So just to lay the rules down.

Thematic abilities are most important, followed by interesting abilities, followed by balanced card. Please take all three categories into consideration when voting. How much backstory or reasoning they gave is irrelevant to voting. Only the card shall be judged. I just included the backstory on the cards that needed rules clarification or some more explanation of their abilities.

THIS IS JUST A SUGGESTION POLL. I HAVE FINAL SAY ON THE MATTER!

THE POLL IS NOW OPEN. YOU MAY POST NOW.

These are the finalists!

Have fun!

Just opened voting. Voting will be done by liking the posts. You will need FFG accounts. You may vote for multiple. Vote for the ones that you feel are the strongest, even if this is multiple ones. Thanks! Enjoy! Voting closes when it closes, so vote soon! No spam accounts please.

I wanted a version of Galadriel that focused on her persona as a giver of gifts, while still retaining that feel of subtlety and power that we got with the official hero version.

Like the official version, she influences from afar. She still cannot directly quest, attack, or defend, and in this way can still make full use of Nenya.

In this version, I went a step further and prohibited Galadriel from spending resources. This was very important in curbing the power of her innate ability: Galadriel is considered to have the printed resource icons of all 4 major spheres.

While she can't directly spend resources, her influence from all 4 main spheres still provides some advantages:
- She can slot into any multi-sphere deck and still satisfy the requirements for mono-sphere cards.
- She enables play of 0-cost cards, regardless of whether or not your other heroes have the appropriate resource match.

Better still is that her resources don't go to waste. Once per turn, she can gift her resources (plus a bonus) to any other hero; after all, she will support heroes from all races, dwarves included! This ability not only lends itself to her gift-giving image, but also, like the official version, competes with the action provided by Nenya.

With these abilities, she can pull off some amazing tricks:
- Resource-smoothing when appropriate
- Bulking up a hero for Gondorian Fire without the need for Steward of Gondor
- Daeron's Runes without a lore hero; Dunedain Hunter without a tactics hero...

One final design point: It was imperative that the resource icons be explicitly detailed in the card text, rather than being shown in the usual sphere slot; otherwise, encounter cards that blank hero text would have completely broken her!

I wanted to capture Bilbo as he was when he was younger. The current edition of Bilbo captures the wise, old hobbit, but doesn't capture the younger version. And as this game spans such a long timespan, I thought it would be thematic to have a younger Bilbo in the game.

THIS CAN BE USED OUTSIDE OF THE HOBBIT SAGAS!

The first thing that you will notice is that he is Baggins. This is intentional. Outside of The Hobbit, Baggins could not be used. Not with this guy. He is allowed to include Baggins cards in his deck, and does count against the hero limit. Essentially, he is a normal hero, but Baggins. This is thematic in that it allows him to use his burglar skills that he obtained during the era of the Hobbit in future quests. It is said that he was quite adventurous after his first quest, so why shouldn't he come along to rescue a prisoner from the Necromancer?

His second ability allows him to use his resources to pay for other spheres, and is quite strong in it's own right. He can save resources to then pay off a big ally like Landroval. It is also thematic in that it shows how he can work with anyone, from the wise Elvenking to the fierce Dwarves.

His final ability is meant to capture his growth as a character. Bilbo has a tendency to learn, and to adapt, and the experiences that he faces will give him courage and skills to win out in the end. Thus, wise Bilbo can choose from three effects every time he defends. Even the fact that this ability is quite useless early on is thematic in that he takes time to truly shine (even if the reason he starts to shine is that he has received a nice treasure of some ring mail. I suppose that fits too. Bilbo does like his treasure.). I decided not to incorporate the Ring into this edition of Bilbo, as the ring is Frodo's burden (Frodo Baggins, Conflict at the Carrock edition), and not Bilbo's.

Definitely I vote for that Fatty! Damage cancellation on a hero is cool and it's a neat way to represent his small part in the narrative.

Oh yeah, Mr. Krabs!

Definitely Fatty.

Seems the community is ready for a new Bilbo!

Just a reminder, you can vote by liking the post.

Yeah, that Fatty is one of my personal favorites.

Celeborn is the renowned giver of gifts in the books.

Why no votes for any of the three Bilbos?

I vote for the Baggins Bilbo Baggins.

I think it could be very cool to use the baggins Cards, especially the lucky number, but even burglar baggins has a touch as even other Players could rrun it and pay with your ressources

His Action is good for ressources smoothing and you can always pay for neutral Cards, which are getting more and more common (rings, Songs etc.)

I love that his Response is not limited and there are some great ways to boost his defense and fast hitch.

Others heroes are great too, but this Bilbo was the one that made me think the most which decks I could try.

Looks like a new Bilbo/Hobbit hero would be much loved, looking at the number of entries

Why no votes for any of the three Bilbos?

While all of them have a decent idea behind them, they all need work.

