Second Quest: The Dwellings of the Breefolk!

[menace64]

MODERN UPDATE:

This thread is the freight train for bringing Allies back as a fundamental card type; and beyond, revamping the entire Lord of the Rings TCG rules system, something I internally refer to as Second Quest, because in addition to Allies returning, there's also:

Quests. This as-yet-unrevealed new card type (I'm still fiddling with it) expands the scope of your game, for the first time enabling players to haul the Ring all the way from Bag End to Mount Doom. I've been playing around with this idea since Reflections was announced and I feel like I almost have it right.

Dwellings. The second new card type, and I suppose the spiritual successor to Thranduil's old monument concept, shines a new light on the interactive terrain of Tolkien's world. Dwellings aren't Conditions though, even if they feel and play exactly the same way. I won't have a concrete example to show you for a little while longer, mainly because I need to test the card type in every culture before I feel like it's good to go, and there's a bunch of new cultures for me to develop from scratch, too!

The Adventure Area is a new-designated zone where all Sites, Dwellings, Allies, and Adventure Area-playing cards live. The Adventure Area is a shared area between all players. Expect the Adventure Area to get busy as the War rages on.

Three New Cultures
- Arnor
- Fangorn
- Morgul

Arnor is the new home of all the Northern Kingdom of Men, focusing chiefly on the Free Peoples of Bree and the roving Rangers of unspoken lineage. Arnor is an excellent early-game Freeps culture, offering the stout and ready support of Aragorn and those who may rally to his banner. But Arnor relies heavily on Allies (typically without regard for culture, making it an easy-to-splash culture) and as you'll see the Shadow has plenty of ways of punishing a fellowship for relying too heavily on outside support.

Arnor also suffers as the game wears on - most players will have made the switch to an Aragorn in his Companion persona, but the fellowship quickly leaves Eriador and, thus, much of what fuels Arnor as a culture.

Fangorn is my reckoning with a 16 year old chip on my shoulder, all the way back to BoHD. The Ents deserve better than a silly pointy hat!

Fangorn is slow. Very slow. So slow that they don't have access to a single Event, reliant entirely upon Condition-based card plays. But, being as old as they are, oftentimes Ents (and Trees) require very little to play and offer savory destructive power to any player willing to toss a few Hobbits into the Forest. And you'll want their support, since site 8[T] will be an absolute bloodbath if you're forced to go it alone without Treebeard's army.

Morgul encompasses not only Minas Morgul (the Home Site of the Nazgûl), but also the Dark Host led by The Witch-king to the Pelennor Fields. Morgul specializes in terror, horror, and giant murderous siege weapons commanded by Orcs with skulls nailed to their heads.

Below you'll find the start to all of this: an Ally card for each of The Nine Walkers. Before too much longer I'll start posting cardlists.

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•Gimli, Envoy of Erebor
Ally • Home 3[F] • Dwarf
Strength 6
Vitality 3
Frodo Signet
Damage +1.To play, spot a Dwarf and 3 Free Peoples cultures.
While the fellowship is at a mountain or underground site, Gimli participates in archery fire and skirmishes.
"'...and Gimli son of Glóin for the Dwarves... willing to go at least to the passes of the Mountains, and maybe beyond.'"

(Update 1: Added lore, removed overformatting.)

•Legolas, Messenger of Mirkwood
Ally • Home 3[F] • Elf
Strength 6
Vitality 3
Frodo Signet
Archer.To play, spot an Elf and 3 Free Peoples cultures.
While the fellowship is at a forest or river site, Legolas participates in archery fire and skirmishes.
"'...they shall represent the other Free Peoples of the World: Elves, Dwarves, and Men. Legolas shall be for the Elves...'"

(Update 1: Added lore, removed overformatting.)

These first two allies are fairly vanilla, but still good. Their home site allows them to be targeted by Rivendell-centric cards and once you get them into play they become active at certain sites - note that this is non-optional!

•Gandalf, Wandering Wizard
Ally • Home 1[F] & 5[T] & 3[K] • Wizard
Strength 6
Vitality 4
Aragorn Signet
Ranger. To play, add or spot 3 Shadow cultures.
While skirmishing a fierce minion, Gandalf is strength +2.
Response: If the twilight pool has 12 or more twilight tokens, exert Gandalf and add to allow him to participate in archery fire and skirmishes until the regroup phase.
"'Wherever I have been, I am back,' he answered in the genuine Gandalf manner. '...This is a perilous night, and I must ride fast. But the dawn may be brighter; and if so, we shall meet again.'"

(Update 1: Added lore, removed overformatting. Bumped up Gandalf's cost from 3 to 4. Changed Assignment to Response, upped the spot from 10 tokens to 12, and added 3 more following the exert.)

Gandalf the Ranger! He won't stick around very long to help, but he'll pop out naturally a couple of times, and if things get dire enough you can expect to see him show up looking for a scrap!

•Aragorn, Protector of the Shire
Ally • Home 1[F] & 2[F] & 3[F] • Man
Strength 8
Vitality 4
Gandalf Signet
Ranger. Defender +1. To play, exert Gandalf or Elrond
Response: If your Hobbit (or ally whose home site is 1[F] or 2[F]) is about to take a wound, exert Aragorn to prevent it.
"'It would take more than a few days, or weeks, or years, of wandering in the Wild to make you look like Strider,' he answered. 'And you would die first, unless you are made of sterner stuff than you look to be.'"

(Update 1: Added lore, removed overformatting.)

I originally had Aragorn doing something else but changed him to healing because he's a healer. This ability covers every Hobbit ally and companion, along with anybody else who lives in the area - I'm imagining some hypothetical ally versions of Halbarad or Gildor utilizing this shadowy protector's ability to absorb damage, but Goldberry and Tom Bombadil qualify too!

•Boromir, Champion of Gondor
Ally • Home 3[K] & 6[K] • Man
Strength 7
Vitality 3
Denethor Signet
Knight. Valiant. To play, exert Denethor or spot no cards in your dead pile.
While the fellowship is at a battleground site (or if you spot 3 cards), Boromir participates in archery fire and skirmishes.
"'...less than a year ago they won back the crossings, and many of our best men were slain. Boromir it was that drove the enemy at last back from this western shore, and we hold still the near half of Osgiliath.'"

(Update 1: Added lore, removed overformatting.)

I added valiant and the dead pile bit to give him a few degrees of splashability - I figure if you're exerting Denethor you're already playing , in which case you'd prefer Boromir as a companion over his ally form.

So now any FP deck can run him, but only if he's on the front line. And if you can get into some battles or if you're facing the darkness of Mordor, Boromir will be there to help!

•Frodo, Favored Relation
Ally • Home 1[F] • Hobbit
Strength 3
Vitality 3
Gandalf Signet
Ring-bound. To play, spot Bilbo bearing The One Ring.
At the start of each fellowship phase, exert the Ring-bearer (or add a burden) to play a ally from your draw deck.
Regroup: Exert Bilbo and Frodo to make Frodo a companion and the Ring-bearer (resistance 5), then discard Bilbo.
"'For it is, of course, also the birthday of my heir and nephew, Frodo. He comes of age and into his inheritance today.'"

(Update 1: Added lore, removed overformatting. Dropped vitality from 4 to 3.)

Weird card! This Frodo is the Sam to Bilbo BoTB; and yet I also wanted him to feel a little bit like Smeagol, so I wrote a mostly-positive-but-mandatory effect that put a constant pressure on old Bilbo. Basically, as long as Bilbo hangs around the Shire it blossoms despite his increasing menace, and eventually he has to leave or become corrupted; in either case Frodo receives the Ring - but because he's fresh into the (R/r)ing and has troubles of his own leaving the Shire, the maybe-bad effect continues.

•Merry, Shrewd Conspirator
Ally • Home 1[F] & 2[F] • Hobbit
Strength 3
Vitality 3
Frodo Signet
To play, spot Frodo and 3 Hobbits.
Each time you play a stealth card, you may exert Merry to remove (limit once per phase).
"'We have been terrified that you might give us the slip, and go off suddenly, all on your own like he did. Ever since this spring we have kept our eyes open, and done a great deal of planning on our own account. You are not going to escape so easily!'"

(Update 1: Added lore, removed overformatting. Dropped vitality from 4 to 3.)

•Pippin, Young Conspirator
Ally • Home 1[F] & 2[F] • Hobbit
Strength 3
Vitality 3
Frodo Signet
To play, spot Frodo and 3 Hobbits.
Each time you play a possession, you may exert Pippin to remove (limit once per phase).
"There was a terrific splash, and a shout of Whoa! from Frodo. It appeared that a lot of Pippin's bath had imitated a fountain and leaped on high... 'Lawks!' said Merry, looking in. The stone floor was swimming. 'You ought to mop all that up before you get anything to eat, Peregrin.' he said. 'Hurry up, or we shan't wait for you.'"

