Classic Classes

and

Birthsigns

Re-creating Character Creation

by: Kearsage

? Latest Version ?
Ver 1.4
- Re-worked the way the mod activates to solve several problems. Now, instead of activating after Race Selection, the Class Selection screen will appear as soon as you equip a weapon or spell.
- Characters no longer start as InvisibleRace and loading a savegame with a level 1 character will no longer set that character’s race to InvisibleRace.
- Removed all references to the main quest, so there should be no more interference with the Helgen sequence.
- Remains (and is hopefully now more) compatible with alternate start mods and custom race mods. However, it is recommended you load Classic Classes *after* any custom race mods, this should ensure that the racial skill bonuses of the custom race are applied correctly to the class skills.

? Downloads ?

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=16736
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=70433630

? Overview ?

All Elder Scrolls games prior to Skyrim had character creation begin with selecting a class and choosing your character’s birthsign. In Arena and Daggerfall there were 18 distinct and unique classes to choose from, and in Oblivion and Morrowind they increased that number to 21. Each with different major skills and advantages, and allowed the player to better conceptualize their character as well as provide a different starting experience for each new game played.

Characters were also said to be born under a certain sign, and choosing a birthsign at character creation allowed you to customize your starting character even further.

In Skyrim, this option was removed and all characters now start the same. The interesting and unique classes that Bethesda had created and fleshed out across four different games have been removed, and now you must spend your first hours in the game wandering to align with a standing stone to get the starsign you want. This mod changes that.

? Compatibility ?

This mod is safe to use with current characters. It is designed to only activate if the character is level 1; so if you load a savegame with a level 1 char it *will* bring up character selection, but for any character level 2 or higher, nothing will happen.

The mod should be fully compatible with the following types of mods:
- Alternate Start mods, such as Live Another Life
- Custom Race and racial ability adjustment mods, such as RaRe and Third Era Attributes

Be sure to load Classic Classes AFTER any mods which alter race stats in the load order! This will not change the racial bonuses those mods apply, but it is required for Classic Classes to properly apply them to your class selection.

If you find a conflict, please let me know and I will work to resolve it! Thanks!

? The Classic Classes ?

Class Selection will begin after you equip a weapon or spell for the first time.

Each of the 21 Classic Classes are based on the classes available in Oblivion and Morrowind and are broken down into three specialties: Combat, Stealth and Magic.

Classic Classes characters start with all skills at 5 pts (novice level). Each class has several Major Skills which start at 25 pts (apprentice level) before racial bonuses are applied. This represents your character's profession or skills learned prior to the start of the game.

In general, the Classic Classes adhere as close as possible to the classes' Major Skills from Oblivion. Since several skills from Oblivion were removed from the game, and a couple from Morrowind reinstated, some classes will have +20 to an attribute or other ability as appropriate.

In addition, characters that start with a Major Skill in one of the magical schools will start with one novice and one apprentice spell for that school.

Lastly, if you wish to play Skyrim using the default character progression, no need to uninstall! Simply select "Adventurer" from the main menu and your character will have 15 pts in every skill (before racial bonuses are applied) as well as the default spell loadout. You can still select a birthsign if you choose.

Full class descriptions can be found under the aptly named "Class Descriptions" section of this document, as well as the in-game menus.

? Class Listing ?

Combat specialists focus on melee or ranged weaponry and use armor to protect themselves from harm.
Combat specialists gain +20 Stamina.
The combat classes are: Archer, Barbarian, Crusader, Knight, Rogue, Scout, and Warrior.

Stealth specialists focus on avoiding detection and sneak attacks to give them the edge in combat.
Stealth specialists gain +20 Health.
The stealth classes are: Acrobat, Agent, Assassin, Bard, Monk, Pilgrim and Thief.

Magic specialists focus on the arcane arts and spellcasting, sometimes combined with martial skills, to achieve their goals.
Magic specialists gain +20 Magicka.
The magic classes are: Battlemage, Healer, Mage, Nightblade, Sorcerer, Spellsword and Witchhunter.

? The Birthsigns ?

After classes selection, players are given the option of choosing which of the thirteen constellations their character was born under. Each birthsign provides a distinct advantage and applies the same effect as the starsigns' standing stones that are scattered around Skyrim. If you wish, your birthsign can be changed later by discovering and attuning yourself to a new standing stone.

If you wish to start with no birthsign, select the wandering star, The Traveler, and your character will start play with no starsign attuned - just as in default play.

A full list of the starsigns and their abilities are available at the http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Standing_Stones, as well as the in-game menu.

? Version History ?

