Paths: The Road Ahead (Sites)

[Thranduil]

This block, currently codenamed Paths, is a site block. The main focus is the sites, the adventure path, the adventure decks, etc. This follows on from my last DC block, Light & Shadow, to which the sites were essentially incidental and instead focussed on resistance and The Ring. The final set, Back to the Light, included a lot of culture-shifted cards (cards normally of one culture found in another) and sprinkled throughout was the roots of multi-culture. In particular, I began focussing on "tribal cards" (cards that care about unloaded keywords like knight, ranger, besieger, tracker etc.). This tribal theme will come to the fore in Paths.

Paths will comprise of 3 sets, for the moment codenamed:

1) Road (250 cards)
2) Goes (120 cards)
3) On (120 cards)

Block mechanics:

• The most important mechanical theme is sites. This means cards like Pathfinder and Traveled Leader are obviously important. Also cards that care about terrain, like Gondorian Blade, Uruviel, Woodland Maid and so on. Also cards like Caravan from the South. And many other things besides! It will see games using sites, adventure paths and adventure decks in new ways never seen in LotR before!

Bow of Lórien
Possession • Ranged Weapon
Bearer must be an Elf.
While the fellowship is at a forest site, each minion skirmishing bearer is strength -1.
While the fellowship is at a river site, bearer is an archer.
C

Tracking the Enemy
Event • Skirmish
Stealth.
Make a ranger strength +2 (or +3 if an opponent is ahead of you on the adventure path).
C

• I was hinting at this before by my Lookout thread, which will feature as one of the block mechanics. This allows me to spend most cardspace on permanent cards (characters, followers, conditions, possessions, artifacts) but many of them will act like events. For those of you who haven't seen my other thread, lookout will work like this:

Lookout – Phase: Cost. (Phase: Pay the lookout cost to play this card from your hand; then discard it from play).

Vindictive Breelander
Minion • Man
Str: 6
Vit: 3
Sit: 2
Traitor. Lookout – Maneuver: Spot your traitor minion. (Maneuver: Spot your traitor minion to play this minion from your hand; then discard it from play).
When this minion is killed or discarded from play, you may reveal the Free Peoples player's hand.
U

• A keyword I've used before will be making a recurrence, with a slight change: legendary (when a legendary permanent card is about to go to the discard pile from play or a legendary event is about to go to the discard pile after resolving, it goes to the dead pile instead of the discard pile). This means each player has in principle 2 dead piles, Shadow and Free Peoples, which are only active during their opponent's or their turns respectively. So there will be mechanics hinging on the discard and dead piles as well.

•Úlairë Enquëa, Feared Lieutenant
Minion • Nazgûl
Str: 11
Vit: 4
Sit: 3
Damage +1. Fierce. Legendary. (When Úlairë Enquëa is about to go the discard pile from play, he goes to the dead pile instead).
C

• The first set will also showcase a new keyword which I also previewed a while back: Monument (A monument card's game text is always active). This allows particularly sites (but also other cards) to continue to affect the game even when you are past them (or it is not your turn), and to include global effects or effects for you as a player instead of as either a Shadow or FP player.

•Library of Orthanc, Ancient Repository
Artifact • Support Area
Monument. (Library of Orthanc's game text is always active).
To play, spot Saruman.
Your maximum hand size is increased by 2.
R

All that I have posted before. But, in the next post, will be something new!

[Thranduil]

So I've given codenames for the sets. Though this may change, I'm pretty sure the first set is going to be called The Road Ahead.

And because it's a site block, that's where I'm going to start: with sites!

First, let's see the reprints:

•Anduin Banks (reprint)
River.
The minion archery total is +2 for each companion you can spot over 4.
A S 224

•Dammed Gate-stream (reprint)
Marsh.
At the start of your fellowship phase, you may play a Free Peoples card from your draw deck. Shuffle your draw deck.
A S 227

•East Road (reprint)
Forest.
Each companion is twilight cost +2.
A S 232

•Heights of Isengard (reprint)
Battleground.
Each time your companion wins a skirmish, you may discard a condition from play.
A S 239

•Moria Stairway (reprint)
Underground.
Each character bearing a hand weapon is damage +1.
A S 242

•The Prancing Pony (reprint)
Dwelling.
At the start of your fellowship phase, you may add a burden to play a ranger card from your draw deck. Shuffle your draw deck.
A S 245


As you can see, all the reprinted sites are in the starter decks. This stops you opening them in boosters which could be quite annoying. I think I said in another thread that more sites would also be reprinted in Light & Shadow block, again as starter cards.


Do you want to see some more starter sites? I'm sure you do! (A quick note: I think that virtually every single site title I have used for this set has already been another movie block site, and only a few of them have anything like the same text. So don't go by the original as a guide to what the card does).

•Crashed Gate
Battleground.
At the start of the maneuver phase, you may exert your besieger minion to discard a Free Peoples possession.
A S 226

•Deeping Wall
Battleground. Plains.
Shadow: Exert your minion to play an engine condition or engine possession from your draw deck. Shuffle your draw deck. Limit once per player per turn.
A S 228

•Dimrill Dale
Plains.
Shadow: Exert your minion to play a Shadow condition from your discard pile. Limit once per player per turn.
A S 230

•Gates of Argonath
River.
Maneuver events may not be played.
A S 234

•Golden Hall
Dwelling.
When the fellowship moves to this site in region 1 or 2, discard all weapons from play.
A S 235

•The Great River
River.
Cards may not be played from draw decks or discard pile.
A S 236

•Meduseld
Dwelling.
Fellowship: If the fellowship is in region 1, spot 2 companions to make the move limit +1 until end of turn. Limit once per turn.
A S 241

•Osgiliath Crossing
Battleground. River.
Each knight character is strength +1.
A S 244

•The Riddermark
Plains.
At the start of your fellowship phase, you may exert your companion to play a Free Peoples mount card from your draw deck. Shuffle your draw deck.
A S 246

•Saruman's Laboratory
Shadow: Exert your minion to search your draw deck for a Shadow spell or Shadow weather card and put it into your hand. Shuffle your draw deck. Limit once per player per turn.
A S 247

•Tol Brandir
River.
Shadow: Play a tracker card from your discard pile. Limit once per player per turn.
A S 248

•Tower of Ecthelion
Mountain.
cards may not be discarded from play (except by Free Peoples cards).
A S 249