Hi sorry I couldn't find this on a quick search. Will the blacksmith (alvor) in riverwood respawn if he got killed by a dragon eventually? Same thing with blacksmith woman in whiterun though with her killed by a vampire.

Aside from noticeable smiths/merchants can there be other npcs killed that result in losing quests?

Any way or information for how to deal with losing these to attacks? I could try to go back to a old save game but that would be annoying.

Thanks and sorry I didn't do more thorough search of this topic but maybe good not to necro an old post? Thank you.

Sorry to say, no, they will not respawn. If you are on the pc, you can probably bring them back, and make them essential, but not on xbox or playstation. You would have to go back to a previous save and try to save them, or just take the hit. At least Adrianne in Whiterun would have her shop still open, run by her husband Ulfberth.

There are also mods for the pc that prevents these types of things from happening.

Thank you. What a silly design.

Yep. Very stupid design.

Mods to keep this from happening:

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/23906/?

https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/31088/?

Thats debateable. At least the game has consequences. Well apart from those pesky essential NPC's at anyrate.

PTHBBBT. Not everyone wants that severe a "consequence" in her games. I don't. It's a stupid design decision - from the PoV of someone (like me) who expects games to be FUN, not real life with consequences.

The only NPCs that respawn are generic characters, ie those that don't have individual names. Bandits, hunters, poachers, mages, reavers on Solsteim and so forth will come back eventually but anyone else is gone for good if they kark it.

I don't mind that random stuff can happen but the practical aspect of losing a smith (next to my house) in the world is quite annoying to the point that I would always choose reloading. I think I am just going to reload if any attack happens ever again after I go back to the point the smith dies. I mean it depends how you play the game. If you do multiple playthroughs with 'death is death' that could be exciting, but if your trying to just make a playthrough of most of content with one character you don't want your 'convenient shopkeepers' or 'quest givers' to die and it's just going to result in reloads.

Just get the mods (if you're on PC). They prevent a lot of NPC "accidental" deaths....

Consequences usually derive from your own actions. Vampires or dragons killing NPCs isn't really the player's fault.

Good tip to avoid vampire attacks is dont enter the city between 9pm and 6am. Vamps dont spawn in the daytime.

It could be argued that it's the player's fault for not protecting the citizens. Scripts only run in the cell the player is in so it's pretty rare (in my experience anyway) for NPCs to be killed without the player's knowledge. And you can always use Detect Dead to check for corpses after the fight is over and reload if there are unwanted casualties.

errrrr yes it is... Even on 360 I only had a smith or other important NPC die once...once in 5 yr's... 4 of those on 360...and that one character was on 360.

IF you do not enter or exit a loading area in a town... after dark or before 6am... vampires don't spawn IN town... IF you Fast Travel to a town... Yeah...yer gonna loose NPC's.. Same with Dragons... it takes about 1 or 3 minutes for a dragon to spawn... So IF you FT..don't go into a town right away... same if you ride the carriage to town... let the time pass and see if one spawns... best way to do it is not to Fast Travel... But if ya gotta, for whatever reason, then FT to Honeybrew Meadery or The Watchtower... or something close to town., but not too close.

On any Platform, you have the choice not to have Dragon's spawn... or vampires for that matter... but on PC.. mod's take care of it.

So yes it IS the players fault... you chose to enter the town during a possible spawn time. or chose to Fast Travel into town... etc... that is the players choice. I'm sorry Simple truth.. Nothing spawn's til the Player character enter's the cell... thus.. if you don't enter the cell during the required "spawn time" nothing will spawn.

And.... that's a STUPID design decision on the part of the devs.

For folks using pcs it's not an issue - see the mods I listed above. For those on consoles.... it's a STUPID DESIGN DECISION with no mitigation possible.

^It's actually very easy to mitigate as Areial pointed out. I play on console as well and NPC deaths are extremely rare for me. All it takes is a bit of planning and forethought.

Yeah, you can mitigate it. But why should you have to jump through hoops because some idiot dev didn't think ahead? I've never (THANK THE GODS) had to play on a console - and I never will go there, because you're at the mercy of so many non-negotiables.

[Not to mention, I've never - and never will - bother with something that's specific to game playing, and gimped game playing at that. Computers do so much more - and they're not really all that more expensive any more....]

Serethil... I'm not saying it's not a dumb design.. it is.. IF perhaps a "replacement" spawned...as I think was the intention, then... well fine. But as that mechanic doesn't work right, then the "important" NPC's should be either essential OR a "hardcoe" toggle for those that like the consequences.

Personally I like the fact that they can die...and didn't reload the one time I had one of the smith's die. From that point on I was more careful about the way I moved around the game world... it work's for me. I DO know that it's not a choice for everyone... and the fact that their is not a choice for console users...really svck's, but it can be mitigated... IF one takes the proper precautions.

