Do I have to draw cards during the resource phase or can I choose not to? I'm asking because of the third Hobbit quest and these riddle effects. I played it once and realized that with Ori's ability I have no chance at all to solve enough riddles to get the the required nine quest points.

i would say yes- the only optional effects are responses and the ones you choose to play

and i think in future all parts of the round will have thier share of negative effects, so i think it is intentional

rich

Agree with Rich