Today In Skyrim (Spoilerific), Like the other one, but with added spoilers!!! Options

[Grits]

Jerric got the orcs and giants sorted out and passed back through Riften filled with hope. The Khajiit caravan wasn’t there, so they (he, Darnand, and Lildereth) moved on without a supply stop. Before they even got to Fort Greenwall Jerric ate the “fresh meat” that Lod had given him in Falkreath. He forgot to leave it out on the road for the dog (thank goodness), and it must have looked tempting to him. I guess it’s not a quest item. No one else has ever tried to eat it that I recall. I haven’t gotten so many “You cannot eat quest items” messages in all of my other games combined. It’s the damned Alto wine he’s still hauling around. Hopefully they will make it to their next destination so he can finally drink it.

In other news, I’ve changed the Atronach Stone to match Oblivion’s Atronach Birthsign with zero magicka regeneration. The full chaos and splendor of the Atronach battlemage is back! It’s a great day in Jerric’s world.

[King Coin]

Jerric ate the “fresh meat” that Lod had given him in Falkreath.

I haven't had that happen before! That's Jerric!



I am very tempted to adjust the atronach stone now that you mention it. If I haven a character so inclined to take that stone, I will do so.

[SubRosa]

That fresh meat looks gross! Its a mammoth nose isn't it?

You know, I have still never even used the Astronaut stone in Skyrim. Maybe I should give it a go Oblivion-style as well. It would be a ideal for a low/non magic using character like Hervor.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Nov 26 2013, 07:13 PM

[ghastley]

Silwen is in Ansilvund, looking for the next one of the Stones of Barenziah. She's about half-way through collecting them, but she's leaving the easier city ones to last, so that's more than half the effort. She has Lydia in tow, and is able to summon a Flame Atronach (without using all her reserves) now she's added a second perk in conjuration.

She's sneaking in the lead, and Lydia tends to rush past her when the enemies get spooked by her first hit, so she's not levelling her Light Armour much!

[King Coin]

Kharjo tends to be a better follower than many of the others because he stays back and uses his bow and lets the enemy close.

You could also adjust Lydia's combat behavior if you wish.

[ghastley]

No, she likes not getting hit, it's just that there's a downside to everything in this game!

To my way of thinking, the better combos are always Ranged + Melee (tank) and so if the player character is mainly ranged , they need a melee follower, and vice versa.

Silwen's using a Flame Atronach now, but she'd prefer a Frostie. Just needs to gain some more levels. She prefers not to use magic, but it's a safety net for when she's out of arrows, or health potions, and needs a quick distraction. She usually has enough magicka to summon, as she's not using it for anything else. Healing by spell is not something she'd rely on, as bows use both hands, and so swapping takes too long.

Ra'vish would often have healing in one hand and an offensive spell in the other. Duck behind a pillar and heal, then pop back out and fire the other hand's spell. He went dungeon-diving with Mjoll, who's essential, rather than just protected, so he could use any spell he liked.

Silwen finds that she needs to be careful not to shoot Lydia in the back. She also has Argis available over in Markarth, but he's a wider target, so he stays at home!

This post has been edited by ghastley: Nov 26 2013, 09:45 PM

[King Coin]

Silwen finds that she needs to be careful not to shoot Lydia in the back.

Someone that doesn't charge makes not shooting them a lot easier.

[Grits]

I also changed the Warrior Stone for Jensa to fortify stamina and stamina regeneration, but I haven’t had a chance to try it yet. I like the notion that a birth sign (I’m holding on to that from Oblivion) could influence the course of a person’s life by making them better at some things from the beginning rather than as they gain experience. The Oblivion Warrior Birthsign also fortifies Endurance/Health, but in my follower-heavy Skyrim games that would be overkill.

I don’t generally do much training, but my archers always trained Light Armor. They’re usually increasing Sneak and/or Illusion as they play, so they don’t get hit much and Light Armor falls behind. Then when things get difficult they get slaughtered.

Jerric got a new staff from Sam, but still no Aravi. They planned to stay in Riften a few days and wait for the caravan, but there was an incident. Jerric bought Talen-Jei’s entire stock of special concoctions and drank them in one sitting. Then he ran off his energy inside the city, Skjorta-style. Time to move on.

They did find Grosta’s husband. After Jerric delivered the news, Gralnach ran up and finally asked him to play. Best game of tag ever. Jerric has some ideas for Heartwood Mill. Gralnach could use some company, and so could Grosta. Now the Nord is making up his own quests!

