Actions

  • Tapping a resource can only be done at a time when you could otherwise play a resource event.

Active Conditions

  • An active condition must be in play or established when the action requiring it is declared. Active conditions serve as the price of an action. They are restrictions on the player invoking the action.
  • Annotation 5: If an action requires an entity to tap as a condition for the action’s main effect, that entity must be untapped when the action is declared; else, the action may not be declared. Tap the entity at this point; this is considered synonymous with the action’s declaration; i.e., it is not a separate action. When it comes time to resolve the action in its chain of effects, that entity must still be in play and tapped or the action is canceled.
  • Annotation 6: If an action requires an entity to be discarded as a condition for the action’s main effect, that entity must be discarded when the action is declared; this is considered synonymous with the action’s declaration; i.e., it is not a separate action.
  • Annotation 7: If any other active condition for an action does not exist when the action is resolved, the action has no effect; if the action was playing a card from your hand, it is discarded.
  • Annotation 8: An action that requires a target is considered to have the active condition that the target be in play when the action is declared and when it is resolved. An action may not be declared if its target is not in play. However, dice-rolling actions may always be targeted by other actions declared later in the same chain of effects.
  • Your opponent’s resources may be the active conditions for your resources, but may not be the targets for your resources.
  • If an «alternative» or «additional» effect does not have any «playable …» conditions, then the «playable on …» conditions from the primary effect of the card apply. The following cards are exceptions to this rule:Gloom,Good Sense Revolts, Half an Eye Open, Heedless Revelry,Here is a Snake, In the Name of Mordor, Inner Cunning,Nobody’s Friend, Withdrawn to Mordor, and Wolf- riders.
  • See also Rulings by Term, Target.

Agent

  • Rules Erratum: A tapped agent may take an action to untap (i.e., move from tapped status to utapped status).
  • Rules Erratum: An agent may tap to play creatures at a site if the company is moving to the site.
  • Rules Erratum: Agent attacks against minions are always detainment.
  • Playing a card that makes an agent attack is considered the attack’s declaration.
  • Agents are not creatures.
  • Agent attacks are not keyed to anything.
  • Agents, when played as hazards (i.e. not as characters), are hazards and effects caused by them are hazard effects. [CoE 2002]
  • Rolls made by agents during combat are done simultaneously with rolls made by characters during combat, after step 4 of the strike sequence.
  • Only face-up agents are considered for uniqueness.
  • While in play agents played as hazards may not become minion characters, and agents played as minion characters may not become hazards.
  • An agent played as a character in a Ringwraith deck can only be played at his home site.
  • When constructing a Ringwraith deck, agents are always considered characters. The maximum of 36 mind of agents in your sideboard and play deck combined still applies.
  • Agents in starting companies count against the 36 mind limit.
  • To wound an agent you only need to defeat the prowess of one strike. To eliminate an agent you must defeat the prowess and body for all strikes.
  • Revealed agents may return to their home site, even if they are at one of their home sites.
  • Cards played on an agent remain face up when the agent turns face down.
  • Agents may not move to any version of a hero Haven, unless they have a special ability allowing them to.
  • Only Elven agents can move to a site that is a Wizardhaven.
  • Fallen-wizards use minion rules for agents, except where specified by the White Hand rules insert.
  • When an agent is revealed, only the site he is at will be affected by environment cards.
  • Agents do not get the -5 penalty for influencing across alignments.
  • Agents may influence a faction with more than one playable site at any site where the faction could have been played. [Van 1999]
  • If you are a Ringwraith, your agents may move as if Dagorlad and Udûn are adjacent.
  • The rules on agent movement do not apply to revealed agents, since they refer to the first site card played, which is discarded when the agent is revealed the first time.
  • When you flip an agent face down, leave it’s current site face up with the agent. That now counts as a legal first card «played» for when you reveal the agent again.
  • An agent may only attack once per site phase.
  • Agents count as both characters and hazards during the game in a Ringwraith deck.
  • See also Rulings by Term, Card Effect Limitations.

