Would folks be interested in this mod?

[cjdevito]

I've been toying with an idea for awhile, and now that I've scribbled over twenty pages of notes on it I think I might actually take the time to put it together. Before I do, though, I figure it makes sense to find out if anyone would actually be interested in it.

What I'm thinking of is putting together a mod involving a new faction. A few new NPCs, locations, and a full faction's worth of quests.

From the word doc I'm scribbing in, here's some background....
"Dedicated to the ‘forbidden’ knowledge that the native Dunmer of Morrowind find so distasteful, the Illuminated Order of the Invisibles is a confederation of those who have an interest in the esoteric subjects of necromancy, vampirism, lycanthropy, and other dark lore.

Because of the outlawed nature of their subject of inquiry, the Order is highly secretive. It has to be; were knowledge of its existence made public, the Temple and Houses Indoril and Redoran would immediately attempt to violently expunge the Order’s existence. Accordingly, members of the Order tend towards a highly paranoid and closed-mouthed existence. New recruits are, therefore, exceedingly rare; generally, only those who have clearly demonstrated their own interests in the outlawed knowledge are considered.

Valued Skills: Alchemy, Enchant, Sneak, Security, Destruction, Conjuration, Illusion
Valued Stats: Intelligence, Willpower
Guild Ranks:
1. Instrument of Dark Labors
2. Instrument of Devious Gambits
3. Instrument of Hidden Motivations
4. Inquisitor of Obscure Arts
5. Inquisitor of Shadowy Visions
6. Inquisitor of Sacred Untruths
7. Keeper of Unseemly Wisdom
8. Keeper of Ethereal Lore
9. Keeper of Forbidden Secrets


Anyway, anyone interested in something like this? I have quests mapped out involving everything from vampires to liches to trying to steal the power Dagoth Ur has infused his Ascended Sleepers with......

[Kameleon]

That looks like great fun...so many of the new faction mods out there either don't have enough quests, or are lacking a storyline that fits in with the game. If you do it well, I'll be very interested

[Gorgan]

Thats sounds like mad fun and i think it will have total ownage over the crappy guild mods, but of course youll have to a good job!!!

[rnrules]

Looks cool, I'm finially getting Morrowind for PC ^^. All the mod's and tribunal will make it worth it. I really like all your ideas, do you think that this new faction will be located inside a city? I personally think that an accesabile guild outside of a city would be pretty sweet. Maybe after a few acensions in rank, you could have a side deal with the mage's guild, like they want something from you, or want you to do some work they would preffer not being associated with. Then, if you successfuly complete the quest, the questgiver will give you some kind of password to give to the trasporters, then they might say "Oh you're (nameofplayer) aren't you? Well I suppose I could assist you... Then after that you could travel it as if it were another mage's guild. Anway don't know if that idea has any merit, but it looks like you're going about making a factiont the right way, actually brainstorming and not just messing around on the editor.

Cya

[cjdevito]

do you think that this new faction will be located inside a city?

Yes and no. First, the only way to join is to follow up on a rumor that takes you through a couple of dungeons. Then you get directed to the first guild house, which is in a city. You do the quests there before they even admit there's a second guild house, let alone where to find it. Second guild house is also in a city. Do the quests there, they point you to the third guild house -- which is not in a city, but isn't all that far from one. Then there's a fourth and final guild house, which isn't strictly speaking in a city, but is reached through one.

Yes, I know this all sounds very linear. It's the nature of the order, though... you barely know anything about them when you first join, and it's only after doing quests and rising in rank that they trust you with more information.... even down to passwords to get into their guild houses.

Hell, I'll spill a little bit... the first quest you get after you join is to bring a letter full of deliberate misinformation to M'aiq the Liar (the existing NPC who, well, lies through his teeth)... for the sole purpose of giving him MORE lies to spread. A campaign of misinformation for the public serves the Order's purposes quite well; after all, if someone gets told to become a werewolf by doing steps A, B & C and, after much effort, they don't work.... well, that person is a lot less likely to go seriously digging into the subject again, aren't they?

The Order is VERY paranoid.


you could have a side deal with the mage's guild

Good thought, but no -- for story reasons if nothing else. Three of the four guild houses are fairly easily accessible off the main travel routes, provided you know where to look for them and the correct phrases to get inside. The fourth isn't on a main route, but can be reached via fast travel.

[rnrules]

Well, with that much planning, I can't think of much to go wrong with it... How long do you think designing it will take? A month?

[cjdevito]

Damned if I know. It's mostly going to depend on how much trouble the scripting is. In terms of new NPCs and locations, there's only going to be a handful of each... there's an amazing lot you can do with stuff that already exists, that won't interfere in any way with anything else already in the game.

I'll post updates as I go, though.

[Kameleon]

The more I hear, the more I like it. Go for it!

[Rahvin]

sounds like a great idea, I'd use it, keep us posted!

[cjdevito]

FWIW, I spent most of the afternoon today building the first guildhouse

[rnrules]

Did you get it finished?

[cjdevito]

The physical location, yes. No NPCs or quests in it yet, though. Putting interior cells together from scratch is pretty straightforward in the construction kit.... the most time consuming aspect of it, IMO, is that none of the pieces in the editor have thumbnails, so you don't know what something is until you drag it into the render window. With hundreds (if not thousands) of pieces, that's lots to look at.

[rnrules]

since you are designing your own quests, how did you learn the scripting? (I just want to learn it).

Programming knowledge?
Reference?
Specific website that I could check out?

k koo, cya later

[cjdevito]

I've completed the first guildhouse, and I've uploaded an ESP file containing JUST that.... no quests or even a faction in there yet. I'm uploading it mostly just to see what folks have to say about it.

It's EXTREMELY dark in the guildhall. That's deliberate, and I spent hours on the lighting getting it to what I wanted. If you really can't cope with it, use nighteye.... but if you can manage it, don't, because the lighting is really important to the feel. There's a tapestry in the first room -- walk through it. Beyond it, the way is lit with candles. Try to experience it with just the candles for light, if you can.

The guildhall itself is located immediately east of the north end of the canal cutting through Balmora, right next to the watch house that's west of Cauis Cosades. It's labelled in game as 'Demnevanni Manor'.

I don't recommend saving your game with this mod installed, and I recommend uninstalling it when you're done.

The file is at http://advancedaquarist.com/cjdevitotemp/order.esp

[cjdevito]

@rnrules: I haven't taught myself MW scripting yet, I'm working on it though

You can get the scripter's bible about halfway down the page at http://thelys.free.fr/misc.htm