The Dragonborn Rebellion
"Dov wahlaan fah rel. We were made to dominate. The will to power is in our blood. You feel it in yourself, do you not?"
-Paarthurnax

Dragonborn. For those of us who know something about TES lore, the word inspired great visages in our minds. Tiber Septim was the greatest of all Dragonborn, and he forged the Empire, which unified all of Tamriel for 400 years.

I am a fairly experienced modder of Oblivion and Morrowind, and one of my first mods that I released for Oblivion was Rise of Sheogorath, where the player leads the Golden Saints and Dark Seducers of the Shivering Isles in an attempt to out-Mehrunes Dagon Mehrunes Dagon and conquer Tamriel himself. It was a fairly flawed mod, riddled with the occasional bug I could not reproduce, and repetitive. Nonetheless, it taught me various lessons that I aim to not repeat.

When The Infernal City came out, I was inspired. The chaos that hammered Cyrodiil after the fall of the Empire was the perfect opportunity for unbridled RPG potential. So I began work on a mod I had tenatively titled "Fall of the Empire." It would have allowed the player to pull a Titus Mede and re-unite the Empire when it fractures apart. With the power of OBSE, it offered unbridled customization and features, including the ability to make your army were nearly any armor imaginable- including those added by other mods.

Unfortunately, Skyrim was announced and development was put on hold. I had working prototypes of several features- renaming soldiers, the ability to adopt a dynastic name that would stick with you (if my character was named Sky, his dynastic name would be Shadowing, and thus would be refered to as Sky Shadowing.

Skyrim offered the perfect arena for my concept. The player was Dragonborn! Knowing what I knew, I knew that this was the game that my concept would be perfect for. Civil war, why should the player not cast his own sword into the ring and fight his own war, and strive to become a successor to the great Tiber Septim?

As soon as the creation kit dropped, I was off and running. I fought with Papyrus for several days, but slowly (and I owe much of this to my previous knowledge of Morrowind/Oblivion scripting) I learned it.

Skyrim is the engine that my concept was designed for, and I am quite pleased with the amount of progress I am making. Many key components are implemented, and very quickly progress is being made. The existing Civil War framework has provided a frameword to examine, but in the long run, it is far too convulted and confusing, and I have recoded several systems- and several new ones- that fit my concept better.

Here is a basic list of features that the mod either currently contains or will contain:

1. Expandable Blades- The player can appoint several additional companions to the Blades. These Blades will act as personal bodyguards for several aspects, guard the player's court, and
PARTIALLY IMPEMENTED

2. Resolvable Paarthurnax dispute- After the main quest, the player can either convince the Blades to stand down and leave Paarthurnax alone (this option requires a very dangerous dialogue tree- one where any screw up could cost the player the one chance to save Paarthurnax) or replace the Blades leadership... forcibly, with those more loyal to his ideas.
PARTIALLY IMPEMENTED

3. A dynamic campaign system- the player is the leader of the Dragonborn Rebellion, and answers to no man. You are the one who decides where and when to attack (with limits). With the player's rebellion much less established than either the Stormcloaks and Imperials, the player must first conquer a certain amount of the hold before he can attack the fort. Once the fort falls, the player must then assault the Hold Capital.
PARTIALLY IMPEMENTED

4. Fully dynamic appointment system- the player is not limited to the existing Jarls. Should you wish it, any of your companions can be selected to fill the roles of Jarl within the 9 holds (minus 1- you DO need a court, after all). This is just one of several appointable positons, the other most prominent being the Housecarl, your second-in-command. They are the Legate Rikke or Galmar Stone-Fist to you. While you make orders, they are the one who rally the soldiers, dispatch the garrisons, etc. They can be any companion (not limited to the Housecarls like Lydia).

