Lord of the Rings LCG

[fatolaf]

Something very different using a great IP, A co-operative LCG game ste in the LOTR universe by FFG

"You have done well to come," said Elrond. "You will hear today all that you need to understand the purpose of the Enemy. There is naught that you can do, other than to resist, with hope or without it. But you do not stand alone. You will learn that your trouble is but part of the trouble of all the western world."
      –"The Council of Elrond," The Fellowship of the Ring

An ancient evil stirs in the black lands of Mordor, and the people of Middle-earth speak of a terrible doom approaching from the east. The Dark Lord Sauron is gathering his forces, and should he acquire the power he seeks, he will cast the world into eternal shadow. The only hope lies in a heroic few who must work together to stem the tide of evil...

Fantasy Flight Games is proud to announce the most recent in our line of Living Card Games, The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game! This latest addition to our catalog is a game of heroes, perilous journeys, and adventure set in the lands described the epic fantasy masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings.

The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game is a cooperative card game that puts 1-2 players (or up to four with two Core Sets!) in control of the most powerful characters and artifacts of Middle-earth. Players will select heroes, gather allies, acquire artifacts, and coordinate their efforts to face Middle-earth's most dangerous fiends. By cooperating to overcome the obstacles drawn from the encounter deck, you will complete the quest before you and claim victory!

In The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, players take on the roles of heroes attempting to complete dangerous quests. These quests take place during a broad span, beginning near the end of The Hobbit, and culminating near the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring. Instead of directly retelling the classic stories that have previously been narrated, this game provides players with a variety of elements—characters, settings, enemies, events, items, artifacts, scenarios—that allow them to embark upon new adventures and share new experiences with these beloved characters during this ominous period of Middle-earth history.

And as an LCG, The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game is a constantly expanding game experience. A Living Card Game (LCG) offers an innovative fixed distribution method that breaks away from the traditional Collectible Card Game model. While LCGs still offer the same dynamic, expanding, and constantly evolving game play that makes CCG's so much fun, they do away with the deterrent of the blind-buy purchase model that has burned out so many players. The end result is an innovative mix that gives you the best of both worlds!

Coming soon to OG Games....

[fatolaf]

Avaialablt to Pre-Order now. This is shaping up to be a very different and exciting approach to LCG's, the first Co-operative one.

Reserve your copy now for 15% off the RRP..

Cash & Collection = 17.5% off RRP (PM for invoice)

[maelzch]

Something very different using a great IP, A co-operative LCG game set in the LOTR universe by FFG

fear the acronyms!

[fatolaf]

An intro to the game:

The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game is a card game of heroes, quests, and adventure, all set in the definitive fantasy world of Middle-earth created by J.R.R. Tolkien. Unlike many other card games, The Lord of the Rings is unique in that it is a cooperative experience for players. Together players win or lose against the game itself, combining their efforts to complete dangerous quests.

The first choice a player must make when sitting down for a game of The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game is which hero, or heroes, to play. Each player starts the game controlling 1-3 heroes from the Middle-earth setting, and these heroes form the backbone of that player's party. With 12 Hero Cards in the core game and more forthcoming in monthly Adventure Pack expansions, players have a variety of options at their disposal when choosing a group of heroes, ranging from beloved fan favorites like Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli to lesser known adventurers who are about to explore Middle-earth for the very first time. The players must take care when choosing heroes, though, as the more powerful a player's hero selection, the more dangerous the scenarios become for that player.

Once chosen, heroes start the game in play and do a variety of things, such as venturing forth on the quest, attacking or defending enemies, and providing resources that can be used to play Ally, Attachment, and Event cards from a player's deck. Each hero belongs to one of four spheres of influence (Leadership, Lore, Spirit, or Tactics), and the resources that hero generates can then be used to pay for cards that also belong to that sphere. This means that the choice of heroes also dictates the cards that a player can use in his deck. Playing 3 heroes from the tactics sphere, for instance, will generate a lot of resources to play tactics cards, but playing with a combination of heroes from two or three different spheres provides a player with a broader range of card effects. Check back with us next week for a more detailed look at the four spheres of influence, and how they are represented in the game.

So, you've chosen your heroes and put together your first starter decks, right out of the core set. The next step is choosing a scenario. In the core set, there are three scenarios, of varying degrees of difficulty. The introductory scenario "Passage through Mirkwood" involves the players attempting to carry an urgent message from Thranduil's palace in Mirkwood Forest to Lady Galadriel of Lorien. The second scenario, "Journey Down the Anduin," continues the players' journey toward Lorien. The final and most challenging scenario in the core game, "Escape From Dol Guldur," starts with the party in one of The Necromancer's dungeons and details their attempt to escape from the dark forest stronghold.

Each of these scenarios is a play experience unto itself, pitting the players against both a fixed Quest Deck and a randomized Encounter Deck. At the heart of the game lies the Quest Phase, during which the players commit heroes and allies to the currently revealed Quest Card. After each player has committed characters to the quest, the Encounter Deck throws enemies, dangerous locations, and Treachery Cards at the players. These obstacles build up in an area known as the staging area, adding the the Encounter Deck's threat level, which is pitted against the willpower of the questing characters. So while the players can see some of the threats and obstacles in front of them, each time they commit characters to the quest, the game responds by adding an additional encounter card for each player. If the players have committed enough willpower, progress will be made on the quest. But if they did not commit enough, each player is penalized by raising the threat level on his dial. And take heed of this point: if a player's threat dial reaches 50, that player is eliminated from the game!

