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About this mod
Basic Mod that simply adds spells and books for alternative strengths of each of the rune spells in the game (Dragonborn Runes included) It adds one weaker, and one stronger version of each Rune in Skyrim. This is intended to make runes viable through an entire play-through, instead of only Mid to Mid-late game.
- Permissions and credits
- Changelogs
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This is now the full version of this mod. I no longer have plans to keep it up-to-date unless a few bugs creep in. If anyone else wants to take the idea and run with it, be my guest; I'm still not sure I got the spell strengths and sizes right. Just please give me a mention somewhere, if you redo the whole thing and re-release it.
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Description
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The idea behind this mod, is that runes are really quite fun to mess around with. And are particularly fun for a stealth character to have in their arsenal. Problem is that it may be an Apprentice-level spell, but you need 234 Magicka to even use your first fire rune. Half that with the right perks, but you need to be able to level up destruction enough to get there in the first place. As a result, they aren’t really useful for anyone getting started on their adventures.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum, while they are certainly powerful, you end up needing to use several of them just to take down one of your high-level opponents later on in the game. Sure, you could blast them with firestorm or something, but then you lose out on the satisfaction of setting traps and having everyone eliminate themselves for you. This mod aims to give runes function throughout a play-through. There still probably needs to be some balancing, and I’d love to change the radius of the actual runes. But seeing how this is my first (and likely only) mod I plan on doing, that is probably beyond my abilities.
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Potential Lore
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Rune Marks are what Novices can practice with, when they haven't quite grasped the mechanics of the more powerful Rune Spells used by other Mages. These marks do quite a bit less damage than full-on spells, but they also cost less to cast. Aspiring mages out there may find that they don’t mind the trade off, just to get their adventures started off on the right foot.
Rune Circles are the result of an expert Mage observing and using Rune Spells regularly, and learning how to refine them into truly remarkable demonstrations of power and the arts. These circles do quite a bit more damage than the base spells, but require concentration to set up, and cost more than their fair share of Magicka to place down. Master mages would be more than happy to still use these long into their adventures, as they are quite effective (though expensive) tools of the trade.
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Details
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+ All spells are duplicated and edited versions of the vanilla rune-spells. Some of them have long names that may not show up in shops, but I kept the names consistent for easy searching in the console. All the weaker spells are called "[type-of-rune] Rune Mark", and all the stronger spells are called "[type-of-rune] Rune Circle", so that should help with that.
+ Adds 6 Rune Marks:
- Fire Rune Mark
- Frost Rune Mark
- Shock Rune Mark
- Poison Rune Mark
- Fury Rune Mark
- Ash Rune Mark
Usually about half as strong as the base spell, and usually cost about half as much to use as well. With reduced level-requirements when possible. The Fury Rune Mark, and the Ash Rune mark are NOT available at Novice level, because their base spells were higher than the others.
+ Adds 6 Rune Circles:
- Fire Rune Circle
- Frost Rune Circle
- Shock Rune Circle
- Poison Rune Circle
- Mayhem Rune Circle
- Ash Rune Circle
Usually a little stronger than double strength, and just under double Magicka-Cost. But they take 3 seconds to cast, and you need both hands. (dual casting perks beyond my abilities). Most of these are available at the Expert level but, again, Mayhem Rune Circle, and Ash Rune Circle are only available at master level, because their base spells start at a higher level.
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Locations
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+ The Spell Tomes ARE in merchant rotation, but it's done with leveled-lists so they won't always have all of them in stock. Then again, they should usually have at least one of the new spells, if you haven't bought them out recently.
+ There is a copy of the three basic elemental Rune Mark spellbooks on the bar in Helgen on your way through the vanilla start.
+ There was rumored to be a shipment of books on it's way from Solstheim to Windhelm, but records show that it never arrived.
+ An Arch Mage of days long gone was researching magical properties of rune spells, but no one has seen their research notes since the Great Collapse.
