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When I first picked up the Dawnguard Rune Hammer, I wondered if it would be possible to use this enchantment on something else. There doesn't seem to be any mod that's actually tried this, even though we now have things like the excellent Axestaff Weapon pack that I thought were just crying out for this. For those of you who've never used it, the Rune Hammer works like a normal warhammer, except that when you block and bash with it, it places a fire rune where you're aiming your corsshairs. Could other spells be used for this? I'm sure other weapons could. Could it throw a fire ball or lightning bolt? If so, you could use this enchantment to make actual combat staves, one that can be used to cast spells or hit people without any sort of workaround being needed. So I'm wondering, has anyone tried this? Is, perhaps the reason there are no mods on the nexus dong this because they tried it and it was a nightmare? Would it be possible?

I figured out a way to do it, mostly by examining how the PC Exclusive animation path works. I'll post a tutorial here, but if I've made any mistakes, or there's a better way to do it, please let me know. I was using xp32's max compatibility skeleton. Here's how I got the idea: By default, the game looks for new animations in this folder: c/program files/Steam/Steamapps/common/Skyrim/Data/meshes/actors/character/animations And any if finds there are used to replace the vanilla animations. PCEA creates another folder inside the /animations folder filled with the vanilla animations, and creates seperate esp files for every race telling them to look in that folder for its animations. This only works because it is inside the /animations folder. (At least so far as I know.) So custom races look in the /animations folder for their animations like all the others, but with PCEA installed only they are using the default location. We're going to make the custom skeleton work the same way. You're going to have to install it manually, though. Open c/program files/Steam/Steamapps/common/Skyrim/Data/meshes/actors/character and create a new folder called "character assets" (no quotation marks) if there isn't one already. This is where custom skeletons go. Open the new folder and create another new folder inside that. Call it something you'll remember (like xp32 skeleton if that's the one you're using) Copy the custom skeleton into c/program files/Steam/Steamapps/common/Skyrim/Data/meshes/actors/character/character assets/xp32 skeleton (or whatever you called it). Now we need to use the Construction set. Open it up and set your custom race mod as the active file. When it loads, locate your custom race in the "Race" section of the menu on the left, right click the name and click 'edit' In the new window that opens up, you'll see the "skeleton" path looks in c/program files/Steam/Steamapps/common/Skyrim/Data/meshes/actors/character/character assets for a custom skeleton. There isn't one there, so it'll use the default. All the other races will too. Click 'edit' next to that line, and set it to look in c/program files/Steam/Steamapps/common/Skyrim/Data/meshes/actors/character/character assets/xp32's skeleton (or what ever one you're using) then save. That should make your custom race the only one using the custom skeleton. Now, this worked for me, but will it work for everyone? Have I gotten something wrong? Is there another, better tutorial on how it's done? I've never tried anything like this before.

This has happened to me now as well. Funny thing is, it worked perfectly about an hour ago, and now I can't login. I'm still able to login on the other sites, though.

removing FNIS worked for me, but if you don't have it, well..... :sad:

And now it's working again, if I click the resume button (it's hidden away in a lint that only appears if you click on the small button at the bottom of the left menu) Oh well.

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one having this problem, though obviously not everyone is having it either. I can't download anything. At all. Not with NMM, and not manually. NMM tries the 1-10 times before giving up, and I get a server error with a manual download. I'm using chrome. I havne't been able to download anything since about 2pm.

Damn, I seem to have run into exactly the same problem as Mckrty. So I suppose I have to remove all my mods and uninstall NMM? I seems to have had something to do with the new patch. I did install two new mods since the new patch, but I disabled them the game wouldn't load. When I did, the game still wouldn't load, none of my saves would. Couldn't even start a new game.....

I'm wondering if I'm the only person who's having this problem. Whenever I load a save game, I hear what seems to be a thunder-clap. It's really, really LOUD. I have to play with a headset or everyone in the house would s*** themselves when I fire up Skyrim. Also, I sometimes forget about it when I load a quickesave and end up flinging the headset down like those submarine navigators in WWII films. It's probably really funny to watch. Anyway, the wierd thing is, it only happens on one character, my oldest. I can load other characters without being deafened. It's probably some mod or another I have installed, I was just wondering, has anyone else got this? Does anyone know what's causing it, or how to fix it?

