1
Follow turn order
In a 4-player game, turns proceed: Sauron Turn → Hero 1 Turn → Hero 2 Turn → Hero 3 Turn, then repeat
2
Continue until game end
Play proceeds clockwise from Sauron until a story marker reaches the final space or the Shadow Falls space
3
Hero Rally Step
Heroes discard any influence tokens from their current location (if not in a Shadow Stronghold) back to the influence area
4
Story Step
Advance the hero story marker 2 spaces forward on the story track
5
Plot Step
Choose one: play a plot card from hand, discard an active plot card, or do nothing
6
Event Step
Draw 3 cards from the current stage event deck and resolve one
7
Action Step
Perform 2 actions (3 actions in a 4-player game)
8
Hero Draw Step
Each hero draws cards from their life pool equal to their Fortitude value
9
Manage action tokens
Keep no more than 3 action tokens on the board
10
Rest Step
If no monster tokens or minions are present and the location is not a Shadow Stronghold, the hero may rest
11
Ambush Step
Sauron must choose whether to initiate combat with a monster or minion at the hero's location
12
Travel Step
Perform any combination of the following in any order:
13
Encounter Step
If the hero moved to a non-perilous location, draw 3 encounter cards from the matching region deck and resolve the lowest numbered card
14
Calculate hero distance
Count spaces from the hero story marker to the final space
15
Calculate Sauron distance
Take the smaller of: closest Sauron marker's distance to final space, or total spaces from all Sauron markers to Shadow Falls
16
Compare values
The side with the smaller number is dominant; if equal, neither is dominant
17
Check influence requirement
The Shadow Pool must contain influence equal to or greater than the number shown on the card
18
Follow timing restrictions
Play shadow cards only when their timing condition is met
19
Limit per turn
Sauron may play only one shadow card per player turn (up to 4 per round in a 4-player game)
20
Monster movement restriction
Monsters can only move to locations with at least 1 influence token
21
Minion movement freedom
Minions can move to any location, including havens
22
Haven combat restriction
Sauron must have hero permission to challenge heroes in havens
23
Influence chain rule
If a hero breaks a continuous influence chain, all influence tokens on locations no longer in extension of a Shadow Stronghold are removed except one
24
Stage 2 deployment
When a story marker first enters Stage 2, Sauron places Ringwraiths and Gothmog figures at their starting locations
25
Stage 3 deployment
When a story marker first enters Stage 3, Sauron places the Witch-King at its starting location
