Hello everyone. I am making plans for a four player game on the weekend. Two people never played the game before and one only a couple of times a while ago. I have already prepared four mono sphere decks. The decks are focused on theme, include the most famous characters and are easy to play. I included some cards that allow some nice player interaction like fast hitch in the lore deck that needs to be played on another players hero (Frodo).

While the power cards are in there as well, I included no more than two copies of each card for more variety. So the decks are good but clearly not maximum strength and the players are unexperienced.

Now I have been pondering what quest would be most suitable? I am looking for a nice quest that will provide for some fun, story and combat. We will probably play only one or two games and I want us to have a good chance for victory. I am NOT looking for a challenge, or a difficult quest that will ruin everyones evening - unfortunately that means most quests are already out of the question. I have litte four player experience and unfortunately I can't think of a quest that perfectly fits the bill? Can you? What quest (I have them all) would you recommend under the circumstances?

Thanks!

Encounter at Amon Dîn. Lots of fun combat, the villager mechanic doesn't complicate gameplay too much, and it's not too long.

Go for "Passage through Mirkwood". With 2 new players you don't want to introduce them with a complex quest and the Final Boss touch is really nice to show the game. Then you can play "Road to Rivendell" for a different experience.

''Passage'', Encounter at Amon Din and (why not) Journey Along the Anduin are great for beginners (i think simplicity is more important than difficulty) a great quest for 4 players tho is Foundations of Stone for sure !

Passage through Mirkwood is designed for new players and shouldn't take too long. I also like The Road to Rivendell and The Hunt for Gollum (though the latter is very location-heavy, or so I thought when I played it). Really, any quest with a DL of 4-5 or below should be fine - though stay away from the HoN quests. I know my deck inside-out and have beaten the Core Set, Khazad-Dûm, Dwarrowdelf and most of Shadows of Mirkwood and I still don't have a clue how to best Peril in Pelargir.

Agree that for absolute newbies Passage Through Mirkwood would be a good start. It has nice enemies to fight, locations and nasty treacheries and is the only easily winnable scenario out there.

I wouldn't do Road to Rivendell as it has Sleeping Sentry in it and you can't expose newbies to a card like that.

Are they Tolkien geeks? If so, Watcher in the Water is probably the scenario from the main game line that most closely resembles a scene from the books, it's very tough but still winnable and has some crazy twists like the Durin's Doors mechanic.

I also like The Seventh Level to introduce new players. Lots of little goblins to beat up. Nothing too threatening as long as you have some combat-ready decks. There are a couple of meaner enemies in the deck (Cave Troll, and I think Chieftain of the Pit is in there too), but not any worse than seeing, say, Ungoliant's Spawn pop up on the first turn of PtM.

And you can always play in Easy Mode to make victory a surer thing.

I wouldn't do Road to Rivendell as it has Sleeping Sentry in it and you can't expose newbies to a card like that.

I thought about Sleeping Sentry too, but hey - he could always just take it out and let them enjoy the quest. Watcher in the Water is fun! The Doors of Dúrin mechanic is... understandable, but can prove quite tough. We did it 3-player not too long ago, and all our threats were at 45+ when we finally got a letter right.

Thanks a lot for your ideas!! I am still undecided though. I like Encounter at Amon Din a lot in general. But wouldn't it be quite difficult with four players since you got only one Lord Alcaron and an increasing chance for locations/discarded villagers?

What do you think about the Escape from Dol Guldur? I know it's DL 7 but it has a cool story as well and should be (much) easier with more players? You only get one prisoner and three guarded objectives solo or with four players, that doesn't change.

Escape from Dol Guldur it gets easier as the number of players increases (like all the early quest of the game) so yes it is not so hard with 4, i have to say again tho, that Foundations is an absolute blast with 4 players ! so after a quest or two give it a run to have some great time with your friends.

Foundations is an excellent suggestion for your second quest. It gives every player a chance to shine on his own without being too difficult about it