The Scouring of the Shire (9/26: Hacking, Burning, Ruining...and worse!)

[DáinIronfoot]

Okay, I think I've taken the beacons of Gondor thing as far as I'm willing to right now (have to save SOME stuff for the actual set those beacons will be appearing in, after all! ), so time for another extended teaser.

Last time I was around (it's been a few days, I know), I think I mentioned that I had gotten sidetracked working on some scouring of the Shire stuff. Rather than squash that outright, I decided to run with it while I was feeling inspired. So today, in honor of the once-in-a-lifetime date, I decided to post nine cards to make up for lost time. They're all minions, and while none of them are anything too special in and of themselves, they're downright nasty in groups. That's right: it's time for a fun little subculture centered on the invaders of the Shire. Enjoy!

Shire Ruffian
Minion • Man
Strength: 5
Vitality: 1
Site: 2
Ruffian. To play, spot a ruffian.
"‘Now run home to bed before you're whipped.'"

Like I said, nothing special. Ruffian is an unbound keyword along the lines of other short-lived keywords like engine, corsair, and twilight. Hey, if Big D can get away with creating keywords used by less than ten cards, so can I!

Anyway, this is the most basic of ruffians, but he hints at one of their strengths: swarming.

Shire Gatherer
Minion • Man
Strength: 6
Vitality: 2
Site: 2
Ruffian.
Each time this minion is assigned to a companion with less strength, you may discard a possession borne by that companion.
"‘They do more gathering than sharing, and we never see most of the stuff again.'"

Robbing at its finest, eh? This helps set the table for future overwhelming...or even current, if you're dueling little guys like Hobbits.

Shire Highway-robber
Minion • Man
Strength: 6
Vitality: 2
Site: 3
Ruffian.
While you control a site, each time this minion wins a skirmish, you may exert it to capture a companion in that skirmish.
"‘Put those lights out! Get indoors and stay there! Or we'll take fifty of you to the Lockholes for a year.'"

If you don't remember what capturing is...well, let me know and I'll post a link. But basically, this guy takes companions out of the fight (literally) for a while.

Chief's Man
Minion • Man
Strength: 5
Vitality: 2
Site: 3
Ruffian. To play, spot a ruffian.
This minion is strength +2 for each lurker you can spot.
"‘Get in! The Boss is losing his temper.'"

I know, no lurkers here yet. Just read on and it'll make more sense, I promise.

•Lotho, Chief Shirriff
Minion • Hobbit
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Site: 2
Lurker.
Skirmish: Exert Lotho and remove to make a ruffian strength +2.
"‘Whatever it is, Lotho will be at the bottom of it: you can be sure of that.'"

See? Lurker! This is the only guy here that is NOT a ruffian, and that's because he was also an eventual victim of the invaders, even though at first he let them in and had some semblance of control over the situation for a while. Exerting seemed a perfect cost to pump up the ruffians, as poor Lotho ended up taking plenty of heat from them in the end as well.

•Ted Sandyman, Insolent Traitor
Minion • Hobbit
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Site: 2
Ruffian. Lurker.
Each time you take control of a site, you may heal a Hobbit.
Each time a ruffian wins a skirmish, you may exert Ted Sandyman twice to discard a support area card (or 2 such cards).
"‘What d'you want to come back for? We've work to do in the Shire now.'"

A rather complicated ability, I admit, but an important one. We already have discarding of possessions thanks to the Shire Gatherer, and now we take even MORE support away from the fellowship. Just as with the ruffians themselves, the takeover is subtle, but eventually overwhelming.

•Bill Ferny, Chief's Big Man
Minion • Man
Strength: 4
Vitality: 3
Site: 3
Ruffian. Lurker. To play, spot 2 ruffians (or a unique ruffian).
Unique ruffians with vitality 3 or more cannot be assigned to skirmishes.
While Bill Ferny is unwounded, the Free Peoples player cannot liberate sites, rescue characters, or increase the move limit.
"‘Gate-breaking? You clear out, or I'll break your filthy little necks!'"

Not so subtle here. Ferny handcuffs you in ways that make those simple assignment-negating versions seem downright weak. Fortunately, some archery or other wounding can quickly take him and his annoying ways down. Just as in the story, Bill is plenty tough until he's really threatened.

