Kyuukei Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 (edited) "The next day, he did return with more questions, these ones very specific. He wanted to know about the vampires of eastern Skyrim. I told him about the most powerful tribe, the Volkihar, paranoid and cruel, whose very breath could freeze their victims' blood in the veins. I explained to him how they lived beneath the ice of remote and haunted lakes, never venturing into the world of men except to feed." - Immortal Blood http://dl.dropbox.com/u/32893784/logo.pngThe Concept With the advent of Skyrim's Creator Kit, myself and a good friend, fellow Nexus member Myrajia, are developing a mod to replace Skyrim's lore-unfriendly and underwhelming Cyrodiilic Vampires with something more lore-consistent, and in the long term, more powerful. We personally feel Bethesda was way too conservative when balancing Vampires, and that the aforementioned powers of a Volkihar imply tons of missed opportunities in the vanilla game. This mod will use an age-based system for the advancement of Vampiric powers, in lieu of them becoming stronger at higher levels of Hunger. In addition to the new stuff, vanilla abilities will be retained, and some will actually be improved, but these abilities will only advance as you age. New Vampires will start off fairly vulnerable (while still reaping some of the mod's unique benefits), but by the time you hit the third level of growth, you'll have several substantial advantages over vanilla Vampires as long as you keep yourself fed. Planned Features (note: we're still pre-Alpha, so this stuff is subject to change) - An age-based system for growth, with five levels - Fledgling (20 days), Blooded, (45 days), Nightstalker (100 days), Ancient, (200 days), and finally Master. - Permanent Waterbreathing. - Immunity to Paralysis. - Sunlight penalties have been altered to be less punishing - namely, the lack of natural Stamina regeneration has been removed entirely, and you will regenerate a small amount of HP and MP over time. In exchange, you will take more damage at higher Hunger levels. - Feeding will produce a temporary 'Blood Euphoria' effect - potency and duration will improve with age. - A synthable Blood Poison item, which can be used on a victim in lieu of feeding. Consuming the resultant Blood Potion will revert your Hunger level to stage 1 for 8 hours, after which you revert to whatever stage you were previously. Useful for long outings. - Ancient and Master Vampires can go 48 and 72 hours without feeding before advancing a Hunger level, respectively. - Improved attribute regeneration for all age levels when not in sunlight. - Damage bonuses when not in sunlight for later age levels. - Movement speed increase for later age levels. - Damage bonus to Frost spells at higher age levels, whether in sunlight or not. - Ice Wraith summon at Nightstalker and up. Will improve with age (props to jack254 for this idea) - A Charge system for some of the new Powers; you may use them a certain amount of times within a 24 hour period. - Nightstalker Vampires and older can use the Bloodfreeze power a certain amount of times per day. The potency of this ability and total uses per day will increase as you hit Ancient and Master. - The ability to summon a ghost of your former self, once a day. This ability will strengthen as you age, and reach its pinnacle form at Master level. Screenshots Vérdéran Sword http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/595844182602492036/3BDE4E6DE2AF2B34CD1304B8D0199713C76FF537/ http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/595844182602487021/58DA764C985CF37FD32934DAC5CA5C537E6E4C7D/ Detailed Mod Mechanics All Stages You have a 100% resistance to disease. You have a 100% resistance to poison. You have a 100% resistance to paralysis. You have permanent Waterbreathing. Illusion spells are 25% more powerful. It is 25% harder for NPCs to detect you while sneaking. Ability to safely consume Blood Potions. While outside during daylight, Health regeneration is stunted by 95%, and Magicka regeneration is stunted by 85%; Stamina regeneration is unaffected (any effects that fortify the regeneration of any attribute will still work even whilst in sunlight). Hunger levels Stage One You have a 25% Resistance to Frost. You have a 25% Weakness to Fire. While outside during daylight, Health, Magicka, and Stamina have an automatic -15 to their total. Stage Two You take 5% more damage (after all other damage calculations).You have a 50% Resistance to Frost. You have a 50% Weakness to Fire. While outside during daylight, Health, Magicka, and Stamina have an automatic -30 to their total. Stage Three You take 15% more damage (after all other damage calculations).Stamina regenerates 