Taking them in turn, the lore Bilbo is perhaps the most ready for prime-time. The ability to help with either questing or combat through the play of songs is potentially very versatile, and with only 6 threat he can be a utility hero. That said, his stat line is mostly useless, and there aren't any Songs (a) in the Lore sphere or (b) that combo with the hobbit archetype. So you're splashing in Bilbo to another kind of deck solely for his ability, not his stats or trait, and that's pretty inefficient.

Next up is the Baggins-sphere Bilbo. In theory, I love this idea, but in practice it's really lackluster. In exchange for losing access to every other sphere (unless you pay!), you get access to Burglar Baggins and The Lucky Number, which are essentially inferior versions of cards already existing in other spheres: Halfling Determination/Durin's Song, or Tale of Tinuviel. His final ability would be good... if he didn't have 1 defense and 3 hit points. Without significantly boosting those base stats, it's likely a suicide mission to use that ability. The card has potential, but really needs more revision to address these problems, I feel.

Lastly, the leadership Bilbo is, conversely, too strong. While, as with the Lore version, I like the idea of a Bilbo that interacts with Songs, it seems thematically weird to make him leadership. Also, his ability effectively starts every player in the game with a free Love of Tales. That's just OP, even without the added option of instead drawing a card! Oh, and a +2 free willpower as well? Yeah, way too powerful.

So, on the whole, while the three Bilbo entries have potential and are motivated by some interesting ideas, none quite live up to, say, the simple elegance and thematic satisfaction of tactics Fatty or even the Spirit Aragorn entry (which is also a bit too powerful on the second ability -- should be limited to once per round, I think).

Why no votes for any of the three Bilbos?

While all of them have a decent idea behind them, they all need work.

Taking them in turn, the lore Bilbo is perhaps the most ready for prime-time. The ability to help with either questing or combat through the play of songs is potentially very versatile, and with only 6 threat he can be a utility hero. That said, his stat line is mostly useless, and there aren't any Songs (a) in the Lore sphere or (b) that combo with the hobbit archetype. So you're splashing in Bilbo to another kind of deck solely for his ability, not his stats or trait, and that's pretty inefficient.

Next up is the Baggins-sphere Bilbo. In theory, I love this idea, but in practice it's really lackluster. In exchange for losing access to every other sphere (unless you pay!), you get access to Burglar Baggins and The Lucky Number, which are essentially inferior versions of cards already existing in other spheres: Halfling Determination/Durin's Song, or Tale of Tinuviel. His final ability would be good... if he didn't have 1 defense and 3 hit points. Without significantly boosting those base stats, it's likely a suicide mission to use that ability. The card has potential, but really needs more revision to address these problems, I feel.

Lastly, the leadership Bilbo is, conversely, too strong. While, as with the Lore version, I like the idea of a Bilbo that interacts with Songs, it seems thematically weird to make him leadership. Also, his ability effectively starts every player in the game with a free Love of Tales. That's just OP, even without the added option of instead drawing a card! Oh, and a +2 free willpower as well? Yeah, way too powerful.

So, on the whole, while the three Bilbo entries have potential and are motivated by some interesting ideas, none quite live up to, say, the simple elegance and thematic satisfaction of tactics Fatty or even the Spirit Aragorn entry (which is also a bit too powerful on the second ability -- should be limited to once per round, I think).

All very good points.

Spirit Aragorn has taken the lead from Fatty Bolger! And all but the two Song Bilbo's and Denethor have votes! It's shaping up to be an interesting race folks!

Yeah, I kind of wish that Spirit Aragorn said to ready an ally, or was once per round. But it still isn't too OP

I absolutely LOVE this version of Galadriel. While I really like the one they put in the LCG, the one that got submitted her here really takes the cake in terms of theme and playability. She would be a welcome addition to any deck, and pair her with a couple of resource-generating attachment (like Resourceful), she could become an absolute powerhouse where you're never short of that particular resource to pay for the game-winning card...

She gets my vote

You know it's funny, I threw in the Spirit Aragorn into the pool right before making the poll. I wasn't going to originally, because even though I liked it I figured it wouldn't get any votes. Boy was I wrong.

Why no votes for any of the three Bilbos?

While all of them have a decent idea behind them, they all need work.

Taking them in turn, the lore Bilbo is perhaps the most ready for prime-time. The ability to help with either questing or combat through the play of songs is potentially very versatile, and with only 6 threat he can be a utility hero. That said, his stat line is mostly useless, and there aren't any Songs (a) in the Lore sphere or (b) that combo with the hobbit archetype. So you're splashing in Bilbo to another kind of deck solely for his ability, not his stats or trait, and that's pretty inefficient.

