Fantasy Flight Games

Sins of the Past

Published 24 September 2015 | The Lord of the Rings LCG

Sins of the Past

The Treachery of Rhudaur Is Now Available for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game

“Men once dwelt here, ages ago; but none remain now. They became an evil people, as legends tell, for they fell under the shadow of Angmar. But all were destroyed in the war that brought the North Kingdom to its end. But that is now so long ago that the hills have forgotten them, though a shadow still lies on the land.”
–J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

Your desperate search for Iárion has led you from the Goblin dungeons of Mount Gram, across the perilous troll-fells, and into the ancient lands once inhabited by the men of Rhudaur before they fell under the shadow of Angmar. Although evil lies both before and behind you, the ruined keep that you have found may well hold some clue to the fate of your friend. Join Amarthíul and battle Undead spirits in The Treachery of Rhudaur, the fourth Adventure Pack in the Angmar Awakened cycle for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, now available online through our webstore and at your local United States retailer!

The servants of Sauron may hide within this ruined keep at the heart of Rhudaur, but the chance to discover vital information is worth braving its crumbling hallways and mouldering catacombs. Now, you can search the ruins for clues with a new Noldor hero, Erestor (The Treachery of Rhudaur, 84), who features a powerful, innovative ability. For more insight into the decks you can build with Erestor and The Treachery of Rhudaur, here’s developer Matt Newman.

Discarded Legacy

Greetings, The Lord of the Rings players!

Today I’m here to share with you a fun deck concept based around the Noldor-themed cards in the Angmar Awakened cycle, and The Treachery of Rhudaur Adventure Pack in particular. This deck focuses on discarding cards from your hand to power all kinds of effects, and requires only one copy of the Core Set. The end goal is to create a few powerhouse characters who can handle both questing and combat. Once your ideal fellowship has been created, your wealth of cards can be discarded to speed through locations and deal with waves of enemies with relative ease.

Deck Created with CardGameDB.com The Lord of the Rings Deckbuilder

Total Cards: (65)

Hero: (3) Starting Threat: 28
1x Erestor (The Treachery of Rhudaur)
1x Legolas (Core Set)
1x Eowyn (Core Set)

Ally: (25)

3x Galadhrim Weaver (The Treachery of Rhudaur)
3x Elven Jeweler (Escape from Mount Gram)
3x Trollshaw Scout (Foundations of Stone)
3x Watcher of the Bruinen (The Watcher in the Water)
3x Silvan Refugee (The Drúadan Forest)
2x Galdor of the Havens (The Treachery of Rhudaur)
2x Arwen Undomiel (The Watcher in the Water)
2x Gildor Inglorion (The Hills of Emyn Muil)
2x Gleowine (Core Set)
2x Gandalf (Core Set)

Attachment: (18)

2x Silver Harp (The Treachery of Rhudaur)
2x Elven Spear (The Treachery of Rhudaur)
2x Steed of Imladris (Across the Ettenmoors)
2x Elven Mail (The Three Trials)
2x Rivendell Blade (Road to Rivendell)
2x Light of Valinor (Foundations of Stone)
2x A Burning Brand (Conflict at the Carrock)
2x Cloak of Lórien (Celebrimbor's Secret)
2x Protector of Lorien (Core Set)

Event: (22)

3x Stand and Fight (Core Set)
2x Fair and Perilous (Across the Ettenmoors)
2x Feint (Core Set)
2x Hands Upon the Bow (Shadow and Flame)
2x A Test of Will (Core Set)
2x Children of the Sea (The Blood of Gondor)
2x Elrond's Counsel (The Watcher in the Water)
2x Will of the West (Core Set)
2x Daeron's Runes (Foundations of Stone)
2x A Good Harvest (The Steward's Fear)
1x Dwarven Tomb (Core Set)

This sixty-five-card deck contains many of the new cards in The Treachery of Rhudaur Adventure Pack. Erestor is, of course, the star of the show. His ability to draw three additional cards every turn supplies you with the card draw you need to take advantage of the Noldor discard strategy. Sixty-five cards is large for a player deck in The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, but with Erestor’s ability to churn through your deck looking for just the right cards, you’ll barely notice the difference. Unfortunately, thanks to Erestor’s Forced effect, many other great card draw effects, such as Ancient Mathom and Peace and Thought, become less useful to you, since you can’t hold onto the cards you draw.

