» Tue May 03, 2011 8:34 am A quest modification for The Elderscrolls IV: Oblivion
WARNING! This thread contains multiple spoilers regarding Oblivion's main quest. If you have not finished the main quest yet, I suggest that you refrain from reading this thread until you've finished the main quest!
WARNING! Please pardon any grammatical and/or spelling mistakes if there are any. My native language is Dutch so you are almost certainly bound to find some errors eventually.
1. Introduction
Dear Elderscrolls Community,
Were you disappointed when you found out that the main quest did not offer an alternative path for the "evil" character? Were you most displeased with the way the Mythic Dawn has been worked out in Oblivion? Were you disappointed that to most extent, Oblivion focuses a lot more on "good" characters than "evil" characters? If you've answered "Yes" to any of these questions this modification may just be what you're looking for!
Somewhere in October 2006, I discovered a, despite its many flaws, wonderful game called The Elderscrolls Oblivion. Shortly after, I discovered the possibilities of the TES Construction Set. Soon after my discovery I started to create my first modification: The Powerattack Voicemod. The first release however, was rather disappointing, considering the fact that it didn't really add anything. Despite this, the idea and concept of the modification were good so once I got my act together I started work on the real and proper version of the modification. After some time I released a proper version of the modification and even an update for it. An update that even used some functions of OBSE. This was my first real release and I was quite proud of the achievement even though it wasn't anything major like Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul, FCOM or the likes.
At this point I took a break from public modding. This break did not last for very long as a member at the gamesas forums got the idea to create a Star Wars modification. I wasn't really a big fan of Star Wars but I liked it well enough to help complete this modification. Unfortunately tuskanred dropped the project shortly after he started it. I took control over the project and tried to get a team together. Real life however, forced me to put a halt to this and I wasn't really very active anymore. Chris07 eventually took over the project, because with my lack of time and the lack of proper organization the modification wasn't getting anywhere but the drawing table. This taught me that without a proper plan, large scale modifications will fail.
After I left the project, I went inactive for a while and I took another short break. I came back and wanted to put my scripting abilities to the test by trying to fix an insanely cool modification by Jackmix69. Smite of Order was a sort of test mod using some effects from the Shivering Isles. It was buggy and it took me quite a while to figure out how to get it working properly without all sorts of weird issues coming up every time. Eventually I got it working and it turned out to be a very good learning experience. Jackmix69 gave me permission to release the fixed version and it's available on TESNexus.
Now you are probably wondering where is this guy going with this no doubt fascinating story? Well I would love to create a quest modification. Knowing the amount of work they require I knew I could not do it alone. I spoke with a real life friend of mine about the idea and he was more than willing to help. Neglecting what I learned from the Star Wars modification, we both started working in the TES Construction Set. We soon stranded as neither of us had some essential skills required. Furthermore we no longer have any of the work as we felt it was pointless to keep it.
This document is our plan and our way of hopefully intriguing you to lend your very much needed hand. We simply cannot do it alone and I, Trademark, specifically would hate to throw the idea out of the window.
Also please pardon any grammatical and/or spelling mistakes if there are any. My native language is Dutch so you are almost certainly bound to find some errors eventually.
2. Short Description
The end result should be a mostly linear quest modification resolving around the Mythic Dawn faction. It will take place after the main quest and is meant for the more sinister or evil characters. Seeing as it is meant for the more evil characters the player will get the opportunity to join the Mythic Dawn.
Unlike most quest modifications we want the player's actions and choices to have visible consequences whether the actions or choices are major ones or not while still keeping the story mostly linear. These can even go as far as affecting the outcome of the quest. We believe this is a much more fun way to approach a quest as opposed to a single and fixed ending. This means the player could also fail in bringing the Mythic Dawn victory due to actions he or she has taken, effectively meaning the Empire has won.
We are aware of the quest modification called "Servant of the Dawn" by a talented modder named Endrek. This mod does not aim to replace his modification, but only to offer players a choice. Personally we both enjoyed Servant of the Dawn a lot and it inspired us to make plans for this modification. The biggest difference, we think, will be the overall impact this modification will have in the game. Naturally we won't be converting Tamriel to a daedric plane and we certainly don't want daedra walking all over the place killing, maiming and murdering everyone. Instead we do want to give the player the feel, that if the Mythic Dawn is victorious, that the Empire will basically fall and the Mythic Dawn will take over and there should be no doubt that the Mythic Dawn is actually in charge (don't worry, not as bad or drastic as it sounds).
