The Dark Brotherhood are a bunch of idiots!

[MidbossVyers]

Self-destructive procedures, such as the Purification, leader who's a coward that hides under a statue, and most moronic of all, their "secret rituals" aren't secret at all! During the summoning of the Night Mother, Carandial of the Mages Guild just walked by and no one noticed or cared. They say that the respective worshipers can say a lot about the god in question, so things are looking good for old Sithis.

[Ayatolah]

Self-destructive procedures, such as the Purification, leader who's a coward that hides under a statue, and most moronic of all, their "secret rituals" aren't secret at all! During the summoning of the Night Mother, Carandial of the Mages Guild just walked by and no one noticed or cared. They say that the respective worshipers can say a lot about the god in question, so things are looking good for old Sithis.

 

 

 

JAJAJ! for this reason you have to come in... to fix all of this^^

 

The Night Mother has an excuse.... she's just a spirit XD

[ub3rman123]

Apparently the Dark Brotherhood's strength lies not in remaining unknown, but for its members to remain unknown. I doubt any NPCs recognize the Dark Brotherhood people when they're out of costume (Although they never wear facemasks when they go out a'murderin'). I'd expect the normal reaction to that scene in Bravil would have been to run away.

 

If you listen to the rumors, many NPCs know about the Dark Brotherhood; some even know the process of joining. They just don't know who's in it or where they are.

 

Next problem I can think of is that they claim to have outposts in every city, but they send you out all over Cyrodiil. Wouldn't it have been more efficient to keep you in Cheydinhal?

 

I think they trust too much. If one person figures out who one member is, the whole thing is over.

[whalecakes]

They are incredibly secretive and clever by radiant AI standards.

[MidbossVyers]

Apparently the Dark Brotherhood's strength lies not in remaining unknown, but for its members to remain unknown. I doubt any NPCs recognize the Dark Brotherhood people when they're out of costume (Although they never wear facemasks when they go out a'murderin'). I'd expect the normal reaction to that scene in Bravil would have been to run away.

 

If you listen to the rumors, many NPCs know about the Dark Brotherhood; some even know the process of joining. They just don't know who's in it or where they are.

 

Next problem I can think of is that they claim to have outposts in every city, but they send you out all over Cyrodiil. Wouldn't it have been more efficient to keep you in Cheydinhal?

 

I think they trust too much. If one person figures out who one member is, the whole thing is over.

I think they trust outsiders more than their own "Family", what with the Purification and all.

[Keegdopefish]

Pretty sure

It's because they know there's a traitor, and you did execute somebody just because LL asked you to. If that doesn't make you trustworthy(to them atleast) I don't know what will. I think you only learn about the cheydinhal faction to maintain the secrecy of the other cities to, but there are hints of a secret base in other cities and even doorways.

[downloadablepic]

Apparently the Dark Brotherhood's strength lies not in remaining unknown, but for its members to remain unknown. I doubt any NPCs recognize the Dark Brotherhood people when they're out of costume (Although they never wear facemasks when they go out a'murderin'). I'd expect the normal reaction to that scene in Bravil would have been to run away.

 

If you listen to the rumors, many NPCs know about the Dark Brotherhood; some even know the process of joining. They just don't know who's in it or where they are.

 

Next problem I can think of is that they claim to have outposts in every city, but they send you out all over Cyrodiil. Wouldn't it have been more efficient to keep you in Cheydinhal?

 

I think they trust too much. If one person figures out who one member is, the whole thing is over.

 

they send you all over cyrodil because the other sancturies have been destroyed or gone into hiding

you should try brotherhood renewed it add all the sacturies and a quest to find them

[SorenSeven]

The Dark Brotherhood in-game is done the way it is for simplicity. Not only is it ridiculously easy to join the faction in-game but it is so easy to progress and gain ranks. If it were up to me there would be more steps, challenges and obstacles involved. Rituals and sacrifice, maybe a blood offering to Sithis, maybe even offer a relative... There are endless options that one can create for such a colorful organization.

