The Brotherhood of Sentinels

[CosmicCommander]

Introduction

 

I've always to make a mod that would add on a lot of content to the game and engage players in an emotional and intellectual way. The main problem is that I have no experience and ability to make mods, I am unable to code, I am unable to make or apply textures... Actually, I am rather useless.

 

But after reading too many books, playing more BioWare games than most, and of course a lot of browsing through the vastness of the material in the Oblivion Modding Community; I do believe I have something to add.

 

But the main problem is all I can to is write and direct (and maybe act); so I would need a lot of dedicated modders who are willing to help me with this idea and to help me do a thing on the scale I propose. So I acknowledge this may not happen.

 

Summary

 

With Mehrunes Dagon defeated and the Oblivion crisis over, the Empire's collapse has been averted- but not forever. The Empire is all but broke, it is demoralised, scattered, and fast eroding. There are those who would seek to destroy the Empire in this state, and ensure White Gold Tower crumbles. If that happens, the entirety of Tamriel will be plunged into barbarism.

 

The Brotherhood of Sentinels will not allow that.

 

The Brotherhood of Sentinels is currently a conceptual add-on for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, which should add 5-15 hours of play to the game. The add-on (If developed) will be heavy in dialogue and characters, which will mean a small army of voice actors for the many characters that will appear. Due to a complete lack of understanding and ability to make modifications I will not be able to actually make anything, however I would be able to serve as the writer and overall director.

 

Set after the main story, the plot revolves around a Cyrodiil-based conspiracy to completely dissolve the Empire, and ensure all member states will fall into anarchy. The player, through a clever trap, is forced to work with the enigmatic, morally ambiguous, and titular Brotherhood of the Sentinels, and their leader, only known as The Vanguard, to stop a growing rebellion against the Empire.

 

The conspiracy involves dozens of influential persons in the land, and there are scores of Anti-Imperial conspirators who are determined to fight the Empire. The Brotherhood's agenda forces the player travel all around Cyrodiil, defeat many creatures and conspirators, choose whether or not to assist the conspiracy, and ultimately discover a secret that may change the way the player perceives the world.

 

Story

 

In this section I'll post the drafts of the first few quests of the storyline, they serve the purpose of enabling you to understand the tone and meet the main characters of the quest.

 

The Ruins of Virness

 

After the player is made Champion of Cyrodiil they will encounter a seemingly mundane Imperial named Sayma in the Tiber Septim Hotel. After recognizing who the PC is she tells them of her profession, she explains that she is a field Mage (Spellsword) for the Imperial Legion and has been assigned to find a rare artefact in an Aylied ruin called Virness. In normal circumstances they would have assigned an entire regiment to the task, but due to the recent troubles they can only spare her.

 

Although she does not tell the player what the artefact is, she claims there is apparently a large stash of treasure hidden in the ruin that the player may take if they assist her.

 

Although the player can refuse, the continuation of the quest obviously requires a 'Yes' answer. The player travels to Eastern Nibenay Basin (with Sayma as a companion), to Virness. The player has the opportunity to have one conversation with Sayma while in the ruin, during which she reluctantly discusses her work. The ruin itself is infested with undead with a single necromancer lurking in the final chamber of the dungeon.

 

After the necromancer has been defeated the player encounters notes made by them. After investigating, and discussing it with Sayma, the player finds that there is a vial hidden in the ruin that contains a drinkable substance. Convinced that it is the key to progressing to the artefact, the player drinks the contents of the vial.

 

Sayma immediately talks to the player, advising them to lie down while her 'associates' arrive. She explains that the player has just drank a poison called Languorwine (http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:The_Assassinated_Man#To_Serve_Sithis) that had been placed by their 'associate' in the ruins. The last thing the player sees before passing out is several heavily armoured agents entering via a hidden tunnel.

 

A Shadowy Syndicate

 

The player awakens in a small well-furnished room with a single male attendant. After the player engages in an enraged conversation with them, the attendant offers to escort them to a someone called The Vanguard for answers on all that has happened. The player walks with the attendant through the levels of what seems to be a renovated fort. After several scripted sequences, the player and the attendant reach their destination.