•Gríma, Wretched Worm
Minion • Man
Strength: 4
Vitality: 2
Site: 4
Ruffian. Lurker.
Skirmish: Discard a ruffian to make Gríma strength +2.
Skirmish: Discard a Hobbit to make Gríma fierce.
Skirmish: Discard a Wizard to make Gríma damage +1.
"‘No, Worm is not really nice. You had better leave him to me.'"

A fighting Gríma?! It makes sense when you think about it. He seems so small and pitiful after Saruman's fall, but he can rather quickly be pushed over the edge in lethal ways. A wounded and cornered animal is always the fiercest kind you can encounter, as Saruman himself later learned.

•Saruman, Sharkey
Minion • Wizard
Strength: 7
Vitality: 3
Site: 4
Ruffian. Lurker. Muster.
Each other ruffian is strength +1 and fierce.
Each time a ruffian wins a fierce skirmish, you may exert Saruman to take control of a site.
"‘Still I have already done much that you will find it hard to mend or undo in your lives. And it will be pleasant to think of that and set it against my injuries.'"

Well, speak of the devil! Just like Rabble-rouser was for , this guy is what makes this whole little subculture really click. His stats reflect his weakened state at this point in the storyline, but what he lacks in personal power, he makes up for in the company he keeps (and pumps!). I know most minions above do not take advantage of that site control, but future cards (probably strictly support ones like events and conditions) will. Oh yes....

[ket_the_jet]

Pretty cool idea. They better have nifty events and conditions because none of them are going to win skirmishes.

I don't know what "rescue characters" means...

Also, you should have mad bonuses for controlling dwelling sites. That'd be badass.
-wtk

[Thranduil]

Shire Ruffian
Minion • Man
Strength: 5
Vitality: 1
Site: 2
Ruffian. To play, spot a ruffian.
"‘Now run home to bed before you're whipped.'"

Like I said, nothing special. Ruffian is an unbound keyword along the lines of other short-lived keywords like engine, corsair, and twilight. Hey, if Big D can get away with creating keywords used by less than ten cards, so can I!

I think you probably know my opinion on using keywords like this... I think it's destructive design. But apart from that, no problems. I would lose the ruffian keyword and use something like "To play, spot a minion that is not roaming".

Shire Gatherer
Minion • Man
Strength: 6
Vitality: 2
Site: 2
Ruffian.
Each time this minion is assigned to a companion with less strength, you may discard a possession borne by that companion.
"‘They do more gathering than sharing, and we never see most of the stuff again.'"

No problem.

Shire Highway-robber
Minion • Man
Strength: 6
Vitality: 2
Site: 2
Ruffian.
Each time this minion wins a skirmish, you may exert it to capture a companion in that skirmish.
"‘Put those lights out! Get indoors and stay there! Or we'll take fifty of you to the Lockholes for a year.'"

Hmmm... Site 2 capturing for ? This could be very dangerous hitting a fellowship that is not properly set up yet. Might want to think about that.

Chief's Man
Minion • Man
Strength: 5
Vitality: 2
Site: 2
Ruffian. To play, spot a ruffian.
This minion is strength +2 for each unique lurker you can spot.
"‘Get in! The Boss is losing his temper.'"

Just seems very narrow to me. I would make it either unique minion or lurker just to give it some space.

•Lotho, Chief Shirriff
Minion • Hobbit
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Site: 2
Lurker.
Skirmish: Exert Lotho and remove to make a ruffian strength +2.
"‘Whatever it is, Lotho will be at the bottom of it: you can be sure of that.'"

Interesting that I also have recently made a Lotho card... But I won't be posting him for a while. Seems okay - nice flavour going.

•Ted Sandyman, Insolent Traitor
Minion • Hobbit
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Site: 2
Ruffian. Lurker.
Each time a companion loses a skirmish involving a ruffian, you may exert Ted Sandyman twice to discard a support area card of the same culture as that companion (or 2 such cards if that companion is a Hobbit).
"‘What d'you want to come back for? We've work to do in the Shire now.'"

Not sure about this one, and I think "the same culture" thing is too much text for something that would make not that much difference in most games. I also don't think he needs to exert twice - once or not at all would be fine.

•Bill Ferny, Chief's Big Man
Minion • Man
Strength: 4
Vitality: 3
Site: 4
Ruffian. Lurker. To play, spot 2 ruffians (or a unique ruffian).
The Free Peoples player cannot assign companions to skirmish unwounded unique ruffians.
While Bill Ferny is unwounded, the Free Peoples player cannot liberate sites, rescue characters, or increase the move limit.
"‘Gate-breaking? You clear out, or I'll break your filthy little necks!'"

