Turn Sequence Rulings
Beginning of the Game
-
If a character is put in the deck due to duplication in the starting company,
then it does not count against the ten character limit.
-
You should roll dice for the whole game.
-
Your starting company can only contain 20 points of unmodified mind.
-
Non-character cards duplicated in the character draft may not be placed
into the play deck.
-
Your staring hand is eight cards, regardless of what characters = you have
at particular sites.
Untap Phase
-
Corruption checks triggered at the end of the untap phase happen after
everyone untaps.
Organization Phase
Choosing a New Site
-
Rules Erratum: When a company splits, any of the resulting
companies can move with region movement. Region movement is not limited
to one company of a split.
-
Any single site path cannot have more than one copy of a particular region.
-
Any company may declare as its new site a site already on the table. That
site will remain on the table at least until the end of that company's
movement/hazard phase.
-
Two companies may not start at the same site of origin and move to the
same new site.
-
Effects that are played during the organization phase, and depend on the
site or site path of a moving company, create an effect which is not declared
until the new site is revealed. If the site or site path is not of the
appropriate type when the effect resolves, the resource has no effect.
If the company has multiple movement/hazard phases on the same turn, the
card applies separately to each phase, having an effect only if the correct
conditions are met.
Followers
-
A character cannot use a bonus to direct influence against Blue Mountain
Dwarves to control characters with the home site Blue Mountain Dwarf-hold.
The bonus only applies to the faction.
-
Bonuses to direct influence against characters apply only once, not for
each character.
Organizing Companies
-
When a company splits up, its player chooses which characters are the original
company and which characters are a new company, unless otherwise directed
by a card. All resource permanent-events played on the original company
stay with the original company.
-
Company composition changes that you choose to make, including bringing
a character into play, must all be done at the same time during the organization
phase. During this time no other actions may be taken.
-
If a company splits, all but one of the split companies must attempt to
move to a different site this turn. The company may not rejoin in the same
phase.
-
You may transfer a character from one company at a site to another, without
creating a third company.
-
See also Rulings by Term, Company and Influence.
Playing Characters
-
Rules Erratum: You may play a character even if you do not
have enough influence to control them. However, if there are any characters
you do not have the influence to control at the end of your organization
phase, the character you brought into play this turn must be returned to
your hand.
-
If you play a Ringwraith at a non-Darkahven site where there is one of
your non-Ringwraith comapnies, one of the companies must move that turn.
If both companies are still there at the end of the movement/hazard phase,
discard the non-Rinwraith company.
Storing Items
-
Minions who roll equal to or one less than their accumulated corruption
when storing an item are only tapped.
-
A minion who taps from a corruption check for storing/transferring an item
still successfully stores/transfers that item.
Long Event Phase
Movement/Hazard Phase
General
-
Annotation 25: A company is considered to be at the site given by
its site card at all times except from the moment their new site card is
revealed during their movement/hazard phase until their old site card is
discarded during the same movement/hazard phase. During this period a company
is considered to be en route between sites and not at any site.
-
Annotation 25a: A company's movement/hazard phase is concluded when
a moving company removes its site of origin and both players agree to reconcile
(discard down to/draw up to) their hand sizes. No resources (and obviously
no hazards) can be played, and no resource effects can be activated, until
the site phase or until both players have drawn cards for the movement
of a following company.
-
Annotation 25b: Players drawing cards when a new site is revealed
is synonymous with the resolution of the new site being revealed. It happens
immediately, not in the following chain of effects.
-
Annotation 26: If at the start of a player's movement/hazard phase,
there are multiple effects in play such that their net effect depends on
the order they are applied, the player who is currently not taking his
turn (i.e., the hazard player) decides the order in which they are to be
applied. Once this interpretation is established, all further actions are
applied in the order they are resolved for the rest of the turn.
-
Once the effects of an environment card have been applied to a target during
a given movement/hazard phase, that effect is not applied again to that
target during the current turn.
-
When you draw cards for movement, you may continue drawing cards until
you either want to stop, or have drawn the number of cards allowed for
the movement.
-
Companies at the same non-Haven/non-Darkhaven site must join at the end
of all movement/hazard phases, before the site phase starts. Companies
at the same Haven/Darkhaven site may join at this time.
-
If companies would join at the end of the movement/hazard phase such that
the company composition rules are violated, one company of the hazard player's
choice must return to its site of origin.
-
If two companies join at a site, cards affecting one of the companies now
affect them both.