What really makes the deck shine is the Silver Harp. This card allows you to return a card discarded from your hand back to your hand once each turn, creating an engine that fuels a lot of your other card effects. Be sure to drop the very first Silver Harp you find on Éowyn—it makes the deck flow much better! If you draw a second one, you can attach it to Éowyn, allowing you to use its ability twice per turn, or discard it and save Éowyn’s other Restricted slot for a Steed of Imladris.

Playing Discarded Legacy

I won’t sugar-coat it—your first turn with this deck might be a little rough. Because you are playing with three spheres and Erestor can’t hold onto any cards you start with, your massive ten card starting hand is likely going to contain a lot of duds. But you have a few things that can help. If you start with A Good Harvest, you can use it to play any of the two-cost cards in your starting hand, most importantly the Silver Harp. A first turn Silvan Refugee, Protector of Lórien, Light of Valinor, or Rivendell Blade can also be very useful. Since Elven Spear is free, you can drop as many of those as you draw from your opening hand, as well. Finally, you can play as many Elven Jewelers as you draw by simply discarding other cards. With any luck, you’ll have a fairly decent opening turn.

The most important thing when playing with Erestor is to remember that your excess cards are essentially garbage at the end of your turn, so be liberal when choosing to discard them. There are a lot of effects you can trigger by discarding cards. Right off the bat, you can discard one card every turn to give Éowyn a heightened willpower. If you get an early Protector of Lórien and place it on Erestor, you can discard up to three cards every turn to boost his willpower or defense. Drop an Elven Spear on Legolas and use it in conjunction with Hands Upon the Bow to completely destroy a powerful enemy in the staging area. Location-locked? No worries! Drop a Steed of Imladris on Erestor or Éowyn and use it to clear the location faster. Remember: use them or lose them!

This deck contains a few other tricks you can use to mitigate the loss of your cards. The most important one is Will of the West to keep you from being caught without a deck during a particularly long game. Another trick is using Galadhrim Weaver to cycle important cards you’ve discarded back into your deck. For example, let’s say you draw A Test of Will and end up not revealing any treachery cards that turn. When you discard the cards in your hand, leave A Test of Will on top (since you can choose the card order when the cards are simultaneously discarded). Next turn, shuffle A Test of Will back into your deck with Galadhrim Weaver. Stand and Fight and Dwarven Tomb can also bring important allies or events back once they’re discarded.

With enough time and luck, your eventual goal is to get a Watcher of the Bruinen and Trollshaw Scout into play and load them up with attachments. Many of the combat-focused attachments in this deck can be played on allies, and these two allies are especially suitable since they can attack or defend multiple times per turn by discarding cards. A Watcher of the Bruinen with a Cloak of Lórien and Elven Mail can defend with three to four defense multiple times per turn. A Trollshaw Scout with one or two Rivendell Blades can attack for two while ignoring some of an enemy’s defense. Combined with Legolas, this should be enough to handle many enemies, provided you have the cards to discard. If you need a stronger defender, Erestor with Cloak of Lórien, A Burning Brand, and Protector of Lórien can do great, or you can play Gildor Inglorian and give him Cloak of Lórien and A Burning Brand. The possibilities are extensive, which is helpful, since you never know what array of cards you’ll draw next turn.

Modifying Discarded Legacy

This is a decent framework for a deck, but there are many ways it can be modified and grown. If you have a second copy of the Core Set, you can throw in more copies of Will of the West, A Test of Will, and Dwarven Tomb. This deck has a heavy emphasis on theme, but there are many other cards that make for good picks—some of the Ents in the Lore sphere make good additions since they’re relatively cheap.

Another interesting modification is to trade Éowyn out for Galadriel. In addition to being a more thematic pick, Galadriel’s additional card draw can help if you find that you have too many discard card effects and not enough cards in your hand to trigger them. Additionally, you can use the Mirror of Galadriel in conjunction with the Silver Harp to search the top ten cards of your deck for any card, discard a card at random, and then get that card back. C-c-c-combo!

