Forced: After Reeking Moat becomes the active location, choose a non-unique, non-Nazgûl enemy in the staging area and place it facedown under Reeking Moat.
Forced: When Reeking Moat leaves play, put each enemy under it into play engaged with the first player.
...towards Mordor lay like a moat a great mire of reeking mud and foul–smelling pools.
–The Return of the King
While Wall of Morannon is the active location, each enemy and location in the staging area is immune to player card effects.
Forced: After Wall of Morannon becomes of the active location, return each engaged enemy to the staging area.
...behind the Morannon were the tunnels and deep armouries that the servants of Mordor had made for the defence of the Black Gate...
–The Return of the King
Immune to player card effects. X is the tens digit of the first player's threat dial.
The players cannot travel here unless there is at least 20 progress on stage 3B.
Travel: Each player makes a Fortitude test. If a player fails this test, raise his threat by 9.
He raised his eyes with difficulty to the dark slopes of Mount Doom towering above him...
–The Return of the King
While Orc-hold is in the staging area, progress cannot be placed on other locations in the staging area.
Forced: After Orc-hold becomes the active location, shuffle the encounter discard pile into the encounter deck. Discard cards from the top until an Orc enemy is discarded. Put that enemy into play engaged with the first player.
(|)
Mordor Road gets +1 for each controlled by the player who controls the most allies.
Forced: After Mordor Road becomes the active location, each player discards the top card of the encounter deck. Add each enemy discarded this way to the staging area.
(|)
They climbed on to the causeway and trudged along, down the hard cruel road that led to the Dark Tower itself.
–The Return of the King
If a player has failed a Fortitude test this round, Plain of Gorgoroth gets +2
Travel: The first player makes a Fortitude test to travel here. If he fails this test, raise each player's threat by 4.
There smokes trailed on the ground and lurked in hollows, and fumes leaked from fissures in the earth.
–The Return of the King
While Brake of Thorns is in the staging area, add (|) to each Fortitude test.
Forced: After Brake of Thorns becomes the active location, each player assigns X damage among characters he controls, where X is the tens digit of his threat dial.
(|)
They had a struggle to get out of the thicket. The thorns and briars were as tough as wire and clinging as claws.
–The Return of the King
While Old Water-course is the active location, it gains:"Response: When Old Water-course is explored, reduce each player's threat by 5."
Travel: Each player must exhaust a hero he controls to travel here.
Clambering a few steps up he found a tiny stream of dark water that came out from the hill–side and filled a little bare pool...
–The Return of the King
Immune to player card effects.
X is twice the stage number of the main quest.
Forced: After the players travel here, flip The Two Watchers to its enemy side and move it to the staging area.
They were like great figures seated upon thrones. Each had three joined bodies, and three heads facing outward, and inward, and across the gateway.
–The Return of the King
If the players have crossed the Anduin, Captured Watchtower gets +3 .
Shadow: Remove all defending characters from combat. This attack is considered undefended.
While Morgulduin is the active Location, it gains:
Forced: When a character commits to a quest, deal 1 damage to that character.
Shadow: If the players have not yet crossed the Anduin, return any current active location to the staging area. Morgulduin becomes the active location.
If the players have crossed the Anduin, Pelennor Fields gains:
When faced with the option to travel, the players must either travel to Pelennor Fields or raise each player's threat by 3.
If the players have not crossed the Anduin, Ruins of Osgiliath gets +3 .
...but Osgiliath which lay between was deserted and in its ruins shadows walked.
–The Fellowship of the Ring
Immune to player card effects. X is twice the number of players in the game.
While The Stone of Erech is that active location, characters with less than 2 cannot ready.
Travel: Exhaust each character with less than 2
While Tarlang's Next is the active location, it gains,"Forced: At the beginning of the encounter phase, the players must either immediately end the encounter phase, or the first player must engaged all enemies in the staging area."
While Banks of Morthond is the active location, each location in the staging area gets -1
Shadow: If this attack destroys a character, add 1 progress to the current Night objective.
