Bloodlines

Black Rider

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Expanded Middle-earth

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Bloodlines
ID	13
Name	Bloodlines
Creator	Decipher
Release Date	2005-08-12
Is Official	yes
Platforms	Paper • LotR-O • GEMP • mLOTRO • Tabletop Simulator • Lackey • gccg
Notes

Bloodlines is the second expansion set in the War of the Ring Block and the thirteenth set overall. It was released on August 12, 2005. The set contained 194 cards (60 commons, 60 uncommons, 60 rares, and 14 starter deck-only cards); five rares and one starter deck-only card from the set had Tengwar versions produced. Eighteen rares had a foil Legends version with rarity symbol RF and nine rares had an alternate-frame foil Legends Masterworks version printed with a ring used as the rarity symbol (usually represented by an O in text).

Themes and Mechanics

Bloodlines had a mechanical focus on culture tokens, and introduced a new game action: culture counters could now be reinforced, meaning a player could add a token to a card that already had at least one. Previously, tokens could only be added by the card that used them, which meant that a powerful token-based card could be balanced by making the tokens difficult to obtain. By allowing tokens to be added by separate cards (which may have less stringent requirements), certain combinations became very powerful.

The set continued to use the loaded keywords introduced in Shadows (Lurker, Muster, and Toil), but at much lower rates. Similarly, the set had a reduced focus on site keywords and resistance (the latter of which was focused almost entirely in the Gondor and Uruk-hai cultures).

Bloodlines also added some cards that played into the themes of Reflections, with new alternate ring-bearers (Gandalf, Bearer of Obligation (13R33) and Sam, Bearer of Great Need (13R156) ), characters from the past (Elendil, High-king of Gondor (13R65) , Isildur, Heir of Elendil (13U71) , and Sauron, Dark Lord of Mordor (13R140) ), and the first (and only) version of Frodo that was not a ring-bearer (Frodo, Frenzied Fighter (13R149) ).

Appropriate to the name, there was a small theme of referencing specific unique companions in family groups, such as on Faramir, Prince of Ithilien (13C66) and King’s Board (13U131) .

Cultures

Bloodlines continued the same cultures as Shadows and Black Rider, although there were far fewer Wraith cards and more Gollum cards. Bloodlines again included cameo cards from the Movie-era shadow cultures: four cards from Isengard and two from Sauron.

Brego, Loyal Steed (13R63) was the first time a unique Free Peoples card appeared in a different culture than it was originally printed (moving from Rohan to Gondor). The previous set, Black Rider had printed similar culture-shifted characters, but only for Shadow cultures.

New Card Type

For the first time since the game began, Bloodlines introduced a new card type: Follower. Followers were meant to replace allies, but functioned quite differently. Followers played to your support area and could be attached to a companion by paying a cost (called an "aid" cost) during the maneuver phase. When the Free Peoples player reconciled in the regroup phase, all followers returned the support area, and could be re-attached on future turns.

While followers were named and concepted as characters, they did not count as characters mechanically, and would be placed in the discard pile (not the dead pile) if they were removed from play. However, some unique followers shared a name with unique companions (such as Radagast, The Brown (9R+26) and Radagast, Tender of Beasts (13R38) ); following the uniqueness rule, if either of these cards is in play or the dead pile, the other cannot be played.

Starter Decks

Continuing the pattern from Shadows, many of the cards in starter packs did not appear in boosters and could only be obtained by buying a starter pack; these cards were all given the rarity symbol S. The face cards for the starter decks were Arwen, Reflection of Luthien (13S9) and Boromir, Doomed Heir (13S62) .