(Update 1: Added lore, removed overformatting. Dropped vitality from 4 to 3.)

Both Merry and Pippin look simple but I feel like they've got some nasty choke potential, especially when used multiple times per turn... and in tandem.

•Sam, Reluctant Conspirator
Ally • Home 1[F] • Hobbit
Strength 3
Vitality 3
Frodo Signet
Ring-bound. To play, spot Frodo.
Fellowship: Exert Sam and play a tale to heal Frodo or remove a burden.
"'Here's our collector of information! And he collected a lot, I can tell you, before he was finally caught. After which, I may say, he seemed to regard himself as on parole, and dried up.'"

(Update 1: Added lore, removed overformatting. Dropped vitality from 4 to 3.)

Sam is a slightly different sort of conspirator, his nose to the ground, and absent is his ability to take the Ring in the event of a Frodo-corpsing; instead Sam comes with diverse nursing potential as long as there's a story being written.

•Stinker, Ensnared
Ally • Home 8[K] & 9[K]
Strength 8
Vitality 4
Enduring. Lurker. To play, discard a minion from play.
At the start of each fellowship phase, each player reveals a card at random from hand.
Response: If the Ring-bearer takes a wound, discard Stinker to play a minion named Gollum from your discard pile; he is damage +1 and fierce until the regroup phase.

(Update 1: Removed overformatting. Dropped cost from 6 to 3. Swapped Ambush for Enduring. Changed card-revealing text from movement-based to the start of the fellowship phase. Added damage +1 to the Response effect.)

And I had to do something really weird to finish. This Gollum costs 6 because his inception actually signified a dramatic shortfall in Sauron's influence over Middle-earth, further illustrated by the to-play text.

I wanted Gollum to do something omni-unhelpful for all players regardless of side, and I wanted Gollum to be able to summon the genuine version of himself in a pinch - I figure right whenever the Ring-bearer is weakest seems best.

Also this Shadow ally can skirmish, but only from Gorgoroth onward.

[Shapeshifter]

The yellow text is really hard to read, but cool idea. Is it for movie block?

[menace64]

Sorry I got a little carried away with formatting - is it Gandalf's color that's difficult to see?

As for block, who's to say? They feel like movie block!

[Shapeshifter]

No worries. Yes, it's the Gandalf one 

[Phallen Cassidy]

•Gimli, Envoy of Erebor
Ally • Home 3[F] • Dwarf
Strength 6
Vitality 3
Frodo Signet
Damage +1.To play, spot a Dwarf and 3 Free Peoples cultures.
While the fellowship is at a mountain or underground site, Gimli participates in archery fire and skirmishes.

•Legolas, Messenger of Mirkwood
Ally • Home 3[F] • Elf
Strength 6
Vitality 3
Frodo Signet
Archer. To play, spot an Elf and 3 Free Peoples cultures.
While the fellowship is at a forest or river site, Legolas participates in archery fire and skirmishes.

Poor Gimli's made to walk into The Balrog, haha. While both of them (but especially Legolas) could be brutal in a Fellowship block choke deck, I appreciate how the spotting requirement makes that at least require some thought to pull off. Gimli with Elrond finally makes A Royal Welcome worthwhile, though you probably may as well stick to Shoulder to Shoulder. I have a big opinion that Decipher should've kept Horn of Boromir around and released more cards like Ranks Without Number, so I don't have much issue with the extra free skirmisher.

•Gandalf, Wandering Wizard
Ally • Home 1[F] & 5[T] & 3[K] • Wizard
Strength 6
Vitality 4
Aragorn Signet
Ranger. To play, add or spot 3 Shadow cultures.
While skirmishing a fierce minion, Gandalf is strength +2.
Assignment: If the twilight pool has 10 or more twilight tokens, exert Gandalf to allow him to participate in skirmishes until the regroup phase.

I can be persuaded to remove the ranger keyword from Gandalf but I really do like it here. And I like how he can splash into any FP deck, coming out to fight each and every time the shadow gets too thick (or once per movie site path!).

Of course, he won't be skirmishing at site 1[F] It's fitting, though. Did you mean for Gandalf's ability to be Assignment? If the Shadow player can't use up 10 twilight by the assignment phase, the FP is either playing a big fellowship (doesn't need the extra skirmisher), the Shadow player has a bad hand or is bluffing one (doesn't need the extra skirmisher), or the FP player played a ton of expensive things this turn (doesn't deserve the extra skirmisher). My first thought would be a Fellowship ability, but it wouldn't perhaps be as thematic (Gandalf does not try to bring attention to himself). What about a response or triggered ability? I've a few thoughts, but I wouldn't hamper your creative process with my preconceived notions. I'm more comfortable pointing out problems and leaving the solution as an exercise for the reader

The potential issue with a Gandalf ally is his access to so many great utilities, but the best ones require exerts and there's no longer access to any companion healing. Plus his home sites are fitting for a roamer (i.e., he's unsupported). It's interesting because having 5 companions other than Gandalf with access to all his stuff is something worth doing, but you won't get as much mileage out of him if you don't make him an integral part of your deck in which case you may as well use him as a companion. He'd be really great for big fellowship decks because big fellowship hate targets companions, not allies, and every big fellowship would be made better with Gandalf. And yet, Memory of Many Things would ruin a strategy... It's tough to say how this would play out, but it'd be worth seeing.

•Aragorn, Protector of the Shire
Ally • Home 1[F] & 2[F] & 3[F] • Man
Strength 8
Vitality 4
Gandalf Signet
Ranger. Defender +1. To play, exert Gandalf or Elrond
Response: If your Hobbit (or ally whose home site is 1[F] or 2[F]) takes a wound, exert Aragorn to prevent that wound.

Should read "... is about to take a wound" (and then you don't need to reuse the word "wound" at the end, though I think it's done both ways in LotR), for what that's worth. I think I'm a fan of the play cost you've got: it's really fitting and appropriate for what he can potentially do, but you really ought to either start Gandalf in your fellowship or invest in having him or Elrond out early - the last thing you'd want is to play Aragorn and his prerequisite in the same turn outside of the first two Fellowship block sites. However, there may be a conflict between the cost and his ability because it'll be darned hard to fit him into a Hobbit deck (all the same, since his skirmishing potential is his value). He can protect the Ring-bearer and the men of Bree; that's probably sufficient.

One Whom Men Would Follow would be interesting for this fellow. He can bring himself or another ally into the fray - a budding king! He can also protect ally Gandalf from being wounded, which is nice.

•Boromir, Champion of Gondor
Ally • Home 3[K] & 6[K] • Man
Strength 7
Vitality 3
Denethor Signet
Knight. Valiant. To play, exert Denethor or spot no cards in your dead pile.
While the fellowship is at a battleground site (or if you spot 3 cards), Boromir participates in archery fire and skirmishes.

Valiant! It'll be darned hard to get anything out of that, but I like Valiant enough that I don't care I'm interested in your plans for a Denethor signet. The second spot cost will be hard to miss, I think (not that it's an issue). He's a Gondor ally with vitality, though I don't remember what that really means (I remember wanting one, though!). Blade of Gondor in particular would have interesting implications.

•Frodo, Favored Relation
Ally • Home 1[F] • Hobbit
Strength 3
Vitality 4
Gandalf Signet
Ring-bound. To play, spot Bilbo bearing The One Ring.
At the start of each fellowship phase, exert the Ring-bearer (or add a burden) to play a ally from your draw deck.
Regroup: Exert Bilbo and Frodo to make Frodo a companion and the Ring-bearer (resistance 5), then discard Bilbo.

I see you've made him unable to filter all allies out of the deck I'd still probably use this guy in any Shire ally setup. Goes nicely with Practically Everyone Was Invited, and the ability to pull in Hobbit Party Guests when you need them is great. Chaining the Ring down from Bilbo to Frodo to Sam would be interesting, but I don't know what the point would be except to remove burdens. At any rate, having an ally ready to replace a companion is an interesting concept and takes away the largest downside of Sam, the companion slot (unless your deck is devoted to him). Note that the Free Peoples is invincible again at site 9 unless there are fierce minions, since the Shadow player would have no way to get at Frodo without specifically having ally discarding (wounds would never stick). Perhaps put a cap on how far Bilbo can carry the ring and still give it to Frodo?

