Brief Gondor Ideas

[Glorfindel23]

Hi ! I've just one aesthetic question :
You do not think that the Tower Guards will be better with this helmet or with the helmet of the boromir guard (with a retexturation like that for example) ? Nearly identical to their current helmet, but I think this helmet would add a little reliefs to the model because the model of the TowerGuard who use the mod for the moment is the same model than is used by the vanilla game.

This is just a little suggestion, I understand if the Edain Team have subjects more important to worked.

[canadyan]

Hey guys.

Quick suggestion for Aragorn.

It seems like it would make sense to give him a bow/sword toggle when he is first recruited as Strider. I know it's likely the way it is for balance but I feel like Blade Master should be something he gets when he begins to change his roles and then loses the bow ability.

A bow fits his Strider/support role when first recruited really well and he already has a quiver on his model.

[Walküre]

Hi. Being this a brief suggestion, it will be merged with the actual Gondor Brief Suggestions thread of this board; I will probably do the same with the other brief suggestion you previously posted in the Rohan board too 

On the matter, the Edain Team has recently answered a similar question on ModDB. They said that they won't give Aragorn a bow, given that he is primarily a Hero Killer and a ranged attack wouldn't fit very well in his skill design either (also, doesn't he already have a ranged ability: the possibility of throwing the blade he was given by Celeborn?).

Nevertheless, as I'm really not an expert in Aragorn-related matters, I couldn't really tell if it would be possible to make the bow option limited to the Strider form. I guess there will be other more experienced people that can surely give you a proper response.

--- MERGED ---

[Leri_weill]

I guess it could cause issues if you changed his form while he's using his bow...

That would be a cool feature indeed, but I don't recall him using a bow (significantly at least) in the movies or in the books! But I might be wrong ^^

[Walküre]

He used the bow quite well in Moria, as I can recall 

It's true though, I think such feature would not be overall so suitable for Strider.

[Fredius]

Well he is a ranger, and rangers are pretty much experts with bows, so I think it does suit his role as strider. Makes every form also a bit more unique imo.

[Ealendril der Dunkle]

Well he is a ranger, and rangers are pretty much experts with bows, so I think it does suit his role as strider. Makes every form also a bit more unique imo.

We are talking about Aragorns gameplay and role in Edain. He is a melee hero killer and Gondor has already a ranged hero (Faramir).
Strider/Aragorn wont get the abilitiy to use his bow.

[Leri_weill]

He used the bow quite well in Moria, as I can recall 

It's true though, I think such feature would not be overall so suitable for Strider.

Well it's been a while since I watched LoTR, thanks for the reminder Walkure 

[dialsamai]

Now that I have embarrassed myself (and been welcomed in the process  ) I want to suggest something quite to-the-point: Círdan the Ship-wright did not have a beard! Elves in fact (according to Professor Tolkien) did not grow beards. On the other hand, the Arnor alternative faction has a white-bearded Círdan coming out of the Mithlond Outpost (as is the case of some other mods).

The model in the mod should hence not have a beard. In case you find it hard to believe, here is the proof: Círdan along with Gil-galad and Galadriel (and right behind her) accepting his "gift" from Annatar/Sauron (this could also serve as a source of artwork, if his face was to be HD-rendered/remastered):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOulsEGvSCo

Of course, in the end, Mithrandir got hold of Círdan's ring (and Elrond too inherited his from his slain Noldorin Lord, Gil-galad), but the one above was the original way the "Elven-kings under the Sky" got their gifts, named Narya, Nenya and Vilya if I am not mistaken. Sorry for going off-theme.  Cheers! I hope you agree on this.

[Maraelion]

"As they came to the gates Círdan the Shipwright came forth to greet them. Very tall he was, and his beard was long, and he was grey and old, save that his eyes were keen as stars; and he looked at them and bowed, and said 'All is now ready.'"
-The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, The Grey Havens (Book 6, Chapter 9)

So you see, Cirdan was the only elf, as far as I know, who had a beard.
Greetings
Maraelion

[Walküre]

As Maraelion wrote 

It is reported in the lore that, in some exceptional cases, Elves can have a beard at an advanced stage in their life. The very Elves, in fact, do age as all the other creatures; with the sole significant difference that they do it in an extremely slow way, and their lifespan is generally as long as the existence of Arda itself. In other words: they are not 'truly' immortal as the Ainur are, but they are nonetheless destined to live forever.

Furthermore, I don't really think that this topic deserves a thread of its own. I will thus merge this thread with the Gondor Brief Ideas.

--- MERGED ---

[kraxmause]

Círdan along with Gil-galad and Galadriel (and right behind her) accepting his "gift" from Annatar/Sauron (this could also serve as a source of artwork, if his face was to be HD-rendered/remastered):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOulsEGvSCo

Of course, in the end, Mithrandir got hold of Círdan's ring (and Elrond too inherited his from his slain Noldorin Lord, Gil-galad), but the one above was the original way the "Elven-kings under the Sky" got their gifts, named Narya, Nenya and Vilya if I am not mistaken. Sorry for going off-theme.  Cheers! I hope you agree on this.

Actually, this scene from the movie is wrong. I guess it is supposed to show Galadriel, Gil-galad and Círdan as they got the rings after they were forged, but that didn't happen as it is depicted: Both Vilya (later held by Elrond) and Narya (later held by Círdan, then Gandalf) were both given to Gil-galad by Celebrimbor, and later entrusted to Elrond and Círdan. Sauron never touched them (that's why he couldn't influence or find them) and Gil-galad and Círdan never had one ring each at the same time.
It's one of the small details Peter Jackson missed or (more likely) changed for the sake of simplification.

[canadyan]

I had another thematic idea for Aragorn, though I do not know if it's something that could be done on the technical side.

Having the 'Strider' version of Aragorn be recruited from the Gondor Citadel doesn't make a lot of sense (thematically), so I was thinking of two other ways he could be recruitable.

I remember an Eomer discussion for Rohan that was really cool, basically, having him only recruitable at the  Exile Camp until Theoden is no longer corrupted, representing his unavailability to Rohan at the time and only becoming recruitable at the Citadel when the corruption is lifted.

Is it possible to have Aragorn recruited through, for example, the Ranger camp until he starts to take on his Path and then becomes recruitable within Gondor itself? Alternatively, would it be possible to have him first summoned as a power and then becomes permanently recruitable in the Citadel?

I know the current system works well, this mod is just so good that it's hard not to recommend little flavour changes or at least bring them up for discussion.

[Walküre]

As you rightly wrote, the current system works pretty well, and I thus honestly can't see any point in altering it even slightly. Remember that one of the main principles that is often followed in proposals consists exactly of not changing something for the sole sake of changing itself: don't fix what is not broken.

Specifically, the Ranger Camp doesn't really fit Aragorn, for the fact that it represents the very Rangers of Gondor and their captain Faramir. Strider would be fitting for the Dúnedain Camp indeed, but this outpost is part of Rivendell and located in another territory (out of the Kingdom of Gondor). On the other side, making him accessible via the spellbook would unnecessarily complicate the faction's mechanics, without any clear logic behind.

On the present structure, I guess there are not needed premises that may turn your suggestion into a favourable option.

[Amandil7]

I have an idea, wouldn't it be cool if Denethor had a move called "Pyre of Denethor", in which he basically kills himself and burns units around him in a small radius, both friendly and enemy units.

Alternatively, instead of an active ability, it could also be his standard death, like when you kill him, he goes up in flames.