Items and Books

[ghost81]

Rather self exlpanatory but this one is for your item and book ideas. Again it goes beyond - 'I'd like to see an axe of . . .'. This should your in-game descriptions and possible stats of such items, and a reasonable argument as to why they should be included - not just because you want one. (Damn there goes the Balix clan Axeof utter destruction and invincibility.) ;-)

Also on the description please keep it Tolkien, after all the basic items have been Tolkienised it would be a pity to see new item ideas that weren't of a Tolkien theme.

[Fasin]

There are a lot of examples of the tolkienesque-style we are after here on the forums. Failing that there is a weath of excellent resource at your fingertips on the net. If you want to see an idea of your own developed and included online in the mod its worth that little bit of effort to present it in the appropriate way. The greater the effort you make the more likely it is to make the grade. :)

[Fasin]

ghost - "Balix Khaham Burk" - Balix clan axe. Never say I divvent dee nowt for ye... ;)

[WalterEgo]

The Palantiri
(the stones), these Artifacts or at least the lesser ones could be introduced, perhaps using the crystal ball item to represent the smallest and least powerfull of them ( i know a character very well that has been the warden and carrier of a 'virtual' one for some time using it to justify the knowledge gained by using the in character 'tell' channel conversations with other players.
They are of course incredibly powerfull,but if the crystalball item was used to represent them, then at least the character weilding it would be devoid of a weapon.
These stones (perhaps the larger immovable ones) could also be used to teleport Characters or Summon them (used as transport) as many of the huge ones are named in relation to areas eg: the Stones of Osgilith and the stone of Orthanc.
These larger greater stones could also play a vital role in guild play as there powerfull Scrying ability could only be blocked by darkness.
the lesser ones might give potent resistances or auras regenerating the holder or rendering them impervious to some form of harm.
Perhaps and i would assume so, that these stones would be of great use for DM's in imparting usefull information to game plots, as Vissions sometimes blurry could be seen by those of birthright or with the mental strength to utelise them. (indeed Sauron could control people through them his power so strong)
I would love to see these mysterious items along with the lost lore surrounding them surface.
What do you think about using the Palantiri?

[ghost81]

I like the Palantiri -
However the one thing to bear in mind is that there were only seven of them. They were stored in the strongholds of Gonder. Minas Tririth, Minas Ithil (now Morgul) and Orthanc were all strongholds of Gondor. Orthanc fell to the Dunlendings in about 2700 Third Age, and were driven out in 2759, it was then that Isengard/Orthanc was given to Saruman.

The original names of the seven stones ,named after location, (their fates follow in brackets) were: Annuminas (Destroyed), Amon Sul (Destroyed), Osgiliath (Destroyed), Minas Anor/Minas Tirith (Survived), Orthanc (Survived), Elostirion(Tower Hills) (-left middle earth on the Ring Bearers' White ship), Minas Ithil/Minas Morgul - (unknown by end of LOTR, last known to be in Saurons possesion but never found after the fall of Barad-Dur)

The Palantiri were created by Feanor the elf, and were given to the Dunedain at a later date, but they are the seven stones of Gondor - The White Tree and the Seven Stones.

[WalterEgo]

Yes these are the major stones and theres plenty there to play with, however I get the impression that there were smaller varietys (lesser stones) of wich there were many?

[ghost81]

You may be right, but I can't find any reference to them in the literature I have. Feanor made more but only seven were ever brought in Arda. There is no mention of anu other seeing stones in any of the encyclopedias or boos.

However if you can point me in the direction of a reference I would be interesting in reading up on them.

[WalterEgo]

No, i am pretty limited in my knowledge of such things, so i trust you on it., I was baseing what i was saying solely on Unfinnished tales by Tolkien Jnr.
However the idea of using the crystal ball or stones or even a Palantiri (though in light of your input Ghost, the Palantiri are probably a bit to Uber for a PC to own (unless they dissapeared from the PC inventory again with each reset or something)). eg the watchstone of Aghan and Barrach (the faithfull stone) could be used or crystal balls in general- we have them as ornaments but none that actually do anything.

[WalterEgo]

ok, sorry ppl if this is straying from the topic (its not really as it is defining wether or not the Palantiri are a worthwhile inclusion)
an example of a lesser stone might be: the Elendil stone on Emyn Beraid, though as you say this one was not known to be capable of communication though it is a Palantiri stone (it may have been capable but it is not known wether anyone of note gazed into it including Aragorn himself
lotr apendix I,iii
of the rings of power- The Silmarillion p292 (wich may/maynot reference yet another stone called the Master Stone. "Avallone upon Eressea where the Master Stone abode"
Although these references may be to the sasme stones as they moved around perhaps?
Anyhow would be a great and powerefull palyer that would harness the power of such relics, in fact the search and recovery of them alone is a great adventure maybe.

[ghost81]

The Master Stone as you say may be a Seeing Stone, however again its not in Arda, Eressea/Tol Erressea is described in the index of the Silmarillion as - "'The Lonely Isle' on which the Vanyar and the Noldor and afterwards the Teleri were drawn across the ocean by Ulmo, and which was at last rooted in the Bay of Eldemar near to the coasts of Aman. On Eressea the Teleri long remained before they went to Alqualonde, and there dwelt many of the Noldor and the Sindar after the ending of the First Age." (Don't let Avalyn rea this, he might get ides of draggin part of our world into the ocean and abondoning PC's who annoy him there;-) )

Emyn Beriad is the Tower Hills, with Elostirion being the tallest tower here. Ths was indeed one of the Palantiri (the one that finally went West with Bilbo, Frodo, Gandalf et al). This could actually be a great item for a quest as maybe the players could be charged with finding it for the Dunedain.

I would like to see the Palantiri as more interactive items, but I can't see them as PC items as they are too powerful, especially as UTT2 is aiming at less powerful items, rather than more powerful ones.

[Fasin]

As player items 'seeing stones' of a lesser sort could be introduced, however what would their powers be? What could we do with them that we cannot already do with 'tells'. If on a DM run event a player looking into a stone could recieve info in the shape of a fixed dialogue (which is a bit limited), or receive a 'tell' from the DM for 'his eyes only' information, so to speak. In the latter example the stone is really no more than a prop.

On a palantir related quest, the stone could act as a trigger object whereby the player sets off 'messages' in the form of 'visions from the stone'. That might work. It would be up to the player to relay the content of these visions to his comrades. Outside the remit of the individual quest though the stone really wouldnt be much in the way of practical use.

Although they would only be a prop, theres a lot that can be done with just a prop in good RP :)

[Fasin]

As a point of interest. We were talkin about elvenswords a little while ago and further to the posts about Elrond's/ Arwen's sword(s), the model used in the movie that we saw at the confrontation at the ford of Bruinen is definately in the CEP under scimitars. I think Elrond has a katana at the moment. I dont bother with scimitars much so I dont know if the model of Hadhafang is something new in the update or if its always been there, but it looks very nice on a character, as do all the LOTR movie weapons. :)