I'd be interested to see what one could do with a Ring-bound ally. Into the Caves could uniquely bring Frodo into the fray. The only issue (other than site 9) I can see is that Frodo can bear Sting and also be healed by Hobbit Party Guests as an ally (without a specific ruling I'd make the case that Frodo no longer has a home site as a companion, but I can see people debating that), which means with Baggins Heirloom he's a free +6 pump for Smeagol every turn or with Elven Long Knife he's a threat removing machine.

•Merry, Shrewd Conspirator
Ally • Home 1[F] & 2[F] • Hobbit
Strength 3
Vitality 4
Frodo Signet
To play, spot Frodo and 3 Hobbits.
Each time you play a stealth card, you may exert Merry to remove (limit once per phase).

•Pippin, Young Conspirator
Ally • Home 1[F] & 2[F] • Hobbit
Strength 3
Vitality 4
Frodo Signet
To play, spot Frodo and 3 Hobbits.
Each time you play a possession, you may exert Pippin to remove (limit once per phase).

There's probably a dozen cards that break these two wide open, so in case of such a conundrum assume my cards were written first and Decipher erred.

What does this note mean? I'm afraid I don't quite understand.

As far as the companions go, I don't really see an issue with them. The limit and scope make abuse look difficult to me. The spot requirements make splashing for a choke deck harder to do without planning for it, which is exactly how it should be in my mind.

•Sam, Reluctant Conspirator
Ally • Home 1[F] • Hobbit
Strength 3
Vitality 4
Frodo Signet
Ring-bound. To play, spot Frodo.
Fellowship: Exert Sam and play a tale to heal Frodo or remove a burden.

I'm sure you noticed how well he pairs with your ally Frodo - nice job! He's a burden removal machine, but again requires devotion. You need a real reason to peel those burdens off to justify not using a companion version of Sam instead.

•Gollum, Ensnared
Ally • Home 8[K] & 9[K]
Strength 5
Vitality 4
Ambush . Lurker. To play, discard a minion from play.
Each time the fellowship moves, each player reveals a card at random from hand.
Response: If the Ring-bearer takes a wound, discard this ally from play to play a minion named Gollum from your discard pile; he is fierce until the regroup phase.

Well, he's certainly weird! I'm afraid I'm not a fan of this one, and I'm hoping my critique will be constructive above all else

He's omni-unhelpful, but the (very steep) cost is fronted by the person playing it. A little backwards, don't you think? He also prevents a minion copy of Gollum from being played unless the Ring-bearer takes a wound, and then doesn't give a terrific benefit once that happens. Supposing revealing a card from hand won't be his primary function, the cultural enforcement keeps him from being used in Southron decks where the Free Peoples has a reason to think twice before assigning him to his doom (that and there's only got 2 sites to try it). I love fringe cards, but as cool as a potential Shadow ally is I can't think of any reason to use him. I've got an idea, but I'd much rather see what else your thoughts are.


Are you planning on making any complementary cards for this set? There are a few cards which could discard these key allies outright, but in many more aspects these characters gain immunity by sitting it out in the support area. After set 4 Decipher largely restricted the function of allies to supporting and utility, and after set 7 it stopped supporting allies altogether (Goldberry and Tom Bombadil excluded) -- which means counters for allies were diminished too. Those are some pretty tough restraints you'll have to work around if you want to pick up where Decipher left off

[menace64]

  Maaaaaan I was forty seconds from hitting Post when my session timed out. Just got this computer and some auto-log-out shafted my big nice response.

Computers. I hate them.

I need to go eat lunch and mentally regroup. I think you made a lot of excellent points and I'd just rewritten Gandalf and Gollum entirely - I'll be back.

 

[menace64]

Poor Gimli's made to walk into The Balrog, haha. While both of them (but especially Legolas) could be brutal in a Fellowship block choke deck, I appreciate how the spotting requirement makes that at least require some thought to pull off. Gimli with Elrond finally makes A Royal Welcome worthwhile, though you probably may as well stick to Shoulder to Shoulder. I have a big opinion that Decipher should've kept Horn of Boromir around and released more cards like Ranks Without Number, so I don't have much issue with the extra free skirmisher.

As an old player accustomed to chucking a Dwarf Guard or 2 at Durin's Bane, I think this is a particular strength of the culture worth honoring. In general, I'm also cool with pushing allies a bit, since there's a number of silver bullets out there for them.

Of course, he won't be skirmishing at site 1[F] Wink It's fitting, though.

Flavor > Utility, every time!

Did you mean for Gandalf's ability to be Assignment? If the Shadow player can't use up 10 twilight by the assignment phase, the FP is either playing a big fellowship (doesn't need the extra skirmisher), the Shadow player has a bad hand or is bluffing one (doesn't need the extra skirmisher), or the FP player played a ton of expensive things this turn (doesn't deserve the extra skirmisher). My first thought would be a Fellowship ability, but it wouldn't perhaps be as thematic (Gandalf does not try to bring attention to himself). What about a response or triggered ability?

Yes but I also wanted him to be more useful than my first pass. You nailed down why he isn't quite working, although I'm mostly all right with his effectiveness being quasi-murky, dependent on unlikely bad moments.

•Gandalf, Wandering Wizard
Ally • Home 1[F] & 5[T] & 3[K] • Wizard
Strength 6
Vitality 4
Aragorn Signet
Ranger. To play, add 2 or spot 3 Shadow cultures.
While skirmishing a fierce minion, Gandalf is strength +2.
Response: If the twilight pool has 12 or more twilight tokens, exert Gandalf and add to allow him to participate in archery fire and skirmishes until the regroup phase.

Now he's back to 4 cost, but his action is a Response against 12 tokens (the minimum required for a cheap Balrog), and on top of that the action dumps more just for S&Gs. This is more like what I wanted him to be: expensive, good in a pinch, unreliable.

The potential issue with a Gandalf ally is his access to so many great utilities, but the best ones require exerts and there's no longer access to any companion healing. Plus his home sites are fitting for a roamer (i.e., he's unsupported). It's interesting because having 5 companions other than Gandalf with access to all his stuff is something worth doing, but you won't get as much mileage out of him if you don't make him an integral part of your deck in which case you may as well use him as a companion. He'd be really great for big fellowship decks because big fellowship hate targets companions, not allies, and every big fellowship would be made better with Gandalf. And yet, Memory of Many Things would ruin a strategy... It's tough to say how this would play out, but it'd be worth seeing.

I think he'd fit perfectly into Ent decks.

Should read "... is about to take a wound" (and then you don't need to reuse the word "wound" at the end, though I think it's done both ways in LotR), for what that's worth.

I get that backwards just about every time.

I think I'm a fan of the play cost you've got: it's really fitting and appropriate for what he can potentially do, but you really ought to either start Gandalf in your fellowship or invest in having him or Elrond out early - the last thing you'd want is to play Aragorn and his prerequisite in the same turn outside of the first two Fellowship block sites. However, there may be a conflict between the cost and his ability because it'll be darned hard to fit him into a Hobbit deck (all the same, since his skirmishing potential is his value). He can protect the Ring-bearer and the men of Bree; that's probably sufficient.

One Whom Men Would Follow would be interesting for this fellow. He can bring himself or another ally into the fray - a budding king! He can also protect ally Gandalf from being wounded, which is nice.

Yeah I agree that it'd be tough to fit this 'Gorn into a typical Hobbit build. He works better in or Shire/Bree ally decks (which I may be trying to make into a thing haha). I remembered OWMWF last night and thought it neat how Aragorn could summon himself into the role of a companion.

Valiant! It'll be darned hard to get anything out of that, but I like Valiant enough that I don't care Smiley I'm interested in your plans for a Denethor signet.

Valiant is criminally underpowered, and from my keyboard I say give it to every version of Boromir. He's closer to the Rohirrim than the books (or movies) really present, and I like the overlap here.

Honestly I forgot that the Denethor signet wasn't a thing - I checked the Denethor cards in RotK during my last attempt at responding to your review and was dumbstruck to find TWO Aragorn signets - like, I'm sure this bugged me when the cards were new, but I'd completely forgotten and now find myself just as annoyed as I was, what, fifteen years ago!? Why no Denethor signet, Decipher - WHY?  

Chaining the Ring down from Bilbo to Frodo to Sam would be interesting, but I don't know what the point would be except to remove burdens.

Fun! And it's a "good" way of dealing with Shadow players stacking Shadow conditions / Blade Tips on the Ring-bearer.

