While Cracked Pillar is in the staging area, it gains: "The first player may declare an attack against Cracked Pillar during the combat phase as if it was an enemy engaged with him. Use Cracked Pillar's as its during this attack."
Travel: Remove 4 damage from Cracked Pillar to travel here.
While Goblin Tunnels is in the staging area, it gains:"Forced: After a Goblin is revealed from the encounter deck, remove a progress token from the current quest card."
Shadow: Attacking enemy gets +1 (+3 instead if attacking enemy is a Goblin.)
While Branching Paths is in the staging area, each Dark location gets +1
Forced: After Branching Paths leaves play as an explored location, look at the top 3 cards of the encounter deck. Players must choose 1 of those to reveal and add to the staging area, moving the other 2 to the bottom of the deck.
While Collapsed Mine is in the staging area, no more than 4 progress can be placed on the quest each round.
Shadow: Raise your threat by 1 for each point of damage dealt by this attack.
While Crumbling Stairs is in the staging area, progress cannot be placed on it.
Forced: When Crumbling Stairs leaves play as an explored location, discard the top card of the encounter deck. If the discarded card is a location, put it into play as the active location.
While Stock Road is in the staging area, add 2 to the total of the discarded cards when a player resolves a Hide test.
Travel: The first player must make a Hide 1 test to travel here.
While Chetwood is in the staging area, Spy enemies get +1 and +1 .
Shadow: Defending player discards 1 random card from his hand.
On the third day out from Bree they came out of the Chetwood. –The Fellowship of the Ring
Cannot have non-Morgul attachments.
While Fell Rider is in the staging area, it gains:"Forced: At the beginning of the encounter phase, the first player must either reduce the Ring-bearer's life by 1 or engage Fell Rider."
While River Anduin is in the staging area it gains: "Forced: At the end of the travel phase, each player at this stage raises his threat by 1. Then, River Anduin moves to the staging area to the left, if able."
"Anduin flows faster than I thought." –Aragorn, The Fellowship of the Ring
While Wooded Shoreline is in the staging area, it gains archery 2.
Travel: Search the encounter deck and discard pile for an enemy and add it to the staging area to travel here. Shuffle the encounter deck.
Immune to player card effects.
While Orthanc is in the staging area, it gains:"Forced: After the players quest successfully, the first player looks at the top 3 cards of the encounter deck, reveals 1, and discards the others."
Still dark and tall, unbroken by the storm, the tower of Orthanc stood. –The Two Towers
While Ring-wall of Isengard is in the staging area, it gains:"Forced: After any amount of damage is healed from a character, its owner discards 1 card from his hand."
Wizardry: Each player discards 1 random card from his hand.
While Underground Armoury is in the staging area, it gains:"Forced: After an enemy engages a player, deal it a shadow card."
Wizardry: Each player exhausts a character he controls.
The shafts ran down by many slopes and spiral stairs to caverns far under; there Saruman had treasuries, store–houses, armouries, smithies, and great furnaces. –The Two Towers
While Steaming Vent is in the staging area, it gains:"Forced: After a player commits characters to the quest, he deals 1 damage to a questing character he controls."
Wizardry: Assign X damage among characters in play. X is 1 more than the number of players in the game.
X is the number of players in the game.
While Plain of Isengard is in the staging area, archery damage must be assigned to allies, if able.
Wizardry: Each player discards 1 ally he controls.
While Open Pit is in the staging area, it gains:"Forced: After a player draws any number of cards from a player card effect, he raises his threat by 2."
Wizardry: Each player raises his threat by 2.
While The Under-way is in the staging area, each Orc enemy gets -5 engagement cost and gains:"Forced: After this enemy engages a player, deal it a shadow card."
Shadow: Deal the attacking enemy 2 additional shadow cards.
While Deep Dark Passage is in the staging area, it gains:"Forced: When any amount of progress would be placed on a location in the staging area, reduce that amount by 1."
Travel: Exhaust Sméagol to travel here.
Not since the lightless passages of Moria had Frodo or Sam known such darkness, and if possible here it was deeper and denser. -The Two Towers
While Den of Night is in the staging area, it gains:"Forced: After a `When Revealed' effect is canceled, place 1 resource on Shelob."
Travel: Place 1 resource on Shelob to travel here.
Here was some opening in the rock far wider than any they had yet passed; and out of it came a reek so foul, and a sense of lurking malice so intense, that Frodo reeled. -The Two Towers
While Cracked Pillar is in the staging area, it gains: "The first player may declare an attack against Cracked Pillar during the combat phase as if it was an enemy engaged with him. Use Cracked Pillar's as its during this attack."
