Hmms, this mod aims to fix something that has bothered me for a long time about Skyrim's pacing and exploration breaking elements. This is a starting project, so any feedback given at this point will be taken very seriously.

First
Skyrim was designed to be an exploration game, but the directed (quest centric) gameplay and the attention given to the main- and faction quests somehow seem to devalue this by a huge deal. Your immediate surroundings no longer matter, and the town quests (aside of daedric ones) pretty much feel like generic bandit slaying and fetching quests with no real value behind them.

Second
Since these faction quests are so extremely good compared to the other quests out there, characters tend to complete them all, becoming the leader of all factions (A Companion Archmage of Winterhold and the leader of Thieves Guild while listening to Sithis). It's all a bit anti RPG and kills replay value and immersion.

So behold: Alignment System
Lawful, Chaotic as the first part, and Good, Neutral, Evil as the second.

Most meaningful actions in the game (such as dialogue options, quest choices and gameplay itself) will contribute points to an aligment in this axis. First part is defining if the player plays chaotically or lawfully, the second part determines if the character played is good, neutral or evil.

At later stages (some arbitrary number of points accumulated), players are invited to a guild/faction depending on what their playstyle up to that point has been. The higher the point accumulation goes in this axis, the more that faction rewards the player with resources and items. All factions ignore the character until it's alignment suits them.

Imperials: Lawful Good
Stormcloaks: Lawful Good
Companions: Chaotic Good
Thieves Guild: Chaotic Neutral
Dark Brotherhood: Chaotic Evil
Mage's Guild: Lawful Neutral

Now, you can only choose to dedicate a part of yourself to only one of these factions. Imperials and Stormcloaks are both in the same category, but rule each other out by default.

Actions that give you points in this or that way would then be tied to everyday tasks such as quest dialogue options, persuation, intimidation, lock picking, stealing, trespassing, killing bandits for bounties, doing "good" quests, giving gold to beggars, etc. And eventually (many many actions later), you would get contacted by a faction member with a note that you're expected to join them in some RPish manner.

This way, the whole game shifts
focus into the mini quests and roaming the wilds gathering some sort of karma, and paces the game better in general and gives the feeling of being that exact character that you play. You will be only one thing per playthrough, and you get to explore the world "sooner" as other options gray out. Characters feel more unique, and replay value should be better.

Also, a system like this, implemented early enough, would provide a solid framework for future quest designers that want to expand a certain branch/faction/playstyle.

So the question is: Is this kind of mod like building the wall of china with domino chips? With my limited modding experience I think it might be possible, but writing the quest dialogue would be a massive job.

Thoughts?

Sounds good. How are you going to retrofit dialog choices with this though? I feel in a lot of cases the game never gives you any choice, like being able to act in a lawful manner when dealing with the argonian in Solitude.

This is a solid idea and I would love to see if you can make it into reality.

I would call Dark Brotherhood Lawful Evil instead. They are organised and do expect to be get paid for assassinations, that are planned to a high degree. Atleast the big jobs. They're not a bunch psychos running around stabbing people.

I would like to see this, but it might be hard to set the alignments of some organizations. I think Skyrim would work more like Eberron in alignment, good factions may have evil members and evil factions may have good members with neutrals mixed throughout on both sides.

This is a great idea - i would definatly use it! (Also i loved these alignments in Baldurs Gate *nostalgia*)

Neither Stormcloaks nor the Empire are lawful good. I'd say Stormcloaks are true neutral and the Empire are lawful neutral.

Also, I'd say Companions are true neutral and thieves' guild are neutral evil.

Imperials: Lawful Good
Stormcloaks: Chaotic Good
Companions: Neutral
Thieves Guild: Neutral Evil
Dark Brotherhood: Lawful Evil
Mage's Guild: Lawful Neutral

Somethin like that? Though I think its a bit more than that, like the Companions just dont care about politics so your persona view on the war makes no difference to them.