Last but not least, there are several cards that will definitely improve this deck in The Battle of Carn Dûm and The Dread Realm, which I’m excited for players to see. Be sure to revisit this deck with the new cards when those Adventure Packs arrive!

Thanks, Matt!

None Remain Now

Will you explore the tricks of the Noldor by discarding cards freely? Or will you venture into the depths of Rhudaur to face the darkness within? Enter the northern realms of Middle-earth and survive the evil that haunts this mansion in The Treachery of Rhudaur, now available at your local United States retailer!

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The Lord of the Rings and the characters, events, items and places therein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Middle-earth Enterprises, LLC and are used under license by Fantasy Flight Games.

Breakfast Gone Bad

Published 16 September 2015 | The Lord of the Rings LCG

Breakfast Gone Bad

Second Breakfast Takes on The Treachery of Rhudaur

"When all was ready the host crossed the Lune and marched north to challenge the Witch-king of Angmar. He was now dwelling, it is said, in Fornost, which he had filled with evil folk, usurping the house and rule of the kings."
–J.R.R. Tolkien, "Gondor and the Heirs of Anárion"

At times, the developers of The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game pause amid their endless march toward the fires of Mount Doom, set down their burdens, and join us for an installment of Second Breakfast, in which they share their thoughts and observations on the game we love. Lately, developer Matthew Newman has met with us at each step along our journey through the Angmar Awakened cycle of Adventure Packs. He's shared his insights into the development of the region's aesthetics and discussed the origin of some the cycle's new mechanics.

Today, now that we've completed our arduous and perilous trek Across the Ettenmoors, Matt joins us once again to break bread and regale us with the stories of the haunted lands that lie before us. Yes, today, we get to hear something of a ghost story as Matt addresses many of the invisible forces at work in The Treachery of Rhudaur…

Lead Developer Matthew Newman on The Treachery of Rhudaur

Mae govannen!

In today's look at the Angmar Awakened cycle, we’re going to delve into the past with an exploration of The Treachery of Rhudaur.

Rhudaur is an area of Middle-earth with a rich history. Many hundreds of years before the timeline of The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, the Dúnedain kingdom of Arnor was dissolved, and Rhudaur emerged as a kingdom of its own. Over time the kingdom declined, and in its final years, it was no longer led by noble men of Númenórean blood, but by evil men under the service of Angmar. Rhudaur became a vassal of Angmar and fought against the other Dúnedain kingdoms.

This is the dark and bloody history of Rhudaur, and it is this history that The Treachery of Rhudaur ties to the story of Iârion and our heroes.

Invisible Forces and Haunted Ruins

Because the ancestral ruins that you explore in The Treachery of Rhudaur have such a dark and bloody past, it seemed appropriate for them to be haunted, in both the metaphorical and literal sense, and we designed the scenario so that it would both look and feel like you were exploring the darkest secrets of a haunted house. As I like to say, The Treachery of Rhudaur is something like our “Mansions of Madness in Middle-earth” scenario.

Naturally, establishing the right mood was critical, so we needed the art to really deliver on the scenario's sense of melancholy and quiet despair. Thankfully, our art director, Zoë Robinson, was completely on board. Zoë may not have created any of the pieces that you'll see on the cards, but her dedication to the scenario’s mood and her ability to convey our vision to our artists was instrumental in helping to unify all the work they provided. Additionally, she played an important role in identifying some valuable inspiration for our artists, and we modeled the ruins themselves off of Scottish ruins and castellated mansions like Finlarig and Monzie.

There's another visual element that helps tie the story and art together—the symbol of the hawk-in-flight that appears in many of the art pieces. If it doesn’t ring any bells, you only need to look at the pendant worn by Iârion or at the set icon for the Angmar Awakened cycle. Like the ruins you'll explore, this symbol also bears its own secrets, whispering of forgotten names and ancient deeds.

