LE Dovahkiir - Custom Race Concept

[RalinDrakus]

 

***BACKSTORY***

 

We know that Dragons are beings of immense magical and physical power, and that they were worshiped by mortal man as gods in the mythic eras preceding all written history. To manage their mortal slave populations the Dragons taught some men the Dragon tongue and awarded them powerful masks as symbols of their power. However, what if the Dragon Priests where not the direct voice of the dragons to the people? What if it wasn't the dragons themselves who taught the Dragon Priests how to speak in the dragon language or crafted their masks? What if the dragons created beings in both the slaves and their own image, who's sole purpose in life was to be the voice of the dragons will - the Dovahkiir: Children of the Dragons.

 

We know that the dragons were extremely aloof when it came to the affairs of mortals - they considered the management of these slave populations below their interest. The Dovahkiir were a race of immortal overseers conceived from dragon blood and dovah necromantic magic. Not only did they wield the power of the voice, but they also possessed great physical and magical strength to enforce the laws of the dragons. They were sent to all the mortal cities and were greeted as Messiahs. The great towering barrows that dot Skyrim were built as thrones for them, the Dragon Priests who later ruled them were little more than mortal advisers who cowered before the glory of true descendants of their gods. In the game we are taught that it was Paarthurnax who first taught mortal men the ways of the voice. But we have to assume that they were talking about the first mortal RESISTANCE fighters because the Dragon Priests had known the dragon tongue for generations already. As mortal populations grew, the Dovahkiir began to delegate their responsibilities to their most fervent worshipers and to loyal advisers. These men became the priests of what was later known as the Dragon Cult. As rewards for service and works completed they were granted words of power and their masks. Their small numbers and growing arrogance led the Dovahkiir to hand out more and more of their authority to their priests. The priests themselves also grew obsessed with their new found power and pressed their people to build more and more opulent monuments to the dragons. It was at this point in history that mortals began to resist. The dragons together with the Dovahkiir and their priests fought to extinguish the rebellion, but mankind would not be denied.

 

When Alduin was lost in time, the Dovahkiir continued to fight with the remnants of their dragon creators for many years. The outcome of the war was however a foregone conclusion. Generations later, as the first Akaviri knights crusaded to hunt down the last of the dragons, the Dovahkiir and their remaining priests gathered in Bleak Falls Barrow. It was there that they decided to disperse to their now decrepit palaces and resign themselves to sleep until the return of their overlord. The priests and their loyal followers became the undead of today as they guarded the barrows and the resting Dovahkiir. There they wait until Alduin's return.

 

 

***RACE CONCEPT***

I came up with this story after creating an agonian character that uses Anton's Animated Dragon Wings, Drachis's Argonian Skin Replacer, and Artifex0's Argonian Raptor Feet. It's been easy enough for me as only a mod user to simply combine mods together on my character and adjust his skills via console commands, however the story behind him has sparked enough of my imagination that I thought I should share it in case others might be interested.

 

* * *

 

Most of the actual work for the body has already been done by the following creators:

 

The concept is to take an Argonian using Drachis Argonian Body

 

http://static-1.nexusmods.com/15/mods/110/images/981-1-1324343280.jpg

 

Link: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/981/?

Using the Drachis body replacer would give the Dovahkiir a unique look that would set them apart from the Argonians.

 

 

Combined with Anton0028's Animated Dragon Wings

 

http://static-2.nexusmods.com/15/mods/110/images/53271-3-1399112748.jpg

 

Link: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/53271/?

 

The wings are perfect for a new race. They react to your movement through behavioral files and the mod adds a gliding/jump assist that doesn't give full flight but definitely give you an advantage.

 

As well as adding Artifex0's Argonian Raptor Feet

 

http://static-3.nexusmods.com/15/mods/110/images/19283-3-1340475622.jpg

 

Link: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/19283/?

 

Again, this would give the Dovahkiir another physical difference from Argonians.

 

* * *

Assuming that permissions can be attained from these creators, nearly all the hard work has already been done. I know Anton's and Artifex0's mods have been combined with other projects so there shouldn't be a problem there. And unless he has reappeared Drachis's mod has been abandoned for some time.

 

The one alteration to any of these mods would be to make Anton's wings copy the skintone of the character they are attached to in the same way ClarkWasHere's Dread Tentacles do:

 

http://static-2.nexusmods.com/15/mods/110/images/54586-1-1402081059.jpg

 

The wings will need to have a unique slider added to the character creation menu and cycled like hair.

 

***GAMEPLAY***

 

Stat wise I don't want to make them OP. Weakened by millennia of slumber the Dovahkiir would emerge from their ruins weak and would need to slowly rebuild their strength (via vanilla leveling system). They are however descended directly from Dragons, and some appropriate bonuses should be considered. A bonus to their magica reserve countered by a weakening of their stamina (Their magical powers would have been flowing to keep them alive all these years, maintaining some power, but their bodies have grown weak and must be exercised by killing mortal beings in the world).

