User:High King Ithilion/Lore-Based Changes, Plus Faction Changes

Here you can find some of my favorite suggestions I have made over time.

Of Isengard
1. The Wizard's vale had no trees in it at all, just stumps and brambles. All of the trees should be removed, besides fallen ones.

2. Half-Orcs:Before Saruman made the Uruk-Hai, he tried Half-Orcs, which were more man-like than Uruks. These guys are man-height (which is how tall Uruks were too >:P) and wield an assortment of weapons, but most commonly Uruk axes.

3. Ruffians: Unarmoured Half-Orcs, squinty and sallow, wielding clubs and knives. Bandits in Eriador could use the same texture. They are hostile to Hobbits and Rangers. Killing loses Isengard and Dunland alignment. Can be hired by walking up and right-clicking, then choosing "Hire" in a menu. Other soldiers could use that system too.

4. About the Ring of Isengard, it was supposed to have gates of iron, not bars, and be darkish rock.

5. In Isengard, lights would shoot out of vents, blue, red, or poisonous green. I do not know how this would be added.

6. Related to this are the vents themselves. These are the barracks for the Uruk-Hai, the smithies, and armouries, and treasuries, of Saruman's industrial might. They are muddy inside, connected with walkways, and with great wheels and smokestacks spewing filth into the water and air. I would like to see huge columns of black soot rising into the air like industrial Europe.

7. Along the road to Isengard there were iron and copper pillars liked with black chains. Really all there is to it, but I think iron should look darker like real wrought iron.

8. IsenGuards: If you'll pardon the awful pun, there were elite Men who guarded the Gate. I propose a pike unit in Uruk armor.

9. Uruks need to be debuffed. In the books, they were as strong as a man, not an Elf. EDIT--Mevans says it's impossible.

10. Black Gondor brick should be darker and also indestructable.

11. Fires of Orthanc and Mordor: From now on, there will be two kinds of bomb--that of Isengard and Mordor. Angmar has none. Both of these will have similar textures to the current Orc bombs, but will have an Eye or a Hand on them. They are basically reskinned Firebombs, because they shoot out Orc Fire when lit.

12. Orc Fire: A blood-red flame that stays lit forever. Can be made by putting Naurite with a Flint and Steel.

13. Darts: Hurled before charging into battle. Similar to Roman Plumbata.

14. Uruk-Hai weapons look like the movies, not the books. They should be straight stabbing swords, and have huge longbows, not Crossbows. If the mod's philosophy is book-based, as has been stated, then this violates it.

Of Mordor
1. The Morgai were a tangled range of hills east of the Ephel Duath. This is the only place where dead trees, stabbing thorns, and withered mosses ae found. Also found here are Mordor Flies (Midges with red blotches on their back) and grey patches of grass. Currently, grass placed in Modor is brown. It should be grey.

2. Morgul Vale was actually a grassy mead before the Grinning Gates of Minas Morgul. I propose a dark, Mirkwood-colored grass, naturally spawning Morgul-Shrooms, and Morgul Flowers. These horrible, demented white flowers cause nausea and poison when they are broken or stepped on by a good player. The same thing happens if any water is touched in Morgul Vale.

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">3. The Ered Lithui are grey, mist-covered mountains in the north of Mordor. These are low, craggy, and have a dark grey fog effect like the Misties. Ash, a dark version of gravel, is found everywhere here, as are Black Uruks and Ologs, who were bred here.

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">4.[EDIT: Mevans says it's impossible]

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">5. The Ephel Duath should be found west and south of Mordor and basically be the current Modor Mountains without Black Uruks and Ologs.

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">6. Nurn Slaves should be rarely found throughout Mordor.

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">7. Orc-Holds, caves with a cobblestone wall and a few tents, should be found in the mountain biomes and the Morgai. Traders live here.

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">8. Black Uruks and Ologs in general should be much less common.

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">9. Boromir talked about the "poisonous fume" of Mordor. Good players should recieve an effect called "Choking Ash," which is similar to frost and causes damage over time. This is found in Mordor, Ered Lithui, Udun, Ephel Duath, and Gorgoroth.

