» Fri Jun 13, 2014 6:43 am Hello there,
I am a huge fan of Skyrim (and Oblivian for that matter, several hundred
hours logged in each, never got to play any of the other games, sorry).
So there was always one thing about Skyrim that bugged me. After a few
hundred hours of playing it, no matter how many times I go back through
Helgen, it is in ruins and filled with bandits. This was a nice town with
good people living here before the Dragon Born showed up. It never set right
with me that the town never got rebuilt during the game. Solitude gets
refurbished if you side with the Stormcloaks and sack it.
Same goes for Windhelm. Sack the city, return a few game days later, city is
as good as new.
So what I propose is a HUGE add on to satisfy both my disappointment in
Helgen's Fate, and the desire for something new that resides in all the Skyrim
fans out there who have climbed every mountain, dug to the bottom of every cave,
cleared every barrow... Those who just generaly done everything they could do in
the game, then got bored and started another charachter and did it all again...
Then did THAT again.
So, my proposal:
"Helgen's Keep Expansion Pack"
When at least 1 year in game time has passed, if the Dragon Born
returns to Helgen it will start the "Helgen's Keep" quest line.
First the DB must clear out a large group of bandits (two or
three times the normal size group that respwans there) that have
taken up residence in the ruins.
Once they are chased away the Dragon Born realizes that what happened
to Helgen was partly his/her fault, so he/she starts to rebuild the town.
(Maybe through an unavoidable convo with a follower or Paarthurnax or
Ohdaviing, whoever is available/still alive. Or maybe a convo with a
ghost of someone who died at Helgen when Alduin attacked.)
With enough building materials the DB rebuilds the central tower
and furnishes it well enough for a few people to live in.
Next, the DB must build a forge and find near by sources for building
materials. Iron mine, clay and stone mines that he must clear and then find two
or three people to move to the Keep and help him/her start to rebuild Helgen.
The kicker/difficulty in this add on is: While the construction of the walls,
towers and town is going on, all construction will happen in game time. Once you
get the first group of people to come help you, it will take x amount of days
plus building materials to build the next tower, x number of days plus building
materials to build this part of the outer wall, xx number of days plus builing
materials to build that part of the wall, and so on.
As more walls and towers get rebuilt the DB will have to go recruit people to
move there and help. But, all the while, every few days there is a bandit attack
or wild animal attack and the DB will have to defend Helgen and the workers.
He can do this alone or recruit gaurds for a "Guard Duty" quest which will last
for most of the contruction of the town:
Possible Gaurds
Hire the Companions
or
convince the Empire or Stormcloaks to put in a garrison
or
Hire Mercenaries and or Followers
The DB will need to hire, house, feed and outfit the gaurds.
The DB will also need to hire a few hunters for a "Feed the Masses" quest
which will run for most of the construction of the town. You have to keep enough hunters employed to feed
all the people in the town:
Possible Hunters for the town
Faendal from Riverwood
and/or
Valdr from Falkreath
and/or
Random Hunters from the wilderness
Once the Walls and gates are finished the DB will need to build a Blacksmith
Shop to go with the forge and recruit a blacksmith to move to Helgen:
Blacksmith
Hermir Strong-Heart from Windhelm
or
Tacitus Sallustius from Markarth
or
An orc blacksmith from any Stronghold
These each have presumably been training for at least a year (in game time),
so they could be convinced to start their own shop.
Each could have their own required quest to do before they can be recruited,
or require different specifications be met before they will agree (a certain
monthly wage, a new set of tools, a certain kind of forge, perform some test for
their teacher. etc.).
Once Helgen has a blacksmith working overtime producing building materials,
the DB will need to build an inn and recruit someone to run it:
Inn Keeper
Ysolda from Whiterun
or
Fastred and/or Bassianus Axius from Ivarstead/Riften
Again, Each could have their own required quest to do before they can be recruited.
or require different specifications be met before they will agree.
Next the DB will need to build some homes (six or seven) inside the walls to start
moving NPCs into Helgen.
After the first few families get settled in though, there is one last huge bandit
attack. They burn down the gates and knock down part of the wall using mamoths.
once the DB has chased them off again, the DB and a few warriors chase them back
to a near by cave, barrow or tower and finish them off, closing out the "Guard Duty"
quest.
The DB will Head up repairs to the town. When the town is repaired the DB will need
to build some shops and recruit people to move there and run them:
General Goods Store:
Possible store owners
Kerah from Markarth
or
Grelka from Riften
or
Madesi from Riften
or
Someone from one of the stalls in Solitude
Alchemist Shop:
Possible store owners
Ingun Black-Briar from Riften
or
Muiri from Markarth
or
Vivienne Onis from Solitude
Build a market place with a few stands and recruit merchants to move to Helgen.
The DB also needs to work on sustaining the town. Get a farm up
and running and recruit someone to keep it going:
Farm Hand from any farm.
or
Any produce merchant from anywhere.
Once the shops, the market and the farm have someone managing them the "Feed the Masses"
quest is finished.
This will also finish all of the "in game" time restraints for building anything.
The town will finish populating with NPCs.
Throw in a quest about the new people in Helgen being worried about the spirits
of all the people that died there when it was destroyed so the DB needs to recruit
a wizard to move to the town to deal with the spirits:
Possible Wizards
Aicantar from Markarth
or
Jzargo, Brelyna or Onmund from Winterhold
or
from that coven = Wizard
Once the wizard has put the spirits to rest, the "Helgen'S Keep" quest will be complete.
Then just keep improving Helgen as much as you want. Helgen could be huge. The more time
you put into it, the more you could rebuild and expand it.
Build a stable and hire Shadr from Riften to run it.
Build a Meadery or Winery and hire some random drunk to run it.
Build a shrine, pick any god you want, even Talos. Find a priest to run it.
Upgrade the shrine to a temple later.
Open a College. Skyrim has a wizards college and a bards college, you could start a
warriors college or adventurers college (with a course specializing in how to avoid arrows to
the knee). You could staff the college with fighters and instructors from all over Skyrim (Benor,
Angela, Faendal, Vilkas, Aela, Mjoll, Delphine), some of them would need to be convinced that
training better fighters would mean better applicants for their groups in the long run.
Maybe you need to open trade routes with other towns before you can build certain things. Maybe
you need to do side quests for people to open those new trade routes.
Every person you recruit could have their own radient side quests to do, so the possibilities
are almost endless, and very time consuming. Seriously, make these quests difficult and long.
Crazy bosses to fight. Really strong animals to fight. Large amounts of ingredients/materials
to find. This is an add on for Skyrim players that want to spend endless hours doing these things.
Helgen, unfortunately, is destined to remain the 'Kvatch' of Skyrim. 