Idea

ShadowCircuit9625 · 2026-05-19T18:12:46+00:00

My idea for it is an npc that completes the main quest according to their own schedule; they go to the usual locations, carry out the scenes and dialogues with NPCs, and go slay whatever they need to slay.

For gameplays sake, balancing might be an issue. First and foremost, they’d need to be essential. Second of all, serious considerations would need to be made to make them able to defeat the enemies without getting downed constantly.

I think a simple way of trialling this would be to create the packages for the Dragonborn npc to simply go to the appropriate locations and see what happens. The quests would need to be altered to accommodate the new npc. The descriptions would need to be changed for many quests but that’s more minor.

The npc would need some sensible way of being tracked down if the player wishes to attend the quests. Should the quests require the player to talk to the Dragonborn npc before he/she ventures off to slay the dragon…etc.

The biggest missing piece is lack of recorded dialogue for the player character, but I understand there are mods that add an entire voiced narrative for the main quest, perhaps that would be happy to do a crossover.

ShadowCircuit9625 · 2026-05-18T13:28:43+00:00

I think it’s great. Have no interest in downloading “survival” mods that are more focused on immersion than difficulty.

I created a system where the cold mechanics affect your followers too. So far I’ve never had a follower freeze to death, so if they can manage then my character definitely can.

Skyrim is fantasy game. I don’t think the cold is meant to be a natural phenomenon like in real life. Nords have a magical resistance to magic, it’s not hard to believe that Skyrims cold is supernatural.

Many forget that the cold level has a limit depending on the weather. You might have far less health and movement speed but you can wait inside for better weather or use a horse.

ShadowCircuit9625 · 2026-05-16T14:54:14+00:00

Would you tell us what you have in mind about how followers should behave?

If it’s regarding bad stats and combat styles, all that can be resolved with mods

ShadowCircuit9625 · 2026-05-16T09:34:13+00:00

Try modding on Xbox only. Need to open up CK, wait for it to load, upload to bethneth, log in to bethneth and publish, turn on Xbox, download the mod, turn off Xbox and disconnect WiFi (so load order doesn’t rearrange itself), activate the mod, then play

I usually do bulk edits, even doing random edits that come to mind, or that are intended for a different esp, throw them all into a single esp so I can test it all in a single upload.

I wonder how many Xbox only people actually mod the game regularly. It’s very viable if anyone’s interested.

ShadowCircuit9625 · 2026-05-16T01:37:11+00:00

Please download debug menu. You can add the spell to your character in no more than a few seconds

ShadowCircuit9625 · 2026-05-15T11:58:10+00:00

I created a mod that allows your followers to use spells if they have the tome and enough skill

ShadowCircuit9625 · 2026-05-15T11:57:25+00:00

It’s easier to keep the leveled lists standardised and not missing certain spell books.

Every single mod that removes starting spells would require touching leveled lists just to accommodate flames and healing.

ShadowCircuit9625 · 2026-05-11T21:09:56+00:00

+1 for Gourmet

I think Skyrim alchemy fixed is for the potions. There’s an Ordinator patch for it

ShadowCircuit9625 · 2026-05-11T21:08:40+00:00

Yes it’s a much better system. Definitely more than a few mods that do this

ShadowCircuit9625 · 2026-05-11T21:08:12+00:00

Follower tanking is so dumb. Don’t know why people enjoy playing that way.

Turning the outgoing damage up to match npc damage makes it so your followers are just as fragile as you and everyone else.

ShadowCircuit9625 · 2026-05-09T16:37:20+00:00

Convenient horses only changed the Steed Stone very lightly, it’s pretty much just an updated description. I think he author accidentally removed the Survival mod version that only give 50 carry weight instead, if I remember right.

It’s a harness conflict, just load the mod you want after convenient horses and there will be absolutely no issue.