When Revealed: Make Vale of Shadows the active location. If another location is currently active, return it to the staging area.
Dusk. Vale of Shadows gets +2 quest points.
Midnight. Vale of Shadows gets +4 quest points.
Forced: When Blackroot Graves is explored, return the topmost Undead enemy in the encounter discard pile to play, engaged with the first player.
Shadow: If defending character has 0 deal 2 damage to that character.
Dusk. Shadow of Dwimorberg gets +2
Midnight. Shadow of Dwimorberg gets +4
Immune to player card effects.
The player cannot win the game while Withywindle is in play.
While Withywindle is the active location, the first player reveals 1 additional encounter card during the quest phase.
"The Withywindle valley is said to be the queerest part of the whole wood..." –Merry, The Fellowship of the Ring
When faced with the option to travel, the players must travel to Misleading Path if there is no active location.
Shadow: Defending player discards each ally card in his hand.
While Deep Gulley is in the staging area, it gains :"Forced: After a player optionally engages an enemy, that player raises his threat by X, where X is the engaged enemy's
Each time they clambered out, the trees seemed deeper and darker... –The Fellowship of the Ring
While Strange Woods is in the staging area, characters cannot be healed.
Shadow: Attacking enemy gets +1 If this attack destroys a character, raise each player's threat by 2.
X equals the number of players in the game.
While Wall of Trees is in the staging area, progress must be placed on Wall of Trees before it can be placed on the current quest.
The trees drew close again on either side, and they could no longer see far ahead. –The Fellowship of the Ring
While Oppressive Forest is in the staging area, each player cannot play more than 1 card each round.
Shadow: If there are no locations in the staging area, add this location to the staging area.
Immune to player card effects.
Forced: When Naurlhûg’s Lair is explored, add the Loot objective from underneath Stalking the Ruins to the staging area faceup.
Travel: Place X resources on Stalking the Ruins where X is the number of players.
While Abandoned Mine is in the staging area, progress cannot be placed on locations in the staging area not named Abandoned Mine.
Forced: When resolving the Discover keyword on Abandoned Mine, look at X additional cards where X is the number of players in the game.
While Darkened Tunnel is in the staging area, it gains:
Forced: After a 'when revealed' effect is canceled, discard the top card of the encounter deck. If the discarded card has the Hazard trait, resolve its staging as if it was just revealed from the encounter deck.
Travel: Place 1 resource on Stalking the Ruins.
Immune to player card effects.
Travel: Each player searches the encounter deck and discard pile for a Wight enemy and puts it into play engaged with him. Shuffle the encounter deck.
It was shapeless and yet significant: like a landmark, or a guarding finger, or more like a warning.
–The Fellowship of the Ring
Immune to player card effects.
Travel: The first player searches the encounter deck, discard pile and victory display a Great Barrow and adds it to the staging area. Shuffle the encounter deck.
He had passed between them almost before he was aware: and even as he did so darkness seemed to fall round him. –The Fellowship of the Ring
X is 1 plus the number of facedown cards under this location.
Forced: After Ancient Barrow enters play, each player places an ally he controls facedown under this location. When Ancient Barrow leaves play as an explored location, return each ally under this location to its owner's hand.
While Stone Ring is in the staging area, each Wight enemy engaged with a player gets +1 and +1 and applies the first sentence of its game text to each player at this stage as if it were engaged with him.
Stone rings grinned out of the ground like broken teeth in the moonlight. –The Fellowship of the Ring
While North Downs is in the staging area, characters use their instead of their when defending against Wight enemies.
Shadow: Attacking enemy gets +2 If this attack destroys a character, raise each player's threat by 2.
Immune to player card effects.
While Bill Ferny’s House is in the victory display, each Suspect, and each shadow card dealt to a Suspect, is immune to player card effects.
Travel: Search the encounter deck, discard pile and victory display for Bill Ferny and add him to the staging area. Shuffle the encounter deck.