(Custom threat dials keep track of each player's current threat level, shown here at 36)

So why would a player not commit all of his heroes and allies to a quest? Because after the Quest Phase come both the Encounter Phase and the Combat Phase. During the encounter phase, players interact with the locations, obstacles, and enemies that the Encounter Deck has been massing in the staging area, with opportunities to travel to various locations and engage the enemies in combat. But it's not all about the players, either: enemies also track the threat level on each player's dial, and if a player's threat level is too high, the enemies will directly engage that player whether he wants to fight them or not! Traveling to a location or engaging an enemy in this manner reduces the threat level that is present in the staging area (which makes it easier to advance along the quest), but the players must then deal directly with the location they have travelled to, and they must fight the enemies they have engaged. And it's generally a good idea to have some attackers or defenders at the ready, because if all of a player's heroes are killed by attacking enemies, that player is eliminated from play! At which point, only heroes and allies who were not exhausted during the quest phase are available to participate.

Play continues in this manner, round after round, until the players have either successfully moved through all the stages of the Quest Deck (in which case they have won), or until all players have been eliminated from the game (in which case they have lost). A unique scoring system allows players to gauge the effectiveness of their party and compare how they did from session to session with different deck builds and combinations.

And that is only the start: as the game grows, more heroes and cards for each of the four spheres of influence will be introduced in monthly Adventure Pack expansions, allowing players to customize their decks to suit their style of play. Further, a new quest will be introduced with each Adventure Pack, giving players new challenges to face with their new customized decks!

[fatolaf]

We started off these previews with an overview, highlighting some mechanics and the cooperative aspect of the game, and then moved on to learn about Quests. Today we will delve deeper into the game and explore the first of the four spheres of influence from which players can build their decks.

Each sphere of influence comes with its own unique strategies and play styles. And while each sphere is capable in its own right, they really come to life when mixing with and playing off of other spheres. First, let's take a look at Spirit.

The sphere of Spirit is mainly focused on Willpower, questing, and Threat management. Spirit represents an individual's resolve and determination, making Spirit-focused decks great for questing. Each hero in the game has a Willpower Strength rating, which represents their effectiveness when committing to a quest. The higher your heroes' Willpower, the higher their chances are of successfully making progress on the Quest. Heroes such as Éowyn also have abilities that make them even more formidable when questing.

During the Quest Phase, all heroes and allies committed to the quest must have enough Willpower to endure whatever threats they might encounter on their journey. Once players have decided who they are committing to the Quest, one Encounter card per player is revealed and added to the staging area. If the amount of Threat in the staging area exceeds the players' collective Willpower, each player raises the threat level on his dial. This will draw unwanted attention to the players, and it also brings them that much closer to being eliminated from the game. On the other hand, if the combined Willpower is greater than the amount of threat in the staging area, progress tokens are placed on the quest, bringing them that much closer to their goal.

Two of the main obstacles the heroes will face on their journey are Enemies and Locations. Enemies must be encountered directly by an individual player, but Locations are traveled to by all the players together. Dealing with these obstacles are the two primary ways to make progress on quests. The Spirit deck consists of many cards that reduce the time it takes to explore locations. A Lórien Guide can find the quickest route on a quest, while Event cards like Strength of Will can encourage your companions to forge on through the worst of locations.

Additionally, Spirit cards also focus on controlling player Threat. As mentioned earlier, players are eliminated if their Threat climbs too high. In case a Wandering Took is causing mischief and raising your threat too high, you might pass him off to a friend with lower Threat, or seek refuge with The Galadhrim.

[Steve H]

I'm all over this like Palmer on free chips! Will talk to you about ordering tomorrow mate.

[fatolaf]

I really like the fact that it is a coop game and that in times of crisis you can even play it solo

[Draig]

I really like the fact that it is a coop game and that in times of crisis you can even play it solo

Yeah me too. Will wtach it played with interest if someone grabs it.

[fatolaf]

Yeah me too. Will wtach it played with interest if someone grabs it.

Steve had pre-ordered a copy and I will get a club copy of course...

[fatolaf]

Sneak peak at the Lore sphere:

The sphere of Lore encompasses wisdom and knowledge. In game terms, Lore provides players with healing, recursion, card draw, and evasion. Lore lets players keep characters alive, peek at upcoming Encounter cards, and even lock down dangerous enemies.

Healing is a vital part of the sphere of Lore. Legions of enemies await to thwart you on your quest, and the clash of arms is inevitable. However, even indirect sources will threaten to incapacitate your characters by dealing direct damage. Treachery cards (a type of Encounter card) such as The Necromancer's Reach can appear unexpectedly and seriously weaken your party. Fortunately, the sphere of Lore contains attachments like Self Preservation and allies such as Daughter of the Nimrodel to help keep characters alive and able to contribute to the quest.

But no matter how well your party's wounds are tended, the Encounter deck holds all sorts of surprises that can ruin your plans. In addition to healing, the sphere of Lore also provides abilities that can "scout" the Encounter deck. Denethor - one of the three Lore heroes included in the Core Set - has a noticeably useful ability that can warn players of dangers ahead.

Lore can heal the wounds of battle and help avoid violence. But the sphere also has a practical worldly side, representing everything from survival skills to learned craftsmanship. The Forest Snare is an excellent tool that can prevent even the most powerful of enemies from attacking.

Finally, Lore can help unlock the potential of any deck. Normally, players draw one card at the start of their turn, making it difficult to draw the right card at the right time. But Event cards like Lórien's Wealth can give you more options and more control of your deck. Or, if you're feeling generous, you can instead use the card cooperatively, allowing one of your companions to draw some much needed cards. The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game has numerous cards like this, and using them on the right player at the right time can make all the difference between victory and defeat.