’s note: See Blood of Númenor above.
Angmar Awakened Expansion [AA]/Angmar Awakened Hero Expansion [AAHE]
Rallying Cry [AA 3/AAHE 20]
Could read: “Valour Action: Until the end of the phase, add each ally that leaves play to its owner’s hand instead of placing it in the discard pile. add the next 3 allies that leave play to their owner’s hand instead of placing them in the discard pile.”
ALeP’s note: This original version of this card can be used in infinite combos using free allies that leave play immediately after being played (for example, an ally like Ioreth [TDC 117/TDCHE 56] in a quest that damages allies upon entering play, which in conjunction with Horn of Gondor [CORE 42] can create unlimited resources). We feel that this change would limit this combo while having the least significant effect on the regular use cases of the cards involved.
Silver Harp [AA 90/AAHE 46] [added 2024-03-01]
Could read: “Attach to a [spirit] or Minstrel hero. Restricted.”
ALeP’s Note: While creating the new Instrument cards we initially took inspiration from this card. Now that we have our finished product, players may wish to bring the attachment text on Silver Harp in line with the rest of the Instruments. This allows the Silver Harp to fit in better with Minstrel decks and may be easier to remember when playing alongside other Instrument cards.
Doom Hangs Still [AA 117/AAHE 18]
Could read:
“Planning Action: Until the end of the round, players do not raise their threat from questing unsuccessfully. (Limit once per game for the group.)
Valour Planning Action: Raise each player’s threat by 2 to skip the quest phase this round. (Limit once per game for the group.)”
ALeP’s note: Without the limit, this card can be used in conjunction with threat reduction and recursion to allow players an effectively unlimited number of rounds to get set up. With this change, we seek to limit this exploit while preserving what we believe is its intended use case.
Ered Mithrin Expansion [EM]
Radagast [EM 145]
Could read: “You may use resources from Radagast’s pool to pay for Creature allies of any sphere. While playing a Creature ally, Radagast gains the printed [leadership], [spirit], and [tactics] icons.”
ALeP’s note: Strictly speaking, with the previous version of the text, using Radagast to play an off-sphere ally whose cost had been reduced to 0 with his staff was not possible. FFG has since privately clarified that Radagast was intended to work in that case, but in the absence of any official statement or errata, we are keeping this in the Free to Choose List for now, waiting to see if The Wilds of Rhovanion reprint will bring about any changes.
Mithril Shirt [EM 152]
Could read: “Response: When attached hero is dealt any amount of damage, reduce that amount by 1. (Limit 3 times per phase.)”
ALeP’s note: In conjunction with Vigilant Guard [TDC 113/TDCHE 33], this card can absorb an incredible amount of damage each round, including all archery damage. Between the two abilities, we see the absorption of damage as more problematic than the movement of damage, so we suggest a limit on Mithril Shirt that should preserve the ordinary use of both cards.
The Vengeance of Mordor Expansion [TVoM]
Host of Galadhrim [TVoM 36/EoL 23]
Could read: “Planning Action: Return each Silvan ally you control to your hand. Then, play each of those allies from your hand one at a time at no cost. Remove Host of Galadhrim from the game.”
ALeP’s note: This card can be used in an infinite combo to generate unlimited resources and card draw for all players on the table, using the Galadhrim Weaver [AA 89/AACE 42]’s ability to recur itself. Removing it from the game after use should preserve its ordinary use while preventing this combo.
Well Preserved [TVoM 85]
Could read: “Response: At the beginning of the round, exhaust The One Ring and raise your threat by 1 to heal all 3 damage from attached hero.”
ALeP’s note: With just a couple hit point attachments, this card can be used to absorb all combat damage every round without defending for the cost of 1 threat. We have found this to heavily restrict the scope for future healing effects. We are not entirely sure what the amount of healing the designers had in mind for this card’s “regular use”, but we have settled on 3 as a reasonable amount, given the cost.
Song of Healing [TVoM 112]
Could read: “Action: Discard 1 card from your hand to heal 1 damage from attached hero. Any player may trigger this effect. (Limit twice per round.)”
