* DáinIronfoot cracks his knuckles and settles in with a tall, cold drink.
Okay, let's do this.
The One Ring, Secret Treasure
Strength +3.
Maneuver: Add two burdens to wear The One Ring until the regroup phase.
While wearing The One Ring, each time the Ring-Bearer is about to take a wound, add a burden instead.
Seems like too many burdens to me. But on the flip side, it's nice protection with high-resistance Ring-bearers that need strength help (like Hobbits and Galadriel). Still...hmmm.
Perhaps give it vitality +1, or give it a minor ability like the fellowship ability of
The Binding Ring. Perhaps something that, I don't know, work with tales?
*Arkenstone, The Heart of the Mountain
Artifact, Support Area
When you play this artifact, the Ring-Bearer puts on the One Ring until the regroup phase.
Fellowship: Exert a Dwarf with resistance five or more to place a tokens on this card.
Skirmish: Remove 3 tokens from this artifact to make a companion strength +1 for each
companion you can spot (limit +3).
You're missing "
" in front of "tokens" in the fellowship and skirmish abilities.
"Five" should also be the number "5". With the reinforcement Dwarves have, this is fine.
*Balin,
Lord of Moria Companion, Dwarf
Strength 7, Vitality 3.
Resistance 7.
Damage +1Response: If your
condition is about to be discarded by a shadow card, exert two dwarf companions to prevent this.
'Twould be best to bold "
Response: and capitalize "Dwarf" and "Shadow" (which are both always capitalized), but otherwise this seems fine.
Clap! Snap! The Black Crack!
Event. Maneuver.
Spot a
companion to draw a card.
I think this would be perfectly fine at
, or possibly with a second optional bonus...something like "(or 2 cards if that companion has resistance 7 or more)".
*Gloin, Young Adventurer
Companion. Dwarf.
Strength 6, Vitality 3
Resistance 6.
Damage +1
Maneuver: Exert Gloin to make a
companion defender +1 until the regroup phase. That companion loses damage bonuses.
I'd bold "
defender +1", and probably say "That companion loses
all damage bonuses", but I like him!
*Kili and Fili, Dwarven Brothers
Companion. Dwarf.
Strength 8, Vitality 2.
Resistance 6.
Damage +1Response: If Thorin Oakenshield is about to take a wound, place Kili and Fili in the dead pile to prevent that wound.
Nifty!
*The First Army
Condition. Support Area.
Toil 1.To play, spot a dwarf.
While you can spot a companion of the following races:
,
,
, make each minion lose damage bonuses until the regroup phase. Discard this condition at the beginning of the regroup phase.
I'm assuming you mean to spot a companion of EACH of those races, but right now that's not really clear. I'd instead say simply "While you can spot a
,
, and
companion, each minion loses all
damage bonuses. Discard this condition at the start of the regroup phase."
Perhaps even better would be "
Maneuver: Spot a
,
, and
companion and discard this condition to make each minion lose all
damage bonuses until the regroup phase." Saves on a lot of text.
That all being said, this doesn't seem all that great. It COULD be huge against the right deck, like one chock full of Uruks, but even then it just seems too expensive. I'd either up the toil to
toil 2 or drop the cost a bit.
Misty Mountain Axe
Possession. Hand Weapon.
Strength +2.
Bearer must be a companion.
Each time bearer wins a skirmish you may reinforce a
token.
Missing your "
" again. But this is brilliant otherwise. I'd LOVE to be able to actually use this.
*Orcrist, Orc-Beater
Possession. Hand Weapon.
Strength +2. Resistance +1.
Bearer must be a companion.
If bearer is Thorin Oakenshield, at the start of each skirmish, add a threat to wound an minion skirmishing him.
Missing your culture icons again.
I'm assuming the Shadow one that's missing is something like
or
, in which case this is fine, except you should put "you may" in front of "add a threat"; it's a required action as written now.
*Thorin Oakenshield,
King Under the Mountain Companion, Dwarf
Strength 7, Vitality 4.
Resistance 6.
Damage +1, MusterResponse: Each time a companion is killed, you may play a
possession or artifact from your discard pile.