15% slower.You have 75% Resistance to Frost. You have a 75% Weakness to Fire. While outside during daylight, Health, Magicka, and Stamina have an automatic -45 to their total. Most NPCs will not interact with you if you initiate the conversation. Stage Four (blood starved) You take 25% more damage (after all other damage calculations).Stamina regenerates 35% slower.You have a 100% Resistance to Frost. You have a 100% Weakness to Fire. While outside during daylight, Health, Magicka and Stamina have an automatic -60 to their total. Nearly all NPCs become hostile and will attack on sight, including spouses and followers. Age-based system – 360 game days to max age, 5 Age levels total: Fledgling Vampire (20 days) Blood Euphoria effect for 4 hours upon feeding Level 1 vanilla power equivalents +5% Regeneration when not in daylight Must feed once every 24 hours or will advance to next Hunger level. Blooded Vampire (45 days) Blood Euphoria effect for 6 hours upon feeding Level 2 vanilla power equivalents +10% Regeneration when not in daylight Conjure Spectral Familiar for 80 seconds once a day Nightstalker Vampire (100 days) Blood Euphoria II effect for 6 hours upon feeding Level 3 vanilla power equivalents +15% Regeneration when not in daylight Frost spells do 5% more damage +5% Damage Bonus when not in daylight +X% Movement Speed when sprinting (to be determined) +X% Jump Height (to be determined) +25 Carrying Capacity +10 Armor Rating when not in daylight (Armor Rating applies in daylight with Blood Euphoria active) Conjure Spectral Familiar for 100 seconds once a day Conjure Ice Wraith for 60 seconds spell Bloodfreeze twice a day Ancient Vampire (200 days) Blood Euphoria II effect for 8 hours upon feeding Level 4 vanilla power equivalents +20% Regeneration when not in daylight Frost spells do 10% more damage +10% Damage Bonus when not in daylight +X% Movement Speed when sprinting (to be determined) +X% Jump Height (to be determined) -X% Fall Damage (to be determined) +35 Carrying Capacity +20 Armor Rating when not in daylight (Armor Rating applies in daylight with Blood Euphoria active) Blood Cloak for 60 seconds once a day Conjure Spectral Familiar for 120 seconds once a day Conjure Ice Wraith for 60 seconds spell Bloodfreeze II four times a day Must feed once every 48 hours or will advance to next Hunger level Master Vampire (final stage) Blood Euphoria III effect for 10 hours upon feeding Level 5 vanilla power equivalents +25% Regeneration when not in daylight Frost spells do 15% more damage +15% Damage Bonus when not in daylight (reduced to 5% in daylight) +X% Movement Speed when sprinting (to be determined) +X% Jump Height (to be determined) -X% Fall Damage (to be determined) +45 Carrying Capacity +35 Armor Rating when not in daylight (Armor Rating applies in daylight with Blood Euphoria active) Blood Cloak II for 60 seconds twice a day Essence Absorb power for 30 seconds once a day Conjure Evanescent Memory for 160 seconds once a day Conjure Ice Wraith for 80 seconds spell Bloodfreeze III six times a day Must feed once every 72 hours or will advance to next Hunger level Blood Potions Requires a Blood Poison to keep the victim still and numb, and an Extraction Apparatus to apply this whilst simultaneously drawing blood. Blood can be drawn from a victim twice every 12 hours (any further attempts will instantly wake up the victim and they will attack you), and extracting blood for a potion will dispel any form of Invisibility. You may feed on someone twice, create two Blood Potions, or do one of each. The recipes for these items will be given to several notable NPC Vampires throughout the game, and occasionally tossed into some generic Vampire layers. Drinking a Blood Potion will temporairly reset your Hunger to Stage 1 for 8 hours; if you do not feed on somebody during this time, you will automatically revert to whatever stage you were previously. This effect will stack if you drink multiple Blood Potions, but all accumulated time will be lost when you next feed. In addition, Blood Potions cannot trigger Blood Euphoria. Unique ability/effect details Blood Euphoria The older a Vampire gets, the more pleasurable the consumption of fresh blood becomes. All Vampires, regardless of age or descent, will become temporarily stronger after a meal. To some extent, they can also resist the negative effects of the sun. Only blood taken directly from a bite will suffice – Blood Potions simply cannot compare to a warm neck. NOTE: This ability does not accumulate time if you feed again whilst Blood Euphoria is active. The fortifications to these stats in each stage will negate their reduction in sunlight as well - that is, at Level I you get the full +15 in sunlight also until the