 

The Vanguard is revealed to be a young and seemingly flamboyant individual, confusingly out of character from the other, rather sombre, members of the organization. He is seen talking to a Dark Brotherhood Speaker on an 'unfortunate dissenter from our group'. After the assassin leaves, The Vanguard beckons the player to sit down. He articulately explains his reasoning to the player and justifies they have been abducted out of necessity, he then explains whom he and what this group is.

 

Although rather vague on the matter, he provides a brief summary on matters; the empire, although having been prolonged by the player's recent actions against the Mythic Dawn, is fiscally and militarily drained. The empire requires time to rest and recuperate to hope to be even stagnant. This provides long-time opponents of the empire a chance to decapitate it.

 

After naming his organization as The Brotherhood of Sentinels, he explains what they are and their purpose; a cult dedicated to preserving the Empire. Although he doesn't elaborate much more, he promises great riches to the player if they opt to work with him.

 

He gives the player a seemingly random task- steal the journal of the Count of Bravil, to prove their dedication and loyalty to the group. The player encounters Sayma again, who acts as a guard to this enigmatic individual. The Vanguard instructs her to blindfold the player and take him to Bravil. Once the job is done, the player is to contact her again to be brought to the fort, commencing the next quest.

 

Closing

 

Thank you for reading, and I hope to see a reply or two that are about my idea(s), and not on how I present them. Please forgive my appalling use of grammar here- when I bash out high quantities of text, I tend to forsake decent presentation skills, and seem to overuse commas.

 

Cheers.

[kieranfoy]

Pretty bold, disparaging the plots of all but one Oblivion mod.

 

Might put people off.

[CosmicCommander]

Pretty bold, disparaging the plots of all but one Oblivion mod.

 

Might put people off.

 

Honesty on my part puts people off?

 

I understand that 99.9% of mods have a lot of love and care put into them, and that shows. I congratulate any modder in their efforts to add something to the game. But the truth is that the writing quality of most of them is not very good. Many of them are incoherent, confusing, and emotionally schizophrenic.

 

I know there would be many who would lynch me on this, and feel free to. But as an avid reader of some of the best books of the 20th century, an amateur writer and amateur film/game critic, I have to say the Oblivion modding community is rather bad.

 

I just want to make something that would give a big positive to story in Oblivion modding.

[kieranfoy]

 

 

Honesty on my part puts people off?

 

...Many of them are incoherent, confusing, and emotionally schizophrenic.

 

But as an avid reader of some of the best books of the 20th century, an amateur writer and amateur film/game critic, I have to say the Oblivion modding community is rather bad.

 

Yes... clearly nothing to be miffed about there. Why, my best friends routinely calle me rather bad, and emotionally schizophrenic. I consider it a compliment. /sarcasm

 

Really, telling people their entire community sucks before asking for their help is a poor way to get attention. You'd better have one heck of an brilliantly original plot, one that makes every other mod plot seem cliched by comparison, if you're going to back that up.

[CosmicCommander]

Yes... clearly nothing to be miffed about there. Why, my best friends routinely calle me rather bad, and emotionally schizophrenic. I consider it a compliment. /sarcasm

 

Really, telling people their entire community sucks before asking for their help is a poor way to get attention. You'd better have one heck of an brilliantly original plot, one that makes every other mod plot seem cliched by comparison, if you're going to back that up.

 

You are a funny one.

 

I never said they sucked, quote me at any point and I can tell you that you are wrong. If I said you all sucked I would have posted an image of a Goatse to accompany it.

 

All I have said is that the story element of most Oblivion mods are not up to the scratch of the game they are based around. I am not saying that this is the fault of the modders either, the modders are people who, out of love and care and limited resources, create these experiences we all enjoy. Hell, I enjoy most of the mods I download here! Just because I find the story lacking does not mean that they are bad.

 

I'll appeal to something in you love as much as me.

 

I love KotOR, if KotOR were a woman I would f*** her brains out and I would be her slave. KotOR, for me, sets a standard that if any game comes near I will love it. I want to make a mod that comes close to that standard, and that doesn't mean that all other mods are inferior, it just means they were made in a different way.

 

As I said, I love nearly all the mods here; I just want to make one that is to my standards.

