[Clothing] Chattel In The Settled Systems

[mdc4211]

Chattel In The Settled Systems

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CHATTEL IN THE SETTLED SYSTEMS 1.0.0 (Nov 2024)

 

Add a trait turning the character into chattel with forced nudity, but also buffs when the character is exposed. Spacesuits are allowed since they are required for large parts of the game play. CitSS can optionally turn a lot of the crowd actors into chattel. This can be played as a standalone mod by selecting the Chattel trait during character creation, or as an outcome by an alternate death/enslavement mod (i.e. it could be an outcome for the recent "auction" mod).  It also provides a simple actor value interface for other mods to enforce player actions (reducing the "Chattel_Compliance" actor value causes the character to lose buffs and stats to be penalized). See the player and modder HowTo below.

 

WIP and HELP NEEDED:

 

CitSS has two components.  The first is "Chattel.esm" which implements the player effects, and, except for inevitable bugs, it is finished. The second part of the mod is  "ChattelCrowds.esm" which is intended to strip a lot of the crowd actors (i.e. the "Citizen" actors) so that cities are populated by NPCs (non-player-chattel?) and it is working well, up to a point.  The stripping is done by adding new clothing to the appropriate item leveled lists, but I have not figured out how match the skin tones between the face and body.  I think the  actors are getting the correct distribution of skin tones, but the face and body aren't in sync.  If you are willing to accept that (visually jarring) problem, ChattelCrowds.esm works fine.

 

Here are some burning questions:

 

1) How are the actor face and body skin tones set?

 

2) How should the face and body skin tones be kept in sync?  Can it be done without changing all of the actor records?

 

3) Where is the distribution of skin tones controlled?

 

REQUIREMENTS

 

This only depends on the base game. I suggest using "Hide Spacesuit in Breathable Areas" (https://www.nexusmods.com/starfield/mods/2095), or "Naked Spacesuits" to hide the spacesuit. ChattelCrowds.esm needs to have BetterCrowdCitizens.esm upstream in the load order, or it doesn't do anything (goof on my part, but I think it will end up using BetterCrowdCitizens.esm as a master).

 

BACKSTORY

 

The panic to leave a dying Earth led to many people being transported under harsh terms of indenture, which eventually lead, under certain circumstances, to humans becoming mere possessions. Starting in the early to mid twenty-third, those convicted of significant crimes, in particular property crimes, those who had broken terms of indenture, or had been "repossessed" for failure to pay a debt secured by their body, found themselves receiving a implant making them chattel and being sold on the open market. It is well known that pirates will sell their kidnap victims as chattel if a ransom is not paid, and for this reason, the usual penalty for piracy is to receive a chattel implant. While the status is never inherited, by the early twenty-fourth century, a significant part of the human population exist as chattel.

 

Chattel hold a legal status similar to other forms of livestock, and the treatment of chattel is covered by the same laws that prevent the inhumane treatment of animals.  Chattel have fewer rights than a companion animal, but more rights to humane treatment than a non-sentient robot. The laws directly addressing chattel aim to remove their basic humanity by forcing them to be treated as less than fully human. This is achieved through a standardized implant interface. For instance, all implants prevent chattel from wearing clothing, and will severely punish chattel that disobey citizens and other people. Another aspect is that the owner may make purchases using the chattel as a mobile credstik.

 

Chattel are unable own anything, including their body and thoughts, with all ownership rights held by the title holder, or the local authorities if the title is ambiguous. As with non-human livestock, chattel have no say in how they are handled, how they are housed, when and if they are bred, or any other aspect of their existence. A chattel cannot be the victim of a crime, but, in some situations, the owner may sue for civil damages. Healthy chattel are commonly used for labor, community pleasure, or breeding, and there is a strong market for chattel with specific traits.

 

The chattel implant cannot be removed without causing severe brain damage and it significantly alters the individual, so receiving an implant is considered equivalent to death, and a death certificate will be issued. Depending on the circumstances, previous possessions are inherited by next-of-kin, or sold at auction. In the case of kidnapping, this leads tragic circumstances where, even if recovered, the antecedent victim is declared dead, leaving a chattel who will be sold as repossessed contraband. It is especially cruel when the chattel is recovered near the home world of the antecedent, since they will be sold in full view of their family and previous associates, no matter their original standing in society.

 

While many chattel will continued to be called by the name of their dead antecedent, or other convenient moniker, chattel have no legal name and are identified by a serial number contained in the implant.

 

RATIONALE

 

The Settled Systems, and in particular the main factions, seem a little clean and friendly for a civilization that is only two centuries away from near extinction where billions of people died because they were abandoned on Earth.  The chaos and guilt would be overwhelming, leaving deep wounds on society, and we see some of that in the prevalence of pirates and spacers. During the collapse of the Earths biosphere, people would have done anything to save themselves and their families, including entering into indentured bondage, and selling their labor when they could not pay for transportation. Starfield takes place in expansive multiverse. In at least some, the harsh conditions that followed the collapse of Earth meant the original terms of indenture would morph into humans being property. First as a punishment which didn't waste valuable resources, and, later, as a way to collect debts that had been secured through a person's body.

 

This mod implements a simple mechanism to simulate control over characters who have become property. Namely, a chattel implant perk that will harshly punish rebellious chattel that are not directly controlled by their owner.

