The Vampires of House Serentin

*** Main post updated 4 august with pictures that were previously all around the thread ***


Hello all,

What I'm about to present here is basically a total overhaul/replacement of my previous project: StarX Vanilla Vampires Revised. In the end, due to real life issues, I rushed myself into a release that was, now that I look back upon it, not exactly how I initially envisioned SVVR in the first place. After doing some additional work for other mods I quit modding for personal reasons, which were way more important than a videogame could ever be. Even if that meant leaving SVVR unsupported.

A few weeks ago I finally got around to modding TES again and rediscovered the fun of modding: (re)texturing, graphic design, NifSkope work and CS work. Very soon I started thinking about picking up SVVR again, but the scope of SVVR was simply to big. So I decided to narrow it down to a joinable vampire faction. Which means I can spend much more time on fleshing out the backgrounds, the artwork and create some real quests. Creating brand new content as well as incorporating certain stuff from SVVR. This should make it much more manageable for me.

Just like in SVVR, I will leave the vanilla player vampire game mechanics (feeding, age levels etc.) alone, there are other mods out there that do a very good job at changing this in many different ways.

Contrary to SVVR, I will not touch the vanilla vampire lairs on such a great scale, to prevent compatabilty problems with overhauls. I rather enjoy creating new dungeons from scratch so that's fine. The vampires in the vanilla locations will not be your friend once you join the House of Serentin. They will be treated like the Feral Vampires from SVVR: less sophisticated groups of rogue vampires that hide in their dens to feast upon mortal blood and will be hostile to any intruder.

About The Vampires of House Serentin:

The primary goal is to create an entertaining and interresting experience for vampire players. I will try to make the quests as diverse as possible, so not all of them will end up in a "beat-em-up - grab item - quest finished" kind of fashion.


Features:

? The player can join the Vampires of House Serentin. http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/GreywindNightGuard01.jpg

? House Serentin's main stronghold is Greywind Keep (located west of Chorrol) http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/GreyWindGarden01.jpg

? A few Serentin Covens that are spread over Cyrodiil

? A main quest based ranking system that will give you access to new items or unlocks restricted areas of Greywind Keep http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/GreywindCoffins01.jpg

? An upgradable room for the player inside the castle

? A main quest that revolves around a relentless war between the Vampires and the dreaded Liches of Amock Sinn http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/Lich01.jpg http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/Lich02.jpg

? Optional side quests to make new friends or obtain new items.

? New dungeons http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/Dungeon01.jpg http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/Dungeon02.jpg http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/Dungeon03.jpg http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/Dungeon04.jpg [http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/Dungeon05.jpg and locations http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/Locatiom01.jpg

? New armor, clothing and items (altered vanilla models and modder's resources) http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/SerentinAssassin01.jpg http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/SerentinWarrior01.jpg http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/WarriorOutfit01.jpghttp://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/SerentinNightbladeF01.jpgNEW!

? New creatures and enemies http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/NewCreature02.jpg http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/NewCreature01.jpg

? New NPC's (including some cattle to feed on when reaching a certain rank)

? New books http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/BooksGrimbot01.jpg

? The vampire dead sequence from SVVR will be back http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcOgs2PeNww

? A glimpse of the other vampire houses that reside within the borders of Cyrodiil

? Become a patriarch/matriarch of your own Serentin Coven



Ranks:

Non player ranks:
- Exterior guard (non vampires) http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/GreywindDayGuard01.jpg
- Henchman (non vampires)
- Familiar (non vampires with certain influence within the House of Serentin)

These people take care of all the duties that can't be done without the House of Serentin revealing itself to the outside world. Many of them aren't even aware of the fact that the masters they serve are vampires, altough some suspect something is not quite right sometimes. All Familairs know they serve the vampires, but gold and the promise of immortality binds them firmly to the House of Serentin.

Player/vampire ranks (though name suggestions are welcome here) http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/Documentsheetranks.jpg :
- Newborn
- Leecher
- Nighthunter
- Bloodknight
- Savant
- Palatine
- Patriarch

The rank of Arch Patriarch http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/SerentinPromo01.jpg http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/Patriarch01.jpg is the highest, but something the player can not become.

