I'm building a boss mod, it takes place in an exterior cell that's been modified north of Dawnstar. every thing is in the game I've got the NPCs in, but they don't stick to where I've placed them in the CK, they seem to group together and then move to the highest ground in the area. brilliant strategy on their part, but also very annoying.

is there a way to get them to stick to within a few yards of where they are placed?

This sounds like the navamesh bug when you re-enter your cell. Check this thread for more info. http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1361767-navmesh-bugs-part-iii/ If this is the case there are a few "not-guarantied" work-arounds, but no "sure" fix yet.

oh bother. I was hoping it wasn't going to be that.

well, I think I'll be moving my boss mod to that "uninhabited interior" from the CK tutorial. no navmesh issue if it's in the ESM.

Thanks for your help!

No problem......good luck.

You could try placing some patrol markers around and linking them to the markers (Give the markers patrol duration of 1 second at least) and they should go stand where the markers are.

I'll try that as well!