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]

Progress so far: I have run three test characters from game start, through the Forsworn Conspiracy and Nobody Escapes Cidhna Mine quests, and this one fired up after their first level up after that. The last two times, it was their first level up! All the stages play out, the spoken dialog from xVASynth works, and everything gets made correctly. I have had to give the player an amulet of Dibella, to make the shrine, as there is no guaranteed drop for that. Everything else is available, and you can even buy Eye of Sabre Cat before they start to appear in the wild.

One test run failed because Madanach was killed during the breakout. I think that happened because my character got ahead of the prisoners, and I reloaded and tried again from the tunnel exit without repeating the error. I believe that Madanach needs to exit Markarth before the player, but I will have to check the scripting to be sure. The prisoners may be protected until you leave the city, and lose that when you do. If so, I’ll add that note to the documentation. My quest needs Madanach and Kaie to survive, but I would prefer not to edit them.

All these tests have stopped at the same stage in the quest, as I have to decide on the continuation after building, including when to call it “done”. This will not be a family home, as it has no child beds or chests, so Hearthfires Adoptions are not possible. That would have given me a clear definition of complete, as there is a list of required items to provide. Without one, I may have to settle on making the two beds as the cut-off, and find an appropriate event for checking it. Maybe leaving the crafting trigger?

This can then start another quest, or series, that adds more followers. Madanach can set new missions via messages to Drusilla, which she mentions in conversation, once there is a tent for a follower to use. Radiant quests to kill hagravens, harrass Nords etc. would work for those. There are five tents, so up to five new NPCs. I am testing with Kaie’s sisters/cousins Jaie, Elle, Emma, and Enya, who may make it into the mod. Right now, I use them to check the sandboxing around the cell, including the nav-mesh.

There is an idle marker under the waterfall, so they shower, but it just has the praying idle attached at present. That will get a new animation, or possibly an undress/shower/dress scene using a basket or chest to hold the clothes. It looks possible to trigger a quest which just wraps a scene, from an idle marker that is eligible for sandboxing.

I need to test the general mechanism, and that could become a separate resource mod, as I can think of several other compound idles that might work this way. Chop wood, and then carry it, fetch a bucket of water, all things that need a sequence of packages linked together. The game has characters that do sequences of actions like these, but those are AI packages permanently on the NPC, not sandbox activities. And if it doesn’t work, the shower will just remain a plain idle marker, even if they use it dressed. Clothes need washing, too.

This post has been edited by ghastley: Jan 18 2023, 08:17 PM