[SubRosa]

Jerric got a new staff from Sam, but still no Aravi. They planned to stay in Riften a few days and wait for the caravan, but there was an incident. Jerric bought Talen-Jei’s entire stock of special concoctions and drank them in one sitting. Then he ran off his energy inside the city, Skjorta-style. Time to move on.

Talun-Lei has a stock of potions? Those ought to come in handy when the Nagas attack the village...

[Grits]

You made me look twice! If Talun-Lei’s are like Talen-Jei’s, the whole village will be running around tweaked and naked. Better give them to the Nagas!

[Grits]

They found Aravi!! Time for an adventure! Jerric has been carrying around some Elven armor and a fur cloak just in case, so she immediately geared up for the road.

Of course Kharjo was there too, and since Jerric had the courtesy to find his Moon Amulet Kharjo also decided to come along. Now they make a little caravan of their own.

[King Coin]

Yay! You found Aravi!

You weren’t kidding about their own caravan though! What are you going to do with all of them?

[Grits]

Darnand’s butt is getting dropped off at home the next time they go back that way. He just started using Fireball, and it is mayhem! I need to take a look at his spells. Maybe I can get him to dual-cast the Apprentice fire one. Fireball is not going to work with melee companions, plus forget trying to loot anything once he has blown it into the next Hold. Sometimes there’s a key that you need. Earlier today it took all of Jerric’s (limited) self-control not to lay hands on him after a troll fight. Lil needs a tweak too, sometimes she stabs things. I need to work on her combat settings.

So it looks like Jerric will be traveling with Karj and Aravi for a while! But first they have a job on the other side of Morthal.

He finally has enough gold to buy High View Cottage (mod near Solitude), so they might keep walking. He has an idea that Valdi and Erik the Slayer would like to live there. Of course that means I need to make NPC Valdi.


ETA: This just gets better. They found Meeko. Lol.

This post has been edited by Grits: Dec 1 2013, 04:59 PM

[SubRosa]

They make a bigger caravan than the Khajiit ones! How do you get that many characters to fit in one dungeon? I would hate to see all the traps constantly going off again and again.

Yay its Aravi! If I liked followers, I would probably have her in a lot of my character's games.

[King Coin]

I would hate to see all the traps constantly going off again and again.

I don't know about Grits' gang, but I gave Aravi the light step perk.

Sam Guevenne is a persistent fellow, despite many no's from Aravi, he never gave up. Aravi finally participated in his drinking contest. Never again.

Kharjo might be in some trouble with this.

[Grits]

Oh my gosh, I would never take that whole group into a dungeon. It’s bad enough trying to get through a tavern! Especially with a dog! Meeko is right there blocking the door every time.

The five of them did have a bit of fun at Fort something, maybe Snowhawk? Necromancers and a bunch of skeletons came boiling out as they walked past. Everyone ran all over the place, fire and explosions, Khajiit trash talk, and Darnand got his flame atronach involved so there were bones and flaming necromancers flying over the walls. It was hilarious. Then everyone sort of met up again back in the courtyard. That was all outdoors, so no one got stuck in the corridors. If I ever do the Civil War again, I’m going to bring my own army!

Oh, and there’s a new bakery (mod) in Dragonbridge. Jerric spent so much gold there I was worried he wouldn’t be able to buy the cottage, but they ran out of stock before he ran out of money. If you say ‘pie,’ he’s buying.

They’re headed to another outdoor location, but if it turns out there’s an underground part Jerric will ask Darnand and Lil to guard the door. With the dog.

KC, you have to share poor Aravi’s experience with Sam! I am giggling just thinking about her growing horror as the previous night’s events unfold!

[Renee]

Wow that sounds so fun, finding some other character in your game-world! I hope to get my PC gaming up and running in January. I'll be too busy this month to deal, but damn it looks fun.

Sam Guevenne is a persistent fellow, despite many no's from Aravi, he never gave up. Aravi finally participated in his drinking contest. Never again.

OH yeah, I hate the frickin' guy! The one time I did the drinking contest was with Thor a'Zaene. He was my second character so this was way back in late 2011. I mean yea, it was cool seeing what happens, the game throws an unexpected curve ball at you, but when I encountered Sam again with a later character, I made sure to RP that whoever this character was didn't want to be bothered with his stupid drinking contest.

But it's not that easy. That frickin' sam follows you all over the damn Inn. He doesn't leave the Inn (not that I remember) but he never gives up with his "YOUR TURN".

Anyways, I sympathize. That's what I mean to say.

[Grits]

I liked the orc paladin idea so much I made a character. Sir Magul gro-Bash, Knight of the Circle in the Order of Arkay. Sir Magul is blessed by the Atronach just like in Oblivon (+150 magicka, zero magicka regeneration, and 50% spell absorbtion). He will never use an enchantment that gives a magicka regen bonus because that would be boring. He needs a big weakness to balance the huge magicka pool. We’re just pretending it wouldn’t work for him.

