Council of Elrond

One of the rules my gaming partner and I struggle with is that once your avatar is revealed, a character must be played under DI or to your avatar's site. It seems unnecessarily restrictive that offers little to the gameplay.

For experienced players, what's the point of this rule, and how is it meant to change the game? Is it simply supposed to be thematic? Is it intended to limit the "sprawl" of your companies as the game goes on? Is it to add an extra consideration for whether or not you want to play your avatar?

In short, is it reasonable to house-rule that you can still play characters even if your avatar isn't present, or are there good reasons to avoid that?

It is a game balance decision - having your Wizard in play opens up basically 50% of GI to play new characters - you could take your Wizard and Elrond wandering in Mordor - while still having 20 GI open to play new characters all over the play (lets say keep 5 GI to keep Call of Homes at a minimum) you could than have Strider and Dain II run around up north and then have some decent influence to play new characters or factions.

your avatar is you so it makes sense to have you new characters join him, not just some lackey, but one could always play characters under DI of another character (that is why Cirdan is so massiv with his 4 DI)

For minions though it is pretty crippling - so many house and DC rules exist to have this rule changed, that you can play a character at any site where you send another company to, no matter where your avatar is at - without that rule active RWs would be almost impossible (or hard if your other company gets crushed you cannot replenish your orcs unless you move Mommy RW to the site do see how they do

Relevant rules are:

Lidless Eye wrote:If your Ringwraith is in play, your Ringwraith (or a character with enough direct influence to control the character to be played) must be at the site at which the character is to be played.

The Wizards wrote:Before you play your Wizard, you may use general influence to bring a character into play at any haven or at his home site. After revealing your Wizard, you may use general influence to bring a character into play only if your Wizard is at the site at which the character arrives (i.e., a Haven or the character’s home site).

I do not know any errata for them.

The Wizards rule means that even if your Wizard will leave active play, you still suffer from the restrictions.

Konrad Klar wrote: ↑Mon Mar 30, 2026 12:51 pm The Wizards rule means that even if your Wizard will leave active play, you still suffer from the restrictions.

Don't assume this.

MECCG RULES SUMMARY from MIDDLE-EARTH: THE BALROG booklet, p. 14, wrote: Once your Wizard or Ringwraith is in play, you may not play other characters unless either your Wizard/Ringwraith is at the site where you play the character, or you bring the character in to play with direct influence.

The bold text is mine.

The rules are the same for both alignments:

USING MELE WITH METW from MIDDLE-EARTH: THE LIDLESS EYE booklet, p. 73, wrote: Note: Unless stated otherwise, the Wizard player uses the METW rules and the Ringwraith player uses the MELE rules. Most elements of METW and MELE are identical—both of these series are part of the Middle-earth Collectible Card Game TM (MECCG TM). Should a discrepancy arise between an aspect of the MELE rules and the METW rules, the MELE rules take precedence as they were written with refinements in language and organization. Do not to confuse an element of MELE that is particular to playing a Ringwraith with a Wizard’s perspective on things—passages containing Ringwraith only rules are marked with a line of bullets as a sidebar.

The bold text is mine.

The rule for Ringwraits that you mention isn't marked with a line of bullets.

Annatar wrote: ↑Thu May 21, 2026 10:39 pm Don't assume this.

Right.

Annatar wrote: ↑Thu May 21, 2026 10:39 pm The rule for Ringwraits that you mention isn't marked with a line of bullets.

And does not apply to revealing a player's Wizard too...

EDIT:
"to Wizard character" -> "to revealing a player's Wizard"