Alternate PlaystyleThis is, basically, turning Daggerfall into another but similar game. It requires repeated savegame editing, for which I recommend the easy to use editor Daghex from Lord Oberon. I stick with the last 2.0 version, which is more stable.The editing creates a virtual game in which there basically are no classes. You are what you do. If you run around a lot, you will get faster. If you fight a lot, you will get stronger. If you cast spells, you will get smarter. If you communicate, you will get more charismatic. If you prioritize religion, you will get luckier. And guild membership is essential, as the guilds are far more powerful than in normal Daggerfall.
I start out by creating a normal character, typically a mage.
(Because they already are forbidden most weapon and armor.)
As the game starts in Privateers Hold, I save the character
and do the first, dramatic savegame editing: OK, the world is yours for the taking. You may want to go through Privateers Hold, particularly if you have an ebony dagger. If not, you may want to press Alt-F11 as soon as you reload your edited game. This will place you at the dungeon exit, and you better get out of there before the imp fries you... In the beginning, a skill will rise almost every time you rest for 6 hours (or fast travel). If you've run a few steps, your Running skill will go up. If you've slashed a rat, your short blade skill will go up, probably also your stealth and critical strike. This is because the lower your skill, the easier it is to train; and your skills are low indeed. Skills, attributes and statsNow for the fun part. In the virtual game, attributes are linked to skills.
Now, keep an eye on the highest skill for each attribute. This is your key to growth. Half of the highest skill is your attribute growth. Or to put it this way: Att=40+(Skl/2). For instance, say your running skill is 4. Your speed should then be 40+(4/2)=42. Obviously, the game won't do this, so you'll have to daghex it. Update as often as you find necessary for gameplay. Health points: As we want to rule out class differences and base the game on merit, health points will be slaved to Strength and Endurance. 3 health points for each aquired point of STR or END. The formula here is 30+(3*(STR-40+END-40)). This gives a max HP of 330 without lycanthropy or Oghma, but the actual value will probably never get this high as medical skill rises very slowly after a while. Also a pure mage who does not develop his weapon skills will remain comparatively fragile, as is good and proper... LevelsI originally tied leveling only to magickal skills, but this unbalanced the game enormously for the pure fighter types. When you're superstrong and fast and almost invulnerable, the rats start to lose their attraction as sparring partners. Really fast.Luckily, Daghex has a function to move around skills. More exactly, you can define what skills go into Primary, Major and Minor. The rest go into misc skills. Be aware that there is no control against having a skill repeated, for instance in Primary and Minor.
I recommend that you occasionally (once a day or so?) look over
your skills and sort them. The 3 highest skills should go into
your Primary skill slots. The 3 highest magickal skills (that
are not already primaries) should go into Major, thereby keeping
some ties between leveling and magic. Magic is probably the
single area where levels are most important, as a low-level mage
is a pitiful creature indeed! -Finally, skills that are demoted
from Primary (or almost qualified for Primary or Major) should be
put into the Minor slots. With this setup, you will level faster the more you specialize on your few favorite skills. The dedicated magicka user will rise the fastest of all, but beware: The monsters will rise too. Armor and strengthIn the virtual game, there are strength limitations to what types of armor you can wear. The general idea is that the most protective armors are heavier or harder to use. Coincidentally, strength depends on your weapon skills, so the most experienced warriors will be able to wear the heavier armor. The pure mages and pure thieves will as usual end up with flimsy protection. But now the more dedicated a warrior is, the better armor he will get to wear eventually.A table of strength limitations is included under Knights below, because Knights are a major source of armor in this game. The power of guildsIn the virtual game, guilds are severely powered up. Indeed, they are indispensible. Without guilds, you will remain a peasant, without necessary adventuring skills. You may still have a Daggerlife, but it is very different and much harsher than those who go along with the establishment.
I assume that you can join a temple without the usual minimum
skill of 22. You may have to prove your dedication by doing a
non-member quest, though, depending on the attitude of the temple.