Ahunt Manifestations

  • If one Ahunt is out and you move through two or more of the regions listed on it, then you face the attack once.
  • @ Can be played in response to another action. [CoE 2024]

Ally

  • Allies may tap to cancel attacks from Slayers and Assassins.
  • If an ally may not be attacked by certain attacks, he may still tap to give +1 prowess to characters facing such attacks.
  • Playing an ally is not an influence attempt.
  • If an ally’s controller leaves play for any reason, that ally is discarded.
  • Allies can be healed as if they were characters. Otherwise, allies are only considered characters for the purposes of combat and playing skill cards.
  • Allies count as characters for the purposes of combat, including performing actions in combat that characters do (getting assigned strikes, tapping for +1 to prowess) and for the play of cards that directly affect the attack.
  • If the text on the ally says, «Discard if he/she moves to», like most of the allies with restricted movement, then it is discarded at the beginning of the movement/hazard phase. If the text on the ally says, «Discard if he/she is at», then it is discarded at the beginning of the site phase. [CoE 2002
  • Allies cannot be targeted to be taken prisoner, and otherwise cannot be taken prisoner. They can still face strikes from prisoner-taking attacks but they won’t be tapped or wounded by them. [Ruled by COE 2004, added by CoE 2023]
  • @ Allies have a race attribute only if specifically stated in their text box. [CoE 2024]
  • @ Any orc/troll ally makes a company overt. [CoE 2024]

Balrog

  • Rules Erratum: Balrog players receive no MPs for hero items played at their darkhavens.
  • When in a match with two (or more) Balrog players a player gets the Balrog card out, that does not stop his opponents from playing Balrog specific cards. [CoE 2002]

Beginning of Phase/Turn

  • ABP: Actions that may be taken at (or are triggered by) the beginning of a given phase or turn only.
    This period begins at the start of a phase/turn and ends when all players announce that they will not declare any ABP starting a chain of effects and when all triggered ABP are resolved.
    The only actions that may be declared in response to ABP are other ABP and actions that target a dice-rolling action and actions that target declared events.
    Triggered ABP are declared before ABP that may be taken by players.
    [CoE IE 2018]

Burglary Attempts

  • After a successful burglary attempt, another character may tap to play a minor item.
  • The character who fails the burglary roll must face the automatic-attack as though he were a one-character company. He can receive no combat support other than what he himself can provide.
  • For all other purposes a burgling character is still part of his company. [CoE 2002]
  • On-guard creatures are faced by the whole company after a Burglaring attempt, regardless of the success of the attempt.

Body Check

  • Annotation 22: When a character fails a body check, his items may be immediately reassigned to unwounded characters in his company, one item per character. Reassigning of the eliminated character’s items is considered to be synonymous with his failed body check, i.e., no action may take place between the failed check and reassigning the items. Unassigned items are discarded.
  • Effects that modify a character’s body also modify the number an Orc or Troll would be discarded on. A maximum to body applies equally to the discard number.
  • If an Orc or Troll could be discarded and eliminated by a result, discard them instead of eliminating them.
  • «Affecting the body check» includes modifying the die roll or the body of the character making the check.
  • See also Movement/Hazard Phase, Combat, General.

Cannot be Duplicated

  • Annotation 11 (modified from its original version): Some cards cannot be duplicated in limited cases — generally on a specific target. Multiple copies of these cards or their effects may be in play normally, so long as each applies to a different target. A card that cannot be duplicated can be played when a copy is already in play only if the copy in play is currently being targeted by an effect that will discard it.
  • Short-events that cannot be duplicated cannot be played if a card of the same name is currently having an effect on play.

Card Effect Limitations

  • You may not play the following cards if your opponent is a Ringwraith or Sauron. Additionally, if you are not a Ringwraith or Sauron, a Ringwraith or Sauron opponent can play these cards against you and not be affected by any of their global effects.
    • All hazard events that require an agent*
    • Bane of the Ithil-stone
    • The Black Enemy’s Wrath
    • Foul Fumes
    • In the Heart of His Realm
    • Mordor in Arms
    • Mûmak
    • Worn and Famished
  • Near to Hear a Whisper, Sudden Fury and Great Need or Purpose may be played because they do not target a specific agent.
  • The following cards are also listed in the MELE Rules book as having no effect on a Ringwraith/Sauron player, but this interpretation has been modified.
    • Chance of Being Lost and Winds of Wrath: You may play these cards against any opponent who is using the same type of location deck (hero sites or minion sites) as yourself.
    • Great Secrets Buried There: This card may be played against a Ringwraith or Sauron player.
    • The Nazgûl are Abroad: This card may be played against a Ringwraith or Sauron player. The only restriction is that the first two paragraphs are ignored when you play Nazgûl creatures against a Ringwraith or Sauron opponent. Any player can recycle Nazgûl hazards as stated on the card.

