Roleplayer seeking advice regarding mods (increased realism/immersion/

[erikolaix]

Hello,

 

After years of replaying older games such as Daggerfall, Morrowind, Gothic 1-2, Ultima VIII, Baldur's Gate 1-2, The Witcher, and even King of Dragon Pass, I've purchased a very high-end computer and ordered Skyrim GOTY Legendary Edition (which includes all the official DLCs). Now I'm entering "research mode" to plan what kind of mods I should install. I realize that there's a mod jungle out there, so my hope is that there's someone here who share my mod preferences and can point me to a list of essential mods. It's important to me that they're compatible with all the official patches and DLCs.

 

Here's my plan so far:

 

1. Install all the official patches

2. Install the most recent version of the Nexus Mod Manager

3. Go through all the steps of the Tweak Guide

4. Install mods based on the following preferences:

 

I'm looking for mods that increase immersion, roleplaying, realism, survivalism, difficulty, and longevity. I'm an explorer and roleplayer first and foremost, and can easily spend months playing the same character. Games tend to lose their appeal to me when I feel overpowered, so it's important that my character won't become "godlike" even though I'll play him long-term. I never use fast travel, and I hate "quest arrows" always pointing me in the right direction. I love immersing myself in the little things. Gothic and Morrowind are my favorite games, so mods that can give Skyrim that kind of "old school feel and difficulty" will be very interesting to me. Last but not least, the mods must be high quality ones that have been tested extensively.

 

Thanks for your time! I'd appreciate any feedback you can give me, to help me get a solid "mod foundation" and a running start in researching compatible mods.

 

P.S. I realize that people are advised to play through the vanilla game before installing mods, but I know myself and console-compatible games well enough to know I'll need mods from the get-go. :smile:

Edited June 29, 2013 by eriknm

[6TemplaR9]

Some are here:

-Frostfall

-Wet and Cold

-Footprints

-Unofficial Patches (USKP, UDBP, UDGP, UHFP)

-SKSE

-SkyUI

[erikolaix]

Some are here:

-Frostfall

-Wet and Cold

-Footprints

-Unofficial Patches (USKP, UDBP, UDGP, UHFP)

-SKSE

-SkyUI

 

Thanks for the good advice. I checked them out, and the ball kept rolling (especially due to mod recommendations in Frostfall).

[Deleted1308005User]

Some are here:

-Frostfall

-Wet and Cold

-Footprints

-Unofficial Patches (USKP, UDBP, UDGP, UHFP)

-SKSE

-SkyUI

I think this is good list.

Add in Airborne perching birds, possibly Vurt's flora overhaul

 

I don't recommend getting too many item/quest mods before you've completed the game.

Check insanitysorrow's mods. He has made some nice "returning" weapons from older ES games.

[Nudedragon]

The author of Wet and Cold has some other realism mods, as well. You might also want "I Yield" if you want to play a good character.

 

If you're looking for a substantial overhaul, Requiem advertises itself as the role players overhaul, although I've never used it myself.

[Deleted1308005User]

I don't recommend using big overhauls on first playthrough.

[Rymdapa]

one tiny useful mod can be head tracking. Nothing too big, just an animation feature but worth trying. Then there's realistic needs and immersive beds but I haven't tried any of them both.

[Rymdapa]

I would check out Gophersvids to find those such mods, and definitely try his Immersive HUD mod

[ArtMurder]

I am a MAJOR roleplayer myself. I was very into Morrowind, and that strongly effected my choice of mods. I will tell you some of my favorites, keep in mind I use all of these together, but some may require patches! ^_^

 

 

 

 

Skyrim Redone + Reproccer, unlocks the true potential of frostfall, and makes skyrim all around a MUCH better game, it is one of the biggest overhauls out there, yet it still feels like the original game, just with an all around better experience.

 

Better Vampires + Tales of Lycanthropy - GREAT mods for enhancing the feel of dawnguard, making vampires and wereolves interesting and worth while character choices. Both are very costumizable, so you can make them either very balanced, underpowered, or overpowered. (I suggest picking settings at the start of the game and sticking with them though)

 

Realistic Needs and Disease - Works great with frostfall, and great for role playing, again very costumizable.

 

Skyrim Economic + Realistic Room Rental - goes well with Skyrim Redone, making gold feel more rare and valuable.

 

Dragon Soul Relinquishment - a great mod, simply because after about level 50 you run out of things to spend dragon souls on, and dragons suddenly become three times as common and three times as powerful. This is very frustrating, but this mod allows you to use those souls for any number of boosts! Again, VERY costumizable!

 

The Joy of Perspective - it's about to come out with an update so I suggest waiting if you like it. It makes it so you can see your body in first person view, but it's a little wonky at times.

 

Wrath of Nature + Midas Magic + Empowered Magic + Apocalypse Spell Package - all great magic mods, I personally use them all, and a few more to give mages TONS of options!

 

SkyRealism Time and Travel - if you install Frostfall and Realistic Needs and Diseases, you may really need this mod, it alters the time scale to feel much more natural (day and night cycle VERY vast in vanila skyrim) and also makes fast travel time more realistic and balanced.

 

Immersive Armors + Immersive Weapons + Immersive Creatures - a great combo of mods that adds enjoyable variety to skyrim. Vanilla skyrim gets repetitive and boring fast.

 

Interesting NPCs - really an AWESOME mod, I suggest using the added ESP to remove all the none voiced characters though. If you play through the game with this installed the first time, I promise you won't be able to tell the deference between vanilla NPCs and the ones added by this, the voice acting is FANTASTIC!

 

RaceMenu - simply, without a doubt, a MUST. this makes creating a new character so much easier and gives you so many options.

 

Pumping Iron - A fantastically simple role playing mod. Start your character on the small size on the weight slider, and he'll slowly get bigger as his physically skills increase!

 

Dragon Combat Overhaul - makes fighting dragons feel more like.... well... fighting dragons. They become nothing more then flying bullies in vanilla skyrim after about level 20, this changes that.

 

Hoth + Atvir - two amazing follower mods, deeply immersive, amazing voice talent, and a delight to travel with!

 

Radiant and Unique Potions and Poisons - this makes potions more recognizable, and also adds to the feel of the game a lot more then you'd think!

 

lanterns of skyrim + werable lanterns - two great mods to add more light to skyrim nights. The former adds lamp posts along all major roads, and the later allows you to wear lanterns and torchbugs and use them to light your way without holding a torch (though holding a torch keeps you warm in frstofall, and these don't, making them more balanced)

 

Better Fish + Willows 101 Bugs + Pets of Skyrim + Ants in my Pants + Skybirds - all add slot of little critters to skyrim.

 

Static Mesh Improvement + aMidianborn Book of Silence + 2k Texture Pack + Climate of Tamriel - makes Skyrim look much, much better and highed detailed.

 

Lush Grass + Lush Trees + Flora Ovrhaul + Denser Grass - makes skyrim look more wild and untamed.

 

Better Dynamic Snow + HD Snow - there is a lot of snow in skyrim, you won't regret getting these.

[Pevey]

I don't usually plug my own mod, but Become a Bard would seem to fit with what you're looking for.