Ver 1.4
- Re-worked the way the mod activates to solve several problems. Now, instead of activating after Race Selection, the Class Selection screen will appear as soon as you equip a weapon or spell.
- Characters no longer start as InvisibleRace and loading a savegame with a level 1 character will no longer set that character’s race to InvisibleRace.
- Removed all references to the main quest, so there should be no more interference with the Helgen sequence.
- Remains (and is hopefully now more) compatible with alternate start mods and custom race mods. However, it is recommended you load Classic Classes *after* any custom race mods, this should ensure that the racial skill bonuses of the custom race are applied correctly to the class skills.
Ver 1.3
- Re-worked the Birthsign Menu so all the options should be visible at different resolutions
- Adjusted script and cleaned up mod to help reduce compatibility issues
Ver 1.2
- Mod should now be compatible with custom races, and racial bonuses should be applied correctly to the class selection
Ver 1.1
- Fixed: Major Skills were not applying correctly when Assassin Class was selected
- In order to further differentiate Archer and Scout classes, removed Archery from Scout and gave +20 Stamina in its place
- Created a BSA for easier Install/Removal. When upgrading, please remove the following files from your ~/skyrim/data/ folder:
~/skyrim/data/scripts/_CCMenuScript.pex
~/skyrim/data/scripts/source/_CCMenuScript.psc
Ver 1.0
- Initial Release

? Install/Remove ?

To Install, simply copy to to your ~/skyrim/data folder and activate the ClassicClasses.esp

To Uninstall, remove the following files:
~/skyrim/data/ClassicClasses.esp
~/skyrim/data/ClassicClasses.bsa

? Known Issues / Notes ?

During race selection, your character will initially appear invisible - simply select a race and the race configuration models will appear.

Classic Classes should be compatible with most alternate start mods as well. I tested with Live Another Life and had no problems.

? Class Descriptions ?

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The Acrobat
Acrobat is a polite euphemism for agile burglars and second-story men. These thieves avoid detection by stealth, and rely on mobility and cunning to avoid capture.

Specialization: Stealth
Major Skills:
Archery | One-handed | Block | Lockpicking | Pickpocket | Sneak | Speech

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The Agent
Agents are operatives skilled in deception and avoidance, but trained in self-defense and the use of deadly force. Self-reliant and independent, agents devote themselves to personal goals, or to various patrons or causes.

Specialization: Stealth
Major Skills:
Archery | Illusion | Light Armor | Pickpocket | Lockpicking | Sneak | Speech

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The Archer
Archers are fighters specializing in long-range combat and rapid movement. Opponents are kept at distance by ranged weapons and swift maneuver, and engaged in melee with sword and shield after the enemy is wounded and weary.

Specialization: Combat
Major Skills:
Archery | One-handed | Block | Light Armor | Pickpocket | Sneak | Smithing

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The Assassin
Assassins are killers who rely on stealth and mobility to approach victims undetected. Execution is with ranged weapons or with short blades for close work. Assassins include ruthless murderers and principled agents of noble causes.

Specialization: Stealth
Major Skills:
Archery | Alchemy | One-handed | Light Armor | Lockpicking | Pickpocket | Sneak

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The Barbarian
Barbarians are the proud, savage warrior elite of the plains nomads, mountain tribes, and sea reavers. They tend to be brutal and direct, lacking civilized graces, but they glory in heroic feats, and excel in fierce, frenzied single combat.

Specialization: Combat
Major Skills:
One-handed | Two-handed | Block | Light Armor | Smithing

In addition, Barbarians gain +30 Stamina and +10 to Unarmed Combat damage

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The Bard
Bards are loremasters and storytellers. They crave adventure for the wisdom and insight to be gained, and must depend on sword, shield, spell and enchantment to preserve them from the perils of their educational experiences.

Specialization: Stealth
Major Skills:
Alchemy | Enchanting | One-handed | Block | Illusion | Light Armor | Speech

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The Battlemage
Battlemages are wizard-warriors, able to resolve most conflicts with either spell or sword. They are a deadly mix of scholar and soldier, supplementing melee attacks with elemental damage and summoned creatures.

Specialization: Magic
Major Skills:
Alchemy | Enchanting | One-handed | Alteration | Illusion | Conjuration | Destruction

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The Crusader
Any heavily armored warrior with spellcasting powers and a good cause may call himself a crusader. Crusaders do well by doing good. They hunt monsters and villains, making themselves rich by plunder as they rid the world of evil.

