SSE Greater NPC interaction

[anonymouselephant]

I'm new to Skyrim but I'm confused why there seems to be no option to communicate with "enemy" npcs. It's hard to tell sometimes that an npc is an enemy and why, but the interaction options being limited to only fight or flight is confusing. I found one mod to make giants friendly and companions and maybe there is something similar already made, but in general I wonder about writing more backstory into the non-named enemy npcs, so that npcs are all named. But, the basic interaction I was hoping for would be a meaningful way to greet somebody from a distance or basic speech, if not hand signs for greetings, to them so as to lower tensions and not make enemies out of everybody.

[jaydawg55]

I think the reason not all NPCs are named is because many are non-unique characters that are used and re-used throughout the game (city guards for example). It keeps the game "smaller" that way. Running on PC is less limiting than running it on a game console but keeping it small still has performance benefits.

 

That said, there are many unique named NPCs that are under-used. Once the quest involving them is over they disappear from the game. Two mod projects I know of that try get more use out of these characters and make them available as followers (BUVARP and WARP). I believe WARP is the most up to date right now.

 

Some follower management mods allow the player to make a follower of any NPC. You might want to look into those on the Nexus. The NPC's dialogue options will be limited but it does add some variety and limited companionship to the game.

 

If you play on PC, you might want to consider installing the mod 'Interesting NPCs.' It is kind of old and quite large because it adds many NPCs to the game world seem less empty (even though a lot of it is wilderness) and some of them are available as followers and companions. There was a fan-made conversion of it for Special Edition that I believe is still available but unsupported at the moment. It adds a lot of interesting (hence the name) interactions with NPCs. Your character could even marry some of them. A few years ago I started a playthrough with 3DNPCs (the mod's nickname) and found that it lived up to its name. They are very interesting. But you need to have patience and the attention span to let them say their piece.

 

I am going to try to get this working for my next SSE playthrough once the dust has settled from the Anniversary Edition update.

 

The hostile NPC behavior you are seeing can be related to NPCs' near psychic perceptions of your character's faction alignment. There is a mod that makes the Silver Hand members more mellow until you join The Companions. Without it, they seem to be hostile to anyone who is not a member of their faction. Bandits are like that too. But to me that seems in character since their mission in life is to separate every one else from their valuables at the expensive of their lives if they resist. The Thieves Guild will try to recruit you and will not attack if you turn them down.

 

I don't see this hostility to be as jarring a problem as you do (although the animals are a bit overly aggressive compared to real life). There are many NPCs you can talk as you explore Skyrim. They just aren't interested in waving very much.

[anonymouselephant]

Thanks for the mod suggestions. I've been reading through mods by release date, from oldest to newest, and still have a long way to go but I've been marking many as tracked along the way.

 

I haven't gotten to the point of joining any factions yet, so I am only thinking of the interactions from Escaping Helgen and shortly thereafter.

 

Examples:

 

Entered the keep with Hadvar and I hang back as he says he'll try to reason with the Stormcloaks up ahead. Hadvar was taken down by them and the Stormcloaks immediately rushed after me even though I had not drawn any weapon or fighting stance, nor engaged in combat. The Stormcloaks knew I was just on the chopping block as a prisoner to be executed but maybe they're actually a paranoid lot which I'll find out at some point later, but really confusing why they go for me with no hesitation (my character didn't even put the imperial armor from the chests on but I instead opted to remain in the rags).

 

After Escaping Helgen I split up with Hadvar, partly at his suggestion, and decided to veer off to the left. I came across npc locations around the lake that I didn't expect could be hostile considering how close to Helgen and Riverwood they were, a bandit campsite, and some kind of magic user further a bit further west, I think a necromancer. Both groups turned into hostile confrontations because I walked too close to them, really confusing. And yes later, wolves came chomping as I figured maybe I should just go to Riverwood because maybe Skyrim is actually in great turmoil and Hadvar seems like a reasonable person. (I have since at least found there are mods that address wild animal behaviours though so that's cool.)

 

i've also found a mod that can allow me to subdue attackers without killing them which is cool.

 

Though, as I've found there are some super scale mods been created, including fully voiced companion npcs, part of my proposal still seems like might be something some of the community might be interested in making at some point by naming every npc and providing backstories for them. (My character is still in Riverwood while I'm looking through the rest of the Nexus Mods, but I'm guessing there are many non-named npc's in the world that are classified as bandits or guards/soldiers.)

Edited November 26, 2021 by anonymouselephant