Ring-bearer

Frodo is of course the quintessential Ring-bearer, but he is not the only one you can use in the Lord of the Rings TCG․

Your Ring-bearer is the single most important character you include with your deck. You win the game if your Ring-bearer survives to the end of Site 9, and you lose if at any time your Ring-bearer dies or is Corrupted. At the start of the game, you place your Ring-bearer on the table and attach a copy of the One Ring.

Alternate Ring-bearers

At the game's initial release with Fellowship of the Ring, the only playable Ring-bearer was Frodo, and if Sam was in play when he died, the One Ring would pass to Sam and you would continue on with Sam as your Ring-bearer. This remained true until the release of Reflections, when 6 new Alternate Ring-bearers (or ARBs) became available. Alternate Ring-Bearers represented what would happen if Frodo had given or had the One Ring taken by someone else. These ARBs typically have lower Resistance than Frodo, but compensated by having higher strength or powerful effects.

The primary impact this has was to permit true monoculture decks to exist; Gondor, Elven, Dwarven, and Gollum could all dispense with any Shire cards used to keep Frodo alive. Once Bloodlines was released, two new alternate Ring-bearers were made of Sam and Gandalf, allowing every Free Peoples culture except Rohan to have a Ring-bearer.

While Alternate Ring-bearers have twilight costs, the ring-bearer is "placed" on the table, not played, so the twilight cost does not need to paid. Similarly, when using Sméagol, Bearer of Great Secrets (9R+30) , you do not need to add a burden to play him.

Rules Entries

From the Comprehensive Rules:

You may choose any character with the ringed resistance icon, or any version of Frodo, to be your Ring-bearer. You may choose any version of The One Ring. These two cards are not part of your draw deck (they do not count against your total of Free Peoples cards).

- Ring-bearer and The One Ring section

From the Comprehensive Rules:

One Free Peoples character always begins the game as your Ring-bearer. (See building your deck.) He bears The One Ring for you, much as when Frodo carried the Ring in his pocket or on a chain around his neck.

If a character other than Frodo is your Ring-bearer, you cannot play any version of Frodo with the Ring-bearer keyword during the game.

While wearing The One Ring, your Ring-bearer can perform all normal actions such as moving and skirmishing. He may defend against attacking minions as usual.

The Ring-bearer cannot be discarded or returned to your hand, and skirmishes involving the Ring-bearer cannot be cancelled.

- Ring-bearer section

From the Comprehensive Rules:

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.

Place your Ring-bearer face up on the table. Place The One Ring under your Ring-bearer (so the title is showing) and place on him the burdens that you bid.

You may then play other companions (not allies, possessions, artifacts, or conditions) one at a time from your draw deck, as long as the total twilight cost of these companions is 4 or less. The twilight cost of your Ring-bearer is not included in this total.