• Arwen Starter Deck: Elven / Orc
• Boromir Starter Deck: Gondor / Men

Cycles

Free Peoples Cycles
Cycle Name	Dwarven	Elven	Gandalf	Gollum	Gondor	Rohan	Shire
"Each of the following" conditions	His Father’s Charge (12C8)	Standing Tall (13C25)	N/A	N/A	Tireless (12C52)	Cleaving a Path (12C110)	Don’t Let Go (13C145)
	Conditions that discard to increase a characters strength by "+1 for each of the following that is true." This cycle contains cards from both Black Rider and Bloodlines.
"Free" events	Dwarf-lords (13U4)	Kindreds Estranged (13U17)	Look to My Coming (13U34)	Naked Waste (13U53)	Banners Blowing (13U61)	Hurried Barrows (13U130)	Everything but My Bones (13U146)
	Events that can be played for zero twilight by removing 4 cards of the matching culture from your discard pile.
Homestead Conditions	Subterranean Homestead (13R8)	Secluded Homestead (13R22)	Traveler’s Homestead (13R42)	Gladden Homestead (13R49)	Storied Homestead (13R76)	Wind-swept Homestead (13R139)	Humble Homestead (13R152)
	Conditions that enter with a variable number of culture tokens, and have an ability that can be played by removing two tokens or discarding the condition. Four of the conditions add the initial culture tokens based on the number of sites on the adventure path with particular keywords.
Unique Mounts	Arod, Rohirrim Steed (13R1)	Asfaloth, Swift Blossom (13R10)	Shadowfax, Roaring Wind (13R40)	Fishing Boat (13R48)	Brego, Loyal Steed (13R63)	Snowmane, Noble Mearas (13R136)	Bill the Pony, Dearly-loved (13R143)
	Mounts (with the exception of Fishing Boat) that reinforce a culture token when played, and have a single special ability with a cost of two tokens. Firefoot, Mearas of the Mark (13R126) is very similar to the cards in this cycle, but doesn't match the others as closely as Snowmane.

Shadow Cycles
Cycle Name	Gollum	Men	Orc	Uruk-hai	Wraith
"Each of the following" conditions	N/A	Driven From the Plains (13C87)	N/A	Endless Assault (13C161)	Unimpeded (12C182)
	Conditions that discard to increase a characters strength by "+1 for each of the following that is true." This cycle contains cards from both Black Rider and Bloodlines.
"Free" events	Cunningly Hidden (13U45)	Fires Brightly Burning (13U91)	Defiled (13U105)	New Enemy (13U166)	From Hideous Eyrie (13U179)
	Events that can be played for zero twilight by removing 4 cards of the matching culture from your discard pile.
Region-based cards	Little Snuffler (13U52)	Voice of the Desert, Southron Troop (13R101)	Chamber Patrol (13R104)	Uruk Blitz (13R169)	N/A
	Cards with different abilities depending on the current region.
"When you play this, add a token for each" conditions	N/A	Howdah (13U94)	Always Threatening (13U103)	Weapons of Control (13U177)	They Came From Mordor (13U181)
	Conditions that enter the support area with a culture token for each (something) you spot.

Reprinted Cards

Bloodlines did not contain any reprinted cards.

Similar Sites

Unlike Shadows and Black Rider, Decipher did not reprint any sites with modifications to fit the new site path. One site, Caves of Aglarond (13S186) , shares a name with a previously printed site (Caves of Aglarond (4U352) ), but the cards have no similarities beyond the name and the fact that both have the underground keyword.

Notable Cards

• Arod, Rohirrim Steed (13R1)
• Arwen, Reflection of Luthien (13S9)
• Gandalf, Bearer of Obligation (13R33)
• The Palantír of Orthanc, Recovered Seeing Stone (13R36)
• Elendil, High-king of Gondor (13R65)
• Faramir, Prince of Ithilien (13C66)
• Isildur, Heir of Elendil (13U71)
• Kings’ Legacy (13U72)
• Stewards’ Legacy (13U75)
• King’s Board (13U131)
• Sauron, Dark Lord of Mordor (13R140)
• Sceptre of the Dark Lord (13R141)
• Frodo, Frenzied Fighter (13R149)
• Sam, Bearer of Great Need (13R156)

X-Listed Cards

• Courtyard Parapet (13U188) - X-listed in Standard on January 29, 2007

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