LE Skyrim Hardcoree Survivalism

[Kry11ic]

So, I was wondering around Riverwood earlier, and I realized something... What would it be like if I was like all these other people? Then this idea popped into my head for there to be a hardcore survival type in Skyrim! Here's the things that could be added to make it feel like you're not a god among Nords in Skyrim:

 

- You're not dragon born. Shouting fire blasts or slowing time totally takes away the "survival" feel.

 

- Limited carry weight. I know this is an RPG, but being able to carring around 20 swords with you, again, takes away the survival feel. Maybe be able to carry about 50lbs at max?

 

- At first, I was thinking about not being able to use any magic at all, but then it won't even feel like Skyrim. So, I came up with an idea. You won't be able to use any magic at all at first. To be able to use destruction, alteration, and so on, you have to go to one of the Colleges and get training. But, even then, you have to go through vigorous training just to use Novice spells.

 

- your health is dropped dramatically. Maybe, say, to only 100 at max? I want the player to feel "I could actually die!" whenever they go out into the wilderness. Also, no health regeneration, only potions and magic (once acquired) can restore health.

 

- Armor rating is dropped, and you can't wear just any armor. For the first types of armor (steel, studded, hide, and iron) you're able to wear. You'll need special training to wear anything better then that, and Daedric and Dragon armor could possibly require a quest? (Thanks to iamthefritch for this idea) when wearing armor, the actual weight is reduced by 50%.

 

- weapon damage is dropped. Um... Pretty self-explanatory.

 

- Disable Fast Travel. This will force the player to go out into the wild, instead of safely fast traveling to cities they wish to go.

 

That's all that I think needs to be made for the Hardcore mode. If anyone has any suggestions for new elements, or to change the settings for the ones I presented, please let me know. If not, then I really hope someone takes up this idea and makes it a reality :D

 

Thanks to ideas of fraquar, This mod should also contain:

 

1) Cannot buy/sell goods in towns - have to use the Khajiit Caravan or any travelling merchant to do that

2) Cannot use crafting stations in towns, you have to use the ones you find in your travels - i.e. the forge at Silent Moon Camp is fine, running up to Faregar's Enchanting Table is not.

3) Cannot buy property in towns (i.e. no permanent storage), though you'd need a way for the player to build a house in the wilderness to get permanent storage. Till that time if they want storage they have to take their chances with temporary storage places in the wild.

4) No NPC followers who can carry items (i.e. permanent storage), though animal NPC followers and conjured would be fine.

5) No living at a spouses house (again, no permanent storage) - see #3 and have her move in your built house instead

Edited February 10, 2012 by Kry11ic

[supafuzz]

i liked the weapon skills mechanics in Morrowind where when you started learning how to use a new weapon it'd basically be useless at first because it'd take 20 swings to actually hit a Mudcrab. it was seriously exaggerated in that game but it felt much more rewarding as you progressed rather than in vanilla Skyrim where you're pretty much a badass right from the beginning. implementing that would mean a total overhaul of everything though.

[Kry11ic]

i liked the weapon skills mechanics in Morrowind where when you started learning how to use a new weapon it'd basically be useless at first because it'd take 20 swings to actually hit a Mudcrab. it was seriously exaggerated in that game but it felt much more rewarding as you progressed rather than in vanilla Skyrim where you're pretty much a badass right from the beginning. implementing that would mean a total overhaul of everything though.

hm maybe, but I think it would be worth it. I really like that idea, so instead of just dropping the weapon damage, the higher rated swords (such as glass, ebony, daedric, etc.) would have a hit percentage, and it would be low at first, but the more kills you get with it, the higher the hit percentage becomes... Yea, that is a pretty big overhaul, but like I said, it would totally be worth it.

[GovernmentPig]

Interesting idea.

 

-Not being dragon born would be alright. Possibly adjust the function so that you still have some sort of natural aid to start with nut nerf them considerably to maintain the sense of hardcore gameplay.

 

-50lbs carrying weight is simply outrageous however. I haven't looked at the weight of the armor in-game in some time but I'm quite sure you wouldn't be able to wear a full set of any of it if 50lbs is your limit.

 

-The Morrowind system of swinging your sword and a nearly completely stationary crab and missing it is preposterous in my opinion however and the thought of being trounced by a mudcrab is borderline Dark Souls^TM. Simple brutality

 

-I also recall a mod but the name escapes me. It was for Oblivion and made it so that you would actually need to eat food or you would suffer severe negative effects and possibly die (not sure on the death part, can't quite remember). If you're looking for a more realistic survival scenario that may fit your tastes.

 

The rest of the ideas are good in my opinion however. Hopefully someone will pick this up.

[Kry11ic]

Interesting idea.

 

-Not being dragon born would be alright. Possibly adjust the function so that you still have some sort of natural aid to start with nut nerf them considerably to maintain the sense of hardcore gameplay.

 

-50lbs carrying weight is simply outrageous however. I haven't looked at the weight of the armor in-game in some time but I'm quite sure you wouldn't be able to wear a full set of any of it if 50lbs is your limit.

 

-The Morrowind system of swinging your sword and a nearly completely stationary crab and missing it is preposterous in my opinion however and the thought of being trounced by a mudcrab is borderline Dark Souls^TM. Simple brutality

 

-I also recall a mod but the name escapes me. It was for Oblivion and made it so that you would actually need to eat food or you would suffer severe negative effects and possibly die (not sure on the death part, can't quite remember). If you're looking for a more realistic survival scenario that may fit your tastes.