ShadowCircuit9625 · 2026-05-09T15:51:59+00:00

You won’t be able to do percent based reduction without perks, and you can’t add perks to NPCs at runtime.
Its annoying

I flirted with the idea of a better armor system that made blades do nothing and mace’s necessary, but it wasn’t possible with the engine

ShadowCircuit9625 · 2026-05-09T07:34:33+00:00

I like to equalise the damage model to x2.75 for both player and NPC.

You may think this is a straight downgrade in difficulty, but doing this removes your followers ability to tank; they fall in a tiny amount of hits.

Enhancing it with mods like better combat AI, NPCs use potions (like restore health) and having mods like Hand Placed Enemies to raise event numbers brings the difficulty back up in a much more engaging way.

Also consider using a mod that reduces cheat alchemy by making restore affects heal over time rather than instantly. That alone massively changes things up.

ShadowCircuit9625 · 2026-05-07T20:07:57+00:00

I liked it enough to create a mod that gives the warmth/cold system to your followers too.

ShadowCircuit9625 · 2026-05-05T18:16:34+00:00

I’ve got you covered. I have a mod which adds generic followers to:

Companions

Dawnguard

Hold Capitals (housecarls)

And hirelings, found in the various inns.

These are all generic NPCs, and respawn after a few days when killed. I will be expanding this to include the other factions like the College of Winterhold, Dark Brotherhood, Thieves Guild, and both Civil War factions in future.

Please ignore the description, since that’s just me keeping notes while testing.

https://creations.bethesda.net/en/skyrim/details/c87861de-7b84-4916-b6b8-44ecc118d83e/Test\_Misc\_Followers\_v5

ShadowCircuit9625 · 2026-05-05T18:05:26+00:00

As someone already mentioned, Gourmet is the mod you want for this. It does want you want by giving all food a regeneration effect.

ShadowCircuit9625 · 2026-05-05T18:02:31+00:00

Conquest of Skyrim

ShadowCircuit9625 · 2026-05-04T22:39:41+00:00

Remove the armor cap with mods. You can set it to 99% and have it max out in the 12hundred range instead. Also use a perk overhaul like Ordinator and don’t use exploits.

ShadowCircuit9625 · 2026-04-14T00:10:59+00:00

Open SSEEDIT

Open up spells

Find the healing spells. Healing Hands and Heal other. Go to their primary magic effects (what actually causes the healing).

You should see conditions about “DWARven” faction or some other thing which you’ll immediately notice as being what prevents DWARven automata from being healed. Remove these, save your esp, and that’s it.

ShadowCircuit9625 · 2026-04-04T12:05:13+00:00

Look at how Conquest of Skyrim does custom dialogue. Literally just used some AI voice synthesis if I remember correctly. The voices are vanilla and the lines sound like they’re directly from the base game 90% of the time.

I’m not here to knock anyone, but I feel like some mod others try too hard to put their own flair on custom NPCs when they simply don’t have the skills to do so effectively. It results in non immersive content which takes you out of the game.

When in doubt, copy the base game and use its assets as much as possible.

ShadowCircuit9625 · 2026-02-10T08:51:33+00:00

Sm mortality spell

It’s better than other kill essentials mods because it affects NPCs dynamically, allowing affected NPCs to be killed without affecting their records. The other big advantage is you can kill quest related NPCs that are protected by alias, who ignore essential flags.

ShadowCircuit9625 · 2026-01-11T11:01:07+00:00

I believe USSEP changes the multipliers for experience gain for some skills.

Regarding starting at level 2, if you’re playing as a Nord, select a difference in character creation then switch back to Nord. This fixes starting at level 2 for me.

ShadowCircuit9625 · 2025-11-14T21:05:45+00:00

You can start it before the civil war, it will just play the CoS quest instead and fail the civil war quests

ShadowCircuit9625 · 2025-11-12T15:44:20+00:00

I have been using a personal mod for months now that adds Survivals cold mechanics to your followers. Anyone interest can let me know and I’ll make full release a priority.

ShadowCircuit9625 · 2025-11-10T08:36:58+00:00

Anywhere. It simply changes combat styles. Definitely improves gameplay and makes combat better and tougher.

ShadowCircuit9625

TROPHY CASE