(I guess the "soft" temples, such as Stendarr and Mara, would
let you in for free..) You can temporarily daghex a relevant
skill to 22 to join, then set it back. The guilds will not expel
you for lack of skill, once you're in. :)
The Fighters Guild In the virtual game, you start out with short blades only. For the rest of the weapons, you are supposed to be taught how to use each weapon type for best effect. Generally, the heavier weapons will come last, as you are supposed to gradually build your strength. The same goes for armor. The Fighters Guild will teach you all about the various armors: How to put them on properly, how to adopt a fighting style appropriate for your armor, how to keep it oiled etc. The first day you'll be shown how to strap on a leather armor. The heavier stuff will wait for later. These are the skills you will learn from the Fighters Guild, and the reputation you will need to get them. Obviously, with a reputation above 100, you will need to keep track of this manually. 5 points for each successful quest, -2 for each failure, -1 per month of gametime.
NEW!
Because the career path of the Fighters Guild was simply too easy
with no skill requirements, I hereby randomly decree that you have
to buy training up to a skill of 10 before you are allowed to wave
around a new type of weapon! MUAHAHAA! Ahem. And for two-handed
weapons you should really have a skill of 20, as you need to use it
both for attack and defense. Really, though, this is for your own
best. You are to be a fighter after all, and we can't just
let you be slaughtered if you need to wield an unfamiliar weapon!
(**)STR, SPD and AGI must all be at least 60 for this bonus. (***)Weapon skill must be at least 75 for this bonus. "Bonus to hit" at rep of 140 is repealed, in preparation for Dark Brotherhood superguild.
The Knightly Orders The dedicated warrior should serve his country in an exalted position, and receive the honor and the trappings of which he has proved himself worthy. By joining a knightly guild, you do in effect change to the Knight class to some extent. You will no longer be able to wield the weapons or armor of the infernal Daedra; on the other hand, you will be immune to paralyzation and with time you will learn to repair your own weapons.
To compensate for the rather dramatic loss of daedric weapons and
armor, the Knightly smith will replace your daedric equipment with
corresponding orcish equipment. (To do this in Daghex, change the
material and the color.)
Temples Whether you fight with weapons or magic, your struggle should serve a higher purpose. The temples will provide this overlight over your life, and divine protection to make it safely through a harsh world.
First of all, your reputation with your chosen deity decides your luck
attribute. Half your reputation is added to the attribute, in the same
way that skills were added to other attributes. The effects of luck
are hard to quantify (hard to detect, even, in my experience) but there
you are.
The Mages Guild Tamriel is a world filled with magicka. Most people can only harness it casually, throwing a simple spell or two. But the Mages Guild has a thousand years of learning from some of the brightest minds in the Empire. They will teach the truly dedicated student to unlock the almost unimaginable powers that surround us all. But prepare yourself to study and practice hard: The Mages Guild is nothing if not conscientious.
Already the king of fringe benefits, the Mages Guild is now also
capable of teaching you to expand your magicka reservoir. You
will start out with the common man's INT/2 in spell points, but
proving your worth through quests and study will let you increase
this and also teach you to defend yourself against magickal attacks.
Note that your highest magickal skill must be as high as your
reputation before you can reap the rewards.
Witches Outside the religiously white magic of the temples, and the scientific magic of the Mages Guild, there are dabblers in the Craft with their own ancient traditions. The witches of Tamriel are not agents of evil, though they can be harsh to those who betray them, man or wraith. In my version of the game, the witches are particularly helpful to newbies. You should seek them out fairly early in the game, when you are confident enough to do quests at all. After talking with old people, you could use the map cheat (Ctrl+F1 - but beware, this key press will also put you in steal mode) and find a black dot on the map. The pitch black dots are outdoors covens. Sadly, not every province has one. You may want to look through town houses for the Glenmoril witches, who are quite common in villages and towns. Look for a grey-clad person of indeterminate age and gender, who will offer daedra summoning and quests.
In Daggerfall, you cannot actually join witches. But since
you can do quests and have reputation with them, we'll just
ignore the lack of formal affiliation.
The skill increases are not a result of training and should therefore not be calculated into your attributes, in my opinion. Your mileage may vary. Back to Daggerfall Crossroads. To creator's homepage. |