Media:

Greywind Keep interior and exterior:
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/GreyWindExteriorNew.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/GreyWindExteriorNew02.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/ArchPatriarchHalls04.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/ArchPatriarchHalls05.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/ArchPatriarchHalls06.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/MainHallStatue01.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/MainHallStatue02.jpg

Impressions of the main hall:
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/NewSerentinHall01.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/NewSerentinHall02.jpg

Greywind Village:
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/GreywindVillageDay01.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/GreywindVillageNight01.jpg

Serentin Stealth Armor: (temporary name)
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/SerentinStealthArmorNew05.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/SerentinStealthArmorNew04.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/SerentinStealthArmorNew03.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/SerentinStealthArmorNew02.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/SerentinStealthArmorNew01.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/SerentinStealthArmorNew.jpg

Serentin Heavy Warrior Armor: (temporary name)
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/WarriorOutfit01.jpg

Pictures of an Amock Sinn dungeon:
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/LichDung01a.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/LichDung01b.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/LichDung01c.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/LichDung01d.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/LichDung01e.jpg

Pictures of the Amock Sinn Dread Blades:
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/LichWeapon01.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/LichWeapon02.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/StarX_GFX/VampiresSerentin/LichWeapon03.jpg

Important note: The mod is still in an early stage, so a release may take a while. I'll try to post updates on a regular basis to keep people informed. Also it remains to be seen if there will be any voice acting or not, I'd like to keep that option open for the moment.


Thanks for your time!

Cheers,

StarX

? A few Serentin Covens that are spread over Cyrodiil

- I like.

Looking forward to running a Bloodknight!

Not liking the name, Serentin sounds so generic and boring.

Loving that you're using modder's resources, disliking that you're using altered vanilla items. I'm so sick of seeing the same armor retextured over and over again. Makes me yawn.

Loving that you're modding for vampires in general, revised was great fun to me. Awesome effects in it too, great interiors as well.

Yay!

I...want this...

I was just wishing for a really good vampire quest mod the other day.

Thanks for an honest reply, it's highly appreciated.

In my opinion mixing up modded and vanilla content serves two purposes: It's relatively easy to create body mesh replacers for vanilla meshes and I always feel that using vanilla stuff (retexed or not) makes it blend in better inside the excisting gameworld (my modded version of it anyway).

About the name Serentin: I somehow developed a weak spot for the Serentin vamps in SVVR, so I got stuck with that name again. I like it!

Thanks for the heads up!

Hey it's your mod, do what you gotta' do. I'll be downloading this either way.

Cheerio!

I like the look of the Arch Patriarch , plus that assassin armor, sweeet :drool:

What great news!! I realy enjoyed your vampire mod for quite some time and I had OOO and other big mods installed back then. I like that you keep all the good things from the old mod and add them into this one. I've seen all the pictures and everything looks incredible. I like the idea and I'm sure that lots of "vampires" out there love it to.

But why not become an Arch patriarch? If it's possible you should include that to...mayby a very difficult quest for high level players? It's up to you, but it looks so cool.

I'm glad you are back and I can't wait to see more about this mod. It's on my must have list!

Keep up the good work!


Cheers!



p

I'm really glad you presented this, StarX. I use a vampire myself and I have to say that the lack of factions is really annoying. I wish you good luck with it, I work on vampires too at the moment.

I love the look of your vampires, and your Arch Patriarch looks mean It's a good thing that you made this rank unplayable. IMHO the biggest problems with factions, both from vanilla Oblivion (and Morrowind for that matter) and from mods is that you always end up the boss. I mean if you're such an asset to your guild, why on earth would they want you wandering the halls instead of actually do something for it?