This symbol was drawn early in the cycle's design by graphic designer Mercedes Opheim so that we could send it to our contributing artists and they could include it in their art. This may be just a small detail, but the symbol appears in a significant number of places throughout the scenario and really helps to bring its story full-circle.

In the end, a scenario in The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game isn't just a collection of mechanics. It's an experience that comes together with mechanics, art, and mood, and it takes people like Zoë, Mercedes, and all of our talented artists in order to create an adventure that really draws you in and captures your imagination. My hope is that, as you are inspired by the scenario's haunting art, you'll be interested in more than just making progress on a series of quest stages; you will actually want to discover what horrors happened in this once-beautiful place.

Fortunately, if you do find yourself interested in the scenario's mysteries, you can find clues in the form of objectives, which appear on the back side of the three Side Quests that you put into play at the beginning of the game. These objectives allow you to piece together the story of the ruins that your heroes are exploring, even as your heroes are piecing together the clues themselves. These aren’t just generic clues, either—they are genuine pieces of the story, each of which adds its own flavor and narrative.

Its dark secrets and restless spirits make The Treachery of Rhudaur one of my favorite scenarios in the Angmar Awakened cycle, and I hope you enjoy its mystery and mood as much as I do. Join us next time when the action heats up to critical mass and we take a look at a truly epic scenario, The Battle of Carn Dûm!

The Rusted Gate Opens with a Creak…

You won't have to wait long to pass through the gates of the ruined estate featured in The Treachery of Rhudaur; this mysterious scenario for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game is scheduled to arrive at retailers in the United States later next week!

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The Treachery of Rhudaur

Published 8 May 2015 | The Lord of the Rings LCG

The Treachery of Rhudaur

Announcing the Fourth Adventure Pack in the Angmar Awakened Cycle

"A great host came out of Angmar in 1409, and crossing the river entered Cardolan and surrounded Weathertop. The Dúnedain were defeated and Arveleg was slain. The Tower of Amon Sûl was burned and razed; but the palantír was saved and carried back in retreat to Fornost, Rhudaur was occupied by evil Men subject to Angmar, and the Dúnedain that remained there were slain or fled west."
–J.R.R. Tolkien, "Eriador, Arnor, and the Heirs of Isildur"

Fantasy Flight Games is proud to announce the upcoming release of The Treachery of Rhudaur, the fourth Adventure Pack in the Angmar Awakened cycle for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game!

Accompanied by the young Dúnedain Ranger Amarthíul, a handful of Middle-earth's greatest heroes make their way out of the deadly troll-fells and into the crumbling ruins of Rhudaur. Their path leads them past piece after piece of evidence of the region's historic collapse; they cross through tattered cities and make their way around towers of stone and rubble, long forgotten and ravaged by years of disrepair.

At length, even as they can still sense the evils that have pursued them since the dungeons of Mount Gram, the heroes come across the remnants of a keep marked by the same symbol that appears on the pendant that Amarthíul inherited from the captured Ranger, Iárion. They are not safe here, and time is pressing. Still, the heroes realize this ruined keep might hold some clue to the threat currently growing in the North. Despite the dangers, they decide to brave its foreboding stairwells and darkened halls in search of whatever secrets it may yield…

The sixty cards in The Treachery of Rhudaur introduce a new scenario, in which your heroes can explore the subterranean levels and forgotten secrets of a haunted keep. Simultaneously, they enrich the player card pool with a new Noldor hero and three copies each of nine different player cards. Many of these lend additional strength and definition to the Noldor trait, though you'll also find a new Valour action, a new Leadership side quest, and a Lore event that can cancel the effects of any encounter card of which you have a copy in the victory display.

Something Evil Haunts It

The new scenario from The Treachery of Rhudaur allows you and your friends to delve the ruins of a haunted keep in a novel fashion that takes great advantage of the new side quest mechanic first introduced in The Lost Realm deluxe expansion. During setup, stage 1A , Secrets of Rhudaur, instructs you to place each of the three Treachery of Rhudaur side quests into the staging area. Then, stage 1B reads, "During the quest phase, Secrets of Rhudaur cannot be chosen as the current quest."

