PART ONE: ASSEMBLING A FANTASY FELLOWSHIP

One of the best things about The Lord of The Rings game is that it allows you to see what might have happened if the events depicted in the books and the films had turned out differently. For instance, imagine if Gondor had failed to attend the Council of Elrond and Rohan had gone instead. You may well have been left with the story of Théodred as a member of the Fellowship. And what if Gandalf had met the Hobbits in Bree, leaving Aragorn to stay in Rivendell whilst the quest went on without his help. What if Aragorn had been killed in Balin's tomb? Any of a thousand separate things could have occurred which would have led to an entirely different story.

This concept is the inspiration behind this campaign system. It allows you, the gamer, to form your own Fellowship of the Ring and see how far along the Quest of Mount Doom they can get. It also means that you can take the original Fellowship and see if they survive longer than in the story.

STEP 1: SELECT THE RINGBEARER

The single most important member of the Fellowship is the Ringbearer. Without him there is no quest and indeed no story. With this in mind you need to select a Ringbearer from the following list:

Frodo Baggins, Bilbo Baggins, Isildur.

STEP 2: THE RINGBEARER'S COMPANION

After the Ringbearer, the second most important member of the Fellowship is the Ringbearer's companion. This is the character that keeps the Ringbearer on the right track throughout, guiding them to the end and helping them all the way. Your choice of companion is determined by your choice of Ringbearer. The companion is pre-defined and like the Ringbearer should be regarded as a set member of the Fellowship. From a rules point of view, this is to stop characters like Treebeard accompanying Frodo, or Pippin going to Mount Doom with Isildur, just to save on points;

If the Ringbearer is Frodo, the companion will be Sam Gamgee.

If the Ringbearer is Bilbo, the companion will be Gandalf the Grey. As Gandalf is responsible for Bilbo finding the Ring in the Misty Mountains, he will make sure the old Hobbit is kept safe from harm.

If your Ringbearer is Isildur, the companion will be Elrond. This campaign assumes that Isildur changes his mind at some time after surviving the Gladden Fields. Elrond is determined that he will not allow Isildur to make the same mistake twice.

STEP 3: THE REMAINING MEMBERS

It is only by the efforts of the entire Fellowship that the quest is victorious. Without them the Dark Lord's minions would surely have recaptured the Ring. Therefore the next stage is to select the remaining members of the Fellowship.

Any Good Hero may be chosen as a member of the Fellowship, including Captains of Men, Elves and Dwarves. If Gandalf is chosen, he will be Gandalf the Grey, not Gandalf the White. As a challenge you may also take Saruman and Gríma Wormtongue (assume that Saruman does not have the Palantir and that any references to Good and Evil are switched). Any characters not named should be given an appropriate name and background.

No more than 700 points may be spent on the Fellowship, including the Ringbearer and companion. The Fellowship must contain exactly 9 models. Because taking the original Fellowship is a challenge, you may use them carrying the same equipment they have in the first book except Elven cloaks. Although this means that you have more than 700 points, the fact that your Fellowship is preset provides its own challenge.

Once a member of the Fellowship is killed, they are removed from the roster permanently. If a non-Fellowship character is slain, they will not be available for any further scenarios, for example if Faramir is slain in the Osgiliath scenario, he will not be able to fight in any other scenarios. Extra equipment may be chosen for your heroes, but it must be shown on the model.

If the Ringbearer is slain, the quest is over.

Part Two of this article gives a list of scenarios and the order in which they should be played in order to represent the travels of the Fantasy Fellowship as they take on the quest to destroy the Ring.

Next: Campaign Trees