Caliquendi

[Angelalex242]

I asked about this before, before Rivendell was released.

But let's say somebody wants to make a Noldor so old he's seen the Light of the Two Trees of Valinor.

How would you write that virtue? (Obviously, it must be taken at Cgen. You can't take it later.)

Presumably, this is something Galadriel and Glorfindel would have.

Presumably, something like 'You're so old all your abilities are marked, but you raise the success level by one step on every action you take.'

[Rocmistro]

Angela, I had created my own version of Noldor before Rivendell came out, and then made a Caliquendi option for them on top of that.

You can pile on whatever strengths you see fit for such a powerful race (that's the easy part).

The drawbacks were as follows:

-No favored attributes (or favored skills to go along with them.) However, they started with 18 attribute points.

-They received -1 XP at the end of every adventure phase, in addition to the -1 XP they got as a Noldor (so a total of -2). (The same idea was accomplished by C7 by having High Elves pay more for Weapons Skills, Wisdom and Valour.

-They automatically began play with 1 Permanent Shadow point, and the associated shadow flaw (but, see below)

-They only required 4 Permanent Shadow Points before succumbing to the Shadow (as opposed to 5 for normal heroes).

-At every "Year End" they gain 1 Temporary Shadow Point.

-Whatever their calling is, they don't accrue the normal negative shadow traits associate with it. Instead, they get the following negative shadow trait, along with the associated mechanical malus.
1st Permanent Shadow Point: Sorrowful. Take shadow rating as a penalty to any Common skill checks when dealing with any Encounters involving any race except Dunedain, High Elves and Hobbits.
2nd Permanent Shadow Point: Distant. In addition to above, takes shadow rating as a penalty to any Common Skill checks which require concentration, focus, or extended tasks.
3rd Permanent Shadow Point: The Longing. Takes shadow rating as a penalty to all Common Skill Checks.

[Glorelendil]

Presumably, something like 'You're so old all your abilities are marked, but you raise the success level by one step on every action you take.'

That seems appropriate, really.

But...really you'd also have to get a ton of extra Background Experience points, because it just wouldn't make sense for a Noldor that old to not have lots of advanced skills. Which kind of breaks the game. It's always fun/interesting to think about mechanics that would model canon, but personally I wouldn't introduce Caliquendi as players.

Or maybe you're just trying to fully stat out some LM Characters as if they were player characters. I think I remember you saying you like to do that.

In which case the Virtue could simply be "You raise all your successes by one level." The part about all the abilities being marked may be true, but it's a consequence of experience, not of being Caliquendi. (That is, when Galadriel first "took that virtue" millennia ago, her skills were not all automatically marked.)

[Falenthal]

I don't know exactly how I would do that, but there are two aspects that should be implemented:
- The Light of Valinor (I think some of the Virtues for Elves of Rivendell already manage that). Noldo should be able to show that light to increase the success of any action from Personality and Custom at least. Glorfindel "glowing" to Intimidate the Nine Nazgul together is the usual example.

- The Oath/The Test/The Prohibition/... whatever you want to name it. I recall that all Caliquendi that remain in Middle-Earth do so because they have a task to fulfill, or at least they have to regain the right to enter Valinor (which they left against the Will of the Valar). Galadriel had to resist the temptation to hold on to the One Ring. Don't know how it would play in game terms, but a difficult task should be in the horizon of the character, and he should be able to save some of his strenght (Hope points) during his life to accomplish it. That should force him to stay indoors in Rivendell, Lorien or the Grey Havens to save the little Hope points he has.

[bluejay]

I think a character that old and powerful is really outside of the limits of the game right now. They would truly be a powerful character. Having said that perhaps advancing one of the High Elves of Rivendell to 6 in both Wisdom and Valour might get quite close.

In terms of playing a starting character who is not game-breaking but has many of the desired aspects of a Calaquendi you could create a High Elf of Rivendell with the Enemy of Sauron trait and Might of the Firstborn starting Reward. Combined with their cultural blessing of Against the Unseen their inherent goodness and divine power is quite well represented.

Regarding the Elves returning to Valinor, I do not believe that they need to do anything other than leave via Mithlond (the Grey Havens). The other haven at Edhellond was abandoned sometime in the mid Third Age. Galadriel is a special case because I think she had previously proudly declined the request to return (although I never feel her history is that well defined, partially because she was created for LotR and never originally part of the Silmarillion). Certainly characters like Gildor don't seem to have to pass any kind of test to return. I believe the Noldor in exile were pardoned after the War of Wrath. I'd love to hear other opinions on this from others.

EDIT: corrected spelling to Calaquendi

[Glorelendil]

Is Gildor Caliquendi or was he born in Middle-Earth?

[bluejay]

Gildor tells Frodo that he and his company are exiles so I assume he was born in Valinor.

[Glorelendil]

Gildor tells Frodo that he and his company are exiles so I assume he was born in Valinor.

Hmm. I would think offspring of exiles would also call themselves exiles. But that's pure conjecture.

[Stormcrow]

It's not clear that any of the Noldor in Middle-earth were born there. The game assumes this for playability.

[zedturtle]

It's not clear that any of the Noldor in Middle-earth were born there. The game assumes this for playability.

Are you counting any Noldo-blood as being Noldor?

Galadriel waited until coming to Middle-Earth to fall in love and bear a child.

It's not clear where Celebrimbor was born, but ME seems likely.

But I think it's important that Calaquendi and Noldor mean different things and are not synonyms.