-
Removing the site of origin and resetting to hand size are simultaneous
actions, and they are the last actions in any movement/hazard phase. This
means a moving company is not at a site until the site phase.
-
The same region (as in region card) may not occur twice in a single site
path.
-
A non-moving company's current site is considered its new site for card
play.
Movement
General
-
If a company does not move, it still has a movement/hazard phase. No cards
are drawn based on the company's movement, and the only hazards that can
be played on the company are events and creatures that can be keyed to
the company's site.
-
Lebennin and Ithilien are not adjacent, even though they look that way
on some maps.
-
If a company moves twice in one turn, resources played during the organization
phase, like Secret Passage, are reapplied to the company at the
beginning of each of their movement/hazard phases, if the conditions of
the card are met.
-
If both players have access to region movement, then neither player may
be stopped from using region movement. Access includes region cards or
an appropriate map.
Playing Hazards
-
Some hazard permanent-events allow you to tap or discard them for an effect,
and this does not count against the hazard limit unless specified otherwise
on the card.
-
Hazards may only be played on a company whose movement/hazard phase is
being resolved, or on the site they are moving to. Long-events and permanent-events
may effect more than one company even though they are only played "on"
one company.
-
If a card must be keyed to two or more instances of a region type, those
region types do not have to be consecutive in the site path.
-
If you say you are done playing hazards and your opponent plays a resource
before the movement/hazard phase ends, you may then resume playing hazards,
assuming you have not yet reached the hazard limit.
-
If a company is moving from a surface site to an Under-deeps site, hazards
may not be played keyed to the region of the surface site.
-
Angmar Arises, In Darkness Bind Them, and Reaching Shadow
may not be used to play creatures keyed to double shadow-lands.
-
A creature "played at" a site is the same as being "keyed to" the site.
-
A creature "played at a site in" a region is the same as being "keyed to"
the site by name.
-
For the purposes of interpreting hazards, no Darkhaven or Haven has a site
path except for Geann a-Lisch.
-
You check the hazard limit at declaration and resolution. At declaration
there must be less hazards already declared than the hazard limit. At resolution
there must be no more hazards declared than the hazard limit.
Returning to Site of Origin
-
If a company returns to its site of origin, its site path immediately disappears,
and its movement/hazard phase immediately ends.
-
An effect that returns a company to its site of origin may not be declared
in the middle of an attack.
Combat
General
-
Side effects of losing a character are resolved immediately after the character
is lost, before other characters resolve their strikes.
-
All strikes of an attack must be assigned before any are resolved.
-
See also Rulings by Term, Ally and Body Check; and Turn Sequence, Site
Phase, Company vs. Company Combat.
Attack
-
Annotation 12: An attack is considered to be resolved and concluded
when the final strike, all special actions resulting from the final strike,
and the associated body check are resolved.
-
Annotation 13: An attack may not be canceled once its strikes have
been assigned. A strike may not be canceled once the dice-roll for the
strike has been made.
-
Annotation 14: A canceled attack has no effect on its target company,
except that the company is considered in its history to have faced the
attack.
-
Annotation 15: An attack must be the first declared action in a
chain of effects; i.e., a creature card may not be played in response to
another card in the same chain of effects. Revealing an on-guard creature
is an exception.
-
In order to cancel an attack or to directly affect an attack, the character
doing so must be in the company facing the attack. Note that the region/site
type a hazard creature was keyed to can be affected otherwise.
-
Cards only modify attacks if they say they specifically mention attacks.
-
When a minion company defeats an attack with no * by the MPs, the creature
goes to the out-of-play pile belonging to the person who played the attack.
They may still be taken as a trophy, but go to the appropriate out-of-play
pile when the trophy is discarded.
-
Excess strikes applied as -1 modifiers do not have to have their body defeated.
-
If an attack states all characters in a company face a strike, then effects
which allow a character to face more than one strike have no effect against
the attack. Similarly, effects that change the attack's number of strikes
have no effect. As an exception, effects which reduce the number of strikes
to a specific number do work.
-
Any effect that would change the number of strikes for an attack may not
be played after strikes are assigned. This includes cards that have other
additional effects, and cards that only indirectly change the number of
strikes.
-
Attacks created by events are not keyed to anything unless specifically
stated as being keyed to something on the card.
