Index Page Box Contents 2 Set-up 3 Aim of the Game 4 The Journey Begins 4 Play on the Scenario Boards 6 Taking Turns on the Scenario Boards 6 The Die 7 Event Tiles and Events 7 Activity Lines 8 The Power of the Ring 9 End of a Scenario 9 The Journey Continues 9 Conclusion 10 The Cards 10 Game Variants 12 Summary 13 Synopsis of the Novel 14   Box contents 1 Master board, 2 double-sided Scenario boards with 4 adventures (Moria, Helm's Deep, Shelob's Lair, Mordor), 1 Sauron figure, 5 Hobbit figures, 6 white markers, 60 Hobbit cards, 5 Character cards, 5 Gandalf cards, 35 Feature cards, 23 square Event tiles, 11 round Life tokens, 32 shields, 1 Ring, 1 die, 1 Hall of Fame sheet The first time you play: Carefully remove all cardboard parts from the frames and discard the waste.

Rules  2nd Edition June 2001 J. R. R. Tolkien's famous novel is a story of personal growth and the fight of good versus evil. Sauron, the Dark Lord, creates a powerful magic Ring to gain control over Middle Earth and the Shire, the home of the Hobbits. When the Hobbits gain possession of the Ring, some of them - Frodo, Sam, Pippin and Merry - embark on an epic journey full of perilous challenges. They are joined by representatives of the good peoples of Middle Earth: Aragorn, the rightful King of Gondor, Gandalf the wizard, Legolas the elf, Gimli the dwarf, and Boromir. Together, they form the Fellowship, whose mission it is to destroy the Ring. To achieve this, they must take the Ring to Mordor, Sauron's realm, and cast it into the volcano at the top of Mount Doom. Sauron sends his dark forces against the Fellowship to regain control of the Ring and seize absolute power. This sets the scene for many dangerous adventures. In this game you become a member of the Fellowship by playing one of the characters. This is your chance to prove that you are worthy to save Middle Earth. It is the collective aim of the players to destroy the Ring and gather as many shields as possible. The shields symbolise each player's contribution to driving back the dark forces, but they will count only if the Fellowship sticks together and is successful as a whole. Without co-operation there can be no success. There is no individual winner - the group scores points as a whole. You will play against Sauron, who is part of the game. Good luck!

Lay out the Master board on the table and place Sauron on step 12 of the Corruption line (if you play for the first time, it is better to place Sauron on step 15 - see Game Variants, on page 13).

The Master board remains on the table and in use throughout the entire game, while the Scenario boards change as described below.

1. Place one marker on Bag End.

2. Connect the Moria Scenario board to the lower, long edge of the Master board. The Scenario boards are played through one after the other (you will not need the Shelob's Lair / Mordor Scenario board until later).

3. Place one marker on the first space (in front of the Scenario headline), above the Event boxes on the Scenario board.

4. Place one marker on the first space of each Activity line on the Scenario board (in Moria there are only the three Travelling, Hiding and Fighting Activity lines; in later adventures there is also Friendship, so one marker is initially left over).

5. Take six shields (two each of values 1, 2 and 3), shuffle these and place them face down next to the boards.

6. Place the remaining shields, the die and the Heart, Sun, and Ring Life tokens face up next to the boards.

7. Shuffle the square Event tiles. Place them as a face down draw pile next to or onto the Scenario board.

8. Shuffle the Hobbit cards and place them as a face down draw deck next to the boards.

9. Sort the Feature cards to match their locations on the Master board. The number of cards varies from location to location. Stack them face up next to the locations of the Master board.

10. Place the Gandalf cards face up, side by side next to the boards, so all players can see them.

11. Deal out the Character cards face up, one to each player, according to the number of players:

2 - player game: Frodo and Sam. 3 - player game: Frodo, Sam, Pippin 4 - player game: Frodo, Sam, Pippin, Merry 5 - player game: Frodo, Sam, Pippin, Merry, Fatty

Place your Character card face up in front of you. Each character has his own special skill, which will help you in your quest. Put any unused Character cards back in the game box as they will not be needed in the game.

12. Take the Hobbit figure matching the colour of your Character card and place it on the light step O of the Corruption line. Put any remaining Hobbits back in the game box.