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">10. Mordor was a desert, and was hot during the day and cold during the night. Therefore, a heat effect like Harad should be recieved durin the day, and Frostbite should come during the night.

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">11. Mordor Trackers should be found in most biomes and replace Mordor Orc archers. These are archers wearing warg fur who switch to daggers at close range.

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">12. Watch-fires should be found in Ephel Duath. These are some lit hearth blocks and a tent.

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">13. Craters and cisterns should be now found in Gorgoroth.

Lore-Based Changes, Plus Faction Changes
<p style="font-weight:normal;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:1em;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">1. Fires of Orthanc: In the lore, Isengard and Mordor both used bombs in battle. Angmar did not. Related to this, I would like to suggest Orc Fire. This is what happens when a Firebomb is shot off. This fire burns for a long time, spreads really fast, and is an ugly red. It can burn forever on scorched stone. This represents the trenches of fire the Orcs dug at the Siege of Minas Tirith.

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">2. Warg Bombardiers: Just no. Please no. I beg you. Also,as many people say, the mod's wargs look weird.

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">3. Ered Luin Height: In the books, the Blue Mountains were much lower than the Misty Mountains. Therefore, I feel the "Blue Mountains" biome should only be found as isolated peaks, surrounded by foothills. In the north, Ered Luin should run in twin ridges.

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">4. In The Hobbit, the Wood-Elves are stated as having mainly lived on the edge of the woods, and to often go hunting in the plains northwest of Laketown. As such, the Woodland Realm biome's location should be shifted eastward, and companies of Wood-Elves should occasionally be found in that area of Wilderland.

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">5. In FOTR, the Galadhrim Warriors wore "grey mail and white capes." The armor should be changed to have grey chainmail on the arms and lower belly, and they should wear silver-white capes.

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">6. On the subject of capes, many more NPCs should wear them, not just leaders and rangers. High Elven warriors should wear blue, Galadhrim warriors white, and Wood-elven warriors brown. The Rohrirrim should wear green cloaks, and Galadhrim civilians grey. Haradrim should wear red.

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">7. The Orcs of Mordor  should use actual curved scimitars, not the thin versions of the movie Uruk swords used now.

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">8. Barrow blades should have gold hilts, like the book.

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">9. Rangers of Ithilien should sometimes use iron pikes in battle, as in TTT.

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">10. I don't know how many times this will be stated. Rangers of the North wear dark GREY cloaks over chainmail and helmets. They ride horses and use swords, Iron pikes, and bows in battle. They also ride horses.

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">11. Dunlending armor should be much lighter-they are stated as having little metal armor to use. Some also rode horses.

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">12. Wood-Elven Strength: In the Unfinished Tales, Wood-Elves are stated as having very low-powered armor. Their armoe would be crafted like the old Rohan armor, but with Elven Steel. The armor's durability and defense should also be lowered. This makes playing as the Wood-Elves more about ambushing and less about tanking.

<p style="font-weight:normal;font-size:14px;line-height:22px;">Related to that is a thought I had about factions. Right now, armor and weapons are on a greyscale, from mithril down to leather. But what if there were reasons for wearing different armor and using different weapons? An example is how TATW DAC has their Lothlorien units have higher defense power but less attacking power than the Wood-Elves. Another DAC example is the three Wildmen factions-Anduin, Enedwaith, and Dunland (the first two are good candidates for addition to the mod). In this system, Enedwaith are light-armored, sneaky buggers with excellent javelins, Dunlendings are heavy-hitting, (relatively) heavily armored guys, and Anduin are an all-round faction with good archers and cavalry. Now, obviously Minecraft isn't much like Medieval 2 Total War, but the factions should have different reasons to gain alignment with other than the strength of their armor or units. Implementing this system  would help many of the "clone" factions (the three Elves, the Dwarves plus the upcoming Orocarni, and others I can't think of) be unique.