[IamFEAR]

1. Will weapons or armor created by certain races give certain advantages (I.E. will Human weapons swing faster, Dwarven weapons hurt more, ect ect)? Will you need to be a member of that race to get the benefits, or even use said equiptment? Will there be an extra bonus for using your own race's goods (Perhaps a skill increase..)?

2. Will blacksmiths of a race only be able to repair their respective goods? Will having certain races repair an item endow it with special attributes (and possibly cause it to lose some of it's race-specific attributes, if there are any) ? Will it cost less to have a human repair a human sword than it would to have a Dwarf or Elve?

[Ancalagon]

Those are some pretty good questions.

When you say 'race specific attributes' for the weapons, do you mean like enchantments? If so, keep in mind that 'magic' use in MEMod will have a very very small role (as in, no enchantments, fireballs, raising the dead, etc.) Alchemy and some healing skills may be the only 'magics' in MEMod.

I wouyld like you to elaborate more on "race specific attributes". It's an interesting idea, but I wonder if it would cross the line concerning magic. I suspect if (for example, this is not saying that dwarves are playable) ones character was a dwarf, then they may be proficinet or more inclined to wield an axe, hammer, or mace.

Also, it would make sense that (dependent upon the age and make of the weapon) certain weapons from certain races could only be repaired by those races or people skilled and knowledgeable in the weapons of a particular Age. I do not think a hobbit or a smith from Bree could repair or would know how to repair an Elven Sword from the First Age. Much less a Numenorean weapon.

Another thing that could be taken into account (hypothetically, as I am postulating here and not stating that any of this is fact or being implemented) could be the trade routes of the city and which races said city deals with the most. Take Esgaroth for example, there could be a smith there who could specialize in repairing dwarvish, elvish, and mannsih weapons and armour since Esgaroth trades with the Wood Elves of Mirkwood, and trades with the Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain (or the ones from the Iron Hills).

Again, I am only postulating and giving food for thought. I do not know if any of this has been discussed or talked about yet.

This post has been edited by Ancalagon: 14 September 2004 - 09:35 PM

[Cailwyn]

I'm not sure that there are any racial differences in wielding weapons in the Tolkien world. Bilbo and Sam both use Sting, and elvish dagger, with great power. Thorin fought with Orcrist. Angrist, a dwarvish blade, was use by both Curufin, an elf, and Beren, a man. Narsil was made for a man by the same dwarf that made Angrist and was reforged by the elves.

So I think it has more to do with people interacting with the weapon, not the weapon interacting with people. On the other hand, orcs are terrified of elvish weapons, so maybe its a little different when it comes to who is getting the thrusting end of the blade.

peace

[Ancalagon]

I don't think that weapons can only be wielded by the races that made them. I meant that if they were to be repaired, perhaps their make is so ancient (like Narsil) that it would take a highly skilled smith or a smith of that particular race that forged the weapon to repair or make one.

I didn't mean to state that only certain weapons of certain races could be wielded by that particular race. I just meant in the smithying and repairing of those weapons.

[Peregrine]

I would imagine it would be mostly like the differences between weapons in our world. Mostly subtle, and greatly dependent on personal preference. Two swords from different races might be nearly the same, and could be used with proficiency by anyone, but you might prefer the balance of a human sword over an elvish one.

And also, don't forget that "sword" is far too broad a term. What kind of sword do you mean? I doubt you'll be able to make any broad statements like "human swords swing faster." More likely, you might say "humans prefer short sword + shield, therefore to get the best short sword, I should go to a human city. I could get a functional one that would serve me well from a dwarven city, but a human one be more efficiently made for my combat style".



*note: none of the following should be considered absolute information. The statements about weapon use are just an example. Humans will not necessarily make the best short swords in the game.

[Ancalagon]

Well put, Peregrine. Better than I could have said it

[dienekes]

But if this is the case, how is it that humans prefer short sword + shield? Is it just a coincidence that most humans personal preference is short sword + shield or is there some connection to their physical build or culture or someting like that?
And would that mean that a human character would - like all humans - do best using short sword + shield, or would personal preference mean personal preference of the player?

I did note that this is just an example, I simply spent some more thought on this particular example...

[Peregrine]

It most likely wouldn't be that broad. You'd be more likely to have "human city X's guards are elite short sword fighters, and the swords made there are exceptionally light and sharp". Therefore, if your character uses a short sword, you would probably want to visit and buy one. You could get a perfectly functional one in countless places and fight just fine with it, but sometimes you want that extra advantage.

If differences in weapon quality by race/culture exist, that is the form they would most likely appear in. You aren't going to see any unrealistic "all human weapons swing faster" rules.

[Maquissar]

Why do not make it even less broad? That is, not just "In Esgaroth they make excellent short swords", but more like "In Esgaroth there is a smith, named X, who makes the best steel short swords in the region. However, he's not that good at working with iron or bronze. Y, in the same city, is not particularly good at making anything - but his prices are the best."

Also... slightly off topic... will you BUY swords from a smith, or will you ask him to make you a sword and come back a week later to get it?

[Ancalagon]

I think (this is not an absolute) that the options of buying a sword pre-fabricated or having one made (like a special type of sword) would both be included.

For example (a presumption and not fact, just a thought):
Suppose you go into Bree and you want a functional sword. So you go to the smith, he has some on display, and some that he is working on, so you buy a pre-fabricated functional one and save yourself the time and trouble of waltzing about the Wild without any steel on you (not a good idea).

OR...if you want a quality sword (for example, say one of Elven make...therefore you would have to go to an Elven smith) you would have to place an order (like in Tribunal or Bloodmoon, but with a longer wait...perhaps) and pay a larger sum of money. Keep in mind, it wouldn't have to be particular weapons of a certain race, you could want a high quality Human sword, or a high quality Dwarven hammer. The same (hypothetically) could go for armour, shields, and even bows and arrows.

This is all food for thought, not a definitive, I'm simply postulating like the rest.