Fallen-wizard Redeemed

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Darksatin
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A Scenario by Michael Reynolds

«Will you not come down ? Isengard has proved less strong than your hope and fancy made it. So may other things in which you still have trust. Would it not be well to leave it for a while ? To turn to new things, perhaps ?».

Gandalf addresses Saruman --Lord of The Rings, Book III

Fallen-wizard Redeemed is a MECCG scenario for 2 or more players focusing on cards from Middle Earth : The White Hand. It explores the possibility of a Fallen-wizard actively attempting to come back into the graces of the Elven Council and Free Peoples. What if Saruman had chosen to follow Gandalf’s advice at that critical hour ? Each player begins the game as a Fallen-wizard, as outlined in the MEWH rules. However, rather than having just fallen from the service of the Free Peoples with 3 starting stage points, each player is ingrained with corruption and starts with 30 stage points.Through tbe course of the game, each player will try to lose stage points through an arduous and painful process of sacrificing marshalling points and power. At the game’s conclusion, one player will have lost stage points and redeemed himself. In the eyes of the Free Council, this player wins.

In the rules that follow, if a particular rule is not covered, the appropriate rule from existing MECCG rules is to be followed. Like most games involving Fallen-wizards, this scenario works best if all players agree beforehand to play different Fallen-wizards.

DECK CONSTRUCTION

You may not include Sacrifice of Form, White Light Broken, or Poison of His Voice in your deck.

STARTING PLAY

Each player will reveal cards, giving him a total of 30 stage points rather than the normal 3. As shown in the MEWH rules, starting stage cards are revealed as though they were characters when determining starting companies. It is assumed that players are using the sanctioned tournament method of determining starting companies, called the Character Draft. Since certain characters require a stage card to be revealed (a 6 mind character requires Thrall of the Voice), you must first reveal the required stage card and then the character. These would be two separate draft choices using the Character Draft.

You must reveal your Fallen-wizard with your starting characters. It is recommended that each player choose beforehand to play a different Fallen-wizard.

Your starting company may begin play at any Wizardhaven, Border-hold, or Ruins & Lairs in Rhudaur, Arthedain or Cardolan.

Your starting characters may actually form more than one company, each of which begins the game at one of these starting sites.

Starting sites may be revealed, when starting companies are determined, as though they were characters. Duplicated starting sites, other than The White Towers, are returned to their location decks and may not be revealed again. Starting sites that you choose to reveal must be played with one or more of your already-revealed characters. These characters begin play at the revealed site.

Stage cards requiring a site may be revealed on a starting site that you have already successfully revealed. If you change a starting site to a site type that would not allow your opponent to start characters there, his characters already placed at that site would be allowed to remain.

Determining starting companies is not concluded until all players have revealed at least 30 stage points worth of stage cards. If a player cannot physically achieve this total, he receives a number of imaginary stage cards worth 2 stage points apiece, until this total is 30 or more. Imaginary stage cards have no card text.

DISCARDING STAGE CARDS

The main tactical focus of this scenario is discarding stage cards so that your stage point total reaches 0.

Unlike what is given in the MEWH rules, a player may not discard a stage card for free during his organization phase.

You may discard stage cards, or hazards that give you stage points during your organization phase, by making an offering to the Free Peoples. To make an offering, remove from the game one or more hero marshalling point sources that you have in play. This only includes hero resources, defeated hazards without an asterik played by your opponent, and hero characters. For each offering, you may discard one of your stage cards (including hazards played on you). The stage card discarded must have stage points equal to or less than the marshalling point value to you, of the offered marshalling point sources. You may make any number of offerings to the Free Peoples during each of your organization phases, as you see fit. There is no requirement as to the location of the marshalling points source being offered. For example, one of your characters in the middle of Gorgoroth or a faction that you have successfully influenced may be offered.

Your sites with stage resource permanent-events played on them are not discarded or returned to your location deck when no characters are at the site. They remain on the table and are available for your companies to use. If tapped, such sites cannot be untapped without the aid of certain cards (like Fireworks).

WINNING

When a player has no stage points, play continues until all the players have had an equal number of turns. When play is concluded, the player with no stage points wins. If there is a tie, i.e, if more than one player has no stage points, the player with the most raw marshalling points, as they are worth to the Free Peoples, wins. If there is still a tie, use the Weakest Link Method for breaking ties, as in sanctioned tournament play.


From Scrye Magazine # 4.5 (January 1998), pp.12,14

Thanks to YeGor, from the BGG forum
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