One problem I've often had with attacking dragons is getting them to actually notice me. It's fine in the wilderness, where I'm the most obvious threat, but when a dragon attacks a city, getting them to fight me is often difficult. I'm not nearly accurate enough with bows or magic to hit one of the wing, but an idea for a new Shout has occurred to me. *SPOILER* We know we can challenge dragons by Shouting their names. We're not going to know the names of every random dragon we find, but what about our own names? *SPOILER END* What I have in mind, is a Shout that makes you cry "Dovahkiin!" and causes any dragon in range to attack you, and only you, immediately. It makes sense, after all. What would such a shout be if not an announcement of your presence, a demonstration of your Th'um, a direct challenge to any dragon that heard it? Any dragon would almost be honour-bound to fight you, or retreat in disgrace. Hell, maybe towards the end of the story line, they might start doing that! It would also be a way for you to draw the dragon's ire away from the helpless civilians and prevent collateral damage. Anyway, what do you think?

I know there's a mod on nexus that removes the dismount animation altogether, so you snap from on horse/off horse instantly, but when the creation kit comes out, I think the best would be a sort of 'action dismount' where, if you press the button while the horse is still running, your character swings his right leg over the front of the saddle and slides down the horse's side, drawing his sword as he does so. I've actually done that myself on a real horse, very flashy if you do it right, very embarrassing if you don't :)

you could use Mr Silka's Dwemer Skyship from Oblivion, although my guess is that they were only successful because they were totally unchallenged. You'd have to come up with some way to protect the balloon, or maybe do without it altogether. In the Elder Scrolls novels they were able to keep a city aloft with a magical device that used souls for power. They were able to keep the Ministry of Truth in the air above Vivec for a while by using it to slowly devour the souls of several people. That could be a way to deal with the ships, fly in, dodging fire, work your way into the ship, kill the people powering it, and leap back onto Odavhiing before it plunges to earth.

I don't see why the base couldn't just be up in the mountains. I read the last book, and it seems the Island the riders were based off was the size of a country. It would have been a logistical nightmare if it hadn't been big enough to support a population of dragons. It was basically a principality owned by the riders. We're probably not getting that. Although, when we reconquer the empire... One of the reasons put foreward for not settling in the Beor mountains in the books is the fact that the fledgling dragons would have to feed on the dwarves' cattle. Unlike the saintly dragon riders of Inheritance, we don't have to play nice. Skyrim and the Elder Scrolls in general has a very different tone to the books. I can see this order of dragons and riders being formed for the noblest of reasons but ultimately taking on more selfish goals, possibly as a result of the player's choices. Also, I never imagined the war against the Aldmerri Dominion as being "fight the elves" so much as "crush the elves, see them driven before you, and hear the tears and lamentations of their women". I mean really, what are they going to do against dragons? What are they going to do against you? Ever fight in the siege of Whiterun? It was the first time I realised I was really, really powerful. Imagine that, but with a cohort of dragons and absurdly powerful warriors/mages/tongues/whatever.

I once thought spears were clumsy, simple weapons for clumsy, simple men. then I saw this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmNTKy8LJiY Now I want them!

I don't have any recording equipment and I've never tried it either, but I'd be willing to give it a shot. My voice might be deep enough to make a dragon :) By the way, I looked up the elder scrolls wiki, and it turns out that Odahviing is a Red dragon, second in power only to Alduin and one of the last of his kind. The Tsanacei wiped them all out in a war on Akavir. When Alduin's gone, he's probably the most powerful dragon there is. That's what you have following you. I knew he was strong, but wow. It starts to get confusing when you dig into the back story. Dragons are supposed to be an exiled race from Akavir, but they're also supposed to be the Divine equivalent of lesser deadra. Angels basically. And I've since learned that Alduin is Akatosh's son the way Jesus is God's son. They're one and the same, he's an aspect of a whole. Also, there's a book in one of the games that suggests Akatosh might just be violently insane. This may or may not have something to do with the Dragon Break, and event which, so far as I can tell, involved a group of priests trying to separate the Imperial side of Akatosh from the side the Elves worshipped (Auriel) out of racism, apparently. They were partially successful, in that they completely buggered the space-time continuum and caused several months of people 'giving birth to their grandfathers'. Really, it's no wonder Akatosh has had enough. But now my head hurts, and I'm going to bed.

