Give Feedback
0 of 0
About this mod
Whilst there is a logic to many of the choices the quests force you to make, people already use the console or cheats to override these and gain multiple rewards, also many of the original quests are inconsistent with particular character types. This mod offers alternative routes to obtain some items.
- Requirements
- Permissions and credits
- Donations
WARNING: Any mod that changes core quests has the potential to break multiple quests depending on what actions you take. It was developed solely for myself, I am using it in my own games and I am making it available only because a few others may find it useful.Whilst I have put in place some protections to reduce the dangers, I am not responsible if the use of it breaks your quests or corrupts your save games. Use at your own risk.
Rationale
In previous Elder Scrolls games joining the various guilds was optional and you chose the ones that were most appropriate. In Skyrim the expectation is that you will perform multiple roles some of which are potentially contradictory. They are however linked in ways that cannot be easily unentangled. If you do not become Arch-Mage, or at least pursue the Winterhold college quest chain you will never be able to obtain the gem in the college that is required by a Thieves Guild quest, for example. I feel bad enough about my Mage character being proclaimed Arch-Mage after doing so little to deserve it, I certainly don't consider it acceptable for my warrior who has only cast one spell in his life (magelight to get through the doors of the college). Equally my Mage does not feel comfortable stealing things from people but is cursed to have undroppable unusual gems and a quest to find out about them, unless he does.
So this mod exists to allow me to create characters who are able to behave realistically rather than having certain courses of action forced upon them, or being penalized by not pursuing others. It is about giving more options.
If one includes Oldrim too, I recently created my 30th character. There are certain quests I never want to see again. I feel I have learned all the moral lessons they have to teach me. I am however interested in filling my player home with the objects they reward and I would prefer not to simply use the console to add them to my character. So I have explored ways to streamline these quests or offer alternatives for those characters who could not take the actions which they originally required.
Implementation
Though I have flagged this as not lore-friendly, since lore is such a contentious topic, I have made some effort to blend my changes into the game world. Think of them as alternative realities, if you did not find the Eye who is to say some other student didn't and it ended with the same result. Equally, we know Meridia did not have a Champion currently, but what about the other Lords? They had active worshippers, perhaps those items were already in the hands of a Champion spreading the will of their master. If you killed them then it would make sense you might gain the artifact that way. The Champions are all human but given the tricksy nature of some Lords, I thought it might be more interesting if they appeared with alternative shapes.
A principle of this mod has been to exercise as light a touch as possible. Some quests are simply streamlined, allowing you to skip stages and move to the normal conclusion, others are ignored and there is an alternative route to obtain the object. This means that in some cases you can complete the quest as normal, whereas other quests are flagged as completed to limit confusion and the possibility of them triggering again. This means your log may contain reference to events that never happened. This is a small difficulty that I can live with. Others may find it a more serious issue, in which case this mod is not for you. The README file details the changes and the new quest routes and there is a stickied post that gives full details of how to obtain each object.
Items with alternative ways to obtain :
Ring of Namira, Ebony Mail, Staff of Magnus, Rueful Axe, Savior's Hide, Skull of Corruption, Sanguine Rose. Wabbajack, Crown of Barenziah, Emperor's Robes/Ancient Shrouded Armor
Technical Information
This is my first mod with scripts so there is a strong potential of something going wrong in the copying and uploading process. If this happens apologies.
The mod is cleaned with SSEEdit, however my masters remain 'dirty' because despite having cleaned my Oldrim masters successfully for years, I find with SE that cleaning results in a CTD in a small area near Ivarstead. So this mod may show as 'dirty' for you. If that is a problem do not use it.
Requirements
Unofficial Skyrim SE Patch
Load Order
Near end to avoid overwriting any changes this mod makes.
Compatibility
One thing this mod does not do is provide an alternative route to obtain Shadowmere since there is already an excellent mod for this:
Destroy the Dark Brotherhood and acquire Shadowmere
Currently I have not been notified about any incompatibilities but there is this possibility with any other mod that alters the same quests.