Specialization: Combat
Major Skills:
One-handed | Two-handed | Block | Destruction | Restoration | Heavy Armor

In addition, Crusaders gain +20 to Magicka

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The Healer
Healers are spellcasters who swear solemn oaths to heal the afflicted and cure the diseased. The ancient art of restoration is their ally, and the deadly art of destruction is their weapon.

Specialization: Magic
Major Skills:
Alchemy | Enchanting | Alteration | Destruction | Illusion | Restoration | Speech

Bonus Spell: Healing Hands

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The Knight
Of noble birth, or distinguished in battle or tourney, knights are civilized warriors, schooled in letters and courtesy, and governed by the codes of chivalry. Knights study the lore of illusion and enchantment to better command the battlefield.

Specialization: Combat
Major Skills:
Enchanting | One-handed | Two-handed | Block | Heavy Armor | Illusion | Speech

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The Mage
Most mages claim to study magic for its intellectual rewards, but they also often profit from its practical applications. Varying widely in temperament and motivation, mages share but one thing in common - an avid love of spellcasting.

Specialization: Magic
Major Skills:
Alchemy | Enchanting | Alteration | Conjuration | Destruction | Illusion | Restoration

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The Monk
Monks are students of the ancient martial arts of hand-to-hand combat and self defense. Monks avoid detection by stealth, mobility, and agility, and prefer to solve conflict by arrow or by fist.

Specialization: Stealth
Major Skills:
Archery | Alteration | Pickpocket | Lockpicking | Sneak

In addition, Monks gain +20 Stamina and +20 to Unarmed Combat damage

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The Nightblade
Nightblades are spellcasters who use their magics to enhance mobility, concealment, and stealthy close combat. They have a sinister reputation, since many nightblades are thieves, enforcers, assassins, or covert agents.

Specialization: Magic
Major Skills:
One-handed | Light Armor | Alteration | Illusion | Destruction | Restoration | Sneak

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The Pilgrim
Pilgrims are travellers, seekers of truth and enlightenment. They fortify themselves for road and wilderness with arms, armor, and magic, and through wide experience of the world, they become shrewd in commerce and persuasion.

Specialization: Stealth
Major Skills:
Archery | One-handed | Block | Light Armor | Lockpicking | Speech | Smithing

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The Rogue
Rogues are adventurers and opportunists with a gift for getting in and out of trouble. Relying variously on charm and dash, blades and business sense, they thrive on conflict and misfortune, trusting to their luck and cunning to survive.

Specialization: Combat
Major Skills:
Alchemy | One-handed | Block | Light Armor | Illusion | Speech

In addition, Rogues gain +20 Stamina

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The Scout
Scouts rely on stealth to survey routes and opponents, using ranged weapons and skirmish tactics when forced to fight. By contrast with barbarians, in combat scouts tend to be cautious and methodical, rather than impulsive.

Specialization: Combat
Major Skills:
Alchemy | One-handed | Block | Light Armor | Sneak | Smithing

In addition, Scouts gain +20 Stamina

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The Sorcerer
Though spellcasters by vocation, sorcerers rely most on summonings and enchantments. Unique to these mages is the bodily stamina to be armed with the thickest armor.

Specialization: Magic
Major Skills:
Alchemy | Enchanting | Alteration | Conjuration | Destruction | Restoration | Heavy Armor

Bonus Spell: Bound Sword

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The Spellsword
Spellswords are spellcasting specialists trained to support Imperial troops in skirmish and in battle. Veteran spellswords are prized as mercenaries, and well-suited for careers as adventurers and soldiers-of-fortune.

Specialization: Magic
Major Skills:
Enchanting | One-handed | Block | Alteration | Destruction | Restoration | Heavy Armor

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The Thief
Thieves are pickpockets and pilferers. Unlike robbers, who kill and loot, thieves typically choose stealth and subterfuge over violence, and often entertain romantic notions of their charm and cleverness in their acquisitive activities.

Specialization: Stealth
Major Skills:
Archery | One-handed | Light Armor | Pickpocket | Lockpick | Sneak | Speech

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The Warrior
Warriors are the professional men-at-arms, soldiers, mercenaries, and adventurers of Tamriel, trained with various weapons and armor styles, conditioned by long marches, and hardened by ambush, skirmish, and battle.

Specialization: Combat
Major Skills:
Archery | One-handed | Two-handed | Block | Heavy Armor | Smithing

In addition, Warriors gain +20 Health

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The Witchhunter
Witchhunters are dedicated to rooting out and destroying the perverted practices of dark cults and profane sorcery. They train for magical and martial combat against vampires, witches, warlocks, and necromancers.

