Hi all.

I have an old, slightly deaf NPC in a farmhouse. I want that when player enters the NPC doesn't hear him/her until conversation is initiated. This is what I have tried so far. When player enters farmhouse NPC is linked to a BookReading marker with his back to player. This works well if player immediately starts conversation with "Hello". NPC responds "What the..." and goes into a cowering position until player, through conversation, says "Sorry. Did I startle you?" The BookReading marker (NPC's LinkedRef) is then disabled so he can run his sleep, eat and sandbox packages when initial conversation is finished. Problem is if player enters farmhouse and looks around/hangs around a second or two too long the NPC turns to face the player. Now the surprise is over and the whole conversation looks silly when the NPC is looking directly at player.

How can I stop the NPC detecting player until the player starts conversation. Thanks.

Well I can't remember the name of the quest / dungeon (the Dwemer memory one with the red glowing ghosts) those NPC's IIRC have a blindness spell on them which makes them not notice the player, so you could try having a look and see if that does the trick.

I don't remember it either. Although have recently started a new game, sure to come across it eventually. Thanks for the tip.