In a nutshell, this mod tries to bring much needed fixes as well as replicate some useful functions and features from mods like AFT, MHYH and others - a kind of follower framework fully tailored to Serana, compatible with her quests from the very start as well as with other popular, must-have Serana improvement mods.

This mod is meant to work in parallel with other follower manager framework mods (e.g., AFT, EFF etc.), meaning you can have both installed at the same time - mine for Serana EXCLUSIVELY, and other frameworks for your other followers. 









*IMPORTANT!* Always check sticky post for installation/update instructions for particular versions!

Latest Updates and Changes
For older entries, please check the Changelog tab. 

[15/06/2022]
[v1.4.1]
- fixed bugs introduced by last version update (no Serana teleportation on fast travel/carriage use when using Companion Mode);
- tweaked sleep and companion mode behaviour packages;
- added a "fix" for Serana's longstanding "Stuck in Combat Pose" bug. 

 



1. What does this mod do?

[FIXES]

• makes sure Serana unequips default hood if cured
  

• unequips default hood during night time when outdoors
  

• equips hood even if not wearing default vampire outfit 
  

• no default hood equipping if Serana has a better Player-given hoodie or helmet
  

• Serana now has Sleep Cycles that respect her vampirism condition: 
  

If in a Player home, she will sleep during appropriate times (vampire or cured).
[FEATURES]

• change follow distance through dialogue options:
  

Player can now choose between 3 follow distances, all set via dialogue ("close', "normal"(default) and "far"). 

• choose between follow modes (conventional or companion): 
  

 Player can choose between two follow modes: conventional will have Serana trailing behind you - the traditional follower behaviour; "Companion" mode will have Serana walking beside the Player, as in  IsharaMeradin's mod "Followers as Companions". 

• unfreeze Serana from crouching position:
  

Apparently, a common bug with "special" followers like Serana and Cicero where after combat there is a chance they will be locked in crouched position. While I have not fixed the underlying problem, now the game detects when it happens and automatically refreshes her by script.

• unfreeze Serana from combat pose:
  

Every once and again Serana gets frozen in a combat pose (dual casting magic pose) after combat. Serana's combat state is still active, but there are no valid targets, leading to her frozen pose. As of v1.4.1 we can detect when that happens and reset her A.I, returning her to normality. 

• automatic relax behaviour when in 'PlayerHome'-tagged cells:
  

Her relax behaviour package will kick in whenever player is in a 'PlayerHome' cell.

• possibility of assigning different home locations:
  

Player has the ability to set different home locations for Serana (Castle Volkihar, Dawnguard HQ, or current PlayerHome-tagged cell player is in). If dismissed by player, she waits for them in the chosen location. To avoid possible conflicts, this option is only available after finishing Dawnguard.

• Serana teleported to player location on weapon draw:
  

Followers in general can have a hard time following the player, frequently getting stuck or lost. While it doesn't solve the issue, this feature enables Serana to be teleported to Player on weapon draw if  Serana is more than 3000 units away from player and not in combat. 

• better outfit management for Serana: 
  

(1) Enables the player to set an outfit for use in Player homes (any cell tagged 'PlayerHome'); (2) Makes Serana's default vampire outfit accessible, giving the player full control over what outfit she should wear; (3) Separates Serana's Backpack from her Inventory, the former intended for storing your loot, the latter for Serana's usable items (armour, weapons, etc). Should not cause any problems with other outfit management mods (I, for one, use the excellent mod "Simple NPC Outfit Manager", by confusedchim and they work together great).

• implementation of Synergy system:
  

Time spent in combat together now counts towards player earning skill points. The greater your relationship level, the the more xp you get in a shorter time. Don't worry, it is quite a balanced feature. SDE's relationship levels go from -200 to 200. At level 0, every 5 full minutes of combat should entitle you to gain 10xp in a single random skill (Alchemy, Conjuration, Destruction, OneHanded or LightArmour). At maximum level (200), every 5 minutes of combat should entitle you to gain 1.5 random skills (so, 10 minutes of combat will give you 3 skill gains), increasing 15xp for each. 

• SDE integration:
  

Some features of this mod will be tied to SDE's relationship system, where it makes sense. That is to say, some dialogue options will be locked/unlocked depending on your relationship status, as well as themselves affecting that status, making for a much more organic playthrough. 

• trap avoidance behavior:
  

Serana should now wait while Player disables traps in the same fashion as Frea when in Miraak Temple. No more Serana running to her death while going after the player. (This is a progressive feature, in the sense that this behaviour has to be added in a case-by-case basis as it requires manually adding triggers and markers. Check changelog to keep track of places/traps added). 

[TWEAKS]

• calibrated Close and Normal follow distances:
  

Original issue that got me started with this mod. I always found that followers in general stay too far back while following. Ingame, Serana already uses follow distance packages exclusive to her, and I only had to edit those. I reduced the "Close" and "Normal" following radius as I felt that the default values kept Serana way too far back.