I like the second ability, but not sure about the first - that seems like a fairly easy auto-kill. And why is he site 4?

•Gríma, Wretched Worm
Minion • Man
Strength: 4
Vitality: 3
Site: 4
Ruffian. Lurker.
Skirmish: Discard a ruffian to make Gríma fierce.
Skirmish: Discard a Wizard to make Gríma damage +1.
Skirmish: Discard a Hobbit to make Gríma strength +3.
"‘No, Worm is not really nice. You had better leave him to me.'"

Very cool, but I would invert the ruffian and Hobbit abilities.

•Saruman, Sharkey
Minion • Wizard
Strength: 7
Vitality: 3
Site: 4
Ruffian. Lurker. Muster.
Each other ruffian is strength +1 and fierce.
Each time a ruffian wins a fierce skirmish, you may exert Saruman to take control of a site.
"‘Still I have already done much that you will find it hard to mend or undo in your lives. And it will be pleasant to think of that and set it against my injuries.'"

Well obviously it was coming to this! My only problem with this card is that you have nothing to do with the sites that you've taken!

Thranduil

[DáinIronfoot]

Okay, I changed the following:

Highway-robber's ability now requires that you control a site. I also raised his site number to 3. Between those two tweaks, he shouldn't be able to overwhelm too early on.

Chief's Man now gets bigger from any lurker. I almost did this originally, but I was trying to avoid having these guys splashed with too many non-ruffian minions. (I just hate how the culture tosses ALL Men together...I mean, Dunlendings, Southrons, and the Men of Bree all together in the same culture? Come on, Decipher.... ) That all being said, there are only eight minions created by Big D that have lurker...and two of them are Grima. So yeah, I'm okay with that change. Oh, and he also now has site number 3.

Ted Sandyman is changed rather dramatically. I'd recommend just re-reading it.

Bill Ferny too. Of particular note: I dropped his site number to 3. I'm reluctant to go down to his usual 2 because I don't want you getting hammered with his abilities at site 2.

Grima: Switched up the abilities as recommended. However, I dropped Grima's vitality to 2 (which I almost did originally anyway) and dropped the strength bonus to +2 to keep him more in check.

Sharkey has not been changed, but I wanted to point out that Highway-robber now greatly benefits from him, and some future cards will as well. I'm going to be AFK for much (if not all) of the day tomorrow, but hopefully I'll have more up Friday.

[Thranduil]

•Ted Sandyman, Insolent Traitor
Minion • Hobbit
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Site: 2
Ruffian. Lurker.
Each time you take control of a site, you may heal a Hobbit.
Each time a ruffian wins a skirmish, you may exert Ted Sandyman twice to discard a support area card (or 2 such cards).
"‘What d'you want to come back for? We've work to do in the Shire now.'"

Okay. In general though, I don't see any of these tiny little guys winning skirmishes. All in all, the power level of this subculture seems to be very low.

•Bill Ferny, Chief's Big Man
Minion • Man
Strength: 4
Vitality: 3
Site: 3
Ruffian. Lurker. To play, spot 2 ruffians (or a unique ruffian).
Unique ruffians with vitality 3 or more cannot be assigned to skirmishes.
While Bill Ferny is unwounded, the Free Peoples player cannot liberate sites, rescue characters, or increase the move limit.
"‘Gate-breaking? You clear out, or I'll break your filthy little necks!'"

The first ability seems too many words than it's worth.

•Gríma, Wretched Worm
Minion • Man
Strength: 4
Vitality: 2
Site: 4
Ruffian. Lurker.
Skirmish: Discard a ruffian to make Gríma strength +2.
Skirmish: Discard a Hobbit to make Gríma fierce.
Skirmish: Discard a Wizard to make Gríma damage +1.
"‘No, Worm is not really nice. You had better leave him to me.'"

This hearkens back to my earlier point, that the power level to start was not that strong and now you're reducing it! I thought there was nothing wrong with this guy at site 3, vitality 3 and strength +3 from his ability.

Thranduil

[ket_the_jet]

Okay. In general though, I don't see any of these tiny little guys winning skirmishes. All in all, the power level of this subculture seems to be very low.

