I've been a big fan of Mount & Blade the past few months and there are a lot of things I like about the game design. A lot of the ideas for this mod have been taken directly from Mount & Blade. One of the things that really peeved me with Skyrim is that there is a civil war, but it can be completely unnoticed. On top of that, a majority of the game is static and it does not feel like the world is actually alive unless the player interacts with it. This mod aims to make the world and factions feel more alive, making Skyrim feel like an actual war zone. I don't know what is possible with the creation kit, but these are some of the things that the mod will try to accomplish. I realize the scope of this mod is pretty massive, so the first step will be to determine what is possible and then broken into three phases of development. The first phase being the faction overhaul, the second being armies, and the third being kingdoms. Faction Overhaul Certain factions will be declared major or minor factions. Major factions will have a stronger presence in the world, have bigger armies, and will control the major cities. Minor factions will have smaller armies and may not control anything. More on the kingdom and army system below. Major Factions Imperial Legion Thalmor Stormcloaks Minor Factions Bandits Necromancer Daedric Cult Vampire Coven Adventure Company More to be decided, just a sample list to give you an idea. Reputations The player and special units (army leaders for major factions) will have reputations with major and minor factions. These reputations will adjust based on battles and attacking cities. For example, if necromancer's are fighting a group of imperials, then you get involved and kill the imperials, you will gain reputation with the necromancer faction. If you attack a city owned by Stormcloak's (even if you win or lose), then you will lose reputation with them. If your reputation is +25 with a faction, you will be able to recruit units from that faction. If your reputation is -5 or lower with a faction, you will be attacked on sight by them. Kingdom Overhaul In order for factions to really have a presence in Skyrim, they should be able to control towns and have to defend them. All of the major cities, towns, and forts will be able to be owned by factions. These towns will mostly be controlled by major factions due to the upkeep cost and amount of guards that will be defending them, but they will be raided by minor factions on occasion. Eventually towers, caves, ruins, and mines will be controllable and will be the preferred locations for minor factions. In order for players to know who owns what location, there will be faction flags next to each location. Cost and Upgrades Every location will come with a monthly upkeep cost and will have upgrade options. Players will be able to interact with a steward who will have dialogue options for purchasing a variety of guards (archers, warriors, casters) and also upgrades for the location. The player will leave gold and items in a coffer that will be taken from each month. If the coffer is empty, it will attempt to take it directly from the player. If the player cannot afford it, then guards will abandon their post allowing the location to be taken by anyone. City Sieging All of these locations can be taken if everyone in said location is killed. There will be an indicator letting the player know how many defenders are left in the city. Depending on how many guards there are, there may be a limit to how many are active at a single time. Because of that, some battles may involve multiple waves of defenders. Army and Prison System Armies The major factions will have armies that are led by a special leader which will determine the type of units in the army, the size of the army, and their wealth. Minor factions cannot be led by a special leader, but they can still band together. There are limitations on the size of the army depending on who is leading them, therefore the minor armies will be much smaller due to army size restrictions. Recruiting You will be able to recruit units by finding them in the wild or by going to cities controlled by factions. Not all unit's will be available at all times, so you will have to go out and find them! Upkeep/Cost Every unit that is recruited to an army will have a weekly upkeep cost. If you cannot afford to pay your army, they will start to abandon. Units and Upgrading Every unit has stats and skills depending on their tier level. Their level is dictated by experience and the player manually upgrading them. Every time a unit gains a level, they will have the option of upgrading to a higher tier of that unit or branching off to another type of unit if applicable. When they reach the highest tier of that unit type, they will still upgrade their stats/skills every time they gain levels. This is just an example, the unit tiers will have to be given much thought: Tier 1: Stormcloak Militia > Tier 2: Stormcloak Mage > Tier 3: Stormcloak Conjuror > Tier 3: Stormcloak Healer > Tier 3: Stormcloak Elementalist > Tier 2: Stormcloak Infantry > Tier 3: Stormcloak Swordsman > Tier 3: Stormcloak Calvary > Tier 2: Stormcloak Archer > Tier 3: Stormcloak Sharpshooter Every time a unit is upgraded, they will gain additional skill, better gear, and also have a higher upkeep cost. Death & Morale Every unit has a morale stat. If the unit sees someone in your army die, they will lose morale. If they lose too much morale, they will abandon you. They will gain morale every time they see or kill an enemy or you win a battle. If the unit dies, they will be dead for good. Prisoners Whenever an army is defeated or units begin to flee, the player has the choice of rounding up units as prisoners. If they so choose, they can just let the units run away and leave them to their fate. Some of these units can be recruited, especially if found in the wild awhile after defeating them. Prisoners can be put into prisons (an upgrade available to cities, towns, and forts) or sold for gold. Final Thoughts There is a lot that can be done with this mod if done right. These are some of the basic concepts that would lay the foundation for something that could be made into something even greater. Skyrim focuses too much on the individual hero, but there is no option to raise an army and lead them into a massive war. Skyrim is such a massive and open game, but there are strict limitations on what there is to do in the game. If I want to improve my faction with necromancers, raise an army of the undead, and lay waste to towns, then this should be an option! These are ideas that I want the mod to live by: If you go into a cave that is occupied by vampires, clear it out, and take things. Then you go back to that cave a month later, it should be occupied by a different (or same!) faction with new items and units. Who says you are the only one traveling out in the wild? A pack of bandits, an imperial army, or a group of necromancers should not be scripted events, they should be adventuring just the same as you are. Who says you can't be a jarl? Who says you can't be the king or queen of skyrim?! Heck, who says you can't be an imperial general?! You should have the option to decide these things. House? Yeah right, you should be able to own cities. Do you know how many artifacts and gold I have?! If there is a civil war, then why is no one attacking the cities? Bandits should be raiding towns, imperials should be attacking towns controlled by stormcloaks and vise versa.