Note that the Free Peoples is invincible again at site 9 unless there are fierce minions, since the Shadow player would have no way to get at Frodo without specifically having ally discarding (wounds would never stick). Perhaps put a cap on how far Bilbo can carry the ring and still give it to Frodo?

Unless there's been a rules change I've forgotten, there isn't a Regroup phase at site 9.

I'd be interested to see what one could do with a Ring-bound ally. Into the Caves could uniquely bring Frodo into the fray. The only issue (other than site 9) I can see is that Frodo can bear Sting and also be healed by Hobbit Party Guests as an ally (without a specific ruling I'd make the case that Frodo no longer has a home site as a companion, but I can see people debating that), which means with Baggins Heirloom he's a free +6 pump for Smeagol every turn or with Elven Long Knife he's a threat removing machine.

Into the Caves. What a weird/dumb/confusing card. I'd say if a player wants to put Sting on Frodo, that's fine, although in most decks where he's useful I imagine Sting would be of greater utility up front with a companion. I do think I want to drop this ally-Frodo to 3 vitality. He's slightly more pampered here and it'd help curtail some of the abuse you've highlighted.

As far as the companions go, I don't really see an issue with them. The limit and scope make abuse look difficult to me. The spot requirements make splashing for a choke deck harder to do without planning for it, which is exactly how it should be in my mind.

Good! I try to be careful with choke effects. Glad Merry and Pippin seem balanced.

He also prevents a minion copy of Gollum from being played unless the Ring-bearer takes a wound

That alone was enough for me to rewrite the card. Gollum doesn't need any more restrictions.

•Stinker, Ensnared
Ally • Home 8[K] & 9[K]
Strength 8
Vitality 4
Enduring. Lurker. To play, discard a minion from play.
At the start of each fellowship phase, each player reveals a card at random from hand.
Response: If the Ring-bearer takes a wound, discard Stinker to play a minion named Gollum from your discard pile; he is damage +1 and fierce until the regroup phase.

I took a page out of the next batch of allies I've been working on and gave this subtle version of Gollum a new name and a tweaked game text. I halved his twilight cost, bumped up his strength to 8, and swapped Ambush for Enduring, which really highlights his dangerous potential as an ally waiting for his chance to pounce at the end of the site path. There's also a damage bonus in the Response effect.

And in the meantime, his card-revelation effect now triggers at the start of the FP player's turn, hitting all players equally and before anybody has an opportunity to do anything.

And now I'm going to hit Post before anything else goes wrong.

[menace64]

I've got another batch of allies and anti-allies, but this time I'm gonna try something different (for me) and not post the design notes. That being said, I've definitely got some weird ones in here, so upon request I can go into more detail!

•Enslaved
Condition • Support Area
To play, spot a Man.
Each time you take control of a site, stack an ally (or 2 villagers) from play here.
Shadow: Spot a minion and return to play X cards stacked here to play X Men from your discard pile; their twilight costs are each -X.
"Wulf took Edoras and sat in Meduseld and called himself king."

•Balin, Last King of Moria
Ally • Home 4[F] • Dwarf
Strength 0
Vitality 0
When you play Balin, stack a Dwarf from your dead pile here. If no Dwarf is stacked here, place Balin out of play.
Balin may not bear cards or participate in archery fire and skirmishes.
At any time during a skirmish involving a Dwarf, you may return a Dwarf stacked here to your dead pile to take the next skirmish action.

•Gildor Inglorion, Noldorin Exile
Ally • Home 2[F] • Elf
Strength 6
Vitality 4
Frodo Signet
Muster. To play, spot an Elf in your dead pile.
Regroup: Exert Gildor Inglorion twice to discard a Shadow condition borne by a companion.
"'I name you Elf-friend; and may the stars shine upon the end of your road! Seldom have we had such delight in strangers, and it is fair to hear the words of the Ancient Speech from the lips of other wanderers in the world.'"

•Gwaihir, Scion of Manwë
Ally • Home 4[F] & 9[K] • Eagle
Strength 10
Vitality 3
Gandalf Signet
To play, spot Gandalf (or Radagast).
While you can spot an archer, Gwaihir may not participate in archery fire or be assigned to a skirmish.
Response: If your Wizard takes a wound, exert Gwaihir to return that Wizard to your hand instead.
"'Light as a swan's feather in my claw you are.'"

•Her, Nasty Secret Friend -FP
Ally • Home 8[K] • Spider
Strength 8
Vitality 8
To play, spot Sméagol and no unbound companions.
Each time the fellowship moves, exert Her to shuffle a card from your discard pile into your draw deck.
If Her is exhausted, you lose the game.
Regroup: Discard Sméagol (or Her) to discard Gollum (or Shelob).

•Halbarad, Ranger of Eriador
Ally • Home 1[F] & 2[F] • Man
Strength 7
Vitality 3
Aragorn Signet
Ranger. To play, spot a ranger.
Maneuver: If the current site is a battleground or a forest, exert Halbarad to allow an ally (except ) whose home site is 1[F] or 2[F] to participate in archery fire and skirmishes until the regroup phase.
"'I have thirty with me,' said Halbarad. 'That is all of our kindred that could be gathered in haste.'"

Saruman's Voice
Event • Regroup
Spell.
Exert Saruman to discard an ally or an exhausted unbound companion (except Gandalf).
"Of loftier mould these two were made: reverend and wise. It was inevitable that they should make alliance. Gandalf would ascend into the tower, to discuss deep things beyond their comprehension in the high chambers of Orthanc. The door would be closed, and they would be left outside, dismissed to await the allotted work or punishment. Even in the mind of Théoden the thought took shape, like a shadow of doubt: 'He will betray us; he will go...'"

•We Cannot Get Out
Condition • Support Area
Search.
Each time an ally exerts, spot 4 Orcs (from in play or stacked on conditions) to place a second token for that exertion.
Regroup: Discard 4 Orcs (from in play or stacked on conditions) to take control of a site. Discard this condition.
"'We cannot get out. We cannot get out. They have taken the Bridge and second hall. Frár and Lóni and Náli fell there.'"

Coastal Raid
Event • Assignment
Assign your corsair to an ally. If that corsair wins the skirmish, draw a card.
"'And there men of Lamedon contested the fords with fell folk of Umbar and Harad who had sailed up the river.'"

•Théoden, Wearied King
Ally • Home 3[T] • Man
Strength 1
Vitality 3
(where signet or resistance should be)
To play, spot a villager. Théoden may not bear cards or be assigned to a skirmish.
Each other Man and unbound companion not bearing a weapon is strength +1 for each villager you spot.
Regroup: If no companion lost a skirmish this turn, place Théoden out of play to play a companion from your draw deck; that companion's twilight cost is -3.

•The Mouth of Sauron, Sorcerer-slave
Ally • Home 8[K] & 9[K] • Man
Strength 9
Vitality 3
Sauron Signet
Each time you play a event, you may exert The Mouth of Sauron to return that event to your hand instead of discarding it.
Skirmish: Exert The Mouth of Sauron to make an ally or unbound companion skirmishing a Orc strength -1 for each Ring-bound companion.
"...and he learned great sorcery, and knew much of the mind of Sauron, and he was more cruel than any orc."

•Bilbo, Master Baggins
Ally • Home 1[F] • Hobbit
Strength 3
Vitality 3
Gandalf Signet
Ring-bound.
Fellowship: Exert Bilbo and spot another ally whose home site is 1[F] to play a tale or Hobbit from your discard pile.
"When Mr. Bilbo Baggins of Bag End announced that he would shortly be celebrating his eleventy-first birthday with a party of special magnificence, there was much talk and excitement in Hobbiton. Bilbo was very rich and very peculiar, and had been the wonder of the Shire for sixty years, ever since his remarkable disappearance and unexpected return."

•Silent Watchers, The Wailing-stones
Ally • Home 7[K]
Strength 0
Vitality 3
To play, spot a minion (or a Nazgûl). Silent Watchers may not bear possessions or be overwhelmed.
Each time a Ring-bound companion heals, add .
At the start of each assignment phase, you may exert Silent Watchers to assign it to a Ring-bound companion.
"...blocks of stone, immovable, and yet they were aware..."

[menace64]

No Dots Allowed.

The Great Plague
Condition • Support Area
Tale. To play, spot 3 Men.
At the start of each fellowship phase, the Free Peoples player must wound an ally or unbound companion.
At the start of the regroup phase, discard a Man or discard this condition.
"Soon after a deadly plague came with dark winds..."

The Great Plague should be a card (or maybe ), but given 's general lack of everything, I think it's okay to shift themes a little bit. Any excuse to bring a tale to the culture!