I see these guys as a weaker (and somewhat lamer) swarm. But I'm waiting attentively for conditions, events, etc.
-wtk

[DáinIronfoot]

Unfortunately didn't have time to do any more today, and we're off to the beach until the 17th. I should be able to get on some between now and then, but in case I can't, I'll have some more up end of next week. Until then, ciao!

[FM]

He COULD migrate that [Uruk-hai] event to resolve skirmishes based on vitality, though, or even make a CONDITION allowing it, thus making the culture highly versatile AND rendering strength pumps useless. Elvents, anyone?

[Gerontius]

.

Shire Ruffian
Minion • Man
Strength: 5
Vitality: 1
Site: 2
Ruffian. To play, spot a ruffian.
"‘Now run home to bed before you're whipped.'"
Good.
Shire Gatherer
Minion • Man
Strength: 6
Vitality: 2
Site: 2
Ruffian.
Each time this minion is assigned to a companion with less strength, you may discard a possession borne by that companion.
"‘They do more gathering than sharing, and we never see most of the stuff again.'"
Seems like this guys could be easily run over by a tank fellowship, but would be great against hobbits, true to the story. I'm not sure if is the right culture to put them in, though.
Shire Highway-robber
Minion • Man
Strength: 6
Vitality: 2
Site: 3
Ruffian.
While you control a site, each time this minion wins a skirmish, you may exert it to capture a companion in that skirmish.
"‘Put those lights out! Get indoors and stay there! Or we'll take fifty of you to the Lockholes for a year.'"
Ditto my above comment.
Chief's Man
Minion • Man
Strength: 5
Vitality: 2
Site: 3
Ruffian. To play, spot a ruffian.
This minion is strength +2 for each lurker you can spot.
"‘Get in! The Boss is losing his temper.'"
It might be more useful if you used this to pump the other ruffians. Something like, "each ruffian is strength +1 for each site you control"
•Lotho, Chief Shirriff
Minion • Hobbit
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Site: 2
Lurker.
Skirmish: Exert Lotho and remove to make a ruffian strength +2.
"‘Whatever it is, Lotho will be at the bottom of it: you can be sure of that.'"
This guy is good, fairly powerful though. I would prefer if the hobbits had some way to prevent their skirmishes, though.
•Ted Sandyman, Insolent Traitor
Minion • Hobbit
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Site: 2
Ruffian. Lurker.
Each time you take control of a site, you may heal a Hobbit.
Each time a ruffian wins a skirmish, you may exert Ted Sandyman twice to discard a support area card (or 2 such cards).
"‘What d'you want to come back for? We've work to do in the Shire now.'"
Good. Still wouldn't like to see him assigned to skirmishes though.
•Bill Ferny, Chief's Big Man
Minion • Man
Strength: 4
Vitality: 3
Site: 3
Ruffian. Lurker. To play, spot 2 ruffians (or a unique ruffian).
Unique ruffians with vitality 3 or more cannot be assigned to skirmishes.
While Bill Ferny is unwounded, the Free Peoples player cannot liberate sites, rescue characters, or increase the move limit.
"‘Gate-breaking? You clear out, or I'll break your filthy little necks!'"
Good.
•Gríma, Wretched Worm
Minion • Man
Strength: 4
Vitality: 2
Site: 4
Ruffian. Lurker.
Skirmish: Discard a ruffian to make Gríma strength +2.
Skirmish: Discard a Hobbit to make Gríma fierce.
Skirmish: Discard a Wizard to make Gríma damage +1.
"‘No, Worm is not really nice. You had better leave him to me.'"
Could be stronger, especially with his current site number.
•Saruman, Sharkey
Minion • Wizard
Strength: 7
Vitality: 3
Site: 4
Ruffian. Lurker. Muster.
Each other ruffian is strength +1 and fierce.
Each time a ruffian wins a fierce skirmish, you may exert Saruman to take control of a site.
"‘Still I have already done much that you will find it hard to mend or undo in your lives. And it will be pleasant to think of that and set it against my injuries.'"
[About perfect!/color]

[lem0nhead]

Shire Ruffian
Minion • Man
Strength: 5
Vitality: 1
Site: 2
Ruffian. To play, spot a ruffian.
"‘Now run home to bed before you're whipped.'"

Why the spotting?

Shire Gatherer
Minion • Man
Strength: 6
Vitality: 2
Site: 2
Ruffian.
Each time this minion is assigned to a companion with less strength, you may discard a possession borne by that companion.
"‘They do more gathering than sharing, and we never see most of the stuff again.'"

