First off, I apologize profusely if it turns out I'm posting this in the wrong forum. I figure Skyrim's modders would be the go-to guys for this.

A couple years ago I released a mod for the aging Bioware game Neverwinter Nights titled "http://www.moddb.com/mods/july-anarchy-prologue", which turned the D&D diceroller into an urban-fantasy action-RPG. For a while now I've been laying the groundwork for a follow-up title that expands upon the gameplay and universe. So far I'm calling it July Anarchy: Incursion Namibia (or July Anarchy: Incursion 2150). The game takes place in an urban-fantasy future, where mankind has evolved to use magic but is struggling with the re-emergence of ancient creatures of legend (mythans, or animyths). The player is dropped into the real-world Kalahari Desert region of Namibia and parts of Botswana, shortly after the collapse of the Namibian government results in a UN occupation and a widespread gold rush for the fallen nation's resources. Political intrigue, moral ambiguity and the conflicting shades of human nature come into play as the player's quest for glory and profit becomes an unexpected search for identity and an international conspiracy.

All's well and good on paper, but trying to get guns and vehicles to work in NWN's Aurora Toolset is like shoving a round peg through a square hole, to say nothing about running the game on modern systems in the first place. If you want to get the gist of what I'm talking about, I wrote about most of the new mod and Aurora issues http://www.moddb.com/members/jm-scion/news/whats-next-for-july-anarchy1.

So I'm considering making the game as a TC mod to a different engine, and right now Skyrim's Creation Kit looks like the best fit. I know total conversion mods have a rough history with Elder Scrolls games, and the sheer amount of custom content and coding means there's no way this could be a one-man project, but Skyrim already supports open-world gameplay, large-scale battles, factions, dynamic AI and apparently firearms. But can anybody tell me if any of the features listed below are remotely possible within Skyrim's mod tools?

-Modern Weapons:
This is a big one, since July Anarchy: Incursion Namibia features both military and medieval weapons in equal parts. The player should ideally be able to wield a longsword in one hand and a glock in the other. If that's impossible, then there should still be support for pistols, assault rifles, shotguns, rocket launchers, grenades, and energy weapons with appropriate ammunition accuracy and damage mechanics (any way to make a headshot count as a critical hit?)

-Revamped Magic System:

In this game, magic is a universal ability. There is no "mana" gauge to measure how many spells you can cast. Instead, using magic directly consumes your character's blood. Using magic makes your character weaker from blood loss, and if you go overboard with magic, you could lose vision or even faint. This means you can cast any spell of any level regardless of how much mana you would have, but casting an extremely powerful spell could kill you.

The tradeoff is that magic is far more powerful than in Skyrim, with each spell cast being a potential game changer. Each magic school is separated by what their base effect is:

Neuromancer - Can read minds to sense lies or ulterior motives. Can use telepathy to communicate with distant characters. Can drive enemies insane to turn them against their friends.

Biomancer - Affects physiology, so the caster can buff up their stats. They can also create debilitating diseases and poisons at will, and can shapeshift into any creature or person they see.

Chronomancer - Can manipulate time. This allows them to haste their movements, slow down time (YAY Matrix bullet dodging!) or instantly teleport around a battlefield.

Cryomancer - Can control cold temperature right up to cold fronts. This allows the caster to build ice barriers, freeze enemies solid, or change the weather and create spontaneous tornadoes.

Pyromancer - Likes fire a lot. Can create swaths of fire, launch explosive fireballs, and engulf themselves in flame to become a walking napalm dispenser.

Kineticist - Controls physics. Can telekinetically lift and throw objects, steer arrows and bullets mid-flight, and fly Superman-style.

-Regenerating Magic Shield AKA "Aura"

Nobody in this game has enough HP to take twenty arrows to the face and keep walking. Instead, you have a shield of your compressed magical energy that absorbs blows and recharges faster than health does in Skyrim. You'll need that, because between the guns and explosions going off, not getting hit won't always be possible. Your shield, or Aura, is dependent on your overall magical power and how focused you are on a certain school of magic. For example, a player that focuses on Pyromancer spells will have a red Aura that offers fire resistance, while a Kineticist has a white Aura that deflects bullets. Both players and NPCs use Auras, and once an Aura goes down, that person can only take a few light hits before they're dead.

-Faction-based Abilities

Factions play a major role in Incursion Namibia. At the start of the game, the player can choose between one of the two primary factions: the United Nations Peacemakers or the independent Nomads. Both sides play wildly different from eachother. A Nomad (such as Alex Meda in the July Anarchy Prologue mod) primarily fights with medieval weapons and martial arts. Every time a Nomad kills an enemy, they earn Adrenaline, which boosts their stats, attack and shield bonuses. Getting one hundred Adrenaline points starts an Adrenaline Rush, during which the player is hasted, has an almost invulnerable Aura, and inflicts massive damage. The downside is the player is constantly losing Adrenaline, so they must get kills in quick succession to earn an Adrenaline Rush. On the flip side, Peacemakers prefer to use modern firearms and military tactics, and are great for long-range combat. In place of Adrenaline, they earn AP that can be used to call in reinforcements such as additional soldiers, armor or air strikes.

-Dynamic Faction Warfare

There are three tiers of factions in the game. Primary Factions, which make up UN, Nomads and Animyths, Secondary Factions which are organizations pursuing their own goal in Namibia, and Sub-Factions that can ally themselves with any Secondary Faction to bolster their strength.

Most of the game's political landscape is determined by Secondary Factions. Many SecFacs are at war with each other and fight for Strongholds and supply routes throughout the Kalahari. These SecFacs make their moves independent of the player's actions, so the player could just stumble upon two organizations in the middle of a battle. This also means that the balance of power is constantly shifting in Namibia, like you're walking through a game of Civilization in-progress.

The player can ally themselves with a SecFac for unique benefits and to change the plot. This also gives you access to any strongholds they control for rest and supplies. Each SecFac has a campaign of missions to help them gain power, but participating in Faction Warfare is required to ensure a faction stays on top.

A faction's strength is determined by their Accumulated Resources Index, or ARI, which is a measurement of all the personnel, weapons, supplies, and funds a faction has. Every unit a Faction loses hurts its ARI rating. The ARI rating takes effect throughout the map, so if a faction loses a decisive battle in the southern region, they'll have less muscle and patrols in the northern region too. ARI also decides who wins or loses in Faction battles you don't participate in. If a SecFac's ARI rating falls too low, their main base becomes vulnerable to attack, the capture of which results in the elimination of that Faction from the game entirely. Sub-Facs don't have strongholds and are eliminated as soon as their ARI rating hits zero.

-Vehicles

I know Skyrim supports horses so I'm fairly confident that motorcycles, humvees and hovercraft are possible. Helicopters and other aircraft might be iffy.

For a better idea of just what I'm trying to turn Skyrim into, I made a few mock-up concept images in Garry's Mod.

http://media.moddb.com/images/members/1/531/530384/ja_in_magic.jpg

http://media.moddb.com/images/members/1/531/530384/ja_in_concept2.jpg If I can actually make this happen in the game, it would be worth all the nightmarish animation work!

http://media.moddb.com/images/members/1/531/530384/ja_in_concept3.jpg

http://media.moddb.com/images/members/1/531/530384/ja_in_concept4.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/210446_10151420298542922_801781743_o.jpg

So that's about it. Right now I'm not trying to build up hype or get anybody's hopes up (mine included) that this will all translate into the Creation Kit just the way I want it, I'm just trying to get a feel for whether it's worth starting from scratch on a new engine. Even if it would take a metric ton of scripts and new models, it would be worth it to finally see an urban-fantasy game take shape.