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JobiWanUK

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JobiWanUK

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About this mod

Introduces 7 new jesters NPCs in various Jarl's abodes, with jokes, insults, dancing and much more. ESL flagged.

Requirements
Permissions and credits
Translations
  • Spanish
  • Mandarin
Donations
Jesters of Skyrim aims to lighten up the atmosphere in Jarl's longhouses and palaces by introducing court jesters who will entertain both the Jarls and their guests.

Key features:

  • Seven brand new jester NPCs, each with their own unique back story, personality and voice, along with their own little quirks
  • More than 900 voice lines including 100+ jokes, with anti-jokes, insults, limericks, impressions, banter and more
  • Adds jesters to Falkreath, Morthal, Dawnstar, Whiterun, Winterhold, Solitude and Riften
  • The jesters will dance when their Jarl commands it
  • Support for more than 40 vanilla followers
  • Works with Jarls that replace other Jarls after the Civil War
  • Automatic support for several other mods (SKSE required)
  • Optional add-ons for more dances, Farts of Skyrim and Inn-Tegrated NPCs - Oblivion Style Conversations
  • High compatibility with other mods

Do you ever find that not much happens in the Jarl's dwellings? Well not any more, seven holds will now get their own unique jester at the beck and call of their Jarl. Every couple of hours the Jarl will issue a random command to their jester (between 10am and 8:30pm) to entertain them. They will ask them to tell a joke, give them permission to insult someone present or order them to dance. Some NPCs have other skills, for instance Rondelbert will recite funny poems and Jonzo has the gift of being able to mimic any voice. For insults, more than 40 vanilla followers have a chance to be insulted if they're with you.

Two of the voices use Professional Voice Clones from Eleven Labs meaning the actors get paid for my use of their voices (Lutz Laugh and Marshall - Dandy Brit). Hurbjorf is voiced by my friend Yandros.

Most of the jesters have their own little quirks too. Aperic likes to suddenly blow his horn and frighten people when they least expect it. He also likes to jam with Lurbuk when he visits the inn. Estelline likes to wind up the guards and Jonzo does killer impressions of other NPCs. It's also been rumoured that Gorthe likes to hit the Skooma.

Each of them has their own joke repertoire and varied routines, some will visit the local inn after 9pm, or visit the temple in the morning before starting another day of working for the Jarl. The mod supports all vanilla Jarls, even the 'back up' Jarls that will take over from the losers in the Civil War.

See the article for full details of the NPCs including their back stories.

If you have SKSE installed, the mod will also check to see if several other mods are installed in your load order and will add extra dialogue and some AI routines accordingly, including the following mods:


There are also several add-ons in optional files for extra content, including:

  • Inn-Tegrated NPCs - Oblivion Style Conversations - adds a 'joke battle' scene between Ongbarn and four of the jesters
  • Farts of Skyrim - adds the jesters to fart scenes
  • Alternate dances (requires Open Animation Replacer)

Installation
Install like any other mod using your favourite mod manager. It is safe to install mid-game. Uninstalling mid-game is not recommended.

Compatibility
Should be compatible with most mods. Any mods that drastically change the interiors in Jarl's longhouses and halls may cause issues. No need to ask about Immersive Citizens, AI Overhaul, RDO, GDO etc as they all do different things to this mod and work in different ways.

Notes
  • The mod is flagged as ESL so it won't take up a slot in your load order
  • It has been cleaned and checked for errors in xEdit
  • The mod was made with the older creation kit so it is compatible with all versions of Skyrim SE/AE
  • If you don't hear any dialogue, try making a save and loading it
  • The NPCs will use whatever body and skin mods you have installed and may look different on your setup
  • I'd also recommend Hit Dialogue Scene Cooldown to reduce the frequency of vanilla scenes
  • Sometimes the alternate dances can be a bit glitchy, if the jester gets stuck try waiting one hour in-game

FAQ


Will you make a vanilla hair version?
No.

LE version? Markus79 has exclusive permission to backport my mods.

Can I translate it and release it? Yes, translations are fine as long as they require the original mod.

Can I make a replacers for their looks? Yes. Bear in mind the jesters are all meant to look a little odd. I know taste is subjective so feel free to make your own overhauls for their looks.

Why no jesters in Windhelm and Markarth? Markarth - there's simply not much room for one. Windhelm - I don't think Ulfric is the type to have one, plus there's usually only two or three NPCs in The Palace of the Kings, so not much of an audience. Also each jester requires around 80-100 voice lines and its's a lot of work. Maybe in the future I'll add more.

I don't like AI voices. That's fine, just don't use the mod, no need to tell me about it.

There hasn't been a merryman in these parts for 100 years. I know, but I bet some of you will put it in the comments anyway.

Polite notice - if you ask a question that is already covered in the description or the FAQ section, it will most likely be ignored and/or removed. But let's face it, you won't have read this bit anyway.

Credits
KS Hairdo's
Scarlettdays21 Lovely Makeup
ElevenLabs AI 
Hallgarth's Additional Vanilla Hair
Yandros for Hurbjorf the Stout's voice acting and help with testing the mod
Dark Brotherhood Armors Retexture SE (recoloured by me)
SensualCicero - Animation
Lethal Company Dance
KouLeifoh - High Poly Head
HG Hairs
Clone Real for other dance animations/mfeile1974 for SE conversion

Testers
Henryetha
SeekingAsy1um
JoShady75


Please take a look at my collaborations with other mod authors: