As the title suggest, i'm looking for a way to mod the main quest so that you don't get addressed by everyone as the champion of cyrodiil.

My goal here is to somehow mod the main quest to make it seem like someone else did it, though not in so many words of course. Looking through the scripts i think i can disable many of the rewards you get for setting the stages ahead (fame, faction adjustments etc), but i can't seem to find out how to disable the "namecalling" that comes with it.

Eventually i'd like to find (or make if it really doesn't exist) a mod that bypasses the MQ entirely, making you a bystander in it all rather than being the chosen one (giving you the option to go into some oblivion gates if you want to, but not forcing you to like the MQ does), but my understanding of the CS is rather weak at the moment. The MOE quest delayer seems promising, however it's a very different approach to the same problem with equally different results an intentions.

Well, the greetings and "namecalling" can all be found under Dialogue/Filtered Dialogue in the CS - what you'd be looking for is a condition involving something to do with MQ16 (either the quest stage, or whether it has been completed, or possibly a global value linked to one of these). Just use the Find Text function to hunt it down. Then all you'd have to do is remove those specific entries, or alter them to your preference (for instance, as you suggested, making them refer to someone else).

Hope this helps

I just thought of something else. There is a mod out there that essentially disables the main quest, while keeping it lore-friendly (the Emperor is still alive, and so are his sons, you'll see them walking around Cyrodiil). The mod is called CDM's Character Generation Overhaul (CDM-CGO). There's a detailed description on the TESNexus site, but basically what it does is add an item to your inventory that allows you to completely configure how the game begins (starting level, starting abilities (there are Vanilla and CDM's own, very awesome custom ones as well), becoming a vampire, having a minion, and much more, and of course, the option to disable the main quest). What's nice about it as well is that it can be used to reconfigure an existing character as well. (NOTE: Just looked at the file I linked to, not sure if it's exactly the same as I've described here (my copy is quite old). I will happily make the files available to you if you aren't satisfied with the new version.)

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=38589

Now to find a way to somehow skip all the main quests after delivering the amulet without messing up anything ingame ;p

That mod looks nice, but it alters a little too much for my taste. I'd rather make a mod that only does exactly what i suggested (playing the game with someone else doing the MQ) and nothing else, mostly to keep the game consistent (CDM pretty much throws away the background of the signs, for example).

I guess i'll have to get more spare time to learn how to do this, although i might just save up for learning how to do something similar in Skyrim after i've finished it's MQ. Although, there the dragons kind of complicate matters, but maybe it's possible to set them to ignore you for the most part and not do the dragon soul/shouts thing when they die. Trailing off. ;p

My point being, the MQ's usually drown out everything else in TES games, somewhat detracting from the open world feel, especially in Oblivion where it's such a cataclysmic event. It'd be nice to be able to play a character which is not 'destined to be the champion', a character which can focus solely on its own development. This also means that guild questlines come into focus much, much more, getting to stand on their own rather than tacking on to the MQ. On a sidenote, this could actually be a plot point, where the player's character might be an anomaly which lies outside the realm of the elder scrolls themselves, where the "MQ" could be that instead of someone who's supposed to be a destined one taking over the world or saving it, the player character interferes. But, again, trailing off ;p

Ahh, I see what you mean now. You're right - the whole main quest idea actually ruins the RPG element itself - you're not REALLY playing a role - you're forced into one the game has created for you. Sure, within that role you are allowed a modicum of freedom - and that's the RPG element - but then the game isn't a TRUE RPG. Hmmm. Very interesting. I've never actually looked at it that way before, but now that I think about it, something like that would be much better. Make the main quest just another quest, and increase the focus on the rest of the elements. I suppose it would mean more work for the devs, BUT it would also mean MUCH more replayability. But who needs devs when you've got the community

Thank you, you've given me something to think about ^ ^

I believe there's a mod that eliminates all the level -dependent comments (e.g. "You have the hands of a healer") that I thought included the "Hero of Kvatch" and "Champion of Cyrodiil" ones as well. I can't remember the name, so I can't find it at TesNexus to check the details. I was looking for one that just removed the "Arcane University's newest addition" comment when you became Archmage, so I didn't download it because it did to much for me.

I believe the latest version of the UOP supplementals fixed this. I notice that I haven't gotten that comment at all and I'm not even Archmage yet, so I think the UOPS fixed it. I think I got it once when I first entered the AU and that's it - which would make sense.