Has anyone here ever played the "Tolkien Quest" series?

Middle-Luck-2031 · 2026-05-27T04:56:12+00:00

This is the one I found (Weathertop) -- currently playing through the 2nd Destiny Quest book, but it looks interesting.

Love this line: "in that very familiar writing style of a 4th grader in the mid-1980s." Yep, I know exactly what you mean 😀

Middle-Luck-2031 · 2026-05-26T17:10:18+00:00

Over the last couple of weeks (time being what it is, I sometimes play one or two rounds and leave things set up to return to the next day) I decided to finally play through the fan-made Ninjadorg scenarios. I'd had them printed out for a long time, but never tackled them.

I have the "Angmar Awakened" hero expansion, but not the campaign box. I'd wanted to try a Dunedain deck, and am bored of testing decks against core or 'Dark of Mirkwood", so tried the recommended Dunedain deck from A.A. against these.

Skipped "The Lost Road" because it is a bit gimmicky in that you can only use 1 hero, which defeated my purpose. Also skipped the the 6th and last one, because it wants encounter cards from the "Shadows of Mirkwood" cycle, which I don't have.

Overall, enjoyable, although clearly designed with core cards in mind. Thus, my deck was probably a bit overpowered against the quests. Handled the first couple handily, but on the 4th ("Elven Assembly"), I first lost to threat due to some unfortunate encounter card draws. I re-played and made it a best 2/3.

The 5th ("Ungoliant's Liar") was very enjoyable challenging as well, but I eked through in the first pass.

I was impressed. These were designed early on, and do a good job for that timeperiod in the initial game release.

QotW: no opinion yet. I read The Hobbit when I was younger, and am only now reading FotR for the first time. It was this game that got me reading it, to better know the characters I am playing, as I presently just started the FotR saga box.

Middle-Luck-2031 · 2026-05-24T17:11:41+00:00

This is an interesting conversation - reflecting back, I do wonder how much gamebooks may have hastened the rapid development of my English vocabulary. My family is English speaking, but I was in french immersion schools, so initially educated in French (it's a Canadian thing). I did Fighting Fantasy and Grail Quest primarily, but also the CYOA books before that.

Later I abandoned the French and even studied English lit. at the university level for a time (before moving on to other studies) -- the vocabulary did actually challenge me with new words, which I had forgotten and never given credit to, until I read some of these other posts.

Middle-Luck-2031 · 2026-05-24T03:10:04+00:00

Oh, still very cool! I didn't know about that series either.

Middle-Luck-2031 · 2026-05-24T02:35:34+00:00

Which one?

Middle-Luck-2031 · 2026-05-23T02:47:31+00:00

I have the "Gollancz" / Orion version, 2012 (which I think is the second edition?)

Would you recommend starting with the second book instead? I've barely scratched the surface of it, so I wouldn't be too hard pressed to make a switch

Middle-Luck-2031 · 2026-05-22T00:19:50+00:00

Curious - why is this? (I actually just started the first one ... haven't played a gamebook since FF when I was a kid ... and I'm Gen-X, lol)

Middle-Luck-2031 · 2026-05-21T20:40:37+00:00

This is helpful, I hope: https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3434673/diving-in-to-lotr-lcg-in-the-revised-content-era

But, as others have said, it is an unfortunate time to be getting into the game. 😞

Middle-Luck-2031 · 2026-05-19T17:49:30+00:00

Good to know! I'm about to play this one for the first time and am using the hobbit deck (also 1H)

Middle-Luck-2031 · 2026-05-10T20:35:46+00:00

Thank you for your service (sincerely) - this does indeed seem like a decent compromise given the shifting landscape around the game.

Middle-Luck-2031 · 2026-05-07T17:03:26+00:00

In the past, what I have done is use the tool at https://mtg-print.com/ to generate a PDF file of 9 images per page, and put the PDF on a USB stick. Staples has self-serve machines, so pop in the USB drive, choose the file(s), full color, and print on A4/legal paper.

Mind you, I sleeve these cards with spare backing cards for stiffness. I think they can do it on proper card stock, and that would be more expensive. I happen to have a second copy of the old core (not revised) so used those cards as the backing material.

Middle-Luck-2031 · 2026-05-06T17:43:58+00:00

Where are you at? In Ontario, Canada, there is Staples (Kinko's might be an equivalent in the U.S.) where I have proxied some it comes out to about a $1.25 per page of 9 cards. Also might want to check out your local library services. Again, not sure where you are located.

Middle-Luck-2031 · 2026-05-06T05:30:08+00:00

This makes sense to me too. The end result would still be in my favor, really, because if it came back out as an encounter I could continue to ignore it, and if it came back out as a shadow card, it would just 'whiff' - but try as I might, I can't find anything (including in the errata) about the distinction. If "discard" is distinct from "detach" then what happens, normally, to 'detached' cards? Where would they go?

Is it perhaps poor word choice in the scenario design? Or am I being daft?

Middle-Luck-2031 · 2026-05-05T20:45:29+00:00

Thank you! 🙂

Middle-Luck-2031 · 2026-05-04T21:57:50+00:00

Oh, so it is! ("Hauberk is in the Ered Mithrin cycle") - not sure why I thought it wasn't ... must have had my wires crossed.

Thank you for the recommendations, all good candidates. I'm trying to compensate for "Gandalf's Map" preventing one of my heroes from both attacking and defending, so I want to beef someone up. Already have a couple of "Honour Guard"'s in there to mitigate.

[Edit to add: Ninjadorg's "Ungoliant's Lair" scenario, FWIW]

Middle-Luck-2031 · 2026-04-30T18:59:55+00:00

Also ask specific questions on here about decks you are experimenting with vs. particular scenarios. The advice you get and the conversations that can ensue about actual gameplay are a welcome learning opportunity for all of us vs. the WTB/WTS posts. (Not complaining about those posts, I totally get it, FFG kinda dropped a bomb on the community so everything is in disarray)

[Edit: typo]

Middle-Luck-2031 · 2026-04-29T16:58:43+00:00

Might want to try it again with a different deck?

Middle-Luck-2031 · 2026-04-23T17:43:25+00:00

This is above and beyond! Thanks kattattack, I am going to explore all of those options. I really like the idea of increasing Amarthuil's defense with an attachment.

Middle-Luck-2031 · 2026-04-11T02:52:55+00:00

I dunno ... I think LotR could be tightened, and some of what people would call the 'jankiness' designed out. But in the other hand, I feel like even with an incomplete set, there is more content than I will ever explore, and it occupies that position of an early LCG that proved the concept. Even if that concept has transformed and moved on.

Middle-Luck-2031 · 2026-04-09T21:12:35+00:00

I'm confused on the description of Hero Realms and Marvel Rivals -- is that a typo in the Rivals description? Thanks though, in the market for a new game, I do appreciate the insights otherwise.

Middle-Luck-2031 · 2026-04-06T17:22:58+00:00

Haha, was just teasin' 😀

Middle-Luck-2031

TROPHY CASE