Challenge Decks

  • Page 12 should say that companies must join at non-Haven sites. Companies at Havens at the end of the movement/hazard phase may join or not as they choose.
  • The end-of-turn phase was left out of the rulesbook. During the end of turn phase you may discard one card, then you must reset to hand size.
  • In the Dwar deck (H) and the Indûr deck (J), the Arkenstone should have the icon for a play deck card, not a sideboard card.
  • Old Forest should read «healing effects,» not «healing cards.»
  • @ Rules Erratum: Change «is set at the end of the organization phase» to «is determined at the beginning of the movement/hazard phase» [CoE 2024]

Character

  • A character enacting an effect counts as a character in his company, and may affect himself as a character in the company.
  • A character in play must always be in one of three independent states: untapped, tapped, or wounded.
  • You can have three of a non-unique character in your deck.
  • Prowess modifications due to tapped and wounded status apply only during the strike sequence.
  • See also Turn Sequence, Organization Phase, Followers and Playing Characters.

Command Cards

  • Command cards return other command cards of the same name to your hand.

Company

  • If all characters in a company are removed from the company, all resource permanent-events played on the company as a whole are discarded.
  • If all characters in a company leave play, the site goes to the location deck or discard pile, depending on its tapped status. If this happens during the movement/hazard phase, the site card stays in play until the end of all movement/hazard phases. In this case, on-guard cards may still be played on the site.
  • The following allies make a company overt: The Balrog, Cave Troll, Creature of an Older World, Evil Things Lingering, Great Bats, Great Lord of Goblin-gate, Great Troll, Last Child of Ungoliant, Nasty Slimy Thing, Regiment of Black Crows, and «Two- headed» Troll.
  • Entities associated with a company include the characters, allies, and items in the company, and any events played on the company or on another entity in the company. The new site and site of origin are not entities associated with the company.
  • A hero company is Wizard player’s company, or a Fallen-wizard’s company that has no Orcs or Trolls. A minion company is a Ringwraith player’s company, or a Balrog player’s company. An overt company is a company with Orcs and/or Trolls in it. Note that some allies can make a company overt, but Half-orcs do not.
  • Unless otherwise in MEWH rulesbook (“Special Orc & Troll Rules” section, p. 5), Orc and Troll characters in play by a Fallen-wizard player are subject to the rules for Orc and Troll characters in play by a minion player, and companies containing an Orc or Troll are subject to the rules for company composition for a minion player. [CoE IE 2018]
  • See also Turn Sequence, Organization Phase, Organizing Companies; and Rulings by Term, Influence.

Corruption

  • Rules Erratum: Corruption cards must always start a chain of effects.
  • Annotation 23: When a character fails a corruption check, the standard effects of this (i.e., the character being discarded or eliminated and his items being discarded) are implemented immediately and are considered synonymous with the failed check. A card causing the corruption check may modify the standard effects of a failed check (e.g. The Precious), but this timing would not be changed. Certain cards, e.g., Traitor, which do not cause a corruption check, but specify an action that results from the passive condition of a failed check, take effect as the first declared action in a chain of effects immediately following the chain of effects that contains the corruption check.
  • Characters with 0 corruption points must still make corruption checks.
  • A character may attempt to remove a corruption card without tapping. The roll is at -3.
  • You can not attempt to remove a corruption card without tapping if you have attempted to remove that card already this turn. You may not tap to remove a corruption card that you tried to remove without tapping already this turn.
  • The resolution of a character tapping to give +1 to a corruption check happens when the corruption check itself resolves.
  • If an effect is in play that prevents a character from being discarded, the character is not considered to fail his corruption check if a result is achieved that would discard him. A Wizard would not be eliminated and his player would not lose the game.
  • A character attempting to remove a corruption card on another character may ignore the tapping requirement and recieve -3 to the roll.
  • See also Turn Sequence, Organization Phase, Storing Items.

