1143 replies to this topic

[Devon]

Well, you don't have to play with them on. The idea is to add something if you want them but not remove anything if you would rather play without. Hence upgrading instead of plain new hero.

[Black Dragon]

I'm not so sure about Frodo as a ring hero. I know this mod deviates from what is cannon, but to me possession of the ring should upgrade the existing most powerful hero of a faction. Lets throw aside "who would use the ring" "he'd use the ring to do good but it should make him do evil" and focus more on enhancing existing heroes. For example...

Gondor
-Gandalf is upgraded with more powerful abilities than he already has or faster recharging abilities. Health is increased, line of sight is increased and his overall armor improves. Also gains perhaps more fire orientated abilities, such as his word of power becomes similar to that of Sarumans from BFME1, but leaves a ring of fire upon its use.

-Aragorn is upgraded with more powerful abilies, longer line of sight, more health, knockback effect (like Boromir) and possibly the ability to summon the King of the Dead (who then in turn can summon more oathbreakers, so the KOTD becomes an additional hero that Aragorn summons)

Rohan
-Radagast is upgraded to become a more offensive hero, perhaps granting him more control of eagles in some way. Perhaps even turning him into Radagast the White himself and abilities such as fireball, summon 2 eagles, wind sweep (like angmars wind power but one that damages considerable and has a large area of effect, similar to word of power)

-Theoden is upgraded with more health, stronger attacks, increased line of sight (perhaps even a massive line of sight) and invulnerability powers for himself and those around him.

Elves
-Galadriel is upgraded to be the storm queen. She gains the tornado power, a powerful wind ability and also her own flood ability similar to Arwen and also long range vision and healing. She wouldn't however be as offensive as Sauron or the other ring heroes and instead would resort to powers.

-Elrond is upgraded with more health, stronger attacks and abilities consisting of wind (illustrating his own ring in some way). Gains a tornado, long range vision, powerful healing and his own flood type power except its not a flood but something like a blast of wind (if that makes sense)

Mordor
-Sauron starts in the game as the eye, when he gets the ring he finally takes physical form and the eye is no longer available. Sauron instead has a full 5 abilities.
-Vision: Can reveal large areas of terrain
-Dominance: Can control units around him
-Fear: All units fear him passively and can also make them flee
-Leadership: His allies gain increased damage and armor
-Fireball: Can call down fireballs from Mount Doom

Isengard
-Saruman becomes far more powerful than he was. Fireballs recharge faster and can be fired from long range, can control more units now, gets his own word of power that can cause a remaining fire to spread outward, and another ability that would suit him.



...

I know many won't agree with this, but at times I think the reasoning behind the RING is somewhat taken too literally for a game like this. The ring heroes we have now show us the only ones we'd have an idea how they would be, since we know Saurons situation, and we had a glimpse of Galadriels...It doesn't stop us however speculating what could be, and I think thats where the fun lies. Who really wants to gain a hobbit as a hero when you've worked hard to acquire the ring? Surely it makes sense that the most powerful heroes remain the most powerful. I believe that being creative with the ring heroes, allows you (the developers) to tread new ground rather than confining to the books even though there are contradictions already in the mod.

[Black Dragon]

Appologies for double post, wanted to keep the ideas seperate.

HOBBITS
They are cheap, they are small, they are also somewhat useless. The only time I build hobbits is when I want someone to go and claim a neutral structure, while they have minor uses, I feel they can be given more tactical uses. So I have a few suggestions.

1) Give the Merry & Pippin a mild pillage ability at level 5. Allowing them to steal resources from farms or slaughter houses. This idea is derived from the book whereby Merry & Pippen steal from Isengards supplies and it seems fitting to them both to get away with such a thing.

2) Sam currently has an ability to heal units, I never really use this, in fact i've pretty much never used it but it does seem fitting. However I do think that Sam could be given a sort of invulnerability power at level 5 so represent his spurt of bravery at Minas Morgal and give him an extra use to get past small defences.

