Editing Site Number

'''Site number''' is a formal game term. Each game progresses through up to nine [[site]]s, each with an escalating site number. Site 1 is a safe refuge, and the beginning of a journey, while site 9 is the height of danger, the final climax before the Fellowship survives or fails. Sites aren't the only card types with a site number, however: [[minion]]s also have a site number, representing when in the game they start showing up in force, and [[Ally|allies]] have a [[Home Site|home site]], representing the specific location where they live and can participate in the [[Archery Phase|Archery]] and [[Skirmish Phase]]s as if they were a [[companion]] in the [[Fellowship]].

The site path corresponds roughly to the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-act_structure three-act structure] of screenwriting. 

==Sites==

There are two sets of rules for [[site]]s in this game.

Each site in [[Fellowship Block]], [[Towers Block]], and [[King Block]]{{--}}sets one through ten{{--}}has a fixed site number, located in the top left of the card when examined lengthways, superimposed on a compass rose. Sites in Towers Block and King Block (4-10) also have a block symbol above that: the Tower of Isengard ({{Block|tower}}) for Towers Block, and a stylized crown of Gondor ({{Block|king}}) for King Block. These [[Block|blocks]] (and [[format]]s based on these blocks, such as [[Towers Standard]] and [[Movie Block]]) have a fixed site path, where each site card can only appear at a single particular site number and each player has an [[adventure deck]] consisting of nine consecutively-numbered sites, all of which come from the most recent block of sets in the particular [[format]]. (You cannot play a Fellowship Block site like {{Card|Weathertop}} in a [[Towers Block]] or [[Towers Standard]] deck, for example.) If you [[Site Manipulation|replace a site]] using a card like {{Card|Ulaire Nelya, Lieutenant of Morgul}}, it has to be with a site of the exact same number. There are (usually) multiple options for each site number, but you can never begin your journey in {{Card|Dagorlad}}, the plains in the northwest of Mordor, or end your journey in {{Card|Bag End}}.

Starting with [[Shadows]], sites in sets 11-19 have a black, unnumbered compass in the top left instead. Sites in Shadows can be played in any order, and are only assigned a site number once they're in play. This allows for greater flexibility and wider options in deck building, but it can lead to absurd results like traveling from {{Card|Mount Doom}} to the {{Card|Streets of Bree}} to {{Card|Imladris}}, Elrond's home, all in one turn. Under these rules, when you replace a site using a card like {{Card|Ulaire Nelya, Third of the Nine Riders}}, you can choose any site from your adventure deck, and the new site is assigned the same number as the one replaced. Under these rules, the site path is broken up into [[Region|regions]] consisting of three sites each: 1-3 is region 1, 4-6 is region 2, and 7-9 is region 3.

''For a comprehensive list of sites by block arranged in order of site number, see [[site]].''

In both rulesets, you play sites in order on one single path that both players must traverse. At the end of the [[Fellowship Phase]], the [[Fellowship]] moves to the next-numbered site in the [[Site Path|site path]]. If that site isn't already in play, the current [[Shadow]] player plays one from their [[adventure deck]]. Under the older rules, there's no choice: the Shadow player simply plays whichever site has the correct number. When using the later site path, the Shadow player picks their choice of site from any of the sites remaining in their adventure deck, and that site is now considered to have the correct number. This means that while the player who has advanced the furthest down the site path is in the lead, the player who is behind is compensated by being allowed to choose the site path for both players.

Also in both rulesets, sites 3 and 6 are [[Sanctuary|sanctuaries]] where the Fellowship heals five wounds (or all wounds, if there are less) if they are there at the start of the [[Fellowship Phase]]. Pre-Shadows sanctuary sites have the '''Sanctuary''' keyword printed on them and a different border (and generally lower [[Shadow Number|shadow numbers]]), while under the post-Shadows rules, any site you play at 3 or 6 instead gains the sanctuary keyword as long as it is site 3 or 6.

