Middle-earth: The Lidless Eye
The Complete Rulebook

• Introduction
• Using This Rulebook
• Brief Player Turn Summary
• Part I: The Starter Rules
  1. The Victory Conditions
  2. The Cards And Decks
  3. Getting Ready To Play
  4. The Player Turn
  5. Characters and Companies
  6. Movement
  7. Combat
  8. Corruption
  9. Influence
  10. Playing And Drawing Cards
• Part II: The Standard Rules
1. The Victory Conditions
2. The Cards And Decks
3. Getting Ready To Play
4. The Player Turn
5. Characters and Companies
6. Movement
7. Combat
8. Corruption
9. Influence
10. Playing And Drawing Cards
• Part III: Optional Rules
• Multi-player Rules
• Solitaire Rules
• Part IV: Using MELE With METW
  1. The Victory Conditions
  2. The Cards And Decks
  3. Getting Ready To Play
  4. The Player Turn
  5. Characters and Companies
  6. Movement
  7. Combat
  8. Corruption
  9. Influence
  10. Playing And Drawing Cards
• Part V: Appendices
  • Conventions Of Tournament Play
  • Glossary
  • Full Player Turn Summary

Introduction

During the Third Age, Sauron the Dark Lord returned and threatened to enslave all of Middle-earth. However, having been defeated and almost destroyed in the Second Age, Sauron hesitated - he wanted to restore himself to full power before starting his final assault on the Free Peoples. This meant he needed to marshal overwhelming tactical and strategic resources; and if possible, he needed to recover the lost reservoir of his vast might, The One Ring. 
Sauron wanted to remain in the safety of Barad-dûr, in the center of his web of control. So his chief tools for gathering resources were his Ringwraiths, the Nine Nazgûl. While Sauron could automatically exert control over any Nazgûl, the Nazgûl maintained a large amount of independence and free will - they were of little use to Sauron without it. 
In Middle-earth: The Lidless Eye (MELE), you play one of these nine Ringwraiths, the Nazgûl. Your goal is to marshal enough resources so that the Dark Lord will be confident enough to send you and your armies to launch the first blow necessary to crush the Free Peoples. Since your fellow Ringwraiths do not agree on how best to accomplish this goal (and of course none are as worthy as you), you must compete with them to be the first to gather enough forces to gain the Dark Lord's confidence. If your opponent has access to Middle-earth: The Wizards (METW) cards, you will also be able to play a Ringwraith against a Wizard. 
In The Lord of the Rings, the Witch-king of Angmar was the first Ringwraith to succeed. Sauron dispatched him and his armies to destroy Gondor. However, due to a subtle twist of fate, he fell on the brink of victory, not against a man" of great power, but against a woman (Éowyn) and a single Hobbit (Merry). 
"Dangerous forces" in Middle-earth: The Lidless Eye are represented by hazards that the players use against one another. For example, if you move a character into the Lonely Mountain, your opponent could play a Dragon card as a hazard. These hazards are not "controlled" by the Ringwraiths, but rather they represent the dangerous forces that are abroad in Middle-earth, threatening everyone, good and evil characters alike. All Ringwraiths are working to bring Sauron to full power, so conflict takes the form of hazards and direct attempts to "persuade" or "dominate" each other and each other's characters and forces, rather than the form of direct conflict. 

Using This Rulebook

These rules are organized into five sections: the Starter Rules, the Standard Rules, the Optional Rules, Using MELE with METW, and the Appendices. The Starter and Standard Rules are for a two-player game; multi-player rules are provided in the Optional Rules. 
The "Using MELE with METW" section contains the essential rules for integrating METW cards with MELE. The Full Player Turn Summary provided on pages 92-94 is a great reference for getting started. 

Note: The rules for MELE are very similar to the rules for Middle-earth: The Wizards. Passages with major rules differences are marked with a line of bullets as a sidebar (just as this paragraph is marked). Experienced players of METW can examine these passages and proceed with playing. 

The Starter Rules - The Starter Rules contain all of the guidelines you need to play MELE. They have been designed to simplify teaching the game and to speed up play. You should use the Starter Rules if you and your opponent have never played this game before. 
If you are already an experienced player of collectible card games, you might initially read the Full Player Turn Summary on pages 92-94 and the sections that are not boxed. Then, as you play, you can refer to the other material that details the more complex rules and situations that may arise during play. 

The Standard Rules - These rules assume you have already played several games using the Starter Rules. The Standard Rules consist of additions and extensions to the Starter Rules that make play and deck building more flexible, exciting, and interesting. We recommend that experienced MELE players use all of the Standard Rules. 

The Optional Rules - Interesting variations to the standard rules. Before play begins, both players must agree on which optional rules are to be used. 

Using MELE with METW - these guidelines explain how play proceeds when one player is a Ringwraith and one player is a Wizard. This section also describes how to integrate cards (usually hazards) from METW (and vice versa) even if both players are Ringwraiths (or Wizards). 

The Appendices - This section contains a Full Player Turn Summary, a glossary, a color insert with card keys and a Middle-earth map (see the center of this book), and conventions of tournament play. These conventions of tournament play are also widely adopted for casual play. 

Note: MELE is a collectible card game - each player usually has a large number of MELE cards available, but only a limited number are used in any one game. Before each game, a player must choose the cards he will use for that game. This process is referred to as "deck construction." Often deck construction is just as important (if not more important) than actual play. 

Brief Player Turn Summary

Play consists of a series of "Player Turns." During your turn, follow the steps outlined in this turn summary. Then, your opponent does the same during his turn. You and your opponent alternate turns until the game ends. 
This brief player turn summary is included here to give you a very basic idea of how play proceeds; refer to pages 92-94 for the Full Player Turn Summary.

• Untap Phase - Heal (if at a Darkhaven site) or untap your characters and other tapped non-site cards. 
  
  
• Organization Phase - You may play a character, reorganize your companies, transfer/store items, and decide where each of your companies is going to move. 
  
  
• Long-event Phase - Remove and play certain "long-event" cards. 
  
  
• Movement/Hazard Phase - You may mover each of your companies to its new site, while your opponent plays hazards on each of your companies. 
  
  
• Site Phase - You may have each of your companies enter its current site to attempt to play an item, ally, faction, etc. End-of-Turn Phase - Your turn ends.

Note: For purposes of readability, these rules use the standard masculine pronouns when referring to a person of uncertain gender. In such cases, these pronouns are intended to convey the meanings: she/he, him/her, etc. 

· PART I ·
The Starter Rules

To get a general idea of how to play, read the Starter Rules sections that are not boxed. Later you can refer to the boxed sections for more information on special situations. 

Note: These rules apply to a Ringwraith player playing a Ringwraith player. See Part IV (page 73) for guidelines for handling a game between a Ringwraith and a Wizard. 

Note: In MELE you will draw multiple cards each turn, and in some cases you will have to discard a number of cards each turn. Don't let this worry you, it's part of the flow of play. Just keep cards that are immediately useful during the next turn or that are crucial to your overall strategy. 

Random Values 
Two six-sided dice (2D6) should be used to generate random values during play. This is called "making a roll." To make a roll, roll 2D6 and add the two results together. 

Note: If dice are not available, a random value can be generated by drawing a card from your play deck. Each card in a play deck has a number on the right side just below the center. You can use this number as the random value, then discard the card. Do not use this method if dice are available! 

1 · THE VICTORY CONDITIONS 
The game ends when one of the following occurs during play:

1. If your Ringwraith is "eliminated" (i.e., through combat or corruption) - your opponent wins.
2. If you move The One Ring to Barad-dûr - Sauron is reunited with the One Ring and you win. (See page 44 for more on Rings.)
3. Otherwise, the winner is decided at the Audience With Sauron. This audience is called when one of the following occurs:
   • When each play deck has been exhausted once, the audience starts following the current turn.
   • If your play deck has been exhausted and you play a Sudden Call card as a resource during one of your turns, the audience starts following your opponent's next turn (i.e., your opponent gets one last turn).
   • If you have at least 20 marshalling points and you play a Sudden Call card as a resource during one of your turns, the audience starts following your opponent's next turn (i.e., your opponent gets one last turn).

Note: In the Standard Game, you may also use a Sudden Call card as a Hazard to cause the Audience with Sauron to be called (see page 54). 

Note: If one or both players only has access to a starter deck (76 cards), this requirement of 20 marshalling points should be lowered to 18. 

THE AUDIENCE WITH SAURON 
Just before the Audience With Sauron, each non-Ringwraith character must make a corruption check. The player who took the last turn makes corruption checks for his characters first. 
At the audience, Sauron decides which Ringwraith has been the most successful and will deliver the first massive blow against the Free Peoples. This is based upon a comparison of the resources each of the Ringwraiths has marshalled. 

Clarification: Characters do not automatically untap when the audience is called. A character may only untap during his own untap phase. 

Clarification: A character that fails his corruption check by two or more prior to the Audience With Sauron is eliminated. That character and any non-follower cards he controls are not available at the Audience With Sauron - thus, they do not count towards the marshalling point totals. A player may play resource cards that can affect his characters' corruption checks made prior to the audience. Hazard cards may not be played. 

The winner of the game is the player that has gathered the most marshalling points from: 
· Control of resources: characters, allies, items, and factions. 
· Defeating certain creatures. 
· Carrying out the instructions on resource cards. 
Marshalling points are printed on the top left corner of the cards. 

Note: You may find it useful to use pencil and paper or extra dice to keep a running total of marshalling points. 

Clarification: If both players have the same number of marshalling points at the Audience With Sauron, the game ends in a tie. 

Example: Our two players Wendy and Nick. Wendy has 20 marshalling points and Jason only has 18. During her turn, Wendy plays a Sudden Call card - Sauron calls the audience. Each player has one company in Carn Dûm (CPs = Corruption Points, MPs = Marshalling Points):

Since Wendy plays the Sudden Call card, Jason gets one final turn. Nick brings his company to Cameth Brin. After facing hazards, he plays the Hillmen faction for 4 more MPs. Nick now has 22 MPs and will win the game if he does not lose any MPs due to characters failing corruption checks. 
In this example, any character with 4 or more corruption points (the Troll-chief and Tarcil) could fail his corruption check (see pages 35-38 for a detailed explanation and example of corruption checks). If the Troll-chief fails his corruption check, Wendy loses 6 of her MPs. If Tarcil fails his corruption check, Nick loses 7 of his MPs. 

2 · THE CARDS AND DECKS
There are four types of cards: site cards, character cards (including Ringwraith cards), resource cards, and hazard cards. 

Note: The card types can be distinguished as follows: 
Site cards - have a grey parchment background on the front. 
Character cards - (non-Ringwraith) have a rusted-purplish iron background on the front. Each Ringwraith card has a blood-red stone background. 
Resource cards - have a grey-blue steel background on the front. 
Hazard cards - have a steel gray metal background on the front. 
Site - (i.e., location cards) have a map Middle-earth on the back. 
Character, resource, and hazard cards - have the burning eye on the back. 

Note: MELE doesn't include region cards. If you have METW region cards, you can use region movement as outlined on page 78. 

Clarification: For emphasis, a value used during play is often provided both in a card's text and in another place on the same card. For example, a character's corruption check modifier is stated both in the text and the lower right corner of the character's card. 

Note: Each starter deck has a small pack of cards called a fixed set. There are 5 fixed sets in all. One appears randomly in each starter deck. The top facing card of all fixed sets is a Ringwraith and is different for each fixed set and can be seen through the window of the starter deck box. A fixed set is included in each starter deck to make a starter deck playable without any other cards. 

During play, your cards are organized into 2 decks and 3 piles: 
Location Deck - This deck consists of your site cards. You may examine and select cards from your location deck as required by play (i.e., do not randomly draw them). After being played, your non-Darkhaven site cards are sometimes discarded and placed in the discard pile (i.e., when one of your companies leaves a tapped site, it is discarded). 

