Annoying LOTR:LCG rules question.

This came up and I can't really find the answer in FAQ etc.

Can one player use resources of another player in order to, say, bring Gandalf into play (who is neutral)on their turn? They may not have enough resources but mixed with another player they do have enough to bring him on. It doesn't say anything in the rules about this as far as I can see. I'm guessing it would need the other players permission to do this???

It also has an effect if a hero is given another resource icon but the new icon is for a resource not generated by that player (and not part of their deck). This implies that another player could use these resources for their deck (which is the correct icon colour).

Anybody care to enlighten me??

Been a while since I've played, but aren't resources exclusive to the specific hero that they're on? And your heroes can only spend resources to bring out cards in your hand (e.g., Gandalf). Neutral just means you can spend resources from any sphere, whereas normally they're restricted to the sphere of the hero (or heroes) providing the resources. Unless a specific hero or card allows sharing resources or using them for another player, I think the answer is no.

Resources are specific to the hand/player/deck. No paying for the other player or "player's" cards. Unless a card effect specifically allows it, and there are some cards that do just that.

The cards that add another resouce icon to your character can either double up what you have or you can use them in a multisphere deck as a safety. Like if you're running two Leadership and one Lore, you could put the card that adds a Lore icon to a Leadership hero to make sure you still have that resource if your Lore hero dies or is incapacitated in some way.

Resources are a funny thing in this game in how they grow exponentially. It actually behooves you to not play anything on select turns to exponentially farm resources. But you can overdo it and wind up flush with them- and behind the progression curve and with a full rack of locations to contend with.

Michael Barnes wrote: The cards that add another resouce icon to your character can either double up what you have or you can use them in a multisphere deck as a safety. Like if you're running two Leadership and one Lore, you could put the card that adds a Lore icon to a Leadership hero to make sure you still have that resource if your Lore hero dies or is incapacitated in some way.

Actually there is no benefit to doubling up a hero with the same resource icon. Each hero naturally gains 1 resource a turn (not 1 per resource icon), and that resource can be spent on cards that match any resource icon that hero has.

Also, banking resources can be dangerous. There are a lot of current Treachery cards that force you to ditch all of your resources. That's right, it doesn't scale them, or give you a choice, it just says "You're broke."

Not my favorite design choice.

I love the Treachery cards that give you a choice—let you sacrifice something to avoid something terrible happening. Giving the players choices is much more engaging than just saying "Hey, you're doing too well, drop those resources."

But that's a whole other topic...