Q: Is there a minimum level my character needs to be at before playing this mod?

A: No. The enemies in the mod are leveled.  If you're going to play through starting on level 1, companions will help.  Some of the dungeons are tough below level 10, but if you take Aurelia, Jesse, and/or Sam with you, you should be alright, as they each start at minimum level 5, and will level up evenly with you all the way to level 100.  Aurelia can also heal you in combat.

Temporarily adjusting difficulty in the settings menu, or console command: TGM, is always an option if something feels too tough.

Q: Why did you make this mod?

A: The base Skyrim game is over five years old.  Most people reading this have already played the primary vanilla quests, and when playing again, probably want to experience Skyrim in a new way.

I love to explore Skyrim, but do not enjoy the Main Quest, the Civil War quest, the Companions Quest, or the College of Winterhold Quest.  It also bugs me there is no option to take down the Thieves Guild.

On a new play-through, I'm looking for the following:

- To leave Helgen, ignore Riverwood/Whiterun, and just explore, without the game routing me to the same old locations.

- To learn new skills, spells, and shouts, including something similar to Unrelenting Force, without ever needing to visit the Greybeards.

- An entertaining companion or two who can help me find new places to explore, give new quests, and acquire new gear.

- Player home/base with Alchemy, Enchanting, Armor Workbench, and Grindstone all right next to each other for easy access, categorized safe storage for my stuff, ingredient/supply chests for certain items I don't feel like tracking down, and nearby vendors + trainers.

And on an existing play-through, I want some new adventures and a way to explore certain locations I might have missed.

This mod was designed around those goals, and it works on either a new save or an existing game. 

If trying on a new save, you might enjoy heading west towards Markarth when leaving Helgen for the first time.  Visit Coldwater Cave to get access to the Red Lantern Inn, and go from there.  You'll be able to experience most of the game that way without doing the primary vanilla quests.

Q: Will this mod help me access dungeons that are locked until certain quests start?

A: Of the 150 or so dungeons in Skyrim, 19 of them are locked dungeons which the game prevents access to until you start the related quest, so the quest doesn't break.

This mod can potentially send you to any other dungeon in the game except those on the locked dungeons list.  However, this mod will give you a shortcut into Blackreach ("Forgotten Technology" quest) and can send you to Hillgrund's Tomb, since giving access to those areas doesn't break any vanilla quests.

Q: Is this lore friendly?

A: Pretty much.  The following minor liberties were taken with the lore.  Up to you whether these are deal breakers for certain quests:

- As she grew up, before she married Torygg, Elisif's parents taught her to hunt.  So she's good with a bow, but frustrated with being cooped up in the Blue Palace, and wants to get out for a bit, which she explains to the player in the quest "Seigniorage".

- Certain mages and vampires can cook Skooma, and various bandits and Forsworn make money dealing it, which is the situation the player encounters in Jesse's drug-related quests.

- Sanguine, like other Daedric Princes, is able to choose a champion (i.e. Jesse).

- Amaund Motierre may have had a deeper motive, revealed in the quest "To Save an Empire".

- Organized crime in Riften is actually punishable if you can blackmail the right people.  Someone will surely throw a fit over the Maven/Hemming thing in the "Hostile Takeover" quest, but it follows the official lore, which you can confirm by looking at the character relationships in the Creation Kit, listening carefully to all Maven's dialogue when she talks about her family, and watching who sleeps where.  Also discussed here if you want a spoiler.

- In the Red Lantern Inn, the player can ask the NPC's about various fan theories (e.g. "is Rorikstead full of Daedra worshipers?", "Is Ulfric really a sleeper agent for the Thalmor?", etc.) and the NPC's will respond with their opinions.  But this isn't meant as a lore alteration, it's just people talking.

There are a bunch of independent quests in this mod, so if you don't like some of them, you can play the other quests that you do like.

Q: Does this take place in Skyrim, or a brand-new world space?

A: In Skyrim, and in new indoor spaces accessible from Skyrim.

Q: Does this mod include any new weapons, spells, armor, etc.?

A: Yes.  The following quests will provide custom gear and powers:

- "Disarm and Destroy", given by Sam, will reward you with a more powerful version of the Unrelenting Force shout. 

- "Forgotten Technology", given by Jesse, will yield you semi-automatic, burst fire, and fully-automatic crossbows.  These weapons are originally from the Automatic Crossbows mod, but function differently.

- "Elf Lives Matter", given by Jesse, will provide you with the ElfBane spell to use against Thalmor.

- "Taste for a Cure", given by Sam, will reward you with access to an armory containing close to 20 custom weapons, including several with the Decortication enchantment.  This quest also yields a cool armor set, with the possibility to acquire the "Throw Enemies" spell and also a more powerful version of the Fireball spell.

- "The Ring of Diminished Annoyances", given by Jesse, will grant you custom enchanted jewelry to resist poison, diseases, and other annoying game-play effects.

- "Initiation", the opening quest, has the possibility to find two custom spells in Coldwater Cave: "Burn Them All" and "Miyagi's Remedy".

- When you recruit each follower the first time, they automatically come with a conjuration spell, e.g. "Teleport Jesse", so if they ever get lost, or if you want to re-recruit them without traveling to their home, you can just teleport them to you.

Q: Is this mod compatible with....?

