[Appler'sPassiveBsigns]



..because birthsigns should work for you, not the other way around.
..http://tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=29917 v0.967 OBSE 18b2 or higher required!




Latest Changes
Notifications for Apprentice specializations
New Apprentice Restoration specialization
New Lady perk



Intro
I made this mod because, since the dawn of time, I've been frustrated by spellbook clutter. The whole "power" thing never made much sense to me, and it added 2-3 more spells to my spellbook (grrrr). More often than not, I'd find myself dying multiple times in an epic battle before I realize "Oh yeah, that birthsign thingy!" Then I'd have to pop open my spellbook (or, recall which hotkey it was bound to). There are some nice birthsign mods out there, but unfortunately, they unload 2 or 3 additional powers on you.. gah!

These brand-spankin' new birthsigns work seamlessly in the background, allowing you to enjoy your game. They also have some pretty nifty effects. They change many game settings and mechanics, creating entirely new game styles for the player. The signs will force you to rethink your strategy, and allow you to create diverse, specialized characters.


Installation
Please READ THE README. It contains all the important details. There are many changes made in this mod, you'll want to know what you're dealing with!
Just move the .esp into your Data folder. This is not compatible with other mods that change birthsigns.


The Apprentice
In-Game description -"Those born under The Apprentice show great promise, but are hindered by their lack of knowledge. They gain a 100-point magicka bonus, but can only remember 15 spells at a time. Their pursuit of knowledge grants them extraordinary intelligence. By researching 1 skill, they can specialize in their favorite form of magic."

• Short Term Memory: The Apprentice can only remember 15 spells at a time. If he attempts to learn more spells, he will need to forget others.
  
  
• Research: The Apprentice can increase his knowledge by carrying reference books with him. He will have to choose one skill to research, and the more books he carries, the higher his skills will increase. When he studies hard enough, his specialized skill becomes unstoppable.
  
  
  • Destruction: "Fork" The chaotic power of each spell cannot be contained in one physical manifestation, and so splits into two.
    
  • Mysticism: "Counterspell" The Apprentice's magic is so forceful that any spell he casts will overpower other nearby spells.
    
  • Conjuration: "Soul Link" Summoned creatures are more powerful, and redirect damage dealt to their master onto themselves.
    
  • Alteration: "Singularity" Through careful study of the Burden effect, the Apprentice infuses spells with large amounts of mass, creating a gravitational field.
    
  • Illusion: "Mind Warp" The Apprentice clouds the minds of his foes, causing them to strike at their allies or flee in terror.
    
  • Restoration: "Resilience" The Apprentice's body works at it's best when in good health, and has become extremely resistant to pain.

The Atronach
In-Game description -"Powerful as they are, The Atronach are cursed with magicka degeneration. However, they gain magicka every time they come in contact with a product of sorcery. The Atronach should be careful not to Overload."

• Atronachery: The player assumes the the form of the Atronach, according to which element they most closely identify with. You may choose the element of Flame, Ice, or Electricity.
  
  
• Mind Leak: The Atronach is not firmly rooted in the physical world, and it's physical manifestation is unable to contain it's magical energy. You lose magicka every second, and cannot regenerate magicka.
  
  
• Mind Sponge: Being of a magical nature, the Atronach has a unique link with other forms of magicka, and regenerates whenever they are near. The Atronach may even use his own summons to regain magicka.
  
  
• Overload: The Atronach may absorb more magicka than his physical being can contain, and will release it in a violent burst. This leaves the Atronach momentarily vulnerable. When you are close to overloading, pure Magicka will shoot out from your body, and the frequency will increase proportionally.

The Lady
In-Game description -"Many believe this constellation deserves a name change, as those born during it's time possess traits characteristic of the mermaid. Her magical powers allow her to breathe underwater and resist the most evil curses. However, she is unable to wield modern arms and armors."

• Amphibious: The Lady possesses magical healing powers similar to that a mermaid. She regenerates health constantly, and the effect doubles in water. She can breathe underwater, and is unaffected by worldly diseases, and some spells.
  
  
• Peaceful Reproach: The Lady cannot wield armor or weaponry. She also has a mesmerizing presence while underwater.

The Lord
Removed for now.


The Lover
In-Game description -"The Lover's stunning beauty charms all creatures and persons within their presence. Aggressive creatures will occasionally allow the Lover to pass without quarrel. They also have greater Personality and Mercantile."

• Attraction: Striking beauty causes all NPCs and creatures to become more amicable. All NPCs and creatures have a greater disposition towards you, and you get better prices on merchandise.
  
  
• Pacify: Aggressive creatures will occasionally allow the Lover to pass without quarrel.

The Mage
In-Game description -"The Mage has devoted his lifetime to the mastery of his mind, and has achieved Arcane Mastery. This grants him a small magicka bonus, and all spells he casts are more powerful. However, his intense focus on magic has left his body much weaker."