Darkhaven

  • Rules Erratum: Attacks keyed to Darkhavens are detainment.
  • Whenever a hazard affecting heroes refers to a Darkhaven, interpret it as referring to a Haven instead.
  • Attacks at Darkhavens are canceled only if the company is at the Darkhaven.
  • Darkhavens count as their own nearest Darkhaven.

Detainment Attacks

  • When a strike from a detainment attack succeeds, the character who was facing that particular strike must tap.
  • Attacks that have special effects when they wound a character do not have that effect when they are detainment attacks. This is because detainment attacks never wound a character.

Dice Roll

  • Forcing a dice roll is considered to be having an effect on the game. This means you can play Muster or Weariness of the Heart, even if there is no chance of the card doing anything.

Discard

  • A discarded non-Wizard/non-Ringwraith character may be brought into play again by any player.
  • When a card is discarded, so are all permanent-events on that card.
  • Cards discarded from a player’s hand must be discarded one at a time. This is mainly to allow a Pallando player to see each card as it is discarded.
  • Whenever a character is discarded, all non-follower cards played with that character are also discarded.
  • If a card leaves active play, including being returned to a player’s hand, it immediately ceases having an effect on play.
  • Cards in the discard pile do not remember how they were played.
  • Discarding a card is not playing it, thus cards that allow you to play other cards as if they are in your hand do not allow you to discard such card as if they are in your hand. (This means for example that a ring on Rumours of Rings cannot be discarded for Rolled Down to the Sea, nor can a dragon be discarded from Summons from Long Sleep to satisfy Dragon Feuds). [CoE 2002]

Eliminated

  • When a card is eliminated, all permanent-events on that card are discarded.

End of Phase/Turn

  • AEP: Actions that may be taken at (or are triggered by) the end of a given phase or turn only.
    This period begins when all players announce that they will not declare any actions other than AEP starting a chain of effects and when all declared actions other than AEP are resolved.
    This period ends when all players announce that they will not declare any actions and when all declared actions are resolved.
    The only actions that may be declared in response to AEP are other AEP and actions that target a dice-rolling action and actions that target declared events.
    Triggered AEP are declared before AEP that may be taken by players.
    [CoE IE 2018]
  • See End of Turn Phase in Turn Sequence Rulings

Exhausted

  • Permanent-events discarded when the play deck is exhausted are shuffled into the new play deck along with the rest of the discard pile.

Fallen-wizard

  • A Fallen-wizard may use a minion resource to cancel the automatic-attack at a hero site, and vice versa.
  • Rules Erratum: White Hand Rules, Playing and Using Resource, Targeting Site and Resource Cards: change both instances of «resource card may not target/affect» to «resource event card may not target/affect.»
  • You may use minion or hero resources to affect the automatic-attack at a site, regardless of the site’s alignment.
  • Fallen-wizards may not play characters with more than five mind, but if they have one in play the character is not discarded.
  • Fallen-wizards can have a character with more than five mind, they just can’t start with one or play one.
  • A Fallen-wizard is at -5 for influence attempts against a Ringwraith, but not against a Wizard.
  • Fallen-wizards may not use starter movement, but they may use any other form of movement.
  • Fallen-wizards use Ringwraith rules for agents.
  • You may not declare yourself as a specific Fallen-wizard unless you have his card in your deck.
  • You must select a specific Fallen-wizard and thus have at least one copy of him in your deck, because you must declare yourself as a specific one. [CoE 2002]
  • For starting companies, minor items come into play after characters, so they cannot affect a character’s mind for the purpose of playing him.
  • When a site is replaced with a site of the opposite alignment, the new site comes into play in the same orientation as the other site.
  • If any version of a site is in play or in your discard pile, you may not play another version of that site.
  • Fallen-wizards may recieve one extra MP for factions played on a leader.
  • None of a Fallen-wizards MPs may be modified by non-stage resources.
  • The white hand symbol on the Fallen-wizard card is that Fallen-wizard’s general influence once he is revealed. Prior to that, his general influence is 20.
  • If you reveal your Fallen-wizard, and no longer have enough influence to control your characters, discard other characters until you can control them all.
  • Fallen-wizards may not play Bade to Rule
  • See also Rulings by Term, Specific and Tournament Rulings, Victory Conditions.