This card will put pressure on both sides, and almost demands that the FP player toss in a few allies lest the Plague come for their precious companions.

Blue Mountain Trader
Ally • Home 2[F] • Dwarf
Strength 5
Vitality 3
Muster. (At the start of the regroup phase, you may discard a card from hand to draw a card.)
To play, spot a Dwarf.
Each time you draw a card during the regroup phase, exert a Dwarf ally.
"The ancient East-West Road ran through the Shire to its end at the Grey Havens, and dwarves had always used it on their way to their mines in the Blue Mountains."

I'm not sure this Dwarf needs a drawback, but functionally it just adds an exert cost to Muster, unless of course all your Dwarf allies are exhausted, in which case they press on tirelessly.

Sentinel of Nimrodel
Ally • Home 6[F] • Elf
Strength 4
Vitality 3
Archer. (Add 1 to the fellowship archery total.)
To play, spot an Elf.
This ally is strength +1 for each artifact you spot (limit +3).
"'None of the Orcs will ever return out of Lórien. And there will be many Elves hidden on the northern border before another night falls.'"

Another Lorien archer, this Elf is made stronger by fancy infrastructre.

Return of the Grey Wizard
Event • Fellowship
Exert Gandalf to heal a wound (or 2 wounds if you can spot Narya) from up to 3 allies of the same home site.
"'It is a joy to see you return into your own. Never again shall it be said, Gandalf, that you come only with grief!'"

A very Gandalf-thing to do.

Throttled
Event • Shadow or Skirmish
Stealth.
Exert Gollum and spot a Free Peoples character (except the Ring-bearer) to exert that character. Until the regroup phase, Gollum gains:
"Skirmish: Wound Gollum X times to wound the spotted Free Peoples character X times."
"A long clammy hand went over his mouth and another caught him by the neck, while something wrapped itself about his leg. Taken off his guard he toppled backwards into the arms of his attacker."

And a very Gollum-thing to do.  

I love writing kill cards in . Basic package: Exert Gollum to exert a FP character (except the Ring-bearer), either during the Shadow phase or during a Skirmish - at event speed. After that, during any skirmish Gollum can wound himself to wound that same FP character: throttling them at peril to his own life.

This one card can convert all of Gollum's vitality into wounds on 1 FP character. There's parameters of timing but it absolutely forces the FP player to focus resources on Gollum lest his target die.

Dúnadan Ranger
Ally • Home 1[F] & 2[F] • Man
Strength 5
Vitality 2
Aragorn Signet
Ranger. To play, spot a ranger.
Response: If a Shadow player plays an event during the shadow or maneuver phase, exert this ally to remove .
"'But when dark things come from the houseless hills, or creep from sunless woods, they fly from us.'"

It felt so good putting as the twilight cost. Aragorn, Strider was my benchmark here, and I think I'm okay with the result.

Regiment of Black Crows
Ally • Bird
Strength 3
Vitality 2
Search. Spell. To play, spot Saruman (or 6 companions).
Response: If the Free Peoples player plays an event outside of the fellowship or skirmish phase, exert this ally to cancel that event. Then, you may replace the fellowship's current site.
"'They are not natives here; they are crebain out of Fangorn and Dunland... Hollin is no longer wholesome for us: it is being watched.'"

And this I suppose is the ranger's mirror. Very splashable against big fellowships, and outright cancels the event alongside a site replacement (and that's mostly just flavor).

Shrieking Bat
Ally • Home 4[F] & 5[F] • Bat
Strength 1
Vitality 1
Ambush . To play, spot a (or ) condition.
Skirmish: Make a companion skirmishing this minion strength -2. Discard this ally.
"There were fissures and chasms in the walls and floor, and every now and then a crack would open right before their feet."

The net effect of the Bat is that it's a strength -1 skirmish event that the Free Peoples player can shoot at.

Iron Bonds
Possession • Chains
Bearer must be a unique Man.
While borne by that Man, he is strength +1 and fierce.
Response: If bearer wins a skirmish, transfer this possession to a wounded ally. That ally loses its culture and game text, gains , and can't participate in archery fire or skirmishes.
"...and all the mariners were filled with a madness of terror and leaped overboard, save the slaves chained to the oars.

A very silver bullety kinda card, for specific decks against specific decks. I had to word it oddly to make sure the bonuses didn't, you know, transfer to the ally.

Called to Arms
Event • Fellowship
Exert Théoden (or exert 2 valiant companions) and spot X villagers to allow those villagers to participate in archery fire and skirmishes at this site.
"'Arise now, arise, Riders of Théoden! / Dire deeds awake, dark is it easteard. / Let horse be bridled, horn be sounded! / Forth Eorlingas!'"

Summon your army, King Théoden! I don't even mind that this can be a big site-9-win card, since I want the player to reap a big reward for keeping villagers alive.

Tower Interrogator
Ally • Home 8[K] • Man
Strength 12
Vitality 3
Damage +1. Toil 2. To play, spot a or artifact.
Shadow: Exert this ally and spot a Free Peoples character not bearing a possession. Name a culture and reveal the top card of any draw deck. If the revealed card matches the named culture, discard that character.
"'Very dreadful things live there. Orcs, yes always Orcs; but worse things, worse things live there too.'"

There might be too much going on here. I want this ally to be scary-to-encounter if you as the FP do nothing about him in advance. He can use other minions to come out cheaper, but demands some commitment from a shadow player wanting to run him.

The Shadow ability might be garbage. It's not generally going to be better than 50/50, but conditionally it can be excellent.

Mathom-house
Condition • Support Area
Dwelling. To play, spot a Hobbit ally.
When you play this condition, stack a possession or artifact from your discard pile here.
Fellowship: Exert a Hobbit ally whose home site is 1[F] to transfer a possession or artifact stacked here to an eligible bearer.
"It was a tendency of hobbit-holes to get cluttered up: for which the custom of giving so many birthday-presents was largely responsible... there were one or two old mathoms of forgotten uses that had circulated all around the district."

I'm imagining a new ally or two able to better-manipulate this card. But here's the Mathom-house anyways; stay tuned for more.

Barrow-wight
Ally • Home 2[F] • Wraith
Strength 6
Vitality 6
Enduring. Twilight. To play, spot a Nazgûl and stack a card from the Free Peoples player's dead pile here.
Each time a or card is transferred to the Ring-bearer, you may exert this ally to allow it to participate in skirmishes and fierce skirmishes until the regroup phase.
"'In the black wind the stars shall die, / and still on gold here let them lie...'"

I wanted a weird one. Only works after a companion has died, and gets progressively stronger the longer they linger in your support area.

Next up: More of the same.  

[Shapeshifter]

Good work! I really can't tell how good they are gameplay-wise..but..

•Balin, Last King of Moria
Ally • Home 4[F] • Dwarf
Strength 0
Vitality 0
When you play Balin, stack a Dwarf from your dead pile here. If no Dwarf is stacked here, place Balin out of play.
Balin may not bear cards or participate in archery fire and skirmishes.
At any time during a skirmish involving a Dwarf, you may return a Dwarf stacked here to your dead pile to take the next skirmish action.

Nice concept. Sounds like a mechanic that could be explored further!

•Gwaihir, Scion of Manwë
Ally • Home 4[F] & 9[K] • Eagle
Strength 10
Vitality 3
Gandalf Signet
To play, spot Gandalf (or Radagast).
While you can spot an archer, Gwaihir may not participate in archery fire or be assigned to a skirmish.
Response: If your Wizard takes a wound, exert Gwaihir to return that Wizard to your hand instead.
"'Light as a swan's feather in my claw you are.'"

More Eagles ftw! I missed them in the RotK block! 

[Phallen Cassidy]

Whew! You are far outpacing my ability to look over the set For what it's worth I almost always use an exernal text editor to work on long posts--I just find it easier, especially that I don't have to peer into that tiny box to see what I'm typing or scroll around so much to see what I'm referencing.

Firstly, my bad on the Frodo ally. As I was writing him up, I forgot his ability was Regroup: and not Response: in the style of Sam. Frodo's ability is perfect as is: the Free Peoples must plan for when to swap Ring-bearers and the Shadow Player can force a change in that plan. I think reducing the new Hobbit allies' vitality to 3 is a good move.

•Gandalf, Wandering Wizard
Ally • Home 1[F] & 5[T] & 3[K] • Wizard
Strength 6
Vitality 4
Aragorn Signet
Ranger. To play, add 2 or spot 3 Shadow cultures.
While skirmishing a fierce minion, Gandalf is strength +2.
Response: If the twilight pool has 12 or more twilight tokens, exert Gandalf and add to allow him to participate in archery fire and skirmishes until the regroup phase.

