While Deep Ravine is in the staging area, no more than 1 progress can be placed on locations in the staging area each round.

Travel: The first player must either exhaust Urdug, or raise each player's threat by 2 to travel here.

While Town Gate is in the staging area, it gains:"Forced: At the end of the quest phase, place 1 resource here. Then, if there are 3 resources here, discard Town Gate and deal 4 damage to Hrogar's Hill."

Travel: Dagnir makes an immediate attack against the first player.

Discover 4.

While Haunted Hall is in the staging area, it gains,"Forced: After a player places any amount of progress on a Dark location in the staging area, he raises his threat by 1."

Nothing assailed the company nor withstood their passage, and yet steadily fear grew...
-The Return of the King

Discover 2.

While Moonlit Passage is in the staging area, each player's threat cannot be reduced by more than 1 via player card effects each round.

Shadow: Raise your threat by 1.

Discover 1.

While Cursed Tower is in the staging area, it gains:"Forced: After a player plays an event, raise his threat by 1."

Shadow: Discard a non-objective attachment you control.

Immune to player card effects.

While Gate of Gundabad is in the staging area, resources cannot be placed on The Heroes' Defense.

Travel: Search the encounter deck, discard pile, and victory display for a Goblin Troop and add it to the staging area. Shuffle the encounter deck.

While Hilltop Battlements is in the staging area, each non-unique enemy gets -5 engagement cost.

Forced: When Hilltop Battlements is explored, discard the top X cards of the encounter deck, where X is the number of players in the game. Add each enemy discarded by this effect to the staging area.

While River Running is in the staging area, enemies cannot be optionally engaged.

Travel: The first player engages the highest engagement cost enemy in the staging area.

...below them were trees that looked like oaks and elms, and wide grass lands, and a river running through it all.
–The Hobbit

While Exposed Riverbank is in the staging area, it gains:"Forced: After a 'when revealed' effect is canceled, place 1 resource on Easterling Pursuit."

Travel: Place 1 resource on Easterling Pursuit.

While Rocky Outcrop is in the staging area, characters cannot be readied by player card effects.

Travel: The first player exhausts a hero he controls.

While Hillside Manor is in the staging area, each player's threat cannot be reduced by more than 1 each round by player card effects.

Travel: Each player discards 1 random card from his hand.

The wine of Dorwinion brings deep and pleasant dreams.
–The Hobbit

City Forum gets +1 for each resource here.

While City Forum is in the staging area, it gains:"Forced: After a location is explored, place 1 resource here."

Travel: Each player raises his threat by 1 for each resource here.

While Side Street is in the staging area, progress cannot be placed on other locations in the staging area.

Travel: Shuffle the encounter discard pile into the encounter deck and discard cards until a location is discarded. Add that location to the staging area.

While Catacombs is in the staging area, enemies in the staging area cannot take damage.

Travel: Each player discards the top card of the encounter deck. If a player discards an enemy this way, he puts it into play engaged with him.

While The King's Lawn is in the staging area, each player must raise his threat by 1 additional point during the refresh phase.

Travel: Place 1 resource on the main quest.

While Guarded Archway is in the staging area, each player engaged with City Guard cannot reduce his threat.

Travel: City Guard makes an attack against the first player.

While Ravine Ledge is in the staging area, each racing test requires 1 additional matching result.

Travel: The first player makes a racing test. To pass requires 1 TURN result. If the players pass the test, each player draws 1 card. If the players faill the test, each player discards 1 random card from his hand.

X is 1 more than the number of quest cards in play.

While Torech Gorgor Patrol is in the staging area, no more than 5 progress can be placed on the main quest each round.

Forced: After Torech Gorgor Patrol engages a player, it makes an attack.

While Orc Passage is in the staging area, encounter card effects cannot be canceled.

Forced: When Orc Passage is explored, search the encounter deck and discard pile for a copy of Torech Gorgor Patrol and add it to the staging area.

While Working Fields is in the staging area, characters cannot be healed.

Travel: Each player deals 1 damage to a character he controls.

Neither he nor Frodo knew anything of the great slave–worked fields away south in this wide realm...
–The Return of the King

While Watch Tower is in the staging area, it gains archery X.

X is 1 more than the number of Captive objective allies the players control.

Travel: Reveal the top card of the encounter deck.

While Fortress Walls is in the staging area, the cost to play each ally is increased by 1.

Travel: Each player places 1 card from his hand under a Castle side quest.

While Guard Tower is in the staging area, players cannot draw cards or gain resources from player card effects.

Travel: Each player exhausts a character he controls.

While Troll Camp is in the staging area, Troll enemies get +1 for each player in the game.

While Troll Camp is in play, Bilbo Baggins gains:"Action: Exhaust Bilbo Baggins and spend 1 resource to remove 1 Sack card from a character. Bilbo Baggins may trigger this effect even with a Sack card attached to him."

While Cave Entrance is in the staging area, it gains:'Forced: At the end of the round, place the top X cards of the encounter discard pile on the bottom of the encounter deck. X is the number of players in the game.'

That, of course, is the dangerous part about caves: you don't know how far they go back. –The Hobbit

While at least one Stone-Giant is in the staging area, the Galloping Boulders card gains surge.

Forced: After Stone-Giant engages a player, that player chooses and discards 1 ally he controls.

While Northern Slopes is in the staging area, each Goblin enemy gets +1 and +1 .

While Northern Slopes is the active location, it gains: "Forced: When a character leaves play, remove 1 progress from the current quest, if able."

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 Dark Door is in the staging area, progress cannot be placed on locations in the staging area.

Travel: The first player reveals an encounter card to travel here.

...before him stood a stony door closed fast...
–The Return of the King

While Trysting Place is in the staging area, each enemy in the staging area cannot take damage.

Travel: The first player searches the encounter deck and discard pile for an Oathbreaker enemy and puts it into play engaged with him. Shuffle the encounter deck.

While Deadly Road is in the staging area, it gains:"Forced: After a 'when revealed' effect is canceled, raise each player's threat by 1."

Travel: Spend 1 resource to travel here.

"I was held to the road only by the will of Aragorn."
–Gimli, The Return of the King

While Port of Pelargir is in the staging area, no more than 1 damage can be healed from each character each round.

Shadow: If this attack damages a character, that character cannot ready until the end of the round.

While at least 1 enemy is in the staging area, progress cannot be placed on locations in the staging area.

Shadow: Attacking enemy gets +1 (+2 instead if it has the Harad trait).

While Siege Tower is in the staging area, it gains Archery 3.

Forced: After Siege Tower becomes the active location, shuffle the encounter discard pile into the encounter deck and discard cards from the top until an enemy is discarded. Add the discarded enemy to the staging area.

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.

(|)

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

Cannot have non-Morgul attachments.

While Ringwraith of Sauron is in the staging area it gains:"Forced: After a player fails a Fortitude test, Ringwraith of Sauron engages that player and makes an immediate attack."

(|) (|)

...with a storm of wings they hurtled southwards to Mount Doom.
–The Return of the King