Striker879

According to this UESP Wiki article it can't be used to capture NPC souls in it's un-modded state (if you follow the Black Soul Gem link on that page you'll see some interesting tidbits about creating black soul gems in the notes at the bottom of the page). Soul Gems are in their own branch off the Items category in the CS. Looking at Azura's Star vs the black soul gems I see no differences when you bring up their edit windows ... each have grand soul capacity, which is the largest available. I didn't see any flags that could be set, and no scripts are assigned any but the Colossal Black Soul Gem (used in Mages Guild quest Ambush). Of the two hidden columns in the CS (FormID and Size) the size value for Azura's Star is actually larger than a black soul gem (10 vs 9). If Azura's Star can be modified to hold an NPC's soul I would think you'll need a script (an observation coming from a non-scripter ... use a suitable amount of salt).

When you drop a paint brush it doesn't drop to the ground like you might expect. If you drop some in such a way that they form 'stairs' you can jump from one 'step' to the next. Having a telekinesis spell can help if you're trying to build a 'ladder' up to or over something tall. You can also just use the console (the tilde (~) key opens it) and then the command "tcl" (without the quotes) to toggle the game's collision off, if you're just looking for a way into an unaccessible spot (lets you fly with disregard for gravity). Toggle collision back on using a second "tcl", but make sure you're not too far from the ground.

A tip from another 'every-book-in-its-place' guy ... place a book ... save ... place another book ...

My vote goes to fore and his NoMaaM series. Not only is fore active in supporting his mods (as well as developing new and improved content) he is active on these forums helping support other people's mods and budding animators where he can. If I'm allowed more than one nomination, Emma and CDCooley have to be close to the top, if not at the top, of all time active supporters of a mod with Vilja.

No none at all. I only posted it because I thought you might appreciate some ideas on where to venture next. There aren't any true 'spoilers' in the thread that I can recall ... mostly just where people go first when they exit the sewers and their reasoning for doing so. Even the vanilla game quests have plenty of 'gotchas' (things that break quests because they were done in the wrong order mostly). You won't get any in-game warnings beforehand or indications why a quest won't advance. I use the UESP Wiki resources because stuff like that bugs me and I want to avoid pitfalls where possible. You'll need to develop you're own way of dealing with the inevitable disappointments ... you will have some. Overall the game is still enjoyable for me ... I just take a different approach than you (and that doesn't make either method better ... just different).

The only other place I've ever downloaded Oblivion mods from is Planet Elder Scrolls (I'm about as conservative as they come when it comes to downloading stuff). I got the video link from this thread started by Talonvore (he indicated that it was helpful).

Have you tried disabling those mods to see if the problem persists? Here's a link to bben46's guide for reverting to vanilla Oblivion. You could also help us by posting a load order. Here's bben46's guide for doing that.

Here's a link to the UESP Wiki walkthrough of Breaking the Siege of Kvatch. The other gate quests that have a wiki walkthrough are The Wayward Knight (the Cheydinhal Oblivion Gate), Bruma Gate, Great Gate (also at Bruma) and the two Daedric shrine quests for Boethia and Peryite. None of the random gates have quests attached ... there are map resources available on the wiki but I've never seen anything showing stages or similar. The CloseCurrentOblivionGate console command will only work while you are in the Oblivion plane ... to close one while outside in Tamriel use CloseOblivionGate after you click the gate with the console open to get a refID at the top of your screen for that particular gate. When you pick up the sigil stone do you get the "Sigil Stone has been added to your inventory" message?

OK ... I got that one from watching Hickory here working his magic. You're probably way more advanced than I at the ins and outs of Wrye Bash ... afraid I won't be of much help.

Open the console using the tilde (~) key (top left corner of standard keyboards). Enter "CloseCurrentOblivionGate" without the quotation marks. The gate will close and you'll be back outside.

Do you have any de-activated mods still located in you Data folder. You are getting close to the 255 mod limit, and Oblivion will still see those de-activated mods. This will put you over the limit. Move the de-activated mods outside your Oblivion directory.

Not all of the towers you see in Oblivion have a sigil stone at the top. The tower that has the stone will have a column of fire up the center. The last area will be through doors to the Sigillum Sanguis. If you want more details about the different Oblivion planes and towers here's a UESP Wiki link.

