I like to create a huge immersive world and then role play - discovering things as I go. I do not like to load in a quest mod, go play it and then remove it - that breaks immersion for me.

Below is a list of quest mods I've downloaded and I've broken them into 2 categories. The much shorter one are the mods I'm pretty sure are stable and interwoven into the world (although if you feel otherwise feel free to post).

The second category is the one I need help with - I'd like people's feedback, especially if a) the mod is fairly lore-friendly and doesn't break the mood/atmosphere B) no crazy loot or insane monsters that require overpowered players c) any known conflicts or problems. But feel free to add anything else you are aware of.

I'd appreciate any feedback - as I have been away from Oblivion for a loonnnggg time and so I just re-installed it and am now trying to create the "perfect" game before starting a new character.


Category 1: Mods I Feel Fairly Confident Of

Windfall
Lost Spires
Blackwood Company
Ivellon
Bartholm
Integration



Category 2: Mods I would like feedback on (Is it lore-friendly and balanced? Does it stay away from over-powered loot/monsters? Any known conflicts?)

Armageddon
Lost Sword of the Ayleids
Unique Dungeons: Lost Glory and Lich's Lair
Kvatch Aftermath
Et in Arkay Ego
Wells of Cyrodiil
AFK_Weye
Sentient Weapon
Duke Patrick's Old Man of the Mt
Stirk
The Other Spheres
Mighty Umbra
Crypt of Decay
Villages 1.1
Castle Ravenpride
Heart of the Dead
Stories from the Sea
Nascosto Isle
Tears of the Fiend
Blitz's Dungeons and Realms: Molag Fel, Deepgrave, Laughing Maw (3 different dungeons)
Crypts of Cyrodiil
Verona House: Bloodlines
Malevolent


I suppose a 3rd category would be any high quality quest mods I've somehow missed?

I'm aware of Ruined Tales Tail - but don't really like companion mod quests. I also ruled out Kragenac's b/c it seems too tongue in cheek and immersion breaking.


Thank you for any and all help - it is deeply appreciated

J

For immersion purposes, I am personally rather fond of eating, drinking, and sleeping mods. Also, clutter and ingredients far as the eye can see. Well, variety of such, anyway.

Also, something like TNR goes a small way towards "believable" characters, IMO, even though yes, it's purely aesthetic. To me, that also matters.

Let the People Drink (IIRC) is one you might like. MTC Expanded Villages too, perhaps?

Gameplay-wise, there is TIE of course. Then again, I quite like alternative arrangements, courtesy of such mods as Combat Speechcraft, as well as many and various occupation-type mods, for both player and NPCs.

Ah, the list does indeed go on.


edit: Oh, and the menu/interface - that's likewise a "must change" (Immersive Interface, or DarkUId DarN, or whatever else, to taste). Hm, then there's Fatigue and Encumbrance style mods (e.g., SM Encumbrance and Fatigue)... yikes, I'm going to run out of post space! But anyway, someone here has a thread dedicated to immersive mods... er, who was that again...

Thanks for the reply Breton Paladin - but I am more interested in feedback on the quest mods and their immersiveness.

I have plenty of other types of RPGing immersion mods in my game - the hardest ones to know about though are the quest mods - b/c until you've played through them you don't know if they break the game in some fashion.

J

Out of the first category, I've got Ivellon, C&C Blackwood, and Integration; I've played all the way through Ivellon, but only partway through the other two. Ivellon is very immersive - you literally have to stumble over the clues before you can start the quest. I've heard very good things about the other two, though; bg2048 is an excellent modder. Windfall is a large island with a lot of stuff to see and do. It didn't grab me, but you might like it.