Draco, I like the idea with recruiting, should work very well. By the way, Nonvul-Zin-Suleyk could be the battlecry of the order! Finally, I don't have any experience with modding beyond basic competence with the CS, and I hope I'm not making a commitment I won't be able to keep, but I'd be willing to do voice-acting work for this mod if you ever need it. I can do a really good evil laugh :)

Really, I don't think this should bear too much resemblance to Inheritance other than the fact they both have people sitting on dragons. I do like Inheritance (I finished the last 850 page book in about three days, so I must have thought it was good) But I don't think a lot of it would fit the overall tone of Skyrim. The dragons here are arrogant, dominating those they can and serving those they cannot. The dragons you recruit into your order will have to be pretty extraordinary to deign to partner with a mortal, and it will have to be a rather powerful mortal. Even then, they probably will enjoy subjugating other dragons, even if it's for a good cause. By the way, the will to dominate also applies to the player character. The PC also has a dragon's soul. If you just follow the quests and do what comes naturally, you'll soon find yourself the master of the Thieves' Guild, the Companions, the Dark Brotherhood and the College of Winterhold. I am certain that the next Elder Scrolls game will mention the 'Emperor Dovakhiin' who founded the Fourth Empire. It was the same with Tiber Septim; One minute he was climbing the 7,000 steps and speaking with the Greybeards, the next he was leading an army out of Skyrim and declaring himself Emperor of the known world. One thing just led to another. This is also a very good reason not to go looking for other dragonborn. They''ll be just like you: you'll end up killing each other. Also, Tiber Septim apparently shouted at all the trees in Cyrodiil until they changed from tropical to deciduous. Go figure.

Have you read the whole thread? This is going to get a bit confusing if not. Earlier on, the idea was mooted that we could somehow 'create' other dragonborn to act as dragon riders in the new faction. Many methods were put forward, including drinking dragon blood and absorbing portions of their souls, but it all seemed like a somewhat shaky premise, since the main character was born this way. There was also the idea of finding others, since it is mentioned that multiple dragonborn can exist at one time. If any do exist, however, no one, even they themselves know, and the only known way to awaken their latent abilities is to kill a dragon in front of them and see what happens. Not the most practical solution. I first waded into the discussion suggesting that riders weren't needed at all. The dragons are fully sentient after all, and I couldn't see the rider being very useful. Then I suggested that the riders might be mages, people who were already experienced and powerful, who could gain the respect of a dragon and then ride it into combat, buffing and healing it so no foe could best them. This would be necessary if your order was going to act as a sort of dragon 'police force' keeping control of the other dragons, which seems a more humane solution that just killing them all like the Blades did. As for why i suggested the order could act as a police force for the dragons once Alduin's gone.... well, the faction has to do something, doesn't it?

Oh, there's no doubt it will be done. People cleverer than me will do it, but the question is, what will we do with the dragons? This has the chance to be so much more than a fancy horse.

