Potential Reward for Quest Developers - WIP

[Ibsen's Ghost]

Urk! I'd have to pass it on to others for them to do the technical wossnames with it, really. It'll probably be good for reference purposes when I'll need to contact you again to help 'action' it, though.

[Dephenistrator]

well... I trust the guys on this site not to steal credit, so I guess it'll be fine just between you guys. besides, it would be a waste to just let this mod rot on my hard drive, so why not. just let your team know not to spread it around or anything.

[Ibsen's Ghost]

Sure, np. I think that people like Bob and Razorwing would start banging a few heads together if there was a bit of thieving going on, anyway. I shall certainly contact you when the time comes. I imagine the guys are keeping records of people's contributions.

[Dephenistrator]

Alright, the file is only 67kb because I didn't put in any meshes, textures, or so on. It's just scripting with a container and a couple creatures so its a really small download.

anyway, hope it'll help when the time comes. just PM me or something, I'll be waiting. (AKA, breaking my back at UPS)

[brucevayne]

Hello everyone,

I can see that you guys are not lazy. Hi Ibsen; nice to meet you Dephenistrator.
Ibsen, so Anaster sound set is to be used with a companion, do you think that it could also be used in 'Oblivion sound sets'? Just curious.
Just to straighten things out - my spell detection script does not require OBSE, I was planning to create one OBSE based too, but seeing that this non-OBSE one works quite good, I've put it somewhere between my future plans. Oh, and detecting when Anaster casts his 'special' spells will be easy - it would be enough to make the spell script to trigger a specified variable and to detect the variable's value change by other - voila!

brucevayne

[Ibsen's Ghost]

Hey, brucevayne,

it's cool of you to register here and offer your help. You're most welcome! Just to make things absolutely clear, the Anaster sound set would be released as a player-character (PC) sound set originally (for your mod) but, within ST, the companion sound set would be used when working with the PC. He would be regarded as a reward for the completion of a quest and yet also carry with him some influence on plots as well, seeing as he has his own story. In that sense, I would have to record added dialogue for any encounters between the PC and Anaster, which is basically anything that is directly referring to the quest itself.

[brucevayne]

Thanks for clearing things out. Ok then, I'll start to work on the sound set script for Anaster-the-companion as soon as you send me all the sounds.

cheers

[Ibsen's Ghost]

Good stuff, brucevayne! I'm working on it now...

Just to make this clear for anyone else willing to get their hands dirty on this project, I am looking for:

* A complete skin of a Redguard 'voodoo' necromancer which will hopefully look like something vaguely resembling the attached picture. The rest of his body should probably involve some very grand but very old and very battered/dusty clothing, most likely a dark suit.

* Skull and bone pendants and jewellery would be good along with a special weapon - a snake staff, which may be used when I get Dephenistrator to implement the special summoning spells.

* A special potion that Anaster can teach to the PC, after having experienced it and perhaps bought it before they have actually befriended Anaster properly, which will make use of lots of bone powder along with some ST fauna such as belladonna and/or mucksponge. This would make a vial of 'juju dust' which could could have one of the following effects: transport immediately to the location where the dust was dropped, instantly persuade someone by automatically turning their disposition to max (as long as this does not interfere with major quests). But the PC will have to have earned the trust of Anaster before he will teach them it. Perhaps then more alchemic jiggery-pokery could be attempted at another time, especially if 'Black Marsh' are willing to have Anaster as an additional 'juju tutor'.

[bob196045]

Terribly Sorry it took so long to respond to this


I have downloaded your diary and will read it. I love the idea

Once I've read all the posts and caught up I can give a more educated response

Enjoy
Bob

Originally posted by Ibsen's Ghost
Hi all,

I thought I would make this post here so that quest developers were aware of it. I recently wrote up some details of an NPC for use within ST here: Diary of a Redguard Necromancer - Anaster Marrowmir . The idea is that a quest developer may choose to use him as a 'reward' for the completion of one of their quests. The only drawback is that you might need to have a fairly suitable quest with vaguely related themes that allows for a little sub-plot to be going on in the form of fragments of this character's diary.

Although he was originally designed for all sorts of purposes, including as a necromancer for Giskard's mod ('The Necromancer') and now as a sound set for a companion in the 'Oblivion Sound Sets', I thought I might make use of the diary that I started when I first conceived of him and adapt it for ST.

As the topic of 'voodoo', to which he is strongly connected, is associated with what's going on with the Black Marsh mod, I thought I would make those guys aware of my ideas too. So, if you don't want to read that HUGE diary then this is a more practical general discussion of what's being planned for him here: NPC 'voodoo' link with Silgrad Tower .

This furthers my plans for making NPCs that are more recognisable and involving rather than the much-criticised phenomenon in Oblivion of feeling a little 'alone' in your questing. The old 'Ruined Tail's Tale' sought to do a similar thing but hopefully this will be more immersive. I'm happy to co-author, advise or write dialogue for anyone wishing to take this up.

[Ibsen's Ghost]

Thanks, Bob! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts...

Just a few more pointers on potions. After looking back at a voodoo-related film that I absolutely loved the first time I watched it, I came up with some more developed ideas on potions that would attempt to make full use of sandor's MW flora and extend the opportunities for Alchemists in ST.

The film in question was 'The Serpent and the Rainbow' which I intend to get hold of and watch again. In the meantime, I did a little research on it based on what I remembered about it and I came up with this:

Besides the juju dust, Anaster may well have several potions in his possession that he can teach to the player over time. Some are straight poisons using things like belladonna (I've got sandor's flora list from a recent project I worked on with him). Others, one of which I'd like to call datura in consideration of the premise of the film, is created with ST fungi and severely reduces intelligence, thus 'zombifying the victim'.

My better idea is the one that justifies these ideas being part of the 'Quest Development' thread because, if developing the Anaster questline, I'd like to have someone create a mission whereby someone wants to disappear forever, perhaps from assassins, so that no one ever even bother goes looking for them anymore. In other words, someone who wants to fake their own death so as to escape (a bit like the lovers in Romeo and Juliet). Anaster might well be able to provide the alchemical solution to this with a potion. In 'The Serpent' this 'appearance of death' effect has the unfortunate side-effect of leading to significant memory loss and even brain damage. In the mission, there would be an agreement to dig this person back up and then to later discover this truth. So whoever took on such a mission could factor this into the equation. Anaster would then become an 'anti-hero' who both helps the PC and gets them into trouble at the same time.

I guess this could work two ways though, as if you're looking to redeem Anaster, you might have a situation whereby it comes to light that a citizen is in fact a renowned criminal who has suffered from memory loss in the past (caused by Anaster's dabblings). Since then he has undergone a complete character reformation and is now a respected member of the community. The PC, with Anaster in two, would then have to undertake some missions to appease the warring parties.