Gollum

Gollum is the most dangerous kind of ally: one who genuinely wants to help the Fellowship and genuinely covets the Ring in the same breath. Twisted by centuries under the Misty Mountains, he begins the game in the black heart of the enemy — Moria, the ruined Dwarf-realm now crawling with Orcs and shadowed by the Balrog. No other hero starts so deep behind the lines, and none is so at home in the dark.

That placement is the whole of his character on the board. Moria is a shadow stronghold spewing enemy troops, and Gollum is the wretch who can slink through its tunnels where a proud warrior would be cut down. Frame him as your high-risk scout — a creature of Stealth who trades safety for reach, opening secret ways and softening the darkest corners of the map so the rest of the team can follow.

There is only one victory, and it belongs to the whole table: complete every Objective, then let Frodo cast the Ring into Mount Doom. Gollum's contribution is to make the dark places passable. Starting inside Moria means you're already positioned to help pry open one of the four spawn-strongholds — a Capture there shuts off a river of shadow troops, flips it to a haven, pulls the Eye of Sauron onto Moria and off Frodo, and hands the team 2 hope. That single swing can reshape an entire game.

Beyond that, you are the creature who knows the sneaking ways. Lean on Stealth to cover Frodo's most dangerous steps, scout ahead of the Ring-bearers so they never walk blind into a Nazgûl, and thin the enemy in places no one else dares go. You rarely score the killing blow yourself — you make it safe for the ones who do.

Gollum lives in the movement and support half of the six actions rather than the pitched-battle half. His bread and butter:

• Travel — his signature. He slips between locations others can't safely reach, scouting the road ahead of Frodo and worming deeper toward the strongholds.
• Prepare — bank Stealth tokens at a haven whenever you can. Stealth is Gollum's currency: it covers Frodo's travel without a search and pays the extra cost of the special paths that let the party take hidden shortcuts.
• Fellowship — when you share a location with another player's hero, pass along a region card. Handing Frodo a card that carries the Stealth or Resistance he needs is exactly the kind of quiet help Gollum is built for.
• Capture — your endgame purpose. Getting friendly troops beside you in Moria and spending 3 Valor to take it is a team-defining play, even if the muscle comes from your allies.

He leans on the Stealth symbol above all, with Resistance close behind to reroll the searches his risky travels invite. Straight-up Attack is not his game — he has no army of his own and no love of open fights. Send him where boldness would get a hero killed, and let the warriors hold the line elsewhere.