3) Frodo should be given the glass of galadriel again. While it didn't serve much offensive use it would be good to drive off an attack to buy time for reinforcements. Secondly, due to Frodo having sting, I feel that Sting could have a tactical use in detecting enemies nearby. I'm not sure how it works at the moment when it glows blue, but perhaps its detection range can be increased and Frodo can also give a warning when he sees enemies. So if you pop Frodo in the center of the map, he can serve as an early warning for attacks giving you some time to mount a defence.

4) All hobbits seem to have a good set of legs on them to out-run danger. When the Nazgul were chasing them they escaped to the crossing. To me this suggests they could have a power that gives them a boost to speed, used mostly for scouting purposes.

Basically, hobbits in general could be given more tactical uses.
Frodo
Power 1: Throw Rocks/Use Sting (when using sting he can detect units from a longer range)
Power 2: Elven Cloak (hide from enemies when standing still)
Power 3: Glass of Galadirel (can scare off enemy attacks OR stun them for a small duration)
Power 4: Burst of Speed
Power 5: Inspire (Passive: inspire those around him by granting them increased damage)

Sam
Power 1: Throw Rocks/Use Sword
Power 2: Elven Cloak (hide from enemies when standing still)
Power 3: Keeping up Strength (heal a small group to full health)
Power 4: Burst of Speed
Power 5: Bravery (gains 30 seconds of invulnerability)

Merry
Power 1: Throw Rocks/Use Sword
Power 2: Elven Cloak (hide from enemies when standing still)
Power 3: Pillage (steal resources from farms/slaughter houses, about 400-1000)
Power 4: Burst of Speed
Power 5: Dagger Attack (a single attack that can damage a hero considerably)

Pippin
Power 1: Throw Rocks/Use Sword
Power 2: Elven Cloak (hide from enemies when standing still)
Power 3: Pillage (steal resources from farms/slaughter houses, about 400-1000)
Power 4: Burst of Speed
Power 5: Dagger Attack (a single attack that can damage a hero considerably)

Bilbo
Power 1: Throw Rocks/Use Sword
Power 2: Elven Cloak (hide from enemies when standing still)
Power 3: Burst of Speed
Power 4: Inspire (Passive: inspire those around him by granting them increased speed)
Power 5: Inspire (Passive: inspire those around him by granting them increased damage)

TREEBEARD
The ents are already quite powerful, but I think Treebeard would be cool if he could:
a) Summon a patch of grass like the existing elven power that heals ents in it faster
b) Pour water over ents to put out flames

GANDALF THE GREY
I suggested this a while ago for the Elvenstar 1 mod. The idea what that Gandalf the Grey is considerably different from Gandalf the White in terms of the abilities available and the possible concept that a person can choose when Gandalf becomes Gandalf the White (as they can now with the spellbook power). The powers I think that would be cool are from the movie in some regards.

Power 1: Firework (replacing wizard blast)
Gandalf can either fire a single firework (perhaps dragon) that knocks down and damages the target units or can fire a stream of fireworks at targets. It is similar to the Wizard Blast ability however is long range and slightly less effective.

Power 2: Shadow of Fear (replacing lightning sword)
Gandalf can extend a dark shadow around him and freeze a small group of units as they cower from him. It would freeze gandalf in place for a short moment but give him time to attack units as they remain in fear.

Power 4: Shield Bubble (replacing shadowfax)
Enable Gandalf to protect himself with a shield bubble for about one minute. He becomes immune to all damage and knockdown attacks. If carefully timed it could withstand a powerful strike from other enemies such as fireball or an arrow attack.

Power 4: Impact Blast (replacing light beam)
Similar to the power we see Gandalf perform on the bridge, gandalf hits his staff on the surface which knocks back all enemies surrounding him. its effect would be alow like a low level custom hero earthquake power.