 

To replace the original way of joining the Dark Brotherhood (which involves only killing someone random and Lucien Lachance appearing before you as though he was psychic) we could say that the Night Mother sensed your true intentions for ending someone's life and that the coldness of your heart was like a sign from Sithis that you belong in the Dark Brotherhood. Not every murder is like this you see, murders of jealousy, greed, lust, etc. are not what Sithis is about, it's about the Void and sending souls to it like sacrifices, it's about taking pleasure in the act of murder that sets it apart from others. Sithis and the Dark Brotherhood are ritualistic in nature and like any ritual, it demands a certain level of concentration and reverence. In my opinion, members of the dark Brotherhood you meet in the game are varied but share a certain characteristic that in some ways reflects what the Dark Brotherhood is about for example Gogron gro-Bolmog (the orc member pre-Purification), he doesn't know or care who Sithis is, nor does he make it a point to use stealth and deception for his contracts, however he enjoys killing much more than anything in the whole world. you could say it fills his existence, the void of his existence. The rest of the members share similar reactions, fulfilling contracts with enjoyment and pleasure.

 

The Dark Brotherhood quests are simple assassination missions involving often only a single step, eliminate the target. These could easily be upgraded to full length missions by adding more challenging objectives. Take for example the very first mission given to you by Vicente Valtieri, A Watery Grave. You are tasked to assassinate the captain of the ship through any means you see fit, stealth (entry through the crate or balcony) and assault (fighting your way through the ships crew to the captain's cabin) but all in all it is a simple quest. We could spice up the quest by making the ship cast-off just as you board the vessel or making the mission an ambush (the crew was aware that an assassin was coming). Now this is a pretty bland example however you see my point in that there are many other ways the quests could be made more interesting.

 

Now with respect to the rankings, I always found that it was way too easy to gain rank in the Dark Brotherhood, an organization that has existed for Sithis knows how long. There is no ritualistic feel to the ranking system but rather a bland progression through numerous forgettable stages of your existence through the Brotherhood. Instead of that, a immersive rank system would be more realistic. My first question to you would be, how does a priest become a bishop, or a cardinal into the Pope? It is an extensive ritual that begins with the foreknowledge if the all that the organization stands for. It requires the support of fellow members and much more. The Night Mother may test your skills through contracts but Sithis demands a more personal ritual. To progress from the lowest rank (Murderer) to the rank above it (Slayer) the player would need to to a special task or rite that glorifies Sithis and the Black Hand such as offering something that ties them to the regular population.Maybe the offering of one's relatives or something. Subsequent ranks can involve the slaughtering of all the members of a town (there would be a special instance created for this). One of the higher ranks would be to train an apprentice, one that would follow you and learn from you (uses same weapon types and skills as you). In the end this apprentice would adopt similar stats as you and would be like fighting your doppelganger in the Shivering Isles when you go to get the wood for your Sheogorath Staff. A powerful right hand (silencer?) for you once you reach the rank of Speaker or Listener.

 

Subsequent challenges for you would be go and recruit murderers members into your faction. The Night Mother is always looking for new murderers and when a soul is received by Sithis, the Night Mother will evaluate the murderer to see if he/she is worthy, if he/she is, you will seek the person out and either get the person to join or kill the person if he/she refuses. This could happen anywhere, as the Dark Brotherhood's reach extends beyond the borders of Tamriel and can even reach realms like the Shivering Isles (since Sithis' powers are even beyond those of a mere Daedric Prince). After all we know that Sithis is the Void which existed before the existence of anything...

 

Your duties as a member of the Black Hand would be as stated above but also, you would get to perform special tasks like meeting people who are requesting a murder (after the person has made and performed the ritual of invocation (I forget the details but it's in the wiki)). These people will give you a contract which you can perform yourself or hand it to a member of your sanctuary (often you would give it to a distributor, one that had the same function as Vicente Valtieri, a guy who gives contracts out to lowly members). The inner workings of the faction would revolve around the fulfillment of contracts to keep members busy however many side rituals are ommited in the game which would add a significant immersion aspect such as prayer time to Sithis. Or even the maintainance of the secrecy of the Sanctuary (this could be a quest unto itself in that the Count has suddenly decided to hunt down the Dark Brotherhood in Chaydinhal and you are task to threaten and keep him quite. Guards and security are nothing to you as you descend upon the castle yourself with the vengeful fury of Sithis to silence the count and his sudden change of heart)...