•Stinker, Ensnared
Ally • Home 8[K] & 9[K]
Strength 8
Vitality 4
Enduring. Lurker. To play, discard a minion from play.
At the start of each fellowship phase, each player reveals a card at random from hand.
Response: If the Ring-bearer takes a wound, discard Stinker to play a minion named Gollum from your discard pile; he is damage +1 and fierce until the regroup phase.

Now the re-writes. The new Gandalf is very nice. He'll be skirmishing much more often towards the end of the game, but adding enough twilight for a potential extra minion is a great counterweight. Swarm decks may have a harder time using up the excess twilight (but the Free Peoples will need an extra skirmisher), and beatdown decks will be able to use that twilight effectively and make it a real decision for the Free Peoples whether or not that extra twilight is worth bringing Gandalf in.

Stinker is a much more interesting card now. He requires effort to work into a Ninja Gollum deck but makes that worth doing, and adds some incentive to playing Gollum in any Sauron deck. The twilight and discard costs make sense now: you discard a minion early in the game (when they're more expensive) to gain an advantage late in the game, same as most of the Sauron conditions. With the strength boost and addition of Enduring, there's a less automatic decision in playing Gollum when the Ring-bearer takes a wound and a greater benefit to doing so.

I've got another batch of allies and anti-allies, but this time I'm gonna try something different (for me) and not post the design notes. That being said, I've definitely got some weird ones in here, so upon request I can go into more detail!

I'll do my best to conjure the intent of your cards, then, and you can tell me how far off I am I've probably mentioned before that I don't usually comment on balance/improvements of dream cards, but it came up in chat a few days ago so perhaps it bears repeating. Dream cards aren't necessarily supposed to be like the rest of the game--that's kind of the point, right?

•Enslaved
Condition • Support Area
To play, spot a Man.
Each time you take control of a site, stack an ally (or 2 villagers) from play here.
Shadow: Spot a minion and return to play X cards stacked here to play X Men from your discard pile; their twilight costs are each -X.
"Wulf took Edoras and sat in Meduseld and called himself king."

Give Dunland an advantage for doing the thing they do best and punish the Free Peoples for relying too much on vulnerable lands, and when the Dunlending horde is called away to fight you can bet it'll be devastating. The Free Peoples has to think about whether or not to discard the condition or hold out to reclaim those allies, and the Shadow player has to decide when the extra minions are most necessary and when to keep support away from the Free Peoples. Freca will be particularly punishing. Should there be a counterbalance when those sites are liberated?

•Balin, Last King of Moria
Ally • Home 4[F] • Dwarf
Strength 0
Vitality 0
When you play Balin, stack a Dwarf from your dead pile here. If no Dwarf is stacked here, place Balin out of play.
Balin may not bear cards or participate in archery fire and skirmishes.
At any time during a skirmish involving a Dwarf, you may return a Dwarf stacked here to your dead pile to take the next skirmish action.

Hmm... Balin: king of a rapidly falling peoples, but king nonetheless. Note that "once the vitality reaches 0 that character is killed and removed from play," though you can get around that. And there's no definition for "out of play" so I assume you mean "remove Balin from the game." Also, I can't quite figure out what the next skirmish action does for the Free Peoples. A little help?

•Gildor Inglorion, Noldorin Exile
Ally • Home 2[F] • Elf
Strength 6
Vitality 4
Frodo Signet
Muster. To play, spot an Elf in your dead pile.
Regroup: Exert Gildor Inglorion twice to discard a Shadow condition borne by a companion.
"'I name you Elf-friend; and may the stars shine upon the end of your road! Seldom have we had such delight in strangers, and it is fair to hear the words of the Ancient Speech from the lips of other wanderers in the world.'"

I'd kill an Elf for Muster. The ability is perfectly fitting for keeping Nazgul out and the influence of Sauron off of the Ring-bearer, but Muster is this guy's biggest asset.

•Gwaihir, Scion of Manwë
Ally • Home 4[F] & 9[K] • Eagle
Strength 10
Vitality 3
Gandalf Signet
To play, spot Gandalf (or Radagast).
While you can spot an archer, Gwaihir may not participate in archery fire or be assigned to a skirmish.
Response: If your Wizard takes a wound, exert Gwaihir to return that Wizard to your hand instead.
"'Light as a swan's feather in my claw you are.'"

This is a solid response ability. You won't be able to use it to save an exhausted wizard, but the eagles can rescue one on the brink. Doing what they do best! The anti-archer flavor is a nice touch, too.

•Her, Nasty Secret Friend -FP
Ally • Home 8[K] • Spider
Strength 8
Vitality 8
To play, spot Sméagol and no unbound companions.
Each time the fellowship moves, exert Her to shuffle a card from your discard pile into your draw deck.
If Her is exhausted, you lose the game.
Regroup: Discard Sméagol (or Her) to discard Gollum (or Shelob).

Darned hard to play this card--do RB fellowships which include Smeagol need a dedicated counter? Her will make splashing Smeagol as an early game redshirt a little riskier and make relying on Smeagol require a way to play him back every Fellowship phase (also adding a burden). But maybe the Fellowship should be more cautious in relying on a slippery sneak such as Smeagol, or at least include someone who isn't as vulnerable to The Ring's power in the Fellowship.

I'm also curious about the motivation for the auto-loss text. The stars would have to align for it to be a factor so it must be for canonical purposes with context I lack.

•Halbarad, Ranger of Eriador
Ally • Home 1[F] & 2[F] • Man
Strength 7
Vitality 3
Aragorn Signet
Ranger. To play, spot a ranger.
Maneuver: If the current site is a battleground or a forest, exert Halbarad to allow an ally (except ) whose home site is 1[F] or 2[F] to participate in archery fire and skirmishes until the regroup phase.
"'I have thirty with me,' said Halbarad. 'That is all of our kindred that could be gathered in haste.'"

Bringing the Rangers out where they perform best, not much to it. I think I remember a short bit with Halbarad in FotR, but that's the only one I've read so I'll have to leave how the card fits into lore as an exercise for the reader.

Saruman's Voice
Event • Regroup
Spell.
Exert Saruman to discard an ally or an exhausted unbound companion (except Gandalf).
"Of loftier mould these two were made: reverend and wise. It was inevitable that they should make alliance. Gandalf would ascend into the tower, to discuss deep things beyond their comprehension in the high chambers of Orthanc. The door would be closed, and they would be left outside, dismissed to await the allotted work or punishment. Even in the mind of Théoden the thought took shape, like a shadow of doubt: 'He will betray us; he will go...'"

A spell worthy of the great wizard! With the protection offered to early versions of Saruman and his vitality, I wonder that it might be a bit undercosted, though. Exhausting a companion isn't always easy, but it's never altogether difficult either.

•We Cannot Get Out
Condition • Support Area
Search.
Each time an ally exerts, spot 4 Orcs (from in play or stacked on conditions) to place a second token for that exertion.
Regroup: Discard 4 Orcs (from in play or stacked on conditions) to take control of a site. Discard this condition.
"'We cannot get out. We cannot get out. They have taken the Bridge and second hall. Frár and Lóni and Náli fell there.'"

I'm debating how to interpret the triggered action. I believe your intent is to simply put an extra token on an ally when that ally exerts, but "that exertion" makes me wonder if this card doesn't alter the cost (i.e., 'exert this ally to...' becomes 'exert this ally twice to...') as written. Either way, good counter for many of these allies and I'm very interested to see what becomes of Moria site control (and your explanation for it).

Coastal Raid
Event • Assignment
Assign your corsair to an ally. If that corsair wins the skirmish, draw a card.
"'And there men of Lamedon contested the fords with fell folk of Umbar and Harad who had sailed up the river.'"

Good way for these pirates to pillage and plunder.

•Théoden, Wearied King
Ally • Home 3[T] • Man
Strength 1
Vitality 3
(where signet or resistance should be)
To play, spot a villager. Théoden may not bear cards or be assigned to a skirmish.
Each other Man and unbound companion not bearing a weapon is strength +1 for each villager you spot.
Regroup: If no companion lost a skirmish this turn, place Théoden out of play to play a companion from your draw deck; that companion's twilight cost is -3.

King of Rohan, protected in his Golden Hall fortified by the might of his people. Interesting card, especially the "signet." The regroup ability is definitely secondary, I don't know that I'd ever use it without having an extra copy of Theoden in hand.