Power 5: Lightning Sword (replacing word of power)
The lightning sword concept was clearly taken from Gandalf finishing the balrog by using a lightning strike. This ability would either be a stronger version of the lightning sword attack, or a single attack that can damage a hero significantly.

The main reason I suggest this is to purely distinguish Gandalf from his reincarnated self. He was always powerful, but only when he became Gandalf the White did he truly become very powerful. As Gandalf the Grey, he always seemed more of a wise leader, less offensive, therefore his powers should be more defensive and targeting for single units rather than repelling all foes.

Thats all for now

[Devon]

For ring heros, I can see what you're saying, but in my opinion it just takes away from the lotr feeling. Sure, a super gandalf would be cool, but it would feel much more like the movies books if you wanted to try and sneak frodo unnoticed into an enemy base. It just makes a more fun experience in my opinion, with your tactics mirroring the actual council of elrond's. You can launch diversions, send a fellowship in with frodo, or just hide him, while the enemy is constantly on the lookout and searching for the ring. It was also mentioned tha you could have a choice of what to do, but I', kinda against that. KotD is also Gondor's lvl 10 inn hero.

As for Gandalf, I can see your reasoning, but I think there are more suitable powers that could be chosen, and he already has bubble shield. Hobbits do have purposes, they're good spies Burst of speed would be cool, and Sam and Frodo could maybe have the evil men cah disguise power (orcs in return of the king) Merry and Pippin would be incredibly annoying with pillage, and I don't really agree with that reasoning Personally I hate invulnerability powers, just give same a big armor boost. Treebeard, maybe a war chant thing, I don't see how he's gonna summon water from the sky Maybe an ent drought power too, giving xp or something.

Sorry for shooting most of your ideas down

[Devon]

Could you give some reasons?

Isildur's dead, Tom Bombadil had no afiliation with arnor, Rohan feared and hated KotD, Smaug couldn't wear a ring, and neither could the balrog....

[Gothmog14]

Please, don't do more Pillage powers. That's on like half the heroes already. You should just do what the Elvenstar team did with Merry and Pippin. A Rohan/Gondor armor power that changes their costume and give them extra armor, and Sword of Westernesse power that does increases damage versus Undead/Trolls (respectively). I would really like to see a "Fireworks" power on Gandy though .

Isildur's dead, Tom Bombadil had no afiliation with arnor, Rohan feared and hated KotD, Smaug couldn't wear a ring, and neither could the balrog....

So is Boromir . Yoda's right though, none of these fit, why would Evil Men be given the Balrog? I hope no one starts suggesting Eorl, Thorin and other people from completely different Eras.

[Black Dragon]

No worries Yoda, suggestions are there to be agreed with or disagreed with lol

I can see what you mean about Frodo, thinking about it, it would be cool for Frodo to be able to sneak into a base, it would present a tactical element that he can use the ring to destroy a fortress. If he has the ring, then I assume were going to allow him to put on the ring and go invisable. Question is, if he is spotted wont the fortress defences kill him before he has time to destroy the fortress?

If anything Frodo could be reseved for a faciton like Gondor. To be honest what would be awesome is if rather than confining each faction to use specific ring heroes, is if you could choose which one you want. So if you have the ring you can build one of several ring heroes.

GOOD
-Frodo: Can use the ring to go invisable indefinatly making him the perfect scout but is revealed by the Mordor eye and can also use the ring to destroy an enemy fortress if he can sneak into the base.

-Galadriel: Can use the ring to conjur a fierce storm, capable of decimating an enemy army. Perhaps also remove the fear power from galadriel and give him a powerful healing ability.

-Aragorn: Aragorn uses the ring to boost his own fighting abilities. Giving him a knockdown swing, enhanced leadership and increased time for the oathbreakers he summons.

EVIL
-Sauron: Once the ring is acquired Sauron can take phyiscal form. He can call down fireballs and drive fear into enemy armies. No changes to his powers as he is already good.

-Witch King: A "what if" situation. The witch king gains a flaming sword ability, can call down the light of minas morgal (that green beam) which poisons vast armies giving them a slow death that no healing can delay.