This round of the DiD comp... all vanilla... Tyler will watch how he travel's about.. because "When vampires attack" and "Run for your Lives" are both "advantage mods"... but I still remember the "console rules" about vampire and dragon attacks.

That is meta-gaming. I like to roleplay. "Playing the system" in that manner is not something I want to do in my games.

I don't think it's a bad idea, just one that isn't right for everyone. Personally, I really like it. It makes in-game sense (vampires and dragons have to eat after all) and I always feel a sense of triumph when the fight is over and I see that there wasn't any deaths and the reverse is also true. I've never had as strong of an emotional response as Erod the Nord mentioned http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1600120-saddest-part-of-skyrim/?p=25120362but I have gotten pretty upset when I lose NPCs I care about. Sometimes I reload and sometimes I force myself to live with it and that encourages me to try harder to save everyone the next time.

I even run mental simulations sometimes about who's most in danger of being killed and how best to protect them; what Shouts and powers to use, whether I should attack at range with a bow or spells and let the guards take care of the melee work or if charging in to close quarters would be the most effective and so on. I get that it's not for everyone but I think it adds another really interesting layer to the game. I will say that there probably should have been a toggleable vanilla equivalent of Run for Your Lives and When Vampires Attack though. I'd probably leave them turned off most of the time but the option should be there for console players as well.

Is it? I don't have any problem from an in-game perspective justifying my characters wanting to protect Skyrim's citizens and coming up with plans on how best to keep them from ending up in a dragon's belly or on the wrong end of a vampire's sword.

hmmm let me ask... how often do you go hiking in the wood's in the middle of the night? How dangerous is that IRL? How much more so in a land like Skyrim. So with Bear's, Troll's, Wolves ( all that attack people )...Not to mention Vampires..... Why would a human, with poor night vision be out at night? Walled town's should be different... they should not get past the gate guards... that is bad game mechanic's, but taking the proper precaution's ( on 360 ) is the same as adding in mod's that do the same thing on PC...

But all in all their is not much of a reason for my characters to be out and about in the middle of the night.

Yes, it is. You are using player knowledge to achieve a desired result. Roleplaying, to me, is using character knowlege only. Our characters do not know that entering or existing a town during certain hours will prevent Vampire attacks. They don't even know Vampire attacks are possible. Only the player knows. And the reason the player knows is because they read these forums and they do research on the internet. That is the definition of meta-gaming.

That is not how I like to play. As I say, roleplaying, to me, is using character knowledge. It is playing as a character, one who in in fictional game world. That character knows nothing about the conditions that trigger attacks. Performing actions based on player knowledge of scripted events is not roleplaying.

Shmoe is right. This is not a player's fault. If a player plays Skyrim normally, if he or she truly roleplays, attacks will happen and NPCs will die. Many of my characters like to spend many nights in The Bannered Mare. When the exit the Bannered Mare in the morning they are likely to find that Vampires are attcking by the front gate. By the time my characters get there one or more NPCs (in my case, usually Adrianne Avenicci) are already dead. I'll be damned if I'm going to blame myself for that, or let anybody tell me her death is my fault.

Nah. It just gets in the way of fun.

Not trying to be argumentative but I think it's possible to have a pretty solid anti-vampire strategy without using player knowledge. All it takes is for the character to realize that vampires only attack after sundown and if there are any townspeople around, there's a good chance they'll end up dead. If I'm in a city at night, I'll stand guard at the main gate until around 10 PM so all the shopkeepers will be safely indoors then go home, sleep until 5 AM, run to main gate and keep watch there until 6. All of that can be justified as player knowledge in my opinion. Your character just has to figure out that vampires don't like sunlight (not exactly difficult) and be willing to stand at the city's entrance for an hour or two after dark.

I occasionally use cell manipulation techniques if I don't feel like doing all that but I've hardly ever lost any NPCs even without resorting to meta-gaming.

PC... Add in mod's that lower the risk of ( or stop ) vampire or Dragon attack's in town's

Console... take proper precautions to avoid those same attacks...

Is it Meta-gaming? If you add the mod's knowing what they do... then it's the same as taking precaution's to prevent the same event from happening. To me same same.... they are both "me" avoiding the risk... not my character...

So when I add "When Vampires Attack", "Run for your Lives" and "Dawnguard Sentries plus".. knowing that they keep my NPC's safe... that is to me just as much meta-gaming as it is taking precaution's on console.... I guess I meta-game for my Stories... and that's fine with me.

I think the game mechanic that make's those mods and the precaution's is wrong... and should have been fixed...but it's a moot point by now.

JMO

Here's an anti vampire tip for the residents of and visitors to Whiterun. Never talk to the Alik'r at the front gate. If they engage you in conversation just exit without talking to them. They will perpetually stand guard at the gate and cannot be killed.