Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Greetings good people of SkyrimNexus,

 

Presenting...

 

http://static2.nexusmods.com/110/images/5561191-1373773040.png

 

Skyrim - Undeath

What is this mod?

Skyrim - Undeath is my (one of many in Skyrim's modding history) attempt to create an immersive Lichdom mod for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. It will have a questline that sees the player track down and stop a powerful necromancer and his followers who are seeking the lost secrets of this heretical transformation, and ensure they remain hidden... or claim them for themselves. This mod will require both Dawnguard AND Dragonborn.

 

This was a personal project I began a while back, and I've been working on it whenever I've had the chance for a very long time. The ability for a character to transcend their mortality and become an immortal undead Lich is always a concept that has fascinated and excited me, but actually making this a reality in Skyrim has taken a lot of work.

 

In many ways, the path to modifying Skyrim to allow the player to become a Lich has felt like the actual elusive, and arcane process of Lichdom itself. I've researched and studied necromancy and lore for years to implement it in a sensible way, and had to learn the esoteric Black Arts of scripting, modelling and texturing to fulfill my ambitions. I've seen many great projects filled with passion and great ideas rise and fall around this concept, with others attempting the process giving up in frustration or lack of time. But through determination, perseverance and many months of insane experiments that has driven me almost to the very brink of my sanity, I have almost finally achieved my goal.

 

 

Trailer is now live!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tzm8kfoqZBk

 


 

 

Updates

 

Version 1.0.0 available now!

 

  • Release Date: After working around the clock to get the questline in shape, I'm now aiming to have the first version released by 7th August.
  • Additional Screenshots added.
  • Questline development completed - bugfixing and polish begins!
  • Release Date: First version will be released when I'm back from holiday by 18th August.

 

Mod Contents

 

The state of Lichdom is not all that 'Undeath' will add to Skyrim however. There are many new and lore friendly books, items and utilities:
  • Undeath Questline: A fully featured questline that allows the player to discover and obtain the necessary components for the ritual of undeath.
  • 3 new dungeons: Delve into the sewer network beneath Skyrim's capital of Solitude and root out its unseemly resident. Explore Hermaeus-Mora's Daedric realm of Oblivion in search of dark and buried secrets, and for those familiar with TES: Daggerfall, return to the Dragontail Mountains and the infamous crypt network that the King of Worms and his sinister followers once called home at Scourg Barrow.
  • 2 necromancer lairs: Claim two new fittingly desolate lairs for necromancer or dark themed characters to call their own, and upgrade as they see fit.
  • New Vendor: Seek out the mysterious 'Broker' and barter for poisons, black soul gems, flesh and hearts. A purveyor of resources other merchants would not dare to provide!
  • Shade of the Revenant: Show your devotion to the Black Arts by offering grand soul gems to the forgotten patron of Necromancy at his altars. Evoke dark magic to blacken Grand and greater soul gems for your use!
  • Poison Spells: A range of virulent poison and decay spells have been added to magical vendors across Skyrim as would befit the arsenal of a necromage.
  • Dark Pact: There is great power in the spilling of blood. Make an offering of your own at certain altars and gain the power to control up to five reanimated creatures at once.
  • Imported Books: A range of necromantic lore, new and old has been imported from past TES titles.

 

Liches in Skyrim

 

Liches in the Elder Scrolls lore are powerful necromancers who have secured their own souls within a vessel known as a 'Phylactery' through immeasurably intricate and arcane rituals, and managed to retain their sentience in a state of endless undeath. This allows them to continue their search of knowledge for centuries, decades, and even thousands of years. The first known mage to achieve this process of Lichdom was the patron of all necromancers, the dreaded King of Worms, Mannimarco. Since then, most, if not all liches have learned their secrets from him directly and rarely recorded their secrets. This presented a serious problem in creating a lore friendly approach to obtaining the secrets required, but with the arrival of Dragonborn and Hermaeus-Mora's realm of Apocrypha, where all forbidden knowledge is hoarded, the answer was made clear.

