Oblivion

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Shadownet

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Shadownet Ninja

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About this mod

This mod delays the official plugin pop-up quest journal updates in a lore friendly manner. No more free castles, towers, or caves.

Requirements
Permissions and credits
rhk DLC Delayed

Requirements:
Official DLC (modular plugins are offered, so you don’t need all of the DLC)
Unofficial Oblivion DLC Patches (for Thieves Den and Vile Lair in particular)
Elys' Universal Silent Voice (for the rumor lines, the couriers have spliced voice lines)

Here’s (yet) another take on delaying the official DLC plugins.
After playing with SM Plugin Refurbish myself, I wanted a different sort of approach to some of the plugins. This DLC delayer was inspired by much of SM Plugin Refurbish, though I’ve built everything here from scratch.

I’ve made some couriers to deliver letters, made some plugins have to be started by buying certain books from the bookstores, and made some rumors that the player has to actually hear in order to get a journal update.
There are also some skill gates to certain plugins. It’s hard to quantify a warrior’s skill when almost every Oblivion character is going to be using a weapon skill and armor, or a thief’s skill when sneaking around is a very common tactic. For Battlehorn and Frostcrag in particular, I hope a good balance is struck with the skill requirements so that they can be met in a sort of early-mid period of your character. Though, I don’t want it to be too low that a summoning, restoration using thief who uses armor and shields would meet the requirements despite not playing the wizard or warrior archetype.

This plugin is rather rudimentary. Explore other options. There are a lot.
SM Plugin Refurbish by Strategy Master
Official Plugins Unnerfed by JOG
Oblivion DLC Delayers by Arthmoor
PikachunoTM’s DLC Delayer by PikachunoTM
This mod touches a little bit more than a single script per DLC. For that reason, incompatibilities are more likely with this DLC delayer. As I understand, Arthmoor and Pikachuno have made excellent DLC delayers that have a very minimal footprint. My plugins, if they are of any merit, are probably best suited for a vanilla DLC installation. However, I can create compatibility versions by request, if there is demand for it.
That said, this plugin was made of my own whims for my own purposes. You’re welcome to pry these open for yourself. Improve things, merge things, whatever. Just do want you want, man.

Now, here’s how to unlock the DLCs.

Frostcrag Spire:
Your magical prowess is determined by this equation.
( Destruction ) + ( Illusion ) + ( Conjuration ) + ( Restoration * 0.50 ) + ( Alteration ) + ( Mysticism ) + ( Alchemy * 0.75 )
When it reaches a total of 250, a courier will be sent to find you across Cyrodiil.

Battlehorn Castle:
Your melee skill is determined by this equation.
( Blade ) + ( Blunt ) + ( HandtoHand ) + ( Block ) + ( HeavyArmor ) + ( LightArmor * 0.75 ) + ( Armorer )
When it reaches a total of ( 240 + Your Infamy ), rumors will circulate in Chorrol that Battlehorn Castle has come under attack.
I’ve also delayed the attack on Battlehorn Castle until this skill requirement is met. There’ll be no marauders outside Battlehorn Castle, and the portcullis will not open for you, if you go to the castle early.

Deepscorn Hollow:
Once you’ve committed 5 murders, a courier will be sent to find you across Cyrodiil.

Dunbarrow Cove:
You’ll have to steal 3 horses, pickpocket 10 items, and accrue a highest bounty of 500 gold. The way I figure it, if you’re going to have your own pirate crew, you gotta have your own fair share of trouble with the law.
After you’ve done this, rumors will circulate in Anvil of the pirate ship beneath Castle Anvil.

Mehrunes’ Razor and Knights of the Nine:
In the four book stores across Cyrodiil, you’ll find a copy of the books “A Treatise on Ayleidic Cities” and “The Knights of the Nine”. Buy these books, and you'll be on your way to starting the respective quests related to them.
For Mehrunes’ Razor, any NPC who gives wilderness related rumors (such as NPCs found in inns or small settlements) will have a 50% chance of giving you a rumor about Sundercliff Watch.
For Knights of the Nine, after five or so days of buying the book, the chapel in Anvil will become destroyed, and then the rumors will follow afterwards. This plugin inspired me the most to make my own DLC delayers, since most other delayers will begin the KotN questline after you get a mere 10 fame. This way, you can pick when you want to begin the questline.

Horse Armor:
Very similar to SM Plugin Refurbish. Hard to take your own spin on it. There’s just one horse armor note in the Merchants Inn. It’s buried under some handbills to perhaps give some credibility as to why this great deal wasn’t scooped up by anyone else.

Orrery:
After gaining 10 fame, a Mage Apprentice will search for you in the Imperial City to deliver Bothiel’s note.

Shivering Isles:
There's no trigger. You just gotta look at the island in Niben Bay and decide you're mad enough to swim to it. I didn't want to force something in your quest journal after an arbitrary amount of days.


Incompatibilities and Issues:
If you are using a plugin overhaul like Frostcrag Reborn or the recently released Battlehorn Castle Overhauled, I anticipate that there will be compatibility issues. Do not use the corresponding DLC delayer if you’re using a plugin overhaul.
Ideally, any overhaul of an official plugin should delay the plugin by itself. However, if you have a request for a specific plugin overhaul to be merged with a DLC delayer, I may take it on.

These official plugins need to be uninstalled and reinstalled if you remove this DLC delayer before beginning the DLC:
Thieves Den (Dunbarrow Cove is locked so you don’t waltz in without getting the rumors)
Mehrunes’ Razor (Sundercliff Watch is locked so you don’t waltz in without getting the rumors)
Battlehorn Castle (the pitiful siege consisting of four marauders is disabled until you get the rumors)
If you remove these delayers without beginning the quest, there’ll be nothing to unlock or re-enable these entities. So just reinstall the corresponding official DLC. Hell, you should reinstall any official DLC you haven’t started yet just to be safe.