13. Frodo is the bearer of the Ring. If you are playing Frodo, take the Ring and place it in front of you.

Frodo always begins the game. Play then progresses clockwise.

The Journey Begins

There are 60 Hobbit cards, each displaying either an Activity symbol or a star (Joker card). Some of the Hobbit cards are white, others are grey. In addition, 35 Feature cards are assigned to the locations on the Master board. These Feature cards show one or more Activity symbols, either on white or grey cards; there are also Yellow Feature cards, which can be played at any time unless stated otherwise. Finally, there are five Character cards and five Gandalf cards. For more details on the cards involved in the game, see page 11.

Bag End

The game starts at Bag End, on the Master board, and the actions indicated for Bag End take place here. (In the first game, ignore the text in italics on the Master board, as it is only applicable in later games.)

Gandalf
Take the Hobbit cards and deal six Hobbit cards to each player's hand. Replace the deck, face down. The cards show four different activities:

Cards with stars are Joker cards and can
stand for any of the four possible activities.

Preparations
This is a game variant. When playing for the first time, this action does not apply. See Game Variants on page 13.

Nazgûl appears
One of the players must discard two Hiding (tree) card symbols and place the cards face up on a discard pile next to the face down Hobbit card deck. Jokers (star symbol) may of course be used instead. If no player can or wants to give up the required cards, Sauron moves one step towards the Hobbits on the Corruption line.

The Fellowship now reaches Rivendell, which is a safe haven. On the Master board, place the marker on Rivendell. The text asks you to perform the following actions:

Elrond
Take the 12 Rivendell Feature cards and shuffle them. Deal them face down to each player. In a two-player game, both receive only four cards. Put the remaining four cards back into the game box without revealing them. In a three-player game, each player gets four cards, and with four players each gets three. If five are playing, the Ring-bearer and the person to their left both receive three cards, and the others receive two each. Add these to your hand.

Council
If you are the Ring-bearer, choose one of the cards in your hand and pass it, face down, to the player on your left, who adds it to their hand. This player then chooses one of the cards in their hand and passes it, face down, to the player on their left. Continue in this manner until you also receive a card. Use this opportunity to balance your hands for the challenges to come.

Fellowship
Rivendell is the place where the companions form the Fellowship and embark on their mission to destroy the Ring. Each player in turn (starting with the Ring-bearer and progressing clockwise) places a card with a Friendship symbol (or a star symbol) face up onto the discard pile. Any player not playing one of these cards must roll the die and bear any negative consequences that occur (see The Die on page 7).

After Rivendell, advance the marker to Moria on the Master board. Moria is played on a Scenario board.

Each Scenario has Activity lines for some or all of four activities:

In addition, there are Event boxes on the left-hand side of the board. At the start of each Scenario, shuffle the Event tiles and place them in a face down pile next to or onto the Scenario board. You must reshuffle all the Event tiles before each new Scenario.

Display the Feature cards belonging to this Scenario, face up next to the Scenario board (for Moria there are only two).

The Ring-bearer starts, and the game then progresses clockwise. The player whose turn it is called the active player . When you are playing on the Master board, the Ring-bearer acts as the active player.

Taking turns on the Scenario boards

This section gives you a brief overview of the action during your turn. The subsequent sections then describe the details.

On your turn, act in the following order:

1. Revealing Event tiles

Start your turn by revealing the top Event tile and placing it face up in front of you. An Event tile gives one of the following instructions:

Progress the marker to the next Event box down. (Sometimes players can discard cards, Life tokens or shields to prevent this).

Move Sauron or the Hobbits on the Corruption line.

Advance the marker on the Activity line that matches the Activity symbol shown.

2a. Playing one or two cards

Continuing your turn, you can decide to play either one or two cards from your hand, face up in front of you. Each card is acted on separately, before the next card is played. Select which cards to play and in what order; if you wish to play two cards, one must be white, the other grey. For each of the Activity symbols shown on the cards (Friendship, Travelling, Hiding and Fighting), you must advance the appropriate marker onto the next Activity space, and carry it out. For more details see Activity Lines on page 8.

For example, you play the white Gimli card with two Fighting symbols and advance the marker on the Fighting Activity line by two spaces. Then you play a grey Hobbit card with a tree symbol, and advance the marker on the Hiding Activity line (tree symbol) by one space.