[b]Specialization: Stealth
[b]Major Skills:
Alchemy | Enchanting | Archery | Conjuration | Destruction | Restoration | Lockpicking

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Nice! It'd be good to have a picture of the process, to see what the menu is like, but I think I can guess.
Shame not to have the option of creating a class too.
I like the " in additions", perhaps Witchhunters should get Turn Undead?

At first I was a little worried that this mod would be too similar to my own WIP, but I see it doesn't really change gameplay very much. As in previous games, classes here are mostly flavor.

How did you change what level skills start out at?

Hey guys! Thanks for checking out the mod.

I'm having trouble taking screenshots at the moment, I was going to try to figure out why its not working next, but wanted to get the post updated first. Once I can get some screenies I'll upload them to Nexus (and probably workshop as well).

As for the process, its basically a navigatable pop-up menu that appears after race selection is completed. As far as class creation goes - I was thinking about adding that (and may do it as an update if there is interest in it), but the scripting is going to be pretty complex so it may be a while.

Although there is a global variable to change the starting skill, it affects all characters in the game (including NPCs and monsters), so setting the global to 5 would have severely underpowered all the enemies in comparison to the player. What I ended up doing was, for each class, manually changing each stat to 25 for Major Skills and 5 for Minor Skills. Also, glad to hear its not the same as your WIP - looking forward to seeing it when you release it!

cheers,
Kear

PS - added Steam Workshop download link to the main post

Wait, won't that remove racial bonuses, too? Or did you use a negative modav rather than setav?
Some people don't like racials, but some do...

Nope, racial bonuses are intact, but I had to workaround the setAV limitations by having it detect what the race was that the player chose at race selection, and then add the racial bonuses back into the math prior to running setAV...

Ah, fair enough. That works too. (although might have issues with custom races. if it doesn't give bonuses, that's one thing, but if it causes crashes...)

Oh there's definitely interest in that.

How are you setting up "specializations" and "major skills"? Globals?

A script I wrote to handle some bits of my WIP may be able to help you. I'd be happy to let you poach whatever you need if you could adapt it to do what you want for this mod. PM me if you're interested

Thanks again for the great feedback everyone!

You know, I didn't even think about custom races - I've never really played with them so it didn't occur to me. I don't imagine it would crash it - the only thing that will probably happen is custom racial bonuses won't be applied. Thats kind of a big deal, so I will give it some thought and work to fix that and incorporate custom race support. Thanks very much for bringing it up!

Ok, well I will see what I can come up with!

I basically used setAV for all the attribute and skill adjustments. I avoided globals to prevent mod conflicts and other unexpected bugs (like the NPC stat one I mentioned earlier). Anyhow, collaborating on scripting would be great! PM will be on its way shortly...

very interesting i might give this a shot on my next play through

Sounds interesting, given that Beth tried to move away from classes to have players develop their own playing styles...but is definietly a good idea

TES games have, at least since Morrowind, had an essentially classless system in that class selection doesn't really impact how you play at all. The benefits are mostly small increases to skill advancement and nothing more. All Skyrim has done is made even that changeable mid-game with the doomstones.

This mod is great for those who desire a little more definition to their character, and also for its nostalgic value.

It's kind of how I view the attribute mods, to be honest. Attributes don't serve any real gameplay purpose except to affect other more tangible stats (skills, health, magicka, stamina, carry weight). They don't do anything on their own.

Oh, one thing: could you provide details about the birthsign boni?

And a suggestion re: birthsigns: make their boni different from but complimentary to the doomstone boni. Also, it would be cool if the doomstone bonus was enhanced or improved in some way if the doomstone matches the character's birth sign.

id love to see this work together with Attributes of the 3rd Era.

Just tried this out with some new characters, works great as far as I can see. I created 2 test characters using Live Another Life, one a Breton Forsworn start in the Reach and the other one a Dark Elf who starts in the Dark Brotherhood sanctuary. Both worked perfectly, with a few very minor issues:

1. Your menus for the middle birthsigns options (The Charges I think?) was partially cut off on my 1920 x 1200 resolution screen. I know that the game has issues with how it handles large dialogue boxes like this but I just wanted to mention it as you may want to split that option up into 2 seperate ones so people don't have problems.

2. Your description mentions 19 Birthsigns when there are only 13 Birthstones in the default game. I'd be fine if you added in some others that are not in the base game, but I just wanted to point out that your numbers are a bit off there. I thought you had added in a few more options that didn't come with the game so I was slightly surprised when I saw the standard 13 pop up in the selection box.