General Influence

  • You cannot have negative free general influence: it will halt at zero. If you’re playing by the tournament rules, and are a minion player, you will add your +5 bonus at all times, effectively leaving you at a minimum +5 against any hazards. [CoE 2002]

Gold Ring Item

  • When a gold ring item is tested, the ring is discarded and its marshalling points are lost whether or not you are able to play a special item.
  • Ring special items played as a result of storing a ring at a Darkhaven come into play stored.

Hand Size

  • Effects which increase your hand size or allow you to hold one more card in your hand mean that you draw up to your new hand size or discard down to it at the appropriate points during the game.
  • Effects which increase hand size are cumulative.
  • See also Card Errata and Rulings, Favor of the Valar.

Haven

  • Havens can tap. Whenever a hazard affecting minions refers to a Haven, interpret it as referring to a Darkhaven instead. Havens count as their own nearest Haven.
  • If two companies join at a Haven, cards played on the discarded version of the Haven transfer to the version of the Haven that stays in play.

Hoards

  • Rules Erratum: Dragon Rules, Hoards – Change «Each site with a Dragon automatic-attack (i.e., each Dragon’s Lair) contains a hoard» to «Each site which had a Dragon automatic-attack at the beginning of the turn contains a hoard.»

Hobbits

  • If a Hobbit is a starting character and leaves play, then it may only be brought back into play normally at Bag End.

Influence

  • Restricted direct influence is limited in its use, usually to characters and/or factions of specific races. Unrestricted influence has no use restrictions.
  • When a character suffers a minus to direct influence, it must come from unrestricted direct influence first. If there is no unrestricted influence and there are multiple instances of restricted direct influence, the player may choose which restricted direct influence the minus is applied to.
  • A character removed from the control of direct influence outside the organization phase does not need to be controlled by general influence until that player’s next organization phase.
  • Changes to general influence take place immediately, with a minimum of zero free general influence.
  • See also Turn Sequence, Organization Phase, Followers and Organizing Companies; and Rulings by Term, Company.
  • The terms influence attempt and influence check are not synonyms. [Ruled by CoE 2011, added by CoE 2023]

Items

  • The «free» minor item may only be played immediately after playing the resource that taps that site.

Leader

  • Factions played with a leader are worth two extra MP per group of factions, not per faction.
  • These two extra MP’s are faction points [CoE 2002]

Manifestations

  • A Fallen-wizard may not have two resource manifestations of the same unique resource in his deck (nor may any other player)
  • A manifestation of a card is not the same as the named card [Van 1999]
  • A manifestation of <foo> cannot play <foo> specific cards [Van 1999]

Marshalling Point Pile

  • Under standard rules, no more than half of your marshalling points can come from any one type of marshalling point. Do not round up. The easiest way to deal with this is to set the category with the most marshalling points to equal the total of all other categories of marshalling points.
  • You may not target hazards in your opponent’s marshalling point pile for removal.
  • You may not gain marshalling points from a hazard you played yourself.

May not Untap

  • Nothing may untap a character who is the subject of an effect that states the character may not untap.

MELE vs. METW

  • Hero items may not be used as conditions for minion resources, and minion items may not be used as conditions for hero resources. Note that a Fallen- wizard may play special ring items regardless of the alignment of the gold ring item tested.
  • You may not have both the minion and hero version of a unique item in your deck.
  • You may have any combination of three Ringwraiths in your deck, except one each of three different Ringwraiths. You may only do so if you are playing against a deck with three Wizards in it, otherwise you may have just two Ringwraiths.]

Minion characters

  • Minion characters are not affected by cards that target agents.

