[LE] Disable/enable entire Topic for NPC?

[Darklocq]

The CK tutorials don't seem to cover this. I want to create a Topic that's only available under particular circumstances.

 

In the tutorials, you create a topic, and the responses available can be given conditions, but the NPC has the topic available forever and ever. There seems to be no option to make it conditional. My guess is that there's a scripting mechanism for injecting and removing topics from NPCs (maybe an SKSE-only option).

 

I see various mods give people topics (e.g. followers get new topics when they enter follow mode, and things like prostitution and slavery mods add topics based on the "relationship" between the NPC and the player, often after some spell effect has been triggered. When I look at the scripting of this stuff, it's a huge pile of complicated mess that gives me a headache.

 

Looking for a very simple version.

 

All I want to do is this:

 

* You find NPC prisoner in bandit dungeon, and initiate dialogue. Topic available, something like "Where's all your stuff?"

* "These bandits stole it all from me. I need help getting it back. It's very important!" or the like. Starts quest whether you agree to go help look right now or not.

* If you agree, you go find the goods and the quest ends.

* If you agree, but leave the dungeon without the goods, NPC will bug you periodically (if in follower mode) to go recover the goods (quest is still open).

* If you didn't agree in the first place, ditto. Basically, quest remains active until the gear's recovered.

 

After quest ends, no dialogue about this ever recurs or remains available. The topic about it should just go away. No "Oh, thank you for helping me get my gear back three months ago" crap. Need to keep follower menu clean. I could live with the topic appearing in wait/dismissed mode, I suppose.

 

Also looking to change this character's appearance based on whether rescued from the cell she was found in, or left there still (dirt/wounds equipped as nonplayable items, removed after escape). I'm not sure of the best way to do that. I can see several, that range from OnUnload to OnCellLoad to quest status to a timer and a cell check, but Papyrus scripting seems fraught with stability danger compared to the TESscript stuff I'm used to in Oblivion and Morrowind, so any assumption I make about the best way to do this is probably wrong.

Edited October 31, 2018 by Darklocq

[cdcooley]

Topics only appear if there's at least one response the NPC can say in response. So if you condition all of the responses correctly. And dialogue has to be attached to a quest, so if you add that dialogue to the quest and the quest ends (or hasn't been started) the dialogue topics and responses aren't available either.

[Tasheni]

You can set each dialogue to say once. With the right conditions on it , it will trigger exactly when it should and will only be said once.

For your secenario you just need to work with quest stages and set the stage condition to the dialogue topics.

Edited November 1, 2018 by Tasheni