When you play a Joker card with more than one star symbol, you must apply all stars to the same Activity line. For example, it is not possible to play a card with two star symbols and advance the marker on the Hiding Activity line and on the Travelling Activity line. (Note: when you discard a card with two star symbols, these may represent any two symbols, even two different ones. But each card can only affect one Activity line.)

Cards with a symbol not shown on the Scenario board have no effect in that particular Scenario. Equally, cards with a symbol for an Activity line whose marker is already on the last space have no effect. (Note: Event tiles are different - in these situations they give you a free choice of which marker to advance, see Event Tiles and Events on page 7.)

Note: playing Yellow cards or any discarding of cards does not count towards the two cards limit during your turn (see The Cards on pages 11).

You may choose not to play any cards. In this case you can either draw two Hobbit cards from the face down deck or move your Hobbit on the Corruption line backwards by one step, towards the light. This offers you valuable tactical choices.

3. Concluding your turn

Complete your turn by placing the revealed Event tiles and any played cards face up onto the respective discard piles. On both piles only the top tile or card should be visible. Subsequent browsing through these piles is not permitted.

You may discard unwanted cards from your hand onto the discard pile at any time during the game, even though this is only advantageous in special situations, for example, before you are allowed to refresh your hand to a certain number of cards.

A more detailed description of the Event tiles, the Event boxes, the Activity lines and the cards can be found below.

The Die
The Fight of Good versus Evil

Sauron starts on the dark side, and attempts to gain control over Middle Earth by advancing towards the Hobbits on the Corruption line. The Hobbits start on the light side but are increasingly drawn into the darkness.

Whenever you encounter this symbol either through Events or Activities), you must roll the die. This can have the following consequences:

Sauron moves one step towards the Hobbits on the Corruption line.

Place any two of the cards in your hand face up onto the discard pile.

Nothing happens.

On your turn, reveal one or more Event tiles (as instructed) until you can advance a marker on an Activity line by one space. There are two different types of Event tiles:

Type 1: The Evil tiles
If you reveal one of the following Event tiles, act as detailed below:

The Ring-bearer's Hobbit must move one step towards the darkness on the Corruption line. The active player must then reveal another Event tile.

One player must volunteer to advance their Hobbit by two steps into the darkness on the Corruption line, or else Sauron moves one step towards the Hobbits. The active player must then reveal another Event tile.

The next Event on the Scenario board now occurs. When that Event is concluded, the active player must reveal another Event tile.

If you join together with the other players to discard any three cards between you, then nothing happens. If not, the next Event occurs. In both cases the active player must then reveal another Event tile.

If you join together with the other players to discard one card, one Life token and one shield between you, nothing happens. Otherwise, the next Event occurs. In both cases the active player must then reveal another Event tile.

As soon as an Event occurs, the marker progresses to the next Event box down, and that Event then takes place.

The symbols have the same effect as described in the section The Die (see left). The symbol means that you may move your Hobbit by one step towards the light, if possible.

Some events instruct you to reveal one card from the Hobbit deck onto the discard pile and to discard two (or three) matching card symbols. You can always discard star symbols instead. If you reveal a star symbol, you have no choice but must discard stars only.

Example: an Event tile is revealed and shows a sundial. The marker progresses to the next Event box down. On the first Event box in Moria, the group as a whole must discard one Friendship card symbol and one star symbol (or, alternatively, two star symbols, either on one or on two cards). If the group fails to do this, Sauron moves one step towards the Hobbits on the Corruption line. Then reveal another Event tile.

Type 2: The Activity tiles
Revealing one of the following Event tiles will advance one marker on an Activity line, with no further Event tile being revealed:

Advance the marker on the corresponding Activity line to the next space and perform the action for that space (see Activity Lines in the next column). If there is no such Activity line on the game board (Moria for example does not have a Friendship Activity line), or if the marker already occupies the last Activity space of that line, advance the marker on another Activity line of your choice by one space. However, you must always advance one of the markers. After that, no further Event tile is revealed and the active player may now play cards.

Example: an Event tile is revealed which shows a tree (the symbol for Hiding). The marker on the Hiding Activity line advances by one space. The player receives a Ring token.

Activity lines

The Activity lines of the individual Scenario boards indicate the tasks that you and your companions face during your journey. The markers are advanced by revealing Event tiles with Activity symbols, as described above, and by playing cards.