Cards that refer to specific sites refer to a site with that number from the same block. {{Card|Haldir, Elf of the Golden Wood}} is specifically referring to sites 6, 7, and 8 in the Fellowship Block site path. He does not get a strength bonus in any other format, since he will never be at Fellowship site 6, 7, or 8. The next two blocks have a symbol matching the theme of the block to set their sites apart. "Site 6" is Fellowship Block site 6, "Site 6{{Block|Tower}}" is Towers Block site 6, "Site 6{{Block|king}}" is King Block site 6, and "any Site 6" means it works at any site numbered 6 regardless of the site path in use. This rule was first introduced with [[Towers Block]]. and The switch to a new path rendered many cards, like {{Card|Hobbit Farmer}} or {{Card|Goblin Domain}}, obsolete. It was an unpopular and somewhat confusing rule change, and Decipher went out of their way to limit its impact in the next block. King Block only had a handful of cards that referred to specific King Block sites (eg {{Card|Frodo, Wicked Masster!}}), and in [[Mount Doom|the third set in King Block]], all cards that referred to specific sites referred to "any site" of a given number (eg {{Card|Final Strike}}). (After Shadows, cards generally apply to [[Region|regions]] instead.) This rule about entirely separate site paths and block icons does not apply to the site numbers on [[minion]] cards, but it does apply to the [[Home Site|home sites]] of [[Ally|allies]].

==Minions==

Most minions do not have any business showing up too early in the story. The armies of Sauron are not (yet) besieging the Shire at the beginning of the story, so {{C|Sauron}} [[orc]]s are less prone to show up early on. This is represented by the site number printed on minions, on the bottom left of the card, also superimposed on a compass rose. (It's the same place that the [[signet]] or [[resistance]] is printed on a [[companion]].) This represents the earliest point on the site path when you're supposed to play them. If you play them before that, the minion is considered [[roaming]] as long as its site number is higher than the site's site number, and costs two additional [[Twilight (Cost)|twilight]] to play.

Minions don't worry about any of the block icon rules. A Fellowship block minion with a site number of 4, like {{Card|Cave Troll of Moria, Scourge of the Black Pit}}, is roaming at a Fellowship Block site 2 like {{Card|Ettenmoors}}, a Towers Block site 2 like {{Card|Derndingle}}, or a King Block site 2 like {{Card|King's Tent}}.

There are a number of cards that modify site numbers, usually associated with the {{Card|Tracker}} and {{Card|Ranger}} keywords. '''Tracker''' minions generally reduce the roaming price penalty or the site numbers of other minions (but not themselves when they are played). You play a Tracker minion like {{Card|Orc Ambusher}} or {{Card|Grishnakh, Orc Captain}} with the roaming penalty, but it helps reduce or prevent the penalty on subsequent minions. A handful of '''Ranger''' cards increase the site number of minions after they've already come into play, not to increase their cost to play but to make them vulnerable to roaming minion [[hate]] like {{Card|What Are They?}} and {{Card|Ranger's Bow}}.

Generally, all of the minions of a given [[culture]] or [[subculture]] have more or less the same site number, although there are occasional exceptions.