•The Mouth of Sauron, Sorcerer-slave
Ally • Home 8[K] & 9[K] • Man
Strength 9
Vitality 3
Sauron Signet
Each time you play a event, you may exert The Mouth of Sauron to return that event to your hand instead of discarding it.
Skirmish: Exert The Mouth of Sauron to make an ally or unbound companion skirmishing a Orc strength -1 for each Ring-bound companion.
"...and he learned great sorcery, and knew much of the mind of Sauron, and he was more cruel than any orc."

Sauron signet, now? Goodness, I wonder how this one will shake out. At this rate, the Free Peoples will need some ally hate There are a lot of ways for this guy to win the game.

•Bilbo, Master Baggins
Ally • Home 1[F] • Hobbit
Strength 3
Vitality 3
Gandalf Signet
Ring-bound.
Fellowship: Exert Bilbo and spot another ally whose home site is 1[F] to play a tale or Hobbit from your discard pile.
"When Mr. Bilbo Baggins of Bag End announced that he would shortly be celebrating his eleventy-first birthday with a party of special magnificence, there was much talk and excitement in Hobbiton. Bilbo was very rich and very peculiar, and had been the wonder of the Shire for sixty years, ever since his remarkable disappearance and unexpected return."

The compatibility with Red Book of Westmarch is surely not by accident. Old Bilbo and his tales! Fitting that he doesn't need to be surrounded by Shirefolk to carry on with his adventures.

•Silent Watchers, The Wailing-stones
Ally • Home 7[K]
Strength 0
Vitality 3
To play, spot a minion (or a Nazgûl). Silent Watchers may not bear possessions or be overwhelmed.
Each time a Ring-bound companion heals, add .
At the start of each assignment phase, you may exert Silent Watchers to assign it to a Ring-bound companion.
"...blocks of stone, immovable, and yet they were aware..."

Fascinating fellow, this one. Only good once, of course, but effectively works as Her Ladyship when one chooses to use it. The alternate Ring-bearers will be given more trouble, especially if they're unfortunate enough to have a damage bonus (allows a new copy to be replayed). The passive text is enough that a Shadow player could be very content to let this ally sit around in the support area the whole game.

I likely won't get to the next batch this week. Some very interesting ideas here, especially interested to see where you take Shadow allies and signets as concepts. You'll have to give me the boring mechanics on how you'd like to see those allies work sometime

[menace64]

Whew! You are far outpacing my ability to look over the set For what it's worth I almost always use an exernal text editor to work on long posts--I just find it easier, especially that I don't have to peer into that tiny box to see what I'm typing or scroll around so much to see what I'm referencing.

My mind doesn't swirl into DCing nearly as often as it once did, but I do tend to post in bursts of cards. I like throwing darts at boards and seeing what sticks. I'm actually doing all of this on my phone, with one ill-fated attempt made on my new roommate's computer. It's been such a long time since I've lived in the same house as a PC - I should have my own again soon, which'll help pretty much everything.

Firstly, my bad on the Frodo ally. As I was writing him up, I forgot his ability was Regroup: and not Response: in the style of Sam. Frodo's ability is perfect as is: the Free Peoples must plan for when to swap Ring-bearers and the Shadow Player can force a change in that plan. I think reducing the new Hobbit allies' vitality to 3 is a good move.

It's all good! And yeah, as soon as I dropped them to 3 vitality I felt much better - I was reminded of the trend in Decipher's allies to heavily restrict their vitality, with very obvious exceptions. I'll be trying to stick to that mandate going forward!

I'll do my best to conjure the intent of your cards, then, and you can tell me how far off I am I've probably mentioned before that I don't usually comment on balance/improvements of dream cards, but it came up in chat a few days ago so perhaps it bears repeating. Dream cards aren't necessarily supposed to be like the rest of the game--that's kind of the point, right?

It felt weird not tacking-on my usual blurbs along with each card; I'll not repeat that mistake again. My goal is to leave cards looking as if they might appear in a real set - no idea how often I get there, but that's where I'm always heading!

Give Dunland an advantage for doing the thing they do best and punish the Free Peoples for relying too much on vulnerable lands, and when the Dunlending horde is called away to fight you can bet it'll be devastating. The Free Peoples has to think about whether or not to discard the condition or hold out to reclaim those allies, and the Shadow player has to decide when the extra minions are most necessary and when to keep support away from the Free Peoples. Freca will be particularly punishing. Should there be a counterbalance when those sites are liberated?

Yes, and I'll be thinking about that. The card itself feels like it needs a trim, too.

I really want to keeping pushing those dynamics between having and not-having allies. Count on some more villager-protection in though, and more than likely the villagers will be getting better at skirmishing in the posts to come!

Hmm... Balin: king of a rapidly falling peoples, but king nonetheless. Note that "once the vitality reaches 0 that character is killed and removed from play," though you can get around that. And there's no definition for "out of play" so I assume you mean "remove Balin from the game." Also, I can't quite figure out what the next skirmish action does for the Free Peoples. A little help?

Falls of Rauros gave me the "out of play" terminology but it did feel unusual, yet necessary because I didn't want this already-dead version of Balin to wind up triggering threats or death effects.

Ultimately, this whole card is in service to a single moment: that one time Gimli used Balin's tomb as a hammer-mattress against the Cave Troll. I sincerely doubt there's much utility here, but Baruk Khazad gave me the mechanical right to "go there" with action-order manipulation and I couldn't think of a more-interesting not-Gandalf ally at the time.

I guess it doesn't really do anything. Functionally it skips the Shadow player's skirmish action, allowing you two in sequence if that's manipulatable to you in some fashion. Upon reflection I think I can summarize it so much simpler as

"Response: Spot your Dwarf in a skirmish to take the next skirmish action. Return a Dwarf stacked here to your dead pile."

I'd kill an Elf for Muster. The ability is perfectly fitting for keeping Nazgul out and the influence of Sauron off of the Ring-bearer, but Muster is this guy's biggest asset.

Good! I think Gildor could use some more attention!

This is a solid response ability. You won't be able to use it to save an exhausted wizard, but the eagles can rescue one on the brink. Doing what they do best! The anti-archer flavor is a nice touch, too.

Archers are inevitably going to be a hard counter to the Eagles.

Darned hard to play this card--do RB fellowships which include Smeagol need a dedicated counter? Her will make splashing Smeagol as an early game redshirt a little riskier and make relying on Smeagol require a way to play him back every Fellowship phase (also adding a burden). But maybe the Fellowship should be more cautious in relying on a slippery sneak such as Smeagol, or at least include someone who isn't as vulnerable to The Ring's power in the Fellowship.

I'm also curious about the motivation for the auto-loss text. The stars would have to align for it to be a factor so it must be for canonical purposes with context I lack.

I was trying to make Her seem like a dark motivator of Smeagol to make good on all his promises. An extremely specific and mouthfulicious card so I went ahead and made it Ring-bound only, which might not be necessary.

But Her is a Free Peoples ally, which is why I had to include an auto-lose: a free 8/8 ally at site 8K requires a drawback, and eventually I settled on a timer: Her gets hungrier every time you move, and if she gets too hungry - her retrieval ability isn't optional - she'll straight-up eat you.

Held is an old favorite card of mine. I take a cue from that whenever I write a card with massive potential drawbacks.

A spell worthy of the great wizard! With the protection offered to early versions of Saruman and his vitality, I wonder that it might be a bit undercosted, though. Exhausting a companion isn't always easy, but it's never altogether difficult either.

How about this instead:

"Regroup: Exert Saruman to discard an ally or an exhausted unbound companion (except Gandalf). Gandalf may exert to prevent this."

I'm debating how to interpret the triggered action. I believe your intent is to simply put an extra token on an ally when that ally exerts, but "that exertion" makes me wonder if this card doesn't alter the cost (i.e., 'exert this ally to...' becomes 'exert this ally twice to...') as written. Either way, good counter for many of these allies and I'm very interested to see what becomes of Moria site control (and your explanation for it).

I intended the former of your interpretations. Do you think it would sound better as "extra token" instead of "second token"? In the situation where an ally has the vitality to exert only once and does so to pay for an ability requiring that exertion, We Cannot Get Out shouldn't have any effect since that ally is then exhausted. I don't want WCGO to prevent normal ally behavior; just punishes them for their normal ally ways.

I've got an idea for I don't quite have ready to share. Soon!

King of Rohan, protected in his Golden Hall fortified by the might of his people. Interesting card, especially the "signet." The regroup ability is definitely secondary, I don't know that I'd ever use it without having an extra copy of Theoden in hand.

Yeah for some reason I'm leaning into that third stat slot a lot harder here than I have before. If I can use that space to make Theoden targetable as an Man, I will, gosh darnit!