Here's a link to a thread in the Spoilers section: What's the first thing you do ... . It comes from the Spoilers section ... you chose whether to click or not. Have fun. :biggrin:

Here's a link to on using Obilivion Mod Manager (OBMM). My advice is check that all is working correctly in the game after you install but before installing any mods. Only install one or two mods at a time and check in-game to make sure everything is OK before moving on to the next (this will make troubleshooting any problems much easier).

First thing to get out of the way is ... have you installed Oblivion in the default C:\Program Files (x86) location? If it is in Program Files and you have installed any mods the Microsoft security feature called UAC is interfering. If you need to uninstall to move Oblivion to the preferred location for Windows 7 (which is C:\Games\Oblivion) one of the moderators here bben46 has posted this uninstall/re-install guide to help get the job done completely and correctly. When you re-install start Oblivion before adding any mods and confirm problem free gaming. Install mods one or two at a time and check in-game before moving on to the next. This makes finding a troublesome mod much easier. If you are already installed outside the Program Files directory posting a load order would help. Here's a link to a guide on doing that if you need help. If it's a long load list put a ["spoiler"] tag (without the quotes) before the list and another ["/spoiler"] (again without the quotation marks) after the list. Don't forget the slash (/) in front of the second spoiler.

This falls under the category Cheats (or you may decide to call them quest optimizers). Open the console with the tilde (~) key, click on the door you want open and enter "unlock" (without the quotes). It will probably be a little less exciting if you do this before getting everyone in an uproar. :tongue:

This tip doesn't get to the cause of your problem, but offers a way to close the current gate. While still in Oblivion after taking the sigil stone open the console using the tilde (~) key and enter "CloseCurrentOblivionGate" (without the quotes). You will be transported back and the gate will close. If the next gate gives the same problem you may need to do some further troubleshooting, but this may jog things back to normal.

Here's a link to FormID Finder and RefScope. They're both utilities to help find where things you find in game come from. I believe Wrye Bash also has a utility for doing that (could be wrong there ... going by memory of something I read, not experience). As LFact noted above, both FormID and RefScope require OBSE installed to work.

Do you recall what mods you installed just prior to this happening??

Actually if you raise their disposition towards you high enough (i.e. maxed) before you start the Dagon Shrine quest some (if not most) won't attack. I only got jumped once after the Dagon Shrine quest, so now I have a few 'tame' agents left in my game (main quest done).

He doesn't come up on a UESP Wiki search. Did you get the name spelled right (or perhaps he's added by a mod)??

Here's a UESP Wiki article on Useful Enchantments that I found particularly useful when figuring out the ins and outs of weapon enchanting. Note the caveat halfway down the page on enchantment stacking. The order you place them in the enchanting altar window is important if you want to get bang for your buck. Also consider that weakness to elemental damage does not stack, whereas weakness to magic does. Use the time variable to not waste enchanting cost on weakness to elemental damge but take advantage of weakness to magic stacking. Example ... if it takes you two seconds between arrows and let's say you're using some fire enchanted arrows you want to have no more than two seconds weakness to fire on your bow with at least a four second weakness to magic at the bottom of the list in the enchanting window. Your first arrow causes base fire damage plus arrow damage. Your second arrow (if it hits before the weakness to magic from the first times out) has it's fire damage multiplied by the stacked weakness to magic plus the weakness to fire plus it's arrow damage. Weakness to magic is relatively cheap enchanting cost wise, you can completely eliminate the weakness to fire and not lose much (and gain quite a bit in enchanting cost). I agree with Skevitj that drain effects are difficult to use effectively. All the drain effects need damage and weakness to magic to have true utility (I do have a really sweet damage/drain fatigue bow I could give you that I created special for Mankar Camoran ... works almost too good :tongue: ).

The 'A Mage's Staff' is one of the simple short type quests. The options you have for your staff are listed on this UESP Wiki walkthrough. At the time I thought a paralyze staff would be kick-a$$, but I scarcely ever use it. I picked up an area affect 1 second paralyze staff that's far more effective (works as crowd control and you don't have to hit your target, just close). Your mileage may vary, depending on how often you get out a staff rather than something sharp (or heavy). Without a blank staff I don't think you'll be able to use Frostcrag to enchant a staff (it won't enchant an already enchanted item ... same as the Archane University).

Perhaps the mod author named the items with a non-intuitive name. Have you asked on the mod's Comments page for help??

Do you have Oblivion Script Extender (OBSE) installed and working? It's listed as a mod requirement (the link I provided is for the latest stable version, there is a v0020b5 version but it's beta and may not be your best bet at this stage ... v0019b exceeds the mod's requirement).