Okay, I'm the new guy and that's my first posting in those forums. I got Skyrim pretty much at the release day, but was unable to play it for a while since my ol' rig was far too slow. Now I got a new one, Skyrim runs smoothly - and I finally made it that far the marry option became available. I think it's pretty much incomplete the way it is. In Oblivion someone had created a companion mod (I think it was Alba), an ex-slave, who follows you around and develops a sweet love for your character. I loved to keep her around, especially since she was incredible helpful. Skyrim finally offers the option to marry some characters, regardless of race, sex and age (except children). All you need is to find a fitting character (like Aela or Lydia), fulfill the prereqs (usually finishing some quests), have the amulet - and done. After that, your new spouse generates some income, cooks food, some of them are followers as well and provide some extra bonuses. Despite that, it's more or less a small gimmick with little to no impact. Here my suggestion / request for a mod that improves that little feature to full blown romances and more. Act I - Basic Romance Development Arc That's the chapter with the absolute basic request for that mod. Not sure what can be done and what not with the tools, so - feel free to say "yay" or "nay". Basically, the romance plot consists of four parts. Those four parts "simulate" different stages of a romance, each with some bonuses (or minus points) and other influences on your character or gameplay. Stage One: In love That's the first stage and it doesn't require much. You need to do a favor to the one you want as lover and you might need some points in the right skill tree. Those skills shouldn't be too far away from the tree's roots, otherwise you'll need a very high level to romance at all - and that's a no go. Bonuses: Health +20% (love interest doesn't have to be nearby) Magicka +20% (dito) Lover's Comfort (for sleeping in same bed, like in vanilla game) "In love" is a temporary state that starts to degrade after a while, simulating that "in love" slowly turns into "normal love". I think, one full week (7 days) should be enough for this stage, after that time, the bonuses start to degrade by 2% per day, except "Lover's Comfort). That process stops at a minimum of 5%. This is important for those who want to be "in love" for the rest of the game without getting into more. Stage Two: Engaged Love The prerequesite for this stage is to be in love for at least 7 days. New dialogue options become available: - Suggesting to get engaged - Breaking up The second option "breaking up" will end the relationship. That LI isn't lost forever, you just need to give him or her some time to recover, before you can start over again (in love stage). Also any bonuses are lost. Picking the first option gets you into that second stage and a new quest appears: you need to get icons of your new status - rings! Those rings: - have made of the same material - have to be made either of silver or gold - can bear a gem of any kind - can be enchanted Those rings can be used like any other ring, however, they're essential and can't be destroyed / dropped / sold as long as you're in the engaged love stage. Fine - you're engaged now. The bonuses of "in love" are getting replaced by the bonuses of this new stage. Bonuses: Health I +10% (love interest doesn't have to be nearby) Health II +15% (love interest is nearby, stacks with first health bonus) Magicka I +10% (same as with health) Magicka II + 15% (dito) Lover's Comfort (like vanilla game, sleeping in same bed) Lover's Passion (10% bonus on Stamina for 16 hour, sleeping in same bed) Also, like in the "in love stage", bonuses start to degrade after a while, which is going to happen after four full weeks, however, it's less problematic than in the first stage. Only Health I and Magicka I degrade - by 1% per day, however, down to 0%, which means those bonuses get removed entirely. You still have Health II and Magicka II bonuses, if your spouse is a follower. Also the bonuses of Lover's Comfort and Lover's Passion will never degrade. Stage Three: Marriage The prerequesite for this stage is to be engaged for at least 14 days. New dialogue options become available: - Preparing for Marriage - Breaking up The second option "breaking up" will end the relationship. That LI isn't lost for good, however, time to recover for him or her is longer than breaking up in first stage (at least 14 days) until you can start from the beginning. Also breaking up at this stage will apply minus points on your character, displaying the grief you have to suffer: Penalties: Health: -5% Magicka: -5% Stamina: -5% They'll vanish after a few days and can't be cured. If you pick the first option, you'll get a short series of quests you need to finish before you can marry the LI: - get an Amulet of Mara - get wedding rings - travel to Temple of Mara in Riften and marry your LI - (optional) Rite of the Nine Without the Amulet you can't marry the LI at all and, obviously, you need the rings. Those Rings: - have made of the same material - have to be made of gold - need to bear a rare gem: Sapphire, Emerald or Diamond - can be enchanted Those rings can be used like any other ring, however, they're essential and can't be destroyed / dropped / sold as long as you're in