Hello everyone,

I`ve just started Morrowind after six or seven years again, and this time, I intend to join the Temple.

I know about the hold in temple advancement and quests once you are named the Nerevarine, but my problem is:

How can I immersive myself in still working for the temple? I imagine if "DunmerX the Temple-Curate" discoveres his true identity, it would be impossible, even highly implausible, to stay within the Temple Hierarchy for him.

How do you justify working for the temple after you are the Nerevarine?

Another question:

Do any Temple-NPCs react differently to you once you`ve been accepted by Vivec as ne Nerevarine? Perhaps something like: "Uuh, you are the Nerevarine, Curate? Well...ok, I have to sleep this over..."?

Meeeeh, all this Temple Faction / Nerevarine-Stuff seems odd.

Thx for your input.

It kind of fits if you start into the Temple thing early, and then back off when you reach the part of the MQ where it starts to conflict. After you've completed the MQ, it's not completely out of the question to go back to the Temple quests, but it's harder to explain your continued devotion to a trio of deities who are obviously responsible for the murder of someone who's supposed to be your spiritual predecessor. Once you start in on Tribunal, that gets even more difficult.

Yeah, it's a little non-RP to continue after the MQ; there doesn't seem to be any good reason to do so. I try to do the entire Temple quest as early as I can, usually by level 10-12. It makes more sense to me that way and the end reward is nice to have for the rest of the game.

Actually, you can RP yourself into it.

I guess if you consider the fact that the Temple has a practical side - welfare of the people and caring for the poor and ignorant -,the Nerevarine could very much say:

"Okay Vivec, we have come to terms here. We need each other. You need me to kill Dagoth Ur, I need you to turn the Temple into something good - btw, you are already forseeing that one day, the Tribunal will eventually fall and the Dunmer return to the ways of Daedra-worship. So I, Nerevarine,pretend to be good buddy of the ALMSIVI, and you allow me to prepare the TEMPLE for the day you, Almalexia and Sotha Sil are gone".

Funny, this is exactly what happens after the Red Year, see Skyrim`s books and dialogue, at least regarding the power struggle within the temple after Vivecs disappereance and the final outcome.

What do you think about this idea?

Btw, anoyther question: Where can I get a magical blunt weapon (1h) early on?

I guess that makes sense, why not?

As to the blunt 1H, your best bet is a bound mace. There are a few good 2H blunts available early but for 1H, the easy ones are pretty low damage (unless you enchant your own, but that's another story). Is there a reason why you need 1H?

Yeah, Roleplaying is the reason.

Well, thx for your response, Conjuration seems to be the only valid choice (without spending a few thousand septims).

You could role-play that you are only doing it to gain more political power and influence over Morrowind.

Scourge can be found in a chest next to Divayth Fyr. I'm pretty sure he doesn't care if you take it along with most of his artifacts... if you can pick and disarm it that is

you could also do molag bal's quest for his mace, but that may not fit your RP

otherwise you just need to luck into one as random loot

The Scourge is a good idea, I forgot about that one.

The problem with the Mace of Molag Bal is that it requires a pretty tough fight for a starting character even if it does fit your character.

My Witchhunter joined the Temple before becoming Nerevarine, stuck around until after the main quest as well. It's not hard to hard to justify. Upon embarking the quest of the Nerevarine the Temple temporarily disbars you. Afterwards, they "accept you as their hero". Regardless of saying you "cast down the false gods" it's really the only way. You're helping Vivec and the others by defeating Dagoth Ur. They're struggling with their powers as it is because of him.

After Vivec pardons you the temple members just say something along the lines of accepting you as their hero. They like you for it.

After the main quest, Vivec mentions a reformation of the temple to worship the Daedra again. You basically could just be an advocate for this idea. It's still the temple.

As for a starting mace - I used a Bound Mace. Works wonders until you can get an artifact mace.

If I'm not mistaken, once you get to a certain point in the main quest doesn't the temple stop giving you quests until Vivec acknowledges you?

In any case, the motivation to continue in the temple could be from a business perspective rather than a religious one.

I always treated the temple keeping the original Daedra in mind anyway. I was glad to see that is how it ended up in Skyrim. The fake tribunal was just a deviation from what the religion was supposed to be imo. I would always rp that way too...plus it was more fun.

Any confirmation about this, anyone?

http://uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Tribunal_Temple

Joining the Temple makes sense both before and after reaching those key stages in the MQ.

