While I thought this to be true, I was told a small mod I had made a while back with the expansions loaded was dirty.


I haven't even opened TES:CS in a while and I was thinking about getting back into modding, but I don't want to waste my time. I'd like to be sure my mod's clean so if I end up liking it I can release it. So, am I good just loading the Bloodmoon and Tribunal masters or do I need something like http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Utilities.Detail&id=74?


Bonus question: Is expansion dependence a big deal anymore or should I just stick to vanilla with GMST Vaccine?

If you click on the details button when loading your mod in the CS or open your mod with any of various cleaning tools, you'll see if it has GMSTs. If you edited it with the expansions then it shouldn't have any. It could be dirty in other ways though. For example, if you accidentally edited or moved something that isn't part of your mod, then those items will be marked as changed. Moving something across a cell border will mark the new cell changed even if you don't leave the item there or otherwise edit it at all.

Surprisingly, there are still people that don't have the expansions. If you don't need your mod to be dependent on expansions then don't make it so, but you shouldn't let dependencies stop you from making the mod you want. Apparently, as long as Morrowind.exe is version 1.6.1820, you can use scripting functions from the expansions even if you don't actually have the expansions. So unless you are using data from the expansions, you don't need to make your mod dependent on them. Of course, you should still use GMST Vaccine when needed.