Coolios.

Shire Highway-robber
Minion • Man
Strength: 6
Vitality: 2
Site: 3
Ruffian.
While you control a site, each time this minion wins a skirmish, you may exert it to capture a companion in that skirmish.
"‘Put those lights out! Get indoors and stay there! Or we'll take fifty of you to the Lockholes for a year.'"

Ooo.

Chief's Man
Minion • Man
Strength: 5
Vitality: 2
Site: 3
Ruffian. To play, spot a ruffian.
This minion is strength +2 for each lurker you can spot.
"‘Get in! The Boss is losing his temper.'"

Ok sound.

•Lotho, Chief Shirriff
Minion • Hobbit
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Site: 2
Lurker.
Skirmish: Exert Lotho and remove to make a ruffian strength +2.
"‘Whatever it is, Lotho will be at the bottom of it: you can be sure of that.'"

Nice. I dont think you need to remove 1 at all.

•Ted Sandyman, Insolent Traitor
Minion • Hobbit
Strength: 3
Vitality: 4
Site: 2
Ruffian. Lurker.
Each time you take control of a site, you may heal a Hobbit.
Each time a ruffian wins a skirmish, you may exert Ted Sandyman twice to discard a support area card (or 2 such cards).
"‘What d'you want to come back for? We've work to do in the Shire now.'"

Erm hes ok. Guess he only costs 1.

•Bill Ferny, Chief's Big Man
Minion • Man
Strength: 4
Vitality: 3
Site: 3
Ruffian. Lurker. To play, spot 2 ruffians (or a unique ruffian).
Unique ruffians with vitality 3 or more cannot be assigned to skirmishes.
While Bill Ferny is unwounded, the Free Peoples player cannot liberate sites, rescue characters, or increase the move limit.
"‘Gate-breaking? You clear out, or I'll break your filthy little necks!'"

Icky.

•Gríma, Wretched Worm
Minion • Man
Strength: 4
Vitality: 2
Site: 4
Ruffian. Lurker.
Skirmish: Discard a ruffian to make Gríma strength +2.
Skirmish: Discard a Hobbit to make Gríma fierce.
Skirmish: Discard a Wizard to make Gríma damage +1.
"‘No, Worm is not really nice. You had better leave him to me.'"

Yeah hes ok. Make him damage +1, its that little knife saruman never saw coming....

•Saruman, Sharkey
Minion • Wizard
Strength: 7
Vitality: 3
Site: 4
Ruffian. Lurker. Muster.
Each other ruffian is strength +1 and fierce.
Each time a ruffian wins a fierce skirmish, you may exert Saruman to take control of a site.
"‘Still I have already done much that you will find it hard to mend or undo in your lives. And it will be pleasant to think of that and set it against my injuries.'"

Wicked sweet, i love the bonus muster.

[DáinIronfoot]

I'm baaaaaaaaaack.

Okay, not surprisingly, looks like people's biggest worry with these guys is their lack of punch. They're intentionally pretty weak, and need some help to really get going. They get some from Lotho and Sharkey, but that's far from enough. Fortunately, they have some other rather potent pumps....

Cudgel
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +2
Bearer must be a minion.
Regroup: If bearer is a ruffian, remove to shuffle this possession into your draw deck.
"‘Whips, knives, and clubs, enough for their dirty work....'"

Okay, not so much here. But it's a self-recycling little pump, and that alone makes it pretty spiffy, right? Right, guys? Guys?

Fine then. Let's get to the good stuff!

No Admittance
Event • Skirmish
Choose one: cancel a skirmish involving a ruffian or Hobbit; or make a ruffian strength +2 for each site you control (limit +6).
"‘Who's that? Be off! You can't come in: Can't you read the notice: ‘No admittance between sundown and sunrise'?'"

Yes, the first part (and title) intentionally echoes No Visitors a bit. It lets you cancel a skirmish where you know your minion is outmatched (like, say, poor little Lotho). But the second part is what makes this really worth using. Should I even cap it?

And just to show that Sharkey isn't the only way to get sites....

Ruination
Condition • Support Area
Each time you play a ruffian, add a token here.
Shadow: Remove 3 tokens from here to discard a possession or condition.
Maneuver: Remove 4 tokens from here to take control of a site.
Skirmish: Remove 5 tokens from here to wound a companion skirmishing a ruffian.
"‘...hack, burn, and ruin; and now it's come to killing. There's no longer even any bad sense in it. They cut down trees and let 'em lie, they burn houses and build no more.'"