Actually, my idea of using mages wasn't so much that they would be able to attack from dragon-back as they would be able to support the dragon in flight. Mid-air healing and buffing would allow a ridden dragon to last much longer than a normal one, and they would have to, since I don't see any dragon letting you ride it into combat unless you're going to be of some use. And let's be honest: the dragon is going to be doing most of the damage. As for meele-orientated riders (as well as, perhaps, the player), I have an idea. I'm reading the last Inheritance book now (please no spoilers:)) and Eragon is clearly a very dangerous opponent even without his dragon. The bond would need to affect the rider as well as the dragon, as much of Skyrim's action takes place indoors, underground, and other places your dragon will not be able to support you. For mages, this could mean giving them larger reserves of magicka, since the dragons don't appear to use conventional magic and thus could be used as living reservoirs of untapped power, since all living things gather magicka, so far as I know. I like the idea of storing power in jewels, by the way. I could fit into the lore quite well. Soul gems already hold magical energy in the form of souls, so creating a gem with which you can directly store and retrieve magicka is not such a leap. Perhaps it's a magical application the dragon cult developed, perhaps a secret Parthunaxx knows, perhaps it's something one of your mage recruits could invent, or something you could invent if you're a master enchanter. I have an idea for how it might work. It will probably require complex scripting, but here's the general idea: A piece of apparel, say a belt, or a necklace, or a ring, can be used to store magicka. You would be able to store all your magicka in it, and them equipping it would buff your magicka by that same amount. You could repeat the process, building up the reserve until a certain limit is reached. This would give you a vast reserve of magicka when you equipped the item, bur here's the complex, script-heavy bit: Every point of magicka you expend would reduce the buff by the same amount, so you're effectively spending the stored power instead of your own. Eventually it would dwindle to nothing, and you would be left with only what you could store naturally. There would need to be scripts to stop you storing magicka in items you're already wearing, or course, since you'd just be adding the item's power to itself, effectively cheating. For warriors, the dragon could use his own t'hum to buff them in the way you can do that to yourself, making them stronger and faster than they could ever be on their own. This could be extremely useful if, say, you ever find yourself outmatched in an aerial battle with other dragons. You could use Storm Call to bring the whole battle to the ground, where the nimble, lethal warriors would quickly outmanoeuvre and slaughter the enemy dragons. In addition, these men could act as the 'special forces' of your order, venturing with you into places your dragons cannot go, relying on the t'hum of their dragons and the enchantments of their fellows to prevail. Magic can make even the clumsiest barbarian invisible and silent. Some of these people might even choose to dismount their dragon to fight while it supports them from the air, and you could use Dragonrend to send individual enemies down for slaughter. Finally, over time, the dragons could teach their riders to Shout, though it would be a slow process and they would never be as strong as you, so they would need to be competent and powerful to begin with. I think it would be an interesting aspect of the mod if the riders don't just come out of nowhere. Maybe a few could have families, some of who might even come to live in your stronghold, perhaps they could have personal quests that flesh out their backstories. There should be proper relationships with the dragons too. It would be nice to watch your bond with Odavhing change from chilly respect to genuine kinship. I guess I just assume that your dragon would be Odavhing, but I don't see any reason you should go hunting for an egg and trying to trick a young dragon into thinking you're it's mummy or something (that would definitely come back to bite you). Besides, do dragons actually lay eggs? They're immortal, they all seem to be male, and they've apparently existed since the dawn of time. Winning over existing dragons would be more interesting than stealing infants.

On the contrary, I think their demands of you to kill Parthunaxx are meant to appear exactly as ridiculous and pompous as they are. They refuse to continue serving you unless you alienate a faction that has proven far more useful then them, and until you do, you're met with only angry silence. If you actually decide to throw your lot in with the dragons (that's the way they'll see it) Delphine at least will probably decide you need to die. From talking to both of them, it does seem that Esbern is more reasonable than Delphine, but they would not be unreasonable in believing that you plan to use dragons to conquer the world (they might even be right, depending on how the story goes). Look, these people hate dragons. They really, really, really hate dragons. They want to kill Parthunaxx over a ten-thousand year old grievance that has no personal effect on them, they clearly consider this more important than serving you, and they even admit that they don't care if the old drake is genuinely repentant or not. Bringing the blades around could be an interesting plot element, but even if they do not become hostile, they're probably not going to want to work with dragons. Either way, are we really going to let the last two Blades spend their final years in a crumbling fortress, desperately telling themselves they're still important while the next Tamrielic Emperor (you) reclaims his birthright? No! Let them go out in a blaze of glory if nothing else!

Hmmm, I can't see the Blades being too happy about your founding an order of dragon riders. After all, Parthunaxx helped men overthrow Alduin, then sat on a mountain for ten thousand years meditating on Peace and Love. The Blades still wanted to kill him. If he's not getting a reprieve, none of them are. I imagine the Blades would take on an antagonistic role, at least at first. They might stir up fear of you in the population to get recruits, then begin hunting dragons in earnest. It would act as a good motivation for building an impregnable sanctuary in the mountains, as well as trying to gain the trust of the people of Skyrim. You'd eventually be forced to gather all loyal dragons (those who follow the Way of the Voice) to you to protect them, eventually leading an aerial assault on Sky Haven Temple. When most of the green Blades were slaughtered and Delphine and Esbern were before you, you might finally get a chance to scold them for straying so far from their intended purpose. Then I suppose you could have the option of forgiving them and taking them back into your service as spies and assassins, killing them all forthwith, or simply turning them out into the Reach to take their chances with the Forsworn and the Thalmor. Any of these would result in you getting the Temple as a secondary base. By the way, can I get a link for the sourceforge forums?

