User blog:Fingowin/Starter Base 2: Easterlings

Hello guys,

I've often been on servers where I found a lot of  simple "wood cubes" as houses. They were often build by new players who need a cheap and useful shelter. As a survival player I know this issue too but as a builder it just makes me cry. So many great servers and their player citys loose their lotr atmosphere because of these "cubes". So I started developing starter bases. They should look nicer as the cubes but should cover everything a new player needs. You'll fing everything from a crafting table, to a small kitchen garden in a faction specific building. I only use blocks from the lotr mod and vanilla minecraft, so everybody can build this. Please note that it will take longer to build such a base and that it might be difficult for some new players but I'm very sure that these starter bases will help to improve the look of many servers even if you just take this blog as a source of inspiration.

I hope you'll like these buildings! Please let me know if you find the post interessting/useful!

lg Fingowin

Easterling Compound
This small house is sourunded by a small barrier which creates a nice and practical courtyard and keeps foes out of your home. The building mainly consits of local wood planks and beams. I used very few rhûnic bricks too but of course you can replace every material with the block you like and you have access to.

The tall roof is a very unique feature of the easterling architecture so you should really use it! The square house and the court behind the wal are inspired by japanese temples and mansions. I think they fit really well. Also they keep you and your farms safe.

You can access the property through a small gate. I choosed pomgrante Beams and olive fences/stairs/slabs for the wall because they look a bit red. I wanted to use redwood but it's way to hard to get in an early game stage. This combination is a cheap alternative. Please don't forget the fence in here if you have to keep people out of here. Otherwise your wall is useles! A small gravel path flanked by two pomgranate trees leads to the house. Of course you can use every decoration you want but I recomend you to plant as much fruit tress as possible because they will bring you two essential recoursses: food and wood!

The outer walls of the house are sourounded by arches out of pomgranate beams and olive stairs, as well as the whole building stands on a foundation build of rhûnic stairs. This designe might be a little bit tricky and is way more detailed than my first starter base. That's because it's my second easterling build ever, so I wanted to present the community something "special". The next build will hopefully be easier again. If you think this level of detail is still ok for an early game stage let me know please!

On the right side of the house I builded up a small smithy with a forge, a reed basket to storage your materials and an anvil. You definitly don't need an anvil in your first weeks of playing. I just placed it there to have some more decoration and to show how you can easily adjust the starter bases to a later game stage!

You can fill the whole court with fields and animal pens for your lifestock! I just builded two on the left side of the building. This design provides much more space than you'll propably need. Don't forget a water source and a scarecrow! You also need to keep out rabbits. That's why I used fences around the field too. You can use the free space for a decorative garden or whatever you want.

In the house you have everything else you need. The left side keeps a sleeping - and a working area. There you have a bed,  a rhûnic- and a normal craftingtable. Some chests can be used to storage all your goods. On the right side of the building you find everything you need for your meals and your adventures in the unsafe lands! In the two barrels you can brew some drinks (which are a very good food source in the first days of gameplay). The plates hold your food and your armour and weapons decorate the whole room. I just saw that I forgot the amour stand.... I wanted to place it between the two tables on the right side.

Materials I used in the building:
- Pomgranate wood (beams, planks, fences)

- Olive wood (planls, stairs, slabs, fences)

- Oak wood (stairs, fences, fence gate)

- Reed bars

- Rhûnic bricks (blocks, stairs)

- stone bricks (blocks, stairs, walls)

- Gravel

- Dirt (just in case there are some holes in the ground)

- Utility blocks ( alloy forge, faction crafting table, crafting table, barrels, chests, reed basket)

- Easterling faction items (weapons, armour, banners)

- decorative blocks (torches, silver goblet, item frame, plates)

Variations:
'''cheaper or easier variations are marked by numbers. More difficult or expensiv variations have letters as prefixes.'''

1. You can make the court smaller and build the wall only one block high.

2. You can replace the rhûnic bricks with oak wood planks/stairs

A. You can use redwood instead of pomgranate beams, rhûnic bricks for the whole wall and clay tilings for the roof.

B. You can build another layer to create a small tower and to get more space.

C. Insead of building another level you could use the space between the first layer and the roof. Please try to decorate the room and use upside down placed stairs to creat an inner dome.

'''A small note: This is my second easterling building I ever build. Please give me some honest opinions if my japanese inspired layout/style fits with the easterling lore/style in the mod! '''