Play as the Dragonborn's Henchman/housecarl/slave?

[Flashwitt]

It just dawned on me that getting to not only NOT be the DB, but to play as that epic character's sidekick, housecarl, or even slave, would just be kind of excellent. Honestly, I'd love to see, and play both smutty and non-smutty versions of this! Is there anything like it? Maybe a version where you could determine what kind of DB you get to serve: An arrogant, dangerous barbarian or a genuinely heroic hero, a bumbling scholar uncomfortable with their epic new power, or a worshiper of the darkest Daedra... and then you, their humble sidekick or servant, sworn to bear their burdens, and help them along their journey.

[Seijin8]

17 minutes ago, Flashwitt said:

It just dawned on me that getting to not only NOT be the DB, but to play as that epic character's sidekick, housecarl, or even slave, would just be kind of excellent. Honestly, I'd love to see, and play both smutty and non-smutty versions of this! Is there anything like it? Maybe a version where you could determine what kind of DB you get to serve: An arrogant, dangerous barbarian or a genuinely heroic hero, a bumbling scholar uncomfortable with their epic new power, or a worshiper of the darkest Daedra... and then you, their humble sidekick or servant, sworn to bear their burdens, and help them along their journey.

 

In short, no, nothing like that.

 

There are some complex follower mods that allow them a level of independence, but that's as close as you are going to get.

 

Wish it weren't the case.

[Flashwitt]

On 10/8/2021 at 12:29 PM, Seijin8 said:

 

In short, no, nothing like that.

 

There are some complex follower mods that allow them a level of independence, but that's as close as you are going to get.

 

Wish it weren't the case.

I was fairly certain that was the case, but since the thread is "Request and Find", I thought it'd be a good place to just float the idea out there, see what others thought of it, and if any modders might like the idea enough to run with it.  I'm not a modder myself, just a fan of all the brilliant work others have done.  I'd love to see it happen.

[Seijin8]

6 hours ago, Flashwitt said:

I was fairly certain that was the case, but since the thread is "Request and Find", I thought it'd be a good place to just float the idea out there, see what others thought of it, and if any modders might like the idea enough to run with it.  I'm not a modder myself, just a fan of all the brilliant work others have done.  I'd love to see it happen.

 

I am a modder and let me assure you that the reasons it doesn't exist aren't trivial.  The entire structure of the game from engine on up is based on you providing all the agency.  The AI's engine-level ability is woefully lacking.  There simply aren't enough tools/options available to make this in a convincing way.  There are some projects to expand the AI into something more functional (Enhanced AI is one), but even that is limited.

 

I've been working on a mod that tries to give a little bit of apparent (simulated) agency to a select few NPCs for years now.  It is nowhere close to being able to do what you are asking, and I wouldn't even know how to start.

 

Hopefully someone more talented has been working on it, but I kinda doubt it.  Bethesda's AI just isn't deep enough.

[Seijin8]

I will try to end on a more helpful/positive note.

 

Frequently, if I play as dragonborn at all it is as a support character.  One example playthrough like this was the PC as a slave to a group of orc dragon hunters.  They would bring the PC with them to maintain their camp, cook their food, etc, and to provide some combat support (in the form of courage spells and such, nothing that would prevent scars) as they searched the land for dragons.  The PC would handle the finances of the group (because that is beneath a hunter), and keep the operation running smoothly.

 

Of course, in reality, I was the dragonborn PC with a bunch of orc followers.  Still, by tweaking interactions with mods like Sexlab Relationship Dialogue System, it was possible to make sure the interactions were not really friendly, and making some custom dialogue so that enemy-styled dialogue (threats, mainly) would also be played by followers who were part of a special faction helped to preserve the illusion.

 

With some imagination, you can at least fake it somewhat.

[tomatno]

Theres a quest in Troubles of Heroine where you sort of get to play as the slave to a male nord that replaced you as the dragonborn. Although it's just one small part of the mod and doesn't have alot of content to it