How do you imagine the Gondorian Culture(s)?

[Falenthal]

I'm wondering how the game will handle the many different kind of gondorians we know: Healers from the Houses of Healing in Minas Tirith, Soldiers from the Gondorian Army, Rangers of Ithilien, Knights of Dol Amroth, Sailors from the Navy of Pelargir, farmers and hunters and fishermen from the Falas,...

What do you imagine Francesco & Co.will cover that?
Up to now, most Cultures were related to a single settlement (Bardings in Dale, Beornings around Beorn's House, Mirkwood Elves in the Halls of Thranduil,...) and had a very distinctive trait.
But Gondor is a big country, with as many different populations as Eriador or Wilderland themselves.

Do you think there will be a single Gondorian Culture, with different Backgrounds (Ranger of Ithilien, Healer of the Houses,...)?

Or, as has happened with the Rohirrim, a basic single Culture (with fixed Attributes, Backgrounds and Skills), but with variations on the Cultural Blessing (a Knight of Dol Amroth might begin with a horse as part of his Cultural Blessing, for example)? This would be also the example given by the Woodmen of Mountain Hall.

Or every big settlement or region (Pelargir, Minas Tirith, Ithilien,...) will have his own Culture, with different Skills, Backgrounds and even Virtues/Rewards? It would make sense that Pelargir based Gondorians had some kind of Virtue related to boats and sailing, while this shouldn't be available for gondorians from Ithilien, for instance.

What are your desires/thouhgts on this?

[Glorelendil]

I'd love (love love) to see a Gondor source-book that introduced two or three distinct cultures to cover the range necessary, with further sub-divisions enabled via a diverse range of Virtues.

[Falenthal]

I don't have the PDF with me right now, but didn't the Men from Harrowdale have an alternative Virtue, and the Shield-maidens an alternative Cultural Blessing?
Also, there was a Rohirrim Virtue that allowed gaining certain "ranks" as a Royal Guard or something like this.

I think there could be:
1) a base gondorian culture, with the same Standard of Living, Attributes, Starting Skill Ranks, Weapon Skills, Virtues and Rewards. This could be have a Minas Tirith adventurer in mind.
2) Alternative Cultural Blessings, depending on the procedence of the gondorian.
Tied to them, a set of particular Virtues/Rewards and Backgrounds. Maybe not all Virtues, etc need be replaced, only one or two, as needed for every procedence. A Knight of Dol Amroth alternate culture, for example, can have his own Virtue that, when taken, grants a horse and a raise in Standing of 1. Then, with XP and Fellowship Undertakings, you might rise the ranks in Courtesy, Battle, Spear and Sword at a lower cost and things like that.
A Ranger of Ithilien might have Rewards like camouflage cloacks or Virtues that enhance their ambush probabilities.
Sailors of Pelargir are another source of intersting options, specially now that we have ships in the Journeys & Maps supplement.

[Otaku-sempai]

In terms of language, what Tolkien tells us in LotR, Appendix F is:

After the downfall of Númenor, Elendil led the survivors of the Elf-friends back to the north-western shores of Middle-earth. There many already dwelt who were in whole or part of Númenorean blood; but few of them remembered the Elven speech. All told the Dúnedain were thus from the beginning far fewer in number than the lesser men among whom they dwelt and whom they ruled, being lords of long life and great power and wisdom. They used therefore the Common Speech in their dealing with other folk and in the government of their wide realms; but they enlarged the language and enriched it with many words drawn from the Elven-tongues.

In the days of the Númenorean kings this ennobled Westron speech spread far and wide, even among their enemies; and it became used more and more by the Dúnedain themselves, so that at the time of the War of the Ring the Elven-tongue was known to only a small part of the peoples of Gondor, and spoken daily by fewer. These dwelt mostly in Minas Tirith and the townlands adjacent. and in the land of the tributary princes of Dol Amroth. Yet the names of nearly all places and persons in the realm of Gondor were of Elvish form and meaning. A few were of forgotten origin, and descended doubtless from the days before the Númenoreans sailed the sea; among these were Umbar, Arnach and Erech; and the mountain-names Eilenach and Rimmon. Forlong was also a name of the same sort.

The other cultural aspects of the peoples of Gondor are touched upon in Appendix A, but only lightly. Pelargir was the chief trading-port of Gondor. I have the impression that the Southern Fiefdoms are principally feudal in nature.

During the Days of the Kings, Gondor suffered three great evils: 1) the loss of Umbar and other regions south of Mordor; 2) the Great Plague of TA 1636-37, which hit Osgiliath especially hard; and the Wainrider Invasion that started in 1851. The Wainriders first attacked Gondor in 1856, and the invasion was not defeated until 1944 when the Wainriders were totally destroyed.

By the time of the Years of the Stewards the power of Gondor was greatly diminished. The best it could do was defend its borders against threats from the Corsairs, the Balchoth, and others, and weather the hardships of the Long Winter of 2758 (felt more severely in the lands north of the White Mountains).

[Glorelendil]

How does all that impact what the playable culture(s) will look like?

[Otaku-sempai]

How does all that impact what the playable culture(s) will look like?

I'm not sure, but a little background couldn't hurt. I think I got a bit off-track while researching.

Minas Tirith represents the central government and also the command and administration of Gondor's military. At the same time, it is a large, fortified city with all of what that implies. The population would include government officials, soldiers, tradesmen, artisans, teachers, performers, physicians, etc. The skills of the city-dwellers would reflect their environment and daily life. Few would have high scores in Athletics, Explore, Travel, Hunting, or Battle (unless their profession required them); but they might be highly skilled in Persuade, Song, Courtesy, Craft or Lore. And that is not considering the skill-sets of professional thieves, cutpurses and burglars.

Dol Amroth might be like Minas Tirith on a slightly smaller scale, but run more like a Medieval castle.

The people of Pelargir might resemble a more sophisticated version of the folk of Lake-town, with more emphasis on commerce and trade than would be seen in Minas Tirith.

The Southern Fiefs would be mostly concerned with agriculture and the breeding of livestock and crafts derived from those activities: pottery; leather goods; textiles; dyes; etc. Mining in the White Mountains might provide for the export of refined metals and stone in the form of limestone and marble. Gemstones found in the region might include rubies and sapphires (as suggested by Karen Wynn Fonstad in The Atlas of Middle-earth). I might expect the people of the region to excel at: Athletics; Hunting; Song; and Craft.

[Falenthal]

The skills of the city-dwellers would reflect their environment and daily life. Few would have high scores in Athletics, Explore, Travel, Hunting, or Battle (unless their profession required them);

While I agree with your overall logic and proposed options, I don't know why, but I think Battle will be the favourite skill for Gondorians, to reflect their organized civilization and military forces. Just a hunch.

[Otaku-sempai]

While I agree with your overall logic and proposed options, I don't know why, but I think Battle will be the favourite skill for Gondorians, to reflect their organized civilization and military forces. Just a hunch.

I dunno; maybe among the aristocracy. I'm not so sure about the common citizenry. That might also be more true for the princes (and other nobility) of Dol Amroth. And even there, not so much among the peasantry that would make up the majority of the population.

In the end, how much detail do we want and/or need to go into?

[Falenthal]

Being a kingdom (stewardom?) at war with Mordor, the Haradrim and the Corsairs of Umbar (or at least in a tense armed peace), I'd understand that every young able man should undergo a time at the militia, learning basic tactics and strategy, not just hacking a dummy with an axe.

[Glorelendil]

Battle should be the favored skill of a Background, imo.