• Atrophy: The Mage has neglected his physical self, and is considerably weaker than others. He is terrible with weaponry and armor, and is more susceptible to pain and disease.
  
  
• Arcane Mastery: The Mage's focus on magic abilities has paid off. All spells the Mage learns are far more powerful, and he has a small magicka bonus.

The Ritual
In-Game description -"Those born under this sign are blessed with extraordinary powers. They can perform a short ritual to rend the spirit from the body, gaining some of it's life force. They have very restorative sleep, and battle wounds heal themselves. Their holy light repels the undead."

• Ritual Birthsign: The Ritual infuses his blood with holy magic to heal his wounds.
  
  
• Rapture: Grants the ability to rapture corpses and infuse your blood with the life force of the recently deceased. To rapture a corpse, you simply need to kneel next to it for 5 seconds and you will gain 30% of it's former life force.
  
  
• Healing Slumber: When you sleep, your attributes are boosted for 2 minutes. During this 2 minutes, your body will eminate a strange glow.
  
  
• Holy Aura: Holy Flames sear the flesh of nearby Undead, and they may burst into flame.

The Serpent
In-Game description -"Because of the iconic nature of the serpent, those born under this sign are marked as "evil." They cannot cast healing spells, and are wanted by authorities for their murders. However, the Serpent is the master of sneaking and long-range combat."

• Mark of Evil: The Serpent cannot cast spells that contain any healing effects, and is constantly being hunted down.
  
  
• Slither: While sneaking, the Serpent is extremely difficult to hear or see. This grants him a small Chameleon bonus, softens his step, and makes sneaking much easier for him. Slither also steadies his hand to improve his aim and zooming capabilities.
  
  
• Serpent's Spit: The Serpent's spit occasionally drips onto the tips of his arrows, coating them in vile toxins. This also makes him immune to poison.

The Shadow
In-Game description -"Those born under the Shadow are weak, pitiful creatures. They are looked down upon by all citizens and receive no mercy. However, when they are pushed too far, these feeble creatures strike back with great force."

• Shadow's Curse: The Shadow is extremely weak and receives much greater damage from attacks.
  
  
• Vengeance: When the Shadow's health is at or below 15%, he becomes a nigh invincible juggernaut with increased speed, strength, and resistances.

The Steed
In-Game description -"The Steed are known for their intelligence and grace. They possess a natural link to horses of all kind, and the steeds are more obedient under their reigns. Their souls are linked together, and the rider is nearly invincible when mounted on his steed."

• Cavalier: While the player is riding a horse, the horse responds to the player's commands more diligently. The horse moves faster and turns more sharply, and can even tread water.
  
  
• Soul Link: The Steed and his companion are linked by this strange constellation. Any damage the player receives is transferred to the horse instead, but the horse pays dearly for this connection.

The Thief
In-Game description -"Those born under the Thief are experts at evading the law. The Flight of the Magpie ability greatly increases their speed when being chased, and they may perform the Thieve's Vault to leap great heights and distances. They also find extra gold in containers."

• Thieve's Vault: By crouching for 2 seconds, the Thief can build up enough energy to perform a very high or long jump... far enough to scale rooftops! This action costs 35% fatigue.
  
  
• Flight of the Magpie: When being persued by guards, the thieve's adrenaline will surge, causing him to run faster and jump higher. The more trouble he is in, the faster he'll run.
  
  
• Thieve's Fortune: The Thief can procure greater funds from his victims, and will occasionally find more gold in containers.

The Tower
In-Game description -"The Tower is the ultimate symbol of defensive strategy, and is reflected upon those fortunate to be born under it. Their expertise with armor allows it to shield them from more damage than usual, and they can modify armor they pick up to improve it's protection. They can also invoke a powerful magical shield to repel magic and arrows."

• Tank: Increases the Tower's protection from armor, but the additional protection also slows him down. Any armor the Tower picks up he immediately alters to further protect him.
  
  
• Aegis Shield: If the Tower takes a defensive stance, a magical shield manifests in front of him, blocking him from any projectiles and even hindering the approach of some enemies.

The Warrior
In-Game description -"The Warrior is an expert in close-quarters combat. When using melee weapons, the Warrior can go on a Rampage, inflicting more damage. Enemies are also more likely to flee from this intimidating foe."

• Rampage: While using a melee weapon, the Warrior's swings will further infuriate him, causing him to go in a destructive rage. His rampage improves his regeneration and resistances.
  
  
• Intimidation: The fearsome appearance of a bloodthirsty warrior causes weak enemies to flee.

These signs sound insanely fun to use. Downloaded.

Those changes are really interesting! I'm going to download this now, and test it in the morning... (Why do I stay up so late....) Hahah

Im really interested in The Ritual. Cant wait to see my self glow while I sleep

"The more trouble he is in, the faster he'll run." I love it.

I agree with greenwarden (as always): this looks insanely fun. I am going to try this out with my next character. Thank you very much.