Minor items

  • The option to play a ‘free’ minor item directly after playing a resource that taps the site is available in the site phase only. [Van 1999]

Modes

  • When one mode effect is applied to a Ringwraith, all other cards applying a mode effect to that Ringwraith are discarded.
  • When a Ringwraith is in a mode, only apply the effects listed on the mode card, on the Ringwraith, and in the rules for that mode. Do not worry about cards that are not in play.
  • If an ally giving a mode is removed from play during the movement/hazard phase, the Ringwraith immediately stops being in that mode, but continues to move to his new site.

Multi-player Games

  • Only the resource player, and the hazard player drawing cards based on his movement, may take advantage of drawing cards, including cards drawn for events like The Nazgûl are Abroad and From the Pits of Angband. These two players are also the only one who may discard a card in the End-of-turn phase. [CoE IE 2018]
  • All players reset their hand size in the End-of-turn phase or when any company’s movement/hazard phase ends. [CoE IE 2018]
  • In multi-player games the following hazards count as 1/2 a creature: hazards that can be played as events or creatures, Ahunt Dragon manifestations, and At Home Dragon manifestations. Agents in a Wizard deck also count as 1/2 creatures.
  • You may only play The Lidless Eye if none of your opponents are Ringwraiths.
  • Twilight may only be played by the moving player and the hazard player. As an exception, a player who’s own environment will be discarded by an environment may play Twilight to cancel that environment.
  • For Spying out the Land and Here is a Snake, each hazard player shows hazards immediately before he draws and/or plays hazards, and then can only play those hazards. Players who are not playing hazards are not required to show hazards.
  • Actions taken during the movement/hazard phase, against a specific player, must be done against the moving player.

Normal

  • Normal means as written on the card, not considering other card’s effects. Note that this definition only applies to effects refering to card texts.

Nazgûl

  • If a Nazgûl is tapped to become a short-event as printed on its card, it turns into a short-event upon declaration. At this point, the Nazgûl is a short-event just as if had been played as such from your hand.
  • The body referred to in the text of female characters with combat bonuses against Nazgûl is the body of the Nazgûl

Off to the Side

  • Host cards of cards off to the side can be targeted normally.

Optional Rules

  • If a character is facing two strikes, and the first strike kills the character, the second strike is considered successful.
  • A character tapping to face two strikes is at -3 prowess against both strikes. The character taps when resolving the second strike.
  • For recently visited sites in multi-player games, the automatic-attack gets +1 for each player who has that site in their discard pile.
  • See also Rulings by Term, Burglary Attempts.

Passive Conditions

  • A passive condition causes an action to happen as stated on a card already in play.
  • Annotation 9: If a card specifies that an action is to occur as a result of some specific passive condition, this action becomes automatically the first action declared in the chain of effects to immediately follow the chain of effects producing the passive condition. The passive condition must exist when this resulting action is resolved in its own chain of effects, or the action is canceled. Note that actions in the strike sequence follow a different set of rules.
  • Annotation 9a: If a card is required to be discarded by some passive condition, the card is discarded immediately when the condition resolves, not in the following chain of effects.
  • Annotation 10: If more than one action is required to be the first action declared in a chain of effects, the player whose turn it is chooses the order in which they are declared. No other actions may be declared in this follow-up chain until the multiple required actions have been declared.
  • A card causing an action as a result of a passive condition must be in play when the action resolves, or else the action is canceled.

Playing a Card

  • Playing a card is the process of bringing a card from your hand into play.
  • You may not play a card which has no effect on the game. Causing a dice roll is considered to be having an effect on the game.

Prisoners

  • You cannot take prisoners from a company stationary at an Under-deeps site (using that same Under-deeps site as the Rescue Site). [CoE 2002]

Removed from the Game & Removed from Play

  • Cards “removed from play” are placed in an out-of-play pile and are still considered for purposes of uniqueness. Cards “removed from the game” can be placed anywhere outside of the playing environment and no longer have any affect or interaction with the game. [CoE IE 2018]
  • Rules erratum: If you are a Balrog player, your opponent may not play any of the following cards: The Balrog (Ally), The Black Council, Durin’s Bane, Balrog of Moria, Reluctant Final Parting. However, if at any time your opponent has one of these cards in his hand, he may remove it from the game and bring one card from his sideboard into his play deck. [CoE IE 2018]
  • Rules erratum:
    Change this:«If at any time an attack from a manifestation of a unique Dragon is defeated or if the manifestation is otherwise removed from game:

