How to change an already existing NPC

[willwhitt56]

I've dug around for this kind of thing but no one seemed to have a straight answer, mostly just on how to make a new character or mods for it that seemed a bit complicated. All i'm needing to know is this: 

 How do i change the characteristics of an NPC already in vanilla skyrim, also known as Elenwen the Thalmor leader/ bitch?

PS, a simple link to guide will be fine with me.

[worik]

22 minutes ago, willwhitt56 said:

characteristics

It can go from simple to complex ... depending on what you mean by "characteristics" ?

 

If it's a vanilla NPC, you would best be going for a "patch". You leave your vanilla Skyrim.esm as it is, but you add your own patch to change things as you like them

Creating a patch .. e.g. look here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zKcB__hyOc

 

And then it's simply a question how complex you want it to be.

• Simple change = better use TES5Edit to change the simple value.
• complex change(s) = use the CK

 

[willwhitt56]

2 minutes ago, worik said:

It can go from simple to complex ... depending on what you mean by "characteristics" ?

 

If it's a vanilla NPC, you would best be going for a "patch". You leave your vanilla Skyrim.esm as it is, but you add your own patch to change things as you like them

Creating a patch .. e.g. look here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zKcB__hyOc

 

And then it's simply a question how complex you want it to be.

• Simple change = better use TES5Edit to change the simple value.
• complex change(s) = use the CK

 

sorry, should have specified. just a simple body change, maybe the face and hair as well... maybe

[worik]

28 minutes ago, willwhitt56 said:

sorry, should have specified. just a simple body change, maybe the face and hair as well... maybe

1. create a patch ( as shown above)
2. open patch.esp in the CK .. change stuff ... face & body is likely a complex thing.
3. done

 

If it's only the hair it might work in TES5Edit alone, depending which hair is your desired one.

[Guest]

On 11/12/2018 at 9:56 PM, willwhitt56 said:

sorry, should have specified. just a simple body change, maybe the face and hair as well... maybe

To change the body, you need to locate the bodymesh in the mod and overwrite it with your own. If you learn the file structure of mods it's easy to do any such changes. Unpack the mod in a separate location to explore it and see if you can find the body. Or you can just type *.nif in your explorer, and it will show you all nif files.

 

You also need a texture that is compatible with the face or you will have a neckseam. If you're new to modding, it's probably best to look up a tutorial on how to make your own NPC. Then you will understand better what you're doing.

 

Or if you have found a modded NPC that you like, you can use its looks(face and body) for an NPC already in the game. Just use a mod called NPC Visual Transfer Tool. You can also replace the body of the modded NPC and get the body you want for your NPC, but you must do it before you use the tool.

[Grey Cloud]

Do you want to alter just this one NPC or do you want to change others too?