Of course, should you like one of the existing Jarls, you are free to leave them in their posts. This makes very interesting moments when you return Balgruuf to his rightful post, you Stormcloak traitors.
PARTIALLY IMPEMENTED

5. Special missions- the player can lead the Blades and his army on several special missions designed to increase his powerbase.
NOT IMPLEMENTED

I like your idea a lot. I've seen other threads with similar ideas. I am also personally working on a concept which will feature a great war and use the existing resources Skyrim so kindly supplies us with to create a conquest and warfare mod. My future mod will not be in conflict with any other mods at all, but there are other modders out there planning their own rebellion/war mods right now and you might be aware in regards to future mod conflicts and so on. I like your simple and straightforward synopsis and am looking forward to see what you'll make of it. So thumbs up!

Love this idea!

Seems like a lot of hard work, but if you pull it off this could be amazing.

If this could be pulled off it would be fantastic. I'd love to see expansions to this in conjuntion with the province of Tamriel mods too, so after you conquer Skyrim you could move on to Cyrodiil and capture the Imperial City.

It's not that much hard work, really, at least, not if you know scripting and such. I suspect, gleaning some information from the game itself, that Bethesda has completely changed how the package system works (can't check that until I get the game, of course) so that you can add-remove packages through scripts. I highly doubt (but it IS entirely possible) that they added Blades packages and unique variables to each individual possible companion (granted, not that hard- for each companion, if they just add them to BladesFaction or something). If my suspicions are correct, all you have to do is say "add these packages".

I had a proof-of-concept mod for Oblivion that I was working on. I had regional crime systems that would split Cyrodiil into a number of independent Kingdoms (using OBSE) that determined which Kingdom you were in based on region and would assign your crime dynamically. It also allowed the player to dynamically customize their troops armor, and the player could make their troops armor ANY armor in the game, even from other mods.

Really, if you want to see what I've done in TES with this style, check out my Rise of Sheogorath mod for Oblivion. I'm adding on a lot of bells and whistles, but the basic situation is still the same.

It sounds like you've built up some substantial prior experience with Oblivion. If you can do it and do it well it'll be one incredible mod. I wish you all the best with it, good luck!

Yes! A THOUSAND TIMES YES! I can't believe Bethesda won't let players use their influence to make Skyrim a more equal place (or crush everyone with an iron fist, if you're so inclined). I would love any mod that would allow me to appose all bigotry, not just choose the lesser of two evils. In short, I want to be an ACTUAL hero in Skyrim, not just some mercenary.

The main problem I see is making it seamless (VA would go a long way). Game characters would have to recognize that there's a new faction. It'd be strange for them to just be talking about the stormcloaks and the empire even if the player faction is actually becoming the dominant one. You'll probably have to change a few quests along the way too.

But as others have said, if you can pull it off that'd really be something. I havent joined either group yet because I have problems with both .

This is a must get if it gets made. I'm giving the Reach and Markarth to the Foresworn if they'll fight for me! Two ideas I had:


If you have a personal guard of sorts as Jarl or Emperor or whatever, let us handpick their armor and weapons if we have the money to do so, and give them some nice default gear if they do.


A letter system where you can send letters to other leaders.So, if I send a letter to the leader of the Argonians for friendship or help, I'll get one back. I can then choose to write a Persuade letter if I have a high speech, a Bribe letter if I have money, etc. If my letter is successful, a week to 3 weeks after I get a response, ten of their troops, in this case, Argonians, will come to my Palace. This can only happen after you capture or control at least three holds.

I would totally love this. I would crush my enemies with an iron fist....for PEACE.

Can't wait to see it!

Am glad to see so much enthusiasm for this idea. Hopefully I'll have the time to make it work.

Further investigation has showed me that everything I hope is possible (mostly, I believe) is possible. When you convert a companion to a Blade, they gain a full schedule. I had feared that maybe they were just given a script command to sandbox in Sky Haven Temple (as your wife appears to be). I've seen Blades sparring (familiarity with the Oblivion CK tells me that that is quite impossible if the system has not improved) with each other. Now, maybe Bethesda just threw all their packages onto each possible companion, but I highly doubt that- when Delphine says "are you sure you want to do this? they'll stay here forever", as a person who has worked with video game design, that right there is design talk for "we're destroying this NPC's packages, and it's non revertable. Do you wish to continue?"