Gotta say I like the idea here - yeah Birthsigns are often just slightly better spells that are often not used because of spell overload.

Thinking of this mod: http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1070673&hl=NPCs+birthsigns and the difficulty of finding in-game powers to give to NPCs - maybe it would be better just to assign certain bonuses to them instead of active powers.

Question(s):

- Will your birthsigns conflict with Race Balancing Project? Or just loading your birthsigns after RBP is enough?

- Will they work on an existing character?

Suggestion:

- For the Warrior birthsign, power attacks should wield 6 Rampage points, possibly more, because they take more time execute, and are more susceptible to being interrupted. Especially if you use Deadly Reflex and your opponent punches you in the face.

EDIT: Forgot the deserved praises. Awesome mod.

Wow, some of these sound absolutely fantabulous! Great work Appler! :goodjob: I'll have to download this to try it out when I finally get round to playing the game! Some of the birthsigns sound a bit unbalanced when you first read the post, but on closer thought, aren't so bad. The Thief power sounds fantastic!

Also, I could not agree more with the idea of passive powers that are less like spells, I hardly ever used powers before. Next thing it so add funky effects to the greater powers you can get from the runestones!

Awesome, a reason to stop making every character a Breton with the Mage sign :celebration:

Only thing, if possible, that I'd prefer over some of the "fortifies" (such as Strength, Blade, Blunt) would be damage increase and such.
Mainly because those "fortifies" stop doing anything after you hit the maximum for attributes/skills.

Oh, and downloaded

Edit: Something I forgot to say, too, is that in my opinion some of the "nerfs" that come with, for example, the shadow, could be a bit more severe.
If a character is supposed to be extremely weak, go for 50% damage increases or so, in my opinion. Same way for the Mage, you'll hardly notice a 5% damage increase. Particularly if your healing spells do 15% more

This mod sounds as if it is exceptionally creative and interesting.

Definitely on my "to download and try" list!

Regards,

Hem

Is this compatible with LAME? I could still cast 'Healing' (equivalent of 'Heal Minor Wounds') after picking the Serpent birthsign, and I haven't noticed sneaking getting easier, although that could just be me.

But I have already sent an email to Tejon. So, now two spin-offs of EAUP, one for Birthsigns Expanded and another for APB? There can be only one! Mash'em together?

Hey all,

I'm at work right now, posting from my phone I'll be back on at 7 to address the comments. Thanks for all the feedback! I'm looking forward to tweaking the mod/fixing this damn thread

There we go... I've tidied up the post. Now I'll take a peek at some comments.

1. Yes. I'm 95% sure it's compatible with RBP.
2. Yes, they will work with an existing character.
3. This is an excellent suggestion. I'll work it in there.



This is an excellent point. It never occurred to me that the mage would be healing faster.. lol. I'll work on that.




It should be compatible with all magic mods.. all that script does is runs through each spell and checks to see if any of the spells effects are from the school of Restoration. If you were able to cast that spell, the spell must have been scripted and not properly flagged as a 'restoration' effect.

Next order of business, I should mention that there was some bugginess going on, until it was pointed out that this mod requires OBSE v18. Now that it's noted in the readme, is anyone having any problems with the mod? Everything working?

Also, I'll post a short version of my to-do list, in case you're wondering what I'm planning on fixing.

1. Improve the Steed's Soul Link ability so that the player's and the horses health are linked.
2. Improve abilities with variable effects like Rampage and Flight of the Magpie, so that the effects vary more often and with greater values.
3. Add visual cues for abilities that accumulate over time, like Overload, Rampage, etc. so the player knows when they are triggered.
4. Adjust nerfs/buffs for several signs including Mage, Lady, Shadow.
5. Although the Apprentice's spell limit works 100%, the menu is a bit wonky. It occurred because I had been using Pluggy arrays before I realized OBSE had arrays (I've been away from OB for a few years). I'll fix the menu system.

Released a small bugfix to bring the Lady birthsign to full functionality. No need to update if you don't plan on using that birthsign.

Great support from the OP, keep up the good work!

A question about the Apprentice sign: does the ten spell limit count the starting spells "Heal Minor Wounds" and "Flare" against that total? I usually delete "Flare", but my understanding is that the wimpy Restoration spell you start with should never be deleted. Just wondering, as I will not have the means to acquire ten spells to test this in-game for some time.


Thanks.

Yup, it sure does. Why should you keep that?

From the UESP Wiki:

Make of that information what you will. In any case, thanks for the reply. I'm looking forward to using this mod- I am very intrigued by your interpretations of the birthsigns.

Nooooooooooo!

I'll have to work around that. Thanks for the heads up.

Could that have been causing my problems as well?

What problems were you having? It's unlikely that was the cause anyhow.

The one I discussed earlier regarding being allowed to cast a restoration spell, which now turns out to get special treatment from the game.

Oh, I don't use LAME, I didn't realize it was the same spell, renamed. You still shouldn't be able to cast it... I'll look at that script when I get out of work