Drakescale Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 I do have one concern though: Is there any way the player could meet both of these conditions before even visiting the Jarl, thus causing the courier to visit them immediately upon finishing Before the Storm? I don't think it would be possible, since I'm pretty sure you can't get more than one bounty quest per hold at a time, but of course, I haven't tested this.Now that you mention it there's that flaw in the idea but I think you can mend that through the letter itself. The story goes as follows if the db didn't send the news within a period of time OR when the bounty/side quest condition is met: db did not send the news of the dragon attack in Helgen to Jarl Balgruf. As time passed, people of Riverwood sent another courier thinking that the db might have perished on the way to Whiterun OR they sent another courier since it's been too long and the aid didn't arrive. I think you can tweak the content of the letter at will to suit your story line. If I missed anything, please tell. I might mend it further. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
behughes Posted April 16, 2012 Author Share Posted April 16, 2012 Now that you mention it there's that flaw in the idea but I think you can mend that through the letter itself. The story goes as follows if the db didn't send the news within a period of time OR when the bounty/side quest condition is met: db did not send the news of the dragon attack in Helgen to Jarl Balgruf. As time passed, people of Riverwood sent another courier thinking that the db might have perished on the way to Whiterun OR they sent another courier since it's been too long and the aid didn't arrive. I think you can tweak the content of the letter at will to suit your story line. If I missed anything, please tell. I might mend it further. :) You make another good point: Realistically, if you took to long to deliver the news to the Jarl, Riverwood would probably send someone else. However, if someone else delivers the news, the Jarl would never meet you, would have no reason to ask for your help in the future, and thus, wouldn't send you a letter at all! Kind of a big plot-hole now that you mention it! If someone else did deliver the news while you were dallying about, Delphine (as Farengar's informant) could be the one to inform the Jarl that you were a survivor of Helgen, and suggest that you might have special skills or insights that would be useful in the dragon crisis. Even if you skip over Riverwood entirely after Helgen, she could find out about you through rumors of "another survivor" spread by Ralof/Hadvar, track you down, then inform the Jarl about your existence. That way, the Jarl might actually have a reason to contact you. If I can figure out a way to add another branch to the quest "Before the Storm," which sends a slightly different note to the player if they wait too long to complete the quest objective, I might try to work it in. That said, I don't think I can possibly account for every contingency or choice the player might make, and if I allow for every instance of the player ignoring quest objectives, the story could become pretty convoluted. From a storytelling perspective, there is a somewhat linear narrative I'd like to stick to, which assumes the player will eventually follow through with quest objectives. I think I can make an exception for this, since its a pretty big plot hole, but I'll have to figure out how to script it first :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drakescale Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 If someone else did deliver the news while you were dallying about, Delphine (as Farengar's informant) could be the one to inform the Jarl that you were a survivor of Helgen, and suggest that you might have special skills or insights that would be useful in the dragon crisis. Even if you skip over Riverwood entirely after Helgen, she could find out about you through rumors of "another survivor" spread by Ralof/Hadvar, track you down, then inform the Jarl about your existence. That way, the Jarl might actually have a reason to contact you.There you have it! A brilliant countermeasure! :P I like this idea best. Using the resourcefulness of the Blades as being the empire's top agents! Seriously, it's brilliant! :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
behughes Posted April 16, 2012 Author Share Posted April 16, 2012 (edited) There you have it! A brilliant countermeasure! :P I like this idea best. Using the resourcefulness of the Blades as being the empire's top agents! Seriously, it's brilliant! :P Glad you like it! I may have to wait until I've got a better handle on scripting to try this out, unless someone with more experience gets on board. The last script hack-job I did was a bit to trial-and-error for my taste. As for using the radiant bounty quests as a pre-req for Bleak Falls Barrow... I took a peek at those scripts, and they were pretty incomprehensible, so I'm not sure how to use them for my purposes. I might have to settle for making a few new side-quests of my own, which Proventus can give if you speak to him. For example... -Speak to the Jarl of Falkreath on behalf of Whiterun to insure that the reinforcements sent to Riverwood are not misinterpreted an act of aggressive posturing. -Find out what happened to a missing tax collector (a nod to Morrowind's "Death of a Taxman" quest), kill the thief, and return the funds to Proventus. -Deliver food/mead/weapons/supplies to soldiers garrisoned at the watchtowers around Whiterun.-Something involving water reserves to combat fires? ...et cetera, et cetera. Most of these will be simple tasks that take place inside the city or within the hold. However, I like the idea of sending the player to Falkreath because otherwise, you never have any reason to visit that hold during the main quest. These would be totally optional quests so if you don't do them, upon reaching some level (maybe level 12?), the quest would automatically advance, the courier would deliver the note, and these quest topics would disappear from Proventus' dialogue options. If you do them all, regardless of level, the quest also advances. Other than what I've mentioned, any ideas for what these little quests could be? Edited April 16, 2012 by behughes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
behughes Posted April 18, 2012 Author Share Posted April 18, 2012 Sorry to bump this. I just wanted to let anyone following this topic know, I have moved the discussion over the Mod Talk subforum: http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/650543-skyrim-main-quest-overhaul-wip/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
criswolf09 Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 Bumping again so, I hate the idea of killing Paarthurnaax for the stupid blood lust of Esbern and Delphine. I'd love to see more news about this interesting project! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thunderlord2200 Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 thats a good idea. theres many things i been thinking about. when u do a crime, and u are where seen (no need for items to b red) u have more re-per-cousns. (like instead of going to jail or pay cash, u do both ur self needing to prove ur self back to them cops.. (being a what rank they gave u means nothing. but if u can bribe them to let u go. but the person u stole from will not like u or earn there trust again... (so com-pa,cated this idea.. heck i wish people new who u are.. in this story u have no back story u dont know who u are, or where u came from. heck u dont even know y u are there... other then wrong spot wrong time.. (best back story i think so far was in fallout3..... (never played Oblivion. or the other 1..) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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