• adds Serana to CurrentFollowerFaction when recruited:
  

Necessary condition for mods like "AutoRecharge Weapons" to work. Also seems to fix the Companion's Insight ability not applicable to Serana issue. I have not encountered any problems ingame from having this tweak enabled. 


*Most of this mod can be described as "experimental": this is my very first mod for Skyrim, and although not completely new to the art of programming, I had no prior knowledge of Papyrus and had never even opened CK until starting this project. Given the limited amount of time and knowledge at my disposal, I can only progress so far with features and bugfixes. Relying on me alone to not only develop the mod but also do test runs, bugs and issues are bound to arise: thus, I CANNOT GUARANTEE IT WILL BE A BUG-FREE EXPERIENCE NOR YOUR SAVEGAME'S INTEGRITY! Please bear that in mind before committing to this mod.



3. Installation, Load Order and Compatibility

This mod is for Special Edition only! Install as you would any other mod, no specific methods needed. Make sure the plugin is enabled once installed. Regarding load order, load it after SDE and before mods that change Serana's appearance. 

Not compatible with mods that make changes to DLC1NPCMonitoringPlayerScript and DLC1_NPCMentalModelScript (e.g., mods that change Serana's hood behaviour). As informed by other users, SDA is not compatible, as it apparently modifies or relies on those scripts. Mods that change Serana's default follow distance packages will revert our distance tweaks (I'm not aware of any). To be sure, load this mod as far down the plugin list as possible.

What about other follower management frameworks? Are they compatible? Yes and no. You can have both SIF and whatever other framework of choice (NFF, AFT, UFO etc.) installed together, AS LONG AS you make sure Serana is managed EXCLUSIVELY by SIF. She should not be used in other frameworks if you use mine! In other words, use your framework of choice for managing other followers but only SIF for managing Serana. Respecting this configuration, there should be no problems.

As of v1.2.0, this mod changes some ingame cells (to add triggers and makers). Mods that override those changes may disable some of Serana's functionalities (i.e., the trap avoidance behaviour). Check changelog for a list of cells edited. This mod also makes minor changes to same native DLC2 scripts, and mods that change them will override them. Check source files or SSEEdit to see scripts changed.

If any conflicts arise (which I guess are bound to happen), please let me know! I will gladly try to solve them.


4. Recommended Mods

In versions prior to 1.3.0, SIF reverts some fixes from USSEP. While this issue has been addressed in the latest update (v1.3.0 onwards), if you prefer or need to continue using older versions for whatever reason we recommend the use of USSEP bugfix incorporation to SIF, by ikillyou233 (kudos to the author!). 

For all the Seranaholics out there, these are the mods I use to maximize my Serana experience:




5. Known Bugs and Issues

Spoiler:  

Show

Home relax behaviour: 1. sometimes the AI package does not kick in and Serana simply stands there. It does not happen that often, however, and exiting the cell and entering again usually solves the issue. If not, after 60 seconds her package should be updated and she'll start sandboxing again anyways. 2. while not exactly a bug, Serana may eat while relaxing, which I guess would not be very immersive or lore-friendly. 3. on rare occasions (so far only happened to me once in weeks of testing), the game may glitch and keep Serana on a "relaxed" state even when outside. The fix is simple: go back in and out again. 

Teleportation on weapon draw: 1. if Serana is sent flying up in the air after being hit by a giant (as sometimes happens), teleporting her to you before she falls down will cause a position animation bug - she will be stuck in a "fallen" position for a while. 2. Serana is teleported to the player even in lone wolf quests, which can be immersion breaking. This issue is being worked on, but has to be dealt with in case-by-case basis. Check changelog to see in which quests this is no longer an issue. 

Outfit management: 1. some pieces of "outdoors"/default armour sometimes are not unequipped when entering home. Although a rare problem and technically dealt with as of v1.1.2, if it ever happens simply going out and back in again usually fixes the problem. 2. while the Home Outfit container/inventory does not stop you from adding non-gear items to her home outfit (such as misc items, potions, food and drinks, etc), I strongly advise that you restrain from doing so. While it may not break your game, it will certainly cause some unexpected behaviour. Ideally, only armour/clothing should be added. 3. Any piece of equipment added to Serana's inventory while in home cell will be prioritised and equipped if of higher rating than the Home Outfit.

Synergy mechanic: for now, the code simply checks if Serana is in combat. There are no player in combat or distance checks for now (but will be added in the future). That means that even if the player is not in combat, but Serana is, and irrespective of Serana's distance to player, xp will still be gained. 

6. Credits
As of v1.4.0, an adapted version of IsharaMeradin's Followers as Companions mod is used (general permission given by mod author, as per mod description), duly credited here. 

To all the modders and experts out there, not just in the Nexus community but also others (gamesas.com specially springs to mind). While I've never contacted any of them directly, their willingness and patience in helping others and their incredibly detailed and savvy answers aided me immensely in progressing along with this project (a shoutout to IsharaMeradin, in particular). Truly unsung heroes!
Also, a shoutout to rxkx22 for Seranaholic, mod which I use in the screenshot above, and to ThatGuyYeah for the excellent Serana Dialogue Edit mod, which this mod taps into.