-Saruman: Another "what if" situation. Saruman uses the ring to grant him terrible powers. He can fire several fireballs at an army, corrupt and control enemy soldiers and can call down a bolt of lightning.


...Thats what i'd love the option to do, that way you decide what type of ring hero you have. More importantly for the good heroes, since you choose Frodo who is to sneak into an enemy base, aragorn who can improve his fighting skill or galadriel who can destroy entire armies. Whereas the evil factions use the ring purely to destroy.


Oh and with Treebeard, if you think about it Arwen cannot exactly summon a flood with no water nearby either lol. I just think it would be cool if he could have a few extra uses to save his fellow ents.

[Dalf32]

gosh, 1 afternoon without checking this and look what happens! lol, you're jsut a box of ideas arent you black dragon? thats what we like, keep it up please! brace yourselves, this will be long...

well, first the ring heros: i kind of agree with yoda on this one (not all that unusual). frodo adds more tactical strategy to the ring hero and i think characterizes the FoL more as a strategic, this-better-work type of group. upgrading each hero seems more like an upfront and forceful tactic which i think works better for FoD.

ok, hobbits: i like the idea of a speed burst for all hobbits, but i am also against the invulnerability. i dont really like it (unless im using it ) so i would rather a large damage/armor boost for sam. also disagree with the pillage, but everything else is good i think.

treebeard: i dont think he should get a water power as there is no reason that treebeard has access to water and the burning ent doesnt; in other words, treebeard is not the only ent who knows water puts out fire. i would instead put in an ent draught power that could perhaps heal heros/ents in a selected area near him. perhaps as a high level power he could summon ents instead of grass (elven wood) because i believe he already has an ent leadership.

now for gandalf: i like the idea of making him further from his 'white' counterpart, but i (like yoda) think that there could be better powers there instead. shadowfax should stay because gandalf even said in the two towers that they had been friends for a long time, so its not just a gandalf the white thing. also make sure he is still worth his hefty price tag before he gets the upgrade, not just after.

ok, more ring heros: my big thing is no dead heros. boromir is ok because at least he was alive for part of the wotr. we dont want to start saying stuff like "hey, why dont we put morgoth in as a mordor ring hero!" (and just in case you didnt know, morgoth was banished from arda long ago, long before the wotr).

and finally for the OTHER ring idea: i actually suggested something similar to this (although more extended) when i first joined these forums (i believe it is near the beginning of this thread actually). mine had a system where you would pass the ring from hero to hero (or posisbly from hero to unit) but as soon as they put the ring on they would begin to be corrupted. they would gradually gain strength and you would begin to lose control of them. eventually they would break into a neutral state where they wander the battlefield invisible, powerful, and paranoid; willing to attack anything that got too close. obviously they would drop the ring and the whole thing would start again. a little too drawn out to be possible but whatever right? ANYWAYS... we will most likely stick with the current system idea as i believe it is growing on everyone and it has been sort of kind of in place for a while...

sorry again for the length

[dojob]

Hmm, so many ideas to respond to...

Ring System:
I dislike the ring system in general, but I suppose Frodo would make an ok ring hero as the good guys did give it to him. Of course, he sure as hell wouldn't have the costs (in both time and resources) that current ring heroes have. I'd give him a little inspiration ability for nearby heroes and yes the ability to own a fortress. He could also have a power or upgrade to give him Sting and Mithril to boost his fighting capabilities (at first, he'd be rather sucky and after the upgrade/leveling up, he'd be ok).

