become the active player

1. Game Flow Game Flow Turn Sequence Turn Sequence S End of Scenario Mount Doom Special Actions Special Actions Mount Doom End of Scenario ring-bearer puts on ring play gandalf card ring bearer draw 1 nazgul card active player picks, plays card roll, apply die ring-bearer puts on ring play gandalf card roll, apply die draw 1 nazgul card ring bearer active player picks, plays card move on activity line move on activity line place event tiles drawn here place cards played here place event tiles drawn here place cards played here 0A 1 S 2A 3 FF FF any player plays yellow card black rider meets ring bearer active player defeats left-most foe by cost black rider meets ring bearer any player plays yellow card active player defeats leftmost foe by cost 0B FF invoke sauron with ￭ invoke sauron with ￭ check for 8 foes check for 8 foes check for 8 foes 1A 1B frodo sam fatty merry pippin execute tile by type event tiles sam merry fatty pippin frodo execute tile by type event tiles play hobbit cards clear up tiles, cards play hobbit cards clear up tiles, cards FF S reveal foe if 1st tile reveal foe if 1st tile other no sundial activity yes yes other sundial activity no advance on activity line advance on activity line fill hand out to 6 sauron cards fill hand out to 6 sauron cards invoke sauron invoke sauron S S S S 2B turn black rider any player discards 5 ￭ put ring on figure turn black rider any player discards 5 ￭ put ring on figure reveal an event tile reveal an event tile (except Mordor) (except Mordor) do a non-card activity do a non-card activity DE become the active player play 2nd card, of other color (except pippin) play 2nd card, of other color (except pippin) become the active player play 1 sauron card (1 conseq) play 1 sauron card (all conseq) draw 1 sauron card play 1 sauron card (all conseq) play 1 sauron card (1 conseq) play 1 nazgul card play 1 nazgul card FF S S suffer consequences suffer consequences do nothing move 1 space toward light draw 2 hobbit cards defeat left-most foe, no cost do nothing move 1 space toward light draw 2 hobbit cards defeat left-most foe, no cost apply instructions apply instructions apply symbol apply symbol reject the tile? (not 2 in a row) reject the tile? (not 2 in a row) ring bearer chosen, draws 2 cards sauron fills hand to 6 cards if not over, next player put ring on volcano player tries to destroy ring reset board, tokens, tiles push black rider back 3 life token costs reset black rider fatty draws 2 cards draw nazgul card ring bearer chosen, draws 2 cards push black rider back 3 if not over, next player player tries to destroy ring sauron fills hand to 6 cards fatty draws 2 cards life token costs put ring on volcano reset black rider draw nazgul card reset board, tokens, tiles draw 1 sauron card art 2002 www.john-howe.com

2. LORD OF THERINGS Legend Legend sequence sequence GAME FLOW options options substeps substeps basic game basic game friends and foes friends and foes sauron sauron dark events dark events III. Setup Place the flow chart along the lower edge of the scenario board, as shown in the figure. Find tokens to use on it – pieces from other games, or even coins will do. The chart and its tokens remain in play through all scenarios. IV. Usage Use one token to show the active player: place it on the colored circle for the player. (Alternatively, place it on the player’s character card.) While on the main board, the active player is the ring-bearer; in scenarios, the active player rotates clockwise, starting with the ring-bearer. Use another token to show the current turn phase. At the start of each turn, place it on space 0A, and move it around as the turn progresses; the flowchart helps remember what steps come next. As seen in the legend, different arrows have different meanings. Solid arrows are sequential events, one happening after another; dashed arrows show (exclusive) choices; dotted arrows lead to substep. When getting used to the game, you will probably want to follow the chart through the substep details, for example for playing event tiles; when you are familiar with the game, you may just prefer to leave the token on the “1. Event Tiles” circle. Green arrows and circles are for the basic game, while other colors show steps that come with the different expansions. Steps unique to an expansion also have its initials in the circles, which are ignored if not using the expansion. When playing with an expansion, follow its solid arrows in preference to green arrows (e.g. 0A before 1); colored dashed arrows give more choices. A scenario ends immediately after the last event or the last step of the main line is resolved. Skip all the remaining steps of a turn, except for “3. Clear up”; then move the phase token to the “Mount Doom” line if in Mordor, or the “End of Scenario” line otherwise, and follow their steps. • You may use additional tokens when anytime actions or special events occur (such as playing a Gandalf card), to point out that they are happening, and to keep track of their substeps, if any. • There are spaces on the chart for placing cards and event tiles used during the turn. (If playing Dark Events, you can simply flip the top event tile to reject it, making sure the one underneath is not already flipped.) At the end of the turn (step 3) these cards and tiles are moved to the main discard piles. Even if you don’t use these spaces, it is good to keep the items separate from the main discard piles, because some things (e.g. the Gwaihir resource card) refer only to the cards played during the current turn; and you are not allowed to browse through the discard pile but presumably can through the current turn’s cards. • V. Notes • I found this aide useful for several purposes, which may help other players as well: • It helped me remember some things I was a bit likely to forget: giving Fatty or the ring-bearer 2 cards at the end of scenarios; revealing a Foe card if the first tile is an activity; not resetting the black rider at the end of Mordor; etc. • If playing solo (a common occurrence), it helps me remember the current state of the game if I need to leave the game for a short or long while. • It helps me keep focused on what happens next for quicker playing (most needed when playing solo :). • I used this flowchart format because it fit in with the style of the other game boards, even though it takes more room than compact tables and lists. In its first version it was as big as a scenario board (22"x11"), but that was a bit large even for the dining room table, so I made it almost as small as the main board. • This format also allowed me to use more of John Howe’s wonderful Tolkien artwork. The background is a montage downloaded from www.john-howe.com. (I reversed it because I prefer the Shire setting at the left.) • A complex flow chart can appear overwhelming at first glance, so I tried to make it as simple as I could, while preserving its function to summarize the steps and substeps of play. I combined a few substeps, and shoved the charts for ends-of-scenario and special events into the last panel, leaving the rest for the player turn. At its core, a LotR turn is simply 0) start turn, 1) event tiles, 2) card play or other action, and 3) clean up, as shown in the line across the top. The devil is in the details, though, so if at first it seems confusing, try it out and it should get clearer with experience. • VI. Acknowledgements • Besides the obvious gratitude to J.R.R.Tolkien for the original story and Reiner Knizia for his gaming adaptation of it, I am grateful to: • John Howe, for painting his skilled and moving interpretations of Tolkien’s world, for putting them on the web , and for his gracious personal permission in using his art. • Chris Lawson, for his help to Knizia in playtesting the game, and for putting his detailed notes online. The numbering scheme for the steps in a turn follows those notes. • My wife Meg and daughter Tara for playtesting help. • Comments and suggestions are welcome; please post them to the BGG forums. • Barliman (Bryan Stout) • VII. Versions • 1.1 First version used Kelt font for all B&W text; it looks much like the special font for the LotR game. But many won’t have it, so I changed to to Times New Roman, and reduced the font size. The Kelt font can be gotten at http://valkyriepub.tripod.com/kelt.htm ; follow the instructions there. “Lord of the Rings” Game Flow Chart I. Introduction This is player aide for Knizia’s “Lord of the Rings” board game. It is meant to help the players keep track of the steps in individual turns, similar to the way the pieces of the game keep track of the progress between and within scenarios. II. Assembly The chart was built at half size, so print it out at double size, ending up about 22" x 8". How you do this depends on your printer options, e.g. enlarge 200%, and poster print, 2x2. Assemble the pieces, then mount and/or laminate it as you wish. Main board Scenario board MORIA Game flow chart