+ Anise is a Cheaty McCheating CheaterButt who knows when you've been in her basement, even if you were invisible... and muffled... and have 100% Sneak.. and was otherwise completely undetectable. I bet that's not the only way she cheats. ;)
* Look... I never said I was good at lore and/or balance; but at least I tried to gate the various spells behind SOMEthing further down the game. LOL I'd love to be able to set up Master-Quests to gain the Rune Circles, and other decent, balanced gates like that. However, that is far beyond my capabilities, and I'm content with what work I have done. :)
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Known Issues
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+ For some reason, even though I re-classified the spells as 'Novice', 'Expert', and 'Master' in the Creation Kit, all the spells still show up as 'Apprentice' in the magic menu. The spells still work, but it's possible the wrong perks could apply to the wrong spells. I've had a look at it in the Creation kit, and everything seems to check out (even down to the perks being properly listed). But it still doesn't display correctly in the spell menu, so I guess I can't figure this one out on my own. :(
+ If you are using Better Spell Learning, or any mod that has you read a book a few times to learn a spell from it, note that the books in this mod will still be learned instantly. This is my first and only modding attempt, so any kind of patch is beyond the scope of my abilities. lol
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Compatibility
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+ This mod merely adds a set of spells and books to the game. I used duplicates of the vanilla spells and renamed them before tweaking them to make sure I had working spells. I also went out of my way to make sure I didn't even click a single thing that wasn't added by me, so as to avoid accidentally editing a vanilla thing. So it should be pretty compatible with most things.
+ I also specifically unloaded/uninstalled every other mod I had installed (except for the Unofficial Patch) in hopes that that would prevent any other compatibility issues.
+ However I have seen people with mods that add things to merchants say that there could be issues there.
+ I also won't be able to guarantee that the hand-placed tomes in Helgen (at the bar) aren't sitting in a place that someone else has added things to in their mod. But hopefully the other spots I picked out for the other spells are untouched.
+ Mysticism is an amazing mod, with a variety of interesting and effective Rune Spells, and I would strongly recommend that mod over this one for all the later-game tweaks. If that is a mod you intend to use, you pretty much would only want this one for the Rune Marks, to get you started on your adventure. lol
--------------------
Special Thanks
--------------------
"Gopher's Community" (in General) - for encouraging me to get started on this project, and being there for my progress reports without being too annoyed with me. And helping me realize this mod isn't too big a project for a beginner like me.
“Phantom Sans” (Particularly) - For helping me figure out why some of the Dragonborn spells weren't working as I first expected.
"IsharaMeradin" From the Nexus forums, for being so patient with me, and trying to help me figure out a basic script for maximum compatibility. Like seriously, this mod would have never made it this far if it weren't for them.
Any of my other friends who heard me out, and agreed that there was a need for this, based on an idea for a future play-through.
This is now the full version of this mod. I no longer have plans to keep it up-to-date unless a few bugs creep in. If anyone else wants to take the idea and run with it, be my guest; I'm still not sure I got the spell strengths and sizes right. Just please give me a mention somewhere, if you redo the whole thing and re-release it.
--------------------------
-------------------
Description
-------------------
The idea behind this mod, is that runes are really quite fun to mess around with. And are particularly fun for a stealth character to have in their arsenal. Problem is that it may be an Apprentice-level spell, but you need 234 Magicka to even use your first fire rune. Half that with the right perks, but you need to be able to level up destruction enough to get there in the first place. As a result, they aren’t really useful for anyone getting started on their adventures.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum, while they are certainly powerful, you end up needing to use several of them just to take down one of your high-level opponents later on in the game. Sure, you could blast them with firestorm or something, but then you lose out on the satisfaction of setting traps and having everyone eliminate themselves for you. This mod aims to give runes function throughout a play-through. There still probably needs to be some balancing, and I’d love to change the radius of the actual runes. But seeing how this is my first (and likely only) mod I plan on doing, that is probably beyond my abilities.
--------------------
Potential Lore
--------------------
Rune Marks are what Novices can practice with, when they haven't quite grasped the mechanics of the more powerful Rune Spells used by other Mages. These marks do quite a bit less damage than full-on spells, but they also cost less to cast. Aspiring mages out there may find that they don’t mind the trade off, just to get their adventures started off on the right foot.
Rune Circles are the result of an expert Mage observing and using Rune Spells regularly, and learning how to refine them into truly remarkable demonstrations of power and the arts. These circles do quite a bit more damage than the base spells, but require concentration to set up, and cost more than their fair share of Magicka to place down. Master mages would be more than happy to still use these long into their adventures, as they are quite effective (though expensive) tools of the trade.
--------------------
Details
--------------------
+ All spells are duplicated and edited versions of the vanilla rune-spells. Some of them have long names that may not show up in shops, but I kept the names consistent for easy searching in the console. All the weaker spells are called "[type-of-rune] Rune Mark", and all the stronger spells are called "[type-of-rune] Rune Circle", so that should help with that.
+ Adds 6 Rune Marks:
- Fire Rune Mark
- Frost Rune Mark
- Shock Rune Mark
- Poison Rune Mark
- Fury Rune Mark
- Ash Rune Mark
Usually about half as strong as the base spell, and usually cost about half as much to use as well. With reduced level-requirements when possible. The Fury Rune Mark, and the Ash Rune mark are NOT available at Novice level, because their base spells were higher than the others.
