EFFECTS OF THE HUNT

To deal with the effects of a successful Hunt, follow these steps in order:

1) The Free Peoples player may use one relevant “Play on the Table” Event card to cancel or reduce the damage of the Hunt.

2) Then, the Free Peoples player may use the Guide’s special ability. If, after these steps, the Hunt damage is one or more, the Free Peoples player may decide to reduce the Hunt damage by taking a casualty — losing one Companion due to the hazards encountered by the Fellowship, or a fight between the Fellowship and servants of the Shadow.

3) Any remaining Hunt damage must be dealt with by using the Ring, increasing the Corruption of the Ring-bearers.

4) If the Hunt reveals the Fellowship, the Fellowship is now revealed (sometimes, revealing the Fellowship may cause the draw of a new tile, see Hunt Effects When Declaring or Revealing the Fellowship).

Note: If, at any time during the Hunt resolution, a new Guide is appointed (this happens, for example, when you use Meriadoc’s and Peregrin’s Guide ability, or because the Guide has been eliminated), the ability of the new Guide may be used immediately, if applicable.

Taking a Casualty

If the Free Peoples player takes a casualty, he must eliminate one Companion.

The Free Peoples player can decide between either taking the Guide as a casualty or randomly picking one Companion (excluding the Ring-bearers, but including the Guide) from the Fellowship. If the Free Peoples player decides to suffer a random casualty, the Shadow player randomly selects a face-down Companion counter from the Fellowship Box. The drawn Companion is eliminated from the game.

If the Hunt damage is higher than the Level of the eliminated Companion (including an eliminated Guide), any excess damage must still be taken as Corruption by the Ring-bearers.

If the Hunt damage is lower than the Level of the Companion, he is eliminated nonetheless (i.e., it is not possible to “wound” Companions).

Using the Ring

When the Free Peoples player uses the Ring, he advances the Corruption counter on the Fellowship Track by a number of steps equal to the Hunt damage.

Example: During the fourth game turn, the Ringbearers are in the Goblin’s Gate region and the Free Peoples player is moving the Fellowship Progress counter from step ‘1’ to step ‘2’ of the Fellowship Track.

There are three Shadow dice in the Hunt Box and one Free Peoples die, as this is the second time the Fellowship has moved this turn.

The Shadow player rolls three Combat dice: he must roll at least one ‘5’ or ‘6’ for the Hunt to be successful. He rolls ‘2,’ ‘5,’ and ‘6’: a total of two successes (the Shadow player needed only one success for the Hunt to succeed). He then draws a random tile from the Hunt Pool: a tile with a ‘3’ and no Reveal icon. The Hunt damage must be resolved.

There are no cards or Character’s abilities to be used, and the Free Peoples player decides to take a casualty. Strider is guiding the Fellowship, and the player does not want him to die, so he decides to draw a random Character instead. All the Companion counters are shuffled and one is chosen randomly: Gimli is drawn. The valiant dwarf dies confronting the servants of the Shadow. As Gimli’s Level is 2, and the Hunt damage is 3, 1 point of Hunt damage remains to be taken as Corruption, and the Corruption of the Ring-bearers increases.

Because the tile does not have a Reveal icon, the Fellowship Progress counter’s Hidden side remains face up.

THE ONE RING AND THE QUEST FOR MOUNT DOOM

Even as the Dark Lord desperately searches for the One Ring, he cannot imagine that someone would bring it to Mordor. Consequently, he does not look for the Ring within the borders of his own land.

In War of the Ring, from the moment the One Ring reaches the borders of Mordor, events are set in motion that are mostly beyond the control of the players themselves. The real struggle now lies between the will of the Ring to return to its Master and the determination of the Ring-bearers to pursue their mission to its bitter end.