- Starting Fellowship section

List of Ring-Bearers

Portrait	Card Name	Culture	Card Type	Game Text
	Frodo, Old Bilbo's Heir (1R289)	Shire	Companion • Hobbit	Ring-bearer (resistance 10). At the start of each of your turns, you may heal a Hobbit ally.
	Frodo, Son of Drogo (1C290)	Shire	Companion • Hobbit	Ring-bearer (resistance 10). Fellowship: Exert another companion who has the Frodo signet to heal Frodo.
	Frodo, Reluctant Adventurer (2C102)	Shire	Companion • Hobbit	Ring-bound. Ring-bearer (resistance 10). The cost of each artifact, possession, and tale played on Frodo is -1.
	Frodo, Courteous Halfling (4R301)	Shire	Companion • Hobbit	Ring-bearer (resistance 10). While you can spot 3 unbound companions, Shadow cards may not discard cards from your hand or from the top of your draw deck.
	Frodo, Tired Traveller (4C302)	Shire	Companion • Hobbit	Ring-bearer (resistance 10). Fellowship: Play a Ring-bound companion to remove a burden.
	Frodo, Master of the Precious (5U111)	Shire	Companion • Hobbit	Ring-bearer (resistance 10). Fellowship: Add a burden to play Sméagol from your discard pile.
	Frodo, Hope of Free Peoples (7C317)	Shire	Companion • Hobbit	Ring-bearer (resistance 10). Ring-bound. Each time the fellowship moves, you may add to remove a threat.
	Frodo, Wicked Masster! (7R318)	Shire	Companion • Hobbit	Ring-bearer (resistance 10). Ring-bound. Skirmish: At sites 6 to 8, add 4 burdens to wound a minion skirmishing Frodo.
	Gimli, Bearer of Grudges (9R+4)	Dwarven	Companion • Dwarf	Damage +1. While Gimli is the Ring-bearer, at the start of each skirmish involving him, add 2 burdens or 2 threats. While Gimli is damage +X, he is resistance +X.
	Galadriel, Bearer of Wisdom (9R+14)	Elven	Companion • Elf	While Galadriel bears an artifact or The One Ring, she is resistance +1 for each companion you can spot.
	Sméagol, Bearer of Great Secrets (9R+30)	Gollum	Companion	Ring-bound. To play, add a burden. Each time the fellowship moves, place an unbound companion in the dead pile. Regroup: If Sméagol is the Ring-bearer, add 2 burdens to discard each minion.
	Boromir, Bearer of Council (9R+31)	Gondor	Companion • Man	While Boromir is the Ring-bearer, at the start of each skirmish involving him, add 3 burdens or wound him twice. Each time Boromir wins a skirmish, discard each minion he is skirmishing.
	Isildur, Bearer of Heirlooms (9R+33)	Gondor	Companion • Man	While Isildur is the Ring-bearer, at the start of each skirmish involving him, add 2 burdens or exert 3 companions. While Isildur bears The One Ring or an artifact, each knight is strength +1.
	Bilbo, Bearer of Things Burgled (9R+49)	Shire	Companion • Hobbit	Ring-bound. Each time the fellowship moves, if the twilight pool has 2 or fewer twilight tokens, add 2 burdens or add . Regroup: Add a burden to play a tale.
	Frodo, Resolute Hobbit (10P121)	Shire	Companion • Hobbit	Ring-bearer (resistance 12).
	Frodo, Protected by Many (11S164)	Shire	Companion • Hobbit	Ring-bearer. Ring-bound. At the start of the regroup phase, you may exert Frodo to make him gain muster until the end of the regroup phase. (At the start of the regroup phase, you may discard a card from hand to draw a card.)
	Gandalf, Bearer of Obligation (13R33)	Gandalf	Companion • Wizard	While Gandalf is the Ring-bearer, each time the fellowship moves, add 3 burdens unless you spot 2 other companions and discard 2 cards from hand.
	Sam, Bearer of Great Need (13R156)	Shire	Companion • Hobbit	Ring-bound. Sam is resistance +1 for each Hobbit you can spot. Regroup: Exert Sam and transfer a follower he is bearing to your support area to discard a minion from play.
	Frodo, Weary From the Journey (15C144)	Shire	Companion • Hobbit	Ring-bearer. Ring-bound. While skirmishing a minion of strength 8 or less, Frodo is strength +2.
	Faramir, Bearer of Quality (17R28)	Gondor	Companion • Man	While Faramir is the Ring-bearer, at the start of each skirmish involving him, add 2 burdens or 2 threats. Skirmish: While Faramir is the Ring-bearer, you may wound Faramir to make a minion skirmishing a Man roaming until the end of the turn.
	Frodo, Little Master (19P28)	Shire	Companion • Hobbit	Fellowship. Ring-bearer. Ring-bound. While you cannot spot 4 threats, Shadow cards cannot discard cards from your hand or from the top of your draw deck.
	Frodo, Mr. Underhill (0P67)	Shire	Companion • Hobbit	Ring-bound. Ring-bearer (resistance 10). The cost of each artifact, possession, and tale played on Frodo is -1. ​

Cards That Interact With the Ring-Bearer

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