This is my first real mod I'm working on: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/54139/?

Why this mod.

There are many great mods on the Nexus which have add higher level enemies or enemies which scale with your level.

This combined with the Vanilla system for Soul gems can make lower leveled Soul gems obselete pretty quickly.

That's why I decided to make this mod. A lightweight mod to balance out Soul gems at a immersive and lore friendly way without using too many scripts.

What this mod does.

Rebalancing the level of souls

In Vanilla Skyrim, when you capture a soul, its size is dependant on the NPCs lvl:

• Petty: lvl 1-3
• Lesser: lvl 4-15
• Common: lvl 16-27
• Greater: lvl 28-37
• Grand: lvl 38+
• Black: "humanoids"

I changed it to the following:

• Petty: lvl 1-9
• Lesser: lvl 10-24
• Common: lvl 25-39
• Greater: lvl 40-64
• Grand: lvl 65+
• Black: unchanged

2. Soul Gem Dust

I added a new item to the game, named Soul Gem Dust. It can be used the make forge new Soul Gems, but is also useful as an alchemical ingredient.

You can get Soul Gem Dust by:

• Mining Geode Veins
• Killing Vampires or Necromancers. (Those cheeky fellows tend to carry it around.)
• Grinding down Soul Gems or Soul Gem Shards at a Grain Mill.

Breakdown recipes at the Grain Mill:

• Soul Gem Fragment - Petty -> 1x Soul Gem Dust
• Soul Gem Fragment - Lesser -> 2x Soul Gem Dust
• Soul Gem Fragment - Common -> 4x Soul Gem Dust
• Soul Gem Fragment - Greater -> 8x Soul Gem Dust
• Soul Gem Fragment - Grand -> 16x Soul Gem Dust

• Soul Gem - Petty - Empty -> 2x Soul Gem Dust
• Soul Gem - Petty - Filled -> 3x Soul Gem Dust
• Soul Gem - Lesser - Empty -> 4x Soul Gem Dust
• Soul Gem - Lesser - Filled -> 6x Soul Gem Dust
• Soul Gem - Common - Empty -> 8x Soul Gem Dust
• Soul Gem - Common - Filled -> 12x Soul Gem Dust
• Soul Gem - Greater - Empty -> 16x Soul Gem Dust
• Soul Gem - Greater - Filled -> 24x Soul Gem Dust
• Soul Gem - Grand - Empty -> 32x Soul Gem Dust
• Soul Gem - Grand - Filled -> 48x Soul Gem Dust
• Soul Gem - Black - Empty -> 32x Soul Gem Dust
• Soul Gem - Black - Filled -> 48x Soul Gem Dust

3. Soul Gem Crafting

To make new Soul Gems from Shards and Dust, you can use a Soul Gem Forge or a Smelter.
A Smelter will require you to have the Arcane Blacksmith perk. It's easier but much more expensive.
There's only 1 Soul Gem Forge in the whole of Skyrim: Archmage Quarters in the College of Winterhold. But you won't need any skill to craft at this one and it's much cheaper to use.

Most important differences:

• Smelter: easily accessable, but perk required + expensive
• Soul Gem Forge: Only 1 in the world, but no perk required and cheaper

Soul Gem Forge recipes:

• 10x Soul Gem Dust -> Soul Gem - Petty - Empty
• 20x Soul Gem Dust -> Soul Gem - Lesser - Empty
• 40x Soul Gem Dust -> Soul Gem - Common - Empty
• 60x Soul Gem Dust -> Soul Gem - Greater - Empty
• 80x Soul Gem Dust -> Soul Gem - Grand - Empty
• 100x Soul Gem Dust -> Soul Gem - Black - Empty

• 10x Soul Gem Fragment - Petty -> Soul Gem - Petty - Empty
• 10x Soul Gem Fragment - Lesser -> Soul Gem - Lesser - Empty
• 10x Soul Gem Fragment - Common -> Soul Gem - Common - Empty
• 10x Soul Gem Fragment - Greater -> Soul Gem - Greater - Empty
• 10x Soul Gem Fragment - Grand -> Soul Gem - Grand - Empty
• 15x Soul Gem Fragment - Grand -> Soul Gem - Black - Empty

Smelter recipes:

• 15x Soul Gem Dust -> Soul Gem - Petty - Empty
• 30x Soul Gem Dust -> Soul Gem - Lesser - Empty
• 50x Soul Gem Dust -> Soul Gem - Common - Empty
• 70x Soul Gem Dust -> Soul Gem - Greater - Empty
• 100x Soul Gem Dust -> Soul Gem - Grand - Empty
• 120x Soul Gem Dust -> Soul Gem - Black - Empty

• 15x Soul Gem Fragment - Petty -> Soul Gem - Petty - Empty
• 15x Soul Gem Fragment - Lesser -> Soul Gem - Lesser - Empty
• 15x Soul Gem Fragment - Common -> Soul Gem - Common - Empty
• 15x Soul Gem Fragment - Greater -> Soul Gem - Greater - Empty
• 15x Soul Gem Fragment - Grand -> Soul Gem - Grand - Empty
• 20x Soul Gem Fragment - Grand -> Soul Gem - Black - Empty

Recently added

• 3 loading screens about Soul gem crafting
• A lore-friendly book
• Book added to the Leveled Lists

Future updates

• Add a requirement to the crafting recipes: having read a book.
• Add the book in the world
• Edit loading screens -> Different images (grain mill, smelter, soul gem forge)

If you guys have any suggestions, requests, feel free to share them.