    • All existing manifestations in play of the same Dragon are removed from game.
    • No further manifestations of the same Dragon may be played.
    • The Dragon’s lair no longer has an automatic-attack.»

    to This:

    «If at any time an attack from a manifestation of a unique Dragon is defeated or if the manifestation is otherwise removed from play:

    • All existing manifestations in play of the same Dragon are removed from play.
    • No further manifestations of the same Dragon may be played.
    • The Dragon’s lair no longer has an automatic-attack.»

    [CoE IE 2018]

Reveal

  • Any revealed cards are shown to all players.

Ring Items

  • You should shuffle your deck after searching it for a Lesser Ring.

Ringwraith

  • You may have any number of Ringwraiths in your sideboard, as long as you do not duplicate more than one of them in the combined deck and sideboard.
  • Characters with combat bonuses against Nazgûl also get those bonuses against Ringwraiths. However, other effects that affect Nazgûl do not affect Ringwraiths.
  • Ringwraiths may not move from a non-Darkhaven site to another non- Darkhaven site unless they are using Dwar Unleashed. This means a Ringwraith may not move to Under-deeps sites that do not have a Darkhaven for a surface site.

Ringwraith Follower

  • Ringwraith followers may still use magic as printed on their card.
  • When your revealed Ringwraith leaves play without being eliminated, you have until the end of your next organization phase to bring your Ringwraith back into play and use him to re-control any Ringwraith followers. Otherwise, all Ringwraith followers are discarded.
  • Discarding an item for an effect written on it is considered using it. Thus it cannot be done by a Ringwraith. [CoE 2002]

Sage Only

  • Any card requiring a sage to play is a sage only card.

Short-event

  • Short-events are discarded when resolved in a chain of effects, not when declared. Thus, they can be targeted by certain special effects in the chain of effects.

Sideboard

  • The sideboard is increased to 30 cards for one and two-deck games, 35 for three-deck, and 40 for four-deck.
  • You can access hazards from your sideboard when your opponent’s Wizard/Ringwraith is in play. You must declare this at the end of your opponent’s untap phase and then access hazards as if you had tapped a Nazgûl permanent-event to do so. The hazard limit against all of your opponent’s companies that turn is halved, rounded up.
  • Tapping a Nazgûl to bring cards in from the sideboard does not turn the Nazgûl into a short-event. It is discarded immediately upon declaration.
  • You may have Wizards in your sideboard. You may have no more than three copies of one Wizard, and one copy of each other Wizard, in your sideboard and play deck combined.
  • You may access your sideboard when your opponent plays The Lidless Eyeas if he had revealed his Ringwraith.

Site

  • To untap a site the character doing so must be at that site.
  • A permanent-event played on a site affects only the copy of the site it is played on, unless otherwise specified. A permanent-event not played on a site affects all versions of affected sites.
  • Hero events cannot target or affect minion sites, and vice versa. News of the Shire is an exception.

Site Path

  • Certain cards refer to the site’s site path. The site’s site path is always the site path given on the site card, regardless of how the company got to that site.
  • Events can alter both a site’s site path and a company’s site path.

Skill Cards

  • Two or more skill cards may be played by a single character outside of the strike sequence.
  • Two skill cards may not be declared by one character against a given strike.
  • «(Foo) only» cards can only be played by characters with the (foo) skill.

Specific

  • To play a name-specific card, you must have declared yourself as the character with that name. That character need not be in play.

Stage Resources

  • If your opponent is playing the same Fallen-wizard as you, and reveals that Fallen-wizard first, you must discard any Fallen-wizard specific stage resources that you have in play.
  • Wizard specific Stage Resources may be played with the starting company.
  • Stored stage resources give stage points, and may be discarded normally.
  • If you start with Hidden Haven, you must bring out your stating site when you reveal Hidden Haven.