 

For the voice acting of NPC's of the Dovahkiir race, if it is at all possible, it would be awesome if vanilla dragon dialog could be used. I'm not sure how deep the dragon voice files go, but scavenging from all the dragons used in the game might be enough. If not the standard Argonian voices should work fine.

 

They would be a very tall race. I would imagine them being at least as tall as High Elves. However they would have the same bulk options as an orc or nord.

 

***Associated Mods***

 

This is the difficult part. To implement this mod correctly as written in the backstory it would require something of an overhaul. The character could be played as a creature who has made a new life for himself and decided to defend mankind. This would be the one option that would allow for a vanilla playthrough. Any NPC's made could be new boss enemies who you knew in your past life who you now have to defeat for the sake of your new patrons, mankind.

 

However I feel it would be a really cool campaign mod built for this race, but could be adapted to any character, to become allied with the dragons and conquer Skyrim. At the start of the game you would have to be enemies with most all the NPC's in the game, your only allies the Drauger and dragons.

 

The start of the game would have to be different (I'm thinking the coolest intro would be to pop out of the coffin in Bleak Falls Barrow as an adventurer is reading the Word of Power on the wall behind you, the Dragon Stone in your inventory. How cool would it be to play as the antihero who kills the man you are supposed to be. On the adventurer's body you find a note asking him to warn the Jarl of Whiterun about the return of the dragons).

 

The way I'm playing the character currently, he is loyal to the Dragons. I've added him to the dragon priest, drauger, and dragon factions. I can enter the barrows at will, and it's a very interesting experience - It's like my character is returning home and reclaiming his palace and hidden treasures.

 

One difficult issue to resolve would be how to receive dragon souls and shouts if you aren't able to follow the main quest and you're allied to the dragons themselves. This could be addressed by granting the player souls at the start of the game, or creating a process of receiving a soul for every dragon you interact with similar to the way you receive a shout and soul from the Gray Beards.

 

I'm really not asking for a total overhaul of the main quest to accommodate just this new race or one character, but it definitely sounds fun to me. If anyone is interested enough in the idea to tackle it I am more than will to assist in any way that I can.

 

Any thoughts or interest in making any of these mods mentioned? Lets discuss!

 

 

[RalinDrakus]

What I'm hoping the end result will look like (sorry for the poor quality. Will try to take more soon)

 

http://static-3.nexusmods.com/15/images/110/643917-1409285617.jpg

[SethUlrik]

I'm sadly no modder, but I have to say, this is a VERY well thought out idea. Perhaps there is a "Alternative Life" mod you can use to make the beginning. The wing coloration sounds like it'd be a cinch in the Creation Kit thingy (not entirely sure as I've not used it myself.) Sorry that this isn't too helpful, but I really like the direction you are going with.

[RalinDrakus]

I appreciate that thank you. I'm the same way, no modeling skills whatsoever. I don't even have the construction kit. Forty hours of work crammed into three days and two kids the rest of the time keeps my Skyrim experience limited to play only. There are several projects I would love to have built for my various RP characters that I don't believe would be that hard, just don't have the time to learn how to do it myself.

 

Here's another pic of what I'm aiming for from my Steam account

[SethUlrik]

I can understand the crammed schedule problems. On a side note, looking at the character you're wanting, I'd suggest adding the 'flying mod' as well. It's still beta, but it seems to work pretty decent, and gives you another aspect of draconian style.

[RalinDrakus]

I considered that and have tried the flying mod, but it's so buggy I wouldn't want it implemented into a race mod. Lore wise for the race itself I'm not sure total flight would be physically possible for them anyway. The wing mod comes with an enhanced jump when the wings are equipped, if this could be improved and given more control that would be enough for me, anyone who wants actual flight for the race could then just add the flying mod on their own

[SethUlrik]

Very true. Have you thought about utilizing the 50% version of the animated wings? Since the race isn't 'flight capable'?

[RalinDrakus]

I have. I've tried the standard sized, the 50%, and the 150% scale wings. Both aesthetically and realistically I believe the original sized wings would be perfect. The physical demands of flight are incredibly high, and even wings that size wouldn't allow sustained flight. The human body really just isn't built for it. We're too heavy and the muscle structure isn't placed right. The argument could be made that the dragons in Skyrim themselves have wings that are too small for the flight they have. That could introduce arguments of what allows them lift and how they can remain in the air while being so large (magic, gasses produced to create dragon fire and ice, etc.). The same could apply to the Dovahkiir and allow the use of a flying mod if desired.

