Index -> Glossary -> Burdens

Burdens

Burdens represent the corrupting influence of The One Ring on the Ring-bearer. Each Ring-bearer has a resistance in their game text - this resistance is the number of burdens they can take before becoming corrupted. If your Ring-bearer is corrupted, you immediately lose the game - you cannot move The One Ring to Sam if you are corrupted. Burdens can be added through the bidding process, and can be added or removed by the game text of various cards. Burdens are represented by black markers on your Ring-bearer, with each marker representing one burden.

Burdens added to the Ring-Bearer reduce the Resistance values of all companions in the fellowship. There is no immediate effect from a character other than the Ring-Bearer losing Resistance (or even going to 0 Resistance) and other companions cannot be corrupted by having zero Resistance. However, many events, special abilites, and gametexts make use of a companion's Resistance. Generally speaking, a low Resistance prevents beneficial cards and a high Resistance prevents negative cards.