Creating an Elder Scroll weapon

[Skyes666]

I've always wanted to use an Elder Scroll as a way to kill people.

I've only created a couple of small mods, and I'm not quite sure how to get this working. I've created the Elder Scroll in the CK, and I want to attach a script that turns the enemy in front of me into ash.

At the moment I've succesfully created the Scroll, but it doesn't do anything.

I'm looking for someone who can help me make it kill people.
Since it's a "book" I think the only way to make it kill people is to attach a script, but I might be wrong.

 

Anyone who can help me with this?

[Reaper67]

I'm no expert, but you could just replace an existing weapon's mesh file with that of the Elder scroll. You will have to alter the mesh in a program such as nifskope in order to make it equip in the player's hand (since it is a book the mesh would not have a node for where you would hold it).

 

Are you planning to make a melee or ranged weapon?

[starfire42]

SImply killing somebody with a non-weapon item doesn't require a script. Just attach a damage-dealing magic effect to the item and it will fire whenever the item is used (i.e. drink a potion, read the equipped scroll, point an equipped staff).

 

However, turning them to ash rather just a corpse DOES require a script. Take a look at the "ReanimateSecondaryFFAimed" magic effect in the CK to see how it's done.

[Reaper67]

Good point, Starfire. I usually just use the lightning stormspell as a reference when I want to turn something to ash. Also, though adding a magic effect to the item would result in the casting of the spell, I don't think having a spell fire upon reading the scroll is the intended effect.

[Skyes666]

Thank you for the answers. I will take a look and report with results.

[Skyes666]

SImply killing somebody with a non-weapon item doesn't require a script. Just attach a damage-dealing magic effect to the item and it will fire whenever the item is used (i.e. drink a potion, read the equipped scroll, point an equipped staff).

 

However, turning them to ash rather just a corpse DOES require a script. Take a look at the "ReanimateSecondaryFFAimed" magic effect in the CK to see how it's done.

I'm not quite sure where you select the option to attach a magic effect in the book window. I've attached the "ReanimateSecondaryFFAimed" script, but I'm not sure where to go on from here.

 

Any help is appreciated.

[dstarfire]

First of all, I don't think you want to make it a book. Books can't be equipped, therefore they can't be used as a weapon. For hurting things, you can use the weapon, scroll or staff templates. Weapons require you to hit the target with the item, and scrolls disappear after use, neither of which really fits your concept. Staves fire off a spell and may consume charges for each usage.

 

Secondly, you don't want to use the entire ReanmateSecondaryFFAimed script. That script powers the reanimate dead spells. You just want the TurnToAsh function in that script, which replaces a corpse with a pile of ash.

 

So, to achieve what you describe you'll want to:

1. create a magic effect that does damage, and attach a script based on the TurnToAsh function mentioned above to it.
2. Create an enchantment with the effect you just created at a very high magnitude (in this case magnitude will determine the amount of damage done)
3. Create a staff with the enchantment you just created, adjusting the charges and costs as you see fit.
4. Change the image of the staff to match that of an elder scroll, and the animation to that of a regular attack spell scroll

You're gonna need to read the creation kit wiki's (creationkit.com and uesp.net/wiki/skyrim) to learn the details of how to accomplish the steps I just described, but that should give you a good starting point.

[Reaper67]

The last post works for the CS side of the staff version, but there is still an issue with the mesh. My suggestion (whether you want to make a staff or melee weapon) would be to copy the TriShape branch of the ElderScroll and replace an existing weapon's TriShape branch(es) with it in Nifskope. The last issue is getting the CS to recognize a new mesh, which I've had zero luck in.

[Reaper67]

Figured it out. For some reason, simple nif's (only one TriShape) work fine in the CS. It's just when you try to use more complex nif's that the CS freaks out.

 

To do this, open up an Elder Scroll nif (should be a couple) and expand the tree in the left margin. Right clickthe NiTriShape branch and select "copy branch" under Block. Open any staff nif (other weapons have complex nif's, so they will have to wait until I get that figured out) and follow the same steps, but chose "remove branch" instead. Right click the main tree (the very first/top block) and choose "paste branch" under Block. Align the scroll so that the part you want the actor to hold is overlapping the node (which should have been left over after removing the original trishape). Lastly, import the Elder Scroll textures (you can find tutorials on that if you don't know how) and save the new nif (preferably in a new folder). Now it's ready to be used in the CS.

Edited March 20, 2013 by Reaper67

[Skyes666]

Thank you very much for the replies. I will be working on the mod again in a few days. I'll post here again soon.