Next up is the Baggins-sphere Bilbo. In theory, I love this idea, but in practice it's really lackluster. In exchange for losing access to every other sphere (unless you pay!), you get access to Burglar Baggins and The Lucky Number, which are essentially inferior versions of cards already existing in other spheres: Halfling Determination/Durin's Song, or Tale of Tinuviel. His final ability would be good... if he didn't have 1 defense and 3 hit points. Without significantly boosting those base stats, it's likely a suicide mission to use that ability. The card has potential, but really needs more revision to address these problems, I feel.

Lastly, the leadership Bilbo is, conversely, too strong. While, as with the Lore version, I like the idea of a Bilbo that interacts with Songs, it seems thematically weird to make him leadership. Also, his ability effectively starts every player in the game with a free Love of Tales. That's just OP, even without the added option of instead drawing a card! Oh, and a +2 free willpower as well? Yeah, way too powerful.

So, on the whole, while the three Bilbo entries have potential and are motivated by some interesting ideas, none quite live up to, say, the simple elegance and thematic satisfaction of tactics Fatty or even the Spirit Aragorn entry (which is also a bit too powerful on the second ability -- should be limited to once per round, I think).

Hey! Leadership Bilbo guy here and I just wanted to chime in on some of the thinking behind my choices (not pining for likes, just like having an honest discussion ). The decision to make him Leadership came more so from the mechanics I wanted him to have and the ability felt weird putting it in Lore. I liked the idea of Bilbo in his later years could have easily represented the Leadership Sphere. Bilbo became quite confident after his journey to the lonely mountain and became more of a decision maker at the end of it all. Age catching up to him aside, I could see Bilbo having an interesting dynamic if he was allowed to partake in the fellowship. As for his +1 willpower and questing advantage I thought his stat line was pretty weak and wanted to beef it up somehow. Perhaps the action advantage can be removed. As for his final ability being OP I would have to disagree as many decks I have played (or play along with) rarely use songs. Sure, it can be taken advantage of but it would require very specific deckbuilding to do so. As it stands, I like having an ability that helps all the players at the table (similar to how the Lore version does). Being in leadership, card draw and resource advantage seemed the correct path. What would you suggest (not a sarcastic question, by the way).

Thanks!

I like the unique theme of Denethor. He starts out strong but as the Eye turns towards him and things heat up....

Yeah, I kind of wish that Spirit Aragorn said to ready an ally, or was once per round. But it still isn't too OP

Well, I had many thoughts about balancing this ability. First of all, I wished to add limitation "choose and ready any other character than Aragorn" to prevent Aragorn from reading himself (which probably will be the most common case as Aragorn usually the most powerful hero in fellowship). But I decided this will only complicate this ability and made it heavy. My next thought was about allies as you mentioned. If this ability will ready an ally I think it won't need any limitation at all because if players managed to survive 3+ "when revealed" effects without cancellation they probably are really tough guys or something is wrong with scenario. Additionally they need 3 exhausted allies on the table. But non-limited abilities sadly can be abused in some rare scenarios and decks (hey, Seastan ), and as I'm not an expert in all scenario's mechanics I decided to choose more stable version.

Another my thought was - if I add some additional limitations (like only allies) this ability can be useless in many cases. If there is no "When revealed" effect at all in, lets say, two rounds, then Aragorn's ability is totally neglected. If there is no exhausted allies (rare, but possible) - the same. And if players often cancel "when revealed" effects - ability also doesn't trigger. More over, a situation when treachery with "when revealed" effect reveals means there is no additional enemy added so in some cases reading a character can be useless. Too many possible limitations even without worded per round limit.

But I'm agree there are options considering balance. I think this case need actual playtests for more valuable feedback.

My quick view on other heroes.

I liked Galadriel when I saw her but eventually I changed my mind. She seems to be some variation of Gandalf hero. He also provides all printed icons (not in such straightforward way, but nevertheless) and can fit in mono-sphere deck. Сoncerning resource generation and moving - that's not unique ability at all, we have plenty of them.

The first question about Beorn - what happens to Lore-Beorn attachments when he flips. Attachment's check for conditions to be attached occurs only when card is played, so the bear can get a mount, a plate and a bow I think bear side need something like "treat Beorn's attachment text as blank". And resource moving without any limit seems too good to be true.

Bilbo and Songs? Seems very deck-specific ability. Someone want Songs to work better, I see

Burglar Bilbo - very specific because can only be used in Hobbit saga. And response seems too good. Straightforward tactic is to give him attachments, sentinel and defend all attacks.

I don't get this Denethor. He gets 3 willpower with 20-29 threat - 3 willpower not unique or even very good. And at 40 threat he is discarded... More over second ability to watch shadow is weak. I don't want to watch it (especially at such cost), I want to cancel or discard it.

Fatty is good and thematic, but damage cancellation at this stage of the game is not uncommon. Watchman, Dori, Honor guard, Close call, Raven-winged Helm, Gondorian discipline, Barliman.

Second song-oriented Bilbo seems a little strange in final. With Love of Tales this ability is powerful, but there is no strong deck around songs. There is just too few songs and they are too specific.