On the second group, I've got or tried:

Lost Sword of the Ayleids (haven't finished, but good mod)

Unique Dungeons: Lost Glory and Lich's Lair (they're all right; not really quest mods so much as straight hack-n-slash dungeon crawls);

Kvatch Aftermath (it's considered the best of the Kvatch mods, but I never could complete it - too many quests required waiting for several days, and after trying it with several different characters on different playthroughs, I just dropped it)

Et in Arkay Ego (No offense to the author, but there were too many veiled sixual references for my taste)

AFK_Weye (good mod, but I'd wait for 2.0 - it shouldn't be long)

The Other Spheres (have it, haven't started it yet)

Castle Ravenpride (decent mod; I dropped it because I didn't want a castle at the roof of the world; the teleport spell to get to it felt too much like a cheat for my taste)

Heart of the Dead

Nascosto Isle (tried it, didn't like it... the island is kind of empty and bland. That was awhile ago, though, so it might have a new/improved version now.)

Tears of the Fiend (This and Malevolent are extremely popular and well-made mods. BTW, ToTF combines Malevolent and the Butcher of Armindale, IIRC, so you only need this one. You might not like it, though, since it's a companion mod - that's why I dropped it. That and the fact that you have to be a very good-aligned PC.)

Verona House: Bloodlines (since this one requires completion of the MQ, I've never been able to complete it, though I have started it once or twice. It's a huge mod with a lot of quests; it'll give you something to do after you've saved the world )

You should also try the Treasure Maps mods (there are 5-6 of them - just do a search on TESNexus). They vary in content, but they basically drop a bunch of maps for sale with hidden treasure in various locations. All but one are not UL-compatible, but all you'll miss out on is some gold and non-unique items.

If you're playing an assassin-type, try out JQ Assassin Quest too. An anonymous benefactor drops contracts for you, which become harder as you progress, but the rewards are also greater.

Another gigantic quest mod I heartily recommend: City of Adash. It's a German mod, but they recently released an English version; it's completely voiced, but in German, so you might be bothered by hearing German voices and seeing English subtitles. Since it's set in a completely different land, though, I think it would be akin to traveling to another country where you understand the language and can auto-translate in your head.

Oh, my bad. :blush:

I've played through very few quest mods, so um, I'll just bow out now. :bolt:

Good luck!

I think that it works well within the game myself. But it is currently being updated to version 2, which is a major update (requiring a clean save etc.) so I would suggest you hold off until then.


Really just a village mod until very late in the game, after the main quest line.


The Ayleid Steps is supposed to be good, I have only played it a little myself and like it so far. It adds quite a bit to the game, and makes good use of the welkynd stones. Good effort in compatibility too; set up to automaticaly shift certain stepping stones if you have certain other mods installed. Worth a look.

Athmoor recently added the mod A Brotherhood Renewed which is reported to be an excellent addition/continuation of the Dark Brotherhood quest-line. And the author is definitely known for doing good work. Like Verona House it won't kick in until later in the game though. (His other "village" mods include quests as well, so check them out as well.)

Fort Akatosh and Guards of Cyrodiil (separate but related mods by same team) might be worth a look as well. Might be just your kind of thing (or not.)

Excellent mod that I always have installed. Unlevelled enemies, only natural light, cool quest, some neat items.



Also always installed. Turns the Umbra fight into a truly epic series of fights and the Umbra sword into one of the coolest modded ones ever.

Two other ones I always have installed: painkiller_rider's Gift of Kynareth and The Forgotten Shields. They are primarily weapon/armor mods but with excellent, hardcoe quests to get the coveted items. Also, in that vein, Adonnay's Elven and Classical Weaponry. Weapon mods but both place weapons (and some bosses) around Cyrodiil.

A few comments on quest mods, based on the OP's desire to just play and stumble on things as he goes

I would endorse both Integration and The Aylied Steps. Both excellent, The Ayleid Steps sounds is exactly what you are looking for, once the network is up and running (a short Quest) there is a world af adventuring possibilities just lying around in the undergrowth. Integration has several quest lines to follow, and a multiplicity of side quests. There's all sorts of stuff to stumble upon, and crucially, it involves Shivering Isles as well.