The player will be able to strip chancellor Ocato from his powers and become the new Emperor.
Once the people of Tamriel find out that the Champion of Cyrodiil is actually the new leader of the Mythic Dawn (something the player will have to earn as well), they will feel betrayed and not all of them will gladly accept you as the new emperor.
Most of the opposition will come from the Blades and the Empire as they will work together in order to defeat the Mythic Dawn. The player will have to conquer key locations such as Cloudruler Temple (which will be seriously revamped, in reality an army of monkeys could conquer the vanilla version) before the Empire will surrender and admit defeat. Additionally the player will be able to destabilize factions such as the Empire and the Blades by capturing or murdering key persons of these factions or doing something as simple as causing civil unrest, think of poisoned water supplies or random fires starting about without the guard being able to pinpoint who is responsible for it.
We want the war to feel like a real war and not a skirmish. We will attempt to keep the battle going as much as possible, but we don't want to overdo it so that the player and other Mythic Dawn members constantly have to fight off hordes of soldiers. There will be plenty of rest as well.
As an added bonus the player can, depending on his or her choices and actions, earn a companion. We are talking about a companion with all the functionality and a personality you can expect from good companion modifications out there. And let's not forget the Smite of Dagon spell (Yes, the Mythic Dawn version of Smite of Order he he he!).
We think we have a fairly good base for a story. We do not at all believe it will be lore friendly but the story should be believable seeing as there isn't much lore available regarding the Mythic Dawn. To be honest, the Mythic Dawn is a rather weak and small faction. I sincerely doubt they would have been able to carry out their plans in the first place. It sounded all big and mighty, but if a single cave in the middle of nowhere is supposed to be your mighty stronghold? Well, in our opinion that is destined to fail.
I was also surprised by the Mythic Dawn's rather simplistic army. Something this modification will address as well. Since the Mythic Dawn has all sorts of members and since all of these members are specialized in different things they make a much more advanced army than just some mace swinging baboons.
Since not everybody is going to like all the changes we are planning to make we are hoping to make the modification modular. One example could be that a person does not want to become the Emperor, they only need to not install the optional plug-in which makes becoming the Emperor possible.
3. Factions
1. Mythic Dawn
Just before the end of the Oblivion Crisis, the leader of the Mythic Dawn also known as Mankar Cameron was defeated by the Champion of Cyrodiil. After the remaining Mythic Dawn members found out their master was defeated and killed, most of the Mythic Dawn fell into complete disarray. The part of the Mythic Dawn that remained were part of the last ditch effort to permanently destroy the barrier between Oblivion and Mundus. Despite this effort, the Mythic Dawn failed and the Oblivion Crisis was ended by Martin Septim and the Champion of Cyrodiil. At this point the remaining Mythic Dawn members were forced to flee to remote locations far away from inhabited areas in order to avoid severe punishment or even death. At this point all hope seemed to be lost for the Mythic Dawn. Nothing was less true. Mehrunes Dagon was able to get a message through to one of his, despite what had happened, loyal follower, Jeynavia Foravir. She fled to an old abandoned castle where she kept having dreams and visions of Mehrunes Dagon. In the end, Jeynavia began to understand these visions she was having and started to secretly restore the Mythic Dawn. She spent a lot of time tracking down old members. This long abandoned castle would serve as the main stronghold of the reborn Mythic Dawn. Soon their new plans would be set in motion again. The comeback of the Dawn would soon become reality.
2. The Empire
After the Oblivion Crisis has ended the Empire finds itself in a difficult and unstable position, this despite the celebrations. The provinces are not happy and there is no emperor. Chancellor Ocato and the rest of the chancellors are doing their best to resolve this mess, but this doesn't seem to be working very well for them. Furthermore civil unrest is slowly increasing due to all sorts of things happening (Think sabotage, murders etc.). With the Empire in a very vulnerable state it would be a perfect and opportune time for the comeback of the Dawn.
3. The Blades
Since there is no emperor the blades have switched their focus to a massive reorganisation while they wait for a new emperor. Something that is drastically needed (Mostly because Vanilla has left us with a very poor implementation of the Blades faction so this works as a good solution). The Empire has requested that the blades investigate the sabotages and murders that have taken place throughout Tamriel. Of course the Blades are also looking for the Mythic Dawn members that fled in order to escape punishment. What they don't know yet is that the Mythic Dawn has placed the Blades on the target list and that they will soon be caught with their pants down yet again. During this reorganisation and the ongoing investigations, the Blades' resources are limited and they too find themselves in a temporary vulnerable position. Only adding to the potential success of the comeback of the Dawn.
