Optional Rules Question - Why always start at Rivendell?

[DamienX207]

Hi all,

I recently read an article online that mentioned an "optional starting home site rule" without much clarification, but presumably meaning that companies could start the game at a home site of one of their characters. However, I haven't been able to find any other mention of that optional rule anywhere, and was wondering if others had experience trying it out / thoughts in general?

My initial response was that I really like the idea, as the official rule of always starting at Rivendell obviously greatly benefits strategies that revolve around the north-east (hobbits, Indiana Jones, etc). On the other hand, I can imagine someone trying to break the rule by starting with a company in/around Mordor and easily racking up all of those huge factions without having to travel far to get there... One potential fix might be to allow companies to start at any haven rather than just Rivendell (instead of any home site)?

Anyway, curious if anyone out there has any insight!

[Bandobras Took]

Some variants are:

1) If you have declared you are a given avatar, you may start at their home site; and
2) You may start at a site if all your starting characters have that site as a home site.

Both of these give greater options and flexibility without running into the aforementioned issues.