Once again, I suspect there's a
icon missing in front of "companion" in the response ability (and "
Response:" should still be bolded...I know, I know, I'm a stickler
). With
muster, he's okay, but that's a rather so-so ability for such an awesome character, in my humble opinion.
*Thorin Oakenshield, Son of Thrain
Companion, Dwarf
Strength 7, Vitality 4.
Resistance 6.
Damage +1
Skirmish: Discard a companion to make Bilbo strength +3 and damage +1.
Regroup: Exert Thorin Oakenshield twice and spot Gandalf to play a
companion from your discard pile. (Limit once per turn).
Should that be "Discard a
companion..."? "
Damage +1" needs bolding. Looks good other than that, though. I like this version a lot more than the last.
*Thorin Oakenshield, Treasure Hunter
Companion, Dwarf.
Strength 7, Vitality 4.
Ringed Resistance 4.
Damage +1While Thorin Oakenshield is the Ring-Bearer, each time the fellowship moves, add two burdens or discard an artifact.
While Thorin Oakenshield bears The One Ring, he is Resistance +1 for each artifact you can spot.
Ooooo, THREE Thorins. And a Ring-bearer version, too! I like him, but the artifact discarding seems too easy an alternative to me for such a powerful Ring-bearer.
Perhaps only increase his resistance for each
artifact you can spot. I'd like that much, much better.
*Elrond, Host of Hobbits and Dwarves
Companion, Man.
Strength 8, Vitality 4.
Resistance 8.
MusterResponse: If a companion is about to be overwhelmed in a skirmish, exert Elrond twice to take an event into hand from the discard pile.
Bold "
Response:", pretty please. Very interesting ability. I might recommend changing it slightly to "...take an event of that companion's culture into hand...", but that's not strictly necessary. I like him just fine either way.
Mirkwood Elf
Companion. Elf.
Strength 5, Vitality 3.
Resistance 6.
Archery: If you can spot more minions than companions, exert Mirkwood Elf to add one to the fellowship archery total.
Might be better to say "...to make the fellowship archery total +1". I generally don't like "more minions than companions" companions, but this pairs so beautifully with
Gildor Inglorion that I'm willing to overlook that here.
Still...maybe strength 6?
*The Second Army
Condition. Support Area.
Toil 1.To play, spot a Elf.
While you can spot a companion of the following races:
,
,
, make each minion lose fierce until the regroup phase. Discard this condition at the beginning of the regroup phase.
Oooo, a little theme. I'd recommend the same wording changes that I did for
The First Army, so "
Maneuver: Spot a
,
, and
companion and discard this condition to make each minion lose
fierce until the regroup phase." Also like
The First Army, I'd also increase the
toil or drop the cost...and you're missing
after the card title. But now that I see this, I like both it and
The First Army a bit better, seeing as how you can toss both of them into the right deck and cover
damage and
fierce minions (and presumably something else with a
card I haven't gotten to yet). I'd REALLY recommend lowering the cost somehow, though...I think
cost with a
toil 2 would be best, as it takes enough work just to get enough
*Thranduil, Elvenking
Companion, Elf
Strength 6, Vitality 3
Resistance 6
When the fellowship moves to a forest site, exert a
companion.
When the fellowship moves to a mountain site, heal a
companion.
The "when"s would likely be better as "Each time"s. You could probably make him a rare
/7/3 companion since he doesn't actually help his own culture.
*Thranduil, King of Mirkwood
Companion, Elf
Strength 5, Vitality 3
Resistance 6
Thranduil is strength +1 for each minion assigned to a skirmish (limit +3).
He's too easy to splash...I'd use him in just about EVERY deck I have with his lack of cultural enforcement. Spot an Elf or two to play him, and then we're talking.
Love him, just don't want him to be so easy to toss in with just anybody.
*Army of Dale
Strength 9, Vitality 4.
Resistance 6.
To play, spot two dwarves or two
men.
Archer.While the fellowship is on at a battleground or marsh, Army of Dale is Defender +1.
No need for "on".
I like it a lot, but for the spotting requirement, I'd probably go with "To play, spot a Dwarf and a
Man".
*Bard, Chief Negotiator
Companion. Man.
Strength 6, Vitality 3.