Sounds interesting anyway, could be done through Faction packages. Youd probably have to go and add some kind of addfaction or favor to a ton of misc quests or something.

This is a cool idea, but I've got some questions. Would you only be able to join factions that match your alignment exactly? If you were in the mages guild as lawful neutral, would that mean you couldn't join the imperial army? I can imagine that someone focused on magic wouldn't be as interested in politics, but it's not unheard of.

I think what might make more sense is alignment restrictions, but not just one option. In DnD for example, a paladin can only be lawful good, a druid can only be some form of neutral, and a rogue can be anything. If a paladin's alignment becomes something other than lawful good, he can no longer gain levels in paladin. If we define imperial as lawful good, then you could say that you can no longer advance to the next quest if your alignment goes wrong, or they could even kick you out.

Calculating your alignment based on dialogue sounds difficult, so one idea is that your alignment is defined by the first faction you join. The other factions would be locked out unless they agree. This would be simpler, but it would probably eliminate the letter inviting you to join, which is kinda cool.

This is an interesting idea, but I'd rather just think about this realistically. The mages guild shouldn't have alignment restrictions, they'll let you in as long as you can cast magic. From a roleplay perspective, a player in the companions would likely not be lawful, they don't seem interested in politics, so maybe the companions and the civil war quest line is exclusive.

A lot of good points! The alignment system would be relatively easy to implement around gameplay itself, but the quest dialogue options and the choices you make there is a tough nut to crack. Even if it is possible, there are quite a few quests to alter and to provide new dialogue options to. It's probably not a one-man job, but it's 100% worth the try.

But again the ultimate goal is to somehow make the mini-quests drive the game, and the faction should be the reward. But if it is too bland in terms of RP, it might have to change into something that gives you the faction earlier, but then locks others out. And then, depending on how well your actions support that faction of yours, you get more rewards and better jobs.

I'm gonna get into it this weekend, see what can and cannot be done. If the quest dialogue business is impossible job for now, it can be tied to other everyday gameplay mechanics, such as lockpicking, tresspassing, killing non-hostiles, and the like.

Why are Stormcloaks LG? They seem more CG.

This caught my eye, this could be a cool way to do it

But the real goal behind the whole ordeal is to somehow alter the pacing of the game to fit the exploration gameplay. It feels like majority of the game you're just doing "on-the-rails" questing to become the faction leader of everything, and then after that the mini-quests and exploration feels somehow disengaging as the stories and rewards don't meet the standards these faction quests set you up with.

In my eyes, doing something so drastic to bolster the benefits of mini-quests, the pacing should change and players should start exploring the world first, and then only after a certain identity is gained for that character would they then start ranking up in their faction.

Great idea

Great mod idea! In reference to the above, I think the op's idea's can still work because the player's personal alignment is used to determine the faction he is joining. There can still be members who are evil, neutral, etc. within those factions.

I also think that instead of going on dialogue, maybe go with skills and perks. If you are building up a lot of skills in thief-related areas and perks, you get alignment points that way. If you are doing it in warriors, you get it that way. If you are doing it in magic, you get it that way. Whichever is currently tops, that's your alignment.

Perhaps you can script that the player can be asked to join by specific faction (once he has accumulated a set number of points) but once he does, then entry to the other factions are locked out - unless the player does something which can get him kicked out of his current faction. That way, the alignment stays dynamic throughout the playthrough. If you are recruited in the mages college but only go around killing everything using a 2-hander, you should be kicked out at some point. You can then have it that every kill (or every boss kill) might also equal an alignment point in the main alignment areas, on basis of how the npc died.

Why is it that you guys think DB are Lawful Evil? They murder on contracts yes, but its not exactly within the law to murder people. Therefore DB is Neutral Evil as OP said.

Also, Companions are Lawful neutral obviously - they are not trying to keep things in balance, and they are working within the law, even though they dont care about politics