4. Faction Ranks
We were quite disappointed by the ranking system present in Vanilla Oblivion for the Mythic Dawn. We wanted more ranks and we wanted these ranks to be meaningful, to have a purpose.
1. Novitiate
This is the rank the player will attain when he or she joins the Mythic Dawn. Since the Mythic Dawn does not trust the player at all he or she will keep this rank for a while in order to prove that he or she is really fighting for the Mythic Dawn. The player will be trialled in order to advance within the Mythic dawn to the rank of Acolyte. Suffice to say, this rank has no authority within the Mythic Dawn. Actions and choices made have little impact as it serves as an introduction to the modification mostly.
2. Acolyte
After the first set of trials are passed the player will become an Acolyte. Basically an Acolyte is a helper, someone who assists the higher ranked members by assisting them in their duties, whatever those duties may be. The player will slowly learn of the plans made by the new leader of the Mythic Dawn and will work towards realizing this plan. Acolytes do not hold any authority in the Mythic Dawn and are not even allowed to recruit others, let alone make any important decisions regarding the Mythic Dawn.
3. Warder
This rank is for the Acolytes that have proven loyal to the Mythic Dawn and have effectively warded over the wellbeing of the Mythic Dawn in some way or another. This could have been done by completing important and dangerous tasks, providing useful information or anything else that may have significantly helped the Mythic Dawn. Acolytes however are not allowed to spy for the Mythic Dawn so any useful information they bring in is usually obtained in a more legitimate way, thus making it a rare happening. They hold little authority but can request the help of Acolytes to help them with some basic duties. Warders are sometimes put out on the field in order to perform tasks or missions and most importantly to gain some field experience. Something that is required in order to advance within the Mythic Dawn. On some occasions however, warders are sometimes given the task to sort out issues with rogue or misbehaving acolytes or novitiates, once again, effectively warding over the wellbeing of the Mythic Dawn. Severe punishment is not performed by warders in general.
4. Procurator
A rank providing more insight of how the Mythic Dawn works. This is also the rank were preparation for the war begins. Procurators are in charge of making sure supplies make it safely and unhindered to the shrines and sanctuaries, they make sure members are recruited, under the supervision of a Guardian, they make sure the word of the Mythic Dawn is spread throughout the Empire and plenty more. At this rank field training is started which is required in order to become a Templar. Most Mythic Dawn members never make it that far and remain at the rank of Procurator. They also perform or assist in administrative duties, how many supplies does the Mythic Dawn have, how many members, how many this, how many that. Anything to keep the organisation rolling. This is vital, especially during wartime.
5. Templar
The first rank to hold some serious importance and value. Templers are well-trained combatants and are often seen protecting the various assets of the Mythic Dawn. They are also trained to spy or steal for the Mythic Dawn. Often found on the field and are dedicated to doing exactly what the master of the Mythic Dawn requires of them. They are allowed to recruit new members but rarely do so to keep their cover intact. They would rather use their abilities to cause civil unrest throughout the Empire. Well respected and capable, the Templers of the Mythic Dawn. The very skilled Templers or specially selected Templers can attain the rank of Guardian.
6. Guardian
The best capable men and women within the Mythic Dawn ranks who know their duty very well. They sense what needs to be done and are respected throughout the ranks. Insulting a Guardian usually results in long-term torture and in some cases death. Unlike Templers, Guardians often specialize in what they do best whereas Templers do anything. Naturally Templers do it with less efficiency and this is exactly where the Guardians come in. Critical missions or tasks are usually performed by Guardians instead. Unfortunately, their number is limited. They don't really spend a lot of time recruiting since they are generally considered to be "too good" for that.
7. Patriarch
Under very rare circumstances a Guardian is called upon to become a spiritual teacher and leader figure. They hold a very high authority within the Mythic Dawn and are considered to be even more important than Guardians, despite the fact that they rarely come out of their shrine, location or stronghold. They are the Patriarchs. Having a lot of field experience and knowledge about Mehrunes Dagon, Oblivion and the Mythic Dawn they are to teach and lead the lower ranked Mythic Dawn members within the shrine, location or stronghold they are assigned to. A Patriarch usually has a Guardian which serves as his or her right hand. This rank is pretty much impossible to attain unless the master of the Mythic Dawn directly assigns the person the rank of Patriarch. Patriarchs are also responsible for giving missions and tasks or relaying missions and tasks from the master.