* '''Site 1''': Under normal circumstances, no minions can ever be played at site 1, so no minion has a site number below 2.
* '''Site 2''': Site 2 minions are rare. They include:
** All versions of Úlairë Nelya, such as {{Card|Ulaire Nelya, Lieutenant of Morgul}}.
** The suspicious characters in Bree. {{Card|Bill Ferny, Swarthy Sneering Fellow}} and {{Card|Goblin Man}} were the only minions for much of the game's life, but [[Treachery & Deceit|set 18]] added a whole {{C|Men}} subculture of suspicious men like {{Card|Ruffian}}, as well as one suspicious hobbit, {{Card|Ted Sandyman}}.
** The {{C|Wraith}} [[wraith]]s of the Barrows, like {{Card|Barrow-wight Stalker}}. These are the feature cards of [[The Wraith Collection]].
* '''Site 3''': There are only a handful of categories of minions with site number 3, but they are expansive categories.
** All of the other [[Nazgul]] besides Nelya. For example, {{Card|The Witch-King, Lord of Angmar}}. They menace Frodo and his companions very early on in ''The Fellowship of the Ring'', so they can be played very early in the game in this game.
** All of the [[Man|men]] of {{C|Dunland}}, like {{Card|Dunlending Brigand}}. They scout ahead of Saruman's other forces in ''The Two Towers''.
** [[Gollum]]. He menaces/helps/guides/annoys Frodo and Sam very early on in ''The Two Towers''.
** [[Isengard Men]], such as {{Card|Grima, Wormtongue}}. In ''The Two Towers'', the men of {{C|Isengard}}{{--}}Grima and his traitorous Rohirrim bodyguards{{--}}have already overthrown Théoden's mind and will before the main characters even get there.
** The other [[wraith]]s of [[The Wraith Collection]], like {{Card|Covetous Wisp}}.
* '''Site 4''': Site 4 is the catchall. Any minion group that doesn't have a specific reason to have a higher or lower site number generally ended up with 4. After the first few sets, Decipher seemed to back off of giving any new groups of minions that were not specifically based on another previously-existing group of minions a higher site number, since players did not appreciate paying a sizable penalty to play their minions for half the game.
** The denizens of {{C|Moria}}. This includes [[the Balrog]], the [[Creature|Watcher in the Water]] and its tentacles, and the teeming [[Orc|goblins]] like {{Card|Goblin Runner}}. In Fellowship Block, the various site 4 options are the approach to, the exterior of, or the entrance to Moria itself, including the lake where the Watcher lives.
** [[Saruman]] himself, as well as the [[Isengard Orcs]] like {{Card|Isengard Worker}}. Most of the Isenorcs are working in the mines and forges surrounding Saruman's home of Isengard, and the ones that are not are [[warg-rider]]s scouting ahead of his uruk-hai armies.
** All of {{C|Raider}} culture, including all three subcultures: [[Easterling]]s, [[Southron]]s, and [[Corsair]]s.
** The {{C|Sauron}} [[wraith]]s of the Dead Marshes, like {{Card|Wisp of Pale Sheen}}.
** [[Morgul Orcs]]. This includes all of the {{C|Ringwraith}}-culture [[orc]]s, plus the {{C|Sauron}} version of {{Card|Gothmog, Lieutenant of Morgul}}, one of their commanders.
** The vast majority of {{C|Men}}-culture minions, like {{Card|Archer of Harad}}.
** The vast majority of {{C|Orc}}-culture minions, like {{Card|Barbarous Orc}}.
* '''Site 5''': This site number is mainly Uruk-hai, although it also includes Sauron's army besieging Minas Tirith in ''The Return of the King'', since it serves basically the same dramatic role.
** All {{C|Isengard}} and {{C|Uruk-hai}}-culture [[Uruk-hai]], like {{Card|Troop of Uruk-hai}} and {{Card|Army of Uruk-hai}}. In ''The Fellowship of the Ring'', the uruk-hai are ranging ahead of Sauron's orcs and are on the Fellowship as soon as they leave Moria (sites 4-5 in the Fellowship Block site path). In ''The Two Towers'', they begin to attack near the middle of the story.
** {{C|Sauron}} [[Besieger]]s like {{Card|Siege Troop}}. Like the uruk-hai, they begin their attack near the middle of ''The Return of the King''.
** Most {{C|Orc}}-culture [[troll]]s, like {{Card|Porter Troll}}. They are supporting the armies of Sauron in ''The Return of the King'', and it would be a little uncool to drop a bunch of trolls on the Free Peoples player too early in the game.
** Both versions of the Mouth of Sauron, like {{Card|The Mouth of Sauron}}. It doesn't make a lot of sense, since he lives in Mordor and only shows up at the end of ''The Return of the King'', but it seems like Decipher erred on the side of fun.
* '''Site 6''': Site 6 only has one group of minions, but it's one of the single largest. The forces of Sauron do not generally show up until late in each story, and the site number mechanic was meant from the beginning to simulate this.
** Almost all {{C|Sauron}} minions, including orcs and trolls like {{Card|Orc War Band}}. Since Shadow [[culture]]s were reshuffled in [[Shadows|set 11]], this means the only site 6 minion printed in set 11 or later was {{Card|Sauron, Dark Lord of Mordor}}.
* '''Site 7''': No minions have a site number of 7.
* '''Site 8''': The only minion with a site number of 8 is [[Shelob]] (eg {{Card|Shelob, Eater of Light}}). She's a spider, get it? Plus she does live in Mordor and all.

==Allies==

[[Ally|Allies]] are played to the [[support area]], but they have a [[Home Site|home site]] (or two) where they live, even if that site is not on the current site path. That home site is printed as a [[Subtype]] on the card, on the band across the center of the card. For example, {{Card|Elrond, Lord of Rivendell}} is played in your support area, but he is simultaneously at Fellowship Block site 3. All of the options for site 3 in Fellowship Block are in or around Rivendell, his home.

