This mod makes almost all named/unique NPCs protected. No more failed quests cause of dragon or vampire attacks. It covers Vanilla Skyrim and Download Content NPCs: Dragonborn, Dawnguard, Hearthfire. It is completely free of scripts. Read below for more details.

A new game start is required for the mod to work if you install it for the very first time. I am sorry for not having noticed that before.
Updated for USLEEP 3.0.11, Interesting NPCs 3.42 and Cutting Room Floor 2.0.7





iMACobra has created a better version of this mod by improving the way it protects NPCs, with aliases through a quest instead of editing actor records. This has a few but important benefits, for both the community and the mod creator:
1. Compatbility with all other mods that edit NPCs through their actor records, mainly beautyfication and difficulty increasing mods where problematic with my mod.
2. Almost no maintenance work if for example any of the Unofficial Patches get updated.
3. Installing the mod midgame is possible.

This means that from now on it is advised to use 'Protect your People - PyP - Better NPC Protection' by iMACobra instead of this one.

Updates for NPCs Protected Redux end here. I want to thank everyone of you for using my mod and all of the mod creators that were involved with the patches as well as GhostAgent for the cool banners and providing me with support. It was a great time!









Description:


Are you one of these people that simply can't get enough difficulty into their game? You as the Dragonborn might handle that by using your wits and strength, but what about the innocent townsfolk and especially the questgivers? That's right, all it takes is a single dragon attack and there goes your quest.

Have no fear young Dragonborn, here comes your salvation:
This is a simple plugin to make almost all named NPCs protected. Excluded are only the ones that need to be killable by other NPCs or game events, and also those that are not essential / protected or respawning by default. Protected NPCs can only be killed by the player.








Features:

• Protects almost all of Skyrim's unique/permanent NPCs. Check out "Protection List" below for more info.
• Protects all of Skyrim's standard followers, even when they are not actively following the player.
• Does not modify NPCs that are supposed to die by the hands of others (scripted deaths during quests)
• 2 versions of the main mod: 1. Standard follower level caps / 2. Uncapped follower levels
• Several add-ons / patches to support other popular NPC mods with the protection system of this mod.
• Forwards all changes from the Unofficial Skyrim Legendary Edition Patch.
  

Protection List:


Inclusions:

• Named/unique friendly NPCs
• Named/unique friendly creatures, pets and animals: What is friendly may as well enjoy a protective status.
• Children: These had to be made 'protected' because "Non Essential Children" mods and the like would otherwise make them be killable by dragons, vampires and other hostile creatures. Don't worry, they can still die by your own hands.
  

Exclusions:

• NPCs which were already essential/protected or set to 'respawn' by default
• NPCs which are supposed to die in scripted quest events
• Initially hostile NPCs, animals, creatures
  

Requirements:


Skyrim + all official DLCs (Dragonborn, Hearthfire, Dawnguard) and the Unofficial Skyrim Legendary Edition Patch.





Download & Installation:


The mod comes as a single NMM installer package, which includes the main mod as well as several patches/add-ons for other popular NPC mods. Two versions of the main mod are available (4 if you count the translations). A new game start is required for the mod to work if you install it for the very first time.



"NPCs Protected Redux": This is the basic version of the mod. It protects most of Skyrim's named/unique NPCs and friendly creatures that can interact with the player in some way.

"NPCs Protected Redux with Uncapped Followers": This is an alternative/extended version of the mod. It protects the majority of Skyrim's named NPCs and removes the maximum level cap of all standard followers and player pets. Excluded are only the ones which are temporary, aka quest followers.




Load Order:


Place the mod close to the top of your load order, right after the Unofficial Skyrim Legendary Edition Patch and the last mod ESM file. Preferably create a LOOT User Rule that sorts the mod. By doing this you make sure that other mods can make their changes, without being overridden by anything that this mod does. Place the add-ons (patches) right after the mods that they are designed for.

Example Load Order:

Skyrim.esm
Update.esm
Dawnguard.esm
HearthFires.esm
Dragonborn.esm
Unofficial Skyrim Legendary Edition Patch.esp
...
Other mod Esm-files
NPCs Protected Redux.esp or NPCs Protected and Uncapped.esp
...
...
Other NPC mods (which I provide patches / add-ons for)
Add-ons / patches for other NPC mods





Updating:


Overwrite the old mod with the update.
Uninstallation: Simply delete the mod files. They all start with "NPCs Protected Redux - ...". No scripts are used and therefore it will not break your game when uninstalling.