the married stage. Once you got those three items, you need to travel to the Temple of Mara in Riften and undergo the wedding ceremony. There's also an optional quest which becomes available after the wedding ceremony: "Rite of the Nine". That quest has only one real purpose: to make your new wife or husband "essential" - he or she can no longer die in combat. It also makes your spouse to a follower, regardless if he or she was one before already. As soon as your character and the LI are married, you get full bonuses - and they won't vanish after a while. Bonuses: Health I +10% (love interest doesn't have to be nearby) Health II +15% (love interest is nearby, stacks with first health bonus) Magicka I +10% (same as with health) Magicka II + 15% (dito) Lover's Comfort (like vanilla game, sleeping in same bed) Lover's Passion (15% bonus on Stamina for 16 hour, sleeping in same bed) Two Hearts beating as One: your Health Regeneration is doubled, if your spouse is a follower. Also, the LI receives the same bonuses mentioned in this list. You also get some extra features like "cooking meals", "extra income" - pretty much like in the vanilla game. Stage Four: Lost Love Basically, this stage is "optional". Prereqs are: be married and you either broke up with your spouse or he/she died. To break up with your LI, you simply need to talk to him/her and pick the last option: "break up". You'll be asked TWICE before there's no way back. As soon as you break up, you'll experience several consequences: - LI will leave your house and return to his/her original place - LI won't give you any bonuses anymore - LI won't be a follower anymore (permanently!) - LI won't be essential anymore - LI won't be available for a renewed romance anymore (with one exception) - The rings your LI had will get destroyed. - You'll suffer some penalties which die off after a few days The only way to win back the LI is to travel to the Temple of Mara and beg for forgiveness - which comes with a hefty price. Better think twice before dumping your spouse ;) If you do that, you can start from the beginning with this particular LI. You don't need to beg for forgiveness if you want to romance another LI 'though. However, you need to walk down the same romance path including all quests again. Penalties for breaking up: Health: -10% Magicka: -10% Stamina: -10% They'll vanish after a few days and can't be cured. The second option to get rid of your spouse is to let him/her die. This option is not available if you did the Rite of the Nine quest, since in that case the LI is "essential" and can't die at all. There are three ways how your LI can die: in combat, by environmental hazards and by yourself. If the LI dies by means of the first two cases, you won't need to beg for forgiveness. You're "on the market" again, can fall in love with another character, all the jazz. Still you have to suffer some penalties for a while, which are heftier than in case you broke up with the spouse. Penalties for a dead spouse: Health: -15% Magicka: -15% Stamina: -15% They'll vanish after a few days and can't be cured. If you killed your spouse on purpose, you not only will be tainted as murderer, but also won't ever be able to marry any LI again - the priests of Mara simply won't allow you to marry another spouse since you betrayed your first one. You can't even beg for forgiveness since murder of your lover is unforgivable in the eyes of Mara. Penalties for a murdered spouse: Health: -5% Magicka: -5% Stamina: -5% They'll never vanish and can't be cured, and they'll stack with bonuses if you get a new LI. Generic Stuff There are always some special conditions hitting your relationship in different stages, like the death of your LI. In last stage I went through all three ways how to get rid of your spouse: "breaking up", "death by combat & environment" and "death by murder". While I see "breaking up" as a normal option in any relationship, death is not (given the short amount of time you'll spend in the game). Whenever your LI dies, your character will suffer some penalties. If he or she died by combat or environmental hazards, the penalty will be hefty at first, but vanish after a while when your character recovered. In that time, you can't get into another relationship - you simply need to wait until the effects wear off. In case you murdered your LI, you'll also suffer penalties. Although they're not that harsh at first sight, they're permanent and, as I said before, disallow the option to marry again / at all, the priests of Mara simply won't do the ceremony for you, since Mara won't ever forgive what you've done. Therefore keep those consequences in mind, before you slay the spouse you want to get rid of. There are also additional options which might become interesting in other acts. Here it is - the most basic suggestion of an improved romance mod called "True Romance Mod". Well, someone could suggest a better name *g* As I said, I have no idea if it's possible and if ANYONE wants to do that. I simply lack the time to get into that modding stuff, my work days are usually 13 hours long - or longer - and someone has to keep the house clean. However, I'd love to see such Mod, since it could greatly improve the importance (or at least the influence) of romancing a character. Yay, nay, not interested? I'd love to get some input here *g*