+ Adds 6 Rune Circles:
- Fire Rune Circle
- Frost Rune Circle
- Shock Rune Circle
- Poison Rune Circle
- Mayhem Rune Circle
- Ash Rune Circle
Usually a little stronger than double strength, and just under double Magicka-Cost. But they take 3 seconds to cast, and you need both hands. (dual casting perks beyond my abilities). Most of these are available at the Expert level but, again, Mayhem Rune Circle, and Ash Rune Circle are only available at master level, because their base spells start at a higher level.
--------------------
Locations
--------------------
+ The Spell Tomes ARE in merchant rotation, but it's done with leveled-lists so they won't always have all of them in stock. Then again, they should usually have at least one of the new spells, if you haven't bought them out recently.
+ There is a copy of the three basic elemental Rune Mark spellbooks on the bar in Helgen on your way through the vanilla start.
+ There was rumored to be a shipment of books on it's way from Solstheim to Windhelm, but records show that it never arrived.
Spoiler:
Show
( All Dragonborn DLC rune-tomes, including vanilla ones, are in a chest in the water near the far wall by the Windhelm Docks )
+ An Arch Mage of days long gone was researching magical properties of rune spells, but no one has seen their research notes since the Great Collapse.
Spoiler:
Show
( All the Rune Circle spells I added are in a bookcase under the collapsed bridge, you need the Arch Mage's key to get in, and to be the archmage to legally own them )
+ Anise is a Cheaty McCheating CheaterButt who knows when you've been in her basement, even if you were invisible... and muffled... and have 100% Sneak.. and was otherwise completely undetectable. I bet that's not the only way she cheats. ;)
Spoiler:
Show
( There is a respawning debug Barrel with one Spelltome for each spell I added to the game near the large rocks outside Anise's Cabin. But only 'cheaters' would make use of that way to get the spells. ;) Either Cheaters, or persons who just want to have all the spells, but don't feel like going into the console to grab the spells... As long as they are having fun. LOL )
* Look... I never said I was good at lore and/or balance; but at least I tried to gate the various spells behind SOMEthing further down the game. LOL I'd love to be able to set up Master-Quests to gain the Rune Circles, and other decent, balanced gates like that. However, that is far beyond my capabilities, and I'm content with what work I have done. :)
--------------------
Known Issues
--------------------
+ For some reason, even though I re-classified the spells as 'Novice', 'Expert', and 'Master' in the Creation Kit, all the spells still show up as 'Apprentice' in the magic menu. The spells still work, but it's possible the wrong perks could apply to the wrong spells. I've had a look at it in the Creation kit, and everything seems to check out (even down to the perks being properly listed). But it still doesn't display correctly in the spell menu, so I guess I can't figure this one out on my own. :(
+ If you are using Better Spell Learning, or any mod that has you read a book a few times to learn a spell from it, note that the books in this mod will still be learned instantly. This is my first and only modding attempt, so any kind of patch is beyond the scope of my abilities. lol
--------------------
Compatibility
--------------------
+ This mod merely adds a set of spells and books to the game. I used duplicates of the vanilla spells and renamed them before tweaking them to make sure I had working spells. I also went out of my way to make sure I didn't even click a single thing that wasn't added by me, so as to avoid accidentally editing a vanilla thing. So it should be pretty compatible with most things.
+ I also specifically unloaded/uninstalled every other mod I had installed (except for the Unofficial Patch) in hopes that that would prevent any other compatibility issues.
+ However I have seen people with mods that add things to merchants say that there could be issues there.
+ I also won't be able to guarantee that the hand-placed tomes in Helgen (at the bar) aren't sitting in a place that someone else has added things to in their mod. But hopefully the other spots I picked out for the other spells are untouched.
+ Mysticism is an amazing mod, with a variety of interesting and effective Rune Spells, and I would strongly recommend that mod over this one for all the later-game tweaks. If that is a mod you intend to use, you pretty much would only want this one for the Rune Marks, to get you started on your adventure. lol
--------------------
Special Thanks
--------------------
"Gopher's Community" (in General) - for encouraging me to get started on this project, and being there for my progress reports without being too annoyed with me. And helping me realize this mod isn't too big a project for a beginner like me.
“Phantom Sans” (Particularly) - For helping me figure out why some of the Dragonborn spells weren't working as I first expected.
"IsharaMeradin" From the Nexus forums, for being so patient with me, and trying to help me figure out a basic script for maximum compatibility. Like seriously, this mod would have never made it this far if it weren't for them.
Any of my other friends who heard me out, and agreed that there was a need for this, based on an idea for a future play-through.