Radiant story is supposed to help make quests introduce you to new people/places by looking at what you've done and who you've met, as well as letting other npcs take over the roles of those who display an impressive act of not having a pulse. What I wonder is if this' will mean an end to the "x is knocked unconscious" deal from Oblivion. MW's MQ was completely beatable unless you intentionally lost an item.

Discuss.

For the most part, Radiant Story creates ways around that, and multiple failsafes. I expect only the most critical of critical NPC's to be essential. Fallout 3 had very few essential NPC's, New Vegas Even less, and I expect Skyrim will go even further.