 

*EDIT*

Wow sorry for that massive post that made no sense. Trying to post from my phone and it wasn't going well. There was a lot more I was trying to add and just couldn't paste it together properly

Edited September 2, 2014 by Ralin Drakus

[RalinDrakus]

PHYSICAL CHANGES TO EXISTING MODS

Here is a list of all the modifications that I feel would be needed or at least beneficial to the existing mods I linked in the first post to properly create the Dovahkiir race as envisioned:

 

 

ANTON'S DRAGON WINGS

(Anton, if you're reading this I believe these would all be amazing additions to your current stand alone mod)

 

1. As I stated in the first post, one of the key changes to the Dragon Wings would be the ability of the mod to change it's texture to the same skin color as the player or NPC who has the wings equipped. I'm sure this can be done as referenced to with ClarkWasHere's Dread Tentacle Argonian hair mod. This key improvement would be essential to allowing the player to have maximum free will in choosing his character's skin tone rather than fighting with the color sliders to match his character to a set of wings that may be perfect in look but not an ideal color, or for that matter a set of wings that are the right shade but are not the style of wings most aesthetically pleasing to the player. All of the dragon wings Anton chose are excellent, but with my own experience I found that my favorite sets were in color variations that I was not fond of and was forced to choose a different set simply to get them to match up with my characters skin color.
2. I would also really like to see an enhancement to the jump and glide effect that Anton was able to apply to characters who have the dragon wings equipped. The current setting is a vast improvement over the previous release of the wing mod that gave no performance improvements to the character themselves. When the mod was first released the wings were simply an amazing set of eye candy that reacted to the player jumping, running, hiding, etc., but gave no changes or improvements to the players actual abilities unless you also installed PorroOne's flying mod. A couple updates later Anton then added an enhanced jump affect and falling damage immunity to characters who have his wings equipped. This was a vast improvements, and as ever the wings react very naturally to your actions. However, I would like to see a little more done with this to improve on the enhancements while staying life like. My biggest issue with the current jump setting in the mod is the lack of distance you are able to travel. With your wings deployed, you should be able to glide quite some distance while slowly descending. With the current settings if I were to, for example, jump off the Throat of the World's highest peak, my forward movement would stop at a similar distance to a vanilla jump and then I would fall at a normal speed all the way to the bottom of the mountain, but still take no damage. I think this could be made much more realistic by greatly slowing the speed of descent, and allowing for continuous forward movement until your feet reach the ground again. It's not flight, but it's definitely a useful tool when escaping a threat or if you just don't feel like walking all those damn steps back down the mountain again. As to the height of jumps, this brings me to a question. Because of the lack of space inside buildings or the tunnels of caves, the current jump setting really can't be improved much more than it already is else your character will be smashing their head into the roof or worse breaking the game and accidentally jumping through the roof into Oblivion. However, would it be possible to create a mod (or does one already exist that I haven't seen?) that would allow you to strike the jump button and increase your height while in mid air? Think in terms of The Force Unleashed, where you are able to jump again while in mid air. If this could be done, whether continuously or only once like in The Force Unleashed, that would be an amazing addition to Anton's wing mod and would, combined with the improved gliding distance that I outlined above, essentially give flight to your character without downloading the Flying Mod. Additionally, if Anton can further work his magic with his wing's behavior recognition and either copy over the Bethesda dragon take-off animation (that single, first, strong flap of the wings that gets them airborne and creates the dust cloud as their feet leave the ground) or create his own each time the jump button is pushed, than a truly breathtaking mod has been made.

 

Drachis Argonians

 

This is of course a difficult or probably impossible request since the mod has not been worked on in a very long time. I looked at the mod's home page and noticed that Drachis did say he had returned and wanted to continue work on the project but that he wasn't sure if or when he'd have the time. However, he also gave permission to the modding community to use and update his textures at will as long as credit was given. If anyone is willing to take on the task, the Drachis Argonian body replacer is an amazing mod and essential for the look I'm going for in the Dovahkiir race. Like my suggestions for Anton above these are not exclusive to my request for a specific race and I believe these could be great improvements to the stand alone mod

1. Finishing the texture work that is already present. I believe that Drachis even states on the mod page that this was not a finished product. As good as the skin looks, the arms seem rather bare compared to all the heavy dragon plate that was added to the back and chest. Some subtle, cleanly added dragon scales to the shoulders, forearms, backs of the hands, and crown of the head might truly perfect this mod.
2. Addition of female textures. This has always been one of the most lacking features of the Drachis Argonian mod, especially as a race. As a simple Argonian replacer, it could be explained away as a gender difference, but as a separate race the adaptation of this skin for females would really make a big difference.

[RalinDrakus]

Additionally I would like to link a couple other mods that I forgot to include in my original post that would be perfect for the Dovahkiir Race:

 

FEARIL's BAT (Bigger Argonian Tails)

http://static-4.nexusmods.com/15/mods/110/images/17339-1-1337454196.jpg

LINK:

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/17339/?

DEROK and DIDACT2401's Better Claws and Gauntlets

http://static-2.nexusmods.com/15/mods/110/images/52918-1-1397309895.jpg

Link: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/52918/?