"[Barliman,] the innkeeper was an important person. His house was a meeting place for the idle, talkative, and inquisitive among the inhabitants, large and small, of the four villages; and a resort of Rangers and other wanderers, and for such other travellers (mostly dwarves) as still journeyed on the East Road, to and from the Mountains." -LotRI.
Barliman Butterbur :: METW :: Man Warrior :: 0 DI :: 2/6 :: U
Home Site = Bree
Unique. -1 to all of his corruption checks. -1 influence checks against factions.
"...a short fat man with a bald head and a red face... He seemed capable of an endless stream of talk, however busy he might be." -LotRI
Barliman Butterbur may be the single most maligned character in all of the MECCG series. His lack of skills, low prowess and low body make him appear to be a poor purchase for even a one mind character. But Barliman is not without his strengths. After all, with a mind of only 1, he is easily included in just about any party. Need someone to tap to reduce a Slayer's attacks? Let ol' Barliman will have a talk with the fellow. Someone in the party looking at running off with the Arkenstone? Tap Barliman for some help in restraining the lad. Heck, as a Man, he can tote around the Black Arrow and give some real party support. But these are not strong enough reasons to include Mr. Butterbur in a company. After all, there are better one mind characters running all over Middle Earth (although none are of the race Man, important for getting the most out of that Black Arrow)!
No, Barliman's best strength may be his home site, Bree. Don't include him in your starting party, but bring him in at home (presuming your wizard isn't around). While in Bree, his skills at being a good host are sure to "Muster" up the Rangers of the North (or better, build a "Tempering Friendship" with them) who will make sure that "No Strangers at this Time" come around (And don't forget to stir up "Trouble on All Borders" during your opponent's turn with those Rangers of the North to really slow down the Northwest corner of the map.). Next turn, let him bring in Bill the Pony (Playable even at a tapped Bree) or have him look around for a Noble Hound (or three). In all, Barliman can gather at least 7 corruption free marshalling points, by himself, while your real company goes after trinkets and monsters (Heck, if he gets enough allies, he can form a Fellowship!).
In a one deck game, this can make for some good card management. After all, out of 30 resources, 1 in 6 can be brought into play each turn, freeing up another card to draw. Only Aragorn and Beretar have Bree as a starting site, but its doubtful you'd want them to sit around, drinking and eating when there's work to be done!
As intimated earlier, Barliman is an extremely weak character. On his own, his prowess and body are truly abysmal. Further, his -1 to corruption checks actually makes him a poor candidate for carrying ANY minor item, even the Black Arrow. Further, letting him sit around at the Prancing Pony gives your opponent an extra two hazards to play each turn ("Hmm, while Barliman serves the Rangers food and drink, I'll slap down a Doors of Night and a Minions Stir..."). Finally, Bree is a great place for agents, assassins, minion characters, or slayers to show up. If the Noble Hounds aren't in play, Barliman is going to be quickly run out of town.
Overall, Barliman is probably destined to never appear in a tournament level deck. But that undoubtably suits him just fine. He'd rather be in casual play, anyway, listening and telling stories, and entertaining his guests.
Wormtongue
Original card review taken from : http://fan.theonering.net/morgulrats/
With the authorization of the webmaster.
The reviewing team consisted of Gwaihir (Chris Farrell), Gimli (Nathan Bruinooge), Ohtar (Charles E. Bouldin, Esq.), Radagast (James Kight), Joshua B. Grace (Beorn), Martijn Steultjens (Fram Frumgarson), Jason Klank (Saruman) and Jeffery Dobberpuhl (Wormtongue)
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