I really like as they use Noldor and Silvan instead of Elves. It goes well together with Gondor, Rohan, etc.

However, although it is not a big deal, I don't udnerstand the use of Dunedain together with Gondor as the latter is a subcategory of the former. I think they chose Dunedain for the Northern Dunedain (formelly known as Arnor) but it is kinda tricky. There probably were not many good options as North would not do as a Trait.

I wonder what new Character Traits will come up. Bardings? Or Dale? And how about those in the Mirkwood area, there were numerous settlements of Woodmen at the time of which I'm surprised we have not heard in the game, yet. Hope we will.

That may be it though. Dwarves will not get another category, surely. Perhaps Dol Amroth may? Doubt it. Woses, Bree-folk, anyone?

lleimmoen said:

Yes distinguishing the different elves is a nice touch. But Since Dunedain is a race, and Gondor is a place, I guess it separates the Gondorian Dunedain from the others. Unfortunately there really isn´t much of an Arnor to speak of at the time of this game, but maybe we´ll see historical figures?

Other than that, woses really sound intriguing. Anyone care to guess how long before we see a Ghan-Buri-Ghan ally card?

Thanks for the response.

This is what the Encyclopedia of Arda has to say about Dúnedain.

"A term used in Middle-earth for the Men of Númenor and (especially) their descendants in Arnor and Gondor after the Dowfall in 3319 of the Second Age."

I think they are using Beorning to describe some of the people near Mirkwood.

Perhaps. It could be Beorning on one side and Barding on the other, as Gloin categorized them in the Many Meetings chapter.

Most characters in these categories would be "non-Tolkien" I guess. We really don´t have many characters from these peoples. But I guess Bard as an ally would at least have ranged.

Felix said:

Bard could be even a Hero, no? Well, if he's there at all. Since you mentioned Ranged, I wonder whether the Ranged and normal attack will always be a same. You know, like Blade of Gondolin giving Legolas' Ranged attack +1 bonus against Orcs, it kinda feel wrong but alright. However, Dunhere has his bonus for attacking into the Staging Area, perhaps some characters could have a bonus whilst attacking Ranged... just a thought.

Why does everyone think we're restricted to a specific time frame in the LotR universe with this game?

vermillian said:

Because that's what the game designers say in the rulebook: the time between the departures of Bilbo and Frodo Bagginses.

However, I do hope they stray from that - as they already have with Beorn. I hope to see Thorin and others as they previewed.

lleimmoen said:

He could absolutely be a hero, but statistically there are more allies than heroes..... wouldn´t mind though

I guess they consider making the blade (and other bonuses) exclude things like ranged etc to complicate matters unnecessarily. But giving bonuses to specific kinds of attack, such as ranged, would perhaps be something we might see. Maybe in Bard the Bowman or a bow item.

And speaking of Bard, will we see a Smaug?

lleimmoen said:

Gah, I had forgotten about that. But I hope for them to stray from that too. There are just so many cool characters from earlier times. First age characters might be stretching it a bit but imagine a party with Fingolfin, Beren and Beleg Cuthalion.... Mmmmmm.....

Double posted to reply to two posts... is there a multiquote funtion?

Fingolfin is perhaps my all-time favourite Tolkien character. It would be beyond cool to have him but I fear they don't have copyrights for anything other than the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

lleimmoen said:

I´m afraid so too. But we can still hope. And there are still loads of fun characters to do within those two

lleimmoen said:

If I remember rightly, the Numenorians who settled in Gondor intermingled with the Men of Twilight / Middle Men and that would be what the majority of the population of Gondor would be by the end of the Third Age. Dunedain I would expect only to refer to the pure-plood Numenorians, possibly even just the line of Elendil, with the extended lifespan and so on.

Mighty Jim said:

Good call. Possibly. It is obvious that in the North they did not have that much time (not even people) to mingle (with).

Felix said:

I believe whoever is mentioned in either the Hobbit or Lord of the Rings (and the apendices, too) they can use. That would be a big boost. Another question is how far they want to stray from the time span. I hope rather far.

I would imagine Fingolfin like this. Action: When you assign Fingolfin to attack, instead of attacking an Enemy, you could add the number of progress tokens equal to his attack strength to the current quest. Something like that could represent the fear the enemies would feel from his wrath.

lleimmoen said:

If being mentioned in those works would be sufficient we certainly have a lot to take from. Then Beren and Luthien could, theoretically, be included. And certainly figures from the end of the Second Age. Like Elendil, Gil-Galad and Isildur. I for one would like to see packs from the historic eras.

Felix said:

I am not a copyright expert, even though I should be as I am a publishing author; however, I feel that if they can use stuff from certain books, they can use all that is mentioned, thus including Beren, Luthien, Gil-Galad, Elendil, Isildur, even Feanor was surely mentioned, and perhaps Turgon when the blades of Gondolin were found.

I would be all for the historic expansion. Even if it were somehow restricted in play, I'd love to see the cards.

The character's I'd like to see most are Fingolfin, Maedhros, Turin Turambar and Huan (I often take liking in tragic tales, I like the one of Boromir and Gollum from the Lord of the Rings). We can dream, can we not?

lleimmoen said:

I find myself wishing that the guys from FFG would read this thread and feel just as inspired to create a historic set. You just made me start thinking about Huan as an ally. Actually, faithful hound that he is, he could actually be some sort of attachment. Please please let us see some of these at some time or other.

Haha. Seem that we understand one another. Let us have fingers crossed.