LE A Three Part Quest -- Culmination of War with the Thalmor

[Tank0123]

Beware -- this idea is pretty lengthy, but I feel it'll be worth your time. I do not know how to mod, and haven't yet tinkered with PC Skyrim or the Creation Kit (will be getting that tomorrow, thankfully, which by the time most people read this will have already come and gone). Thus, while I plan on learning how to mod, I know it will be long and arduous process; my biggest problem will be learning how to script (since I know practically nothing of computers and the like).

 

I'm aware that there have been numerous mod requests for an expansion of the Main quest/civil war questline, especially that which allows one to fight the Thalmor. This mod request is somewhat the same, but I have a whole story arc and new features in mind that I believe are unique. I want this to be much like the Mothership Zeta Crew mod for Fallout 3, if anyone here has ever played that masterpiece of a mod. It would be multipart, possibly branching.

 

Here's what I have in mind:

 

You complete the main quest and become known as Dragonborn (or maybe, since the MQ sucks, we can work something in so you can start Part 1 without having yet completed it -- maybe after Dragon Rising or something). You are approached by a courier, who bears a note telling you to meet with a mysterious figure in an as-of-yet undecided (and private) location. I'm thinking along the lines of a private estate.

 

The man, knowing you to be the Dragonborn, is very wealthy and very well connected in ways he does not yet explain, and he wants you to go obtain a powerful artifact deep within an unopened ruin (haven't decided on Dwemer or Nordic yet, most likely a unique hybrid if it's possible). However, you won't be going it alone; he lends you his top lieutenant and (possibly) another subordinate to go and hire an assortment of various specialists and warriors of all stripes.

 

This recruiting aspect would be non-linear, and would involve you tracking down said-individuals (except one, who would happen to join you during the recruitment of another team member). The list would be racially and skillfully diverse -- here's what I have:

 

The Altmer Scholar -- he will interpret the ancient glyphs and guide the team through the ruin. Also a powerful mage.

The Dunmer Thief -- master thief, very witty, deals with locks and contraptions -- may save your butt from traps

The Nordic Warrior -- the muscle, naturally

The Khajiit Assassin -- a natural-born killer. Of course you'll want this one

The Breton Mage -- as a sort of magical backup to the Scholar

The Bosmer Ranger -- an excellent sharpshooter

The Redguard Healer -- in case anyone gets injured, will be crucial

 

The additional character would the Argonian Spellsword -- he's an all-round, jack of all trades kind of character.

 

The man's lieutenant would be an Orc, his subordinate an Imperial.

 

(You may have noticed I have not given them names. I actually have all the names, which are lore-friendly, courtesy of the Tamriel Rebuilt name generator -- however, since I am not working on it and am just putting the story out there, I'll leave most of the names, story details, and etc to modders until I actually learn how to mod).

 

I think, more important than the roles of these characters, is their personal stories, and even bigger than that, their interactions with one another. Whether or not you choose to pursue and/or observe these interactions will be up to the player's discretion. For example, the Orc lieutenant might share a personal note about how he is looked down upon by most, yet how he worked even harder to secure his top level position within the Mysterious Man's organization. Definitely something else I wanted to pursue was the inevitable friction between the Mage and the Scholar -- the Mage somewhat jealous and striving the prove himself better, and the Scholar being annoyed at the Mage's arrogance and impulsiveness.

 

It is these interactions which I feel will drive the narrative up to and during the final mission. I want players to feel a sense of attachment and humanity when it comes to these people fighting at your side -- not just some mindless robot like the rest of followers in the game (I'm looking at you, Lydia).

 

The final mission would consist of the team ultimately assembling outside the ruin and then assaulting it. The fights would be difficult and large; you would split up the team into smaller segments (part of this is to reduce the laggy chaos that would be caused by you, 10 allies, and dozens of enemies fighting all at the same time). The team specialists -- ie the Thief, the Scholar, etc -- will prove their use to you in various ways, such as when the team must hold off waves of enemies while the Thief attempts to open a complicated series of doors. The three magical members might have to simultaneously activate magical pylons -- I don't know, it's up to the modders, and certainly open to many scenarios.

 

Eventually, the team would recover the artifact (whatever it happens to be) and escape, thus ending Part 1.

 

I wanted to introduce a choices and consequences system to the whole thing -- such as making the choice on who should do what (you can see now, in some way, how inter-team friction would be a major issue in these instances). In this way, the wrong choice could get somebody killed -- and ultimately, fail the mission, if you really screw the pooch. The only problem I can see in this would be scripting; I've never scripted before, but from what I've heard, it's pretty difficult, especially for creating unique situations like these. Again, I'll leave it to the modders' discretion. If you haven't been able to tell already, much of this was drawn from the story/gameplay of Mass Effect 2, in which you had to assemble a team for a suicide mission and would make game-altering decisions. I challenge anyone willing to make something even better.