Note: site cards and region cards represent the geography of Middle-earth. They are used to control the acquisition of resources. Each turn, examine the resources in your hand and select a nearby site to travel to. Do not worry too much about which site to use, just pick one that has the resource type you want to play. It also helps if you preselect the location cards you are most likely to use. See the color insert for a map of Middle-earth. 
Play Deck - This deck consists of your resource cards, hazard cards, and character cards. You randomly draw cards from this deck during play. Your play deck starts with an equal number of resource cards and hazard cards. 
You can use resources at certain sites and under certain conditions. Resources include: items, factions, allies, events, etc. You may only play resource cards during your own turn. You use hazards to hinder and attack your opponent's characters in order to prevent them from marshalling resources. You may only play hazard cards during your opponent's movement/hazard phase. 

Clarification: The card, Twilight, is an exception to this rule - it can be played at anytime, either as a resource or as a hazard (it does not count against the hazard limit). Certain other cards specifically state when they may be played as exceptions. 

Discard Pile - Your discarded cards are placed face down in your discard pile. When your play deck is exhausted, location cards in your discard pile are returned to your location deck. You shuffle the other cards in your discard pile and they become your new play deck. 

Clarification: Your play deck is "exhausted" when you draw its last card. Some cards require that your play deck be manipulated and then reshuffled - this does not "exhaust" your play deck. 

Out-of-play Pile - Your cards that are removed from play after being used and that do not award marshalling points are placed in your out-of-play pile. 

Marshalling Point Pile (MP pile) - In addition to marshalling points from cards in play, you gain marshalling points when certain cards become inactive. When you store certain resource cards (e.g., items, information cards, etc.), they are placed in your MP pile. When you defeat all of the strikes from a creature that has its MPs marked with an "*" in the upper-left corner of its card, the creature's card is placed in your MP pile. 

Note: When you defeat all of the strikes from a creature that does not have an "*" next to its MP value, in the upper-left corner of its card, the creature's card is not placed in your MP pile. Unlike METW, you do not get MPs for defeating certain creatures - after all, many creatures are fighting the Free People too. 

Note: Because hazard cards are distinct from resource cards, you may not play your hazards on your side of the playing surface. At the end of a game, it will be obvious whose cards are whose, i.e., hazards in your area must belong to your opponent. We suggest adopting a neutral zone between each player's side of the playing surface. Non-targeted long-events and permanent-events can be played in this neutral zone. 

Note: You may freely examine the contents of your discard pile; your opponent may not. The contents of your out-of-play and marshalling point piles may be freely examined by you and your opponent. 

Clarification: If a character is eliminated due to combat or due to failing a corruption check by 2 or more, his card is placed in the out-of-play pile - that character may not be brought back into play by either player. When a card is removed from play in all other cases, the card is discarded unless the card specifically states otherwise. 

Clarification: In general, cards in your out-of-play pile and your marshalling point pile are considered to be actively in play for the purposes of being unique (if the card states it is unique). 

KEYWORDS 
Several types of cards are referred to by the keyword included in the first few words of a card's text. For example, the text of a "spirit-magic" card starts with Magic. Spirit-magic; the text of a "wolf" card starts with Wolves; the text of a "Palantír" starts with Unique. Palantír. Keywords do not necessarily carry any rules (though some do like Unique and Corruption). Keywords are used to determine if an effect in the game affects a card. 

CARD COMBINATIONS 
Often combinations of several cards and other actions are required to achieve a desired result. For example, to bring The One Ring into play requires: traveling to a site to play one of the Gold Ring cards, some sort of "Test" card or ability, The One Ring card, and a high die roll. In addition, the Scroll of Isildur card will dramatically improve the chances of successfully getting The One Ring into play. 

TAPPING AND CARD POSITIONS 
Normally, during play, each of your cards is placed on the playing surface so that its top is towards your opponent and its bottom is towards you. During play certain cards must be "tapped" when they are used - this is a record keeping mechanism to keep track of card usage. To tap a card, rotate it 90° so that it is turned sideways - to untap a card, rotate it back 90° to its normal position. When one of your characters is wounded, his card is placed with its top towards you (i.e., rotated 180° from an untapped position). All restrictions to tapped characters also apply to wounded characters. 

Note: At any given time during play, each character in play must be in one of the three "states:" he must be either untapped, tapped, or wounded. 

Clarification: A tapped (or wounded) character can perform any action that does not require the character to tap. For example, a tapped (or wounded) character can move normally, he can fight with a penalty (if the attacker chooses him as the target of a strike), he can transfer items, etc. A tapped (or wounded) character may not tap to acquire an item, to influence a faction, to play a card requiring that he tap, etc. Items and characters tap independently. 

UNIQUE & "MAY NOT BE DUPLICATED" CARDS 
If a card states that it is "unique" or that it "may not be duplicated," only one such card (or its effects) may be in play at a time. The first card played takes precedence (influence checks may change this). This restriction applies to all cards in play, i.e., both yours and your opponent's. 
Only one of each "unique" card may be included in your play deck and starting cards combined. As an exception, two of the same Ringwraith may be included in your play deck (to give you a better chance of drawing one early). 

Note: If a unique card is eliminated, that card may not be brought back into play by either player. 

3 · GETTING READY TO PLAY
Follow these steps to get ready to play: 
1. Place your site cards in your location deck. This deck should contain all of your Haven cards (i.e., Minas Morgul, Dol Guldur, Carn Dûm, and Geann a-Lisch). You may include any number of Haven cards, but only one of each non-Darkhaven site card. 
2. Place between 25 and 50 Resource cards and an equal number of Hazard cards in your play deck (if you have fewer than 25 of either available, just use all of the cards you have). Only one of each "unique" card may be included. No more than three copies of any one non-unique card may be included. 
3. Place one to six starting minion characters (no Ringwraiths, no minion agents from Dark Minions) face down in front of you. The combined mind attributes (see page 18) of these characters must be 20 or less. You and your opponent reveal your characters simultaneously, placing any duplicated characters into your play decks. Then organize your starting characters into followers and companies and place them at Minas Morgul (i.e., place a Minas Morgul site card next to them). 
4. You may assign up to 2 non-unique minor items to your starting characters (i.e., 2 items, not 2 to each character). These items must come from cards that you have not already committed to your play deck. 
5. Place up to 10 non-Ringwraith character cards in your play deck. Only one of each character card may be included. In addition, place up to two Ringwraith cards in your play deck (you may place two copies of the same Ringwraith). Shuffle your play deck. 
6. Draw a hand of eight cards from your play deck. 
7. Each player makes a roll, and the player with the highest result goes first (reroll if tied). 

Clarification: None of your starting characters may be considered to be followers for the purposes of determining their combined mind attributes - your initial characters have to have combined mind attributes of 20 or below. 

Clarification: The initial 1-6 minion characters and two minor items do count toward the "one-unique" and "three-others" limits on the play deck. However, they do not count towards the number of resource and character cards in your starting play deck. 

4 · THE PLAYER TURN 
Play consists of a series of "Player Turns." During your turn, you take various actions during the following phases. Then, your opponent does the same during his turn. 
1. Untap Phase 
2. Organization Phase 
3. Long-event Phase 
4. Movement/Hazard Phase 
5. Site Phase 
6. End-of-Turn Phase 
A detailed Full Player Turn Summary is presented on pages 92-94. 

Clarification: The actions that may be taken during your organization phase may be taken in any order (e.g., you can store an item, then bring a character into play, and then store a second item). 

Clarification: You may play a site (i.e., move to a site) that your opponent previously used or is currently using. 

Clarification: If one of your companies doesn't move, neither player draws cards based on that company's movement. However, your opponent can play still play allowable hazards on that company (hazard limit still applies). 

Clarification: During the site phase, a company may decide not to enter and explore its current site. In this case, the company does not face the automatic-attack, but it may not take any other actions or play any cards during the site phase. The company remains at the site and it may decide to enter and explore the site on a later turn. 

Clarification: Before a company can attempt to play an item, ally, faction, or other card that is "playable" at its current site, it must face the site's automatic-attacks. The company need not defeat the attacks, it merely needs to resolve the attacks normally (such attacks can be canceled). 
A company can face a site's automatic-attacks and still not play a card (e.g., all of its characters are tapped after facing the automatic-attacks). If such a company wants to play a card at the site on a later turn, it must face the automatic-attacks again. 

Clarification: A site is tapped when one item, ally, faction, or card is played at that site. The play of certain resource cards may tap sites - such a card will specifically state that playing it taps the site. Non-Darkhaven sites only normally untap after being discarded and after your play deck is exhausted. So, each time through your play deck, only one such card may normally be played at a given non-Darkhaven site. Darkhaven cards, whether tapped or not, always return to your location deck untapped. 

5 · CHARACTERS & COMPANIES 
As a player, you influence and control a number of characters that move and act in the world of Middle-earth. Each character's abilities are defined by these attributes: race, skills, direct influence, prowess (offense), body (defense), mind, marshalling points, and special abilities (e.g., corruption check modifiers). A character can be eliminated and removed from play as a result of combat (failing a body check) or corruption (failing a corruption check). 
If you have enough general influence or direct influence during a given turn, you may bring into play: one non-Ringwraith character at his home site or at any Darkhaven or your Ringwraith at his home site or Minas Morgul. 
Characters are primarily controlled by your pool of 20 general influence points. For each controlled character, you must commit a number of general influence points equal to his mind attribute. In addition, you may control a character by using another character's direct influence - a character controlled in this fashion is called a follower and does not use general influence points. (See page 19 for an extended example.) 
During play, you may organize your characters into groups called companies. A company's size is equal to the number of characters in it. A company is limited to a size of seven. A company's hazard limit is equal to two or the size of the company, whichever is greater. The maximum number of hazards that can be played on a company during a given movement/hazard phase is equal to its hazard limit. 
Companies can only combine at a Darkhaven - just remove all but one of the companies' Darkhaven site cards. The resulting company then has one site card consisting of one Darkhaven site card. 
One company can split into two or more companies only at a Darkhaven (use two Darkhaven cards). 

Note: The number of characters you have in play limits the number of actions you may take during a given turn. You use your other characters' direct influence on a character to bring that character into play and to keep him in play. A character in play can move and take actions (e.g., defending against attacks, influencing, etc.). Items, allies, and other cards representing things a character acquires and controls are placed under his card. 

Note: Sometimes two or more companies combine and the resulting company has two or more of the same cards that say: "cannot be duplicated on a given company." When this happens, immediately discard all but one of those cards (your choice). 

Clarification: During the organization phase, one Darkhaven card may be used to represent the location of two or more companies, so long as the distinction between companies is clearly presented spatially. However, we suggest the use of multiple Darkhaven cards for clarity. 

Clarification: Even if you have no characters in play, the game is not over. You may continue to draw and discard cards - eventually you will draw your Ringwraith or a character. 

Note: MELE characters are different from METW characters. When it is important to distinguish between the two types of characters, MELE characters are referred to as "minions" (or minion characters) and METW characters are referred to as "heroes" (or hero characters). See pages 74-75 for more information. 

CHARACTER ATTRIBUTES 
Each character's abilities are defined by the following attributes (the notation for certain attributes is given in brackets). 
Race: This is one criterion for using certain resources and for bringing certain items, characters, and factions into play (e.g., only a Dwarf can fully utilize a Dwarven Ring). The races are: Elf, Dwarf, Dúnadan, Man, Orc, Troll, and Ringwraith. 
Skills: This is one of the criterion for using certain cards (e.g., warrior skill is required to use certain weapons). The skills are: warrior, scout, ranger, sage, and diplomat. Some characters have more than one skill. 
Direct Influence [hand icon]: A character's direct influence determines which of your characters he may control (i.e., have as followers). In addition, a character's unused direct influence affects his chances of influencing factions and your opponent's resources. 
Prowess [lower left, to left of "/"]: A character's prowess is a measure of a character's offensive capabilities in combat. 
Body [lower left, to right of "/"]: A character's body is a measure of how difficult it is to physically eliminate the character. This is a mixture of the ability to avoid an attack and the ability to absorb or deflect an attack (e.g., armor, shield, blocking). 
Mind [head icon]: A character's mind determines how many influence points (a Ringwraith's general influence points or a character's direct influence points) are required to keep this character in play. Your Ringwraith has no mind and requires no influence to control. 
Marshalling Points [upper left]: This is the number of marshalling points you receive when you have the character in play. This value represents the character's importance to Sauron. 
Special Abilities: Some characters have special abilities that are detailed on their cards. Common special abilities include corruption check modifiers, influence bonuses, prowess bonuses. For example, Shámas has an influence bonus against the Dunlendings faction. 

