“At the Grey Havens dwelt Círdan the Shipwright, and some say he dwells there still, until the Last Ship sets sail into the West.” – The Return of the King

For millennia, the Elves of the Grey Havens have built beautiful, majestic white ships to sail into the West. No one knows the seas as well as they, but these Noldor sailors and navigators must remain ever vigilant. A storm is brewing on the horizon, and something foul awaits on a forgotten isle of Númenor.

Fantasy Flight Games is excited to announce Dream-chaser, a pair of repackaged expansions for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game!

Return to the game’s epic seafaring saga with the Dream-chaser Hero Expansion and Dream-chaser Campaign Expansion. These products combine all of the content from The Grey Havens and the corresponding Dream-chaser cycle; all of the player cards from those expansions can be found in the Hero Expansion, while all of the scenario-related cards can be found in the Campaign Expansion, along with some brand-new campaign cards that weren’t part of the original release. This is the perfect opportunity for new fans of the game to experience this cycle of content, and for longtime fans to catch up on any parts they may have missed. Whether you want one expansion or both, no fan of the game will want to miss the Dream-chaser experience!

Note: For longtime fans of The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game who already own everything from The Grey Havens and the original Dream-chaser cycle, only the campaign cards in the Campaign Expansion will be new content in these products. As with the Revised Core Set and the Angmar Awakened Campaign Expansion, these campaign cards will be made freely available on our website as print-and-play content upon the Campaign Expansion’s release.

A Skilled Crew

To challenge the nefarious, pillaging Corsairs plaguing the western seas, the Dream-chaser Hero Expansion comes with a treasure trove of player cards to expand your deckbuilding options, including two heroes for each of the four spheres.

In this expansion, you’ll find a wide variety of heroes from all reaches of Middle-earth. Among them, you will find the steward Denethor (Dream-chaser Hero Expansion, 1), a Leadership hero who can provide support to other Gondor heroes at the table (including those of other spheres). Then there is Galdor of the Havens (Dream-chaser HE, 8), a Lore hero who gives you more control of your opening hand and can even draw you an entirely new hand once per game. Of course, in a cycle themed around sailing the seas, having seafaring heroes like Na’asiyah (Dream-chaser HE, 3) the Corsair and Círdan the Shipwright (Dream-chaser HE, 5) are a natural fit. Na’asiyah is a Tactics hero and a one-woman army, capable of spending resources to power up her attack and defense, while Círdan’s high willpower and ability to let you choose between two cards to draw during the resource phase ensures that you’ll always have the tools you need when going on quests.

As for what those tools are, you will find plenty of allies, attachments, and events in this expansion, many of them themed after the Noldor and/or high seas adventure. Use the Mariner’s Compass (Dream-chaser HE, 17) to find a more ideal location for questing, then set up an Anchor Watch (Dream-chaser HE, 20) to keep your party safe from enemy attacks. Use Noldor allies like Mithlond Sea-watcher (Dream-chaser HE, 28) and Veteran Sword-elf (Dream-chaser HE, 30) to take draw strength from your discard pile, then call upon the Lindon Navigator (Dream-chaser HE, 57) in tandem with an Explorer’s Almanac (Dream-chaser HE, 61) to clear a location without having to travel to it. With the mighty Glorfindel (Dream-chaser HE, 39) and the handy Linhir Sea-captain (Dream-chaser HE, 40) as your allies, you’ll have plenty of willpower available for quests while still having characters ready to act later in the round!

Setting Sail

Whether or not you heed the call of the Hero Expansion, you can still look forward to a high seas adventure in the Dream-chaser Campaign Expansion!

This campaign takes all of the scenarios from The Grey Havens and the original Dream-chaser cycle of Adventure Packs and strings them together to form an epic tale. After journeying to the Grey Havens, the heroes are swept up in a voyage to an island containing lost ruins of Númenor to discover what lies there. The journey is long and fraught with danger, from pillaging Corsairs to vengeful undead to the wrathful waters of the sea itself!

Throughout the nine scenarios of the Dream-chaser campaign, you and your party will sail across the ocean, and we mean that in more than just a narrative sense—it’s also part of the game! During your voyage, you’ll have to chart your course, establish your heading, and perform sailing tests to fight changing winds and raging currents. That’s not all; you’ll also have to contend with the Corsair deck. This special deck is entirely made up of seafaring enemies, such as the Cunning Pirate (Dream-chaser Campaign Expansion, 154) and Vicious Marauder (Dream-chaser CE, 155), who will come aboard and attack you whenever one of their ships—such as a Corsair Warship (Dream-chaser CE, 151)—engages with you. Under normal circumstances, such a situation could quickly become overwhelming, but the pirates aren’t the only ones with ships at their disposal.

That’s right, in this campaign, each player gets their very own ship to control! These powerful objective cards can provide much-needed boons during your sea voyage, including a means of fighting off enemy ships. In addition to the titular Dream-chaser (Dream-chaser CE, 136), which is required in each playthrough, players can choose to sail the Dawn Star (Dream-chaser CE, 137), the Duskbringer (Dream-chaser CE, 138), the Glórinaith (Dream-chaser CE, 139), the Nárelenya (Dream-chaser CE, 140), or the Silver Wing (Dream-chaser CE, 141). That’s six ships in total; two more than the original release!

The new ships aren’t the only things unique to this expansion. You’ll also find a plethora of new campaign cards, including upgrades for your ships, such as Armor Plating (Dream-chaser CE, 172) or a Ballista (Dream-chaser CE, 173). However, you can also upgrade the ships themselves, flipping them over to their stronger versions!

The normal version of the Dream-chaser (left) and its upgraded version (right).

How do you upgrade your ships? By spending experience (XP)! This is a new mechanic for The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game introduced in this repackaged expansion. Each scenario awards a certain amount of XP, depending on what conditions were met on that scenario’s campaign card. You can spend it to upgrade your ship, upgrade the aforementioned Armor Plating and Ballista (and other Modification boons), and other boons as well, such as a handy Spyglass (Dream-chaser CE, 180) or the mysterious Black Key (Dream-chaser CE, 183)! Just be sure to watch out for the burdens that will also follow you from one scenario to the next, such as the Corsair Crowley (Dream-chaser CE, 178) or an Ominous Fate (Dream-chaser CE, 176).

Reminder: If you already own the original Dream-chaser cycle, the new campaign cards, upgradeable player cards, and all six ship cards—including their new upgraded sides—will be available as print-and-play content on our website after the Campaign Expansion’s release.

An Epic Voyage

With great discoveries and lost ruins to be found, only you and your fellow heroes can safely guide the Dream-chaser and its fleet throughout its voyage. Whether you missed the original version of the Dream-chaser cycle or are just now getting into The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, you can look forward to adding the Dream-chaser Hero Expansion and Dream-chaser Campaign Expansion to your collection when they both release this summer!