As for the evil factions, except for Isen (who would get to upgrade Saruman), they would all get Sauron. His powers could be:

-Lord of Darkness: All nearby friendly, evil units gain fairly large bonuses, including heroes
-Necromancy: friends and foes in the targeted area become weak versions of wights when they die.
-Imposing Might: Nearby enemies temporarily cower in fear.
-Corruption: enemies in the targeted area become yours.
-Bind Them: Nearby heroes become crippled and take damage
-Fiery Wrath: Could either work like barrage or perhaps a big explosion. Either way, it ends with a big fire in the targeted area

Gandalf's Powers (in no particular order):
As Gray:

light (passive, nearby units gain vision and somewhat lowered pwr recharge times)
fireworks (as was suggested; rockets hit the target area doing ok damage)
lightning
istari shield (only takes 25% of damage, gains weak trample, and loses visibility)
sacrifice (like WoP, but a bit weaker and has different effects. Oh and he'd die after using this)

*If he dies, when u revive him that's how u get GtW

As White:

shadowfax
Ganalf the White (passive; gains armor, attack, and power recharge buffs)
istari light (in addition to doing damage, scares evil units)
courage (fear resistance, xp, and armor buffs)
istari shield
word of power

Edited by dojob, 01 February 2008 - 02:57 AM.

[Devon]

You can delete posts, you know


Anyway, Frodo might have the as long a build time as others, seeing as the council of elrond took forever to decide what to do And it might be op without the costs. I guess you could be given a choice at the fortress, but I'd rather just see Frodo Goblins should get Great Goblin or some other king though, not Sauron. But....Arnor could get Isildur maybe? Not quite sure when this Arnor was suppose to have existed.

As for that Gandalf suggestion Dojob....not when he revives please SEE's already doing it, and it takes away from the value of Heroes of Gondor. But for powers:

Fireworks/some other name - you choose an area, and he lobs little fireworks that burn people into it (like the Hobbit)
Light - Something like the new blue wizard's thing, but without the knockback and damage. Permanently blinds units?
Cah lighting - the second or thid tier one probably, or else maybe the blue fireball thing.
Shadowfax
Friend of kings/some other name - Leadership
Fire Dragon - the thing drogoth shoots now, based on his fireworks display

[Black Dragon]

Its ok that Frodo is the ring hero, but I think it would be cooler to choose who has the ring. There are so many differing tactics that could be implemented with the ring hero for FoL and choice would be cool. Sorry if I keep on about this, I'm not being demanding just trying to express my reasoning. I love the concept of Frodo having the ring and being stealthy but at times it is forcing you to take a stealthy approach rather than giving choices. At the moment you are forced to use the ring heroes to do damage, what could be done is that depending on the ring hero you choose you can use them for certain benefits.

GOOD

-Offensive>Galadriel
Unleash the power of the storm queen, as she is now however perhaps with some leadership abilities. She should be a long range hero, using magic, farsight and healing.

-Stealth>Frodo
Use the ring to sneak into enemy bases and cause havoc. Here it would be cool if the ring could be used to steal things, imagine frodo plundering a farm then disappearing to continue terrorising. Or get into a base during a battle to do the almighty fortress destruciton.

-Support>Elrond/Aragorn
Use the ring to improve existing armies. Increase farm production, grant experience to soldiers and gain fighting leadership and healing to others around him.

EVIL

-Offensive>Sauron
Use the ring to unleash fear and power upon the enemy. Sauron can combat large armies with his mace and bring down fire to wipe out many. Should also have detrimental abilities such as one to poison or debuff armies.

-Stealth>Gollum
Use the ring to sneak around and cause havoc. Sneak attack heroes, plunder and corrupt or use it to break into enemy bases and destroy buildings.

-Support>Saruman
Aside from his own power, use the ring to improve armies, increase resource production, grant leadership and also overwhelm enemy forces.


Again these are just random ideas...I recall reading the books that some of the rings were used to harvest riches...so could apply the concept of such support.


I do like the idea that whoever has the ring hero eventually becomes corrupted by it and is removed as a controllable unit. Im not sure how practical it would be however

[dojob]

You can delete posts, you know


Anyway, Frodo might have the as long a build time as others, seeing as the council of elrond took forever to decide what to do And it might be op without the costs. I guess you could be given a choice at the fortress, but I'd rather just see Frodo Goblins should get Great Goblin or some other king though, not Sauron. But....Arnor could get Isildur maybe? Not quite sure when this Arnor was suppose to have existed.

