7-8-9 minders in fw sideboard

[Bandobras Took]

Or include one in their deck.

And a further note:

Fallen-wizards use minion rules for agents, except where specified by the White Hand rules insert.

When constructing a Ringwraith deck, agents are always considered characters.

If we take the common sense view of "you may only use up to two non-unique characters," then it logically follows that Fallen Wizard players may not include Baduila or Golodhros in their deck construction -- they are considered characters, and "you may only use characters with 5 mind or less."

[Bandobras Took]

Unified Field Theory of Fallen Wizard Character Play, Deck Construction, and Use

Relevant Rules:

A.

You may use both hero and minion characters. However, you may only use a character if his mind attribute is 5 or less. All of your non-Orc/Troll characters are considered to be hero characters. You may only use up to two of each non-unique character.

B.

The resource half of your play deck (and your sideboard) may include hero, minion and stage resources. But, you are limited to:
* One of each unique card (including cards with the same name)
* Three of each non-unique stage resource card
* Two of each non-unique character card
* Two of each non-unique hero resource card
* Two of each non-unique minion resource card
* You may not include stage resource cards that are "specific" to another Fallen-wizard (e.g. if you declare that you are Alatar, you may not include "Gandalf specific" cards).

C.

Your starting characters (up to 5) may include hero characters and minion characters, but you may not start a character with a mind greater than 5. However, you may not start Orc and Troll characters unless you start with an appropriate stage resource card (e.g. Bad Company).

D.

All of your non-Orc and non-Troll characters are considered to be hero characters. Thus, a company consisting of only such characters is treated as a hero company. Such a company is covert for the purposes of playing minion resources.

* Your Fallen-wizard may only start at his home site.
* You may not start or bring into play any character with a mind greater than 5.

E.

You may not play Orc and Troll characters until you have played the appropriate card (e.g. Bad Company).

All right, here goes:

There are three different types of limitations on character cards for Fallen Wizards:
1) Limitations on what character cards you can start and/or play;
2) Limitations on what character cards you can include when constructing a deck; and
3) Limitations on what character cards you can use while playing the game.

These are separate restrictions; they are not synonymous with one another. I myself have been guilty of confusing them.

Under the category of 1), we have rules C, D, and E.
Under the category of 2), we have rule B.
Under the category of 3), we have rule A.

Thus, while a player is prevented from playing or starting orcs/trolls (E,C), they may freely include them in their deck (B). Likewise, you may not start/play characters with a mind greater than 5 (C,D), but may freely include such characters in your deck (B).

Rule A is a separate thing -- the ability to include an orc/troll/character with more than 5 mind in your deck does not guarantee the ability to use such a character. There are no limitations on using an orc or a troll character even though there are limitations on starting or playing orcs and trolls.

This has caused confusion because characters with more than 5 mind are subject to limitations on both use and starting/playing. As is shown with the orcs above, the two are not synonymous.

Abilities which allow the play of a character with greater than 5 mind do not guarantee the use of such a character. Thrall of the Voice overcomes this problem by reducing the mind of the character played with it, but should Thrall be removed, then you may no longer use the character for any purpose -- theoretically, the character becomes a lump, not moving, not facing strikes, just eating up influence until you reduce their mind below 6. This differs from removing Bad Company -- there is no limitation on using Orcs/Trolls once they're played.

Revealing a character with a mind greater than 5 to lower the mind of a target character during an influence attempt is using a character card. You may include such a character card in your deck -- there is no rule against it, but using a character in such a manner is clearly illegal.

References to "having" a character refer to that character being in play.

[Konrad Klar]

Mind may be increased to 6 or more also by Palm to Palm, Necklace of Silver and Pearls, So You've Come Back, Diminish and Depart, minion Arkenstone wit the same effect: "then you may no longer use the character for any purpose -- theoretically, the character becomes a lump, not moving, not facing strikes, just eating up influence until you reduce their mind below 6."

Using a character card is not the same as using a character. If you are playing a character card on-guard are you using a character?

P.S.
I you are willing to legitimize a sloppy wording then you must face a consequences.

[Bandobras Took]

I'm perfectly willing to face those consequences, especially since I mentioned them in my post. Yes, effects which increase the mind of a character will have the effect of disabling that character if such effects cause their mind to rise above 6. Since FWs have access to Thrall, Mind Rings, Open to the Summons, etc., this would just be another case of hazards/counters.