This means that you must chart your own path through the mysterious tower. However, every direction you turn brings its own perils. One of the side quests reduces the Willpower of all allies by two. One adds an extra point of Threat Strength to every location in the staging area. The third forces the player with the highest threat to immediately engage each Undead enemy as it is revealed from the encounter deck, yet these Undead still contribute their Threat Strength to the staging area.

Still, if you can hold back the Undead and find your way successfully down one of the possible paths, you may uncover one of the three clues hidden amid the ruined tower's crumbling foundation. Each of the three Treachery of Rhudaur side quests instructs you to flip it over once you defeat it. Once flipped, each of these three side quests yields a valuable Clue objective that you can exhaust a hero to pick up and use to your advantage as you carry forward along your mission.

You'll have to hurry, though, if you want to uncover these Clues because you have a limited amount of time before the evils that pursue you discover your location. The quest stage Secrets of Rhudaur remains in the staging area even after you've added the side quests, and it serves as a countdown timer for your exploration. When the last of its five Time counters is removed, any remaining Treachery of Rhudaur side quests are removed from the game, meaning you'll never have a chance to uncover their secrets, nor to benefit from the advantages their Clues might have provided you against the dangers of the dungeon and the malevolent force you've felt hunting you for days.

Lords of the Eldar

Even as its scenario allows you to explore an ancient tower full of Undead and powerful secrets, the player cards in The Treachery of Rhudaur are sure to excite any fan of Tolkien's Elves and the Noldor trait. In his introduction to the Angmar Awakened cycle, lead developer Matt Newman hinted that the cycle's cards would allow you to "explore what it really means to be a Noldor Elf, with cards that introduce a new strategy for the High Elves of Middle-earth." Several of the key cards for this new strategy arrive in The Treachery of Rhudaur, and Matt returns to shed more light upon them:

"Today I’d like to talk about the new sub-theme the Angmar Awakened cycle introduces for the Noldor.

"The Noldor are a people in decline, exiled to Middle-earth many thousands of years ago. While their ultimate fate lies in the Blessed Realm across the ocean, some have chosen to stay in Middle-earth, to protect their realms and aid in the long war against Sauron. Though the wars of the Second Age have taken their toll on the Noldor, there are still Elf-lords among them whose power and wisdom rivals the greatest of Sauron’s servants.

"To represent the inner strength and resolve of a fading people, these new Noldor cards grow in power as cards are discarded from your hand. Some of them have powerful effects that require you to discard cards from your hand as a cost. Others can only be played while they are in your discard pile, requiring you to first discard them, and giving you an avenue with which to trigger other discard effects. Many of these effects breathe new life into older cards such as the Trollshaw Scout (Foundations of Stone, 104) and Watcher of the Bruinen (The Watcher in the Water, 56).

"The hero from The Treachery of Rhudaur is an exciting new embodiment and facilitator of this strategy. Erestor (The Treachery of Rhudaur, 84) is the chief advisor to Elrond, which means he's wise beyond measure, and every turn he provides you with a fresh hand of new options. His ability reads: 'Draw 3 additional cards at the beginning of the resource phase. At the end of the round, discard all cards in your hand.' Erestor's presence leads to a 'use it or lose it' strategy. Since you have a fresh hand of cards every turn, you always have cards you can discard in order to trigger the effects on the new Noldor-themed cards, like Elven Spear (The Treachery of Rhudaur, 87), and since you’re going to lose them at the end of your turn anyway, you might as well.

"These cards aren’t limited to a Noldor-themed deck, either. Erestor’s ability is useful in any deck that can take advantage of the options he provides, and he makes a pretty good team with Éowyn (Core Set, 7), as well. I hope you will enjoy these new cards as much as I enjoyed creating them. They’re a lot of fun to play!"

Uncover the Secrets of a Tainted Land

There are evils in the North that have lain hidden for centuries. Some of them lie amid the tattered remnants of ancient towers. Now some of them are rising. How will you respond?

Prepare to brave the mysterious ruins and restless Undead of The Treachery of Rhudaur when this Adventure Pack arrives for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game in the third quarter of 2015!

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