LE More than one main character.

[colonelcrowe]

I have never modded Skyrim. So feel free to tell me how much of an idiot I am to propose such a thing, or if it's been done before.

Would it be possible to mod the game to have three characters in one world/save where you control one at a time but the others become followers? This way you could explore all the different skills across different characters. Like forming a party in an MMO. I was hoping to create an Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli trio of course it could be a little over powered that could be resolved by lowering the max level or something.

Any Ideas?

[colonelcrowe]

Also if there is a mod like this already. thanks for all your time (if anyone reads this)

[AlduinWorldEater]

Sounds a little Dragon Age-esque to me. I quite approve.

[cronosnake]

This could be pretty cool. It brings up a couple issues though;

 

1. How would you create each character in-game? Maybe choose from a couple defaults, let people tamper the mod themselves to add custom characters in...

 

2. How do you switch? Maybe implement it as a greater power or something? That alternate actors mod could help accomplish this, it seems.

 

3. If you want to be lore-consistent, only one would be able to shout maybe?...

 

This is the type of mod I could see myself using.

[AlduinWorldEater]

This could be pretty cool. It brings up a couple issues though;

 

1. How would you create each character in-game? Maybe choose from a couple defaults, let people tamper the mod themselves to add custom characters in...

 

2. How do you switch? Maybe implement it as a greater power or something? That alternate actors mod could help accomplish this, it seems.

 

3. If you want to be lore-consistent, only one would be able to shout maybe?...

 

This is the type of mod I could see myself using.

 

1 - That's gonna be the most challenging aspect of something like this...perhaps the modding community could get together and share characters in the same way companions and followers are shared...and there's also slider settings if someone asks about a screenshot (with the screenshot author's permission, of course)

 

2 - Greater powers can only be used once a day under normal game engine conditions. It would have to be implemented as a Lesser power to work in that particular manner.

 

3 - This would be an absolute necessity. With the kind of gameplay this sort of mod would allow for, having three or more Shout-capable characters at your disposal would be INCREDIBLY overpowered. Perhaps each one could have a special ability, though, to balance this out. Something fitting to their class/specialisation.

[FrankFamily]

maybe the approach would be to make a script that swaps equipment, skills, face and body data beetween the companions and the main character, maybe it's not possible.

[Tehandyman]

As @cronosnake already mentioned, the Alternate Actors mod is a good mod for you to keep your eye on:

 

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/36047//?

 

Alternate Actors lets you jump around from different actors, making your own character a follower whenever you jump. The creator of the mod already stated that he is looking for a way to let you modify the characters looks through the "showracemenu" console command. Once thats complete, its basically the exact mod you want (except for the fact that you can't have two people following you, but this could be easily fixed)

[AlduinWorldEater]

As @cronosnake already mentioned, the Alternate Actors mod is a good mod for you to keep your eye on:

 

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/36047//?

 

Alternate Actors lets you jump around from different actors, making your own character a follower whenever you jump. The creator of the mod already stated that he is looking for a way to let you modify the characters looks through the "showracemenu" console command. Once thats complete, its basically the exact mod you want (except for the fact that you can't have two people following you, but this could be easily fixed)

 

I recently tested this mod, and it's an absolute blast. I only found one issue with it, and that's in using the spell on a character whose gender is the opposite of your own - it opens the "showracemenu", plants your hairstyle on their head, and any hair you change to just gets layered in with the one your own character has...that turned out to be a real bugger for me.

[Pevey]

Chesko (author of Frostfall and other mods) just announced a rogue companion mod that will have a "regard" system. he specifically mentioned Bioware games as inspiration. Sounds awesome. The thread is at the Bethesda Skyrim forum under "Mod Talk."

[cronosnake]

By the way, how does the game handle stats with other characters? I'm pretty sure that NPC's don't gain progress in skills. It seems that there would need to be scripts in place to treat NPC's in your party as player characters. Otherwise (and this might not be a bad thing), one would need to balance time spent playing as each character.

 

It would also make some quests difficult; namely, quests where you have to logically choose to be a single character such as Mind of Madness or some levels in the Dragonborn expansion(I don't know how to do spoiler tags, so I'll just try and be nondescript). At the same time, some quests would be much more feasible with a party that followed you, such as one alternative to the Cidhna mine quest where you take on a lot of people at once.

 

I think that a combination of using the alternate actors mod and installing your own custom companions would do the job for now. I know enough about how to make a very basic follower (not very much, I know) and would be willing to do that quickly for anyone if you PM me. I'm definitely interested in seeing this implemented as a standalone mod though.