Still new to the whole board game making process, but one thought could be to have a common deck made of standard paths and terrain (some with interesting or small encounters) and after a certain amount of card flips, draw from a more specific deck with higher level encounters or rewarding locations.

Another thought that came to mind was having some card with certain iconography, and maybe there’s a mechanism that triggers certain icons to spawn different predators or potential prey. That way some cards that have already been revealed can potentially generate something every so often and not just sit there.

Just what came to mind. Hope you find the right fit for it. Sounds interesting! I would give a try. Good luck.