This quest seems stuck. I have the official strategy guide and it indicates that Aldos pulls a knife on the guard standing watch outside his house, and is then killed. I have witnessed Aldos and the guard exchange words, but they just stand there after that. I waited for about 5 min., got tired of waiting, and turned the game off. Anyone know how long they just stand there after talking? If this is a bug, is there anyway for me to tweak it or move this quest along? I do have the game patched, the unoffical patches applied, and FCOM installed.

It should follow within 30 seconds or so of dialogue. You might try this in the console:

Open console, click on Aldos, then type Kill, enter, close the console. If this doesn't restart the quest then there are some journal entries you could try.

Thanks for the tip. If I kill him in the console, is my character responsible for his death? That might mess things up somewhat.

That's a very good question. Responsible as in bounty or crime tagged to the player? Nope. Responsible as in quest updates to said death? Yes.

Caveat: Always use the console with prudence. Save before use, and proceed cautiously.

OK- yes, as in would I/the player be responsible for his death. Thanks for the answer. I'm just trying to get the quest moving along since it seems stuck, so, yes, I WANT the quest to update w/ his death. Thanks again.

PS- Is a console directed kill such as this considered a player-attributable kill, or just a "neutral" kill from, for lack of the better term, God?

"Act of God" would be the best description. Kill is going to trigger the OnDeath block of Aldos' script to the proper setStage. No crime, and no bounty incurred by you.

If you're hesitant to use this command you could also try

set MS10.AldosPissed to 1

This should trigger the combat with the guard if for some odd reason this part was missed by dialogue.