effects wear off. Reductions to damage taken occur after all other damage calculations are done. Level I Fortify Health, Magicka, and Stamina by 15 points each -5% damage taken Health regenerates at 20% of normal rate in sunlight Magicka regenerates at 35% of normal rate in sunlight Stamina regenerates 5% faster in sunlight When out of sunlight, regeneration for all attributes is improved by 10% Level II 1 Charge point is restored for Bloodfreeze (this cannot exceed the Charge cap) Fortify Health, Magicka, and Stamina by 25 points each -10% damage taken Health regenerates at 40% of normal rate in sunlight Magicka regenerates at 55% of normal rate in sunlight Stamina regenerates 15% faster in sunlight When out of sunlight, regeneration for all attributes is improved by 20% Level III 1 Charge point is restored for each applicable ability (this cannot exceed the Charge cap) Fortify Health, Magicka, and Stamina by 35 points each -15% damage taken Health regenerates at 60% of normal rate in sunlight Magicka regenerates at 75% of normal rate in sunlight Stamina regenerates 25% faster in sunlight When out of sunlight, regeneration for all attributes is improved by 35% Spectral Familiar A summon uniquely accessible to Vampires; each Vampire has a specific Spectral Familiar at their beck and call, upon reaching the appropriate age. These spirits are actually lingering remnants of a Vampire's former self, and are obtained as a summon by making a pact with them once a Vampire reaches a certain age. NOTE: Does not take up a Summon slot.(specific mechanics to be determined) Bloodfreeze A power unique to the Volkihar bloodline of Vampires in Skyrim, the ability to freeze the blood of the living with one's breath is obtained when a Vampire of this descent reaches the appropriate age. This power grows stronger as a Volkihar ages, and considerably drains the stamina of anything unfortunate enough to fall victim to it. Master Vampires are also rumored to be capable of causing a brief supernatural Paralysis with this power. It draws directly on the inner cold inherent to all Volkihar, and as such, it can only be used a certain amount of times per day, which also increases with age. Since this power relies on freezing the blood of its targets, it is wholly ineffective against all Undead and Automatons. NOTE: This power is a breath attack that uses the Shout animation. Will have a range between level 2 and 3 Frost Breath, a slightly wider area of effect, and will look like a fast-moving 'frost cloud.' Higher tiers will completely replace lesser versions upon age advancement. Using this power triggers a 24 hour timer, during which you can use your remaining 'charges' whenever you want. Once 24 hours pass, you end up with your max amount of 'charges' only; they do not accumulate. This power has a cooldown equal to the total duration of the effect. The Slow effect starts off very strong, but will quickly weaken to a mid-level Slow within a few seconds. Level I (two charges) Frost and Stamina damage 20 points Frost and Stamina damage 6 points for 10 seconds Slow for 10 seconds -10% physical damage done for 10 seconds -20% Stamina regeneration for 10 seconds Ineffective against Undead and Automatons Level II (four charges) Frost and Stamina damage 25 points Frost and Stamina damage 8 points for 15 seconds Slow for 15 seconds -15% physical damage done for 15 seconds -25% Stamina regeneration for 15 seconds Ineffective against Undead and Automatons Level III (six charges) Frost and Stamina damage 35 points Frost and Stamina damage 10 points for 20 seconds Slow for 20 seconds -25% physical damage done for 20 seconds -35% Stamina regeneration for 20 seconds Paralyze for 3 seconds Ineffective against Undead and Automatons Conjure Ice WraithDue to their unique affinity with the element of Frost, Volkihar that are old enough to channel their inner cold via Bloodfreeze can also summon Ice Wraiths. The Wraiths summoned in this way become stronger and more aggressive as the Vampire in question ages, and the unique and powerful bond between the Wraith and Volkihar also begets stronger Frost resistance to the conjurer for the duration of the summon. NOTE: This summon is an innate spell effect uniquely accessible to Volkihar, and will be a Novice-level Conjuration spell, likely costed somewhere between Adept and Expert Conjuration spells. Specific perks this spell will benefit from are to be determined; its cost is not reduced by any Conjuration proficiency perks and using it does not train your Conjuration skill. However, equipment and apparel reducing Conjuration skill costs will still take effect, making it possible to summon Ice Wraiths for as low as 0 magicka. Blood Cloak Ancient and Master Vampires can project