As for alliances with Black Marsh and other areas... I'm not thinking I'll do that. At least not for Version 1.0. Raising armies and such isn't the point of Skyrim and adds a lot more problems. Skyrim is not a strategy game. This is a quest mod. I once toyed with the idea of adding full functionality, including raising troops and such, but that's far too complex. So it'll be handwaved by your general and other staff handling recruitment. Maybe I'll make a few bonuses- if you send Spy Blades to a town, you'll fight less defenders when the time comes to attack and such- but nothing too serious.

I think I can sum up the various stratagems by which the player will rise to power- and be accepted by the Nords- with a single quote from the First Edition of the Pocket Guide to the Empire.

I plan to have at least one post-conquest quest for each of the 5 major holds, possibly a few for the minor holds. Naturally, the Reach is the obvious one- dealing with the question of the Forsworn (I especially like the idea of establishing a Forsworn client-kingdom under your rule), and I plan on thinking up a few for Solitude, Whiterun, Riften, and Windhelm.

Ok here's my two cents: You rock and your idea is awesome the only thing I want to add is make some choices when choosing a Jarl for each city and I mean viable ones not like "Lydia you're now Jarl of Winterhold" .

Awesome Idea....

One of the political decision could be "Recreate the mages guild" if you are the Archmage of Winterhold College.... Or something like that...

Also, if you are neutral... and quest were you could actually turn both Ulfric and Tullius on your side... of course it would be... hard
But I think it is possible (at least lore wisely) since you are just like Timber Septim

I love this idea, as I don't particularly care for either the Imperials or Stormcloaks. I also want to be able to forge a peaceful alliance with the Forsworn and give them some level of control over the Reach, so long as they're willing to let outsiders who abide by their laws share their land (instead of killing everyone on sight). Perhaps their king could become the jarl of Markarth.

Maybe Dovakiin can also unite the Stormcloaks and Imperials (briefly at least, as I imagine both might contest Dovakiin for the throne later on), and, with the help of those dragons who switch to our side, the Thalmor can be driven from Skyrim. I hate the Thalmor, and so I want to be able to openly oppose them (and thrust my sword into as many Thalmor guts as possible).

And in the end, the people of Skyrim rejoice in their newfound freedom as Dovakiin takes the throne as High King. I love happy endings.

Esbern and Delphine: They seem pretty determined to , so I can't really imagine a plausible way for them to change their minds, and because of this, my character could never trust them. A tasteful way to eliminate them might be for them to attack Dovakiin so that he/she can kill them in self-defense. After all, surely they would see his/her refusal to as siding with "the enemy."

OR maybe, they two got killed by a Thalmor group in a mission, but before, discover another Blade agent still alive, and this one, is loyal to you....

There's a mod that will deal with the Blades over at the Nexus.

http://www.thenexusforums.com/index.php?/topic/470021-improving-the-blades/

Maybe you could share some ideas, or even collaborate.

A great idea. If you're going to be ambitious, consider this idea: Fable 3 had a fantastic "post-game" where, once you were crowned king, you got to make decisions that affected the kingdom permanently - I loved going from place to place and seeing how my actions had changed the world for the better (or the worse). It would be awesome if you incorporated something similar into your mod. THe main thing Skyrim is missing for me is seeing your decisions drastically affect the game world - something that I have found incredibly addictive in other games. Send Skyrim into poverty or start a cultural renaissance...it could be very cool. I know nothing of modding though so I can't speak for the difficulties

Is the mod going to assume "he", "him", and "his" too? Because that will just annoy my Dragonborn until she's fit to put heads on pikes.

Of course not, I'm just too lazy in my posts to type s/he and such. Women Dragonborns will be quite respected. I don't want to be Fus Ro Dahd.

No, Delphine and Esbern attacking you is quite outside the barriers of their oaths, tattered as they are. If they refuse to bend their knees once you get your one chance to convince them, you will have no chance but to coup the Blades and replace them with your own minions.