Compatibility:


By loading this mod (the main files) before all other mods that also edit named/unique NPCs it should be compatible with everything. There are of course a few exceptions, see below.


Fully compatible:

• Deadly Dragons: Both mods are fully compatible. Just keep the MCM option that makes NPCs essential off, or it will override the changes of this mod.
• Follower Managing Mods: This mod does not interfere with the scripted protection and uncapper system of follower managing mods, which means it should be fully compatible with these.
• Run For Your Lives & When Vampires Attack: Essential and Protected NPCs flee in the current versions of RFYL and WVA. Confirmed by Arthmoor.
• RS Children Overhaul: Use the Patch that is provided on the RS page. It's for the unkillable children version.
  

Not compatible:

• NPC overhaul mods: Since these tend to change many NPCs they will usually conflict with my mod, by overriding most of the protection changes.
• Correct Gender Animations: Not compatible, since that mod changes a huge amount of NPCs.
• Inhabitants of Skyrim: That mod changes a huge amount of NPCs. No Patch planned, because that's simply too much maintenance work.
• Bijin Wives and Bijin Warmaidens: These beautification mods also change a ton of NPCs.
  

Conflict resolution: If any mod that comes after this mod changes NPCs that were made protected then it will "un-protect" them and revert my changes. That is usually not a problem, but if you want to deal with it anyway then do the following: Open both mods in Tes5Edit and drag the 'protection' flags from NPCs in my mod over to the ones that are missing them in the other mod. OR a better way would be to create a single plugin file with Tes5Edit that serves the sole purpose of making all of your mods compatible with each other, a so called "Conflict Resolution Patch".





Additional add-ons for popular mods:


Quick explanation: Add-ons (patches) are 'optional' files which can and should be used in conjunction with any of the main files. They basically extend the protection-system to other popular NPC mods. Note that I mainly support mods that breath new life into the world of Skyrim. Purely cosmetic ones are usually being avoided, unless they are just too awesome to be ignored or are about fixing inconsistencies and bugs among vanilla NPCs.




"Interesting NPCs Protected" (iNPC): This is a standalone plugin to make several "Interesting NPCs" protected. It covers mostly generic NPCs, with a few special cases that were also made protected. This is the basic version with standard follower level caps.

The list includes: All bards, wenches, potential followers, marriage partners, housecarl-like characters, pit fans, patrons, nobles, Robbers Refuge guests, children, non-quest related NPCs (with a few exceptions).

Requirements: "Interesting NPCs" which can be found here.
Load order: Place this add-on after its associated mod ("NPC Protected Redux - iNPC.esp" after "3DNPC.esp").




"Inconsequential NPCs Protected" (iqNPC): This is a standalone plugin to make almost all "Inconsequential NPCs" protected. It comes in two variations, one is in english, the other one is in german. This is the basic version with standard follower level caps.

The list includes: All NPCs of the mod except for the ones that already had appropriate protection/essential flags.

Requirements: "Inconsequential NPCs" which can be found here.
Load order: Place this add-on after its associated mod ("NPC Protected Redux - iqNPC.esp" after "Inconsequential NPCs.esp").




"Cutting Room Floor NPCs Protected" (CRF): This is a standalone plugin to make almost all of the "Cutting Room Floor" NPCs protected. It comes in two variations, one is in english, the other one is in german. This is the basic version with standard follower level caps.

The list includes: All NPCs (29 overall) of the mod except for respawning, hostile, dead or already protected/essential ones.

Requirements: "Cutting Room Floor" which can be found here.
Load order: Place this add-on after its associated mod ("NPC Protected Redux - CRF.esp" after "Cutting Room Floor.esp").




"Consistent Older People Protected" (COP): This is a standalone protection add-on for the 'ALL NPCs USLEEP' - version of "Consistent Older People" (not the BYOD version).

The list includes: All NPCs (11 overall) of the mod except for hostile, dead, unused or already protected/essential ones.

