Skyrim

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scientic

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scientic

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About this mod

Makes learning spells from tomes actually take time, ideally increasing your immersion.
No spell tomes were destroyed in the making of this mod.

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Better Spell Learning
Special Edition Version available here


Preface

Do you find that learning new spells in Skyrim doesn't feel... immersive?
I thought so, too. You just smash that book against your face and immediately know the spell inside, destroying the tome in the process! That's no way to learn!




What does it do?
Better Spell Learning tries to improve upon this flaw. No longer will the spell tome be destroyed immediately upon use. Instead, when you read it, you will learn a percentage of the spell it contains. This value scales depending on the difficulty of the spell and your level, as well as the location you're in when you read the tome. Studying in the college? Have a little boost. How about the Arcanaeum? Another little boost. Trying to learn a Master-level Destruction spell when you only have 13 Destruction? Yeah, it'll take you a while.

Once you've studied a spell tome, you will be unable to study that same spell for the next in-game hour (this is changeable with the book 'The Art of Study', found in most court wizards' rooms, various other locations, or the console, for the impatient). You can continue to study as many other spells as you'd like, however. Finally, once you've learned the spell completely, it'll be added to your spell list as usual. The spell tome will stay in your inventory, because it's weird that they get destroyed. Seriously, how aggressive is the Dragonborn with their book-reading?!


Known Bugs
On occasion, when installing this mod in the middle of a playthrough, you will find that hovering over spell tomes in vendor lists will cause a CTD. I've found the best way to fix this is to either install this only on a fresh game, or wait long enough to reset the cell that the vendor is in. The former is probably best, though!


Compatibility
Better Spell Learning is compatible with any mod that doesn't alter the vanilla Spell Tomes. Mods that change the spells should be fine, as long as they don't change the editor references. Any mod that adds new spells should also be fine, however, until I add compatibility patches for these mods, you will continue to learn those spells in the usual 'face smash, learned, discard dead book' kind of way. Most patches will be put into the main FOMOD installer.

Apocalypse - Magic of Skyrim - Compatibility patch available.
Forgotten Magic Redone - Compatibility patch available.

Requiem - Compatibility patch by thirteenisnotunlucky, available here. (not updated yet)



Changelog
1.1.0 - Lots of things are different in this update! 

  • When you read a Spell Tome, things happen! You will first get a message, asking if you want to study. This prevents you from being forced to study when you first pick up the book. Then, the book will close, and an appropriate reading animation will trigger if you hit yes. The screen fades to black, and time passes. You then gain your study percentage as normal.
  • Added a book called 'The Art of Study' to the game. You can find it in various mage-related places around Skyrim. The court wizards are a good place to start. This book allows you to [immersively] change your settings: altering the base study percentage before modifiers (default 10),  the time that passes when you study (default 15 minutes), or the time you must wait between study sessions (default 1 hour).
  • Added a modifier based on your race's natural magical talent. Redguards learn slower than, say, Wood Elves. Become a vampire to boost your natural magical talent further!
  • You will now learn more if you study in an inn or a player home.
  • Reading whilst seated, or while Rested/Well Rested, will also yield a boost.
  • Restored missing descriptions to the Spell Tomes.
  • Brought forward changes from USLEEP. 
  • Also, we now have a FOMOD installer! Just download the main file and choose your relevant options when installing through your favourite mod manager.




The Future...
I plan on creating compatibility patches for most mods that add new spells to the game. Seems silly having some 'immersive' spell tomes and others that are, well, less so. My current priority list is looking something like this: Lost Grimoire, SkyRe, Phenderix Magic Evolved, Another Sorting Mod 2016, Witchhunter Spells, Elemental Destruction Magic.

Also, I may add fluff text to each tome at some point, in addition to the generic (the tome contains countless magical diagrams and runes... etc). Perhaps even some hand-drawn images?

Changing the "You have learned X% of <SPELL>" to something more flavorful and, dare I say it, immersive, is a high priority as well.

Currently, the "Increasing" option in the Recovery Period settings can only start from 1 hour and increase from there. I would like to set it up so people with crazy 12 hour recovery times can still have this option available.

Another change I'm considering is having the time between studying carry across all spell tomes, so you read a tome, and can't study anything else for another in game hour. Obviously this is to taste, so will have to be included in the options.

I also plan on introducing some Apocrypha stuff for version 1.2. You know the realm that is forever haunted by the ghosts of mortals searching for knowledge? Yeah that one. Currently you study a little more (it has the same base study percentage as the Arcanaeum), but I'd like to add an element of insanity to this place.