INFLUENCING (CONTROLLING) A CHARACTER 
You have a pool of 20 general influence points. At the end of your organization phase, the total mind attributes of your characters in play (not counting followers) must be less than or equal to 20; this total is equal to your used general influence points. Your unused general influence points help your characters resist the effects of certain cards (e.g., Call of Home, Call of the Sea, Muster Disperses, etc.). 

Note: In the Standard Rules, your unused general influence points helps your characters, factions, allies, and items resist influence attempts made by your opponent. 

Direct Influence 
Some characters have a direct influence attribute of one or more. If such a character's direct influence is greater than or equal to another one of your characters' mind attribute, he may take control of that other character, who then becomes a follower of the controlling character. These conditions must be met: 
· The total mind attributes of all of a character's followers may not exceed his direct influence. 
· A character may be in control of another character that is in play only if both characters are at the same site. 
A follower does not require influence points from your general pool and he must remain stacked under the character exerting the direct influence at all times. A follower may not use his direct influence to control characters (i.e., a follower may not have his own followers). 
A follower is handled in all other ways as a normal character (e.g., counts for company size, takes actions normally, etc.). 
If you have enough unused general influence points, you may move a follower from direct influence to general influence (or vice versa) during your organization phase. 
If a character directly influencing a follower is removed from play, the follower remains in play and does not immediately count against general influence. However, during your next organization phase, you must discard the follower, place the follower under the control of another character in his company with enough available direct influence, or place the follower under the control of general influence (if enough is available). 

Example: In this example and later examples, the notation "#·#" is used. The first number is the character's mind attribute; the second is his direct influence (DI). A direct influence value in brackets applies only against certain types of characters (in this example, only against Orcs and Trolls). In our example from page 8, Wendy and Nick each have one company at Carn Dûm (a Darkhaven) organized as follows: 
Wendy's General Influence (- ·20) 
Troll-chief (6·[3]) 
Troll Lout (3·0) 
Shagrat (6·[4]) 
Grishnákh(3·0) 
Orc Tracker (3·0) 
Dwar the Ringwraith (- ·5) 

Nick's General Influence (- ·20) 
Tarcil (6·2) 
Orc Captain (5·[3]) 
Lieutenant of Morgul (9·2[3]) 
Indûr the Ringwraith (- ·5) 
Ciryaher (5·2) 

Wendy's company size is 6 and she has 5 unused general influence; Nick's company size is 6 and he has 0 unused general influence. 

BRINGING CHARACTERS INTO PLAY 
During your organization phase, you may perform one and only one of the following activities: 
· You may play a non-Ringwraith character card. You must place him at his home site or at any Darkhaven site. If you do not have enough general influence or direct influence to control the character by the end of your organization phase, then the character is returned to your hand. You must place him at his home site or at any Darkhaven site. 
· You may play a Ringwraith card if you do not have one in play. This is called "Revealing your Ringwraith." You may not reveal a Ringwraith if your opponent has already revealed that Ringwraith. You must place your Ringwraith at his home site or at Minas Morgul. You need not control a Ringwraith with influence - he represents you, the player. While revealing your Ringwraith is an advantage, it also carries with it the danger of losing the game by having your Ringwraith eliminated. 
When you play a character, you may place him into a company already at his arrival site or he may become a new company (consisting of one character). In the second case, you must place the arrival site card next to the character played. If the appropriate site is not available, you may not play the character. 

Clarification: Playing a character does not tap a site. 

Most characters are unique. So if you already have a character in play, your opponent may not play the same character. Similarly, if a unique character has been eliminated, he may not be brought into play again by either player. 

Example: In the p. 8 example, Wendy calls the audience. Then Nick takes his final turn. His company is at a Darkhaven, so h may play a character during his organization phase. Nick has Grishnákh and an Orc Tracker in his hand (each has a 3 mind attribute). Nick would like to play Grishnákh, but he is unique and Wendy already has him in play. The Orc Tracker is not unique, so Nick plays him. Nick has no unused general influence, so the Orc Tracker must be placed under the control of one of Nick's non-follower characters with at least 3 unused direct influence. Only Nick's non-follower Orc Captain meets these requirements. 

Note: In the Standard Rules, some exceptions to these restrictions are presented for "Ringwraith followers"(see page 58). 

COMPANIES 
A company is a group of characters that move and act together. This allows characters to move, act, and defend as a unit, allowing stronger characters to protect the weaker characters. This mechanism can be used to allow a variety of tactics during play. 
For example, if you have 3 characters in play, the 3 characters can move separately and perhaps do more in terms of acquiring marshalling points (items, other characters, etc.); but each individual character is more vulnerable to danger. However, the same 3 characters operating as a company might acquire marshalling points more slowly, but they are safer (i.e., you risk less). 
Normally, a company is limited to a size of seven, but a company at a Haven site may be of any size. For these purposes, an ally does not count as a character. The size of a company is determined for each company at the beginning of the movement/hazard phase (e.g., it remains fixed even if a character leaves the company). 

Clarification: A company is not an "attack," and a character is not an "attack." So hazards that modify attacks have no effect on characters and companies. 

Limitations on Company Composition 
Unless at a Darkhaven, a Ringwraith may not be in a company with other characters. 

Overt and Covert Companies 
The text for certain cards distinguish between overt companies and covert companies. Any company that contains a Ringwraith in Fell Rider mode, an Orc, or a Troll is an overt company. Any other company is an overt company. 

Note: An overt company is readily identifiable as an evil force (i.e., it has Orcs, Trolls, etc.) and thus is subject to direct conflict with most Free Peoples. A covert company is not readily identifiable as an evil force, and thus can operate relatively freely in the domains of the Free Peoples. 

HEALING 
Each of your characters at a Darkhaven may heal during the untap phase of your turn. Such a character moves from a wounded position to a tapped position. In addition, certain cards can heal characters when they are played (e.g., Foul Smelling Paste). 

RINGWRAITH EFFECTS 
After being revealed, a Ringwraith operates like any other character except that it may only be in a company with other characters if it is at a Darkhaven. There are several other special effects: 
· Any gold ring in the Ringwraith's company is automatically tested at the beginning of the end-of-turn phase. Any ring test in a Ringwraith's company has a modification of -2. 
· A Ringwraith may carry items (including rings) but may not use them (i.e., an item has no effect on a Ringwraith's company or on his attributes and abilities). 
· Ringwraiths never make corruption checks and corruption cards may not be played on Ringwraiths. 
· The movement of Ringwraiths is restricted (see page 25). 

6 · MOVEMENT 
In MELE the lands of northwest Middle-earth are represented by regions. The site cards represent places that companies can visit within those regions. Except for a moving company during its movement/hazard phase, each company always has a current site card associated with it - the company is located at that site. 

Note: Site paths do not direct the movement process. The site path is used to determine which hazard creatures your opponent may play against your moving company. 

Note: By using the site cards and site cards only, a company can move from any site to any other site. First, if necessary, the company moves to the nearest Darkhaven. Then, if necessary, it moves to other Darkhavens. Finally, it moves from that Darkhaven to the destination site. 

A company commits to moving by playing a new site card (face down) during its organization phase. A company does not have to move during a given turn (i.e., it does not play a new site card). 
At the beginning of its movement/hazard phase, a moving company current site card becomes its site of origin - the company is considered to be en route to its new site card (i.e., the company is moving). 
At the end of a moving company's movement/hazard phase (before players return to their hand sizes), its site of origin is removed (discard if tapped; otherwise, return it to your location deck) and the new site card becomes the company's current site card. 

Clarification: Some cards can interrupt this process by forcing a company to return to its site of origin. 

Moving From a Non-Darkhaven Site 
If the company's site of origin is a non-Darkhaven site, the new site card must be the Darkhaven listed as the nearest Darkhaven on the site of origin card (i.e., the company can move back to its nearest Darkhaven). 

Moving From a Darkhaven Site 
If the company's site of origin is a Darkhaven, the new site card must meet one of the following requirements: 
· If the new site card is not another Darkhaven, it must list the site of origin as its nearest Darkhaven (i.e., the company can move to any site that has the Darkhaven the company is currently at as the site's nearest Darkhaven). 
· If the new site card is another Darkhaven, it must give a site path to the Darkhaven the company is at currently (i.e., the company can move to one of its adjacent Darkhavens; each Darkhaven is adjacent to two other Darkhavens). 

Clarification: If a company is not moving, no cards are drawn. If a company is moving to a non-Darkhaven site, you may draw up to the # of cards indicated by the site that it is moving to (at least one card must be drawn); your opponent does the same. If a company is moving to a Darkhaven site, you may draw up to the # of cards indicated by the site that it is moving from (at least one card must be drawn); your opponent does the same. 

Clarification: To summarize the movement process: 
· Except for a moving company during its movement/hazard phase, each company is always at a specific site, called its current site. 
· A company wanting to move to a new site plays a new site card face down beside its current site card by the end of its organization phase. A company can only move: from a non-Darkhaven site to its "Nearest Darkhaven," from a Darkhaven site to one of its two "adjacent Darkhavens," or from a Darkhaven site to a non-Darkhaven site that lists that Darkhaven as its "Nearest Darkhaven." 
· At the beginning of its movement/hazard phase, a moving company's new site card is revealed and its current site card becomes its site of origin. 
· At the end of its movement/hazard phase, the site of origin is removed and the moving company's new site card becomes the company's current site card (unless the company is forced to return to its site of origin). 

Suggestion: To help decide where a company should move, look at the resource cards in your hand. Then decide to which of your available sites to move. For example, if you have a major item, go to a site where a major item can be played. 

Example: Wendy's company is in Barad-dûr (i.e., its current site) and wants to go to The Lonely Mountain to try and bring the Smaug Roused faction into play. Barad-dûr's nearest Darkhaven is Minas Morgul, while The Lonely Mountain's nearest Darkhaven is Dol Guldur. 
First, it takes one turn to move from Barad-dûr to Minas Morgul using the site path, d s, indicated on the Barad-dûr site card. Wendy plays the Minas Morgul site card as her new site card during her organization phase, and she removes the Barad-dûr site card at the end of her movement/hazard phase. 
During her next turn, the company may move from Minas Morgul to Dol Guldur using the site path, s d d s d, indicated on both the Minas Morgul and Dol Guldur site cards. Wendy plays the Dol Guldur site card during her organization phase, and she removes the Minas Morgul site card at the end of her movement/hazard phase. 
Finally, the company takes one turn to move from Dol Guldur to The Lonely Mountain using the site path, d w w, indicated on the The Lonely Mountain site card. Jessica plays The Lonely Mountain site card during her organization phase, and she removes the Dol Guldur site card at the end of her movement/hazard phase. 

MOVING YOUR RINGWRAITH'S COMPANY 
The company containing your Ringwraith may freely move from Darkhaven to Darkhaven and from a non-Darkhaven site to a Darkhaven. However, in order to move from a Darkhaven to a non-Darkhaven site, a Ringwraith must have a special resource card: a Black Rider card, a Fell Rider card, or a Heralded Lord card (i.e., the Ringwraith must be in Black Rider mode, in Fell Rider mode, or in Heralded Lord mode). 