their blood-thirst outwards in the form of an aura, siphoning the vitality of anyone in range. While it does not truly sate their desire for blood, this ability will – to a certain extent – heal the Vampire's wounds. NOTE: Will have a slightly wider range than regular Cloak spells. In addition, Master Vampires can use Level II twice every 24 hours. The first use will trigger a 24 hour timer, during which they can use their remaining 'charge' at any point. Once 24 hours pass, you will end up at 2x 'charges' only; they do not accumulate. Ability duration is 60 seconds. Level I Enemies within range take 10 points of magic damage per second Half the damage done is absorbed as HP, with a cap of 15 HP/second Level II (two charges) Enemies within range take 12 points of magic damage per second Half the damage done is absorbed as HP, with a cap of 18 HP/second Evanescent Memory The final, true form of a Spectral Familiar. This summon has full access to all of a Master Vampire's abilities prior to infection, and wields a unique weapon that may have Vampiric properties of its own... NOTE: Does not take up a Summon slot, and replaces Spectral Familiar entirely. (specific mechanics to be determined) Vérdéran Weapons Upon becoming a Master Vampire, a Volkihar is capable of manifesting a unique weapon known as a Vérdérrelek. These weapons are a physical personification of the Volkihar's inner cold, and appear to be Daedric weapons composed entirely of ice. Vérdéran Weapons, as they are more commonly known, are much lighter than their Daedric counterparts, and are filled with the same bloodlust as their masters, being strongly bonded to them. NOTE: You may only have one Vérdéran Weapon at a time, and may switch between the different types at will once a day. Being a direct manifestation of a Volkihar's soul, they are unaffected by any attempts at disarmament. Essence AbsorbThe most powerful Vampires can briefly imbue their blood-thirst into their attacks. Any physical harm caused in this state will flow into the wielder as raw power, healing their wounds (this does not count as feeding due to the strictly-magical nature of the ability) and restoring their stamina. If a person or creature is slain shortly after being struck, their soul can be trapped for enchanting should an appropriately-sized Soul Gem be in the Vampire's possession. NOTE: This ability will stack with any prior enchantments, and has a 30 second duration. Absorb Health 10 points on strike Absorb Stamina 10 points on strike Soul Trap for 10 seconds on strike Vanilla abilities (where applicable, strengthened by Age level as opposed to Hunger level; in addition, some abilities have been improved, and a 5th tier has been added) Champion of the Night A permanent active effect you gain from Fledgling Vampire onwards that increases the potency of your Illusion spells by 25% Nightstalker's Footsteps A permanent active effect you gain from Fledgling Vampire onwards that makes you 25% harder to detect while sneaking. Vampire Sight A power that grants improved night vision. Level 1 and onwards: Improved night vision. Can be cast multiple times a day and toggled on/off (should no longer automatically turn off after a while; toggle only). Vampire's Servant A power that allows you to reanimate a dead body to fight for you for 80 seconds, on one target a day. It increases in power with every stage of vampirism. Note that servants raised with this power may not always disintegrate to ash as with the standard Conjuration spells (they retain normal form when the timer runs out, but if they are killed in combat, or if you fast travel/change instance, they will disintegrate). NOTE: This power can now be used multiple times a day, but will only work on your initial target until 24 hours pass, after which it resets to having no target. It still won't work if your Servant disintegrates for any reason, however. Level 1: Reanimate a weak dead body for 80 seconds. Level 2: Reanimate an average dead body for 80 seconds. Level 3: Reanimate a strong dead body for 80 seconds. Level 4: Reanimate a very strong dead body for 80 seconds. Level 5: Reanimate an extremely strong dead body for 80 seconds. Vampiric Drain A unique Novice Destruction spell that continuously absorbs a small amount of health from a single target and adds it to your own. While Vampiric Drain can be dual-cast with the corresponding Destruction skill perk, its cost is not reduced by any Destruction proficiency perks and using it does not train your Destruction skill. However, equipment and apparel reducing Destruction skill costs will still take effect, making it possible to cast Vampiric Drain for as low as 0 magicka. Level 1: Drains 2 health per second. Costs 5 magicka per second. Level 