-
There are three levels of cards which reassign strikes. Alatar is the top
level, and overrides any other conflicting card which changes the assignment
of strikes. Cards which say they "always" or "in all cases" change the
assignment of strikes are the next level, and override any other conflicting
effects except Alatar. Cards which say they change the assignment of strikes
"regardless of ..." certain factors are the third level, and are overridden
by all other effects from conflicting cards. If two effects on the same
level conflict, the resource overrides the hazard.
-
If an attack can not be cancelled, strikes from the attack may still be
cancelled.
-
An attack is considered faced by a company if it successfully resolves
in its chain of effects.
-
Attacks or strikes keyed by name to a region or site cannot be cancelled
by effects which refer only to the type of the region or site.
The Strike Sequence
-
Annotation 16: When a wounded character becomes unwounded, he is
considered in his history to have been wounded and must face any special
actions the wounding strike presented him.
-
Annotation 17: The only actions that may be declared during a strike
sequence are those outlined in Annotation 18.
-
Annotation 18: When a defending player chooses to resolve a strike
against a particular character, the only actions that may be taken by either
player until the strike dice-roll is made are the following: playing hazard
cards that affect the strike, the attacker may decide to use any or all
of his remaining -1 modifications due to strikes in excess of the company's
size, a target untapped character may take a -3 modification so that he
will not automatically tap, and the defending character may play resource
cards that affect the strike. An action that has the condition that a target
character tap, but which otherwise has an effect not outlined here, may
not be declared at this point. This is true even if the recipient of the
strike would be the target character tapping and thus receive -1 to his
prowess.
-
Annotation 19: Following each successful strike or failed strike,
a body check must be rolled (unless the failed strike has no body). However,
if the strike calls for any special actions to follow it (e.g., a character
wounded by William may be required to discard his items), these
special actions are resolved before the body check. The body check is the
first declared action in a nested chain of effects that immediately follows
the strike dice-roll and special actions resulting from the strike. Other
actions may be declared in response to a body check, in the same chain
of effects, but these are limited to those actions that directly affect
the body check dice-roll. E.G., Tookish Blood could not be declared
in response to the body check caused by Giant Spiders wounding a
Hobbit. No action may be declared in response to a special action resulting
from a strike unless the special action is a dice-rolling action, i.e.,
a special action is generally considered synonymous with the strike dice-roll.
If the special action is a dice-rolling action, an action may be declared
in response to it if the action directly affects the dice-roll.
-
Annotation 20: If more than one special action is to follow a strike,
the defending player decides the order they are resolved.
-
Annotation 21: A successful strike against a character is synonymous
with that character being wounded; i.e., inverting a character card on
the playing surface is not a separate action from the successful strike.
-
Wounded characters only suffer a -2 prowess. In general, wounded characters
are not considered tapped.
-
Non-item prowess bonuses are applied in the order the player controlling
the character decides.
-
If a character is facing two strikes, and the first strike kills the character,
the second strike is considered successful.
-
There is time between the strike sequences to take actions that are otherwise
legal.
Site Phase
General
-
Items, factions and allies must be played during the site phase.
-
There is no one resource card per site phase rule. However, the tapping
of the site usually limits you to one card per site phase.
-
The site taps upon successful play of the resource that would tap it.
-
A company may not play any resource during the site phase until they have
faced all automatic-attacks, unless that resource directly affects an automatic-attack.
Removing an automatic-attack does not directly affect it, although cancelling
does.
-
You may only play a free minor item after playing an ally, faction, or
item that taps the site.
-
See also Rulings by Term, Item.
-
Play of an ally, item, faction, or resource card which will normally tap
the site must be after the company resolves all automatic, agent and on-guard
creature attacks.
Company vs. Company Combat
-
The defender may take actions that affect the attack or any of the strikes.
The attacker may only take actions that affect individual strikes.
-
True Fána and Sacrifice of Form cannot be used in
company versus company combat.
-
Hazards have no effect on company vs. company combat.
-
Only the defender is considered to be facing an attack, but all characters
are considered to be facing strikes.
-
Tapped defending characters choose their strikes after untapped attacking
characters have assigned their strikes.
-
Minion and hero companies can attack each other. Hero companies may not
attack each other. A Fallen Wizard covert company is considered a hero
company.
-
See also Card Rulings, Swarm = of Bats.
Automatic-attacks
-
A card that can cancel an attack can cancel an automatic-attack, and this
counts as facing the automatic-attack.
-
Automatic-attacks added to a site are faced after the normal automatic-events
for the site. Multiple automatic-attacks are faced in the order listed
and/or resolved.
-
Company composition and overt/covert status is checked before each automatic
attack.