Sir Magul will use his gods-given gift to destroy the undead (and the smelly necromancers who sew them together) wherever they hide. His only spells will be healing and Stendarr’s Aura if he lives long enough to get it, the idea being defensive/passive magic use only. No turn undead because he will be busy slaying them, not chasing them down while trying to see out his visor in the near-dark of caves and tombs. He uses a silver greatsword for the extra smiting and because it looks cool. Steel plate armor. Again, cool.

Sir Magul went to an orc stronghold looking for a squire. He found Borgakh the Steel Heart at the second place he visited. She was bitching up a storm about her fate as the Dustpan Wife or whatever she was going to be called after her dad sent her off to be married. It took little persuasion to get her to leave with him. Also Sir Magul spanked her dad in a fistfight just to show him who was boss. It was pretty close, actually. Sir Magul was lucky the other guy wasn’t wearing much armor.

Borgakh is smoking hot, aggressive, and looks awesome in banded iron armor. Unfortunately she is not “protected” as we discovered when a bear ate her. It was probably for the best for Sir Magul, as she kept up her moaning about stronghold life in addition to constantly bringing up Malacath. Sir Magul does not want to discuss Malacath. Shortly after Borgakh fell, Sir Magul was slain by three ice wraiths. Sir Magul does no crafting, so he has very few potions and completely unimproved gear. Also I kept pressing the wrong key so instead of experiencing his Berserker Rage Sir Magul experienced getting diced up by ice wraiths. So we started over.

In his second life Sir Magul left the stronghold wenches alone. He went to Winterhold where he heard (from me) that he might find a squire. Now I had an idea for a fighter who would complement Sir Magul’s brawn by using the sun spells from Dawnguard, but I didn’t know of any. So I made one. At first I considered Abiene as her skills are right and she looks super cute in teeny tiny plate armor. But she’s busy. So instead of a petite Breton, I gave him a six-foot skinny Nord chick with freckles, an attitude (sultry voice set), and ridiculous hair. NPC Valdi Sun-Storm.

She’s using her spells very well, but she doesn’t seem to get that they don’t work on wolves, bears, ice wraiths, bandits… Anyway, eventually she does get out her axe, but Sir Magul has been hard-pressed between Winterhold and the Atronach Stone. I think she’s going to be awesome underground, though. Those skeletons near the Atronach Stone? She exploded them!

Thanks to Valdi’s bandit past she can open locks, which is a big plus for Sir Magul. He imagines that Valdi will trot behind killing the road pests between dungeons while he charges along on his war horse, but Sir Magul has a few surprises in store. One, there are no war horses. I use a mod that makes them run away from combat. Also he’s broke and horses are expensive. Two, Valdi is not going to go along with that plan. She is going to want a horse too. I know the girl, and she is not agreeable. Also the first time he calls her “squire” and hands over his dirty socks there might be an argument. I’m just guessing.

[SubRosa]

I like orc paladins too. Back in Oblivion I played Morn gra-Lurga, paladin of Trinimac. I made up an Anti-Mage birthsign for her, that gave her 50% magic resistance, at the cost of -100 magicka (giving her none, and thusly making it impossible for her to use any magic at all).

Mags sounds like fun. But he does no crafting! He needs to learn to sharpen that sword up if he expects to get some use out of it!

Maggie had a second life! *gasp* I thought you always played dead is dead?

Yay, Mags made the most of his second life by hooking up with Valdi!

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Dec 10 2013, 01:08 AM

[Grits]

Oh, Mags 1 was completely dead, I just couldn’t be bothered to think of a different name. The name took much longer than the face gen part. Orcs are so easy. I debated giving the new one dreads, but they covered his ears. Two seconds later, done!

I remember seeing Morn, and I love how the steel plate enhances the natural strength and nobility of the TES Orsimer!! I’m also reminded of Acadian’s great green knights of Cyrodiil. I am a little concerned about staying with the unimproved silver sword for Sir Mags, but it will make me put perks in the first tier of the skills that I tend to ignore when I use smithing. That’s how Big D has evolved, with a low armor rating but lots of power in his attacks and Berserker Rage to save his butt. Of course he doesn’t have the stunted magicka to deal with. It does make for an intense playing experience. And sometimes a brief one, lol.

I’m looking forward to hearing some lip from Valdi. I don’t think I’ve had a follower with that voice set. I tried to give Valdi Mjoll’s voice since Mjoll can be a follower, but there was more to it than just adding it to a list.