Possible Stupid/Repeat Questions

[Darius099]

So I've got a bunch of old Lord of the Rings cards that I got inexpensively and that are left over from when I played (right after it came out), and that includes a bunch from a wide variety of the later sets. Since I didn't follow the evolution of the game I am really clueless since looking at them seems to indicate they don't really work together?

I tried reading around here a bit to see what the formats were like but just got lost really quickly.

Are there clear divisions of what sets can be played with what sets? Are there comprehensive rules for these formats posted somewhere? Are there rules or ways all the cards can be used together? Is there a good resource/default location if I want to purchase more cards?

Thanks in advance for any help!

[bibfortuna25]

If you play on Gemp, you can play in any format you like. There are tabs at the top telling you which sets are legal in each format.

Fellowship block: 1-3
Towers standard: 1-6
Towers block: 4-6
Movie: 1-10
King block: 7, 8, 10
WOTR block: 11-13
WOTR standard: 4-13
Standard: 7-19
Expanded:1-19
Open:1-19

Each format has its own X and R lists.

[Eukalyptus]

Standard, Expanded and Open also allow the use of the 0 cards.

[Darius099]

I only play in real life with the cards I have.

So are there different rules documents for playing, for example Towers Standard vs Open vs Standard? Some stuff on the later cards doesn't seem compatible with earlier cards

[Air Power]

I only play in real life with the cards I have.

So are there different rules documents for playing, for example Towers Standard vs Open vs Standard? Some stuff on the later cards doesn't seem compatible with earlier cards

Could you be more specific about the old and new cards?

Fellowship block doesn't have any cards that reference later concepts like initiative and threats, but you can use Fellowship block cards along-side cards from later sets that use both mechanics.

Companions from sets 1-10 do not have printed resistance except for Sam and the ring-bearers, but when the resistance mechanic in set 11 was applied to companions that will never be ring-bearer, they ruled that all the previous companions had resistance 6 unless otherwise specified.

The unloaded keyword "ring-bound" (and the default unbound) were added in TT, and Decipher declared that all Frodo and Sam companions are ring-bound, but the other Fellowship block companions are unbound.

New shadow cultures were introduced in set 11.  You can mix the cultures in the same deck, so you can use   and cards in the same deck just like you could use   and   cards in the same deck.  The cards do what they say, so a card that just specifies the race "orc" will work on any culture orc (e.g. Rumil EP can shoot Goblin Scavengers or Scavenging Goblins), but a card that lists a culture will only work on that  culture (e.g. Scavenging Goblins can get an Orc Hammer to play on himself, but not a Goblin Scimitar).

[Eukalyptus]

Companions from sets 1-10 do not have printed resistance except for Sam and the ring-bearers, but when the resistance mechanic in set 11 was applied to companions that will never be ring-bearer, they ruled that all the previous companions had resistance 5 unless otherwise specified.

The default is 6, not 5.