Example: Suppose Ren the Ringwraith is at Barad-dûr and wants to move to The Lonely Mountain as outlined in the previous example. On his first turn, he moves to Minas Morgul - he does not need a special card because he is moving from a non-Darkhaven site to a Darkhaven. On his second turn, he is moving from Minas Morgul to Dol Guldur as outlined - he does not need a special card because he is moving from a Darkhaven to a Darkhaven. On his third turn, he plays a Black Rider card in order to move from Dol Guldur (a Darkhaven) to The Lonely Mountain (a non-Darkhaven). 

SITE PATHS 
There are six types of regions and six types of sites: 
Region Type Symbol - All region symbols have a circle around them. 
Coastal Seas [water in a circle] 
Free-domains [white tower in a circle] 
Border-lands [half-white, half-black tower split down the middle in a circle] 
Wilderness [tree] 
Shadow-lands [half-white, half-black tower split diagonally in a circle] 
Dark-domains [black tower in a circle] 

Site Type Symbol 
Havens [star] 
Free-holds [white tower] 
Border-holds [half-white, half-black tower split down the middle] 
Ruins & Lairs [crumbled tower] 
S`adow-holds [half-white, half-black tower split diagonally] 
Dark-holds [black tower] 

A site path is the sequence of regions between a site and its nearest Darkhaven. However, each region in the sequence is only indicated by its type, not by its name. Each non-Darkhaven site card has a site path on it. Each Darkhaven site card has two site paths, but each of those two paths gives the sequence of regions between the Haven and one of the two Havens nearest to it. 

Note: Site paths do not direct the movement process. The site path is used to determine which hazard creatures your opponent may play against your moving company (see page 46). 

Clarification: A "company's site path" during its movement /hazard phase is the site path between its site of origin and its new site. On non-Darkhaven site cards, the site path is provided on the top left border. On Darkhaven cards, the site path to each of the two adjacent Darkhavens is provided in the card text. 

Example: The Lonely Mountain site's nearest Darkhaven is the Dol Guldur site. The symbol for Wilderness is w, the symbol for Dark-domains is d. So the site path between Lórien and the Lonely Mountain is: d w w. The regions between these two sites are Southern Mirkwood (Dark-domain), Heart of Mirkwood (Wilderness), and Northern Rhovanion (Wilderness). 

Example: In the Example of movement from Barad-dûr to The Lonely Mountain on page 25, the first site path used was from Barad-dûr to Minas Morgul: d s. During that movement/hazard phase, Nick (Wendy's opponent) can play hazard creatures keyed to Dark-domains (d), Shadow-lands(s), and Darkhavens (the new site). During the next turn, the company uses the site path from Minas Morgul to Dol Guldur: s d d s d. During that movement/hazard phase, Nick can play hazard creatures keyed to Shadow-lands (s), double Shadow-lands (s s), Dark-domains (d), double Dark-domains (d d) and Darkhavens (the new site). Finally, the company takes one turn to move from Dol Guldur to The Lonely Mountain using the site path, s w w. Nick can play hazard creatures keyed to Wilderness (w), double Wilderness (w w), Shadow-lands (s) and Ruins and Lairs (R, the new site). 

Region Types 
Coastal Seas [c]: Regions consisting primarily of open water. 
Free-domains [f]: Very safe, civilized regions (e.g., Lindon, Anórien, etc.). 
Border-lands [b]: Less civilized regions on the border of the wilderness or shadow territory (e.g., Rohan, Lamedon, etc.). 
Wilderness [w]: Sparsely populated, uncivilized regions that cover most of NW Middle-earth (e.g., High Pass, Enedhwaith, Rhudaur, etc.). 
Shadow-lands [s]: Regions with some active Shadow-forces and settlements (Imlad Morgul, Dagorlad, etc.). 
Dark-domains [d]: Regions with a heavy concentration of Shadow-forces (Southern Mirkwood, Gorgoroth, etc.). 

Site Types 
Darkhavens [DH]: Sites of rest and healing (e.g., Minas Morgul, Dol Guldur, Carn Dûm, Geann a-Lisch). 
Free-holds [F]: Dangerous sites for minions of Sauron (e.g., Minas Tirith, Edoras, etc.). 
Border-holds [B]: Relative dangerous sites for minions of Sauron (e.g., Bree, Lake-town, etc.). 
Ruins & Lairs [R]: Deserted sites often inhabited by dangerous creatures (e.g., the Lonely Mountain, Barrow-downs, etc.). 
Shadow-holds [S]: Relatively deserted sites often inhabited by dangerous creatures and Shadow-forces (e.g., Goblin-gate, Mount Gram, etc.). 
Dark-holds [D]: Very dangerous sites with heavy concentrations of Shadow-forces (Barad-dûr, etc.). 

7 · COMBAT
Combat normally occurs when one of three things happen:
· When a creature hazard is played on a company.
· When a company at a site with an automatic-attack decides to attempt to play a resource card for that site (i.e., decides to attempt to enter and explore the site).
· When any other card indicates that a company must face an attack.

ATTACKS & STRIKES
Combat consists of one or more attacks that must be resolved one at a time. An attack consists of one or more strikes:
· Each strike can target one and only one character in the attacked company.
· Each character can be the target of only one strike from a given attack.
· If an attack has more strikes than the company has characters, the attacker may allocate the excess strikes as -1 modifications (i.e., a -1 modifier for each unallocated strike) to the prowess(es) of whichever target(s) he chooses. See the Strike Sequence on page 33.
· You and your opponent must play any cards that modify the number of strikes before you assign the strikes.
Unless the attack states otherwise, the defender chooses which untapped characters will be the targets of given strikes. Then, the attacker chooses which other defending characters not yet assigned a strike will be the target of any remaining unassigned strikes.

Clarification: If the text on a creature card states that the "attacker chooses defending characters," any characters (not yet assigned a strike) in the defending company may be chosen (by the attacker) as the targets of the attack's strikes.

Clarification: The defender may choose not to assign strikes that he is allowed to assign. These strikes are then assigned by the attacker to any characters that have not yet been assigned strikes.

Clarification: All of an attack's strikes must be assigned to the characters in the defending company or as modifiers to the strikes assigned. The attacker may not choose to not apply strikes or excess strike modifiers. Only those strikes that are assigned need be defeated for the creature's marshalling points to be received by the defender.

Strike Modifications
There are a number of standard modifications to the prowess of each target character facing a strike:
· An unwounded, tapped character must modify his prowess by -1.
· A wounded character must modify his prowess by -2.
· Normally a character that is the target of a strike is tapped after the strike is resolved. However, a character may choose to take a -3 modification to his prowess to avoid being tapped. If so, the character is not tapped after the strike is resolved (he may still be wounded).
· If an attack has more strikes than the company has characters, the attacker may allocate the excess strikes as -1 modifiers to the prowesses of whichever target(s) he chooses. See the Strike Sequence on page 33.
· The target's prowess may also be modified due to the play of certain resource and hazard cards. Only one resource card requiring skill may be played against a given strike.

Condition and Mod. to Target's Prowess
Tapped character * ...-1
Wounded character *... -2
Untapped character decides not to tap *... -3
For each unused strike allocated (i.e., each extra strike) * ...-1
Up to one resource card that requires skill ...varies
Other resource cards ...varies Hazard cards ...varies

Clarification: The prowess modifications marked with an * above are applied for a given strike and then are removed immediately after the strike is resolved. That is they do not carry over from attack to attack.

Note: Ignore effects that modify the number of strikes for an attack that states that "every character in the target company faces one strike" (unless an effect reduces the number of strikes to a specific number, e.g., Veils of Shadow).

Resolving Strikes
Strikes are resolved one at a time as decided by the defending player. When you choose a strike to resolve, determine all of the factors affecting the strike before the roll is made (see "The Strike Sequence" on page 33). To resolve a strike, the defender makes a roll (2D6) and adds his modified prowess:
· If this result is greater than the strike's prowess, the strike fails. Such a strike is defeated if its body attribute is "-" or if it has a body attribute and fails a body check.
· If this result is equal to the strike's prowess, the strike was ineffectual (i.e., the strike is avoided but not defeated).
· Otherwise, the strike was successful (i.e., the character was defeated). If the attack was a "detainment" attack, an untapped target is tapped. Otherwise, the target character is wounded and must make a body check.

BODY CHECKS
If a strike against a character is successful and the attack was not a detainment attack, the character is wounded and must make a body check. To make a body check, the attacker makes a roll (2D6). If the character was already wounded before this strike, the roll is modified by +1.
· The text on certain characters' cards states: "Discard on a body check result of # or #." In this case, you must discard the character if the modified body check roll is equal to either of these numbers.
· Otherwise, if the modified body check roll is greater than the character's body attribute, the character is eliminated.
· Otherwise, nothing happens (i.e., the character is just wounded).

Note: As a result of certain rolls, certain characters may be discarded rather than being wounded. These characters are usually Orcs and Trolls. This effect represents the target running or slinking away from the attack.

Clarification: If a character was already wounded before a strike wounds him again, the resulting body check modification is always +1 (regardless of how many times a character is wounded).

Clarification: If a strike against a character is successful, a body check must be resolved for the character before anything else happens. For example, Foul Smelling Paste may not be used to heal such a character until after the body check is resolved (of course, if the character is eliminated, the Foul Smelling Paste may not be used on him at all).

As presented above, a strike that fails is defeated if its body attribute is "-" or if it has a body attribute and fails a body check. To make such a body check, the defender makes a roll (2D6); if this value is greater than the strike's body attribute, the strike is defeated.

Example: Landroval has a prowess of 12 and a body of 6. He normally has two strikes when he attacks. If one of his strikes against a character fails, the defender makes a body check. If the resulting roll is greater than 6, that strike is defeated. However, both of Landroval's strikes must be defeated in order for him to be eliminated - this would require at least two body check rolls greater than 6.

"Detainment" Attacks
Certain attacks detain targets rather than wound them. When a strike from a detainment attack is successful, an untapped target is tapped instead of being wounded. This represents the target being stopped and questioned. The following types of attacks are detainment attacks:
· Card text will sometimes state that an attack is a detainment attack.
· Any Nazgûl attack against a minion company is a detainment attack.
· Any attack keyed to Dark-domains, Shadow-hold, or Dark-hold is a detainment attack.
· Any Orc, Troll, Undead, or Man attack keyed to Shadow-land is a detainment attack.
The parameters apply if the attack is keyed to the region symbol or site symbol (by type) or if keyed to a region or site by name which happens to be of appropriate type (i.e., has the appropriate symbol).

DEFEATING AN ATTACK
An attack by a hazard creature is defeated if it is not a detainment attack and all of its strikes directed against (i.e., assigned to) a company are defeated.
If even one of the strikes was canceled or ineffectual, the attack is not defeated. If the attack is canceled, the attack is not defeated. A canceled attack has no effect on the defending company (though the company is considered in its history to have faced it). A detainment attack from a creature is never defeated and the creature's card is always discarded after the attack is resolved.
If a hazard creature has multiple attacks, each must be defeated in order for the creature to be defeated.

Example: Lagduf is untapped with a prowess of 5 and a body of 8. He is facing a strike from a Huorn (only has one strike) with a prowess of 10 and a body of "-." Lagduf could decide not to tap against the strike; in which case his prowess would only be 2 (his normal prowess of 5, minus 3 for not tapping) against this strike. However, Lagduf decides to tap to face the strike.
Lagduf rolls an 8. 8 plus his prowess of 5 is greater than the Huorn's prowess of 10. Therefore the strike fails and the Huorn attack is defeated (it only has one strike and its body attribute is "-").
Next Lagduf has to face a Slayer, which has two attacks against the same character, each with one strike at 11 prowess. Lagduf is tapped, so he now has a -1 to his prowess (i.e., his prowess is 4).
Against the first attack's strike Lagduf rolls a 7. His total is 11 (= 7 + 4) which ties the strike's prowess of 11. Therefore the strike is ineffectual and nothing happens.
Against the next attack, Lagduf rolls a 3. His total of 7 (=3 + 4) is less than the strike's prowess of 11. Therefore the strike is successful. Lagduf is immediately wounded and must make a body check. His opponent rolls the dice for the body check. If he rolls a 9 or more, Lagduf will be eliminated and removed from play. Lagduf's opponent actually rolls an 8 and is not eliminated. However, Lagduf is discarded because his card states that he is discarded on a body check result of 8.

