Dead or alive - ability to take prisoners

[MarkInMKUK]

Sparked from a throwaway comment I made in the comments about Emma and Lycanthrops Rideable Pack Ponies mod ...

 

Would it be possible to make some quests where the enemy could be captured instead of killed, and dragged back to a guard for a reward. Ideally being able to tie them and throw them over the back of a pack pony...

 

Obviously it's a fair bit of animation work, plus some quest modification if it is to be used with existing quests - but several other posters seemed to like the idea, so over to you clever people who can tell me whether it's possible or not.

[Legotrash]

I'm not one of them clever people but I dare to say that it's definitely possible.

It could have a quest on its own so what did you have in mind when you said "to be used with existing quests"?

[MarkInMKUK]

Existing quests - some of them would work (from a narrative point of view) just as well if the characters yielded instead of fighting to the end. First example - Argamir in the Unfriendly Competition quest. There's no reason why he HAS to die, from a narrative viewpoint.

 

And then there's general dungeon clearances. Goblins, ok, it's likely to be a "to the death" thing. But bandits SHOULD have a chance to yield.

 

Obviously it's not going to apply to all quests, but alternate paths where a surrender is possible (maybe based on character speechcraft, or hand-to-hand capabilities, or even judicious use of paralysis potions + arrows, followed by a "take captive" action) ... plenty of options to enhance gameplay in that way.

[Legotrash]

I didn't think about that. Good point,those quests could get an additional,alternative ending to them. (I do disagree about Argamir though,he has to die,I can't stand him going "Heeey" every-single-TIME! >_> )

[DrakeTheDragon]

Well, there's these already for a start:

http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/22392 NPCs Yield

http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/44314 NPCs Yield (refined)

 

But those won't exactly help you with all those quests using "is target dead?" as transition condition to next stage (yeah, they've been that blunt with it), and they'll all have to be modified separately accordingly.

[MarkInMKUK]

Well, there's these already for a start:

http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/22392 NPCs Yield

http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/44314 NPCs Yield (refined)

 

But those won't exactly help you with all those quests using "is target dead?" as transition condition to next stage (yeah, they've been that blunt with it), and they'll all have to be modified separately accordingly.

 

Thanks for the links, Drake - they are a good starting point.

 

I think (from my limited understanding of how mods are made) any such mod would have to re-work each vanilla quest where it COULD work , and then have a "patch" esp which would be updated with each additional quest that was altered. Then there's the "support" animation parts for the roleplayers, to actually transport the prisoners to jail ... and then either keeping them in jail, or a breakout, or an execution (or a fine maybe - thieves guild members would get bailed out perhaps?)

 

Why do I *ALWAYS* pick a "simple" idea that turns out to have massive knockon effects?

 

(My wife suggests a length of duct tape to shut me up)

[Legotrash]

It's not that hard really.

 

First of all,if the mod aims RPers then you can skip the animations,they won't be needed as long as the mod itself is immersive. If you still wanna make them though then they'll be a very welcomed bonus of course.

Now,about the rest. Make the core of it,make it focus on npcs who respawn (if I remember correctly,all quest-based npcs don't respawn...makes sense after all :P ) and then you can add to the script the npcs you want/tweak the quests you have to tweak.

Don't expect this to be flawless. It's just a quick suggestion. Noone knows until the actual creation of the mod starts. :P :)

 

I do the same thing btw,always pick the most complicated way to create a mod. :D

[kastano]

i have a situation similar to this in my mod (not with horses )- maybe you should check it out

http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/44983/?