If you can't overpower companions, then just remove their support stuff, control their sites, and if it comes right down to it, wound them to death! That's one way to record a win in a skirmish, right? Mwahaha!

Chief's Orders
Condition
To play, spot a Wizard, Hobbit, or 2 ruffians. Bearer must be a ruffian.
Assignment: Exert bearer and spot a companion; that companion cannot be assigned to this minion until the regroup phase.
Regroup: Exert 2 ruffians to take this card into hand from your discard pile.
"‘You're arrested for Gate-breaking, and Tearing up of Rules, and Assaulting Gate-keepers, and Trespassing....'"

And here, you can neutralize the bigger companions and pick on the little guys. How's the balance and all?

[ket_the_jet]

I know people like the card by card reviews, but I really think all of these fit in well to what is a pretty well-balanced shadow culture. Of course, I suspect more is coming...

As for No Admittance, I would indeed keep it capped. Even though these minions are not particularly strong, I think any "Strength +X for each ______" should always have some cap. Otherwise you end up with #$&*@! cards like Pippin, Steadfast Friend. Granted, you can't take control of more than eight sites, so there is a built in control there, but a cool little thought I had would be a condition that works along with these guys:

•Card Title
Condition • Support Area
While you can spot a ruffian and a dwelling you control, add one to the number of sites you control.
Skirmish: Discard this condition to make a ruffian strength +2.

Or something along those lines. Like Small Hope or Surging Up from the culture...
-wtk

[Thranduil]

Cudgel
Possession • Hand Weapon
Strength +2
Bearer must be a minion.
Regroup: If bearer is a ruffian, remove to shuffle this possession into your draw deck.
"‘Whips, knives, and clubs, enough for their dirty work....'"

Meh. Certainly seems like a Shadow possession I might use. Especially if there's some ambush love going on with the ruffian sub-culture - otherwise maybe not.

No Admittance
Event • Skirmish
Choose one: cancel a skirmish involving a ruffian or Hobbit; or make a ruffian strength +2 for each site you control (limit +6).
"‘Who's that? Be off! You can't come in: Can't you read the notice: ‘No admittance between sundown and sunrise'?'"

I say the cap is really unnecessary - how tough is it to control 3 sites? Very.

Ruination
Condition • Support Area
Each time you play a ruffian, add a token here.
Shadow: Remove 3 tokens from here to discard a possession or condition.
Maneuver: Remove 4 tokens from here to take control of a site.
Skirmish: Remove 5 tokens from here to wound a companion skirmishing a ruffian.
"‘...hack, burn, and ruin; and now it's come to killing. There's no longer even any bad sense in it. They cut down trees and let 'em lie, they burn houses and build no more.'"

Couple of things:

1) As it's non-unique, I'd prefer a "Shadow: Play a ruffian to add a token here." Though maybe not... I think my following thought will make this one null and void, but never mind.
2) This card is doing FAAAAAR too much. Split it into at least 2 cards, I reckon. No reason for you to stuff all this stuff on the same card. If you do, you could even have these different conditions going off from the same trigger (playing a ruffian).

Chief's Orders
Condition
To play, spot a Wizard, Hobbit, or 2 ruffians. Bearer must be a ruffian.
Assignment: Exert bearer and spot a companion; that companion cannot be assigned to this minion until the regroup phase.
Regroup: Exert 2 ruffians to take this card into hand from your discard pile.
"‘You're arrested for Gate-breaking, and Tearing up of Rules, and Assaulting Gate-keepers, and Trespassing....'"

Seems expensive for a card that doesn't do an awful lot... Maybe if it was a support area card that transferred forth and back? Something like:

Maneuver: Exert a minion to transfer this condition from your support area to a ruffian.
When this condition is transferred to a ruffian, spot a companion. That companion cannot be assigned to bearer until the regroup phase.
Regroup: Exert a minion to transfer this condition from a ruffian to your support area.

Thranduil

[FM]

Considering Ruination is non-unique and the token-adding is triggered, that means that with 4 Ruinations out a single Ruffian nets you a site? Ouch!

[Gerontius]

I would make Ruination unique. As well, you could save space by making it 4 tokens for a discard, 5 for a site, and ditching the last line. Compare to Battle for Helm's Deep.