Marshalling Points
You receive creature marshalling points for defeating a creature with an * next to its marshalling points. Place the card in your marshalling point pile.
If you defeat a creature that does not have an * next to its marshalling points, place the card in your out-of-play pile. You do not receive marshalling points for eliminating it.

Note: A Wizard player does not receive marshalling points for defeating a creature with an * next to its marshalling points.

THE STRIKE SEQUENCE
The "strike sequence" is the time from when a player declares that one of his characters will resolve a strike until the strike die roll is made and any associated body checks are made.
Strikes are resolved one at a time as decided by the defending player (i.e., he chooses a strike to resolve, the strike is resolved, he chooses the next strike to resolve, the strike is resolved, etc.).
All of the factors affecting the strike must be decided before making the roll (2D6). Cards that do not affect the strike may not be played during the strike sequence. Address these factors in the following order:
1. The attacker may play hazard cards that affect the strike (these count toward the hazard limit against this company).
2. The attacker may decide to use any or all of his remaining (if any) -1 modifiers due to unallocated strikes (i.e., strikes in excess of the company's size).
3. A target untapped character may take a -3 modification so that he will not automatically tap following the strike sequence.
4. The defending player may play resplrce cards that affect the strike (up to one card that requires skill).

Clarification: The prowess modification and maximum for a weapon is applied to a character before any other modifiers are applied. For example, the Lieutenant of Dol Guldur has a base prowess of 7 and a Broad-headed Spear (+2 prowess to a maximum of 8) - he starts with a prowess of 8 before any other modifications are applied.
Similarly, the body modification and maximum for a shield, armor, or helmet is applied before any other modifiers are applied.

Example of Combat [(#/#) means (prowess/body)]
You control Bróin (3/8), Threlin (4/7) and his follower Dôgrib (4/7) with Foul smelling Paste, Jerrek (5/8), and Nevido Smôd (4/8) (with a Shadow-cloak). They are en route from Carn Dûm to Geann a-Lisch. There are 5 characters in the company, meaning the hazard limit is 5.
Your opponent plays Orc-raiders. He keys this hazard creature to one of the Wilderness in your company's site path. Bróin, a scout, taps and plays A Nice Place to Hide to cancel the attack. Orc-raiders is discarded.
Your opponent next plays Orc-warband (second hazard). He states it is keyed to a Wilderness in your company's site path, because the Orc-warband becomes a detainment attack if he keys it to a Shadow-land. It's a (4/-) hazard creature with 5 strikes that receives +3 to prowess against a company that has faced an Orc attack. Even though Bróin canceled the Orc-raiders, the company is still considered to have faced them, so the Orc-warband will be (7/-). There are 5 strikes and 5 characters, so each character will face one strike (no decisions on strike allocation can be made). Bróin elects to face his strike first. His opponent plays Weariness of the Heart (third hazard) on Bróin to give -1 to his prowess. This modification to his prowess is in addition to the -1 Bróin suffers for being tapped. No other effects are played to affect the strike and Bróin rolls the dice. The result is a 4. Bróin's prowess of 1 plus the dice roll is less than the prowess of the Orc-warband's strike against Bróin, so Bróin is wounded. Your opponent rolls the body check. It's a 7 - Bróin lives!
Nevido Smôd faces the next strike. Nevido Smôd taps and rolls a 2, falling to a successful strike. Your opponent rolls the body check, but only gets a 4 so Nevido Smôd lives. Dôgrib chooses to face his strike next. He chooses not to tap and therefore gets a -3 modification to his prowess. He rolls a 6 which ties the prowess of the Orc-warband strike. The strike is ineffectual. Threlin resolves his strike next, taps, and defeats it by rolling a 7. Jerrek resolves the final strike, taps, and defeats it by rolling a 3. Orc-warband is discarded.
Your opponent sees that one character, Dôgrib, is untapped. He plays an Elf-lord Revealed in Wrath (15/9) (a fourth hazard) keyed to Shadow-lands (Doors of Night is not in play) and reasons that Dôgrib will have to take its one ver powerful strike with little chance of canceling it. (After all, if you give up the option of assigning the one strike to your untapped character, namely Dôgrib, the opponent will be able to choose from all 5 characters which will take the strike). Your opponent does not see what Dôgrib sees. Before assigning the strike, Dôgrib discards his Foul Smelling Paste to heal and untap Nevido Smôd, who then announces he is taking the strike. The Elf-lord Revealed is keyed to the Shadow-land, so Nevido Smôd taps his Shadow-cloak to cancel its single strike. The Elf-lord is discarded.
The opponent announces he will play no more hazards and the company breathes a sigh of relief. Bróin will be able to heal at the start of the next turn since his company will be in Geann a-Lisch, a Darkhaven.

8 · CORRUPTION
As Sauron's minions (i.e., your characters) operate in Middle-earth, they are subject to temptations. They run the risk of becoming totally corrupted and fleeing Sauron's "service" to pursue his own nefarious schemes (i.e., a corrupted character leaves play).
Each character has a corruption point total. This starts at zero, but certain cards and activities will change this total during play. Most cards that affect a character's corruption are kept under the character's card until they are discarded. Only one corruption card (a hazard that gives corruption points) may be played on a given character each turn.

Note: Minion characters are not completely subjected to Sauron's will. If they were, they would be of little use - independent, but loyal, servants can accomplish much more than slaves. So, minion characters can be corrupted by having their own individual desires and temptations conflict with the goals of their masters. A corrupted minion character has decided that it is in his own best interest to make himself scarce and head for parts unknown. Ringwraiths can not be corrupted - they already suffered the ultimate corruption when they became Ringwraiths.

CORRUPTION CARDS
For these purposes, a "corruption card" is a hazard card that gives a character corruption points. A corruption card's text includes the keyword "Corruption." in italics. Cards that force a corruption check but do not give corruption points (e.g., Weariness of the Heart) are not "corruption cards." A corruption card is limited as follows:
· A character may have more than one corruption card, but only one may be played on him each turn.
· Certain corruption cards state: "Cannot be duplicated on a given character." So, a given character may only have one of each such corruption card.
· Corruption cards that may not be played on Dwarves may also not be played on Orcs.
· Corruption cards may not be played on Ringwraiths.

CORRUPTION POINTS
A character's corruption point total can be determined by summing the corruption point values of: the corruption cards under his card and any other cards he controls (e.g., usually items).

CORRUPTION CHECKS
When a card or other effect indicates that one of your characters must make a corruption check, you must make a roll (2D6) and add any appropriate modifications. One of the following results:
Nothing Happens - If the modified result is greater than the character's corruption point total, nothing happens.
The Character Taps - If the modified result is equal to the character's corruption point total or one less than the character's corruption point total, the character is very tempted but does not fail the corruption check. If the character is untapped, tap the character.
The Character is Eliminated - If the modified result is less than character's corruption point total by two or more, the character fails the corruption check and is eliminated (i.e., remove him from active play) and you must discard any non-follower cards he controls.

Ringwraiths never make corruption checks.

Clarification: A character eliminated due to a corruption check is removed from active play. He may be not played again either by you or by your opponent (e.g., if he has that character in his hand). In this case, the character is permanently lost to Sauron.

CORRUPTION CHECK MODIFIERS
Certain characters receive modifiers to corruption checks, and certain cards may give modifiers to a corruption check. Modifiers to corruption checks are printed in the lower right of the appropriate card. A plus or a minus sign indicates a modifier to any corruption checks a character makes (rather than corruption points).

Clarification: There are two different values that affect corruption checks:
· Corruption check modifiers always have either a plus (+) sign or a minus (-) sign (e.g., as noted on many character cards). The sum of all such applicable modifiers are added to the corruption check roll.
· Corruption point values never have a plus or minus sign. The sum of all such values is the character's corruption point total for the purposes of a corruption check.
Both values appear in the lower right of certain cards.

REMOVING CORRUPTION CARDS
A character may choose to ignore the restriction that he tap to remove a corruption card (as printed on a corruption card), and suffer a -3 penalty to the dice roll to remove it. This means a character can remain untapped and still attempt to remove a corruption card (the roll is modified by -3), or that he can attempt to remove a corruption card even if he is already tapped or wounded (the roll is modified by -3).
Each turn, a character may only make one removal attempt for each corruption card if he uses the -3 modifier.

Example: At the beginning of his organization phase, Tarcil has three corruption cards: Lure of Nature, Lure of Expedience, and Lure of the Senses. He taps and rolls to attempt to remove the Lure of the Senses; his roll is an 8, so the card is removed (greater than 6 was required). If, instead, Tarcil had not tapped for this attempt, he would have failed (he would have needed to roll greater than 9).
He then rolls to attempt to remove Lure of Nature; his roll is a 6 modified by -3 for a net result of 3, so the card is not removed (greater than 4 was required). Finally, he rolls to attempt to remove Lure of Expedience; his roll is a 9 modified by -3 for a net result of 6, so the card is removed (greater than 5 was required).

Example: (CP = Corruption Points) Let us take a look at Layos traveling across Middle-earth. He starts out carrying a Blazon of the Eye, so he only has 1 CP when he leaves Carn Dûm. For this example assume Layos is traveling with other Men who take care of any attacks played on his company.
First he heads to the Dunnish Clan-hold. On the way there he gets a Lure of Expedience played on him, which gives him 2 more CPs for a total of 3. While at the Dunnish Clan-hold he taps to play High Helm. Not only does this raise his CP total to 5, but it also triggers a corruption check from the Lure of Expedience. Layos rolls a 6, which is greater than his CP total of 5, so he is fine.
During the organization phase Layos attempts to remove the Lure of Expedience. Since he is planning to return to Carn Dûm, he is not worried about being tapped. So, he taps and rolls an 8, easily better than the 5 he needed to succeed. His CP total drops to 3.
On the way back, Layos gets a Lure of Nature played on him, bringing him back up to 5 CPs. Since there are three Wildernesses in the site path between Dunnish Clan-hold and Carn Dûm, Layos must make three corruption checks. On the first two he rolls a 7 and a 12, easily beating his corruption point total. On the third check he rolls a 4. Since this is one less than his CP total, he would normally tap. However, he is already tapped, so there is no effect.
At Carn Dûm he tries to remove the Lure of Nature without tapping. He rolls a 7 modified by -3 for not tapping - this is not greater than 4, so the Lure of Nature is not removed. Layos would like to tap and try again, but since he tried without tapping, he cannot make another attempt.
His company moves to Dol Guldur, the hazard player plays a Lure of the Senses on Layos bringing his CP total up to 7. At the beginning of his next turn, Layos is ready to tap to attempt to remove the Lure of the Senses, and then the Lure of Nature without tapping. Unfortunately, he first has to make a corruption check at the end of the Untap phase because of his Lure of the Senses. He rolls a 5. Since this is 2 less than his CP total, he is eliminated from the game and his Blazon of the eye and High Helm are discarded.

9 · INFLUENCE
You have a pool of general influence. Your characters have direct influence. These two forms of influence can control and affect characters (see pages 18-19) and factions.
Your unused general influence is equal to 20 minus the sum of the mind attributes of your non-follower characters in play (i.e., do not count your followers).
A character's unused direct influence is equal to his direct influence attribute minus the sum of the mind attributes of his followers. All characters have a direct influence attribute of at least zero, so any character has unused direct influence of at least zero.

