A while back I got an urge to play MW rather than mod it and I wanted to be a bard... Did a little ES search and found a few interesting mods which in turn, gave me an urge to mod MW before I play it! (going circles, I know)


Before I move on, I want to give credit to quite a few people:
Illtempered for http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=3930 from which I'm using the remapped lutes, the script attached to music sheets and 10 songs already included in their mod.
Bethesda for http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=91 from which I copied then modified the dialogues relevant to playing the lute.
Cutthroat Mods for "http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=3868" from which I use the collection of public domain tracks they assembled.
Dongle for the http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=3341.
Korana for her http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=27167 resource, faces and her instruments resources (same link)
Phijama's http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=4525 resources
Hair from http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=8427
Grumpy's http://lovkullen.net/Emma/Comanion_project.htm#Companion_Project_v31
Ok, what I've done with all that...

A Bard's life

http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/uu289/Danae123123/WIP%20A%20Bard%20s%20life/BardsLife-1.jpg: the birthsign, the class, a lute (there are 4 in total), the camp.

A new birthsign: the Wanderer.
Fool's luck: Luck 5pts
Traveller's Wisdom: Intelligence and Endurance 5pts
Mystic Wave: Max magicka 0.2
Endurance is an attibute the Minstrel (class) won't ever improve.
Also, the Minstrel, depite using spells all the time won't ever increase magic skills, so no intelligence or willpower bonus either, hence the magicka bonus.

A new class: The Minstrel
The Minstrel travels the land with his companions. Well versed in music and lore, he makes a living playing his lute in taverns. Even though he is lacking in combat skills, his music can strengthen companions or weaken enemies.
Major skills: Acrobatics, Alchemy, Sneak, Speechcraft, unarmored
Minor skills: Alteration, Athletics, Enchant, Light armour, Mysticism

Quest: learning the craft
Find a bard who can teach you the specificities of the Vvardenfell lutes.
Reward: the playing lute and your first music sheet.

Quest: learning new songs
Talk to friendly bards, 10 of them can teach you a new tune
Defeat hostile bards, 10 of them carry a music scroll.
Snoop around manors, 10 of them have a music book.
Practice enough that you can create 10 new songs
--> 40 songs to collect altogether

Making a livivng
Offer your services in taverns.
The amount of gold you recieve depends on 4 things: speechcraft, agility, personality and reputation as a bard (gained by performing in taverns)

Hum, what else?
**I've added a script so that the playing lute can be sheathed (strapped on your back when it's not drawn)
**The lutes uses Phijama's and Korana's meshes and have different icons for the weapon and the armour.
**The songs cannot be played unless 1/you have the lute equipped, 2/It's readied (drawn)
**For each songsheet collected, the bar gets a new spellsong.
**Spellsongs are cheaper than regular spell, can never fail but never improve your magic skills. Also, you must have a lute equipped to cast those spells. Spellsongs are more powerful when better lutes are equipped.
** Irullan is a companion who can 1/tell you what your reputation and experience as a bard are, set up/pack up a camp, give info on regions and draw maps of each region, as well as the regular companion features.

That's all I have for now... Thing I want to included in a more or less distant future
*Tutor aspiring bards once you are experienced enough
*Open you own tavern once your repuation as a bard is high enough
*Add new instruments and tunes
*Create addons for mods that have bards and songs so you can also collect their tunes: Animated Morrowind, Clothiers of Vvardenfell, and my own Pegasus Estate.

So even though this mod is playable as is, it's still a WIP and I'd love to have your comments, complaints, bug reports of course and who knows praises ,before I add new quests.

:ninja: http://www.4shared.com/file/Z5gDuPrq/Bards_life_basic.html :ninja:
(Yep, those 40 songs make quite a big download... 50mb, remember, patience is the key )
The Bard's life-basic.esp only has 1 lutes and the songs. Do not activate both esp.

EDIT: updated description of the BETA and added links to resources used.

Nice!!! I made some bagpipes a while ago, which is rotting on my harddrive since then, if you're interested in that instrument let me know!!!

EDIT:
http://pic.leech.it/pic.php?id=da1fa88ingame4.jpg


TheDaywalker :rock:

Even a modder has a desire to become a better one, but without playing the game I don't see how this would be achieved.

I think that's a great idea Danae, because I already using Arcimaestro Antares's http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=8118 and I like it.

Oh yes please! I'm all for using great resources rotting on hard drives


Thanks And I really want to play again, but it takes less than an hour ingame before I tell myself :'Wouldn't it be cool if I had this or if I could do that" and then I cannot play until I have it or can do it! And this has been going on for years... Ahhh, Morrowind, gotta love it!

I'll load mesh and textures up for ya and pm you the link. May take me a while though!!!


