Had a similar thing happen to me in Dragonsreach. I was doing stuff for gold to buy Breezehome, then when I had around 5300 I walked into Dragonsreach, started to approach the Jarl and everyone, and all of a sudden, no reason, I didn't even have any weapons equipped as I was town-wandering beforehand, they all got aggro at me, everyone in the whole building made a beeline for me, I ran the hell outside and as I got to the door a few arrows flew past my head and into the door, was comical that every arrow missed though.

Still, I went outside, everything was fine, although I had a couple of enemy markers on my compass, so I went to investigate, well, I got to the outside walls (still inside Whiterun) and the enemies were outside the city walls, how did they aggro me from a different cell!? Well, they disappeared after a few seconds, walked back inside Dragonsreach to re-attempt my real estate acquisition, and everyone was back in their normal places, everyone was happy again, except Lydia who was just pacing along one of the tables (maybe she caused it in the first place by knocking a plate/something into someone else?) Very odd world this Tamriel. ;P

(Lydia wasn't following me, she was just waiting around for me, now she is sitting in the chair on the hallway upstairs of Breezehome, and god help her should she ever be out of place.)

From a few posts above I am lead to assume Lydia "hit" someone with a plate or a piece of food, but would that cause them to aggro me and not Lydia?

Maybe... I don't now if this happens, but did you happen to accidentally shout and knock some stuff around? I did that once accidentally in Ulfric's palace, and the guards tore me to pieces as I ran around the table. If not... well, you have some funny memories.

If replying to me: Nope, I walked in, wearing clothing, nothing equipped, walking up the first set of stairs, as soon as people came into view, they all pulled out swords/bows and went ballistic.

If not replying to me: Ignore the above. ^^

No worries, I was replying to you and the OP. I was just wondering if the people were as ballistic as they were in Oblivion, were if you accidentally kicked over a tankard the people proceeded to call in the guards, pick up some swords, and start beating you to death.

Yeah... could also be an arrow you accidentally / for the lolz shot in the skies some months ago. Guess where it might've landed? Tough luck.

But let's just say it's a bug, mm'kay? :/ I've seen it happen to others, although luckily not to me, and that's what's important.

Oh you Radiant AI, you...

I once managed to wipe out an entire town with my mere presence. Just casually strolled in, knocked over some clutter, the owner went ballistic, hit some other NPCs when I dodged, died while others joined the fight so I stopped being the center of aggro and was given the opportunity to stand and watch as the townsfolk and guards murder each other. Then re-loaded an earlier save. It was funny as hell though.

I had this happen in Dragon Bridge, just outside of Solitude. I had just finished the whole "queen coming back as a ghost" thing and had been rewarded and made thane and got a spiffy new shield and all, so I was feeling pretty good. I reach Dragon Bridge without incident, and am not even intending to stop, when I get an arrow up the a**. Blade out. At the ready. I'm looking around for the bandits. The guards come charging in, I run to join them, and one of them clobbers me in the face with an axe. I hit back, all confused, and then the townsfolk are in on it and more guards are coming and I may have FUS RO DAHed a couple people over a roof, I really don't remember. After a bit, I sheath my blade and I'm waving my hands and trying to talk some sense, and finally the guards chill a bit but they're still all, "You're a wanted criminal, lawbreaker!" and I'm going, "What the heck did you shoot me with an arrow for???" and they're like, "Come quietly or this won't end well!!" and I'm saying, "What the heck is your problem, Nord!?" but they go, "You're TRYING our PATIENCE, scum!!!", and I'm all like, "I just SAVED YOUR TOWN from the WRAITH of an INSANE SORCERESS!" but they're going, "YOU TOUCHED A POT IN THE INN THE LAST TIME YOU STAYED HERE!!!" and then I had to pay all of this gold and they teleported me to some castle all the way back in Solitude and told me to walk this time.

Seriously, what I discovered actually happened was due to regional awareness in the wilderness. I had been attacking the Thalmor on the roads and freeing the Stormcloak prisoners. Occassionally, there would be a farmer or someone nearby, and they would go running from the fight. If this happened on Imperial controlled ground, the NPC "witness" to my assault against the Thalmor would trigger the Radient AI crime system and it would get chalked up as a bounty. The only reason I figured this out later on is: I was fighting with a Thalmor patrol and some Legion troops jumped me from behind. I didn't want to kill the Imperials, so I bolted and they chased me all the way to Kirkstead. Upon nearing the town, the guards attacked me, and when I yeilded and paid the fine, the Imperials stopped attacking as well.

This has to be the most stupid bug I've come across.

For some reason only certain NPCs in Whiterun (not the guards) have lost their minds and attack me on sight. I've done nothing to aggro them, haven't commited any crimes whatsoever (I don't have any bounties)! I don't have any companions either, so that rules out a friendly accidently aggroing. I simply left Whiterun to complete a quest and when I came back to sell loot about a quarter of the town attacked me, but not the guards... The only thing I can think of is I attacked a Thalmor patrol on my way to the quest, but even then I killed them all and a message popped up saying all witnesses have been killed...

Now I'm going to have to go back and load an old save, so the last 2-3 hours is a total waste. Thanks Beth, loving the radiant AI! /sarcasm

Why isn't there a console command to fix stupid [censored] like this???

were you in werewolf mode?

Nope, haven't reached that point in the game yet with this character.

I'm pretty sure it's just a stupid glitch, but I'm surprised there's no way to fix it except by going back to an old save and thus losing any progress in the last few hours. Really [censored] annoying!

yea, this kinds of game breaking glitches have happened to me, and they are what separates skyrim from a good games to an okay game.

Indeed, I've lost all motivation to repaly the last few hours again. So many console commands, but nothing to unaggro NPCs?

Was hoping to find a solution somewhere, but after searching for the last 30 mins, I give up.

One thing i did learn early in my Skyrim career is this. Never ever place magical traps inside a palace and forget about them. They get triggered by cleaners hours later when you least expect it and then you become public enemy number one in said palace. Lol.

I've been in Riverwood a couple times when Stormcloak couriers would run through and the guards and townsfolk would attack the couriers. Perhaps this is what happened and a citizen accidentally hit a guard which triggered the chaos?

Apparently it's a known bug for my NPC: http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Elrindir

Since you mentioned console commands I'm pretty sure you're not playing on 360, so no I doubt this is relevant. I have found that the easiest way to resolve these kind of issues is to just attack a guard (don't kill him) and then sheath your weapon when he attacks. Pay your fine and all seems to be well again with crazy NPC's.

Hey Akanaro, I'd just like to thank you for your suggestion! Saved me from having to redo a good 2-3 hours of stuff all over again. Your trick worked a treat. Simply hit a guard, then yield, pay the 40 gold fine and no more NPCs going nuts for no reason.

Cheers mate!

All I can say is that AI can be weird like that.

I remember in Oblivion I had half the population of Anvil roaming around the basemant of the haunted house there.