LE Start a mining biz

stebbinsd · July 3, 2014

For a franchise that prides itself on giving the player autonomy, there are surprisingly few business opportunities in Skyrim.

Furthermore, what's the deal with all these mines that are occupied by bandits? What, do business-minded people really not see this mine, not owned by any law-abiding citizen, and think to themselves "Hmm, if I send a sellsword to clear out this mine, I can make money off of it?"

I'd like someone to make a mod where, once you've cleared out a mine in a hold where you're already allowed to purchase property (I think the right to purchase property in that hold should be an obvious prerequisite), a radiant quest that doesn't appear in your journal would be triggered where you could go to the Steward of that hold and purchase that mine from him. This quest would fail if the mine respawns with new bandits before you choose that dialoge option with the Steward.

Once you've purchased it, THEN the quest would appear in your journal, and you would be tasked with hiring a manager for the mine. You can recruit a follower, and then pay him 500 gold (just like your personal Steward in the Heartfire plug-in), and he will go live at the mine. He will then hire some workers (who will be given the name "Miner") who can be seen constantly digging up ore.

Talk to the mine manager, and he will either offer to simply pay you your share (75% of the ore having been dug up; the other 25% goes to the workers' salaries), or you can pay the 25% of the workers' salaries yourself and buy the dug-up ore for a 75% discount (you know... in case you would rather smith with it, or transmute it).

The amount of ore your manager has for you would be the equivalent for the entire mine, and would stock every ten days. The amount he has dug up would stack indefinitely, just like the 100 gold a day from your spouse, in case you're away from the mine for a long period of time.

Any takers?