Sithis isn't so much a god as the absence of being so I doubt he cares much. So far as I know, a dragonborn is a divine soul in a mortal body. So I would say that every deadric prince and eldrich horror you promised your soul to is getting scammed.

I don't believe Alduin actually left a body. He was Akatosh's son, and his destiny was always to end the world. When it finally is time for the world to end, he'll probably be back, and there'll be no one to stop him. Also, about the Sovengarde portal: Sovengarde isn't actually defenseless. Even Alduin didn't try to attack the Hall of Valor, he wasn't strong enough at the time, so he picked off the lost souls that were freshly arrived in Sovengarde. When he was strong enough, he would probably have pillaged the hall and returned to end the world. Shor apparently forbade the warriors in his hall from retaliating, as only the Dragonborn could defeat him. Anyone else who sneaks into Sovengarde with the intent of stealing souls is not going to be as powerful as Alduin. This means they'll probably only get the business end of an old but very well-preserved Nord axe.

As an addendum to my pervious post, I have actually thought of a way to incorperate riders. You don't have to 'create' dragonborn or have them use the Voice either. If you're still interested, here's the scenario: Imagine you meet with Parthanax after the Main Quest, and decide to form this brotherhood of dragons and riders to act as a sort of dragon 'police force'. This brotherhood will hunt down errant dragons, force them to submit to the Way of the Voice, destroy them if they refuse, and protect the defenceless people of Skyrim from them. You, Parthanax and Odavhing would have to go in search of exceptional dragons who would deign to partner with a mortal, and exceptional mortals who'd be powerful enough to gain the respect of said dragons. Here's the meat of my idea: The riders don't need to be dragonborn, or masters of the Voice (though they can learn in time) They need to be powerful mages. A warrior can do little from dragon-back except maybe shoot a bow, but a mage can heal his dragon, protect him from attacks, and buff his strength and speed. This would give a bonded dragon a huge advantage over an unbonded one, although I still don't think the bond needs to be any more profound than mutual respect. The dragons and mortals who meet this criteria are going to be very few in number, so I think one representative of each race is a good idea. But about the war against the Thalmor: Let's say that the civil war quests are locked off until the main quest is completed, and you've already established the Dragon Riders. Your brotherhood is far outside the control of any power in the land, but they realise what a valuable ally you would be. The Empire and Stormcloaks both begin trying to curry your favour, perhaps bestowing large monetary gifts that enable you to build yourself a sanctuary high on a mountain somewhere. Eventually, you're going to have to decide what to do: Remain neutral, join the Empire, or join the Stormcloaks. Whichever one you choose is going to alienate some of your followers, who all would have different motivations for supporting one option or the other. Parthanax would probably be against any option but staying neutral, for example. I think the two questlines could mesh very well, you wouldn't have to change all that much. The 'New Meat' quests for both factions would still work: The Legion needs your help capturing a now heavily garrisoned fort, whereas Ulfric sends you to kill say, two dozen ice wraiths instead to two, blustering fool that his is. By the way, the elven members of your brotherhood don't necessarily have to support the Thalmor, they could aggressively loathe the Thalmor, who are, after all, a fascist clique that took over their country. It's possible that elves fled to Skyrim when the Thalmor took over the way Germans fled to Switzerland when the Nazis took over. Anyway, what do you think? I know this idea is very much your baby, but you don't have to rip off Inheritance or twist the lore around like a corkscrew to do it, or to make it interesting to people who've never read the books (or who hate them). At the end of the day, what we want to do is ride dragons! Once that's in, you free to do pretty much whatever you want with this mod.

I agree that Dragonbone should be better than Deadric, but there is a good reason why it's more difficult to make. Dragons haven't existed for thousands of years. You may be the first person to ever try and make it. You can learn how to make Deadric from someone else, but you have to invest Dragonbone on your own! Which is an in-story reason it should be better than Deadric.