If the [[Fellowship]] is at (one of) an ally's home site(s), that ally can contribute to the [[archery]] total in the [[Archery Phase]] if they are an [[archer]], can take [[wound]]s normally in the archery phase, and can participate in the [[Skirmish Phase]] the same way [[companion]]s can. They're also considered to be at the same site, which mainly matters for transferring [[Bear|borne]] [[possession]]s and [[artifact]]s.

However, ally home sites do respect the [[Block|block]] icon rules. {{Card|Elrond, Lord of Rivendell}} only lives at Fellowship Block site 3: he is not at the same site as the Fellowship at a Towers Block site 3 like {{Card|Golden Hall}}. Only allies with a home site of 3{{Block|tower}} (for example, {{Card|Aldor, Soldier of Edoras}}) live at Golden Hall. To make things even more confusing, [[Decipher]] continued to print new allies who lived on previous blocks' site paths! {{Card|Elrond, Keeper of Vilya}}, a Towers Block card, lives only on the Fellowship Block site path.

After Towers Block, the Fellowship never travels to any ally's home site. By King Block, Decipher had abandoned any effort to put new allies onto the King Block site path. The only allies printed in that block or in [[Reflections]] all lived on previous blocks' site paths; no ally has a home site like "Site 4{{Block|king}}". Allies were abandoned entirely after [[Reflections|set 9]], in any case.

Allies tended to cluster by [[culture]], or else by which group scene they appeared in the ''Lord of the Rings'' films.

* '''Fellowship Block'''
** '''Site 1''': Almost all of the {{C|Shire}} [[hobbit]] allies, like {{Card|Hobbit Farmer}}, live at site 1. Most hobbits are too sensible to take risks or go on wild adventures. The men of Bree, like {{Card|Albert Dreary, Entertainer from Bree}} and {{Card|Barliman Butterbur, Prancing Pony Proprietor}} also live at site 1.
** '''Site 2''': The only allies who live at site 2 are {{Card|Bounder}}, {{Card|Tom Bombadil}}, and {{Card|Goldberry}}.
** '''Site 3''': Site 3 is Rivendell, so most of the site 3 allies are Elrond and his court of [[Elf|elves]]. It also includes [[Dwarf|dwarfs]] and [[Man|men]] who've come to consult with him about the rising threat of Sauron, like {{Card|Thrarin, Dwarven Smith}} and {{Card|Ottar, Man of Laketown}}.
** '''Site 6''': Site 6 is Lothlorien. All of the site 6 allies are the elvish court of {{Card|Galadriel, Lady of Light}}.
* '''Towers Block'''
** '''Site 2{{Block|tower}}''' and '''Site 8{{Block|tower}}''': {{Card|Treebeard, Earthborn}} and {{Card|Treebeard, Oldest Living Thing}} are equally at home showing up in Fangorn Forest or in Isengard.
** '''Site 3{{Block|tower}}''': This is the home of a few oddball {{C|Rohan}} allies. The only non-[[villager]], {{Card|Aldor, Soldier of Edoras}}, lives here and at '''site 6{{Block|tower}}'''. The allies from [[Return of the King|set 7]], like {{Card|Deor}} and the very odd {{Card|Gondorian Merchant}}, also live at this site, although that is rarely relevant in practice since set 7 is part of King Block.
** '''Site 4{{Block|tower}}''': All {{C|Rohan}} [[villager]] allies from [[Towers Block]], like {{Card|Guma, Plains Farmer}}, live here. All of these allies are discarded if site 4{{Block|tower}} is [[Site Control|captured]].

==Comprehensive Rules 4.0==
{{RulesQuote
|source=site
|text=Site cards represent locations in Middle-earth, and are used to chart the progress of the game. Nine [[site]]s are placed in your [[adventure deck]]. (See '''[[Deck Building|building your deck]]'''.)</p>

<p>Site cards have a dark compass in the upper left corner. This symbol is used on sites from the [[Shadows]] expansion set onward, differentiating them from sites found in previous sets (which use a different compass symbol, and may also use a block symbol).</p>

<p>If your [[fellowship]] moves to a site that has not been played yet, one of the Shadow players must place a new site on the adventure path. (See '''moving your fellowship'''.) To determine which player, look at the site you are moving from. Each site has an arrow at the bottom center of the card. This indicates who is to play the new site, with [an arrow pointing to the right] meaning the Shadow player to your right and [an arrow pointing to the left] meaning the Shadow player to your left. In a two-player game, there is only one Shadow player at a time, so that player always plays the new site. </p>

