New in my Version:

no more stressful sleep. fixed the bug from the original mod.

Original Description:

0. Introduction
===============

Tired of having to choose which attribute to increase at a level up?  Afraid you might choose poorly and be stuck with a character not built for the job you need them to do?  Want a more immersive experience where your attributes increase based on how you play rather than arbitrary choices?

Natural Character Growth and Decay removes this burden from you by allowing your attributes to automatically grow (and decay!) based on how you play the game.  This is completely independent of skills and level (for now, future version might contain more options!), so your attributes will adapt to whatever playstyle you choose.

Credit goes to Uoud, the creator of Usage-Based Attributes Leveling, for the base of the LE version of this mod and to Greywander for the version I ported 

1. Requirements
=================

SKSE
SkyUI (for MCM)

2. Installation
===============

Back up your save first, just in case you decide to remove NCGD later.

Download and install through your favourite mod manager. That's it!

3. Uninstallation
=================

I would not recommend uninstalling this mod mid game. If you plan on uninstalling it for a new save, remove it like any other mod.

4. Compatibility
================

This mod should be compatible with all other mods, except the original port of the same mod if it ever comes back to nexus. You can use this with other mods that change how you gain attributes, although the results might be unbalanced.  Use the MCM to adjust the values in Natural Character Growth and Decay as necessary.

5. Features
============

Natural Character Growth and Decay disables the attribute gains on a normal level up (you can re-enable them in the MCM if you wish), although due to limitations you'll still be prompted to pick an attribute to increase.  Choose whatever you like, as it won't make a difference.

Instead, your health, magicka, stamina, and carry weight will increase as you use them.  If you get hit with a powerful attack, you'll gain "experience" toward increasing your health.  If you walk around with a full inventory, you'll gradually be able to carry more.  At the same time, however, if you become critically injured or expend all your magicka, it will cause your attributes to begin to degrade.  Attributes will naturally decay over time as well, so make sure to get some periodic exercise.

6. How It Works
=================

Health, Magicka, and Stamina work on the same system, and thus will be used interchangeably in this document.  A script will periodically check how much e.g. health you have, and compare it to how much you had the last time it checked.  If you have a lower health now than you did last time, the
difference determines your base XP gain.  So, for example, if you lost 40% of your health since the last check, then your base health XP gain would be 40 XP.  This value is then multiplied by an amount that depends only on your current health.  At full health, that multiplier is x0, at 0% health that
multiplier will be x4 (default, you can change it in the MCM).  The quickest growth happens when you lose a lot of e.g. health that brings your current health very low.  If you drop from 100% to 25% between script checks, then you'll gain 75*3 = 225 health XP.

Note that you gain more XP while at low e.g. health, but you only get XP if you lost health.

Carry weight works a little differently.  Every time the script checks, it will award carry XP based on how much you are currently carrying.  It does not care about loss or gain.  You must be carrying at least 50% of your carry weight to get any XP.

Health, Magicka, and Stamina each have a "stress limit" value adjustable in the MCM.  If those attributes drop below the stress limit, then you will NOT get XP, and will instead get stress. Stress is attribute-specific and tracked individually for each attribute.  When you have enough stress, it will degrade Health, Magicka, and Stamina, or carry weight by a small percentage, but only if they have grown by at least 1 point.

Decay also accumulates very slowly over time, and will periodically decrease an attribute by 1%.

7. Mod Configuration Menu
=============================

If you have SkyUI installed, you can adjust nearly every aspect of this mod to your heart's content.

This includes:

Enabling or disabling individual attributes for growth or decay
The XP required for each attribute to grow
How long it takes for an attribute to decay
The amount of stress required to injure yourself
The stress limit below which an attribute builds up stress
How much attribute damage an injury does, and which attributes are damaged
How quickly stress decays over time and while resting
Whether or not you can gain XP while below the stress limit
The XP multiplier as your health, magicka, or stamina get low

You may also view your growth progress for each attribute, your attribute stress, how much each attribute has grown, and how many injuries you've had.

8. Credits
=========================

Uoud for Usuage Based Attributes Leveling which the original version of this mod is based on
Greywander for the LE version of this mod which made it impossible for me to play without it
Schlangster for SkyUI