No he shouldn't have the costs because he's still weak and if the enemy sees him, then they can kill him. It's not like he's an army-killing beast like the current ring-heroes, so perhaps mid-level costs would do...

Goblins already have Gorkil as their leader guy. If the ring ended up with them, then Mordor would just go in and take it from them and give it to Sauron, so they should get Sauron I don't think a goblin would know that the ring was powerful or that it was a ring to wear, so if they had it, it would end up with Sauron.

[Devon]

Neither are orcs for that matter, but their leaders might be. By the way, only gollum and bilbo can find the ring. If you can buy anything else, it would be

Gondor: Aragorn
Rohan: Theoden
Elves: Elrond, Galadriel, or Thranduil, depending on something (Rob, sword, and shikari will know what I mean)
Dwarves: Dain
Arnor: Isildur?

[dojob]

Neither are orcs for that matter, but their leaders might be. By the way, only gollum and bilbo can find the ring. If you can buy anything else, it would be

True, but they couldn't be smart enough to keep it from the nazgul, who would kill him the moment they knew he was leading guys into battle with superpowers. So in the end, Sauron gets it As for Saruman, well i bet he could hold off the nazguls with all that fire and lightning

Edited by dojob, 01 February 2008 - 03:29 PM.

[Devon]

The Great Goblin could hide in his tunnel with his goblins Any hero with the ring could hold off the nazzies.

[Black Dragon]

Few more suggestions:

MEN OF THE EAST:
I know your already working on their abilities but i'll suggest a few anyway incase it inspires.

SPELLBOOK POWERS
Level 5: Horn of Harad (Boosts armor, including its own sfx and vfx)
Level 5: Scout Summon (Summon a single scout to an area who is cloaked standing still and weaponless)
Level 5: Deserts of the East (Boosts armor, similar to tainted land only using its own vfx and sfx)
Level 10: Eastern Trade (Increases production of farms and windmills)
Level 10: Sandstorm (Similar to the elven mist, its own vfx which decreases enemy armor and line of sight)
Level 10: Drying of the Lands (A resource buildings production rate is significantly making it almost useless)
Level 10: Outpost (Summons a small outpost to the land to help blockade and guard)

Level 15: Heatwave (Using sunlight vfx, but slows enemy units down due to the increased heat. Either a global power or one that is deployed over an area to significantly hinder the enemies fatigue and endurance)

Level 15: Summon Wild Animals (Summons several wild animals which run rampage and kill enemy units. Not sure how possible this is, but I believe there must be a way that you can use the existing nature animals to bring desert like animals to actively attack enemy troops. If this isn't possible, how about an ability to summon some sort of poisonous snakes to an area?)

Level 15: Wainriders (A stampede ability similar to Arwen flood, but less damaging from the flood power. Several wagon riders ride over the selected zone knocking them down and killing them in a similar fashion to a standard stampede)

Level 25: Rock Giant (Instead of that rock giant being summoned by wizards, it is summoned as a spellbook power)
Level 25: March of the Mumakil (Summon 2-3 Mumakil to the battlefield)

WIZARD POWERS
I assume these are somewhat already done, but i'll suggest anyway and use what I know already thats included. I'm going to assume that the two Wizards specialize in different magic. One of them based on what this mod intends to add already is skilled in magic of light, meaning it can conjur light, use light offensively and also use it to form powerful illusions. The other, I can see being strong in offensive use of water and physical skill in battle similar to that of gandalf...like gandalf he would ride a horse to help traverse the eastern lands.