 

Why Dragonpriests?

 

While various mods have had different ideas and perceptions about how a Lich should look and act, I've gone with the theme of the Dragonpriest model & animations, and their associated problems myself.

 

I feel for one that elements of this model, and its animations best capture the look and 'feel' of what it is to be a Lich. Their gliding, cloaks and animations are some of my favorite in the game and this undoubtedly swayed my choice. Unfortunately, being an NPC model this form does come with a number of restrictions which I will forewarn about:

  • Spells while in Lich form are currently PRESET. They can only be changed through a menu brought up using the Ctrl key. While this is by no means an ideal solution, I lack the knowledge or skill to locate and reverse engineer Dawnguard's Vampire Lord 'favorites menu' which is seemingly separate from the standard favorite menu, and would allow me to set a wider variety of spells which can be more easily accessed. Until the answer to this is found, the range and method of choosing spells can't be changed.
  • Like Dawnguard's 'Vampire Lord' form, you'll be unable to enter first person perspective, or access your spells or inventory. You can however still activate and loot objects.
  • As Lich form uses a variety of pre-set models, you won't be able to wear your existing armour that your 'living' character has. You will be able to, however, decide your final lich appearance through the questline.
  • Obviously as a Lich, you will be attacked on sight. While in Lich form, you will be able to revert back to your 'living' form using powerful illusion magic, however there will be a lengthy cooldown between charges before you can transform back, so use this wisely.
  • As an NPC model, you will not be able to dual cast spells. Instead, the playstyle of the Lich will be geared towards slower casting, with more powerful spells.
  • There are other minor issues which I will note down, when I remember them!

 

Screenshots

 

More screenshots & perhaps videos will be added as they come available!

 

Skeletal, Red Lich Model: My feeble attempt at a custom model for Liches. This is generally what you can expect with Lichform.

 

 

http://static.skyrim.nexusmods.com/images/5561191-1356990248.jpg

 

http://static.skyrim.nexusmods.com/images/5561191-1356990180.jpg

 

http://static.skyrim.nexusmods.com/images/5561191-1356990139.jpg

 

 

 

Lich Ritual: A quick overview of the Lich ritual the player will undertake at the end of their dark journey. This will require a series of rare and difficult to acquire artifacts and ingredients.

 

 

 

Lich Ritual Components: The fabled Phylactery and Elixir of Defilation, which will be required to complete the ritual successfully.

 

http://i.imgur.com/uCODb0j.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/yyCvQNO.jpg

 

 

 

Ravenscorn Spire: Upgrade this decrepit and forgotten tower, and make its dark reaches your own!

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/XlzutHI.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/Wq7DYoP.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/iAlJdb7.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/xl93i5E.jpg

 

 

 


 

This thread will continue to be updated until release. This was mainly a braindump to get all the core features down at the moment, but if any questions are raised I may add this information in more sections.

 

Edit: I seem to have reached my limit for images uploaded to this topic :sad:

So I suppose this will be all unless I make a trailer or something.

 

- Antioch

Edited by Antioch08
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 89
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Looks like an interesting start to a potentially very good mod. I particularly like how you've got a course for both the destruction of the lich and the becoming of the lich in your questline, that opens it up to some very interesting roleplay. I'll look forward to your progress.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ritual looks badass.

But after converting into Lich, how do we talk to normal people? Wont they be scared of walking nightmare, hovering in front?

I'm quoting the OP.

  • Obviously as a Lich, you will be attacked on sight. While in Lich form, you will be able to revert back to your 'living' form using powerful illusion magic, however there will be a lengthy cooldown between charges before you can transform back, so use this wisely.

This is probably the best way to go, in my opinion. Some sort of illusion spell to mask your true form from the pathetic, mortal meatbags

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well the 'Lich form' behaves very similar to the Vampire Lord form from Dawnguard. Guards and foolhardy enemies will attack you on sight, but most civilians will probably just outright flee in terror. In addition, crimes committed as the Lich won't be attributed to your bounty if you can change back and forth unseen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...