In any case, I've bookmarked this thread. Good luck

There are mods that give you something to do even after you end up beeing the boss and this one could be one of them

Exactly. You could be leader of thieves guild and Dark brotherhood. They must change that because Thieves got a rule for not killing. DB cancels that. I like that StarX made the highest rank not playable.

wow...really great stuff
i hope that once Terran Vampires is all fixed up that we could make a patch esp introducing some cross mod quests
imagine a war between the Cyrodillic Vampires and Earths Vampires...or maybe a union to team up and fight something else, hmmm
anyway, glad to see this, i can't play without SVVR
can't wait for this!!! :goodjob:

Thanks! I use a custom textured version of the Head06 resource (the Xivilai variant) from Throttlekitty for the Arch Patriarchs. TK created some awesome stuff to play with.




Yeah, for me it's also a big let down on how you end up as the grandmaster of every faction in the vanilla game. And since vampires have the nasty ability to become VERY old, I don't think the player should be allowed to lead such an ancient House, whatever his deeds may be. But hey, you can still become a Patriarch/Matriarch of your own coven.



Thanks! Love to see what you're working on!


Terran vampires is back? Nice!
A war? Or an alliance? Well, who knows what the future brings.
Glad to see people are still enjoying SVVR, I had no idea...

EDIT: typo

I understand, but ain't that the players option after all? I mean, even in vanilla you are not forced to become the grandmaster, it's your choice and that's what makes the game more interesting, or arena champion...you fight until you have a certain rank then stop fighting, no one tells you: "become the grandmaster or die"
Anyway...I insist so much becouse I like how they look like... and not becouse I want to be the most powerful vampire in the clan

Ah, in that case you can just pick the race to play with (as it will be included).

Yup its coming back strong, a small community of modders are fixing it up as we speak. It would be nice to see cross-mod quests and stuff. Would definately be good

Can you please make the Arch patriarch playable and optional esp? I really don't like adding new races and definitely want to use this

Phew, that a relief Knowing this just made my day better.


p

Cool! I'll look up the thread.


That's probably the plan anyway.


You're welcome.

one problem I had when I played your mod was that the strongholds were way to big in scale and featured to many light sources, npc's, & placables that made the entire area they were in both inside and out laggy as hell. It was a real shame too as I remember liking just about everything in your mod, I am glad that your back at it though and I will definately give the finished mod a download.

Even though I'm making a vampire mod, I can't ignore the fact that it looks like you are putting a lot of good effort into this. Great luck with it, and I look forward to trying it out

StarX Im really looking forward to this. That being said Im not a fan of the ranking system that you have in place.

Newborn = Neonate
Leecher = Fledgling

Patriarch = Elder
Arch-Patriarch= Patriarch

I dunno ArchPatriarch seems to be a little overkill. If it really is a House(which simply at least in the traditional sense of the word) means that they are all decended from the same line, therefore there should not be multiple patriarchs out there.

Thats my two cents anyways.

how 'bout Matriarch?

Wow it is so good to see you around the forums again StarX, SVVR was one of my most anticipated mods ever announced for Oblivion. In the end I chose not to use it given its unfinished state but I loved what you were doing and where you were going with the mod; I especially liked the alternate vampire world with the super awesome creepy castle. I also loved the hell out of the initial work with the vampire hunters guild.

I hope that you don't mind that I also speak honestly here, I by no means intend to put down your newly announced mod, but I am disappointed that you decided to work on a mod which focuses on vampire players. See there are a whole lot of vampire player mods out there and there's basically nothing to enhance npc vampires as enemies, except for Duke Patrick's mod which I haven't yet installed but will!

I detest playing vampires in games like Oblivion, the game was never meant to really focus on the experience of roleplaying a vampire imo, so when I need my fix I go to Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines. But since vampires exist in Tamriel, I really wanted to see them become a fearsome enemy with their own quests, lore, lairs, armors, powers that would challenge me instead of being just another bandit that can magically spread a disease to me by hitting me with his weapon. Anyway, I don't mean to sound negative, I just wanted to be honest.

I'm sure House Serentin or whatever you finally decide to choose to call it will have a spectacular background and interesting quests to add to Oblivion but sadly only to those that want to experience being a vampire as opposed to those who want to hunt and fight them. I wish you the best with this new mod, I'm certain it will exceed the high quality that SVVR was showing.

And welcome back! :foodndrink:

Awesome, can't wait to see this!