Note: In the Standard Game, direct influence can be used to attempt to interfere with your opponent's control of his characters, followers, factions, allies, and items (see page 64).

BRINGING A FACTION INTO PLAY
In order to play a faction card, you must tap one of your characters that is at the "site" indicated on the faction's card. Then you must make an influence check. Make a roll (2D6), add your character's unused direct influence, and add any appropriate modifications (any applicable standard modifications from the faction card and from any other cards played). All influence check modifier cards must be played before making the roll (2D6).
If the modified result is greater than the value required on the faction card, you place the faction in your marshalling point pile (it now counts towards your marshalling point total). Otherwise, you discard the faction card. Once a faction is brought into play, it is not controlled by any specific character and it does not count against general or direct influence.

STANDARD MODIFICATIONS
Most faction cards list some "standard modifications" to the influence check based only upon what other factions are already in play for both players.

Note: Some standard modifications are given for factions not included in MELE. Later products will include these factions.

Clarification: Certain characters have special modifications to influence checks. Such a modification only applies if it belongs to the character that was tapped to make the influence check.

Example: During your site phase, you have Lieutenant of Morgul in play a company at Lossadan Cairn. You also have Ice-orcs in your hand, and your opponent has Wargs of Forochel in play. Lieutenant of Morgul has no followers, so his unused direct influence is 2.
You tap Lieutenant of Morgul to attempt to bring the Ice-orcs into play. You make your influence check roll (2D6), and the result is 5. This roll is modified by:
· Lieutenant of Morgul's unused direct influence: +2.
· +3 - Lieutenant of Morgul has a special ability: his direct influence is increased by +3 against Orc factions.
· A standard modification of +2, because the Wargs of Forochel are already in play, as listed on the Ice-orcs card.
So the modified result is 11 (=5+2+3+1). Since this is greater than 10 (the number required by the faction card), the Ice-orcs are successfully brought into play and the site taps.
If you had rolled a 3, your modified result would have been 9 (=3+2+2+1), and you would have had to discard the faction card and Lossadan Cairn would not have tapped.

10 · PLAYING AND DRAWING CARDS
You may only play hazard cards during your opponent's movement/hazard phase. Except for resource long-events, you may play resource cards anytime during your own turn unless specifically prohibited by the rules or the cards themselves.
Unless stated otherwise, a card is playable only if its effect applies to an existing situation, hazard, attack, etc. (i.e., you may not play a card just to discard it). A card cannot be played for no effect. A card may be played if it has potential effect.

Clarification: An automatic-attack at a company's new site may be targeted by a hazard during the company's movement/hazard phase. Such a hazard may be played even if the attack ultimately will not be faced (i.e., if the company decides not to face the automatic-attack during the site phase).

Note: MELE resources are different from METW resources. MELE resources are referred to as "minion resources" and METW resources are referred to as "hero resources." See page 74 for more information.

During your movement/hazard phase, both players draw cards when each company moves. If a company moves to a non-Darkhaven site, you may draw up to the number of cards indicated by the site that it moved to (at least one card must be drawn); your opponent does the same. If the company moves to a Darkhaven site, you may draw up to the number of cards indicated by the site that you moved from (at least one card must be drawn); your opponent does the same.

EVENTS
There are both resource events and hazard events. Each event falls into one of three classifications based upon how long it stays in play.
Short-event - A short-event's effects are implemented; then, it is discarded. The effects of some short-events last for a specific period as stated on its card (e.g., some say: "until the end of the turn").
Permanent-event - The effects of a resource permanent-event are immediately implemented. Its effects last until the card is discarded. Certain effects can cause a permanent-event to be discarded; these effects are given in the text of specific cards. If one of your companies splits into 2 or more companies, you may place any resource permanent-events that were on the original company (as a whole) with any of the resulting companies.

Clarification: Hazard short-events and permanent-events can be played only during an opponent's movement/hazard phase. Resource short-events and permanent-events can be played at any time during your turn - as limited by specific card text.

Long-event - The effects of a long-event are immediately implemented when it is played. Long-events last approximately two turns, one of yours and one of your opponent's.
You may only play a resource long-event during your long-event phase. Its card and effects remain in play until your next long-event phase or until otherwise discarded.
You may only play a hazard long-event during your opponent's movement/hazard phase. Its card and effects remain in play until your opponent's next long-event phase or until otherwise discarded.

Clarification: The effects of many long-events and permanent-events affect both players because they can remain in effect during both players' turns. Remember, when you play a long-event hazard, it will remain in effect during your next turn. For example, Awaken Denizens (a long-event) increases the number of automatic-attack strikes at Ruins & Lairs for one turn for each player.

Example: One of Nick's companies with a hazard limit of six is moving from Minas Morgul to Dunharrow; its site path is s w f b. Wendy plays Doors of Night (a permanent-event) during Nick's movement/hazard phase. This causes all resource environment cards in play to be discarded and their effects canceled. This card will remain in play until it is discarded due to the play of a Skies of Fire, Twilight, or another card says it force the discard of Doors of Night or a hazard permanent-event.
Wendy then plays Fell Winter (a long-event). First it gives all Border-holds [B] (including Dunharrow) an automatic-attack: wolves - 3 strikes at 7 prowess. Since Doors of Night is in play it can do two more things: change all Border-lands [b] into Wilderness [w], making the site path s w f w; and change all Free-domains [f] into Border-lands [b], making the site path s w b w. Unless it is discarded by another card, Fell Winter will stay in play until Wendy's next long-event phase (about two turns).
Finally, Wendy plays Arouse Defenders (a short-event), which allows her to add 3 to the prowess of one automatic-attack at a Border-hold [B]. She uses it on Dunharrow and chooses to add 3 to the Wolf attack from Fell Winter, making the prowess 10. Arouse Defenders is discarded, but its effect will remain until the end of the turn (unless canceled before then).

RESOURCE CARDS, NON-EVENT
Certain resource cards may only be played if specific required conditions exist. A faction card, ally card, or item card must be played during your site phase and requires an untapped character and an untapped site. In addition, the company must face any automatic-attacks located at the same site before such a card can be played. Resource events do not generally require an untapped site nor that the automatic-attack be faced. This may vary based upon specific card text.
Normally, when a character leaves play, all cards controlled or on him are discarded. There are two major exceptions to this:
· Sometimes, the card that causes the character to leave play allows him to transfer an item(s) (e.g., Call of Home).
· If a character is eliminated due to failing a body check, one item can be immediately transferred to each unwounded character in his company; but the rest of his items are discarded.

Factions
If one of your characters is at the site specified on a faction card, he may tap during the site phase to attempt an influence check in order to play the faction card. If the character successfully influences the faction as indicated on the faction's card (see p. 38-39), the faction card is placed in your play area. After a faction is successfully played at a site, the site card is tapped.

Clarification: If an attack from a Dragon faction is defeated, remove the Dragon from play. No player received its marshalling points.

Clarification: Once a faction is brought into play, it is not associated with any character or company. A faction plays no active role after it is brought into play.

Allies
A character may tap during the site phase to play an ally card if he is at the site specified on the ally card and the character meets the requirements indicated on the ally card. The ally card is placed under the character's card and that character controls the ally. After an ally is played at a site, the site card is tapped. An ally does not count as a character for any purposes other than combat and the use of certain skills. Allies can not bear items.
An ally with a skill may take actions and play cards that require that skill. For example, Last Child of Ungoliant has the sage skill, so he can tap to play a Secrets of Their Forging card. Similarly, Stinker has the scout skill so he can tap to play a Sneakin' card.

Clarification: Allies that are eliminated are placed in the out-of-play pile (i.e., neither player may bring that ally or any manifestation of that ally back into play). Allies are not affected by corruption.

Items
If a character is at an untapped site that indicates that a specific type of item card (gold ring, minor, major, or greater) is "playable," he may tap during the site phase to bring an item of that type into play. The item card is placed under the character's card. After an item is played at a site, the site card is tapped.
A special item states at what sites and under which conditions it is "playable."
A character may only use the effects of one weapon at a time and one shield at a time and one armor at a time.

Clarification: A special item with the keyword, Ring, at the beginning of its text does not tap the character or the site when played.

Clarification: An item only taps when used if its text states so. Thus, weapons and armor do fot normally tap when used.

Clarification: A character may control (i.e., bear) any item, even if he cannot use its abilities.

Clarification: A character may control (i.e., bear) more than one weapon or more than one shield or more than one armor. However, only one of each type may be used at any given time.

Minor Items
If a resource card that taps a site (e.g., ally, faction, item, etc.) is successfully played at a site, one additional character may tap to play a minor item. Such a minor item may be played even if the site does not specifically state that a minor item is playable at the site. For example, a minor item played when bringing an ally into play would simulate a gift from the ally.

Rings
One type of item that your character can bring into play are rings. There are 7 types of rings: mind rings, gold rings, lesser rings, magic rings, Dwarven rings, spirit rings and the One Ring.
Gold Rings - After your company faces the automatic-attack at such a site which specifies that a gold ring can be played, you just tap a character and the site to play a gold ring from your hand.

Clarification: A gold ring is a ring with unknown properties - it might be a lesser ring, a magic ring, a Dwarven Ring, or even The One Ring. You will not know until you "test" it. There are 6 different gold rings in MELE: A Little Gold Ring, The Least of Gold Rings, Gold Ring that Sauron Fancies, Bright Gold Ring, Gleaming Gold Ring, and Perfect Gold Ring. Each has a different probability of being a specific type of special ring.

Testing a Gold Ring - Once you have a gold ring, you can "test" it to determine what kind of special ring it is. When you test a gold ring, you must make a roll and add any applicable modification (due to the test card and other cards). The gold ring card will indicate what special rings may be played based upon the modified roll.
If the roll indicates a special ring that you have in your hand, you may replace the gold ring with that ring and discard the gold ring. Otherwise, you just discard the gold ring (i.e., it was not that special). If the roll indicates more than one special ring in your hand, you choose which to play.
There are five ways to test a gold ring:
· If you have a sage character in the same company as the gold ring, you can play a Test of Fire card.
· If you have a sage character in the same company as the gold ring and the company is at a site where "Information" is playable, you can play a Secret of Their Forging card (you do not have to roll, you can just play any special item ring except The One Ring).
· Any gold ring in the Ringwraith's own company at the start of the end-of-turn phase is automatically tested. Any ring test in the Ringwraith's own company has a modification of -2.
· Any gold ring in one of your companies at Barad-dûr at the start of the end-of-turn phase is automatically tested. Any ring test at Barad-dûr has a -3 modification.
· If you store a gold ring, it is automatically tested with a modification of -2.

Note: Due to the -2 and -3 modification, the last three ring tests methods given above have little chance of resulting in The One Ring. This reflects the influence of "fate" on Sauron's efforts to find the One Ring.

Example: You have Tarcil and Pon Opar (a sage) in the same company. Tarcil has A Little Gold Ring. In your hand, you have a Test of Fire card and three ring cards: Trifling Ring (a lesser ring), Magic Ring of Lies and Dwarven Ring of Durin's Tribe.
Because Pon Opar is a sage in the same company as a gold ring, you play your Test of Fire on Tarcil's gold ring at any time during your turn. You roll a 5 for the test, so you may play either your Trifling Ring (any result) or your Magic ring of Lies (6 or less) with Tarcil. In either case, the gold ring is discarded. If you had rolled a 9 or higher, you would have had the choice of playing your Dwarven Ring of Durin's Tribe or your Trifling Ring.

Note: A Ringwraith may carry a ring but may not use it (i.e., all items have no effect on a Ringwraith's company or on his attributes and abilities).

Clarification: Mind rings are minor items and are played as such. They are not special items.

THE HAZARD LIMIT
During your opponent's movement/hazard phase, the number of hazard cards that you may play on one of your opponent's companies is that company's hazard limit. The hazard limit is equal to two or the company's size, whichever is greater. A company's size is equal to the number of characters in it. For this purpose, allies do not count as characters.
A hazard limit can be modified by the play of certain cards. Tapping a Nazgûl permanent-event does count against the hazard limit.

