https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2015/11/19/into-the-spiders-lair/

Literally just picked up my copy. I had a chance to read through the rule book while I ate lunch. Aragorn (in any form) is the only hero that is forbidden to be one of Frodo's companions. So there is an anomaly there if you will. We've all seen the player cards by now, so no surprises there.

Now I need to decide how to build my new Fellowship. Do I include companions that are technically over in Rohan or add new ones and ignore the threat increase? I'll probably try to beat Marshes with a Sam and Frodo secrecy deck a few times and then give up and add Faramir etc.

Now I need to decide how to build my new Fellowship. Do I include companions that are technically over in Rohan or add new ones and ignore the threat increase? I'll probably try to beat Marshes with a Sam and Frodo secrecy deck a few times and then give up and add Faramir etc.

I believe that it was ruled that you can change your hero lineup with no threat penalty. It was meant to be in the rule book but was omitted. (Cannot find reference at this point in time).

It has not been officially stated in an FAQ or publication, but Caleb mentioned this to me (and others) at Gen Con. I'm sure it will be covered in the next FAQ and you should feel fully comfortable playing it this way, as the intention is to be able to freely change your heroes and it was mistakenly left off the campaign card.

well you know, to repeat the somewhat tired old tag line when discussing Arwen, Galadriel, et. al. ; "they're not actually with you, it's just their influence. Except Aragorn, apparently he's busy."

So can we use Saruman and Grima again?

So can we use Saruman and Grima again?

Yeah, they had a change of heart

Has anyone who has the box yet looked through it for the name of the last saga box? (Like how Treason of Saruman tells us about Flame of the West?)

What happens when you draw The Searching Eye in your opening head AND you still have your mulligan available?

The Searching Eye is a burden card that is shuffled into your deck during setup and reads, "The Searching Eye functions like a player card. Forced: After you draw this card, either exhaust each hero you control, or reveal the top card of the encounter deck."

The way I would rule it is that you trigger the responses to drawing cards when you deside to keep the hand. But that's just me, you know.

I suppose whether or not you keep your opening hand, it has still been drawn...

That's how I played it. I lost that one...

I built a Sam Galadriel ( Frodo) deck that's pretty good and very thematic. It handled the passage through the Marshes, but The Black Gate? We'll see.

Secrecy?

I have a deck with the same heroes, so it might be a similar deck. In mine, I include a ton of high cost allies, and it is relatively easy to get Timely Aid out on the first turn with the help of Galadriel's card draw and mirror. On turn 2 you sneak attack or Timely Aid again, and start spamming a Very Good Tale every turn (again, the mirror works wonders here). It's very fun and pretty strong.

Secrecy?

Yes, but I doubt it's as good as Seastan's. LOL

Seastan and Bullroarer post the deck please? Seems interesting. And why Frodo in parenthesis?

Just because he's the ring bearer and is free for these quests. I'll post mine soon in the strategy forum.

Playing Searching Eye in my opening hand as others - it is drawn, so the effect triggers. I usually just re-start if this happens.

Dipped my toe in Shelob's Lair tonight. Seems pretty challenging.

The Black Riders' rule book anticipated Poisoned Counsels and The Searching Eye: "If a player has earned a burden card with a player card back, that card is shuffled into his deck after he has drawn his starting hand." The designers planned this one nicely.

The Black Riders' rule book anticipated Poisoned Counsels and The Searching Eye: "If a player has earned a burden card with a player card back, that card is shuffled into his deck after he has drawn his starting hand." The designers planned this one nicely.

I think you're right, although not for the reason you cited. At the beginning of Passage of the Marshes, this burden has not been "earned" so this text doesn't apply. But here's the text regarding Setup instructions from the Black Riders rule book:

"Setup instructions appear on some player cards and encounter cards in The Lord of the Rings: The Black Riders. If a player card with Setup instructions is in a player’s deck at the beginning of a game, that player searches his deck for that card and follows its instructions before drawing his first hand. Similarly, if an encounter card with Setup is in the encounter deck at the beginning of a game, search the encounter deck for that card and follow its instructions before resolving the Setup instructions on the quest."

The underlined text might make you think a card like Searching Eye should go into your deck before you draw your starting hand. But it's not a player card, it's an encounter card, so this text is irrelevant. Searching Eye has no Setup instructions on itself, so the part about encounter cards in the instructions above also does not apply. Instead, we have Setup instructions on the campaign card. They say:

"You are playing campaign mode. Setup: Each player shuffles 1 copy of The Searching Eye into his deck."

Campaign Setup instructions are followed either just before or just after you follow the Setup instructions on the quest card (not sure which). In either case, that comes after you draw your starting hand, so you won't be shuffling Searching Eyes into your deck until step 7 of setup from the core rules (drawing your starting hand is step 5).

If you earn the burden at the end of the scenario, then in subsequent scenarios that "earned" text you quoted would apply.

May I?

I asked Caleb about Poisonous Councils a while ago, and here is the answer he gave me:

Had a victory against Passage of the Marshes on my first try without too much hassle. I played in campaign mode and used the new Faramir, Sam, and Mablung in one deck, with Galadriel, Haldir, and Damrod in the other. Hard to make a thematic win here, Galadriel works quite well (especially since she never actually quests, attacks, or defends! It's just her 'influence').

Just to be safe--Mablung and Sam will get their native bonuses when starting the game, right? Threat is 29 in that deck, Gollum starts engaged with it, and his threat is 30. +1 to all of Sam's stats and +1 starting resource for Mablung. Unless I'm mistaken?

The only hairy moment of the quest was when A Fell Light was going to force an undefended attack and kill a hero (put Undead enemy engaged with you, immediate attack from all engaged Undead enemies). I was still carrying the Ho! Tom Bombadil! boon, and had to spend it. I will probably replay the scenario just to get a better result and keep the boon (although somehow it seems thematically symmetrical to have Tom pop up here in the marshes and save me from some undead).

I defeated The Searching Eye soundly. One deck pulled it out with Galadriel's Mirror. The other used Old Bogey-Stories after combat when I still had a couple of heroes ready. Managed to snag the thing and harmlessly exhaust my heroes.

So I thought that GrandSpleen's counter to the Burden was pretty nifty until I thought about it more. Don't we need to be able to fully resolve one or the other? So if we use Mirror (for example) at the end of turn when say 2/3 or our heroes are exhausted, can we simply exhaust the last one? I thought we had to reveal another card. (Which would still be better than revealing it during staging mind you, but not nothing.)

Thoughts?

Hmm, good point. It does not say "exhaust each READY hero you control," which is the language used on this False Accusations card.

When you have a choice you're supposed to select the option that can be fully resolved, if possible, so maybe I played it wrong. What do others think?