 

The end of Part 1 would see your team victorious in their mission, but the epilogue of it would be the return to the Man's estate: it's under attack, burned to the ground. I was thinking Thalmor. No one knows whether or not the Man survived. Frustrated, everyone sort of disperses, the only reward being the mysterious artifact you found -- which you keep with you.

 

~~~

 

Part 2

 

After some time, probably a week, you will be contacted via courier to meet in private again. It will be the Man -- granted, he will seem frailer than before, but he's alive. He will congratulate you and give you your cash reward. But when offered the artifact, he will decline, asking you to keep it with you for safe keeping; after all, he says, the whole idea wasn't to obtain the artifact: it was to keep it out of the wrong hands.

 

For now, he will assign you the Orc Lieutenant to investigate Thalmor activity at the ruins from Part 1. The two of you kill off the excavation team and discover that the ruins were, in fact, larger and less ruined than originally thought. With this new found information, the Man suggests that such a place would make a good base of operations -- should the Dragonborn decide to invest a portion into it not much larger than the first reward.

 

The underground ruin (which I will now refer to as city) will become, in many ways, like the Poseidonus of Mothership Zeta Crew, except with more than just an initial investment involved in the building of a new partially underground city. You would be able to upgrade it one section at a time, clearing rubble as you go-- See the list at the bottom for details. I haven't decided whether the sidequest involving the rebuilding of the city will be required or even a part of the main story, but the initial area that is cleared out by the Dragonborn's investment will be, for all intents and purposes, the headquarters of most, if not all the quests that follow.

 

After the HQ is situated, the Man will ask that you reorganize your team (or possibly what's left of it). I think that some members may decide to opt out of any further adventures -- this would leave room for new characters that add to the story, whilst preserving the special camaraderie created by the first mission. I would say that at least half of the characters would join you -- certain characters, such as the scholar and the assassin, would most likely be involved in other pursuits or simply not interested. They wouldn't be cut from the story, of course, they would most certainly turn up later (what a plot twist it would be if the Assassin was contracted to kill YOU...)

 

Summarized (since this thread has already gone on long enough), Part 2 would be you investigating the Thalmor threat whilst gaining new allies and consolidating your forces at the city.

 

And finally...

 

~~~

 

Part 3! I'll be brief, since I haven't gotten this far. Part 3 would essentially be the Dragonborn, with all of his allies, declaring war against the Thalmor across multiple fronts. You might even take the fight to Cyrodiil (nothing too fancy -- just small, separate worldspaces, maybe even just the Imperial City).

 

I wanted to introduce a system similar to the War Assets from Mass Effect 3, which was good in concept, except that the modders here would do it better. Every faction that you've drawn to your side would contribute to a total point count. If you so choose, you can delay certain parts of Part 3 to help boost your numbers. Alternatively, maybe there shouldn't be a points system, but rather every major asset you have will assist you in some of the battles, especially the final battle in which you would see every faction you've amassed fighting for you (very much like the end of Fallout: New Vegas).

 

In the end, I'd like to see the Dragonborn ascend the throne and claim his right to be emperor.

 

That's pretty much it. I know a project like this could take years, and a huge development team -- but maybe eventually, it could be done. I just wanted the idea out there.

 

Below are some suggestive lists.

 

City upgrades: (from main HQ)

--Barracks/training halls

--Marksmen's station

--Stables

--Outer defenses (ie walls, etc)

--Inner defenses (ie maybe some dwemer constructs?)

--Arcane school

--Library/Archives

--Shops/Commercial development (either a big district or each purchased separately)

--Additional housing x3

--Embassy (for various provinces/allies; see Part 3 summary)

--Surface level and subterranean farms

 

Probably tons more to add, but you get the gist of it.

 

 

Part 3 Allies: (If you have helped them or are the faction head)

--Companions

--College of Winterhold

--Thieves Guild (spies, sabouteurs, support -- I had a vision of Brynjolf + Thieves throwing pots of naptha down on the hapless Thalmor from some cliffs)

--Dark Brotherhood (assassinating key Thalmor leaders)

--Alik'r (assuming you helped them during their quest, they might support you)

--Imperial Legion/Stormcloaks (whoever you helped might lend support)

--Dawnguard/Volikhar Vampires (not sure how you would convince them, and I may not understand how these organizations work since I have yet to play Dawnguard)

--Paarthurnax+Dragons/Blades (or both; I really want the player to be able to keep both)

--Forsworn (if you helped Madanach escape and kept him alive; otherwise, it might just be the financial backing of the Silver-Blood family)

 

Additionally, you would be visiting the courts of certain provinces to receive their aid, or whatever.

 

If you think there should be anymore faction allies on this list, just say the word below.

 

 

 

If you read everything up to here, then thank you for your commitment! I hope this story becomes a reality at some point.