 

I also find that people should be able to recognize what the Dark Brotherhood members' outfits look like somewhat (such as the classic light armor and the robes of the black hand. These things cannot be worn in public simply because you don't see terrorists walking around in with their AK-47s and rocket launchers and say that that's completely normal right? Discretion is necessary when walking among the regular citizenry that's why you get the Deceiver's Finery... (obviously you can use whatever clothes you like but that's just an example).

 

Now for any modder that wants to incorporate anything in this post feel free, but I recommend you play assassin's creed for a little inspiration also (i've never tried the game but I would think that it has plenty to do with secrecy and assassination etc.)

 

I'll keep thinking of new quests for the Dark Brotherhood members also, since it's so open ended and stuff. This challenge goes out to anyone who loves the Dark Brotherhood also. Think of a special contract for assassination, or more to the root of matters and think of a quest that affects the Dark Brotherhood itself.

 

Here's is another example of a quest for the Dark Brotherhood:

 

You've just gotten word that one of your brothers or sisters in the Dark Brotherhood has been captured in the middle of one of his contracts by the guards of the Imperial City. They have identified the person as being a member of the Dark Brotherhood and thus has compromised your operations in the Imperial City. Vicente Valtieri wants you to go and either free this member of kill him/her to punish/silence the member from revealing any secrets of the Dark Brotherhood to the Imperial Guard (Adamus Phillida is on his way to the Imperial City to interrogate the prisoner, if he makes it to the imperial prison, your chances of success drop significantly making the quest much more difficult to accomplish). The Imperial prison is again the center of your mission area however, because of your recent assassination of Valen Dreth, the presence of Imperial Guards has been significantly increased not to mention a special division has been created by Adamus Phillida to hunt down members of the Dark Brotherhood. These special guards are not as easily deceived as Imperial Legion Guards and can often be more difficult to eliminate. they are distinctive in that they do not wear the classic Legion Armor but a lighter sleeker leather raiment that is entirely black (much like the Dark Brotherhood's armor) allowing them to use stealth and tactics the Dark Brotherhood are known to use. These guards dot and patrol the prison wary that the Dark Brotherhood might send someone to "clean-up" after this member that had been captured. Upon entry of the prison, upon acceptance of this quest, you are limited in the amount of time you have before the quest is failed in that Adamus Phillida will eventually torture the most vital pieces of information from this member (namely the location of the Sanctuary in Chaydinhal and the names of its members including your own...). If you do not hurry you will notice that for the quest of your contracts within city boundaries, there will be a sharp increase in specially assigned Anti-Dark Brotherhood special guards (the ones we spoke of wearing Darth Leather Legion Armor). But if you succeed at either extracting the member (which we could say is even your apprentice (read above suggestions, I mention that you could train an apprentice for special advancement)) or killing the member, the Dark Brotherhood would be safe and operations would return to normal. Saving the member is the most beneficial, reward-wise in that the member would be eternally grateful and try and help you whenever possible acting in essence as a support (you could get the "Call assassin support" spell which summons the member for a brief period of time to lay down some cover fire (maybe a couple of arrows or something) for you or even assassinate the target for you.

 

Well this is just a random suggestion but I think you could have a lot of fun with something like this, since it adds a lot more mechanics into the system.

 

Well take care and have fun that's all the time I got for now.

[LolaBunny]

Anybody else thinks the Night Mother is a big fat liar? I get the impression she's just a ghost able to hear the prayers to Sithis. She didn't predict all this mess and came up with a terribly cheap "they were weak" explanation to remain the powerful and wise leader.

 

Also nobody cares that every soul I take goes to Umbra ;)

[MidbossVyers]

Anybody else thinks the Night Mother is a big fat liar? I get the impression she's just a ghost able to hear the prayers to Sithis. She didn't predict all this mess and came up with a terribly cheap "they were weak" explanation to remain the powerful and wise leader.

 

Also nobody cares that every soul I take goes to Umbra ;)

Yeah, basically, but in terms of your swords, what about Duskfang/Dawnfang?