Also, regarding the quest edits, if you load both USLEEP and Spell Stones.esp in TES5Edit, then go to the quests under Spell Stones, you should be able to drag over the USLEEP changes. One is just a name spelling error in some text, one is classifying a ritual quest as being a mage quest, and another is about quest conditions, which is probably the most important.
I do have one request regarding this mod: would it be possible to add the default Flames and Healing spells to their respective stones as well? Not necessarily remove them from the player, but add a check for if the player has them, and if not, add them. There are some mods that remove those spells from the starting character, such as YASH, and this would be the cleanest way to regain them while using this mod. It would make the discovery of the first stones even more important, really.
I also agree that an in-game note or mini-quest initiated by finding a spell stone would make life a little easier, but I used the readme list and GameBanshee's Skyrim map to, well, map out the stone location areas, and it looks like you planned out the locations really well in relation to the starting levels. If you're interested in having the map, just let me know.
Would you consider incorporating USKP changes? Some it's pretty obvious what to do with in TES5Edit but some, like the changes to quests, I'm not sure what to do with.
Kudos for the idea, but something keeps telling me that it needs a LOT more work to really shine.
Spells are crucial to a mage, and the whole mage playstyle depends on getting the right spells at the right times. To that end I believe that, for the idea to really shine, the spells themselves need to be carefully spread so that the early ones are easily obtainable and the stronger ones are worth searching for.
On top of it there needs to be some balance to go with it, since the usual approach to spells is basically "you get them when you want them". A few quirks get in your way here and there, but in general this is how it works, spell availability is not a concern in vanilla balance.
And then there's the obvious need to provide the player with direction for specific spell locations while still not turning the whole thing into a fetching affair.
In other words, like I said initially, I think that this is a great idea but unless it is fitted into a mod of a greater scale it's not going to turn out all that great.
Interesting, I think this sounds like a cool rethink of the magic in Skyrim. I'l give it a try with my Castlevania character. I'm all for mods that change the feeling of the game for the better. Thanks!
Is there a way to find out where the stones are in-game, apart from actually discovering them?
This seems like a very neat idea, but it would be important that an NPC or book or something can give you quest markers to find the stones. Otherwise you would have to explore literally all of Skyrim (a semi-impossible feat) or break the immersion by looking up their locations online.
Also, I think this would be a neat way to provide mages with an alternative to the college. If you want to focus on magic but don't want to go through the college questline again, install a spell-stone mod. But to that end, it would be important that all stones are marked, and they should probably be heavily-guarded as well -- essentially they are like the Word Walls, which are always either in a dragon's lair or at the end of a dungeon, except more important because they are more essential to your player's ability to level and fight. Of course, if you wanted to do this, you would need to completely restructure the mod (for one, there would not be a single "Fire stone", etc, but rather a separate stone for each spell, with the stronger spell stones being harder to get to).
All locations of the stones are in the readme. I could look into adding a patch for the master level spells, but i dont wanna heavily tamper with any quests if i dont have to.
You could always throw a note in game that acts as a treasure map of sorts. Use an outline of Skyrim, throw dots on the map where the stones are located.
This. Is. Genius! Wish I had found it before I started by currect playthrough but definitely saving this one away. Hopefully this gains lots of support because this has SO much potential to reshape the mage playthroughs. Too bad there's not a simpler way to intergrate other spell mods. Can't wait to see how it runs. I might do a test run of it just to find out.
As Glomoro has said a guide to finding the stones would be nice. One way that crossed my mind would be that each respective school of magic and it's stones could have a sort of radiant quest from the mages at the college. Obviously there would be a drawback for any mage plays that choose not to join the college, but that would make sense. However this would be much more difficult than simply adding a book.
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I also agree that an in-game note or mini-quest initiated by finding a spell stone would make life a little easier, but I used the readme list and GameBanshee's Skyrim map to, well, map out the stone location areas, and it looks like you planned out the locations really well in relation to the starting levels. If you're interested in having the map, just let me know.
Spells are crucial to a mage, and the whole mage playstyle depends on getting the right spells at the right times.
To that end I believe that, for the idea to really shine, the spells themselves need to be carefully spread so that the early ones are easily obtainable and the stronger ones are worth searching for.
On top of it there needs to be some balance to go with it, since the usual approach to spells is basically "you get them when you want them".
A few quirks get in your way here and there, but in general this is how it works, spell availability is not a concern in vanilla balance.
And then there's the obvious need to provide the player with direction for specific spell locations while still not turning the whole thing into a fetching affair.
In other words, like I said initially, I think that this is a great idea but unless it is fitted into a mod of a greater scale it's not going to turn out all that great.
And I would imagine a TESVEdit change would re-add them to the vendor lists.
This seems like a very neat idea, but it would be important that an NPC or book or something can give you quest markers to find the stones. Otherwise you would have to explore literally all of Skyrim (a semi-impossible feat) or break the immersion by looking up their locations online.
Also, I think this would be a neat way to provide mages with an alternative to the college. If you want to focus on magic but don't want to go through the college questline again, install a spell-stone mod. But to that end, it would be important that all stones are marked, and they should probably be heavily-guarded as well -- essentially they are like the Word Walls, which are always either in a dragon's lair or at the end of a dungeon, except more important because they are more essential to your player's ability to level and fight. Of course, if you wanted to do this, you would need to completely restructure the mod (for one, there would not be a single "Fire stone", etc, but rather a separate stone for each spell, with the stronger spell stones being harder to get to).
As Glomoro has said a guide to finding the stones would be nice. One way that crossed my mind would be that each respective school of magic and it's stones could have a sort of radiant quest from the mages at the college. Obviously there would be a drawback for any mage plays that choose not to join the college, but that would make sense. However this would be much more difficult than simply adding a book.