Middle-Earth Quest

Overview

Middle-Earth Quest is an asymmetric adventure game set between Bilbo’s birthday party and Frodo’s departure from the Shire. One player takes the role of Sauron, spreading corruption and deploying minions across Middle-earth. The other 1-3 players are heroes who travel the land, complete quests, gain allies, and fight to delay Sauron’s plots until Gandalf’s plans mature. The game ends after a set number of story stages; heroes win if they have thwarted enough of Sauron’s plots.

Components

• 1 large game board (Middle-earth map)
• 3 hero figures and multiple minion figures
• Hero character sheets
• Sauron’s plot deck and shadow cards
• Quest cards, encounter cards, influence tokens
• Combat cards, story cards
• Corruption tokens, favor tokens
• Dice, threat track, round tracker

Setup

1. Place the board. The Sauron player takes the Sauron dashboard and shadow cards.
2. Hero players choose characters and take hero sheets, starting items, and combat cards.
3. Place heroes at starting locations. Set up Sauron’s starting influence and plots.
4. Prepare quest, encounter, and story decks.

Turn Structure

Each round:

1. Sauron’s Shadow Phase: Sauron plays shadow cards to advance plots, deploy minions, or spread corruption.
2. Hero Phase: Each hero takes a turn: travel, encounter locations, quest, or fight.
3. Story Phase: Advance the story track; trigger story events.

Actions

Hero Actions

• Travel: Move between connected locations on the map.
• Rest: Recover health or remove corruption.
• Encounter: Resolve encounters at current location (combat, skill tests, story events).
• Quest: Attempt quest objectives for rewards and plot disruption.

Sauron Actions

• Play shadow cards: Deploy minions, create obstacles, trigger events.
• Advance plots: Move plot markers toward completion (each completed plot brings Sauron closer to victory).
• Corrupt: Spread corruption to heroes and locations.

Combat

• Resolved through card play (combat cards) rather than dice.
• Heroes and enemies alternate playing combat cards with attack/defense values.
• Wounds reduce health; at 0 health, heroes are defeated (but not eliminated).

Scoring / Victory Conditions

• Hero victory: Delay Sauron sufficiently by thwarting plots, completing quests, and reducing his influence before the game’s story stages conclude.
• Sauron victory: Complete enough plots and spread sufficient corruption before time runs out.
• The game tracks Sauron’s and the heroes’ progress on separate tracks; the side further ahead at game’s end wins.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Corruption affects heroes: too much corruption can turn a hero to Sauron’s side.
• Gandalf may appear as an NPC ally in certain story events.
• Different hero characters have unique abilities and combat styles.
• Sauron’s plots are hidden until revealed or thwarted.
• The game is designed for 2-4 players but plays best with the full count.

Player Reference

Hero turn: Travel -> Encounter/Quest -> Rest (optional)

Sauron turn: Play shadow cards -> Advance plots -> Deploy minions

Combat: Card-based; alternate playing attack/defense cards

Win (Heroes): Thwart enough plots before story ends

Win (Sauron): Complete plots and corrupt heroes