Birthsigns Expanded
-------------------
by tej�n

VERSION 4.0
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Requires OBSE v0020+ and Fundament R3+

This mod intends to make birthsigns an important part of gameplay at all
levels. The signs are designed to be more than just a package of abilities:
each birthsign should change your Oblivion experience in a way that no other
sign imitates. Some are subtle about this, and some are downright intrusive.

Like much within The Elder Scrolls, there's little solid information about the
birthsigns: they're deliberately kept mythic and mysterious. Despite exhaustive
research, the design of Birthsigns Expanded necessarily contains many personal
theories and interpretations. There's a unified underlying concept, grounded in
and consistent with established lore... but in keeping with tradition, none of
it will be explained! You'll just have to trust me. :)

Below are the in-game descriptions for the various signs. "BE Spoilers.rtf" has
the complete list of granted powers and abilities.

WARRIOR
The steadfast Warrior grants Strength, Endurance and resistance to paralysis.
You have a knack for quickly finishing a wounded enemy, and in dire situations
the Warwyrd makes you an unstoppable juggernaut.

LADY
You are blessed with the Lady's Grace, increasing your Willpower, Endurance and
Personality and granting resistance to the elements. You know the secret of the
Storm Voice which blows enemies off their feet.

LORD
You are called trollkin, for any wounds upon you swiftly vanish. The celestial
fire which charges your flesh can also be turned outward to consume your foes.

STEED
Part of your soul resides among the stars. This heavenly connection lightens
any load you bear, and allows you to move without inertia. When you wish it,
your presence is a crushing burden to those whose essence is bound more firmly
to the mundus.

MAGE
The judicious Mage improves your Intelligence and Willpower. Magicka is
tangible to you, and with a thought you can draw it from your surroundings or
force it away.

APPRENTICE
You hear whispers of the divine, secret truths which enhance your abilities.
The voices offer great power at the price of narrow focus, and sometimes reveal
even deeper mysteries.

ATRONACH
Your Magicka capacity is tripled, but you cannot generate your own. With a
touch you rip energy directly from others, an inefficient and mutually
unpleasant process. You can fasten yourself to the foundations of the world,
becoming nearly invulnerable and absorbing hostile spells.

RITUAL
The strange light of your stars bolsters the living and terrifies the undead.
You can press this light into others with a touch, or beseech the heavens to
share it with all nearby. You also bear Mara's Gift, the ability to cleanse
yourself of all ailments once each day.

THIEF
The nimble Thief boosts your Agility, Speed and Luck, and teaches you the trick
of vanishing from a sticky situation. When all else fails, the Twilight Reaving
restores your vitality by stealing the life force of an enemy.

LOVER
You are naturally outgoing and likeable, and possess supernatural beauty. Your
kiss holds a compelling power, and if you indulge your passion it can paralyze.

SHADOW
You are a Mooncalf, cursed with poverty and disease and often ignored as a
harmless, luckless wretch. If you grovel, most creatures will give you pity.
When necessary, your curse can become contagious.

TOWER
Little can stand between you and your goals. Steadfast foes, swarms of assailants, fortified barriers: all fall swiftly before your determined
advance.

SERPENT
Though gifted in many ways, you are stricken with soul hunger: a void which can
only be filled with the essence of others. When this hunger grows, you sense
nearby souls; your sting leeches them away. Invoking the cursed stars cripples
all in the vicinity.


COMPATIBILITY
-------------
The only base game objects edited by Birthsigns Expanded are the birthsign
records themselves, which are only checked by the game when initially setting
the player's birthsign. This allows Birthsigns Expanded to be loaded along with
other birthsign-altering mods without any conflict, except when you're actually
picking your sign: at that moment, you'll only get the abilities from whichever
mod is last in your load order. Once selected, you can freely change the load
order. This means that, for instance, you could have one character using B.E.
abilities and another using bg2408's Race Balancing Project, and after both
are created you don't have to worry deactivating or changing the order of your
mods when switching between characters.


INSTALLATION / REMOVAL
----------------------
Extract the contents of this archive directly to your Oblivion\Data\ folder,
allowing folders to be merged. Birthsigns Expanded places files in the Meshes,
Sound and Textures subdiretories. There is no configuration to be done, just
activate Birthsigns Expanded.esp.

You will not gain the effects of these birthsigns on an existing character
unless you use ShowBirthsignMenu at the console to reselect your sign. Before
doing so, you should use the Birthsign Zero tool, which is included in this
archive. See that readme for details.

Birthsign Zero should also be activated before removing this mod from a saved
game. Once you have cleared the birthsigns from existing characters, it's safe
to deactivate and/or delete Birthsigns Expanded. Use this method to create a
clean save before upgrading to a newer version.