Resistance 7.
Archer.While skirmishing a dragon, Bard cannot be overwhelmed unless his strength is tripled.
I'm assuming "Dragon" is a race, so it should be capitalized. Seeing as how he's really just a Dragon deterant, he's fine.
*Bard, the Bowman
Companion, Man
Strength 6, Vitality 3
Resistance 7
Archer.While Bard is exhausted, add one to the fellowship archery total.
"One" would be better as "1". But I like him.
*Beorn, the Shapeshifter
Companion, Man
Strength 6, Vitality 4
Maneuver: Discard two cards from hand and exert Beorn twice to make Beorn strength +X until the regroup phase, where X is the combined twilight cost of the cards discarded.
That's a fun little mechanic. I think I'd like him better with 5 vitality and auto-healing (like
Grimbeorn), and make sure to give him a resistance number, but he's good.
The Eagles Are Coming!
Event. Fellowship.
Play a follower from your draw deck.
I think if you require spotting a
or
companion to use it (which I'd recommend anyway), you could safely drop the cost, probably all the way to
.
The Emeralds of Girion
Artifact. Support Area.
To play, spot a man and an elf.
Fellowship: Stack a card from hand on this artifact.
Archery: Discard a
or
card stacked here and add to make the fellowship archery total +1 (limit +2).
Missing a
icon in the first line, I believe, as well as a twilight icon between "and add" and "to make". Hard to fully judge without knowing what the number is, but unless that number is crazy high, this is probably fine.
Fire From the Trees
Event. Skirmish.
Spell.Spot a Wizard to make a companion strength +2 (or strength +4 if skirmishing a mounted minion).
Looks fine to me.
*Gandalf, Member of the White Council
Companion, Wizard.
Strength 9, Vitality 4.
Resistance 8.
Ring-Bound. Gandalf is resistance -1 for each wizard you can spot.
Maneuver: Spot three
companions to make each minion lose lurker until the regroup phase.
Hmmm. I can see him at 8 strength, but 9 is just too much. Being
Ring-bound actually prevents him from using some good
cards that only work on unbound companions, but I love the combo potential it creates. I also like how his maneuver ability potentially combos so well with your
The _____ Army cards, covering yet another minion keyword.
*Gandalf, Trouble Maker
Companion, Wizard
Strength 7, Vitality 4.
Resistance 7.
At the start of each Fellowship phase, you may exert Gandalf twice and spot Bilbo to play a
companion from your draw deck. That companion's twilight cost is -1.
Since that ability can only be used once per turn, and it also requires spotting Bilbo, I think a single exertion might be alright.
*Gandalf's Staff, Maian Symbol
Artifact. Staff.
Strength +1, Resistance +1.
Bearer must be a Wizard.
If bearer is Gandalf, each time you play a spell, you may exert Gandalf to heal another companion.
Odd stat boosters for
Gandalf's Staff, but I like this a lot.
*The Lucky Arrow
Possession. Ranged Weapon.
Strength +2.
Bearer must be a
Man. If bearer is Bard, exert him twice to discard a dragon. The shadow player may discard two minions to prevent this.
Wow. Very specific, but also very, very sweet.
*Saruman, Member of the White Council
Companion. Wizard.
Strength 8, Vitality 4.
Resistance 4.
Each time a shadow skirmish event is played, exert a Wizard.
Skirmish: Exert Saruman to make a minion strength -2 and damage +1.
Bold the "
Skirmish:" and "
damage +1", my friend.
I'd limit his skirmish ability to minions skirmishing unbound companions, but I love how useful and yet dangerous he is to use all at once.
*
Saruman's Staff, Maian Symbol
Artifact, Staff.
Strength +2.
Bearer Must Be a Wizard.
Fellowship: Exert twice to discard a Shadow condition (or if bearer is Saruman, discard two Shadow conditions).
"Exert
bearer twice...", yes? I want to say it's a bit too good, but eh, what the heck? I like it too much to complain.
*The Third Army
Condition. Support Area.
Toil 1.To play, spot a Man.
While you can spot a companion of the following races:
,
,
, each minion loses hunter until the regroup phase. Discard this condition at the beginning of the regroup phase.