If a card played shows more than one symbol, the respective marker must be advanced by the corresponding number of spaces unless the end of the Activity line is reached. Every space moved over or landed on must be carried out. If this includes an instruction to roll the die, this is done last, but before playing the next card.

Each Scenario board contains several Activity lines, one of which is the main Activity line. This is the curved line with the scores on it.

The Activity spaces on the Scenario boards have various effects. The images shown below cause the following consequences:

 
Receive a shield with a value of 1 and place it face up in front of you. Shields with higher values may be used to replace the corresponding number of lower-value shields.
 
Randomly take one of the special shields placed face down at the start of the game, and place it face up in front of you.

Receive a corresponding Life token. Place it in front of you until the end of the Scenario.

 
Receive the depicted Feature card (in Moria, for example, the book). The card is added to your hand and may even be used on the same turn, if applicable.
 
Move your Hobbit one step towards the light on the Corruption line, if possible.
 
Roll the die.

The Power of the Ring

Once during each Scenario the Ring-bearer may put on the Ring, either after the active player revealed an Event tile, or after the execution of a tile or a card by the active player. The Ring is then placed over the current Ring-bearer's Hobbit on the Master board. The Ring-bearer rolls the die and must bear any negative consequences that occur. Thereafter the Ring-bearer advances the marker on any one Activity line by a number of spaces, using the following formula:

Four spaces minus the number of symbols on the die

For example, if the die showed the blank side, advance four spaces; advance three spaces for Sauron's eye, or one space if the die showed three circles. The number of spaces is not influenced by Character cards or Yellow cards which limit the damage of the die (see The Cards on pages 11). Spaces moved over or landed on in this way are not carried out - the Ring makes you invisible. The marker's advancement may stop prematurely only if you reach the end of the Activity line.

Thereafter the active player continues with the turn. The Ring remains around the Hobbit until the end of that particular Scenario, and the Ring-bearer plays any subsequent turns as normal.

End of a Scenario

Play on each Scenario board is completed:

either when the marker reaches the last space on the main Activity line (which means the Fellowship has completed the main challenge of the Scenario),

or when the last Event box has been completed (most likely with serious consequences, as you and your companions have been overtaken by Events).

Remember: after revealing an Event tile you may put on the Ring or call Gandalf and use Guidance (see page 11) to reach the end of the main Activity line and end the Scenario before the Event tile is acted upon.

Life tokens
Each player must now have one of each of the three Life tokens, as evidence that your heart is in the right place, that darkness is not overtaking you and that you resist the corrupting influence of the Ring. For each token missing from your collection, you must move your Hobbit one step towards the darkness on the Corruption line. Surplus Life tokens have no effect.

Ring
The player with the most Ring tokens must become the new Ring-bearer. If there is a tie, the Ring goes to the player involved in the tie sitting closest to the current Ring- bearer, in clockwise direction. If you are the current Ring-bearer, you can only keep the Ring and become the new Ring-bearer if you have more Ring tokens than any other player.

Return all Heart, Sun and Ring tokens back next to the boards. The new Ring-bearer draws two Hobbit cards from the deck and places the Ring in front of them.

Fatty
The player with this character draws two Hobbit cards from the deck.

The Journey Continues

After you successfully mastered the first Scenario board, Moria, the Fellowship now reaches Lothlórien. Advance the marker on the Master board accordingly. This again is a safe haven, similar to Rivendell. Distribute the Feature cards from Lothlórien to the players, as in Rivendell and follow the instructions on the Master board.

After Lothlórien progress to the other Scenarios, Helm's Deep, Shelob's Lair and Mordor. Connect the appropriate Scenario board to the Master board and place one marker on the first space above the Event boxes and on the first spaces of each Activity line.

Display the appropriate Feature cards for the Scenario. Shuffle all the Event tiles and place them as a new face down draw pile next to or onto the new Scenario board. The Ring-bearer starts the Scenario by revealing the top Event tile.

When the Hobbit deck has been played through, remove the used Feature cards and Gandalf cards from the discard pile, and place them into the game box. Reshuffle the remaining Hobbit cards to form a new Hobbit draw deck.

