LE Follower depth?

[stebbinsd]

WARNING: LONG POST AHEAD!!!

 

I have a request for a mod I'd like to see.

 

One huge advantage that Oblivion and Skyrim have over Morrowind in terms of immersion is the fact that most of the characters in the former games have unique dialogue, personalities, and backstories. Morrowind's NPCs had almost exactly the same dialogue. Copy-pasted, in fact. The few NPCs who actually had personalities and backstories tended to be the most beloved by fans, such as Crassius Curio (Vivec's local town pervert) or Yagrum Bagarn (the last living Dwemer). However, they become so beloved because they stuck out like a sore thumb in a world of interchangeable NPCs with personalities on par with talking vending machines.

 

Oblivion and Skyrim, however, got it right. Although there's less dialogue overall, most of it is unique and specialized. Each person seems to have their own schedule and personality, even those who have no gameplay significance whatsoever. For example, there's a guy in the Imperial CIty who leaves his wife every Sundas to go and sleep in the bed of another woman. Bethesda gave him his own little "personality" (even if it was shallow and undeveloped), despite him having no gameplay significance whatsoever, simply for the sake of enhanced realism.

 

Yeah, Skyrim and Oblivion got it right... except for one problem: The followers.

Followers in Skyrim are about as bland and interchangeable as they come. All the housecarls have the exact same lines of dialogue... literally the EXACT SAME LINES! All of them have no backstory (they don't even appear in the game until they're appointed to your service), and no personality whatsoever. The Heirlings are much the same way; they'll fight by your side if you pay them five hundred gold... and that's the extent of their character.

 

The one-off followers aren't much better, eiter:

-There's a breton in Markarth who will be your follower if you give him a beer. So... he's a drunk. That's it; that's his character.

-Uthgerd the Unbroken of Whiterun and Benor of Morthal both love to brawl... aaaaand there's really nothing to them except that.

-Faendel and Sven are involved in a love triangle that you can resolve in two minutes flat. When that's done, their interestingness comes to a screeching hault.

 

Sure, there are SOME followers out there with personalities, such as...

-Mjoll the Lioness, a selfless retired adventuress with a heart of gold who will reminise about her past adventures when you enter places.

-Serana, a Vampire with a psychopath dad and overprotective mom who was locked in solitary confinement for a thousand years, while somehow retaining her sanity. She actually goes through a character arc throughout the Dawnguard questline!

-J'zargo, an overcompetitive cat-wizard who spent years searching for the right magic school so he could concentrate on his work without worrying about politics.

-Cicero, an assassin who spent only a few years in solitary confinement, but failed where Serana had succeeded and actually went bats**t insane.

 

However, these instances are as few and far between as the Morrowind examples I just gave. Most of the followers in the game (excluding user-created mods) could just as easily have been pumped out by a "make your own follower" machine added by a user mod.

 

The biggest sin in all of this is... the followers need personalities more than anyone else! They're the people you're going to be spending the most time with, the ones you will be getting to know most intimately (not necessarily in a romantic sense). They're the ones who need the MOST depth!

 

So... can somebody please make a mod that will give each follower some complexity? Here's some examples to start with:

 

Faendel

What drove him to live in Skyrim? He has his own house in Riverwood, so he's obviously been living there a while, so what drove him to do so? Also, what are his thoughts on the Aldmeri Dominion, seeing as how his is one of three races which make up that nation?

 

Lydia

I often fantasize about a movie being made about Skyrim's main quest... one of the creative changes that I picture is that Lydia accompanies the Dovakiin to Sovnarde, where she meets up with her dead mother. She explains to her mom that she's following in her footsteps by being a housecarl, and her mother is extremely proud, telling Lydia "In my life, I only served a Jarl. But you... you serve the DRAGONBORN! The only higher honor would be to serve Talos himself!"

 

This, I think, would be an INCREDIBLE backstory to give Lydia in-game! Maybe you could make it so that the player could ask her why she chose to become a housecarl, and she can tell you that her mother died when she was only a little girl, protecting the at-the-time Jarl of Whiterun, and she dropped out of school to focus on training in combat so she could follow in her mother's footsteps and make her proud as she watches from Sovngarde.

 

Those are just some suggestions to give the modder who takes up this request some starting material. I hope somebody can add similar depth and personality to every other follower in the game that I just gave to Lydia.

 

Any takers?

Edited August 18, 2013 by stebbinsd

[stebbinsd]

So, no one has even LOOKED at this thread yet?

 

EDIT: Strangely enough, now that I've bumbed it, the thread now magically has 21 views instead of 0. :| Weird.

Edited August 18, 2013 by stebbinsd

[Gahariet]

I do believe there are already some mods that help with this problem. At least, there's one for Aela. I have no clue about anyone else. Gimme a bit and I'll find a link to the mod I'm talking about regarding Aela.

 

Edit: http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/11450/? There you go.

Edited August 19, 2013 by Gahariet