Invited in then attacked...

[WilsonBall]

This seems to be a theme, as it happens in so many different scenarios. The latest is upon returning to the Orc stronghold with the Forgemaster's Fingers. He thanks me. Makes me blood-kin or w/e and then everyone attacks. I attempt to brawl with whats-her-name in Whiterun, she pulls her sword. Vilkas hacks me to death when I'm just trying to join the Companions. Is it my breath? Why does everyone attack me?

 

I know this is not much to go on, but I ask anyway -- just in case there is a well-known cause for this and I'm just not finding it.

[Wererommel]

NPCs attack you because they identify you as an enemy. Typically, that means you belong to the wrong faction. When people of many different factions identify you as an enemy, you must have somehow offended all of them, for example, by becoming an assassin or a vampire, or committing monstrous crimes. When my character became a slaver, he acquired a negative stigma that caused everyone to treat him like dirt. However, I used the Become A Bard mod and played in all the taverns, mastered the bardic skill, and slaver or not, I was welcomed everywhere. You might also want to try this mod:

 

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/22374

[anjenthedog]

in addition the what Wererommel said, it's also possible that your game just got glitched. It happens to me every so often. Not sure but it *seems* to have something to do with certain battles with highlevel enemies and big power hits on player (sorts of ht that results in a stun...can't think of the gamer name for that) . I have to step back a save or three to recover (ie find the first save backstepping that does not exhibit the issue) . There's no fixing it (as far as I can tell) once it gets corrupted with some glitches like screwed up factions, or at least "fixing it", isn't really worth the trouble (to me), since progressing in Skyrim is pretty easy anyway.

 

best wishes.

[HadToRegister]

I was having this happen to me as well, people who were supposed to be friendly started attacking me.

Turns out I had a bounty on my head that I didn't know I had

Somewhere along the line (Probably in Riften) when a thief showed up during the night and attacked me, I must've accidentally clipped a guard in the process before running out of the city.

[anjenthedog]

I was having this happen to me as well, people who were supposed to be friendly started attacking me.

 

Turns out I had a bounty on my head that I didn't know I had

 

Somewhere along the line (Probably in Riften) when a thief showed up during the night and attacked me, I must've accidentally clipped a guard in the process before running out of the city.

+1. I totally forgot about that possibility. Also can happen while assisting a guard to take care of some threat. (ie you accidentally hit, or worse, kill one)

[Wererommel]

I once did something (I never figured out what) to offend a guard in Markarth so that he attacked me. That was bad enough. I had the Sassy Teens mod installed, and it turns out that all sassy teens automatically belong to my faction. So when a guard attacked me, every sassy teen in the city started attacking the guards. The guards lost, there were heaps of them everywhere. Sassy teens are leveled and guards apparently aren't. I had to go back to an old save.

 

Another time, I was in a village (maybe it was Dragon Bridge) and I accidentally hit a villager. Everyone in town attacked me. Sometimes, even your own followers will attack you, if you kill the wrong person. The only remedy is going back to an old save.