Elimination from the game

If your Hobbit encounters Sauron (by being on the same space or beyond on the Corruption line), the dark forces have caught you, and you are eliminated from the game straight away. If you do not possess required cards or shields (for example, after rolling on the die), you must discard as much as you have and also quit at once.

If you are eliminated from the game, discard all your cards, return your Life tokens, but keep your shields for the final score (they cannot be used for the rest of the game), and do not undertake any further actions. You cannot continue your turn and must end it right away. As long as you are not the Ring-bearer, the game continues for the other players, and you may act as an advisor.

Note: if you are eliminated after revealing an evil Event tile (type 1), the tile must nevertheless be executed, but you do not reveal any further tiles. Similarly, if you are eliminated during an EACH PLAYER Event, the Event goes on.

The Big Eye

The Big Eye, as shown in the last Event in Mordor, causes the game to end instantly. Once encountered, the Big Eye cannot be avoided.

The game concludes in one of the three following ways:

The Ring-bearer is eliminated from the game.

The Big Eye is encountered.

The Fellowship reaches the top of Mount Doom as described below.

The active player continues the turn - unless just eliminated from the game, in which case the next player in clockwise direction becomes the active player. The active player rolls the die:

If the active player remains in the game after the die roll, then the Ring has successfully been destroyed and the active player receives one of the special face down shields. This means success for the Fellowship and the end of the game.

If the active player is eliminated from the game as a consequence of the die roll, then the die is passed on, clockwise, to the next player, who now becomes the active player and progresses accordingly by rolling the die and so on, until either the Ring is destroyed or all players are eliminated from the game.

Points are scored depending on the situation at the end of the game, as shown below. The better you have played, the higher the score:

1. If the Ring is destroyed, the Fellowship has been successful. Each player (even those eliminated from the game) scores 60 points plus the total number of shields you have collected between you as a Fellowship (for example, if the Fellowship has a total of 25 shields, you score 60 + 25 = 85 points each).

2. If the Fellowship reaches Mount Doom, but all players fail in their attempt to destroy the Ring, you each score 60 points, because the marker on the main Activity line in Mordor is on 60. Your shields do not count.

3. If the Ring-bearer is eliminated from the game or the Big Eye is encountered at any time, the game ends at once. In this case, all players are given a score corresponding to the point value of the current space of the marker on the main Activity line and shields do not count (for example, if the marker on the main Activity line in Mordor is on space 52, everyone scores 52 points).

Use the Hall of Fame sheet to record your result.

The Cards
Character cards

The Character cards give each player special skills which they keep throughout the game. The Character cards remain displayed face up in front of the players and the cards do not count as part of their hands. The skills are indicated on each card.

Frodo can use any white Hobbit cards (with one Activity symbol only) as Joker cards.

Sam can only ever suffer one damage when rolling the die, which means he only moves one step on the Corruption line, and needs to only give up one card.

Pippin is not bound by the White-Grey rule when playing cards and is allowed to play two cards of the same colour during his turn (see Playing One or Two Cards on page 6).

Merry, unlike the other characters, requires one Life token fewer at the end of each Scenario (see End of a Scenario on page 9). With one Life token Merry moves one step towards the darkness, without Life tokens Merry moves two steps on the Corruption line.

Fatty may draw two additional Hobbit cards from the deck after each Scenario is completed.

At any time during the game unless otherwise stated, any one player can call Gandalf for help by discarding shields with a total value of 5. The active player then decides which of the Gandalf cards to use and how to apply it. Gandalf cards are never part of a player's hand, they are applied immediately and then discarded:

Healing: One player moves their Hobbit backwards two steps on the Corruption line, towards the light, if this is possible.

Persistence: One player draws four Hobbit cards from the deck.

Guidance: The active player may use this card to discard any two card symbols, or to advance two additional spaces on one Activity line and to carry out both spaces. In the latter case, the card may only be applied either after the active player revealed an Event tile, or after the execution of a tile or a card by the active player; and this may lead to the end of the Scenario (see page 9).

Foresight: One player may look at the top three Event tiles and rearrange them before putting them back.

Magic: After moving the event marker onto the next Event box, ignore the Event. If this is the final Event in a Scenario, the Scenario still ends. However, this card cannot prevent the final Event in Mordor when the game is lost.

Each Gandalf card can only be used once, and must then be discarded.