8. The Chosen
The master of the Mythic Dawn regularly speaks with Mehrunes Dagon for advice, tasks and whatnot. Sometimes Mehrunes Dagon wishes to speak to a specific person to trial him or her. This only happens when this specific person has performed so well within the Mythic Dawn that Mehrunes Dagon deems this person worthy enough. The trial is extremely harsh and some do not even survive the trial, losing their precious soul to Mehrunes Dagon. With this in mind those that are trialled push themselves to the limit in order to pass the trials. In the event that a person passes the trials they will gain powers and will have the personal blessing of Mehrunes Dagon. They have become the true chosen of Mehrunes Dagon. In the Mythic Dawn this means that undying loyalty and respect is demanded from all those below this rank, including Patriarchs. Missions always come directly from the master. Often lead a location.
9. Master
Chosen by Mehrunes Dagon himself, the master holds full authority over the Mythic Dawn. This person gained the favour and blessing of Mehrunes Dagon and is the only person allowed to even touch and read from the Mysterium Xarxes.
5. Characters
Although it is not feasible to give every single character in the modification a decent background, we still believe there have to be a sufficient amount of NPCs that do have a purpose and a meaning. The three mentioned below are obviously not all of them, but should give you an indication of what we're doing here.
Jeynavia Foravir
Affiliation: Mythic Dawn
Rank: Mistress
Status: Alive
Description: A loyal follower of Mehrunes Dagon. She succeeded Mankar Cameron a while after the Oblivion Crisis had ended. She is to revive the Mythic Dawn and make it stronger than ever. With the personal blessing of Mehrunes Dagon she will do everything within her power to prepare Tamriel for Mehrunes Dagon return. Unlike Mankar Cameron, Jeynavia left personal belongings unmeddled and insisted that it was better for the Mythic Dawn to actually gain more wealth. Jeynavia claims that "all will be provided by Lord Dagon" was misunderstood and misinterpreted by Mankar Cameron. Jeynavia is a confident and powerful magician, strong minded, fearless and a solid leader. Not much more is known about her.
Elyth Fistblade
Affiliation: Mythic Dawn
Rank: Chosen of Dagon
Status: Alive (Missing)
Description: Pure evil is an accurate description for this woman. Give this woman a big blade and a bow and she'll gladly take down a big group of skilled Imperial Guardians, magicians, rogues, you name it singlehandedly without getting scratched. You could almost say she is the embodiment of Mehrunes Dagon's destruction. Unfortunately for the Mythic Dawn, she mysteriously disappeared shortly after the Mythic Dawn began rebuilding their strength. Elyth is the daughter of a rich nobleman. Her father taught her a lot of things, how she should be chivalrous, how she should be noble in rule, how she should be fair. Elyth was a rebellious type much like her mother and ran away when she was young, straight into the hands of the Mythic Dawn. Her father was devastated by this and died shortly after. It is unknown what made her so evil. (Elyth was surprisingly easily shot with an enchanted bow by Blades captain Gilrain Morgard and taken to a TBD Blades location.)
Xarus Ysengroot (The Red Inquisitor)
Affiliation: Mythic Dawn
Rank: Chosen of Dagon
Status: Alive
Description: Many have tried to infiltrate the Mythic Dawn for one reason or another. Many also failed to do so and were exposed. Xarus Ysengroot made it a sport to track down these infiltrators and take care of them. Loyal as he is, he reported all those who he exposed to Mankar Cameron and now Jeynavia Foravir who in turn gave Xarus permission to deal with them appropriately. This was mostly done by performing a "public" execution which all Mythic Dawn members could witness. He remains a big fan of using blunt weapons that literally crush his enemies. Xarus lost all faith in the gods when both his father, mother and his younger sister were killed by mistake. Xarus in his anger sought revenge, eventually he stumbled across the Mythic Dawn. He was given plenty of time to think and he worked his way up through the Mythic Dawn. He no longer carries the anger or the need for revenge, but he is still not a very pleasant person to be around and generally trusts no one.
6. Locations
We were also very very disappointed by the amount of locations the Mythic Dawn had. And the one they had was rather disappointing as well. So we will revamp this one and add others as well. Here are a few:
Lake Arrius Caverns (Dagonite Shrine)
Affiliation: Mythic Dawn
Special Remark: This is the cave the player has infiltrated and most likely ransacked. Firstly, the original design is poor and as we stated already if this pathetic shrine is supposed to be your stronghold than we'd have serious doubts you'd manage to turn the whole of Tamriel in to Oblivion. We plan to redesign this and as conflict free as possible (we'll just disable the original door after the main quest and enable out version of the door which leads to a better version of the Lake Arrius Cavern). Furthermore we will take a brief look at the original design and improve it at the very least a bit so that it is more organised. Not just a random bunch of brainless Acolytes with NO structured organisation whatsoever...