If you're still having issues taking screenshots I could take a few for you and post them for you to use. In any case, thanks for the mod anything that brings back classes and adds in some needed structure to the skills and attributes in the game is a good thing in my mind.

Version 1.1 is out, fixed a the bug with the Assassin Class skills not working properly. I have also changed the Scout slightly based on player feedback - Scouts no longer ave Archery as a Major Skill and have +20 Stamina in its place. This will help differentiate the Archer and Scout classes. Thanks everyone for the comments and bug reports!


I was thinking about doing just that in the future. Oblivion had both birthsigns and standing stones (called doomstones in OB) which made the search and discovery of the doomstones a fun side-activity. I will look at adding unique Birthsigns based on Oblivion/Morrowinds' birthsign bonuses in a future update! Thanks for the suggestion!

I'm not familiar with the mod, I will check it out and see if I can do just that =)

That is strange, I didn't have this issue, but it would be easy enough to break rework the Guardian and Charges menus to break them down further to remove this problem. I'll work on it later today and try to have an update tomorrow.

Bah! Typos...great catch, I fixed the main post - I'll change the readme and upload a new one with the next update. Thank you.

This would be very helpful, thank you! I have no clue why its not working...need to keep troubleshooting but haven't had time yet. I'll PM you with my email if you'd like, or you can post the link. I appreciate it!

Hmm, it appears I can't help you either as all the screenshots I took during a new character creation don't exist. I suspect that the SS function and/or key is disabled when those dialogue boxes are used as I tried it during this attempt while clicking on the bed in Live Another Life. Doing that before choosing a new life in that mod brings up a dialogue box as well and that too can't be captured via the printscreen key so you may be out of luck here. Take a picture of your monitor? Heh, not sure what else to tell you here really.

I like this although I prefer to think of it as a prior experience generator rather than a class system
I want my character to have some background before I begin playing, I just don't think that should neccessarily limit her once I begin playing so this should be ideal.

This

and

RARE mod.

Well spotted - It does work when outside the custom menu, but not within. Strange. Well, I bit the bullet and downloaded FRAPs to get the screenshots, they're now uploaded to Nexus.

I was thinking about sometginh like this..

In my mind the skills were a bit more distinct..
There would be 6 major, 6 minor and 6 misc skills for each class..

Misc would be "anti skills" and start at 5, minor farmiliar skills that start at 15..
1 defining skill at 40 so you can get to 50 if race skill, 2 at 25, 3 at 20 (you can still start at 25 depending on race)..

So a healer would have
40 restoration, 25 alchemy, speech, 20 alteration, illusion, destruction
15 heavy, light (protection), smithing, enchanting (support) conjuration (dark arts) sneak (avoid combat)
5 combat and illegal: one handed, two handed, archery, block, lockpick, pickpocket

Also some spells would be manually added..
General rule.. If a skill at 20 then a novice spell, if at 25 then apprentice + novice spells, if at 50 adept, 2 apprentice and 2 novice spells.

Also taken in regart the class...
Ex. agent would get frenzy, while a healer would have courage..

Or a simple 6 x 25, 6 x 15, 6 x 5 skills.. With apprentice + 2 novice at 25..


Your Witchhunter is given raise dead whihc I beleive is the kind of magic he fights, not emraces..

Quick update - ver 1.2 released. This version adds support for custom races which change starting skills. Thanks for the feedback everyone!

Hey guys, thanks for your support of the mod!

Just an update - I am working on adding the classic birthsigns from Oblivion in next, so you'll be able to choose a Third Era birthsign (and gain standing stone signs as well!), or simply start with a a Fourth Era birthsign (and swap it for other standing stone signs - just like the mod is designed now).

Also in the works, Custom Class creation! More updates as I get these features implemented.

Hey everyone, quick update:
Ver 1.3 is uploaded -
I re-worked the Birthsign Menu so all the options should be visible at different resolutions and adjusted the script and cleaned up the mod to help reduce compatibility issues.

Version 1.4 is up, and contains several important changes/bugfixes:
Ver 1.4
- Re-worked the way the mod activates to solve several problems. Now, instead of activating after Race Selection, the Class Selection screen will appear as soon as you equip a weapon or spell.
- Characters no longer start as InvisibleRace and loading a savegame with a level 1 character will no longer set that character’s race to InvisibleRace.
- Removed all references to the main quest, so there should be no more interference with the Helgen sequence.
- Remains (and is hopefully now more) compatible with alternate start mods and custom race mods. However, it is recommended you load Classic Classes *after* any custom race mods, this should ensure that the racial skill bonuses of the custom race are applied correctly to the class skills.