A: See the main mod page compatibility section and the articles.  This mod has a light footprint. Compatible with everything unless explicitly stated otherwise.

Q: Can I use x, y, or z skin texture with this mod?

A: Yes.

Q: Can I use CBBE, UNP, etc. with this?

A: Yes. 

Q: Does this mod require SKSE?

A: No.

Q: Why is there not a BSA version for install?

A: Mainly to avoid Elisif dark-face bug issues if another Elisif replacer mod is being run (for users who won't read anything on the mod page), and to let everyone else easily see and make their own decisions about any file conflicts or customization they prefer.

If you want to pack the mod into a .bsa on your own, go for it.  If you would like more information about BSA vs. loose files, there's a good overview here, and if you would like to debate the issue you can do that here, but please not on this mod page.  There are pros and cons to either method.  This mod page isn't a forum to rehash those all over again.  BSA comments will be deleted to avoid starting a flame war.

Q: Can you give different outfits to Jesse?

A: Officially no.  You can try messing with it if you really, really want to, but you're on your own as far as mod support.  Here's why:

When originally setting Jesse up with different outfit functionality, there were two problems: 1) Bad neck seams with many vanilla armors, and 2) The arms and hands didn't match Jesse's face, i.e. he had a kid's face but 40-year old male buff arms.  It looked silly, and when play-testing, took away from some of the character's charm.

Jesse's health and default outfit stats have already been adjusted to compensate for him not wearing additional armor.  Jesse is also skilled in restoration magic, so for battle purposes he doesn't need any extra armor, and if you take him along on your journeys, you'll find he rarely gets knocked out.

A mod like Armor and Clothing for Kids won't work for Jesse without a patch because he uses a custom race.  Adjusting Jesse to take regular vanilla armor would mean making his default outfit look off, and the vanilla armor still wouldn't look right because of the arm/hand and neck seam issues.

Q: Is there an RS Children Overhaul Patch for Jesse and/or Molly?

A: Yes. You can download RS Children Patch Compendium by MichelleBrujah and Seoulcalibre, which will alter the appearance of both Jesse and Molly to give them an RS Children look.  See the last page of the images section for how it looks, and thanks to Michelle Brujah and Seoilcalibre for making the patch.

Q: Can you give different outfits to Sam, Aurelia, and Elisif?

A: Yes, choose the conversation topic "Let's optimize your outfit", but you have to earn each follower's trust before you get full access to change their outfit.

Sam: He wears the Deadric Reaper armor by default when leaving the Red Lantern Inn.  You can't take this outfit for yourself but you can download the original mod by Deserter X and Mitosuke to get the full version of it.

After completing the quest "Taste for a Cure" for Sam, you can control Sam's outfit and give him something custom to wear instead.

Aurelia: She wears the Tembtra Thief Outfit by default.  You can't take this outfit for yourself but you can download the original mod by Deserter X and Mitosuke to get the full version of it.

After completing the quest "Top Shelf Potions" for Aurelia, you can control Aurelia's outfit and give her something custom to wear instead.

Prior to completing "Top Shelf Potions" you can try to flirt with Aurelia to get her to remove various articles of clothing, but she may or may not go all the way, and if she does, she won't stay naked for long.

Elisif: After completing the quest "Seigniorage" given by Jesse, and inviting Elisif along as a follower, you can control her outfit. 

Elisif comes with several outfit presets to choose from: Huntress, Dragonbone, Assassin, Jarl Clothes, etc.  She also has the Cleric Armor (in the screen shots) that comes built in with significant health and enchantments customized to Elisif's skill set so it will suit her well in battle.

You can't take the Cleric Armor outfit for yourself, but you can get the full version if you download Emfy Cleric Armor by Deserter X and Mitosuke.

If you tell Sam, Aurelia, or Elisif you will give them something custom to wear, it will set their default outfit to "no outfit" and they will be naked until you give them something to wear.

Q: Can you make Aurelia, Elisif, or Sam marriageable?

A: No.  Elisif is Jarl and Aurelia and Sam are bounty hunters, not domestic servants.  Even if they were the marrying type, looking at the bug reports from other follower mods on Nexus, a disproportionate amount of complaints are about the marriage function not working, and frankly I don't want to deal with those.

Q: Can you give the NPC's alternate looks?

Check out KS Hair for Outlaws and Revolutionaries.

As for body proportions, the females follow the default settings of whatever outfits they're wearing, or whatever body mod you use if they're not wearing anything.

If you want to edit the characters in SSEEdit using the body armor field, you can give them whatever shape you want.

Q: Why can't I have on-screen sex with the prostitutes in this mod?

A: You probably can, but that's a different mod.

Q: X, Y, or Z is not "immersive".

A: Read the notes and talk to the NPC's.  If you can't/won't read, that's fine, but certain story elements might not make complete sense.

Q: [Insert name of] weapon, armor, shout, or spell from your mod is over-powered or under-powered.

A: Then don't use it.

Q: I like the mod and here's my 500-word editorial with all the changes you should make to suit my personal tastes.

A: Thanks and GTFO.

Q: Will this mod be available on Xbox, Nintendo, or PS4?

A: No. Please don't ask.

Q: Will you expand the mod?

A: If there's interest and additional stories that would be fun to play.  Endorsements and feedback help gauge that.