Requirements: "Consistent Older People" which can be found here.
Load order: Place this add-on after its associated mod ("NPC Protected Redux - COP.esp" after "SPTConsistentOlderPeople.esp").




"Merged Add-ons with Uncapped Followers - iNPC-iqNPC": This file is a combination of the individual add-ons for "Interesting NPCs" and "Inconsequential NPCs". It additionally removes level caps for associated mod followers. Choose between the english and the german version. A new game start is required for the uncapped follower levels feature to work.

The following add-ons have been merged into this: "Interesting NPCs Protected", "Inconsequential NPCs Protected".

Requirements: "Interesting NPCs" which can be found here, "Inconsequential NPCs" which can be found here.
Load order: Place this add-on after its associated mods ("NPCs Protected Redux - Merged Add-ons.esp" after "3DNPC.esp", "Inconsequential NPCs.esp").

Important: This is a personal plugin that I originally only made for myself and it might not cater to everyone's tastes and likes. If you don't use all of the mods that are supported by this plugin then by all means use the individual add-ons instead. The supported mods will always be a requirement. This file will include more support for mods as time goes by and you will be informed of the changes here. I will not make other versions as the ones that I provide here.




"Alternate Follower Uncapper via Console" by Redbluesky21: This is a bat file that should enable players to uncap follower levels even when installing the uncapped follower version of the mod midgame (usually you would need to start a new game for the uncapper feature to work). Consider this a beta version. I have not have the time to test it. But according to Redbluesky21 it should work.

Installation: Extract the Follower-Uncap.txt from the download archive into your Skyrim folder (not the Data folder, just Skyrim).

How to use the file: Ingame open the console and type "Bat Follower-Uncap". Done. Restriction: Only works on followers that you have already met. So you need to use it again if you meet new followers whose maximum level you want to remove.





Sources and additional information:


-Sources: UESP Wiki and Elderscrolls Wikia
-Some NPCs are hardcoded as essential (is not visible in Tes5Edit), these will become killable when the proper quest stage has been reached. I did not touch any of these.
-Tutorial about merging patches aka add-ons




If you like this mod feel free to leave me a comment and/or push some buttons.





Translations:


Spanish by EHPDJFrANKy





Recommended Mods:


"Interesting NPCs". It's an awesome mod which adds very immersive voice acted characters. Several of these characters are connected with eachother and have their own quests.

"Inconsequential NPCs". This mod is the best companion of "Interesting NPCs" it adds a lot of needed activity to Skyrim by placing NPCs where they felt fitting, mostly in and around towns.

"Cutting Room Floor". It seems like Bethesda was a bit pressed for time and thus they cut several quests, locations and NPCs out of the game before the release. This mod fills the gaps.

"Bring Out Your Dead". This is another one of Arthmoor's great mods. It creates graves for NPCs that were missing them before. Although you might argue that it's not really needed in combination with "NPCs Protected Redux", people still use it for immersion. Maybe you end up murdering some people for whatever reason and want them to be buried properly.

"Consistent Older People". This is one of those quality of life mods, that fixes bad body-to-face mismatches for some older people of Skyrim.

"Sands of Time". That's a pretty big mod project. It changes the way you play Skyrim by adding a consistent element of danger around every corner. Newer versions of the mod have been optimized to be less demanding on the script engine.

"NPC Knockout Overhaul". Sevencardz mod lets you knockout any NPC, which is perfect for stealthy roleplay or of you simply want to pile them up to make a screenshot lol. His and my mod work pretty well together.

"Mod Organizer". This is simply the best tool to manage your mod collection. You can integrate and run most other common modding tools from this one, for example: SKSE, LOOT, Wrye Bash, Text5Edit, Skyproc Patchers, Savegame cleaners, Ini configuration tools etc.

"LOOT". The successor to BOSS is superior in every way. It's a plugin sorting tool which somehow manages to do it's job just right.





Special thanks:


Jodi79 - for the original idea, which can be found here. Don't hesitate to take a look at his work. And leave some comments if you like it.
GhostAgent - for the awesome banner, which can be seen on the very top of this page.

Permission notes: Just in case anyone is wondering, permissions from other mod authors were given to use their assets in the add-ons. I also got Jodi79's permission to use his mod idea as a baseline for this mod.