Hint: Gandalf cards are very powerful. Make sure that one player collects five shields early in the game to allow you access to Gandalf.

Yellow Feature cards

In addition to the Yellow Gandalf cards there are also Yellow Feature cards. They may be played by any player at any time unless otherwise stated. Yellow cards do not count towards the limit of two playable cards during a turn. The player of the Yellow Feature card decides how the card is applied:

Miruvor: Any one player may pass one card to one other player.

Belt: Any one player does not roll the die (play this card on any player who is instructed to take one die roll, before the die is rolled). This card may be used at Mount Doom but cannot be used when putting on the Ring.

Mithril: Any one player ignores the consequences of one die roll (play this card on any player after they have rolled the die). This card may be used at Mount Doom. When putting on the Ring, this card does not influence the number of spaces that the Activity marker advances.

Athelas: If any one player is missing some Life tokens, they do not bear the negative consequences (play this card on any player at the end of a Scenario or in one of the corresponding Events in Mordor).

Staff: Ignore an Event tile showing a sundial with three items after it has been revealed. The Event marker is not progressed. This card cannot be applied to a sundial tile that does not show either three cards, or a card, a Life token and a shield.

Phial: Play this card on the active player when they are about to reveal the next Event tile. As a consequence, the active player does not reveal any more Event tiles, but continues their turn as usual (playing cards). If this card is played just before a player reveals their first Event tile, this counts as the start of the player's turn instead.

Elessar: Any one player moves their Hobbit back one step on the Corruption line towards the light, if possible.

Lembas: Any one player increases their hand to six cards by drawing from the Hobbit card deck. (While drawing, a player may not discard or apply any of their cards, although they may discard before drawing.)

There is one more card with a special feature:

Gollum: This card is a triple star card that may be used as a discard of symbols, or to advance three spaces on one Activity line. In both cases, the player has to roll the die immediately thereafter. (Note: if you discard this card as one card without reference to its three stars, you do not roll the die.)

a) The Preparations section in Bag End is an optional action. If you are the Ring- bearer you can decide at this point whether or not to make additional preparations for your journey. If you decide to do so, roll the die. You must bear any negative consequences that might ensue. Then reveal four cards from the Hobbit card deck. Place these cards face up in front of you. Divide the cards between yourself and your fellow players as you wish.

b) If, while you are the current Ring-bearer, you are eliminated from the game because you cannot play the required cards or shields, but your Hobbit is nearer to the light than Sauron is on the Corruption line, the player to your left becomes the new Ring-bearer, and the game continues.

c) In order to even out the number of turns each player gets, you may decide to ignore the rule that the Ring-bearer starts each Scenario, and continue playing clockwise instead. Use an extra mover to indicate the active player.

Introductory game and expert game

When you are playing your first game, place Sauron on level 15 of the Corruption line. Once you have successfully completed the introductory game (which isn't easy), play future standard games with Sauron starting from level 12. (Experienced players may decide to start with Sauron on level 12 in their first game, but they should not then be surprised if Sauron is soon upon them.)

If you finally succeed in destroying the Ring in the standard game (to gain the required experience will take many games), advance to the expert game where Sauron starts on level 10. This will test you to the limit, and very few will ever succeed in proving themselves worthy to save Middle Earth on this level.

Competitive game

With increasing game experience, you may agree to add a competitive element to the game. In this case, keep your shields face down and do not show their values to other players. If the Ring is successfully destroyed, you each score 60 points plus a bonus equal to the number of your own shields, irrespective of whether or not you are still in the game. The Fellowship has been successful and the player with the highest score shall be celebrated in song ever after. This player is considered the winner.

In the competitive game, there is one additional rule. If you are the Ring-bearer and you possess three or more Ring tokens when your Hobbit meets Sauron on the Corruption line, then you are taken over by the powers of the Ring and join Sauron. You alone score the point value of the current space of the marker on the main Activity line, while all the other players score zero.

Remember that the spirit of the Lord of the Rings is the co-operation of the good in fighting the forces of darkness. Even the competitive game needs a high degree of co- operation for the Fellowship to succeed. If the Ring is not destroyed, you have failed in your task, shields do not count and all players score the same number of points as indicated by the marker position on the main Activity line. The higher the score, the better, but there is no winner.