[kieranfoy]

So you didn't say the word 'suck.' Whoopee. You spent time insulting the Oblivion modding community, and our mods, and seem to think the community as a whole cares about your standards.

 

So, where again does this count as agood recruitment strategy?

 

Also "Just because I find the story lacking does not mean that they are bad."

 

"I have to say the Oblivion modding community is rather bad."

"even some of the apparent best emotional and story driven add-ons that are shown on this site are... Well... Bad."

 

See a contradiction? You say they're bad, and then say you never said that.

[CosmicCommander]

You are completely misinterpreting me, I'm really sorry if I was not concise, I'll break it down.

 

 

"I have to say the Oblivion modding community is rather bad."

 

Typo, in the sense I am rather tired and have a stomach bug, and as of such not proof-reading what I type. Amendment: I have to say the Oblivion modding community is rather bad [in the sense of making story-driven experiences].

 

"even some of the apparent best emotional and story driven add-ons that are shown on this site are... Well... Bad."

 

I suppose you could interpret it negatively, mainly because of my lack of proof-reading; let me elaborate on it.

 

...Even some of the apparent best emotional and story driven add-ons [that are championed here] are shown on this site are... Well... [Not very good if compared in that sense to the narratives and stories of content produced by game studios and some other communities]

 

You spent time insulting the Oblivion modding community, and our mods.

 

Firstly, I am not insulting your work, I never said your work is bad, I never said you are horrible, I never said something horribly rude about you. I am providing a brief opinion on what I think. Just because I have an opinion doesn't mean it's fact or true, it means that from a person's view, they believe x.

 

...and seem to think the community as a whole cares about your standards

 

Obviously, my standards are obviously superior to yours! MWUHAHA! Bow down before me commoners! I am your GOD!

 

/sarcasm

 

I never said you should care about what I think, nor that you do. I was simply stating that I would like to make something to my standards, and if it is a raging hit that all love, so be it. If it is equivalent to a huge dog turd, so be it.

 

I'll say two things before I end this post.

 

Firstly, I do not wish to call all of your work s***, and I apologise if I ever got across that idea. I just was saying that most of it is not to my personal liking, and you do not need to give a toss about that.

 

Secondly, I just remembered, that protective bubble just got bigger with me remembering Werewolf - Legends of the North, that's pretty damn good... In my opinion, and it's just my opinion, and you are free to disagree, and I am not attempting to tell you my opinion is somehow superior somehow.

 

I love arguing.

[CosmicCommander]

I'll edit the OP, by the way; I've launched a pointless argument over my stupid need to type out my opinion.

 

I apologise.

[kieranfoy]

I'm not. You start your request insulting the Oblivion community.

 

I'm not offended, obviously, I don't give a toss about what you think. Matter of fact, I'm trying to HELP a n00b by offering tips on how to get people to help. The best way is to compliment them on their work, and throw yourself on the mercy of the community as a whole, not to say "Only two mods are good. The rest are x and y."

 

Also, try Heart of the Dead, Servant of the Dawn, any of Simyaz's mods (avoid Tears of the Fiend if you're a sensetive Atheist or Agnostic, but other than that...), Kragenir's Deathquest, Windfall... the list of mods that are mind-blowing that you've dismissed... sheesh!

 

Also, I love arguing, myself. Like Picard said, it's good for the blood pressure.

 

Also, take a peek at these linkies while explaining your plot:

 

http://limyaael.livejournal.com/182857.html

 

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SecretCircleOfSecrets

 

Good guides to avoiding hackneyed garbage.

[CosmicCommander]

I'll end this with this, in Bold Italics to stress my point, because I am hardcore.

 

My only problem with most Oblivion mods is usually this... The narrative. That's all I am bothered by, and I usually love all other aspects, I admit, there are many mods I have not played, and many I have not tried. But of those I have played, I can say that in many I play I find the story lacking, I love everything else about them, I did not mean to imply your works are s***.

 

The best way is to compliment them on their work, and throw yourself on the mercy of the community as a whole

 

 

 

Thanks for the links, they should be useful for colouring in the corners of my canvas of beautiful work. And I'll try those mods you suggested, thank you for enlightening me.