Assassin among Assassins

[Gijgorev]

(I'm not a native English speaker, so if you find any mistakes, feel free to keep them... Also, if you think there already exists a mod like this, please tell me!)

 

 

Roleplaying an outcast character, I just happened to "murder" a guard (I don't consider self-defense murder, especially against someone who gets paid to die) and was accepted into the Dark Brotherhood. At first it was kinda fun, since the guys you had to kill were "bad" anyway, but soon the other members started to piss me off. Also, my character hates other poeple by default, so it was quite clear from the beginning that this association with the DB wasn't meant to last forever. I then stumbled across this mod: Kill the DB

Basically it just makes the sanctuary accesible from the beginning and the DB members non-essential. While it's certainly fun to assassinate assassins, the lack of a plot and the fact that the sanctuary basically just became another dungeon to explore was somewhat disappointing.

 

I have yet not delved into the depth of oblivion modding, but I do have some modding experience with other games. And since the following ideas for a mod only need basic scripting abilities (at least I think so), they should be quite easy to realize for an experienced modder:

 

---

 

The base idea of this mod would be that you have the choice whether you want to join the DB, destroy it, or infilitrate it to destroy it later. (By using the mod i mentioned above you lose the ability to enter the DB normally, so you'd have to uninstall it to play the DB quests.) This would work the following way:

- There are three modes your charecter can go into: normal, which just means doing the normal DB quests, attack, which gives you the possibility to kill DB members but kicks you out of the DB, and infiltration, which works like normal, except for that you can go into attack mode anytime.

Entering the sanctuary in normal mode would work like it does already. So it's like you don't have this mod at all.

Entering the sanctuary in one of the other modes would require some conditions to be fullfilled:

- To enter the sanctuary in attack mode without being a member of the DB, the player would have to find some kind of note in Fort Farragut (where Lucien Lachance is). You could add another note in Cheydinhal Castle (some kind of blackmail from Lachance e.g.) which leads the player to Fort Farragut, maybe with sidetrips and detours, since it would be very unrealistic for Lachance to reveal his hideout. Once the player has discovered the note in Fort Farragut, he knows the password for the basement door, or he finds a key for the well. Entering the sanctuary without being a DB member would run a script which would make all DB members non-essential and hostile towards the player. Also the "A Knife in the Dark" quest would be disabled.

- Finding the note in Fort Farragut (or even finding the one in Cheydinhal Castle) would initiate a "Finding the DB" quest (in reference to the Thieves Guild quest), which would be completed once the player enters the sanctuary. It basically provides the player with the information on how to attract Lachance's attention, maybe with an alternative to a "cold blooded murder" for the LS players. I can't think of any alternatives right now, but there certainly are ways. If the player finds the instructions on how to enter the sanctuary, this of course would be mentioned in the quest log as well.

- Being approached by Lachance while having initiated the "Finding the DB" quest would give the player the option to fight Lachance, which is important for low level characters, since Lachance disappears too quickly. Upon his body the player will find a note that Fort Farragut is his hideout, where he can find the instructions on how to enter the sanctuary, and so on...

Of course the player would have the option to enter the sanctuary normally as well; either as a fellow DB assassin, or as an infiltrator, waiting for the perfect time to wipe them all out.

- Once the player has chosen the infiltrator way, attacking a DB member wouldn't kick him out of the sanctuary; it would just initiate the attack mode where he is able to kill the DB members. Of course he'd still lose his member status, and breaking one of the other tenets would work as before. Once attack mode is initiated, all current DB quests will be abandoned, all DB members will be made non-essential, Lachance will be in Fort Farragut, and there will be a list of DB members (like this one). Also, entering the sanctuary in either infiltration or attack mode would start a new quest, "Assassin among Assassins" or something like that, where the player's progress is recorded. Once all DB members are dead, this quest would be completed.

 

---

 

Those were the technical thoughts behind the mod. There are some additional things I thought of:

 

- I'm not sure about this, but it would probably be best to not let the player continue in infiltration mode forever. During "Accidents happen" you have to kill the first innocent, maybe this would be a logical point for a decision. On the other hand, it's only the third quest, so it would kinda miss the whole infiltration idea... Maybe it would be good for LS characters to be able to skip this quest, so that the final decision will be made during Ocheeva's quests.

- There could be notes scattered among Cyrodiil, where deceased people blame the DB for killing their family or something. For example, one of these notes could cover the incident with the 5 year old girl.

The Notes could either bring up the "Finding the DB" quest or just point the player towards Cheydinhal.

- Maybe there is a personal reason for the player why he hates the DB, or just a certain member of the DB, like Arquen. For getting the opportunity of killing Arquen, the player would have to advance in the ranks of the DB (eliminator at least), and only if he has achieved this rank he will be able to locate Arquen. Besides providing the player with motivation to do the DB quests, you could also combine this with new dialogue options for the player when he speaks with his targets, e.g. "I have to kill you to be able to commit another murder. Don't durse me, curse the gods that destined this fate upon us." Or somesuch.

- The player should be able to choose whether he wants fame or infamy or neither for killing the DB members. This could be done the moment he goes into attack mode by questioning his motives ("I do this for a greater good." -> Fame, "My reasons are my own." -> Nothing, "I do this to show them what assassination really means." -> Infamy) or depending on what he says to Lucien Lachance when they meet the first time.

 

 

Well, that pretty much was it. If you're asking why I don't create this mod by myself: Like I said I don't know anything about Oblivion modding yet, and I have neither the spare time nor the motivation to start another mod when I already have several running.

 

But, of course, if someone actually decides to make this mod (which I highly doubt), I would be glad to lend a hand if I'm able to. I can program in Ada and most of the mods I've done are script based, so scripting isn't entirely new to me. I just don't want to make this mod all by myself.

 

So if anyone would agree to make this mod, I'd very much eppreciate that.

 

 

Sorry for my bad English, but I hope you understand what I want to say...