Instruction Manuals - Perks for followers

[Wauthan]

Started out as a reason for creating blank books at The Sink and sort of grew from there. My idea is that a selection of perks could be transcribed into an "Instruction Manual" item and then placed in a followers inventory. The item then grants the perk to the follower. Since the PC needs to have the perk first before being able to activate the particular recipe the mod is sort of balanced. I was thinking of using it in tandem with Companion Share and Recruit - New Vegas by Talkie Toaster since those NPCs are often quite bit weaker then the vanilla followers.

 

Trouble is that I can't figure out what would be good perks to use, that doesn't screw up all sense of balance. Would be glad to hear your ideas. Also, I'm trying to figure out if there's any way to give followers a special perk that increases skill value, but doesn't do so for the PC. Essentially a way create skill magazines that the NPCs can use.

[TrooperScooperMKII]

I think that one could write a script to add/remove perks on the basis of an inventory item (exclude the PC, not player..? then if it shows up in an NPC inventory it's either been reverse-pickpocketed, planted on a corpse or added to a companion's inventory) though I can't say how it would work.

 

As for the perks themselves, I think that a "class" type system would be a good way to go for general utility, i.e. a "sniper" perk that increases their accuracy and sneak skill, a "medic" that allows them to heal? you (maybe if you're not in combat and they have the item- a "medical kit" instead of an instruction manual, perhaps?- the player will get a healing spell?) and similar things...

"manuals" could be more than just books... like the med kit for the medic perk, a pair of binoculars for increased perception, a backpack to increase carry weight, a cookbook/survival toolkit for survival skill, etc...

aside from the stats and skills-

wild wasteland perks, like the stock fake-nose and glasses, a new "skin" (i.e. a set of "armor" like Stormtroopers, Klingons, aliens whatever) or a holy hand grenade thrower that sometimes counts inaccurately, giving a "misfire" ( 1 2 5 BANG! in his hands, instead of 1 2 3 -throw- BANG! on the enemy)

[Wauthan]

Thank you for the reply TrooperScooperMKII. Yeah, I got most of this narrowed down now. The Companion Share and Recruit mod helps with the delivery of the Manual, so no need for reverse-pickpocketing. Also, I think I wasn't clear in my first post. The mod I'm thinking about would only allow the player to create perk-items that grants perks they already have.

 

For example, I like to pick up the Heave, Ho! perk since I like using explosives in-game. Since usually fight the legion I also end up with a lot of throwing spears. I don't use them myself, since I got low melee weapon skill, but Boone is pretty dangerous with them. Though he can't hit anything most of the time. So I created a campfire recipe that only shows up if you have the Heave,Ho! perk (condition) that lets you create a book misc item - "Guide to the Perfect Curveball". The item grants the perk Heave, Ho! when it's in the inventory. It's useless for me since I already got the perk, but I can now put it in Boones inventory to make him chuck spears faster and further.

 

The class type system you mentioned is a bit too ambitious for me I'm afraid. And also seems a bit clunky to get to work without the items granting the player a bonus as well. I have no idea how to make a perk that changes textures or race of an NPC, though that would be really cool.

[devinpatterson]

Hi Wauthan. You may find granting perks to other actors is much more programmatic then it seems on the surface. Most perks (maybe all, don't know) won't work correctly when added to a actor.

 

I was pretty surprised when another nexus member informed me about this. It was in reference to the mother deathclaw in the quarry having psycho perk when her babies are killed. But the solution is to convert them to a ability and add them via the actor effects tab or via script. For most perks the conversion isn't a big deal. Like toughness can be a relatively simple conversion. Just +3DT make the enchantment, add it to teh ability etc as you normally would. But some perks have a hard coded entry point and I'm not sure how you would go about that with an ability.

 

There is an undocumented addperk field that works with companions, but I can't find any info on it other than a mention or two in bethsofts forums. But if you can figure that one out it may be exactly what your looking for and would save you a significant amount of work.

[Wauthan]

Thanks for the information DevinPatterson. Yep, I ran into that problem after what I thought was an initial success. Seems "in party" NPCs are handled differently by the game so perks are out. And a newly published mod on the Nexus pretty much does exactly what I was planning to implement. Guess that puts an end to my mod idea. It's far easier to simply give the npcs gear that alter their stats and abilities than invent a pseudo-perk system.