One thing you need to capture about the old CCG is that going to dangerous places meant you were facing bigger hazards. The encounter decks as they stand right now are balanced more or less against each other. Going to Moria is no more dangerous in this game (encounter set wise) then traveling through Hollin.

I actually think you should seriously consider rethinking deck construction. Make it tougher to play certain, allies, attachments and titles without exploring certain locations.

It just depends on whether or not you are trying to recreate the whole feel of the old CCG or just the exploration aspects.

For hero deck building, I'm going to leave that up to the players to decide. I'm considering giving a start location for a handful of powerful unique cards. What would you say are the 5 most powerful unique player cards in the game (barring Gandalf and Heroes)?

Steward of Gondor, Unexpected Courage, Support of The Eagles (can be really strong), Gondorian Fire, Gondorian Shield, Resourcefull; attachment only.

You could go on and on, because I guess it pretty much depends on your deck of course and the situation. There is no deck to rule them all and no 5 cards to rule them all.

Steward of Gondor should be one for sure. You should probably have to be in Gondor to play that one - maybe even as specific as Minas Tirith.

Rather than creating a list of powerful unique cards, perhaps we should just have a few key locations, and think of the unique powerful player card that can only be played there. So Minas Tirith gets Steward of Gondor. Maybe King Under the Mountain should be tied to its location, too. Perhaps there is a unique player card that you could only get played at Edoras, or Lorien, or eastern Mirkwood, etc. I don't want to make too long of a list, since I like to play most of my cards wherever I am. And non-unique cards should be playable wherever you are. But I am OK with requiring certain unique player cards to be played only at their "home" locations.

Yeah, locationbound would be really clever! Alas that Escort of Edoras is nonunique, cause that would fit nicely.

As soon as I get home, I will help to think about some cards.