-
Any character may tap to cancel one automatic-attack at his home site.
-
The only resources you may play against automatic-attacks are ones that
cancel the attack, cancel a strike, or would be otherwise playable during
the strike sequence.
Influence Attempts
-
It is not possible to influence an item away from a Wizard or Ringwraith.
-
You may influence a Hobbit if you are not at Bag End.
-
A successful influence attempt on an opponent's resource does not tap the
site.
-
You may only make one influence attempt against your opponent's resources
during each turn.
-
When influencing factions across alignments, you roll against the number
on the card in play that you are trying to influence away.
-
For a Fallen-wizard, the resource revealed must match the alignment of
the site at which the attempt is taking place.
On-Guard Cards
-
Rules Erratum: An on-guard card may only be revealed if it
could have also been played during the movement/hazard phase. This means
all targets of the card must have existed during the movement/hazard phase
in order for the card to be revealed.
-
A revealed on-guard card retroactively takes effect as though it were both
declared and resolved immediately prior to the chain of effects during
which it was revealed.
-
An on-guard card may be revealed when the company plays a resource that
potentially taps the site. The card must affect the company or a character
in the company that site phase. Note that this clarification is looser
than the rule printed on page 61 of the Unlimited Rules book.
-
A successful ring test does not allow an on-guard card to be revealed.
-
You may reveal a card in response to an influence attempt against a faction
even if the on-guard card only has an effect if the attempt is successful.
You may also reveal a card in response to such an attempt that affects
the actual influence attempt.
-
Only declared or on-going cards and effects can be considered when determining
the validity of revealing an on-guard card. Potential effects that have
not been triggered cannot be considered.
-
A card cannot be revealed that:
-
Returns a company to its site of origin.
-
Taps a company's site.
-
Potentially removes a character from a company, besides combat or corruption
checks.
-
Forces a company to do nothing during its site phase.
-
Directly taps a character in the company.
-
A card that potentially removes an ally from the company can be revealed,
so long as it otherwise is legal.
-
The on-guard card is not considered to be in any player's hand.
-
When an on-guard card is revealed, it immediately ceases to be considered
an on-guard card.
-
Creatures may only be revealed on-guard if there is an automatic-attack
at the site.
-
If two companies are at a Haven, on-guard cards played on one company can
only be revealed against that company, and can only affect that company
(unless the hazard states it affects all versions of the site).
-
See also Rulings By Term, Burglary Attempts.
End-of-Turn Phase
-
End-of-turn effects are triggered by the ending of the End-of-Turn phase.
Once both players are done with all actions in the End-of-Turn phase, all
End-of-Turn effects are declared and resolved in the order chosen by the
current player. No further actions may be declared that turn.
-
Cards may be played during the End-of-Turn phase after hand size has been
reconciled.
-
Replacing one site with another at the end of the turn counts as movement,
without a movement/hazard phase.
End-of-Game
-
These rulings apply to any end game, whether it is the Free Council, the
Audience with Sauron, or the Day of Reckoning.
-
Characters may tap to aid corruption checks, if they are in the same company.
-
Long- and permanent-events still in play will still have an effect.
-
Only resources that directly affect corruption checks may be played during
the Free Council. This includes cards that reduce a character's corruption
point total or prevent a character from being discarded.
-
When determining if more than half of your marshalling points come from
one type of marshalling point, ignore negative marshalling points. The
easy way to do this is if one category is more than half of your positive
marshalling points, reduce that category to equal all of your other positive
marshalling point categories combined.
-
To calculate marshalling points at the Free Council, follow these steps:
-
Total up the marshalling points for each category. The modifications from
My Precious, factions played on a leader, and eliminated characters
apply now.
-
If your opponent has no points in a category then double your points in
that category. Doubling does not apply to the Miscellaneous or Kill categories.
-
If one of your categories accounts for more than half of your positive
marshalling point total, reduce it so that it has the same number of points
as the rest of your positive categories combined.
-
Subtract any points that are subtracted from your total, including points
from unique resources your opponent has duplicated in his hand.
-
See also Rulings by Term, Under-deeps.
-
Marshalling points that minions have at an Under-deeps site do not count
for calling the Audience with Sauron, but do count at the Audience with
Sauron.
-
You may only call the Free Council if you have met the deck cycling and
marshalling point requirements, not if only your opponent has.
-
You may not recieve kill MPs from a card you played.
-
MPs from special and minor items count as item MPs.
Back to CRF
© 2001. All rights reserved by their respective owners.