Spell-making in Oblivion could be so OP they had to do something about it, but I think they went too far in removing it completely. They could have used something like Soul Gems do for enchanting to establish a cap, which was the issue before. Maybe a two-effect limit, with the second as a perk, like the enchanting.

The other issue is that a lot of spells use a script effect, and it would be hard to incorporate those in a DIY system, but leaving those unusable for spellcrafting would not have removed much. There are items you can't disenchant, so spells you can't re-use aren't a stretch.

But they do tend to remove instead of fixing.

I hope they think along those lines, but I'm not gonna hold my breath.



I just wish the cold spells had a little more utility. Great effect, but there's just so much running around that resists them. But I like that it's a trade-off with the spells. Lightning might be quicker, but it tends to have a much shorter range and costs more.



Spellmaking was OP in Morrowind too, pretty much the nature of the beast, but one look at the Bretons shows that Bethesda have []never[/i] been interested in balancing their games. At least with the loss of negative traits for the races in Skyrim Bretons aren't so obviously the best choice.

I think a two effect limit would have worked, even if they cut it down so that the second effect was mostly just a modifier for the first, rather than letting you combine effects. So you'd still get the funky effects, but can more or less upgrade your spells, based off the relevant skill.

Lol, kind of curious what the next gimmick will be

If it's Hammerfell, my money is on sword-singing.

And if it's Black Marsh, they'll come up with some madness tied to the Hist, if there isn't some already.

*Khajiit shudders at the thought of an entire TES game set in Black Marsh*

You don't like Argonians? I love Argonians, have done since Morrowind.

And another point in Skyrim's favour here: The beast races look so much better than they did in Oblivion. Though I'm a little unsure of Argonian foliage/horn options.

Perhaps pretending it is a role playing game?

Lol, Khajiit thought the rivalry between the Khajiit people and Argonians is well documented?*

*In all honesty this one really doesn't have anything against the Argos, but he does wonder if there would be enough environmental diversity in Black Marsh.



Ooh burn!

Sheshko's first attempt to escape from jail

Palace of the Kings, Windhelm, 4E 201

"Yes, but why do you fight? If not for me, what then?" Ulfric Stormcloak asked Galmar Stone-Fist, his second-in-command. The Jarl of Windhelm and his most trustful commander had another of their looong conversations which everyone in the Palace of the Kings already knew by heart.

"I'll die before elves dictate the fates of men. Are we not one in this?" Galmar Stone-Fist remarked, his voice as hoarse as ever.

"I fight for the men I've held in my arms, dying on foreign soil!" Ulfric's booming voice echoed all over the main palace hall. "I fight for their wives and children, whose names I heard whispered in their last breaths! I fight for we few who did come home, only to find our coun....WHAT? What by Talos is that cat doing here?!"

Ulfric's and Galmar's conversation was abruptly interrupted by a Khajiit in ragged robes that came running from the palace's barracks. The Khajiit jumped on the long dining table and was running in the direction of Ulfric before he realized that the exit out of the palace is on the other side.

"Oops, wrong way." The Khajiit turned around and ran down the table, nocking fine silver plates with delicacies cooked by Sifnar Ironkettle, the Jarl's cook, all over the hall. By then a dozen of Stormcloak soldiers stormed in the hall, all of them after the Khajiit who managed to escape from his cell.

"Someone stop him NOW!" Ulfric shouted, enraged because:

1) his soldiers even allowed the Khajiit to come this far!

and

2) the dinner which he was looking forward to after a conversation with Galmar, was now ruined!

The cathunt didn't end in the Palace of the Kings but in the house of Brunwulf Free-Winter. The prisoner made it out of the palace and lost most guards in streets of Windhelm but the relentless steward and another guard didn't give up just like that.

"Do we kill him now?" the guard asked the steward as the Khajiit was cornered in Brunwulf's house.

"Hmm...that's what he'd deserve. But...no. Give him a beating, then throw him back to jail. He'll never again dare to escape."

As guards were hauling unconscious Sheshko away, the steward had to admit that this conversation between Ulfric and Galmar will definitely remain something to remember.

Poor Sheshko. Out of jail only to tossed right back in. He didn't even get to eat any of that dinner he ran through.

Man this is funny!



"WHAT is this cat doing here?"

I'm glad Sheshko's story made you laugh.

Cursed by Sheogorath

The new guard in charge of Windhelm jail was going crazy. There was evil magic afoot in the dank prison and he didn’t know anymore how to cope with it. It all began with a bottle of alto wine. One day he took the bottle of this fine wine with him, to have a sip or two when it got too cold on a shift. But when he wanted to make the first sip, the bottle was already empty! Shivers ran down his spine…did he drink the wine already and forgot all about it? Did he catch some disease that caused him to forget things?

The next bizarre event was related to arrows. The guard occasionally took a hunting bow and nine steel arrows (one for each Divine) on his shift. But one day as he wanted to sharpen his arrows, there was only one left. And the quiver was gone too, there was just one single steel arrow. What happened to the other eight? Was it a curse by the Thalmor who somehow found out that this particular guard carries nine arrows to praise the Nine Divines?

Then came the dagger. Then went the dagger, actually. His trusted dagger which was always at his belt. But when the guard was making another of his rounds in the prison, he spotted his very dagger lying on some box! But how did his dagger get there? He surely didn’t remember that he ever dropped it, he even slept with it!

And then went the bow. The fine hunting bow which he used not only when on duty but when hunting too. He took the bow to his shift but at some point he didn’t feel it on his back anymore…as he checked for it, he noticed the bow was gone! How come?