Blue Wizard 1:
1: Shockwave (Similar to wizard blast, however the wizard can stamp his staff on the ground and create a small shockwave which blasts back all heroes surrounding him)

2: Leadship Bonus

3: Ride Horse (Personally I think it would be great if we had another wizard who could ride a horse. This would also help to better distinguish the two blue wizards and determine their uses. One being more offensive, the other more as a support hero)

4: Protection (Is protected from damage by the power he possesses OR a sphere of water protects him)

5: Water Vortex (I know this was discussed for MOTE, a vortex of water scours the land similar to the tornado power putting out fires as well as damaging soldiers and buildings)

Blue Wizard 2:
1: Shine (Inspired by the film stardust on this one, the wizard eminates a bright light which sets units close to him on fire. This also damages heroes slightly but is useful at escaping large armies)

2: Illusion (Summons an illusion, at low levels it starts as a few hordes of haradrim then grows in power and is eventually able to conjur large illusions including that of a mumakil)

3: Grant Experience

4: Scorch the Land (Sets an area of land alight burning all in its path)

5: Blinding Light (From what i've seen already this power is awesome. I'd love it if the blinding light power was less of an offensive power, but instead stunned a large army for a considerable amount of time giving time for the MOTE to come in with caverly and stampede them all)

[Scryer]

I actually really love Black Dragon's ideas for the Blue Wizards. I believe that all five of the wizards had specific elements to them (Gandalf had fire/light, Radagast had Nature, etc). It would be really nice to see one of the blue wizards as an offensive hero and the other one used to trick your enemy or to stop parts of their army.

Regarding Saruman.... I really think that we should keep his Wizard Blast Power on him. But I also think that we should keep Saruman as an offensive hero as well as a 'tower' hero or whatever you want to call it.

Maybe (if you can get Saruman to mount the tower) a darkness-debuff ability (that someone else suggested) could last until you dismount Saruman or the tower is destroyed or if you cancel out the power. Also if the tower is destroyed, I think that it would only be realisitc if Saruman was killed as well. Anyways here are my ideas for Saruman.

Saruman on Foot:
All the same powers as he had in BFME2 ROTWK. But boosts in speed and defence and his lightning power improved. Maybe a leadership ability?

Saruman on the Tower:
-Darkness ability with the Debuff (permanent when activated unless Saruman's tower is distroyed, you dismount Saruman from his tower, or if you cancel the action out).
-Lightning Strike same as his last power but the range is greatly increased. (Have a recharge timer and it couldn't be activated while the Darkness-debuff was activated)
-A resource building production bonus (passive).
-Leadership for nearby units (passive).

You could always make powers for Saruman in the Tower, level-specific. Therefore the player is encouraged to bring Saruman on the battlefield as well as keep him locked away in his tower. This would also build up more uniqueness for Isengard as a faction.

Of course this would be assuming that you guys would make a mountable tower a foretress upgrade.

I also like a lot of Black Dragon's ideas for MOTE powers. But I believe that the Union power is level ten. The only power that I disagree with is Rock Giant. I really hate to be an anal book-worm (because I believe that you really need to have an open mind for this game) but just personally, I think that a rock giant is too far-fetched. Even if it was for the wizards. But this is just my personal opinion.

I heard that the mods are playing around with a deadly tornado for a 25pp. I'm kind of stuck on this idea.

[Shikari]

The rock giant is not alive, it is merely animated by magic. I also like to see the game keep true to the books, but I can see no reason why the power of the istari would not be able to form rocks into a shape and make them fight. If gandalf can kill a balrog, and saruman can summon lightning, it doesn't seem so rediculous that romestamo/moriehntar (i forget which ) can animate rocks...

[Scryer]

The rock giant is not alive, it is merely animated by magic. I also like to see the game keep true to the books, but I can see no reason why the power of the istari would not be able to form rocks into a shape and make them fight. If gandalf can kill a balrog, and saruman can summon lightning, it doesn't seem so rediculous that romestamo/moriehntar (i forget which ) can animate rocks...

That is ture.... I'll leave this decison to the mods.

By the way, I'm not assuming that you don't want to keep true to the books....This is why I hate the internet so much.