TheDaywalker :rock:

Do know what is the difference between you and me, except for the gender perhaps but also that you are talented modder which I'm are not. :blush:
Besides that we do share the same gaming love. :wub:

This sounds like a great idea! Another idea for further down the road: forming your own troupe/band. Like finding/training/recruiting other musicians, and then you'll get more money from taverns, divide it up...kind of like regular adventuring companions, but they're traveling with you to play music instead of kill monsters.

And if anyone wants to make more instruments, there are a ton of instruments that medieval troubadours used, like dulcimers, organettos, harps/lyres, dulcians, kortholts, gemshorns...

http://www.music.iastate.edu/antiqua/instrumt.html is a website with a bunch of them, with descriptions and pictures, if anyone wants to see.

I've always wanted to play a bard!

To have your idea accomplished there is only one npc comes to my mind is of course Crassius Curio, could also be the quest giver for some quests. :thumbsup:

Ah, I knew someone would start up a bard mod again eventually. I believe Phijama did a new lute and several types of drum at some point that can be used as a resource.

edt- Here they are: http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=mods.detail&id=4525

Korana also released a lot of instruments as resources as well. Have fun.

Thank you!


I had a similar idea but kinda backward: sign a contract with travelling performers (see http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1014380-circus/page__hl__circus about circus) and be bound to them for say a couple of weeks.


Aha, Crassius and his artistic sense...I'm sure he'd agree to sponsor any bard's endeavour, if they're willing to show a bit of skin.


Yeah, I had to. I've already got Korana's, Phijama's and Dongle's musical instruments, plus the Daywalker's bagpipes, that's a lot of resources to work with

Feel free to leave ideas/comments/complaints, I'll do what I can to make it all work.

EDIT: I realized that once the blank music sheets have been dropped, it's either 'make a new song with it or leave it there'... The blank music sheet stays there until you are skilled enough to use it. It's not really game breaking but I'll make a patch to fix this.

First of,
I have fixed the script to write your own songs, you'll get the scroll back in your inventory if you couldn't compose a song.
Also, I've removed my testing barrel from the game... might be a bit of a spoiler otherwise...
Also,
I've tweaked the mesh for the playing lute, it clips a little less now.

Right now,
I'm trying to make it so that for each song you have, you get a spell. The spells have a few special characteristics:
- available only if you carry the relevant music sheet AND if you have your lute equipped.
- never fail but don't go towards your magic skills or your level for that matter
- cost only half the spells would normally cost
- very very few spells on self: those spells are meant to destabilize your enemies (usually no damage) or improve your companion
So,
The way I see my bard is that she has no fighting skills herself and must rely on companions. She can provide support but most of her songs have no effect on her. Fortunately, she can rely on alchemy. She's a sneaky type (better be able to avoid fights she cannot win) and is pretty fit (all this walking across Vvardenfell).
I've had a little test run with my 'music spells/no weapon combo', it was quite fun, had to mesmerize a scrib to get rid of a pesky kwama forager. I kept the scrib nicely shielded until the forager was dead.

It all went kabowee...
when I decided that the spells should have stronger effects depending on the lute you're using. I messed up my scripts so I have to clean all that up. So you have 40 spellsongs, each of them with 4 different levels, and they come and go depending on the music sheets and the lute you have.

On the bright side,
I now have 4 equippable/sheathable lutes: simple lute, ebony lute (same as the basic lute but darker, seen in MCA I think), Korana's lute, which I called Phat lute, cos it really is fat and Phijama's lute of course.

I'll update when I get my scripts running the way I want.

EDIT: typos and pink!

Reading this makes me want to play as a bard character, it sounds really interesting. I'll definitely try it out later.

Hmm, sounds like a really fun mod; I look forward to this.

I've updated the BETA with 2 versions:

A Bard's life - basic

Features
Quest to get the lute and the 1st song,
Treasure hunt for the other songs
Possibility to play in taverns for gold (10 to 200 depending on skills and bard reputation)
A birthsign: The minstrel
Changes since last version
http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Mods.Detail&id=4525 rather than the stock MW lute.
New icon for the lute on back (easy to differenciate)
Modified script: you must have the weapon/lute drawn to play any song.
Modified the sheathing script to make sure there's only one 'lute on back' in the inventory at a time.

The current BETA is http://www.4shared.com/file/Z5gDuPrq/Bards_life_basic.html

A Bard's life - Spellsongs

Features
The same as above
Each music sheet gives you a spell, they are called Spellsongs.
- available only if you carry the relevant music sheet AND if you have your lute equipped.
- never fail but don't go towards your magic skills or your level for that matter
- cost only half the spells would normally cost
- very very few spells on self: those spells are meant to destabilize your enemies (usually no damage) or improve your companion
There are 4 lures: simple, ebony, phat and exquisite.
The potency of the spellsongs changes depending on the lute you have equipped.
Birthsign: the Wanderer
Class: the Minstrel

The BETA is... not here yet! I want to improve the current version before I put it up, I'll need a couple of days give or take.

EDIT: forgot the link to Phijama's bits and bobs

Danae , this sounds like its going to be great fun ! I agree with Sarutobi , I am being seduced by the thought of strumming my way across Vvardenfell !