Stored Cards

  • Stored cards are not considered to be in play, except for uniqueness.
  • Stored cards get no bonuses based on who bears them.
  • See also Rulings by Term, Stage Resource.

Targets

  • A target is an entity that an action is played out through. Enitities are only targets of an action if the action specifies those entities by number and type. Note that «the foo» counts as specifying one «foo.»
  • Annotation 1: A card is not in play until it is resolved in its chain of effects. When the play of a card is declared, no elements of the card may be the target of actions declared in the same chain of effects. An exception to this is a dice-rolling action; e.g., a corruption check.
  • Annotation 2: A corruption check or any dice-rolling action can be targeted in the chain of effects during which it was declared.
  • Annotation 3: Long-events and certain other cards do not have targets because they are not played out through one specific entity, i.e., they generally affect an entire class of things.
  • Annotation 4: An action may not target a face-down card nor any element of a face down card. Face down cards include unrevealed new site cards and on-guard cards.
  • You cannot target an opponent’s character or resources with your own resources.
  • A card that is played on a card continuously targets the card it is on.
  • See also Rulings by Term, Active Condition.

Timing

  • The validity of an effect, including the hazard limit, is checked upon declaration and upon resolution.
  • Annotation 24: If a card specifies that more than one action occurs when the card itself is resolved in a chain of effects, all of these actions are to be resolved in the card’s chain of effects uninterrupted and in the order listed on the card. No actions may be declared to occur between these multiple actions. The actions listed on the card are considered to have been declared in the reverse order as they are printed.
  • (amendment to original version of Annotation 24): As an exception, if one of the effects of a card is an attack, cards may be played that cancel the attack, cancel one of its strikes, or that otherwise are playable during the strike sequence–see Annotation 18 (Turn Sequence, Movement/ Hazard Phase, Combat, Strike Sequence).
  • Annotation 27: If a card has optional effects, the player playing the card must choose which will take place. He must do this at the time the card is played, not when it is resolved in its chain of effects. When such a card is resolved, if any active conditions for the choice of effects do not exist, the card has no effect and is discarded. The player may not at this point choose to implement an alternative effect of the card.

Trophies

  • Creatures whose marshalling points are listed with an * give marshalling points while used as trophies.
  • Defeated Dragon manifestations can be used as trophies, including Dragon factions.
  • Trophies can be discarded to satisfy «thieving» attacks, and count as items for all other effects.
  • Characters may not be taken as trophies
  • Trophies in Fallen-wizard companies give prowess and influence bonuses based on the MPs printed on the card.

Under-deeps

  • Marshalling points with companies at or moving from an Under-deeps site do not count for the purposes of calling the Free Council. They do count at the Council. This includes minion and Fallen-wizard companies.
  • When a company’s site of origin is an Under-deeps site and the company reveals a new site at the start of its movement/hazard phase, the company is declaring it will make a roll to determine if the movement was successful. No cards can be played between the site being revealed and the roll except for Reach of Ulmo. Neither player draws cards for this movement if the roll is not successful.
  • At an Under-deeps site, after a successful rescue attempt, a character can tap for a minor item only.
  • Automatic-attacks that allow the revealing of creature cards are not stopped by Stealth or Secret Entrance.
  • Creatures revealed as automatic-attacks do not count as creatures.
  • With the addition of the sites in Balrog, The Wind Throne is now always the surface site of an Underdeeps site.

Untapping

  • Untapping effects are not healing effects [CoE 2002]

Wizard

  • You may have any combination of three Wizards in your deck, except one each of three different Wizards. You may put two of the same Wizard in your deck, or you may put one copy each of two different Wizards in your deck. [CoE 2002]

Wizardhaven

  • A Wizardhaven is not considered to be adjacent to an Under-deeps site unless Deep Mines has been played on it.
  • Protected Wizardhavens do not allow you to move an extra region with region movement.
  • The phrase ‘protected Wizardhaven’ is just a keyword, and has no effect by itself.
  • If you are influencing against your opponent, and he is at a Wizardhaven where you can not play cards that give MPs, you can reveal the card you are influencing against to reduce the number you roll against to 0, but you may not play that card afterwards (if it gives MPs).