The overland map features custom icons inspired by Middle-earth lore.įans of The Lord of the Rings novels and films will appreciate the attention to detail the TLD developers put into recreating Middle-earth in Mount&Blade. These are needed to get special items from the faction leaders, to get other smaller NPC squads or even the other commanders to follow you, and to recruit heroes. These are gained by doing missions for commanders or the elders/guild leaders of the cities. These points can be used to gain special items from faction leaders. Influence points are another form of currency. Thus, a player who has 5,000 resource points accumulated by doing quests for the Gondor faction may find that he only has 50 resource points to spend if he tries to purchase items from vendors in the kingdom of Rohan. One important difference between the economy in TLD and in the original Mount&Blade is that a player's resource points in one faction do not carry over to other factions. Players earn resource points and influence within a faction by completing quests and winning battles within a faction's geographical region. Instead, the module uses a system called 'resource points,' which reflect a player's reputation and influence within a faction. Quest givers in each faction also take their inspiration from the novels, including major characters such as Elrond of Rivendell or King Theoden of Rohan to minor characters like Gothmog the orc or the dwarven King Dain Ironfoot.Ī player kneels before King Theoden of Rohan.

Dwarves have exceptional gear, but can't ride mounts.' These elements allow for very different playing experiences depending on a character's race and faction. Smaller orcs can't wear armors designed for big guys, but can ride some beasts instead. Some have weak troops, but you can hire many. According to the manual for TLD, 'Some factions provide excellent soldiers, but in small numbers. The developers state that, by design, the factions are not balanced. Also, there are unique faces and skins for every faction and you can't make an orc look like an elf or vice versa.Įach choice at character creation brings with it some benefits and drawbacks. For instance, a player could choose to be a man from the fortress city of Minas Tirith, an orc in the service of Saruman, a dwarf from the Iron Hills, or any of several other race and homeland combinations. Each of those choices brings different starting equipment as well as an alignment with one of the game's 19 factions. Players can fill the role of the pillaging orc in TLD.Īt game start, the player can choose to fight for 'The Dawn of a New Era' (good) or 'The Twilight of Man' (evil).įrom there, the player can choose his or her race and homeland. The Last Days features a number of noteworthy changes to character creation and game mechanics from the standard Mount&Blade game.

Mount and blade sneaking into castle