Forsworn Hearthfires?, What, why, how, where? Options

[ghastley]

I've had numerous people ask me what's next in the Hearthfires series, and one suggested Forsworn. I initially rejected the idea, as they usually live in tent camps, or have a resident hagraven if they live anywhere else. Even in the later case, they'll still pitch tents inside whatever structure they're using.

But that shouldn't completely rule this out. If a Forsworn bed is actually a skin tent with a hay pile and fur inside it, that's quite constructible, and the rest of the space can have normal furniture, crafting stations etc.

So now I'm trying to decide what to build inside. A cave is probably easiest, just needing a hole in a hillside somewhere in the Reach, but a tower/ruin entrance is also feasible for a bit of architectural variety.

Hagravens and briarhearts seem to go together, but are possibly a faction that doesn't align with Madanach, although you do find a briarheart at Druadach Redoubt. So I'm considering a post-Cidhna quest to go establish a new camp, as part of the new Reachman kingdom. Find your empty tower/ruin/cave and furnish, then the recruits will arrive to join you. No briarhearts or hagravens will turn up, as you're in charge, and those are "boss" characters.

I may still have a mage NPC that's considering the change into a hagraven, and even started the process. That could provide a sub-quest to reverse it, after she changes her mind.

Dialogue could be the usual issue, but there should be some already around for Forsworn talking to each other. Merchant dialogue for smith, alchemist, should also be there in a Breton voice.

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The other project that was Breton-specific, was the Red Witch, but that has issues with a lack of sailor dialogue, and I'd have a lot of work to do converting it to be build-your-own. The former is much more of a show-stopper, as it needs multiple voices, and I only have one.


SubRosa - I edited the title to fix a typo.

[ghastley]

I have made some progress on this. The common furnishings in the tower part are now noble, and everything you will build is named, linked to whatever enables with it, and disabled. I can now check the empty site, and add in some hagraven things that will get unmade when you construct.

I added the hagraven, and my level 9 test character manages to kill her, even though hagravens are level 20. She’ll get disabled soon, as having to kill her every time I restart gets tiring. Because I’m constantly changing the quest properties, I have to start from a save before the quest is added, so I have one just after completing Cidhna Mine, without this mod.

Once all the furnishings, before and after varieties, are in place, then I can create the misc item tokens, for building them, with recipes, sequence checks like creating the table before the crafting stations that sit on it, etc. Then flesh out the story quest which is just an outline at present.

It will take a number of iterations of adding more constructible furnishings as they get requested. I’m about to add a mannequin for the Armor of the Old Gods that you get from the pre-requisite quest, but I can’t decide where to place it. Tower is private quarters, cave is communal, and there are good arguments for each. There will be quite a few more like that. Do weapon racks belong near forge etc., or near their owner? Where does Drusilla live, after she gets cured?

I am also trying to sort out the lore with Hircine and Dibella, who both feature in Forsworn worship. Hircine for the hagraven transformation, and possibly Briarhearts. Dibella may be the hagravens’ pet hate, and the defiled statues reflect that, but some Forsworn settlements have her shrines, too. The Sybil story doesn’t need to link into this, but should be consistent. Kynareth gets a linkage via the Eldergreen story to hagravens, but that is a weaker connection. You will make a Dibella Shrine furnishing, but the other two are under consideration.

This post has been edited by ghastley: Dec 28 2022, 05:12 PM