I would also highlight Kraganir's Death quest, version 2 of which has just been released, there's a thread around the top of the forum. It has a 'main quest' you can choose to ignore, but has masses of other quests scattered around Cyrodiil.

The amount of playability added by the three mods referred to above is staggering, and all of it intergrated into the ES lore andCyrodiil landscapes.

Other comments:-

Windfall is a huge mod, very well done, and reasonably lore correct. You can't really just stumble upon it though. Almost all the action takes place on a large island in its own worldspace. Although you can explore randomly on the island, all the dungeons are quest related, so it's probably better to stick fairly closely to the storyline (which has multiple ways through)

Heart of The Dead. Is an epic quest mod, but quite linear. For the best effect it isprobably best to play striaght through. There are times when you have no choice but to plough forward in the dungeon/whatever you are in because there's no way to retreat. Voiced, as well.

Verona House Bloodlines is again a classic 'quest mod' with a reasonably linear structure. as others have said, it doesn't kick in until you've become Champion of Cyrodill. In the meantime you get a well made small town plus, if you are really thorough, you might encounter the occasional mysterious building or structure you can't do a lot with. It is mostly voiced

Lake Rumere-Region Revive adds some much needed inhabitation to the Imperial Isle, and the Shores of Lake Rumere (mostly to the north of the Imperial Isle. Some of these settlements have simple low level quests attached) It's a permenant fixture in my load order.

I'm not generally of fan of thread bumping

But this thread covers pretty well exactly what I need to find out as I reinstall my game, and I'd really like to hear a few more opinions on the various quest mods that the OP has mentioned.

I appreciate the replies! I didn't even know about Adash - it looks to be an EPIC mod! Thank you!

Kragenir's Death Quest caught my eye initially but I read a post that talked about Dwarves named "Sleepy, Grumpy...etc." and it felt like it would be too tongue in cheek for me????

I like the idea of quests scattered everywhere but not if they aren't serious and real.... I don't mind humor but I like it to stay in the context of the lore not our world.

ANyone else played Kragenir's Death Quest - is it too over the top or is it balanced in presentation?

Appreciate the help from everyone!

J

You might want to try my Gweden Brothel mod, despite the name it's a set of quests rather than anything else, just using the theme of recruiting the working girls as a common thread for the quests. There's something for any level and style of play, and the quests are in the main independent of each other, and don't have to be done in sequence.

Lots of folks have played/are playing KDQ - there's even a thread on the forums for it. The dwarves are only in the main quest, and you can skip that if you want. There are some easter eggs in it, but Povuholo (the author) says that they become rarer and more obscure as you advance in the questline. The miscellaneous quests add a lot to the world, IMO - instead of all those random NPCs walking around with no purpose besides window dressing and talking to each other, you can get minor quests from them - retrieving lost/stolen items, helping someone get a gift for his love, etc. I'd say give it a try, at the least. I think you'll like it.

I love all of Simyaz's mods, and of course, try Better Cities, Unique Landscapes, I really like enhanced Daedric Invasion, and, if you are not a Heavy Ranger, like my favorite character, then you may like something like the Lost Spires.

not to toot my own horn (so to speak), but Stirk was made specifically to integrate seamlessly into the game. Its storyline is also based completely on TES lore.

I have to admit that Kragenir's Death Quest was not my cup of tea. Obviously it adds a lot of nicely done content into the game, but it has a couple of things that break the immersion. For example there is a quest that gives you an Aztec armor (fallen from a rip in time-space) and there are also other references to Earth trivia (such as the Sumatran rat). Also the references to ingame leveling were a bit of off-putting for me. Of course if you don't take the game too seriously these things will not matter. However I did not consider the vanilla game immersive enough, so adding a mod that further reduces immersion did not work for me.

Get the COBL (common oblivion library) it add all different kinds of new stuff ingredients, books, and other things alot of it from morrowind.
Also I highly recommend The Ayleid steps and The Lost Sword of the Ayleids.