Editing Ring-bound

'''Ring-bound''' is an [[Unloaded Keyword]] that appears on [[companion]]s that have had their fates tied to the One Ring more tightly than usual, in particular [[Frodo]], [[Sam]], and [[Smeagol]]. Only companions can be Ring-bound, the [[Ring-bearer]] is always Ring-bound, and all companions that are not Ring-bound are instead [[unbound]]. [[Ally|Allies]] and [[minion]]s are never Ring-bound and never unbound.

The primary game impact of Ring-bound is to dodge potent effects that only work on unbound characters, such as {{Card|Grima, Wormtongue}}. There are however many {{C|Gollum}}, {{C|Gondor}}, and {{C|Shire}} [[Free Peoples]] cards which benefit Ring-bound companions, and several notable {{C|Raider}}, {{C|Sauron}}, and {{C|Gollum}} Shadow cards which target them.

This keyword was first introduced in [[The Two Towers]] expansion, and was used to attempt to split the card base between characters who were with Frodo (Ring-bound) and characters who were not (unbound), with cards intentionally only affecting one or the other of these groups. At the time, this meant including [[Faramir]] and other Ithilien [[Ranger]]s from [[Towers Block]] under the Ring-bound umbrella. Afterwards no further major additions were made to this exclusive group except for companion versions of [[Bilbo]], such as {{Card|Bilbo, Melancholy Hobbit}}.

After the introduction of the keyword, [[Decipher]] ruled that all copies of Frodo and Sam are Ring-bound, even if it wasn't in the game text. This was applied retroactively to preexisting cards as a rule instead of a mass [[errata]]. In addition, the [[Ring-bearer]] is always Ring-bound. This chiefly comes into play with the alternate ring-bearers first introduced in [[Reflections]], such as {{Card|Gimli, Bearer of Grudges}} or {{Card|Boromor, Bearer of Council}}. Many of these characters are unbound if played normally, but Ring-bound if [[Bear|bearing]] [[the One Ring]].

==Rules Entries==
{{RulesQuote
|source=Ring-bound
|text=Only companions can be Ring-bound (not allies or minions).

All versions of Frodo and Sam are Ring-bound.}}
{{RulesQuote
|source=starting fellowship
|text=Your fellowship begins with a character bearing The One Ring. This can be any character with the ringed resistance icon, or any version of Frodo. That character gains the keywords Ring-bearer and Ring-bound, if he does not already have them.}}

==Explicit Ring-bound Companions==
{{ThumbnailTable
|filter= C.CardType IN ('Companion') AND CR.GameText RLIKE 'Ring-bound\\.' AND {{PromoFilter}}
|sort= C.Culture, {{StandardSort}}
}}


==Implicit Ring-bound Companions==
===Frodo and Sam===
Every copy of Frodo and Sam has the Ring-bound keyword, even if it's not printed on the card, as is the case for the following cards.

{{ThumbnailTable
|filter= C.CardType IN ('Companion') AND C.Title IN ('Frodo', 'Sam') AND CR.GameText NOT RLIKE 'Ring-bound\\.'  AND {{PromoFilter}}
|sort= C.Culture, {{StandardSort}}
}}

===Alternate Ring-bearers===
Remember, these only count as Ring-bound if they are actually the Ring-bearer. If that is not the case, then these cards default to being unbound.

{{ThumbnailTable
|filter= C.CardType IN ('Companion') AND CR.CanBearRing AND  C.Title NOT IN ('Frodo', 'Sam') AND CR.GameText NOT RLIKE 'Ring-bound\\.' AND {{PromoFilter}}
|sort={{StandardSort}}
}}

==Cards Which Interact With Ring-bound Companions==
===Free Peoples===
{{ThumbnailTable
|filter= CR.GameText RLIKE 'Ring-bound ' AND C.Side = 'Free Peoples' AND {{PromoFilter}}
|sort=C.Culture, {{StandardSort}}
}}

===Shadow===
{{ThumbnailTable
|filter= CR.GameText RLIKE 'Ring-bound ' AND C.Side = 'Shadow' AND {{PromoFilter}}
|sort=C.Culture, {{StandardSort}}
}}

===Sites===
{{ThumbnailTable
|filter= CR.GameText RLIKE 'Ring-bound ' AND C.Side = 'None' AND {{PromoFilter}}
|sort={{StandardSort}}
}}


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{{Unloaded_Keyword_Table}}
[[Category:Unloaded Keywords]]