Missing your
icon. Other than that, same comments as I had for the other
Army cards.
*United In Purpose
Condition, Support Area
When you play this condition, reinforce a
token.
Exert
Man to reinforce another culture's token.
"Exert
a Man..."? You also need a phase. I think this would also be a good candidate to auto-discard at the start of the regroup phase.
*Aragorn, Long Hunted
Strength 7, Vitality 4
Resistance 8
Damage +1
Skirmish: Add a threat to make
a
or man strength +1.
I think you've got your culture icons in the wrong places. He's probably okay at 8 strength, or perhaps with some
hunter.
And Beats High Mountains Down
Condition. Support Area.
While Bilbo is the Ring-Bearer, minions cannot be assigned to a skirmish. Discard this condition at the end of the regroup phase.
I'd love to know which culture icon is missing there for those minions (I'm assuming
, which would be sweet), but I like this. Perhaps an alternative to discarding would be nice...something that lets you pay some cost to keep it around.
Bilbo Baggins, Burgler
Companion, Hobbit.
Strength 4, Vitality 4.
Ringed Resistance 8.
Ring-Bound. While Bilbo Baggins is the Ring-Bearer, at the start of each skirmish involving him, each Shadows player may draw two cards.
The twilight cost of each artifact, possession, and tale played on Bilbo Baggins is -1.
I think you're missing a
icon in there, but I like him. Why isn't he simply "Bilbo", though?
*Bilbo, Dragged Into Adventure
Companion, Hobbit
Strength 4, Vitality 4.
Ringed Resistance 8.
Ring-Bound.While Bilbo is the Ring-Bearer, discard two cards from hand at the start of each skirmish involving him.
Maneuver: Exert Bilbo twice to draw two cards or play an Artifact. The shadow player may remove
to prevent this.
Play an artifact from hand? That's kind of so-so. From your deck? Now
that would be pretty cool.
Golden Treasure Inside Is Hid
Event. Skirmish.
Exert a Ring-Bound hobbit to make him strength +3 (or strength +4 if skirmishing a
minion).
"Hobbit" needs to be capitalized. Most people would probably take issue with such a good Ring-bound Hobbit helper, but personally, I love it.
Hobbit Riddles
Event. Maneuver.
Spot a Ring-Bound hobbit and Gandalf to discard a shadow condition.
Capitalization of race here again, my friend, and also "Shadow", as always. I like it muchly, though.
Invisible!
Event. Skirmish.
While at an
underground site, make a Ring-Bound hobbit strength +2. At any other site, draw a card.
I hate to do it, because you really tried, but in this case, the bolding you have is unnecessary. Sorry, man.
I think
would be fine here...as long as you require spotting a Ring-bound Hobbit to play it in the first place. Otherwise, that second part splashes in with ANY culture, whether you have Hobbits or not. I'm assuming you did NOT intend that.
*Mithril-Coat, Kingly Gift
Artifact.
Armor.
Strength +1. Resistance +1
To play, spot a Dwarf. Bearer must be a Ring-Bound Hobbit.
Each minion skirmishing bearer loses strength bonuses from weapons and loses all damage bonuses.
Skirmish: If bearer loses a skirmish, you may add a burden to remove two threats or add a threat to remove two burdens.
Bold
damage, as per usual. I'd pick one or the other for the skirmish ability, because otherwise you're looking at a potential loop that lets you remove all burdens and/or all threats. Lose a skirmish, add a burden to remove 2 threats, then lose again, add a threat to remove 2 burdens (including the one you added before), lose again, add a burden to remove the threat you just added and one more...see where I'm going here?
*
Sting, Newly Found Elf-Knife
Possession, Hand Weapon
Strength +2. Resistance +1.
Bearer must be a Ring-Bound Hobbit.
While bearer is skirmishing a Troll or Spider, bearer is strength +3.
Depending on how strong your Spiders are, this could turn bearer into a real Spider killer. Trolls...not so much, but it certainly keeps them from overwhelming you. Some would likely say this is too good. Me? I think that since it's so specific, it's just fine.
Whew! I made it! Okay, sometime soon I'll try and get to the Shadow cards. Looks like a much smaller list, which is good.