The regroup effect was written in response to your first review of Stinker: I didn't want the FP player to get locked into keeping Theoden on the bench, so I added a way out via losing no skirmishes and tossing the weary king over your shoulder and out of play, allowing you to fetch his companion version or somebody else - and maybe right before a double move.

Sauron signet, now? Goodness, I wonder how this one will shake out. At this rate, the Free Peoples will need some ally hate There are a lot of ways for this guy to win the game.

I don't have any plans to take the Sauron Signet anywhere - it's likely a one-off for the Mouth, who I felt deeply desired a clear declaration of his dark allegiance.

That being said, his skirmish ability is all wrong. He shouldn't even be able to skirmish. Lemme rewrite this one!

The compatibility with Red Book of Westmarch is surely not by accident. Old Bilbo and his tales! Fitting that he doesn't need to be surrounded by Shirefolk to carry on with his adventures.

Complete accident. A Bobrossian accident!

Fascinating fellow, this one. Only good once, of course, but effectively works as Her Ladyship when one chooses to use it. The alternate Ring-bearers will be given more trouble, especially if they're unfortunate enough to have a damage bonus (allows a new copy to be replayed). The passive text is enough that a Shadow player could be very content to let this ally sit around in the support area the whole game.

I hadn't realized that the assignment gimmick could only ever work once. I think I like that, but now I'll probably drop the cost to .

I likely won't get to the next batch this week. Some very interesting ideas here, especially interested to see where you take Shadow allies and signets as concepts. You'll have to give me the boring mechanics on how you'd like to see those allies work sometime

There should be a few more cards for you to peruse when you return!

In my imagination it should work pretty much the same as before: Shadow player plays their allies to the support area, and whenever the fellowship moves to their home site, they come forward functionally as minions, returning to the support area once the fellowship leaves. Are there specific rules issues you see in incorporating Shadow allies?

Have a nice week! Thanks for all your input!

[menace64]

Good work! I really can't tell how good they are gameplay-wise..but..

•Balin, Last King of Moria
Ally • Home 4[F] • Dwarf
Strength 0
Vitality 0
When you play Balin, stack a Dwarf from your dead pile here. If no Dwarf is stacked here, place Balin out of play.
Balin may not bear cards or participate in archery fire and skirmishes.
At any time during a skirmish involving a Dwarf, you may return a Dwarf stacked here to your dead pile to take the next skirmish action.

Nice concept. Sounds like a mechanic that could be explored further!

Thanks! I like the idea of manipulating the dead pile - it feels like something Wraiths should be good at.

•Gwaihir, Scion of Manwë
Ally • Home 4[F] & 9[K] • Eagle
Strength 10
Vitality 3
Gandalf Signet
To play, spot Gandalf (or Radagast).
While you can spot an archer, Gwaihir may not participate in archery fire or be assigned to a skirmish.
Response: If your Wizard takes a wound, exert Gwaihir to return that Wizard to your hand instead.
"'Light as a swan's feather in my claw you are.'"

More Eagles ftw! I missed them in the RotK block! 

Me too! I didn't figure we'd see them until the Mount Doom set, but then it was just the 3 verbs, and a few clunky followers later on. Bummed me out, almost as badly as when Ents went into rather than their own culture.

So here's what I've done instead:

Eagle of the Misty Mountains
Ally • Home 4[F] & 9[K] • Eagle
Strength 9
Vitality 2
To play, spot Gwaihir.
While you can spot an archer, this ally may not participate in archery fire or be assigned to a skirmish.
Skirmish: Exert this ally to discard a Shadow mount.
"Behind them in long swfit lines came all their vassals from the northern mountains..."

I don't want this card to be very useful. It's weird that the eagle can discard mumaks, but I have a proposed alternative to that I'll be sharing soon.

Rush of Wide Wings
Event • Assignment
Spot 3 Eagles to allow those Eagles to skirmish at this site. They must be assigned to minions bearing mounts, if possible.
"Straight down upon the Nazgûl they bore, stooping suddenly out of the high airs, and the rush of their wide wings as they passed over was like a gale."

This gets Eagles scrumming and further investigates their mounting preoccupation with a specific class of possession. (It's in my contract not to apologize for lame puns.)

[menace64]

I've run out of time and this batch still isn't quite where I want it, but here's what I've got and I'll be back to tweak / respond later!

Part Five: Stomp Having a Good Time

Mûmak of Harad
Ally • Home 5[K] • Mûmak
Strength 10
Vitality 7
Fierce. To play, spot a Southron.
This ally is strength +2 for each Southron stacked on possessions it bears.
While this ally is participating in archery fire, add 1 to the fellowship archery total for each archer companion.
"...but the Mûmak of Harad was indeed a beast of vast bulk, and the like of him does not walk now in Middle-earth; his kin that live still in latter days are but memories of his girth and majesty."

Mûmak allies! Each one looks as strong as a Nazgûl, but if you play your cards right you might end up with multiple Balrog-level threats, come site 5[K]. The more Southrons you can get aboard, the stronger it becomes - naturally!

The fellowship archery bonus is here to help scale the FP side of things, opening up these enormous beasts to a x2 archery multiplier. You might be tempted to say "yeah but at 7 vitality who cares how many arrows you're taking?" and you'd be right - stick with me!

Howdah (V)
Possession • Armor
Fortification. When you play this possession, exert bearer. Bearer must be a Mûmak.
Shadow or Regroup: Exert bearer to stack a Southron from play here.
"...and behind them rose the huge backs of the mûmakil with war towers upon them."

And here's the engine - well technically it's a fortification, but that's not important right now.

Originally I had Southrons stacking directly onto the Mûmaks (and from the discard pile), but on fresh reconsideration I think I prefer them to stack on possessions and directly from play. Also, now if the FP player can find a way of getting rid of Howdah(V), they can get rid of a bunch of your Mûmak Southrons at the same time.

Howdah itself demands 2 exertions before becoming useful, dropping its base vitality to 5.

Mûmakil Rigger
Minion • Man
Strength 5
Vitality 2
Site Number 4[K]
Southron.
Response: If a possession borne by your Mûmak is about to be discarded, exert or discard this minion to prevent that.
Lorey lore.

Mûmakil Bowman
Minion • Man
Strength 6
Vitality 1
Site Number 4[K]
Southron.
While a Mûmak this minion is stacked on is participating in archery fire, the minion archery total is +1.
Lorey lore.

I hope "on" applies to minions stacked on possessions borne by allies. Yeesh that might be too much. Let's keep going for now.

Mûmakil Driver
Minion • Man
Strength 9
Vitality 3
Site Number 4[K]
Southron.
While stacked on a Mûmak, that Mûmak is damage +1.
Assignment: If a Mûmak this minion is stacked on is participating in skirmishes, exert this minion to assign that Mûmak to an unbound companion.
Lorey lore.

The high cost-to-stats ratio is there to offset the fact that they care more about getting stacked than they care about skirmishing.

•Advantaged Position
Condition • Support Area
When you play this condition, spot a Mûmak to draw a card.
While you can spot 3 Mûmaks, each Mûmak is strength +3.
Response: If your Mûmak (or a Southron stacked on your Mûmak) is about to be discarded, exert that Mûmak or discard this condition to prevent that.
Lorey lore.

I feel like this subculture requires some easy acceleration. Free draw, free strength pump (if you can get a line of Mûmaks out), and some ongoing discard control.

Barbed Chains
Possession • Tusk Weapon
Strength +4
Vitality -1
To play, exert a Southron. Bearer must be a Mûmak.
Skirmish: Exert bearer to discard a possession borne by a character it is skirmishing.
"His upturned hornlike tusks were bound with bands of gold and dripped with blood."

Careering
Event • Skirmish
Exert your Mûmak twice to make it damage +2 until the regroup phase. At the end of the skirmish, discard a fortification or a Southron stacked on that Mûmak.
"And then a great thudding and bumping, like huge rams dinning on the ground. 'Ware! Ware!' cried Damrod to his companion. 'May the Valar turn him aside! Mûmak! Mûmak!'"

For now I've worded Careering so that it can target Howdah(V) - if you run out of stacked Southrons or there's no structures left on the battlefield, your Mûmak can shake itself loose from its bondage.

There's a few other cards necessary here - I want to write a second, possibly unique Mûmak, along with a GAtS to go along with it. More verbs and minions. But this is the backbone of the mechanic, unless something goes terribly wrong!

[Shapeshifter]

Had to create this site

4[F] - Pinnacle of Orthanc -
Fellowship: Play Gwaihir from your draw deck or discard pile.