Convinced that Sheogorath cursed him, the guard asked to be posted to another position but his plea was denied. However, when the “bucket-event” occurred, the guard realized that there wasn’t any Sheogorath at work. When doing his usual jail round, he suddenly felt something heavy at his belt. As he checked what was going on, his eyes met with eyes of the well-known Khajiit prisoner, the one who caused a ruckus in the entry hall about a week ago. The Khajiit managed to tie a wooden bucket with a narrow rope at the guard’s belt but obviously this time he was careless and the guard spotted the bucket sooner than it was intended.

“Oops,” The Khajiit grinned.

“You pathetic fur-licker! I’ll show you!” He wasn’t allowed to kill prisoners just like that but he was allowed to hit them hard, and he made sure that the Khajiit felt it as he struck him with a hilt of his battleaxe, sending him flying backwards in his cell where he landed on the guards’ hunting bow, eight steel arrows and two empty wine bottles.

This post has been edited by Lopov: Jan 18 2017, 08:55 PM

Good lord, that guard obviously doesn't have a sense of humor, does he? I like the way he carries one arrow for each Divine, but then he thinks some unseen spirit has punished him by removing 8 of them.

Sheshenko better cool it though. He keeps getting beatings, poor guy.

Delightfully told, Lopov! I quickly figured out the mystery and it was great fun reading how clueless the guard remained.

OMG, I laughed when Ulfric yelled about the cat!! Poor Sheshko! I love to say his name.

Ha, he is a prankster! I can just imagine him reaching out with a claw as the guard walks past his cell.

@Renee - being an escaped slave, Sheshko's used to beatings. In his opinion Nords are much more forgiving than his former Dunmer masters.

@Acadian - I was expecting that Sheshko would get caught sooner but it was indeed the bucket that exposed him.

@Grits - the guard very conveniently stopped right outside his cell. I wonder if that's the case in other prisons too but I think Sheshko will find out soon enough.

__

Sheshko’s second attempt to escape from jail

isn’t worth mentioning in details because Sheshko was stopped as soon as he managed to unlock his cell with a key he pickpocketed from the new jailor. A bunch of guards blocked his way and beat him. Again.


...a few days later...


Sheshko’s third attempt to escape from jail

Palace of the Kings, Windhelm, 4E 201

"Sir, there continues to be unrest in the Gray Quarter,” dutiful steward Jorleif reminded his Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak. News was bad but someone had to be the bearer.

"Blasted dark elves!” burst Ulfric. “I don't suppose you could tell them that I presently have larger concerns? Such as…THAT CAT! IT IS HERE! AGAIN!”

Jorleif couldn’t believe his own eyes– Sheshko the Khajiit once again managed to escape from jail. It hasn’t happened in the past fifteen years that any prisoner would escape but this Khajiit set free for the third time in ten days!

“Now that’s enough! KILL HIM!” shouted Ulfric, furious because of the incompetence of his own soldiers, but Sheshko didn’t hear his shouts anymore, by then he was already out of the cold palace.

The cathunt continued on streets of Windhelm but Sheshko realized that he won’t be able to evade guards of this small town because they kept popping out at every corner, so he made it for the exit.

Once outside, three gate guards continued the chase and when they heard him panting, they knew that their prey would fall soon and then Ulfric would reward them for killing him. But then something unexpected happened. They assumed the Khajiit would run over the bridge but he headed into the alcove on the left side of the bridge and without a second thought jumped down to the White River.

“The fur licker is crazy!” shouted the first one.

“He’s as good as dead!” remarked the second one.

“Nobody can survive that fall!” added the third one.

They stopped at the edge, watching the White River calmly running far below them. No sign of the fur.

“Time to tell Ulfric the good news,” said the first one and the smart trio dutifully headed to the palace to report their grand success.

If they were praised at first, they were scolded already a few hours later. When Belyn Hlaalu of the Hlaalu farm informed authorities that he found smelly ragged robes and matching boots in his farmhouse south of Windhelm and that someone stole some of his clothes, some food and a sword, and when Ulundil of Windhelm stables reported one of his horses missing, it wasn’t hard to put two and two together.

At the end of the day this one had the last laugh.

Silly Nords. They should have hired that one to be their official lock-picker. It's like when the FBI hires the world's best computer hackers, they do this because it actually helps civilization overall, to design new programs that even more difficult to hack.

So those guards kept *POP*ping from every corner eh? Meanwhile, Ulfric *burst* after learning about the dark elves in the Grey Quarter. Interesting.

Oh my. I hope Sheshko had a toe ring of resist cold! He certainly disrupted Ulfic's palace. Free Kitty!

Finally gotten back into Skyrim after my sprain-induced break from my 360.

Running a Dunmer Nightblade named Baltis Drethan. Having a lot of fun with him so far, though I've only gotten as far as Whiterun. Only one death so far, courtesy of a Redguard Spellsword that just refused to die.

Having a lot of fun playing around with Illusion. Halted Stream Camp is so much easier to deal with when you can hide in the shadows, frenzy the bandit chief, and let him kill the other two, and then take him out. Or turning some hired thugs against each other(inadvertently stole from the alchemist in Whiterun), which even got the attacked by the guards.

The only annoyance so far is that, because he went to Halted Stream Camp for the bounty, he's had to get himself involved in the MQ to collect his payment. I had been intending to skip it with him. No idea how far he'll decide to run with it, but the ball's rolling now, so it's out of my hands.

This post has been edited by Callidus Thorn: Jan 22 2017, 08:23 PM