Clarification: For the purposes of calculating hazard limits, each company's size is determined for each company at the beginning of the movement/hazard phase (e.g., it remains fixed). So, if a character is eliminated during his company's portion of the movement/hazard phase, his company's hazard limit does not change.

HAZARD CARDS, NON-EVENT
Hazard cards represent evil forces and natural dangers in Middle-earth. Even though your Ringwraith and his minions are serving Sauron, the evil forces in the world will often attack you on purpose or by mistake - that's the nature of evil.
You may play hazard cards only during your opponent's movement/hazard phase. Detainment attacks are described on page 31.

Note: Hazards that give bonuses to attacks do not give bonuses to characters and companies.

Creature Cards
You may use a creature card to directly attack one of your opponent's companies. Such an attack can occur only if one of the following criterion is met:
· The company is at a specific site at which the creature's card text says it can be played.
· The company's site of origin or new site is in a region where the creature's card text says it can be played.
· One of the site symbols on the creature's card matches the site that the company moved to (i.e., the new site) or stayed at (i.e., if the company did not move).
· At least one of the region symbols on the creature's card matches one of the region types the company moved through this turn (see below). If the creature's card has two region symbols of the same type (i.e., a deep Wilderness creature), then the company must have moved through at least two regions of that same type.

Note: The Geann a-Lisch site is a Darkhaven. However, as stated on its card, creatures keyed to Ruins & Lairs may be played against a company that has Geann a-Lisch as its new site or as its current site if did not move.

Clarification: Two wilderness symbols are required in a site path to play a deep Wilderness creature. However, the two symbols need not be adjacent in the site path. For example, a deep Wilderness creature may be played keyed to the site path: w b b w. If a company travels with two Wilderness on its site path, the chance of encountering very dangerous Wilderness monsters has doubled, even if the two Wildernesses are not adjacent.

If a creature satisfies more than one of these conditions, you must choose (when you play the creature) one of these conditions that the attack is "keyed to." The effects of certain cards are based upon the region or site type that a creature is keyed to.
The region types that a company moves through during a given turn are determined by the following criteria:
· If a company did not play a new site card, it did not move through any regions-so, no creature may be played based solely on region conditions.
· If the company was at a Darkhaven site and has played a new non-Darkhaven site card (but no region cards), the region types are indicated by the new site card's site path.
· If the company was at a Darkhaven site and has played a new Darkhaven site card (but no region cards), the region types are indicated by the new Darkhaven site card's "Site Path from" the old Darkhaven site (i.e., the site path from the site of origin Darkhaven).
· If the company was at a non-Darkhaven site and has played a new Darkhaven site card (but no region cards), the region types are indicated by the site of origin's site path (i.e., the site path on the site that the company left).
· Standard Rules: If the company used region movement, the region types of the site path are indicated by the region cards or an appropriate map (i.e., each region card has a region type).

Clarification: The player playing a hazard creature must specifically state the type of region or site that a creature is keyed to - it can affect the use of other cards.
For example, if a character with a Shadow-cloak faces a strike from a creature that has been played keyed to Shadow-land, he can tap the Shadow-cloak to cancel the strike. However, if such a strike is keyed to Border-land, he cannot use his cloak against it.

Note: A creature played keyed to a specific region by name is not keyed to the specific region's type. For example, if Thranduil's Folk is played keyed to the Grey Mountain Narrows (a Shadow-land region), a target character with a Shadow-cloak can not use it to cancel a strike - the attack is keyed to the region by name, not by type.

Example: Certain card combinations make a specific card more powerful. The hazard creature, Dire Wolves, has 4 strikes with a prowess of 8. However, if played in combination with a Wake of War card, Dire Wolves has 5 strikes with a prowess of 9. If played in combination with a Wake of War and a Doors of Night, Dire Wolves has 6 strikes with a prowess of 10.

STORING CARDS
During your organization phase, you may store any of your items that are at a Darkhaven site. The controlling character must make a corruption check before an item can be stored.
A stored item is placed in your marshalling point pile and counts for marshalling points. Once an item is stored it may not be unstored and brought back into play. The One Ring may not be stored.
Some items and resource cards state that they can be stored when at a specific site (e.g., the Seize Prisoners card can be stored at a Darkhaven) - other cards may not be stored. Such an item or resource card is still placed in the marshalling point pile and cannot be brought back into play.

Note: If you store a gold ring, it is automatically tested (see page 44).

Clarification: A character bearing a certain type of card cannot untap until the card is stored. After storing such a card, the character does not untap until the untap phase of his player's next turn.

Clarification: Unless stated otherwise on the card, the marshalling points for a card that can be stored apply regardless of whether or not the card is stored.

TRANSFERRING ITEMS
During your organization phase, you may transfer items between characters at the same site. The controlling character must make a corruption check before an item can be transferred.

Clarification: A corruption check is required before an item can be stored or transferred. A character that fails such a corruption check has decided not to follow his Ringwraith's commands concerning the item's use (i.e., the item is discarded and the character is eliminated).

Normally, when a character leaves active play (e.g., discarded or eliminated), all cards controlled by him are discarded. There are two major exceptions to this:
· Sometimes, the card that causes the character to leave play allows him to transfer an item(s) (e.g., Call of Home).
· If a character is eliminated due to failing a body check, one item can be immediately transferred to each unwounded character in his company; but the rest of his items are discarded.

ACTIONS AND CARD PLAY
The various activities that you and your opponent can perform during play are called actions. Typical actions include playing a card, tapping a card, making a corruption check, revealing a card, etc. The following general guidelines apply to resolving actions; more detailed guidelines can be found on pages 69-70.
· You must give your opponent a chance to respond to every action, and vice versa. If you perform an action and move on to another action without giving your opponent a chance to respond, you must "back up" if he indicates that he wants to respond. A series of declared actions made in response to one another is called a "chain of effects". You always have the option of declaring the first action in a chain of effects during your turn. The actions in a chain of effects are resolved one at a time from last declared to first declared (i.e., the last declared action is resolved first, then the second to the last, etc.).
· If the play of a card requires other actions (e.g., corruption checks), the actions are resolved in the order in which they appear on the card.
· A required or declared dice roll is an action and can be the target of another action or effect declared later in the same chain of effects. Otherwise, a card cannot be targeted until it resolves.
· When the effects of a dice roll require further actions (e.g., a roll for a strike requires a body check), those actions become the first actions (any further rolls come first) in the next chain of effects after the roll.

· PART II ·
Standard Rules

You should read and master the Starter Rules before tackling the Standard Rules.

Note: These rules apply to a Ringwraith player playing a Ringwraith player. See Part IV (page 73) for guidelines for handling a game between a Ringwraith and a Wizard.

1 · THE VICTORY CONDITIONS
The Standard Rules victory conditions differ from those found in the Starter Rules in three ways. First, the players can decide to play a longer game. Second, certain modifications to the marshalling point totals can be made at the Audience With Sauron. Third, Sudden Call may be used as a hazard to cause the Audience with Sauron to be called.

THE LONGER GAMES
The Starter Game is also called the "1-deck game." For experienced players with tuned decks, this game usually lasts 20-60 minutes. If you want longer, more detailed play, there are 3 other games.

The 2-deck Game
In a "2-deck game" (the "short game"), the Audience is called when each play deck has been exhausted twice. You may use a Sudden Call card when a play deck has been exhausted twice, or when a play deck has been exhausted once and the player with that deck has at least 25 marshalling points (MPs).

The 3-deck Game
In a "3-deck game" (the "long game"), the Audience is called when each play deck has been exhausted three times. You may use a Sudden Call card when a play deck has been exhausted three times, or when it has been exhausted twice and the player with that deck has at least 30 marshalling points (MPs). Increase the sideboard size to 30 cards.

The 4-deck Game
In a "4-deck game" (i.e., the "campaign game"), the Audience is called when each play deck has been exhausted four times. You may use a Sudden Call card when a play deck has been exhausted four times, or when it has been exhausted three times and the player with that deck has at least 40 marshalling points (MPs). Increase the sideboard size to 35 cards.

MARSHALLING POINT MODIFICATIONS
There are six different types of marshalling points; each is associated with a specific shape: · Character Points - Octagon
Item Points (Major, Greater, & Rings only) - Square
Faction Points - Triangle pointing down
Ally Points - Triangle pointing up
Kill Points (from defeating creatures) - Circle
Miscellaneous Points - Diamond

At the audience, these types of marshalling points can affect your marshalling point total in two ways:
· If your opponent has zero (or negative) points for any one type of marshalling point, your points for that same type of marshalling point are doubled. This doesn't apply to kill points and miscellaneous points.
· No more than half (round up) of your final marshalling points can come from any one type of marshalling point. If one type of marshalling point is over half of your total, reduce the points for that type until they are only half (or less) of your total.

Finally, you may reveal any unique marshalling point cards in your hand that match your opponent has in play. Each such revealed card reduces your opponent's final MP total by one.

Clarification: These marshalling point modifications do not apply until the audience actually takes place. Specifically, the modifications do not affect your MP total when it is used to determine if you can call the audience (i.e., you need 20 MPs to call the audience before any of these modification).

Example: Let's look Wendy and Nick the Audience With Sauron using Standard Rules. Assume their companies are composed as outlined in the example on page 8. Let's also assume Nick failed to play the Hillmen faction. After corruption checks are made, Wendy has a raw marshalling point (MP) total of 20 and Nick has an MP total of 18.
Wendy notices that Nick has no faction points. So her faction points are doubled to 10. Unfortunately, Nick's problems are not over. 11 of his marshalling points are character points and only 7 are non-character points. Since he cannot have more than half of his points from any one source, Nick only gets 7 MPs from his characters.
At this point, the marshalling points (MPs) break down as follows:

Wendy's MP Cards - Initial MPs - Modified MPs
Troll-chief 2 - 2
Troll Lout 1 - 1
Shagrat 2 - 2
Grishnákh 1 - 1
Orc Tracker 1 - 1
Black Mace (item) 2 - 2
Magic ring of Fury (item) 2 - 2
Beornings (faction) 3 - 6
Orcs of Angmar (faction) 2 - 4
The Warg-king (ally) 2 - 2
Seize Prisoners (misc.) 2 - 2
Total: 20 - 25

Nick's MP Cards - Initial MPs - Modified MPs
Ciryaher 2 - 2
Tarcil 2 - 2
Lieutenant of Morgul 3 - 3
Orc Captain 2 - 0
Orc Captain 2 - 0
Palantír of Orthanc (item) 3 - 3
Magic Ring of Enigma (item) 2 - 2
Stinker (ally) 2 - 2
Total 18 - 14

At this point, Jason reveals that he has cards for The Warg-king, Shagrat, and Grishnákh in his hand (he was saving them for this). Since they duplicate three of Wendy's unique MP cards, her MP total is reduced by one for each of these cards. Thus, Wendy ends up with 22 MPs and Nick ends up with 14 MPs-Wendy wins. Nick curses his luck because he failed to bring the Hillmen into play on his last turn.

SUDDEN CALL USED AS A HAZARD
In addition to the normal situations outlined in the Starter Game, the Audience With Sauron is called when one of the following occurs:
· If your opponent's play deck has been exhausted and you play a Sudden Call card as a hazard during one of his turns, the audience starts following your next turn (i.e., you get one last turn).
· If your opponent has at least 20 marshalling points and you play a Sudden Call card as a hazard during one of his turns, the audience starts following your next turn (i.e., you get one last turn).

2 · THE CARDS AND DECKS
There are several Standard Rules changes involving manifestations and sideboards.