VERSION HISTORY
---------------
4.0 Now requires Fundament R3+, OBSE v0020+. Every script rewritten from
scratch using new functions and techniques.
Removed the "exertion" mechanic. At-will powers are now Greater Powers,
but only have a 12-second recharge timer. Many of the changes below
reflect the fact that you're no longer low on Fatigue after using an
at-will power. Unless otherwise noted, effects that formerly lasted
12 seconds now last 13 for reasons beyond the ken of mortal man.
Warrior's Clinch base health threshold increased from 0.25 to 1/e
(roughly 0.37). Clinch now causes 7 seconds of extreme vulnerability:
all damage is multiplied by e (roughly 2.7x).
Warrior's Warwyrd simplified to Restore Health/Fatigue 7000, Resist
Paralysis 50 (stacks with base 50 to create immunity).
Lady's Storm Voice fatigue damage increased from 25% to 1/e of caster's
base Fatigue.
Lady's Storm Calling fatigue damage increased from 50% to 100% of
caster's base Fatigue.
Lord's Time Lapse regeneration percentage and vulnerability multiplier
decreased from 5 to e.
Lord's Wulfharth's Pyre no longer affected by resistance (or weakness)
to fire, duration extended to 60 seconds.
Steed's encumbrance reduction changed to effectively divide all carried
weight by e. No longer provides true zero encumbrance at any point.
Steed's Charioteer duration changed from 12 seconds to 1 second, Speed
bonus increased from +100 to +1000, and now adds Feather 1000 to
effectively allow zero encumbrance while it's in effect.
Steed's Burden of Souls changed from a complex target-specific scripted
burden effect, to simply Burden 1000.
Mage's passive bonus now also provides Resist Magic 10%.
Mage's Eye of Magnus now grants 13x Magicka Multiplier (scripted to
apply relative to your current available magicka) and unlimited use
of Ablation (cooldown becomes zero).
Apprentice's passive bonus now also provides +35 Fatigue.
Apprentice's Invocation effect penalties increased from 5 to 10: using
an Invocation is now a net loss to your attribues, not break-even.
Kynareth and Mara swapped (Willpower/Agility) because it felt right.
Apprentice's Mysteries Unbound now stacks with any active Invocation,
rather than suppressing it.
Atronach's passive bonus increased from 2x to 3x magicka multiplier.
Atronach's Discharge transfer amount increased from 50% of target's
current Magicka, to Phi (roughly 62%). Health damage to caster and
target replaced with Fatigue damage equal to the transferred amount.
Ritual's duration and area values are all weird. What's up with that?
Ritual's Spectrum effect really, truly, absolutely works as intended.
Thief's passive Luck bonus reduced to +10. Agility and Speed still +15.
Thief's Slip Away duration reduced from 6 to 3 seconds, no longer
causes silence on the caster, now causes enemies to lose target.
Thief's Twilight Reaving increased to steal 100% of your missing
Health, Magicka and Fatigue, up from a Phi ratio.
Lover's passive Personality bonus reduced from +30 to +15.
Lover's Kiss duration reduced from 12 to 7 seconds.
Shadow's gold reduction and bounty loss rates rebalanced, Personality
and Luck damage from power usage increased; see spoiler.
Shadow's Contagion now also deals 200 Fatigue damage.
Shadow's Moonshadow changed from Invisibility for 300 seconds to 100%
Chameleon for 60 seconds.
Shadow's Nobody (25% Chameleon for 12 seconds) removed.
Shadow gains at-will power Grotesque: Demoralize for 13s on touch.
Shadow's Take Pity duration reduced from 30 to 13 seconds, area removed
(now a single-target touch effect).
Tower's Warden duration reduced from 12 to 7 seconds, no longer flagged
as hostile.
Serpent's Soul Hunger now causes ability drain, making it far harder to
resist the urge to feed. Hunger and feed rates majorly rebalanced,
see spoiler.
Serpent's Sting fatigue damage rate increased from 3% to 3.5% of your
base fatigue per second, health rate reduced from 2% to 1%.
Serpent's Star Curse area increased from 12 to 30 feet.

3.21 Fixed crash when a target is killed by Serpent Sting.

3.2 Many scripts updated with OBSE 0019 commands.
Warrior's paralysis resistance reduced from 100% to 50%.
Warrior's Warwyrd mechanic simplified.
Lord's Clutch the Heart, Skipped Beat and Polyrhythm removed.
Lord gains Time Lapse lesser power, similar to Polyrhythm.
Lord's Trollkin regeneration nudged up to 1% per second.
Lord's Wulfharth's Pyre changed to damage-over-time.
Steed's Charioteer magnitude increased from 50 to 100.
Mage's Epiphany and Grasping Aurbis removed.
Mage's Ablation script fixed (was picking wrong effect).
Mage gains Eye of Magnus greater power, like Warwyrd for Magicka.
Apprentice's Health and Magicka bonuses reduced from 50 to 35.
Atronach's Bones of Earth no longer causes immobility, duration
increased from 30 to 60 seconds.
Ritual's Blessed Touch enemy duration reduced from 30 to 12 seconds.
Thief's Twilight Reaving transfer increased from 50% to 62%, Soul Trap
duration reduced from 120 to 30 seconds.
Shadow's Contagion script fixed (was applying all damage to Strength).
Tower's Tower Warden is now On Target, was On Touch. Changed to a
scripted effect which increases all losses of Fatigue, Magicka and
Health by 62%.
Serpent's Sting duration reduced from 30 to 12 seconds. Damage
increased from 1% of caster's base Fatigue/Health/Magicka per second
to 2% for Health and 3% for Fatigue/Magicka. Soul Hunger reduction
per second increased from 1 to 10. Sting no longer heals caster.

3.11 Fixed a minor glitch with The Steed and Cure Disease.

3.1 Bumped version number since RC6 was basically 3.0 release.
Warrior's Warwyrd duration increased from 30 to 60 seconds.
Lady's energy resistances reduced fom 50% to 25%.
Mage's Ablation script had a bug, fixed.
Tower's Warden weaknesses increased from 50% to 75%.
Serpent's Sting damage to Health, Magicka and Fatigue now equals 1% of
the caster's matching base stat per second.
Serpent's soul hunger reduction for enemies killed while stung is now
60x soul level as intended (was incorrectly 6x). Hunger should be
manageable again.

(Beta redesigns and chages through 3.0 RC6 omitted.)

3.0 First OBSE Release (beta). Prior non-OBSE versions not listed as this
version is effectively a complete re-design.


CONTACT/PAYPAL
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[email protected]