This isn't going to be a standard persuasion check either- I'm going to script a massive dialogue complete with them calling you out on various things you may have done in your time in Skyrim, allowing you to make points, and at the end, if your logic and stance is to their satisfaction, they will side with you and let you back into the fold. For those who want to know how, it'll be a 'points' system- you'll make points for saying the right things and lose points for saying the wrong things- all behind-the-scenes, of course. And you'll get bonus options for citing sources (i.e. having books in your inventory).

As for decisions affecting the world, there will be. You wander the streets and see the Guards replaced with your soldiers. Jarls may come and go, and any companion will be able to become a Jarl (I'm also thinking about an entire system of 'Companion Generators', where you can fill in the gaps. Said system should also give you the ability to marry beyond standard game options). You can choose to kick the Thalmor out, limit their influence, re-legalize Talos worship, and a few additional things beyond it.

I think the final stage in the mod should be a quest to reforge the Amulet of Kings, enabling you to light the dragonfires again and become Emperor once you get to the Imperial City.

Maybe add in some more terrifying and underhanded ways of getting the support you need. Like involving Sheogorath (the last 'person' living to have met Martin Septim, the last of the Septim line), though convincing the mad god to not throw everything into disarray would likely be an epic challenge...or he might help as part of some strange scheme of his own.

And I think ownership of The Black Star should be many points off, and impossible to justify, since it's really the most evil artifact you could wield. Deals with Clavicus Vile are less foul than that thing.

And perhaps, if you can restore the Amulet of Kings, that would cause Tullius to back you, since a Dragonborn bearing the Amulet is the one who can light the Dragonfires and restore Akatosh's blessings to the Empire?

I quote Norbingel because I really want OP to know that this should be addressed. Otherwise, I look forward to any progress on this mod and will be watching it

I'm thinking about ways to do this and keep it as 'seamless' as possible. I mean, naturally, I don't have access to Bethesda's VA crew, so a large amount of dialogue will be unvoiced, but it is entirely possible for me to cut-and-paste audio pieces together to try and make it work. If there's acting clips, I could probably make Imperial Legion soldiers say things like "Damn Dragonborn rebels", while your soldiers can say stuff like "Can't wait to gut another Empire boy", "Skyrim for the Dragonborn!" etc.

Will be hard to do, though. I'd much rather leave inadequacies than have out-of-place, or silent, voices.

Also, the Amulet of Kings is no longer necessary, even if it was possible to reforge. All its power has escaped- the Dragonfires are gone, the Stone of White-Gold replaced by the Statue of Akatosh. As important as the Amulet was, it is no longer. Akatosh has sealed the barriers permanently, and the Amulet was given by either he or Lorkhan to St. Alessia.

Also, I do not have the resources nor patience to rebuild the entire Imperial City. Should somebody graciously do it and allow me to collaborate with them, I would most certainly branch this mod with a finale of overthrowing the Medes and re-establishing Dragonborn Rule over the Empire. Various, ah, events make political crisis very likely.

I really like this idea a lot. I've been mulling over some mod ideas myself and think this would go well with what you are suggesting.

My favorite mods in Morrowind and Oblivion were castle and 'base-of-operations' mods with a compliment of soldiers and such. If the player leads a dragonborn rebellion, why not have a suitable base of operations --> e.g. turn Sky Haven into a badass castle with a whole town based at the bottom of the valley where Karthspire is. Since most of Sky Haven is underground, it would be real easy to add more rooms and areas without much regard for outside additions. Having some type of concurrent quest-line that requires building your own capital would add a lot to the 'feel' of leading a rebellion. IDK if the new CS would allow for it, but if it does, the player could even name the city whatever they wanted. As the war progressed, you can acquire more for your capital and possibly demand tribute from conquered areas to upgrade it.

The disabling of ALL the forsworn camp objects might be a hassle, but I think it would be worth the trouble.

this is a really good idea. Could make it a four way, so imperials and stormcloaks are main rivals and Dragonborn alliance with the blades are main rivals with Thalmor? but its four way struggle for power.