“There came a great noise: a rolling Boom that seemed to come from depths far below, and to tremble in the stone at their feet. They sprang towards the door in alarm. Doom, doom it rolled again…”
    –J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

Having survived a harrowing encounter with the nightmarish Watcher in the Water, several of Middle-earth’s greatest heroes throw open the Doors of Durin. Before them lie the countless dark and deadly caverns of Khazad-dûm, which was once a rich and mighty Dwarven kingdom and now lies abandoned, though not entirely unoccupied. Within its depths dwell masses of Orcs and other, older, and fouler things, including an ancient and terrible evil, a demon of smoke and flame, the Balrog…

Set aside your fears, and venture forth on one of the greatest of all quests – this time in Nightmare Mode! Nightmare Decks are now available for the final three scenarios in the Dwarrowdelf cycle for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game :

As with every Nightmare Deck , these new Nightmare Decks allow you to revisit three of your favorite scenarios recast with deadlier enemies, darker locations, and more terrifying surprises.

You can pick up your copies today at your local retailer or online through our webstore , or you can read on as developer Matt Newman reveals some of the terrors these Nightmare Decks will soon visit upon you!

The Long Dark

In The Long Dark scenario, the heroes are trying to find their way through Moria’s many dark corridors, and its Nightmare Deck focuses on the scenario’s locate tests. As the heroes attempt to navigate the endless caverns and halls of Khazad-dûm, locate tests represent their efforts to maintain their bearings, and if your heroes fail them, locate tests trigger all of the Lost effects in play, meaning the impact of your locate tests depends largely on the number of Lost effects in play.

To this end, the scenario’s Nightmare Deck ensures there will always be at least one Lost effect in play, because the setup card introduces one that remains perpetually in effect:

“ Lost: The first player must choose and discard an ally in play.”

No matter where you are or what enemies or locations are present, you always face the danger of losing an ally in the depths of Moria. This simple change keeps the pressure on you to succeed at every single locate test and makes each of them more tense and challenging.

Several other new cards also punish the heroes for failing locate tests, such as the Trapdoor Spider ( The Long Dark Nightmare Deck , 3), which jumps out from its hiding place and preys upon the helpless.

Also, because one popular strategy for defeating this quest focuses on drawing tons of cards and building up a huge hand that would never fail a locate test, I introduced cards such as Sentinel of the Deep ( The Long Dark Nightmare Deck , 4) to force players to adapt. Altogether, this Nightmare Deck introduces enough revamped encounter cards and punishing Lost effects that players should find the Nightmare Mode version of this scenario both tough and rewarding.

Foundations of Stone

This unique and much-beloved scenario forced players to do something they’d never before done in The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – split the party. In Nightmare Mode, you’ll find a host of new cards that further interact with this unique element of the quest. For example, Giant Cave Centipedes ( Foundations of Stone Nightmare Deck , 3) can weave their way from your play area to that of another player, or from your ally’s play area to yours.

Even worse, in the unknown depths of Moria, there live creatures with no names, ancient as the world itself. The Foundations of Stone Nightmare Deck introduces two new Nameless enemies for your party to discover and fight, as well as a terrible location they call their home, the Nest of Horrors ( Foundations of Stone Nightmare Deck , 6).

This scenario is also unique in that it has two separate encounter decks. It starts off tamely before literally washing your characters away into the underground rivers where the players are forced to split up and find each other again. The Foundations of Stone Nightmare Deck contains new cards for both of these two encounter decks, meaning that it doesn’t just hit them harder in the underground rivers; it also does a better job of wearing down your heroes before splitting them up. This makes for a challenging and engaging scenario from start to finish.

Shadow and Flame

I am very excited for players to get their hands on the Nightmare Deck for Shadow and Flame , one of my personal favorite scenarios in The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game !

One of the challenges our team faced as we designed the Nightmare Deck for this scenario was figuring out a way to make your fight against Durin’s Bane tougher and even more epic without simply restricting all your favorite tricks and tools. I wanted to make sure that you would truly feel the weight and impact of each of the Balrog’s attacks, and I wanted to give the Balrog a variety of different attacks and maneuvers it could perform on each attack, making it feel every bit like the nightmarish incarnation of an awesome, dynamic, and responsive boss enemy. To that end, half of the cards added in this Nightmare Deck are treachery cards with the Attack trait, which are shuffled into a separate “Balrog deck” during setup. These cards have no encounter effects other than devastatingly powerful shadow effects, and they are only ever dealt as shadow cards to the Balrog. However, every time the Balrog attacks, you’re in for a world of hurt!

Even as they add new flame to Durin’s Bane, many of these new shadow effects also counter popular strategies that players have used to find victory in Shadow and Flame .

Beyond these Attack cards, there are also new locations and enemies you can face during the nightmare version of this quest, such as the new Servant of Flame ( Shadow and Flame Nightmare Deck , 7), who will make you think twice about who to attack during the combat phase.

The scenario’s objective remains the same: find a way to defeat this creature of flame and shadow, and escape Moria with your lives. But to paraphrase Gandalf, this may be a foe beyond any of you, and I look forward to hearing about your experiences fighting this nightmarish version of Durin’s Bane.

Alámenë!

Your Quest Through the Dwarrowdelf Comes to an End

One way or another, these three new Nightmare Decks allow you to finish your quest through the Dwarrowdelf in style. Will you get lost in the labyrinthine mines of Moria? Will you be devoured by the nameless things that dwell in depths better left untouched? Will you tremble, falter, and fall in battle against Durin’s Bane, one of the most powerful and fearsome creatures in all of Middle-earth? Or will you somehow find the strength, the courage, and the will to survive? Can you find your way out of Khazad-dûm and report back to Rivendell?

Complete your quest with these three new Nightmare Decks , now available at your local retailer and online through our webstore !

The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game is a cooperative card game that puts 1-2 players (or up to four with an additional Core Set) in control of the most powerful characters and artifacts of Middle-earth. Players will select heroes, gather allies, acquire artifacts, and coordinate their efforts to face Middle-earth’s most dangerous fiends. The Living Card Game format allows players to customize their gaming experience with monthly Adventure Pack expansions to the core game.

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