ALeP’s note: In conjunction with Elven-light [AA 145/AAHE 49], this card presents unlimited healing and card draw opportunities given a continued supply of resources. We settled on this limit due to the similarity of the effect with Imladris Caregiver [TDC 8/TDCHE 55].
On the Doorstep Saga Expansion [OtD]
Thrór’s Key [OtD 16] [added 2023-04-14]
Could read: “Response: After a location is added to the staging area, if Thrór’s Key is attached to a hero, attach Thrór’s Key to that location. While attached to a location, Thrór’s Key gains: “Treat attached location’s printed text box as blank, except for traits.”
ALeP’s Note: As written, Thrór’s Key keeps its Response even when it’s attached to a location. That means that if locations keep getting revealed, it can keep “jumping” from one location to another for the whole game, providing consistent and repeatable location blanking. This can also effectively eliminate all Travel costs at higher player counts. We believe that was not the use case intended for it (especially looking at the two errata received by a similar card, Thrór’s Map [OHaUH 13/DoD 19]) so we propose this alternate wording to limit Thrór’s Key’s Response to only one use.
Bilbo’s Magic Ring [OtD 19] [added 2024-03-01]
Could read: Action: Exhaust Bilbo’s Magic Ring and raise your threat by 1 to gain 1 [baggins] resource. add 1 resource to Bilbo Baggins’ resource pool. (Limit once per round.)
ALeP’s Note: This card always had a bit of weird wording, but it still worked as intended, more or less. With the introduction of Lobelia, who can burgle Bilbo’s Magic Ring, we thought it was the best time to introduce an errata for this card. Just be careful when Lobelia claims the Ring though, doing so during Flies and Spiders might be detrimental.
General Rule Changes
These rule changes are also part of the Free to Choose List.
(FTCL 1.01) Reworked Setup [added 2024-03-01]
The exact flow of the Setup of this game was always a bit of a gray area, especially with the introduction of Nightmare Mode, Campaign Mode and contracts (or Eru forbid all three of those together, maybe sprinkling in the XP introduced in the Dream-chaser Campaign). So, with the addition of a new player card type that we want to come into play at the very end of Setup, that is to say, the player objectives, we have decided to work on a new and revised approach to Setup. We are proposing, as part of our Free to Choose List, two different versions of a Reworked Setup: a more streamlined approach and a more in-depth approach. Note that the in-depth approach will also require a few changes to some official cards (listed at the end of it) to work properly.
We hope this can help you players approach Setup in a more clear-cut fashion and that will make preparing games less of a headache. We also realize that it’s likely we have overlooked some corner case interactions, so please feel free to point out those so that we can further improve this resource for the community.
(FTCL 1.02) Doomed X on Player Cards
Every player card effect for which all or part of its cost involves the printed doomed keyword is considered to have the additional text: “(Limit once per round for the group)”.
ALeP’s note: It is possible to play many of the free doomed events on your opening turn and quickly build an unassailable board state before the encounter deck can respond. The threat cost of doing so can be easily mitigated later, once the game has been effectively won. This change is meant to preserve the ordinary use case of these doomed events while limiting their ability to overwhelm the encounter deck early on.
ALeP’s note 2: “Once per round” limits on event cards are tied to that card’s title, so multiple events with the printed doomed keyword can still be played in the same round as long as they have different titles.
ALeP’s note 3: Card effects that “give” the doomed keyword (like Gríma [VoI 2] or Herald of Anórien [RM 57]) are not affected by this change, as those are not considered to be “printed” instances of the doomed keyword. Soldier of Isengard [VoM 57], who does have the printed doomed keyword, is also not affected, as that doomed keyword is not part of the cost for a player card effect. Currently, the only cards affected by this change are events.
(FTCL 1.03) Rule of 3
A single player cannot play or put into play a card with the same title more than 3 times in the same phase.
ALeP’s note: In regular play, it is rare for a player to ever play the same card more than 3 times in one phase, so this rule should not affect most players. However, it does serve as a simple way to shut down infinite recursion decks, without needing to add every card with a recursive ability to the FTCL.
A Long-extended Party 