Travel: Remove 4 damage from Cracked Pillar to travel here.
While Goblin Tunnels is in the staging area, it gains:"Forced: After a Goblin is revealed from the encounter deck, remove a progress token from the current quest card."
Shadow: Attacking enemy gets +1 (+3 instead if attacking enemy is a Goblin.)
While Branching Paths is in the staging area, each Dark location gets +1
Forced: After Branching Paths leaves play as an explored location, look at the top 3 cards of the encounter deck. Players must choose 1 of those to reveal and add to the staging area, moving the other 2 to the bottom of the deck.
While Collapsed Mine is in the staging area, no more than 4 progress can be placed on the quest each round.
Shadow: Raise your threat by 1 for each point of damage dealt by this attack.
While it is in the staging area, River Langflood gets +1 for each Troll enemy in play.
While Branching Paths is in the staging area, each Dark location gets +1 .
Forced: After Branching Paths leaves play as an explored location, look at the top 3 cards of the encounter deck. Players must choose 1 of those to reveal and add to the staging area, moving the other 2 to the bottom of the deck.
While Orc Drummer is in the staging area, each enemy gets +X . X is the number of players in the game.
While Knees of the Mountain is in the staging area, it gains:
Forced: After an enemy engages a player, it gets +1 until the end of the round.
While Celador is in the staging area, he is committed to the current quest.
Forced: After players quest unsuccessfully or a character leaves play, deal 1 damage to Celador.
If Celador leaves play, remove him from the game.
While Orc Vanguard is in the staging area, resources cannot be spent from the resource pools of heroes who have a , or resource icon.
Shadow: Deal the attacking enemy two additional shadow cards.
If an Orc enemy is in play, progress tokens cannot be placed on Orc War Camp while it is in the staging area.
Shadow: attacking enemy gets +1 for each shadow card dealt to it.
While Gondorian Hamlet is in the staging area it gains:
Forced: After a treachery card is revealed from the encounter deck, discard 1 villager token from Gondorian Hamlet.
The townlands were rich, with wide tilth and many orchards... –The Return of the King
Western Road gets +5 quest points while it is in the staging area.
Travel: The first player must take 1 hidden card to travel here.
...he saw, beyond an arch of boughs, the road to Osgiliath running almost as straight as a streched ribbon down, down, into the West. –The Two Towers
Eastern Road gets +5 quest points while it is in the staging area.
Travel: The first player must take 2 hidden cards to travel here.
Black and forbidding it loomed above them, darker than the dark sky behind. –The Two Towers
While Fords of Isen is in the staging area, players cannot gain resources from card effects.
Forced: After Fords of Isen becomes the active location, each player with fewer than 5 cards in his hand draws cards until he has 5 in his hand.
The road dipped between rising turf–banks, carving its way through the terraces to the river's edge, and up again upon the further side. –The Two Towers
While Gap of Rohan is in the staging area, Dunland enemies get +1
Shadow: Attacking enemy gets +1 . If this attack destroys a character, remove 1 time counter from the current quest.
While Heart of Fangorn is in the staging area, each player cannot refresh more than 5 characters during the refresh phase.
Attacking enemy makes an additional attack after this one.
While Broken Lands is in the staging area, progress cannot be placed on locations in the staging area.
Shadow: Attacking enemy gets +1 for each location in the staging area.
While Hills of Dunland is in the staging area, it gains:
Forced: After a player draws any number of cards, discard the top card of the encounter deck. If the discarded card is a Dunland enemy, put it into play engaged with that player. This ability does not stack with other copies of Hills of Dunland.
Travel: Each player draws a card to travel here.
X is the number of players in the game.
While Grim Foothills is in the staging area, progress must be placed on Grim Foothills before it can be placed on the active location.
Progress cannot be placed on Streets of Tharbad while it is in the staging area.
While Streets of Tharbad is the active location, enemies get -20 engagement cost.
As soon as his back was turned, a dark figure climbed quickly in over the gate and melted into the shadows of the village street. –The Fellowship of the Ring
While Ruins of the Second Age is in the staging area, City locations get +1 .
While Ruins of the Second Age is the active location, deal engaged enemies 1 additional shadow card at the beginning of the combat phase.
...as far as Tharbad, where the old North Road crossed the river by a ruined town. –The Fellowship of the Ring