<p>''The first time the first player moves during the game, a Shadow player looks through his adventure deck and chooses the next site to place on the adventure path. It becomes site 2. The next time a site is added after that, it will be site 3. Both of those sites are in [[Region|region]] 1.''</p>

<p>You may play a copy of a site on the adventure path even if an opponent’s copy was already played as an earlier site. The copies are treated as different sites, with each given a different site number.</p>

<p>[[Site Manipulation|Some cards]] allow a player to play the next site on the adventure path at times when the fellowship is not moving. These may be used even when the next site is already there. In such cases, the new site replaces the old one; put the old site back in its owner’s adventure deck. The new site takes the same site number the old site had, so that there is always only one site 1 in play, one site 2, and so on. When a site is replaced, all cards played on or stacked on the old site are moved to the new site.</p>

<p>''[Note that this rule quote only applies in post-[[Shadows]] [[format]]s such as [[Expanded]] and [[Standard]]. See below for other formats.]''}}
{{RulesQuote
|source=Formats
|text=When you play a game using the [[Fellowship block]], [[Tower block]], or [[King block]] format, you cannot choose any site from your adventure deck when it is time to play a new site on the adventure path. Instead, the site which has the next consecutive site number must be played.</p>

<p>''[Historical versions of [[standard]] such as [[Towers Standard]], [[King Standard]], and [[Movie Block]] were never official [[format]]s unto themselves, but unofficially players use the last legal [[site]] path released in those formats.]''}}
{{RulesQuote
|source=Adventure Deck
|text=In the Fellowship block, Tower block, or King block, sites are numbered, and you must include one for each of the nine site numbers.}}
{{RulesQuote
|source=adventure deck
|text=Sites in your adventure deck do not have a site number until they are played on the adventure path.</p>

<p>''[Note that this rule quote only applies in post-[[Shadows]] [[format]]s such as [[Expanded]] and [[Standard]]. See above for other formats.]''}}
{{RulesQuote
|source=Playing Shadow cards
|text=Each minion is normally played to a certain range of sites beginning with the minion’s site number. If the minion is played to (or is currently at) a site that has a lower site number, that minion is [[roaming]]. The player must pay a roaming penalty by removing an additional two twilight tokens when playing that minion.}}
{{RulesQuote
|source=ally
|text=[[Ally]] cards have a home site number indicated just after the card’s type, on the same line (such as Ally • Home 3 • Elf). These home site numbers all refer to adventure paths from the [[Fellowship block]], [[Tower block]], and [[King block]]. Allies have no home sites on adventure paths from the [[Shadows]] expansion set onward.}}
{{RulesQuote
|source=block symbol
|text=The sites provided in sets from the [[Shadows]] expansion onward have a dark compass in the upper left corner. They have no site number.</p>

<p>The sites provided in Fellowship block sets have no block symbol. The sites provided in Tower block sets have site numbers identified with the Tower symbol ([tower]). The sites provided in King block sets have site numbers identified with the King symbol ({{Block|king}}).</p>

<p>Sites with different block symbols are alternatives to each other, not an extension of one another. When a site’s number is specifically mentioned in game text, that number uses a block symbol.</p>

<p>''{{Card|Hobbit Stealth}} ("Skirmish: At sites 1 to 5, cancel a skirmish involving a Hobbit. At any other site, make a Hobbit strength +2.") can cancel a skirmish only at a [[Fellowship]] block site. However, this card adds its [[strength]] bonus at any other site.''</p>

<p>When an effect says "site X or higher," it applies only to sites from the Fellowship block.</p>

<p>When game text refers to "any site X," it applies to any adventure path, regardless of block symbol.</p>

<p>''A card which says "any site 5" works at site 5 and at site 5{{Block|Tower}}.''}}
{{RulesQuote
|source=roaming
|text=Each minion is normally played to a certain range of sites beginning with the minion’s site number. If the minion is played to (or is currently at) a site that has a lower site number, that minion is roaming. The player must pay a roaming penalty by removing an additional two twilight tokens when playing that minion.</p>

<p>'''Block symbol''' has no effect on whether a minion is roaming or not.</p>

<p>''A minion with a site number of 4 must remove 2 more twilight tokens to play at site 3 (or site 3[Tower]). If that same minion plays to site 4 (or site 4{{Block|tower}}), there is no roaming penalty. If he survives the fellowship’s first move to 3, he would no longer be roaming when the fellowship moves to site 4.  ''}}

{{Card Layout Table}}