2: Drains 3 health per second. Costs 10 magicka per second. Level 3: Drains 4 health per second. Costs 12 magicka per second. Level 4: Drains 5 health per second. Costs 15 magicka per second. Level 5: Drains 6 health per second. Costs 18 magicka per second. Vampire Seduction A power that is similar to the Illusion spell "Calm". It can be used once a day. Useful when vampirism reaches Hunger Stage 4, as it can allow interaction with quest NPCs (improved from the Vanilla version of the power). This ability will have 2 Charges a day upon reaching Age Level 5. Level 2 through 4: Calm creatures and people up to level 25 for 60 seconds. Level 5: Calm creatures and people up to level 25 for 60 seconds twice a day. Embrace Of Shadows A power that is similar to the Illusion spell "invisibility". It also applies improved night vision for the duration of the spell. Interacting with the environment or attacking will make you visible again. It can be used once per day at Age Level 4, and has two Charges at Age Level 5. Level 4: Invisible with improved night vision for 180 seconds once a dayLevel 5: Invisible with improved night vision for 180 seconds twice a day Supplementary Stuff (i.e. what we have planned beyond the core changes - if we can't release any of this, we'll just put out whatever we can; the core changes are obviously top priority) - A simplified AI version of the mod that can be tossed onto enemy Vampies, ideally in such a way that conflicts with other mods that alter enemy distibutions would be minimal. - Trippy dream sequences for advancement between age levels (not to worry, day total will still accumulate before you sleep). - A unique weapon of your choosing, to be obtained at the end of the final dream sequence. - A later 'expansion' mod for a Volkihar-themed Vampire Lair east of Windhelm. Obtaining it will involve defeating the (very cranky) Master Vampire occupant. Skeleton butler and immortal pet Frostbite Spider to be included. - Radiant conflicts between Vampire Hunters and Volkihar of varying strengths throughout eastern Skyrim; likely a supplement to the Lair mod if that gets released. - Retroactive age increases for anyone who was been a vanilla Vampire long enough, utilizing a day counter. (note: the following sections will be updated as frequently as possible, to better maintain transparency for the mod's progress) Work Completed - Altered sunlight penalties to be less punishing, but still become worse as time is spent without feeding. - Created a testing cell inhabited by a sleeping high elf known only as 'Bite Me!' for script testing. - Added a temporary Blood Euphoria bonus upon feeding; successfully debugged. - Finished scripting a system for evolving Vampire abilities as they age up. Work in progress - Added Sepherose to the team for support in texturing, and began work on the Vérdéran Weapon set. - Started work on the Volkihar daily abilities. - Made files for all abilities in Creation Kit; currently filling them out as needed, and bracing for the upcoming slew of debugging. - Testing blood potions and fixing issues in the scripting interface. - Implementation of new abilities unlocked by age, including the Bloodfreeze ability, and the ability to summon a ghost of the vampire's old self. - Debugging Bloodfreeze - Completion of age up script and bugfixing. Thanks for checking this out. May your undead flesh be filled with the blood of unsuspecting mortals :devil: Edited May 31, 2012 by Kyuukei Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myrajia Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 (edited) Anyone interested in any of the three team roles we're recruiting for should feel free to contact me (myra.jia.guerrier (at) gmail.com) via MSN to discuss, as I'm handling recruitment and a lot of the technical aspects of development. (Remainder of this post reserved for later details) Edited February 11, 2012 by Myrajia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darksun45230 Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 - Nightstalker Vampires and older can use the Bloodfreeze power a certain amount of times per day. The potency of this ability and total uses per day will increase as you hit Ancient and Master. Freezing Shout + This = OP Hows about no Shouting (or significantly increased charging times)? Problem solved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyuukei Posted February 11, 2012 Author Share Posted February 11, 2012 (edited) Hmm. Good point. As far as I know, enough damage from just about anything will cause Ice Form to fade away, though. One consideration, therefore, is to ensure that Bloodfreezing someone who is Ice Form'd causes the immobilization to rapidly fade. We intended for Bloodfreeze to cause