I know it can be done, Tytanis did it. I want to add a couple second stagger and a d/t effect to it (and probably need to script it to not be lootable, it's part of the idea).

Help :/

This kind of thing used to be incredibly simple.

Now I wouldn't have the first idea where to start, given how strangely they've made everything work in the new system.

Yeah, I puttered around and saw no effect, scripted effects, or anything else to add to the ammo.

A bit frustrating, since I KNOW it can be done!

Yeah. It's a bit frustrating for me too, since I did stuff JUST like this for Oblivion and FO3, when I had zero prior programming/scripting knowledge, and now this comes out after I'm done almost a year of game design school, and the new scripting system totally baffles me.

A lot of it is really simple, they've got default scripts with functions in them to do a lot of the things we used to be able to do. Great.

Except not, because before you could use almost all of those functions from within any script, and now you have to be using an incredibly specific script type to use a narrow selection of functions, so having a quest script apply an imagespace modifier or a weapon script reduce its target's health (things that would take literally minutes before), are things I'd have no idea how to do, if they're even possible at all anymore.

So anyone have a clue? It'd kinda be hilarious if SkyEdit were required to add these things in.

I just really need to add [censored] to arrows for my mod, it's one of the things I really like that I can make, so...

Why not try to add/change the Explosion effect in the Projectile for the Arrow? (e.g. Dwarven arrows use ArrowDwarvenProjectile)

I definitely think it's possible even though it'd be a lot of work. I new to Papyrus but since Arrows can have Explosions attached to them I'd say that odds are this can be done. The biggest problem is assigning an Explosion to an Arrow in realtime I'd think (afaik it's a global variable between all arrows of that type).

I want an on hit effect, that just deals damage over time to target. I have it thought out (shattershot, imagine a hollowpoint in an arrow, designed to shatter on impact and deal gross and horrific damage (it hits, breaks apart, and as the person moves it deals damage. Hence the stagger, as they deal with this sudden and horrifc pain, then deals more damage as the shards move around, cutting and breaking meat and muscle)) and just need to apply this stagger and d/t effect :/

Then swapping out the Projectile for the Arrow appropriate to the Spell Effect that the player chooses, or adding an Explosion to whatever Projectile the player's already using? Unless you want to have a listener kind of event that is attached to any time the bow is fired which, when the arrow hits the target, checks the player's selected spell and forces it to be cast on the target the arrow struck if it is an NPC.

I don't know if this has been solved or not, but I'm trying to do this right now.

I made arrows that do fire damage. But I'm not sure yet how and what works, and what doesn't work.
Here is what I did so far to:
Create an enchantment with fire damage (or any other desired effect)
---I have made BBB_ArrowFire with: (type: enchantment) (casting: fire and forget) (delivery: contact)

Copy the projectile data for the kind of arrow you want to use.
---I have BBB_dwarvenArrowFire. The same as a dwarven arrow projectile, but this one has: [v]Explosion, type: BBB_Fireball01ImpactExplosion. Trigger on impact.

Copy an existing explosion, like the Fireball01ImpactExplosion. Add your enchantment.
---I have BBB_Fireball01ImpactExplosion, so far I removed the sounds, lights, impact data. Radius and such are unchanged. I added my enchantment. I will continue to remove as much as possible, because I don't actually want an explosion, just my enchantment.

It seems to work. The trigger between working/not working seems to be the Art-File for the explosion.
I think the explosion needs an art-fire to work.
E.g. I could get the balista traps explosion to work on my arrows, but my own explosion, without art file, did not work.



EDIT:
You also seem to need a minimum radius of 109.
With a radius of 108 and lower, the enchantment would not take effect. With a very low radius (0, 1) I could not even see the art-file/explosion.
All other values (force, damage, IS radius, etc) can be 0,00.

Tested by shooting a random NPC in the back with an arrow.

EDIT2:
At a radius of 109, headshots don't trigger the enchantment on the target.
I guess you will have to find a balance between a large radius that damages everyting nearby, but guarantees the effect, or a small radius that only damages the target but might not work.