 

The rest of the ideas are good in my opinion however. Hopefully someone will pick this up.

-Well there is that perk where if you're wearing all the same type of armor, it weighs nothing. I just don't want the player carrying 10 different suits of armor, and 20 different swords. Maybe a few swords and one suit of armor.

 

-and for the "swing and miss" system, I'm not saying where you swing at an immobile mudcrab and you miss, I saying that you have a low percent rating where you actually hit them, and enemies are ALWAYS moving.

[GovernmentPig]

-Well there is that perk where if you're wearing all the same type of armor, it weighs nothing. I just don't want the player carrying 10 different suits of armor, and 20 different swords. Maybe a few swords and one suit of armor.

 

-and for the "swing and miss" system, I'm not saying where you swing at an immobile mudcrab and you miss, I saying that you have a low percent rating where you actually hit them, and enemies are ALWAYS moving.

The perks your referring to are skill level 50 and 70 for light and heavy respectively. You want to run around naked or nearly so until you reach that point? And I'm not understanding the "low percentage rating" part of that. I'm saying that it would be total BS if you swing and your sword appears to make contact with the enemy but it counts as a miss and the enemy takes 0 damage, as in Morrowind. And I'm well aware that the "enemies are ALWAYS moving". That's not the point, The point is that your chances of hitting and doing damage or missing and doing no damage shouldn't depend on the roll of dice. This isn't D&D or Morrowind.

[Kry11ic]

-Well there is that perk where if you're wearing all the same type of armor, it weighs nothing. I just don't want the player carrying 10 different suits of armor, and 20 different swords. Maybe a few swords and one suit of armor.

 

-and for the "swing and miss" system, I'm not saying where you swing at an immobile mudcrab and you miss, I saying that you have a low percent rating where you actually hit them, and enemies are ALWAYS moving.

The perks your referring to are skill level 50 and 70 for light and heavy respectively. You want to run around naked or nearly so until you reach that point? And I'm not understanding the "low percentage rating" part of that. I'm saying that it would be total BS if you swing and your sword appears to make contact with the enemy but it counts as a miss and the enemy takes 0 damage, as in Morrowind. And I'm well aware that the "enemies are ALWAYS moving". That's not the point, The point is that your chances of hitting and doing damage or missing and doing no damage shouldn't depend on the roll of dice. This isn't D&D or Morrowind.

I never said that it's definitely going to be a maximum of 50lbs, I said maybe. It can easily be changed, but I'm trying to get the point across that you shouldn't be able to carry around 50 items on you. Remember, this is hardcore mode that emphasizes survival.

 

Also, with the hit percentage, it was a suggestion. Again, it can be altered, or changed. how about you swing pretty slowly at first with a new sword, and the damage is low. The more kills you get with that sword, the faster you swing it, and the more damage it deals. That would seem more realistic. Of course, you won't get to the point where you swing it as fast as the Elemental Fury shout, but slightly faster then before.

[Kry11ic]

*Edited main post

[fraquar]

Survivalism to me means living off nature, so to me things like this:

 

1) Cannot buy/sell goods in towns - have to use the Khajiit Caravan or any travelling merchant to do that

2) Cannot use crafting stations in towns, you have to use the ones you find in your travels - i.e. the forge at Silent Moon Camp is fine, running up to Faregar's Enchanting Table is not.

3) Cannot buy property in towns (i.e. no permanent storage), though you'd need a way for the player to build a house in the wilderness to get permanent storage. Till that time if they want storage they have to take their chances with temporary storage places in the wild.

4) No NPC followers who can carry items (i.e. permanent storage), though animal NPC followers and conjured would be fine.

5) No living at a spouses house (again, no permanent storage) - see #3 and have her move in your built house instead

 

Things of that nature entail survivalism, and I'd argue that Dragonborn shouts should be fine, they are a force of nature no different than any other magic.

[GovernmentPig]

-Well there is that perk where if you're wearing all the same type of armor, it weighs nothing. I just don't want the player carrying 10 different suits of armor, and 20 different swords. Maybe a few swords and one suit of armor.

 

-and for the "swing and miss" system, I'm not saying where you swing at an immobile mudcrab and you miss, I saying that you have a low percent rating where you actually hit them, and enemies are ALWAYS moving.

The perks your referring to are skill level 50 and 70 for light and heavy respectively. You want to run around naked or nearly so until you reach that point? And I'm not understanding the "low percentage rating" part of that. I'm saying that it would be total BS if you swing and your sword appears to make contact with the enemy but it counts as a miss and the enemy takes 0 damage, as in Morrowind. And I'm well aware that the "enemies are ALWAYS moving". That's not the point, The point is that your chances of hitting and doing damage or missing and doing no damage shouldn't depend on the roll of dice. This isn't D&D or Morrowind.

I never said that it's definitely going to be a maximum of 50lbs, I said maybe. It can easily be changed, but I'm trying to get the point across that you shouldn't be able to carry around 50 items on you. Remember, this is hardcore mode that emphasizes survival.

 

Also, with the hit percentage, it was a suggestion. Again, it can be altered, or changed. how about you swing pretty slowly at first with a new sword, and the damage is low. The more kills you get with that sword, the faster you swing it, and the more damage it deals. That would seem more realistic. Of course, you won't get to the point where you swing it as fast as the Elemental Fury shout, but slightly faster then before.

Sounds good to me.