Future Plans
I want to provide an alternative way to obtain the Arch-Mage key for those who do not want to be mages or thieves (and steal it themselves after joining the college). I would love to add a way to obtain the unusual gems without stealing them, such as bartering for them with their owners - but currently the coding complexity of this has defeated me, but I am not giving up. Possibly a way to gain and cure lycanthropy outside the Companions quest line. There is a lot I would like to do to improve the individual Champions and the Madness area. Developing the mod was mainly a test in feasibility and this is nowhere near a finished product right now.
Rationale
In previous Elder Scrolls games joining the various guilds was optional and you chose the ones that were most appropriate. In Skyrim the expectation is that you will perform multiple roles some of which are potentially contradictory. They are however linked in ways that cannot be easily unentangled. If you do not become Arch-Mage, or at least pursue the Winterhold college quest chain you will never be able to obtain the gem in the college that is required by a Thieves Guild quest, for example. I feel bad enough about my Mage character being proclaimed Arch-Mage after doing so little to deserve it, I certainly don't consider it acceptable for my warrior who has only cast one spell in his life (magelight to get through the doors of the college). Equally my Mage does not feel comfortable stealing things from people but is cursed to have undroppable unusual gems and a quest to find out about them, unless he does.
So this mod exists to allow me to create characters who are able to behave realistically rather than having certain courses of action forced upon them, or being penalized by not pursuing others. It is about giving more options.
If one includes Oldrim too, I recently created my 30th character. There are certain quests I never want to see again. I feel I have learned all the moral lessons they have to teach me. I am however interested in filling my player home with the objects they reward and I would prefer not to simply use the console to add them to my character. So I have explored ways to streamline these quests or offer alternatives for those characters who could not take the actions which they originally required.
Implementation
Though I have flagged this as not lore-friendly, since lore is such a contentious topic, I have made some effort to blend my changes into the game world. Think of them as alternative realities, if you did not find the Eye who is to say some other student didn't and it ended with the same result. Equally, we know Meridia did not have a Champion currently, but what about the other Lords? They had active worshippers, perhaps those items were already in the hands of a Champion spreading the will of their master. If you killed them then it would make sense you might gain the artifact that way. The Champions are all human but given the tricksy nature of some Lords, I thought it might be more interesting if they appeared with alternative shapes.
A principle of this mod has been to exercise as light a touch as possible. Some quests are simply streamlined, allowing you to skip stages and move to the normal conclusion, others are ignored and there is an alternative route to obtain the object. This means that in some cases you can complete the quest as normal, whereas other quests are flagged as completed to limit confusion and the possibility of them triggering again. This means your log may contain reference to events that never happened. This is a small difficulty that I can live with. Others may find it a more serious issue, in which case this mod is not for you. The README file details the changes and the new quest routes and there is a stickied post that gives full details of how to obtain each object.
Items with alternative ways to obtain :
Ring of Namira, Ebony Mail, Staff of Magnus, Rueful Axe, Savior's Hide, Skull of Corruption, Sanguine Rose. Wabbajack, Crown of Barenziah, Emperor's Robes/Ancient Shrouded Armor
Technical Information
This is my first mod with scripts so there is a strong potential of something going wrong in the copying and uploading process. If this happens apologies.
The mod is cleaned with SSEEdit, however my masters remain 'dirty' because despite having cleaned my Oldrim masters successfully for years, I find with SE that cleaning results in a CTD in a small area near Ivarstead. So this mod may show as 'dirty' for you. If that is a problem do not use it.
Requirements
Unofficial Skyrim SE Patch
Load Order
Near end to avoid overwriting any changes this mod makes.
Compatibility
One thing this mod does not do is provide an alternative route to obtain Shadowmere since there is already an excellent mod for this:
Destroy the Dark Brotherhood and acquire Shadowmere
Currently I have not been notified about any incompatibilities but there is this possibility with any other mod that alters the same quests.
Future Plans
I want to provide an alternative way to obtain the Arch-Mage key for those who do not want to be mages or thieves (and steal it themselves after joining the college). I would love to add a way to obtain the unusual gems without stealing them, such as bartering for them with their owners - but currently the coding complexity of this has defeated me, but I am not giving up. Possibly a way to gain and cure lycanthropy outside the Companions quest line. There is a lot I would like to do to improve the individual Champions and the Madness area. Developing the mod was mainly a test in feasibility and this is nowhere near a finished product right now.