Cool! :goodjob: I've never played as a bard before, it would be interesting!

Hopla! A new version!

A Bard's life-basic:
-Corrected the names of songs (from lute1 to lute01) in the dialogues (during music lessons from Aldric and friendly bards)
I most likely wont be adding to this version, besides bug fixing of course

A Bard's life-spellsongs
- The Spellsongs have been implemented!
- 3 new lutes that can be obtained in 3 different taverns.The requirements to get the new lutes (and the more powerful versions of the spellsongs are player level and bard experience)

Cry for help!
I have never played a mage (only used the spells that save life and/or time) so I'm not sure what level you'd need to be to get a particular spell. Let me know if you feel that the spellsongs are too weak/powerful for your level.

I'll do the same as with Pegasus Estate beta and leave the link in my sig.

So just this once: http://www.4shared.com/file/Z5gDuPrq/A_Bards_life0pt4.html

Future plans involve unlocking more features as your bard xp and rep increase (right now bard xp gets you new songs and lutes, bard rep more gold)

Finally, I'm glad there are a couple of people interested in this project.

A little bump to celebrate an update and my victory over a mesh that refused to have collision...

New in version 0.5
The birthsign has been redone, both powers and image (that is now in the download)
The class has been made playable (duh)
A companion: Irullan, she's a dumner scout with all the regular features of a companion but also
-A timy quest for her to join
-She will set up the camp and pack it up again (available after 1 day of travelling together)
-She keeps track of your experience and reputation as a bard, so you'll know when you're ready to use a better lute or to compose a new song
-She gives info on the region you're in and can make you a map (2 hours will pass while she scouts the aera) (available after 2 days of travelling together).

http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/uu289/Danae123123/WIP%20A%20Bard%20s%20life/BardsLife-1.jpg: the birthsign, the class, a lute (there are 4 in total), the camp.
That's it for now!

Edit: made a nice screenshot and changed the link.

Sounds like it's coming along nicely.

One small nitpick:

"Those born under the sign of the Wanderer are gifted with greater endurance and a better understanding of the world due to their many journeys across the land."

Other than that, I think it looks great.

yes, I can see how 'are gifted have' may be a problem... thanks for noticing jac, I'll correct that with the next update.

All that is left to do is to add the inn (I'm thinking 'The Jolly Troubadour', let me know if you have better ideas)

Becoming part-owner of the inn only happens once you're reputation as a bard is high enough. When that's done, you can invest in the inn (20k gold I think)

At first the inn has very little to offer but there will be options to improve it.

The most improvements are made and the more often you perform in your own inn (no gold for that though), the greater your inn's reputation, the greater number of patrons and of course, the greater profits at the end of the month (min 10g, max 1500g)

The improvements I have in mind are:
**Hire dancers
**Train bards to perform when you're gone
**Give a coat of paint to the walls
**Add a couple of rooms to the inn
**Get greater supplies of booze
**Get a greater variety of booze (NOM)
**Offer homemade meals (still NOM)
**Add plants and flowers
**Hold Morrowpoly tornaments
**Have a terrace made
**Organize fishing contests?
**Display a collection of exotic instruments

Some of these improvements will require cash and/or time and/or special supplies or simply exploration/investigation. They'll net you some Inn reputation points, between 10 to 100.
Your monthly profit equals the inn's rep, only one improvement a month can be made (with the execption of bringing new instruments and performing yourself)

Ideas / suggestions welcome

Those improvements sound really great. I would leave out the fishing contests though, since it doesn't really have anything to do with the inn.

Will you be able to perform together with other bards too?

Thanks. I'll just have a couple of fishermen leisurly, err, fishing on the docks. The location is just too nice not to have them.
And yes, once young bards have been trained, performing with them will yield more rep for the inn. I'll just need to find new songs for that.

Screens of the inn, exterior only
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/uu289/Danae123123/WIP%20A%20Bard%20s%20life/MGEScreenshot23.jpg
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/uu289/Danae123123/WIP%20A%20Bard%20s%20life/MGEScreenshot26.jpg
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/uu289/Danae123123/WIP%20A%20Bard%20s%20life/MGEScreenshot24.jpg
http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/uu289/Danae123123/WIP%20A%20Bard%20s%20life/MGEScreenshot28.jpg

Edit: I realised the comapnion's dialogue about scouting would loop if you are not in a wilderness area. Will be fixed with the next update.

I've been away for a while but I have found the time to play my own mod and decided to change a couple of things.

*Rather than creating a new class (the Minstrel) I'll simply modify the vanilla class (the bard)
*The quest to find a music instructor and recieve your first lute and music sheet will be skipped altogether if using the bard class: a brand new character with no offensive or healing skills to speak of was way too hard (I kept using Armand and Jasmine as a shield AND sword and felt bad about it).

I want to do the interiors of the Inn before updating the BETA but it should be up in a week or so.