SIDEBOARD
In addition to the normal location deck and play deck, you can have a 25 card "sideboard" deck. Your sideboard can contain resource, hazard, and character cards (including any Ringwraiths). However, your combined play deck, starting company, and sideboard can only contain one of each unique card and a maximum of three of any non-unique card. As an exception, you may choose one Ringwraith and include up to two copies of his card in your combined play deck and sideboard.

Using Your Sideboard When You Exhaust Your Deck
Whenever you exhaust your play deck, you may exchange (before reshuffling) up to 5 cards between your sideboard and discard pile. Each such card taken from your sideboard must be replaced by a card from your discard pile.

Using Your Sideboard When You Tap Your Ringwraith
During your organization phase, you may tap your Ringwraith to bring up to 5 resource and/or character cards from your sideboard into your discard pile.
Alternatively, if your play deck has at least 5 cards, you may tap your Ringwraith to bring one resource or character card directly from your sideboard into your play deck (reshuffle).

Using Your Sideboard When You Tap a Nazgûl Hazard
During your opponent's movement/hazard phase, you may tap and discard one of your Nazgûl hazard permanent-events in play to bring up to 5 hazard cards from your sideboard into your discard pile. The normal result of tapping a Nazgûl hazard does not apply. The Nazgûl hazard is discarded. Tapping a Nazgûl hazard in this fashion does count against the hazard limit.
Alternatively, if your play deck has at least 5 cards, you may tap a Nazgûl hazard permanent-event to bring one hazard card directly from your sideboard into your play deck (reshuffle).

Using Your Sideboard When Your opponent's Ringwraith is in Play
At the end of your opponent's untap phase, if your opponent's Ringwraith is in play, you may at this point bring up to five hazard cards from your sideboard to your discard pile; or, if your play deck has at least 5 cards, you may bring one hazard card directly from your sideboard into your play deck (reshuffle).
If you move cards from your sideboard in this fashion, the hazard limit for each of your opponent's companies is reduced to half of normal for the rest of the turn (round up, e.g., a hazard limit of 2 becomes 1, a hazard limit of 3 becomes 2, etc.).

Clarification: Your opponent may verify how many cards move to and from your sideboard, but you do not have to reveal what those cards are.

Clarification: Your combined play deck and sideboard cannot violate the 1 unique card and 3 non-unique card limit. However, there is no restriction on the mix of hazards, resources, and characters in your sideboard. That is, for the purposes of your sideboard, you can ignore the play deck restrictions: the limit of 10 characters and the equal mix of resources and hazards.

MANIFESTATIONS
Certain entities (e.g., Stinker, Ringwraiths, etc.) have several different manifestations, each represented by a different card.
· If one manifestation of such an entity is already in play, you may not play another manifestation of the same entity.
· If an attack from a manifestation is defeated, the manifestation is removed from active play and you may not play any further manifestations of the same entity.

Exception: If you reveal your Ringwraith (see page 20), any manifestations of that Ringwraith are immediately discarded (e.g., a corresponding Nazgûl hazard or an identical Ringwraith card that has been played as a "Ringwraith follower," see page 58). You cannot reveal a Ringwraith if your opponent has already revealed that same Ringwraith as his own (non-follower) Ringwraith.

Exception: Different manifestations of the same unique Dragon may be in play at the same time.

Note: If one card says that it is the manifestation of another card, these restrictions apply to both cards.

Example: Stinker (a minion ally) is in play with one of your characters. So, neither you nor your opponent can play My Precious (the hazard manifestation of Stinker) until Stinker is discarded. Similarly, if your opponent is playing a Wizard, he may not play Gollum (the hero ally manifestation of Stinker). If your Stinker is eliminated, My Precious and Gollum may never be played.

3 · GETTING READY TO PLAY
If both players agree to use METW region cards, add them to your locations deck (i. e., you decide to use region movement, see pages 78).

Note: For play balance, we recommend both players have access to approximately the same number of region cards. If this cannot be achieved, region cards should not be used.

4 · THE PLAYER TURN
The Full Player Turn Summary is presented on pages 92-94.

5 · CHARACTERS & COMPANIES
There are several Standard Rules changes involving characters and companies.

ORC SCOUTS
Orc scouts only count half towards a company's size (round up).

LIMITATIONS ON COMPANY COMPOSITION
There are three other limitations on the types of characters that can be in a company.
· Unless at a Darkhaven, an Orc or a Troll cannot be in a company that contains an Elf, a Dwarf, or a Dúnadan - and vice versa.
· Unless at a Darkhaven, your Ringwraith's company may only contain your Ringwraith and Ringwraith followers (see page 58).
· Unless at a Darkhaven, a company may only contain one leader. A leader is a character with the keyword "leader," in its text box. These limitations also apply to moving companies.

Note: If two companies end up at a non-Darkhaven sit and combining those companies would violate the limitations on company composition, one of the companies that just moved must return to its site of origin. Similarly, an effect that causes such a violation is cancelled (e.g., We Have Come to Kill).

DISCARDING CHARACTERS
Instead of bringing a new character into play during your organization phase, you may discard a character that is at a Darkhaven or at his home site. Your Ringwraith may not be discarded. You must take this action when you are forced to discard a character due to a lack of available influence. In this case, the character(s) need not be at a Darkhaven.

Clarification: If a character's mind changes at any point, the influence required to control him also changes.

Clarification: if you do not have enough influence to control all of your characters in play, they remain in play. However, you must discard any excess characters at the end of your next organization phase. If you bring a character into play during your organization phase and then do not have enough influence to control him, the character just brought into play must be returned to your hand at the end of your organization phase.

BRINGING CHARACTERS INTO PLAY
To play a character card, you must have enough general influence or direct influence available to control the character into play. In addition, you must meet both of the following requirements:
· If the character is not an agent, you may only play him at his home site at any Darkhaven site. If the character is an agent, you may only play him at his home site.
· If your Ringwraith is in play, your Ringwraith (or a character with enough direct influence to control the character to be played) must be at the site at which the character is to be played.

RINGWRAITH FOLLOWERS
If the following conditions are met, you may bring another (different) Ringwraith character into play at your Ringwraith's site - such a character is called a "Ringwraith follower."
· Your Ringwraith is already in play.
· Your Ringwraith is at a Darkhaven or he is at the Ringwraith follower's home site.
· You have the card of the additional Ringwraith in your hand.
· Your opponent does not have the Ringwraith already in play and the Ringwraith has not been eliminated.
· You have the card or ability allowing a Ringwraith follower to be played (e.g., They Ride Together, The Witch-king's ability).
A Ringwraith follower must always be under the control of your Ringwraith and may move to non-Darkhaven sites with your Ringwraith. Your Ringwraith must use 1 point of direct influence to control each Ringwraith follower. Your Ringwraith follower may not be influenced away by your opponent.
A Ringwraith follower may not use any of its special abilities. Ûvatha's ability to automatically join another Ringwraith's company is an exception to this.
When you reveal your Ringwraith, your opponent must discard any identical Ringwraith card that has been played as a Ringwraith follower.

RINGWRAITH EFFECTS
This is a summary of the special effects of the Ringwraith character.
· A Ringwraith may only be in a company with non-Ringwraith characters if he is at a Darkhaven.
· Any ring in the Ringwraith's company at the beginning of the end-of-turn phase is automatically tested. Any ring test in a Ringwraith's company has a modification of -2.
· A Ringwraith may carry items (including rings) but may not use them (i.e., an item has no effect on a Ringwraith's company or on his attributes and abilities).
· Ringwraiths never make corruption checks and corruption cards may not be played on Ringwraiths.
· Unless at a Darkhaven, a Ringwraith may not be in a company with non-Ringwraith characters.
· A Ringwraith may not use a site path that contains Coastal Seas regions.
· A Ringwraith's company may not use region movement.
· A Ringwraith follower is only discarded as described on the mode cards (i.e., Heralded Lord, Black Rider, and Fell Rider). · A Ringwraith follower (see the previous page) may not use any of its special abilities. Ûvatha's ability to automatically join another Ringwraith's company is an exception to this.
· If a body check against a Ringwraith is exactly equal to 7 or 8, the Ringwraith is returned to your hand. You do not lose the game if your Ringwraith is removed in this fashion - you may bring such a Ringwraith back into play in the same fashion as you revealed him in the first place. If this happens to our Ringwraith, you may not reveal a different Ringwraith and your opponent may not reveal the Ringwraith that you returned to your hand.

Note: This represents the Ringwraith's mount being eliminated.

SPLITTING A COMPANY AT A NON-DARKHAVEN SITE
During the organization phase, a company at a non-Darkhaven site may split into two or more companies. The following instructions apply:
· One of the companies may remain at the current site.
· One of the companies may return to the Darkhaven site indicated by the current site's card.
· Any other companies must move to different sites using region movement.

Clarification: These restrictions mean that two companies may not start at the same site and then move to the same site separately (i.e., in such a situation the two companies would have to move as one company).

6 · MOVEMENT
If you have Middle-earth: The Wizards cards (or an appropriate map), there are two ways to move from one site to another. A company can use the site path on a site card (see the Starter Rules) or it can use region cards as its site path to a specific site card (i.e., region movement).

A Ringwraith's company may not use region movement.

If both players agree, they can use region movement as it is used in METW. See page 78 for region movement guidelines.

Clarification: Region movement is not necessary to play this game. Region movement just gives you more options; i.e., with region movement a company need not move to a Darkhaven every other turn. Region cards are not included in MELE. However, the map in the color insert facilitates region movement.

MOVING COMPANIES TO THE SAME NON-DARKHAVEN SITE
During the organization phase, two or more companies may move to the same non-Darkhaven site, but one of the following cases must apply:
· One company may already be at the site. In this case the other company moving to the site must state that its new site card is already in play (the current site card for the non-moving company). This site card remains in play until at least the end of the turn.
· Two or more companies moving to the site must state that the same site face down is their new site card.
In both cases, the two companies must face hazards separately and are then combined at the end of the movement/hazard phase. If two companies end up at a site and combining those companies would violate the limitations on company composition (see page 57), one of these companies must return to its site of origin. Similarly, an effect that causes such a violation is cancelled.

Note: This means that your Ringwraith's company may not move to the same non-Darkhaven site as one of your other companies, since this would result in your Ringwraith joining with other characters.

7 · COMBAT
An untapped character that is not the target of a strike may tap to support a character in the same company that is the target of a strike. The target's prowess is modified by +1 for each supporting character.

Clarification: An ally may tap to give a +1 prowess modification in this manner.

Example: A Cave Drake (two strikes, 10/-) attacks your company which consists of the untapped characters: Gorbag, Snaga, Muzgash, Ufthak, and an Orc Veteran. Cave -drake allows your opponent to assign the strikes, so he assigns them to Gorbag and Muzgash. Gorbag takes his strike without tapping and rolls a 12, easily defeating the attack. Muzgash has He'll Talk played on him, so you want to survive. You tap Snaga, Ufthak, and the Orc Veteran to aid Muzgash in facing the strike. You would also like to tap Gorbag, but you cannot - he was assigned a strike, so he is still a target of this attack. Muzgash has a prowess of 7 versus this attack: 4 (his own prowess) + 1 (Snaga's support) + 1 (Ufthak's support) +1 (Orc Veteran's support).

CANCELING AN AUTOMATIC-ATTACK
A character at one of his home sites may tap to cancel one automatic-attack at that home site. This does not apply if a character's home site is not a specific site (e.g., an Orc with an "Any Dark-hold" home site may not cancel an attack in this fashion).

MARSHALLING POINTS
You only receive kill marshalling points for defeating a creature with an * next to its marshalling points. You may use the creature's card as a trophy card (see below) or you may place the card in your marshalling point pile.

Note: A Wizard player does not receive marshalling points for defeating such a creature with an * next to its marshalling points.

If you defeat a creature that does not have an * next to its marshalling points, you may use the creature's card as a trophy card (see below) or you may place the card in your out-of-play pile. You do not receive marshalling points for defeating it.

Note: You do not receive marshalling point