That’s right, there’s an entire LOTR ED set available for print and play in person or online on Vassal, complete with decks, maps, even cut-out figures! Everything is completely free, but we appreciate comments and feedback.

We have 32 total LOTRED decks so all the major characters are here:  Aragorn, Frodo, Gandalf, Sauron, the Witch King, and of course, Legolas & Gimli!  Plus, we’ve included characters from The Hobbit trilogy like Bilbo, Thorin and Smaug the dragon!  Like the SWED decks from Geektopia, these decks were put together collaboratively and thoughtfully, and most decks have been heavily play-tested.

Lord of the Rings Epic Duels is based on the game Star Wars Epic Duels, designed by Rob Daviau and Craig Van Ness, and released by Hasbro in 2002.  We have no rights to the game, nor any LOTR materials and everything here is available for free.

The Original 12 LOTR decks were led by Roman (game design) and Robert Moore (art), and created though extensive collaboration with the ED online community, including well-known Epic Duels designers like Sultan, Scott Hagarty and fishfleas.  The Armies Expansion started with some leftover ideas from the original set, and Roman and Robert created some more for a 6-card set plus 2 more maps.  They use the same style of art and printing so this 18-card set is grouped together, though they do get different treatment on Vassal.

We added an 8-deck Hobbit Expansion following the final film of the trilogy, mostly Roman with key help from Separatist on Smaug.

Then in 2020, we followed with the Legends Expansion and another 6 decks, with help from our blog’s followers like JAG and James Bungart.

All decks are available for printout and play, or for online play on Vassal.  Try them out and let us know what you think!

Play LOTRED on your computer, by yourself or online with others, using Vassal

If you’ve already got the SWED module for Vassal, that’s probably the easiest way to get a quick look at all of them and get a sense of the experience.  If you don’t have Vassal or have never played online, go here for more information.

Get LOTRED for Vassal! (all decks, expansions and maps)

 

Decks for Live Play

The decks are listed individually below so you can explore and print them.  If you’re ready for a complete set, I’ve put everything for print on this Print-and-Play page.

Maps for Live Play

LOTR Maps, some in .JPG form, others in .PDF.

Figures for Live Play

Robert was thoughtful enough to include cut-out figures with the deck .JPGs.  If you’re looking for actual figures, you can get really great ones through Games Workshop, but you’re going to pay for them and paint them yourself.  At least, that’s what I did.

Individual Deck Pages

I rank all 32 decks and discuss them in this post.

Original 12 Lord of the Rings Epic Duels + 6-deck Armies Expansion

Aragorn & Arwen
Boromir & Denethor
Eomer & Rohirrim Archers
Eowyn & Merry
Faramir & Gondor Rangers
Frodo & Samwise
Gandalf & Pippin
Legolas & Gimli
Theoden & Rohirrim Riders

Cave Troll & Goblins
Gollum & Shelob
Gothmog & Orc Archers
Lurtz & Uruk-hai Archers
The Nazgul
Saruman & Grima Wormtongue
Sharku & Warg Riders
Uruk-hai Army
Witch King of Angmar & Orc Archers

The Hobbit Expansion

Bard Bowman & Village Militia
Bilbo Baggins & Kili & Fili
Tauriel & Elven Archers
Thorin Oakenshield & Dwarves

Azog & Hunter Orcs
Bolg & Orcs
Great Goblin & Goblins
Smaug & Fire Pillars

LOTR Legends Expansion (2020)

Elrond & Elf Archers
Isildur & Elendil
Treebeard & Ents

The Balrog
Eye of Sauron & Mouth of Sauron
Sauron the Dark Lord & Mordor Orcs

More Deck ideas:

Galadriel & Haldir
Gorbag & Shagrat
The King of the Dead
Ugluk & Grishnak

CREDITS – Original Lord of the Rings 12 deck and 4 map set

Lead Designers

Roman F – lead designer

Robertmoore – lead visual designer, co-lead designer

Co-Designers

Fishfleas – co-lead designer, co-lead visual designer of original 12

The Sultan – co-designer, map creator (Balin’s Tomb and Pelennor Field)

Tim Wutke aka volleballgy – co-designer, test decks creator of the original 12

fingersandteeth aka docmogs – co-designer, lead tester of the original 12

Scott Hagarty – co-designer of the original 12

Design Contributors

megaswfan – design contributor (led development of Lurtz deck)

wiwwt – design contributor

obiwanjohn – design contributor

Gustav Holst – design contributor

Separatist – design contributor

Special Thanks

Corey RIT – created Deck Designer, it makes it so easy to make your own decks, and easy to output them in both .PDF form and for Vassal!

Without it, this project would have taken at least another year.

Rob Daviau & Craig Van Ness – created Star Wars Epic Duels, the game this is based upon!  Thank Rob & Craig for endless hours of fun.

CREDITS – Lord of the Rings Armies Expansion

Lead Designers

Roman F – lead designer

Robertmoore – lead visual designer, co-lead designer

CREDITS – The Hobbit Expansion and Legends Expansion

Roman F and the Geektopia Epic Duels community.