I joined the Temple soon after meeting Vivec. Made sense that way, in my RP. The 36 Lessons of Vivec could give RPers plenty of reasons to join or continue the Temple questline. The books are written for the Nerevarine, so he/she could become God (and not a god.)., and a few of them are quite straightforward, and luckily those ones are easy to find. You can find them on the shelves in churches.

Also, as other have already said, your character might be trying to further his own agenda.

My current character is the Arch-patriarch, but I joined after the MQ. I thought it made sense since Vivec told me that he will work to make sure the Temple recognizes the Tribunal as only saints and worshiping the ancestors in the old ways. That is, IIRC that is how the convo went.

The thing about the Good Daedra I had to wrap my head around, but luckily I understand it now and it still fits my RP

I think...

Never have joined the Temple. Acting as an agent of the empire joining the Temple never felt like the right thing to do. On my current play through it is my goal to bring justice to Vivec and slay him. Hate the little twerp, no sainthood for him.

Very interesting thread, with some thought-provoking posts! I just have one more thought to add to the discussion... WRT the Temple, and indeed all things involving Vivec, the RP experience can be made into almost anything that works for you depending on how deeply your Player Character understands Vivec, and how he came to know CHIM. As your PC's knowledge of these things increases, the number of possible RP explanations approaches infinity.

I`ve played with the temple-character for a while now and what really kills my immersion is the journal together with general dialogue regarding Temple, Temple Doctrine and the Almsivi.

Every NPC you encounter during the course of the mainquests literally lectures you about "The Temple" as if you knew nothing about it (what is true for the first time-player, but not for a, let`s say, Curate of the Tribunal Temple or even the Patriarch). And as member of the Temple you should know about the Nerevarine and the Nerevarine-Cult, too, as part of your general studies and indoctrination. You (your character ingame) shouldn`t need a special lesson from Caius or dissidents about this topic.

It may work out RP-whise if you do the mainquest first, but then there is de facto ZERO reason to join the Almsivi Temple at all (and no, I can`t see ANY "proven" Nerevarine joining the temple, it simply makes NO sense. It is another matter if he IS already in the temple by the moment the Nerevarine realizes who he really is, though, but then the problem above stays ofc).

The Vegtabill Postulate. Temple RP is now a science.

If you really can't get over the fact that editing all of the possible related dialogue in the game to cater to your character's progression is a ridiculous request then you'll have a very hard time doing anything in the game.

After being pardoned by Vivec and told how to finish the MQ, he explains the planned reformation of the Temple. Joining the Temple to oversee this isn't ridiculous. Regardless of the Almsivi being false gods, they still gain power from worship. You can't really deny belief in them. Besides, the Temple does good and selfless things regardless of who they worship.

It sounds to me like, from your POV, there are two things at work here... 1) The trouble with the written dialogue in the game: it's not adaptive to your station as Nerevarine and/or high office in the Temple itself, and 2) The feasibility of the Nerevarine joining or staying with the Temple once he/she knows what the "truth" is.

The first is the same issue that causes Morrowind to be such a static world. They simply didn't have the time and resources to make every questline adaptive to everything else. It's too big a job, particularly when you consider the meticulous hand-placement of almost everything in the game world. But the argument still holds... we just have to acknowledge that this is not a problem unique to the Temple.

The second is a bit more suspect, though. The very circumstances of the world you step foot into are, um... well, let's just say that they rely heavily on your ability to either ignore things, or accept that in the dream of the Godhead, all things all possible. I'm not going to go deeper than that; this isn't the thread for it. But if you can ignore some of the other crazy stuff in the game (like a moon suspended over the grandest city in Vvardenfell, poised to destroy it at any given time, save for the favor of Vehk, for just one example), then why not ignore some of the less fleshed-out parts of the Temple? And if it's not a case of just ignoring these logic-defying anomalies in the game, and you can accept that the world in TES is a fluid thing in which almost anything is possible when one knows CHIM, then why not accept that you, as Nerevarine, are just playing the hero's part in Vehk's grand design?

In any event, I disagree that the Nerevarine joining or staying with the Temple makes "no" sense. There are things that make less sense, and have far deeper implications. In my humble opinion, of course.

If RP is a science, someone else is the Dean of the College! I have a lot of my own ideas about what RP is, what immersion means to me, and how it all interacts with my view of the Universe, to be sure... but truly, there are some folks on these boards that have forgotten more about RP concepts than I'll ever know! And the lore folks... man, I could learn so much more! But as humbly as possible, I must say, I do like the sound of "The Vegtabill Postulate"! Ha ha! Kind of roles off the tongue, doesn't it? Or is that just me? Yeah... probably!

Thanks!