Description: After the Oblivion Crisis several members of the Mythic Dawn returned to the Lake Arrius Caverns by the orders of Jeynavia. As was expected, the shrine was a complete mess and not just because of the player, but also because of the Blades who cleaned up the remains after the Oblivion Crisis. Since the Mythic Dawn could not rely on one stronghold they would retake the caverns as their second base. Rufus however advised Jeynavia not to use the caverns as the second base as the Blades would no doubt come back once the Mythic Dawn exposed herself again. The risk was too great. Jeynavia agreed and decided the Lake Arrius Caverns would become a support base for the Mythic Dawn. No important documents, no important members and no important supplies.
Fort Timbermere Shrine
Affiliation: Mythic Dawn
Description: Like many forts throughout Tamriel this used to serve as an Imperial Legion outpost, but it has long since lost its strategic value and importance. As such it was abandoned and was slowly claimed by the creatures that lived nearby. The fort is not located at a very remote location, but this is not considered a problem by the Mythic Dawn. Most people believe they are very well informed about the fort as in that it was nothing but an old abandoned Legion outpost not holding any treasures. And even in the unlikely event that an adventurer shows up Casrath Ar, the leader of the shrine, will take care of it appropriately. Due to the fact that this was once a Legion outpost the Mythic Dawn thought it was perfect as a training centre and supply depot.
Cloud Ruler Temple
Affiliation: The Blades
Special Remark: The most secure fortress in Cyrodiil? It could last against an entire army? Well we can only assume that this is an army which consists out of mud crabs as any decent army would take care of Cloud Ruler Temple. So we plan on revamping Cloud Ruler Temple into the fortress it is supposed to be, not the Chinese ninja temple in the middle of nowhere. This will conflict with the Better Cloud Ruler Temple modification. We do not want to make any changes to the style though as that shouldn't be necessary.
Description: This will remain the headquarters of the Blades, heavily fortified and it is suggested that the player stays clear of this place after he or she has joined the Mythic Dawn.
7. More information
What you have read so far is not the whole plan of course. Since we are looking for people who can assist us we've decided to make the plan publicly available, something we didn't want to do at first. However to us it seems the best way of getting help. I only suggest that you only download this plan if your intention is to help us with creating the modification since it contains information that may spoil things for regular players.
You can download the plan from the following locations:
1. http://www.megaupload.com/?d=MPYBGAZK
My friend and I are not good at everything when it comes to modding, texturing and modelling. Although we can do scripting, interior world building, fairly simple retexturing, some basic NifSkope work (such as editing texture paths and various other things: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=be2RO4H4Eok&fmt=22 - Based on Smite of Order) and other things; unfortunately neither of us can model. Our exterior world building work generally comes out completely wrong and deviates a lot from what we intended to do in the first place. We are looking for people who will be able to lend their hand with the following:
- Modellers
- Texturers
- Exterior World builders (Especially someone who is good at creating believable castles!)
- Scripters
- Lore buffs
- Writers (Dialogue, quests)
Even if you are unable to assist in working on this modification personally, perhaps you could point us in the direction of someone who is able to help! This would also be greatly appreciated as we can then contact this person (or you can point him or her to this thread)!
Now for something totally different which I feel is an important thing to add. My friend and I both have our real life affairs which is understandable, of course. He spends most of the weekdays working in an electronics store and is usually busy in the weekend so his time is limited. As for me, I recently passed the exam for my private pilot license and am now focusing a lot of my attention and time on getting my commercial license. (Luckily) I currently do not have a job so I spend the weekdays studying theory at the airport and occasionally flying somewhere. This means I usually have some time here and there in the evening. The good thing, if I say so myself, is that I have a plan for every day, every week, every month and every year so I always know exactly what's coming. This means that I can plan the times when I want to work on the modification in. I'm sure all of you realise that our job and studies come first, but we do our best to dedicate time to our modification, me specifically because I love the idea more so than my friend! We just want this to be very clear.
8. Screenshots
Please see the next post.
Feedback, hints, tips, ideas, constructive criticism, all is welcome and appreciated so feel free to post! That is all for now.
Trademark
I would make a char. for such a base 