damage over time anyway, so that might not even need any alteration from a coding standpoint, given that other damage sources allow the target to break free. For clarity, the current intention is for Bloodfreeze to be more like a utility version of Frost Breath, rather than Ice Form. Edited February 11, 2012 by Kyuukei Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoyousDeath Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 I can help play test this mod if you need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack254 Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 Excelent. Perhaps they could Also be the creators of the ice wraith? Maybe you should change their appearance to be more terrifying and Visible. Hopefully you could make them run faster and jump higher (with reduced fall damage) and offer them a massive hand to hand bonus. Maybe make them unable to gain shrine blessings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyuukei Posted February 11, 2012 Author Share Posted February 11, 2012 (edited) The damage bonus was intended to apply unilaterally to everything (this includes Destruction magic), so H2H is indeed covered, yes. The Ice Wraith thing is a cool idea (pun unintended), and I would certainly not object to making the damn things easier to see. Will probably make them an innate summon, likely at Nightstalker level and up. Movement bonus was intended from the get-go at higher stages, independent of whether or not you're in sunlight. Not a very large bonus, mind you, but enough to be notable. Will look into the jump height but insofar as I know that won't be too hard to muck with if it's anything like Oblivion's systemic for it. On reflection, I don't see much reason to remove Shrine blessings, given that healing spells and the like have always worked normally on Vampires in TES, though (sans Daggerfall anyways). Edited February 18, 2012 by Kyuukei Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myrajia Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Hey all, we're early into development, and are looking for a scripter to help debug a couple of things with the existing vampire code in Skyrim. Essentially, the issue is that we're getting unpredictable errors in a few places. I have a piece of simple code to add an ability to the player when they feed, placed in the VampireFeed() function of PlayerVampireQuestScript. (The code is Game.GetPlayer().AddSpell(VolkiharBloodEuphoria01)). What's strange is, I've tested this same code snippet as a script which gets called when the player pushes a button, and it works perfectly fine. However, when it's placed into the existing VampireFeed() function, it fails to activate. I've added a bit of debug code to display a message box in the same function, which DOES go through, leading to much confusion as to what exactly Skyrim's existing scripts are doing. So, help a modding team out? None of us have very much experience in the scripting interface in Bethesda games, just general programming knowledge. Why is a simple function call failing from one place in the code but not in another? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack254 Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 I meant make the vampires easier to see (make them Fook ugly) but i would be happy with the wraiths more visible! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwnedbyscope Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Hey all, we're early into development, and are looking for a scripter to help debug a couple of things with the existing vampire code in Skyrim. Essentially, the issue is that we're getting unpredictable errors in a few places. I have a piece of simple code to add an ability to the player when they feed, placed in the VampireFeed() function of PlayerVampireQuestScript. (The code is Game.GetPlayer().AddSpell(VolkiharBloodEuphoria01)). What's strange is, I've tested this same code snippet as a script which gets called when the player pushes a button, and it works perfectly fine. However, when it's placed into the existing VampireFeed() function, it fails to activate. I've added a bit of debug code to display a message box in the same function, which DOES go through, leading to much confusion as to what exactly Skyrim's existing scripts are doing. So, help a modding team out? None of us have very much experience in the scripting interface in Bethesda games, just general programming knowledge. Why is a simple function call failing from one place in the code but not in another?it could be the way you have it activated, active vs passive, not sure though i have very little experience as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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