Request for a simple mod: Only use what you have crafted yourself.

[AvAllure]

Hello modding pros. Can someone please consider making a mod that allows the use of and tempering of ONLY items YOU have crafted yourself? This is meant to make the player not rely on dropped gear, but rather on crafted gear, or at least if you get dropped gear, you first have to fit it to yourself via tempering it yourself before you can wear it. This is different then simply removing all gear drops in the game, as you still need those for the economy, and questing and such. Plus the found gear fitted to others can be smelted down into some ingredients so that you can then craft something out of them. 

 

In the MCM I would have the following settings: 

 

- Able to use only items you have crafted yourself. 

-Able to Temper only items you have crafted yourself. 

- Able to use only items you have tempered yourself. 

 

Allowing for different combinations 

 

Basically I think the way you would have to go about making such a mod is by restricting the use of all gear unless it has a specific "tag" (depending on the options you select in the mcm). Then when you craft an item, that item gets a "crafted by player"  tag, or when you temper an item, that item gets a "Tempered by player" tag that allows you to wear it. (the tag is in the background). 

Doesn't seem like too difficult of a mod to make, but then what do I know about modding? 

This would be such a great mod for those of us who love survival playthrough's where you are forced to use everything the game has to offer in order to progress. 

 

If anyone likes the idea, let me know if you can implement it!

 

Also, if you know of a mod that exists that does this, let me know, or if you have any idea on how much work this would be, or if you have any ideas about how to make this a reality please leave a reply

[ZeroOblivion27]

I can see the appeal of this idea, especially for survival-focused playthroughs where crafting is a core part of progression. It definitely adds a layer of challenge and forces players to be more self-sufficient. But at the same time, it comes with some serious downsides.

The biggest issue is that if your weapon breaks, gets disarmed, or you just run into a situation where you lose access to it, you’re out of luck. You’d either be stuck fist-fighting or constantly carrying multiple weapons as backups, which would add unnecessary weight and inventory management problems. That kind of restriction would make combat frustrating rather than immersive, especially early on when you might not have a strong enough weapon or the materials to craft a good one.

The idea of "tagging" crafted and tempered items is interesting, and it could work using SKSE and scripts to track which items the player has made. But I feel like the better approach would be something more flexible—maybe a mod that encourages crafted gear rather than outright banning dropped gear. Something like bonuses for using self-crafted weapons and armor or a system where found gear needs to be "reworked" before you can use it effectively, rather than being completely unusable. That way, you still get the survival challenge without making things unnecessarily restrictive.

It’s an interesting concept, but in practice, it might just lead to more annoyance than fun. 

If you strictly limit gear to what the player has crafted, then Daedric weapons, unique artifacts, and quest rewards would be unusable unless you make exceptions—which means even more coding and potential conflicts. And even if you add an exception for Daedric gear, where do you draw the line? Do you also allow Dragon Priest masks, Nightingale armor, or faction gear? It just keeps adding complexity.

Then there’s the issue with followers. Unless they get the same restrictions, they’d either be stuck in basic gear or require a whole separate system to make sure they only use player-crafted items, which could break their AI or cause weird behavior.

And yeah, by the time you max out crafting and hit high levels, you’d be ridiculously overpowered. A fully smithed and enchanted weapon with all the right perks already lets you destroy enemies in a few hits. If the only weapons and armor you can use are ones you've crafted and tempered, then every piece of your gear would be optimized, meaning you’d reach that god-tier level even faster. It’s one of those ideas that sounds cool in theory but, in practice, would either be way too restrictive early on or completely broken in the late game. It can be done but over all its not worth the hassle. 

Edited February 25 by ZeroOblivion27