All posts by JohnandT

Rope would be made by putting 3 pieces of string in a row in any direction on a crafting table. This will yield one piece of rope. The rope can be put together to make a coil by placing the rope pieces in a crafting table. The length can be up to 20 pieces, but can be shorter. Rope pieces can be added to existing Rope coils by combining the rope piece and the rope coil on a crafting table. A rope can be cut in half by placing it a crafting table. This will yield two pieces of rope half the length of the original. Rope can be used by right clicking on a block that is right next to a cliff. The rope would go to the bottom of the cliff or until it runs out. The player could then climb down the rope like a ladder, except twice as fast. A player could also climb the rope, but 3 times slower than a ladder. To recove your rope, you have to right click the rope at the top of the cliff. A special rope could be made of Hithlain on a Galadhrim crafting table. This rope could be up to 32 pieces in length, because of how light and strong it is. This rope could also be recovered at the bottom of the cliff instead of just at the top. This would be done by right clicking the rope. Ropes could also be used to cross rivers and precipes. A rope would be attacked to a tree, wood block, or fence post on one side. Then the player would have to cross to the other side of the river or ravine, and attach it to a tree, wood block, or fence on this side. Then a second rope to blocks up would have to be strung across just like the first. Then a player could cross by shifting on the bottom rope.

"Upon a stake in the middle was set a great goblin head; upon its shattered helm the white badge could still be seen." Passage from The Two Towers Book Three Chapter 2 "Riders of Rohan" where Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimili come to the pile of slain Uruk Hai by Fangorn

"Then among the greater casts there fell another hail, less ruinous but more horrible. All about the streets and lanes behind the Gate it tumbled down, small round shot that did not burn. But when men ran to learn what it might be they cried aloud and wept. For the enemy was flinging into the City all the heads of those who had fallen at Osgiliath, or on the Rammas, or in the fields. They were grim to look on; for though some were crushed and shapeless, and some had been cruelly hewn, yet many had features that could be told,...." Passage from The Return of the King Book Five Chapter 4 "The Siege of Gondor" where the Hosts of Mordor are using siege engines and catapults to bring destruction to Minas Tirith.

Keeping your enemies head as a trophy has long been in practice in many cultures. It can also be found in the lore of Middle Earth, used by both good and evil. I think that it should be brought to Mod.

How to Implement it

When a player or his hired units kill another player or a a mob, the player or mob have different chances of dropping a head.

Players: Players should drop their head 100% of the time. I also think that players should drop their head even if they aren't killed, but die from drowning, fall damage, fire, etc, but that is up to debate.

Mobs: There are three tiers of mob. One is the captains, or the unit that troops are hired from such as Orc chieftans, High elven lords, and Rohirric Marshalls. The second tier are banner bearers and elite mobs like Black Uruks and the Uruk Hai Berserkers. The last tier are the normal warriors and civilians of that faction. The captains should drop their heads 25% to 50% of the time. In real battles, the leaders heads would be taken and shown to the enemy to demoralize them. This should correspond to a higher drop rate, as they would be more sought after. Banner bearers and elite units should drop their heads at a rate of 5% to 15% of the time. Seeing the heads of the best troops your faction has to offer on a spike would demoralize you. Finally normal warriors and civilians would drop their heads at a rate of 0.5 % to 1%.

The exact percentages can change, with experimentation. I thought that these rates seemed appropriate.

Head texture: When a player or mob drops their head it will have the skin of the mob or player. The player should automatically display the players name. The mob head, since it has a generic skin, should have the name of who it belonged to and their position, like with a pouch. Next I couldn't decide if the heads should be retextured or not so I'll give some options and you can decide in the comments.

A.) Normal player and mob head, no change

B.) Player and mob head with part of the head looking like a skeleton skull (maybe 1/4 to 1/2)

C.)Player and mob head with part of the head looking rotten like a zombie head (1/4 to 1/2)

D.) Player and mob head with part of the head looking like it was bashed in or bloodied

E.) A chance to get any one of the above texture each time you kill something

With the skeleton and zombie option, the zombie and skeleton texture would be sort of diagonal and with a wavy line, not just a straight line down the head. It should look like the head started to decay. Also the additional texture whether zombie, skeleton, or bloody will always be in the same place on the heads so that a ton of new textures don't have to be made.

New items

1.) Head on stick/head on a spear: Option one- A head on a stick would be crafted just like the orc skull staff, but would be personalized with the different textured heads. The head on a stick would have low attack damage and very low durability. it would also stand up straight like a banner that a banner bearer holds. Option two- A head on a spear would be crafted with a spear or pike and a head on the crafting table. The spear would then stick straight up with the head on the top. The spear texture would remain the same. The spear would lose a half to one damage points. The durability of this item would be very low, but when it breaks, you get your spear back. Both of the options can be uncrafted on a crafting table into the original pieces. The head will not retain any durability damage.

2.) A new way to get skulls. If a player smelts a head in an orc furnace, it will give a skull. The skull won't have any names or markers on it (with maybe the exception of player heads, tell me what you think in the comments). It will just be a simple skull. This will give a renewable source for skulls for skull cups, skull staffs, and scary decorations.

I thought that adding heads would be an interesting trophy, especially for evil aligned players. Now players can have the heads of their enemies on a spike outside their homes! I hope you enjoyed this and if you have any comments, suggestions, or constructive criticism I'm always glad to hear it.

P.S. I left out the larger mobs like trolls and company. I don't know if their player model will allow their heads to drop and I don't know how it would look. Minecraft already has the player and humanoid models which would make implementing heads easier. Also trolls give statues and wargs give rugs so they already have a trophy item of sorts. I think that only humanoid mobs like elves, dwarves, hobbits, orcs, uruk hai, and of course humans should drop their heads.