 

HOWTO FOR A PLAYER:

 

From a player point of view, this implements a new trait.  If the trait is chosen, the PC is denied clothing, and must wear a special neuroamp (the chattel inhibitor). Without meeting those conditions, the PC stats are significantly reduced (e.g. max health is reduced by 90%). If the implant is properly inhibited, the PC will receive increased resistances, as well as enhanced persuasion and stealth.  On the other hand, a player is not forced to comply with the chattel implant requirements. Spacesuits are allowed because the game is unplayable without them.

 

Make sure that the Chattel.esm file is enabled.  If you want to strip some of the crowd actors, also enable ChattelCrowds.esm (but, see the WIP note above).

 

If you are directly using this, you will need to add the inhibitor to your inventory.  You probably what the Chattel01 version and can get the formid using

 

   help Chattel 4 ARMO
   player.additem <formid-here>

 

There are four different styles of inhibitor. The Clothes_Chattel01 is the nominal inhibitor, while Clothes_Chattel02 adds a poncho.  The other two (Clothes_Chattel03 and Clothes_Chattel04) are SFW versions (who might be watching you play, you might want them). You can also add the Trait_Chattel_Implant trait by doing

 

   help Chattel 4 PERK
   player.addperk <formid-here>

 

FOR A MODDER:

 

This mod provides a possible outcome for a alternate death, or slavery mod.  On it's own, no quests are provided, and it simply turns the PC into chattel with enforced nudity and penalties for not complying with nudity requirements.  It defines a new actor value "Chattel_Compliance" to record how compliant the player behavior has been.  This starts with a default value of 100 (fully compliant) and can be modified using modav.  If Chattel_Compliance drops too much, the character will lose bonuses and the player stats will be reduced. While the range of compliance values is not limited, the Chattel mod assumes that it will have a value between zero (non-compliant, and harshly punished), and 100 (fully compliant and buffed).  Even with a Chattel_Compliance of below zero, the Chattel mod will not kill the player character, but it will make the game very difficult.

 

To turn a player into chattel, you will need to add the Trait_Chattel_Implant perk, and then add at least one of the the inhibitor clothing items (e.g. Clothes_Chattel). If you are cruel, you can add the perk and then force the player to find/equip the inhibitor on their own.  Use "help Chattel" to find the form ids, or check with xEdit.

 

LICENSE: Please use and reuse Chattel as you will, and there is no need to give credit, but, as a courtesy to players, consider changing the name if you make incompatible changes. All the usual caveats about game assets apply.

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: This mod was created using (the amazing) xEdit. None of this would be possible without the fantastic team at Bethesda.

 

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• Submitter
  mdc4211
• Submitted
  11/27/24
• Category
  Clothing
• Requirements

 

[Agnot2014]

How are the actor face and body skin tones set?

 

I use in-game the bathing Suit, which is overwritten by installing mod ZBB body mesh and FA - STARQUEEN 5 - Starfield Female Skin Textures. This works for the player with and without wearing the bathing suit, but for companions and NPCs I have to put the bathing Suit (which is now a naked suit) in their inventory and get them to equip it. It doesn’t matter what skin texture the NPC has; these mods do this automatically. It does mean any NPC anywhere which uses the bathing Suit will be naked.

[mdc4211]

12 hours ago, Agnot2014 said:

How are the actor face and body skin tones set?

 

I use in-game the bathing Suit,

Thanks, I'll take a look and see if ZBB is doing anything special.  I've got "naked swimsuit" in my game, so it's probably overriding anything ZBB did.  I'll try it out.

[SamBooka]

Anyway you can get rid of the trait ones you have it?

 

[mdc4211]

9 hours ago, SamBooka said:

Anyway you can get rid of the trait ones you have it?

 

Absolutely!

 

player.removeperk <form-id-for-Chattel-trait>

 

As always... use "help Chattel 4 perk" to find the formid.

[SamBooka]

8 hours ago, mdc4211 said:

Absolutely!

 

player.removeperk <form-id-for-Chattel-trait>

 

As always... use "help Chattel 4 perk" to find the formid.

thx

 

[alfreadddddddddd]

I really like the concept. I was wondering if the direction would be more inventory limiting can’t carry weapons, very small inventory companions carries almost everything. Thinking like Scavvers Closet or some of the Skyrim mods. With something guard checks on planets or a block that doesn’t allow pick up of prohibited items. 
 

wondering if you could set fast travel point in ships brig to travel without a ship?

 

 

[MetZwerg]

would it be possible, to add a drug, that would shortly cancel the chattel perk, so you could enter missions/quests, that automatically strip you naked, like the creation "Escape"

or the like ?

 

or would that get too complicated ?

Edited December 31, 2024 by MetZwerg

[Wolf470]

Very nice concept and mod... however I downloaded this and have made sure that both esm's are active... but there's no chatteling in crowds (my poor girls got the NSS spacesuit) I currently don't have the perk for my poor girl active - is that required for chattel crowds to work?  

 

Oh and MetZwerg... if you enter a quest that strips your char just add the inhibitor back in with the console... (now if you can't access your inventory - it might be a problem)

[Vinccino]

Through further testing, I found that this mod is incompatible with Better Backgrounds by SenterPat (I tested using the Personal Trainer background).

The effects of the chattel implant break in that O2 consumption is absurdly low (literally does not drain unless overencumbered) and the consumption of medical items is affected. Specifically, it is very common (if not always the case) that a med pack or drug of some kind will have no effect & the game even says so.

 

On another hand (save without Better Backrounds), I noticed that using the pheromone drug of NAF Seduce temporarily removes "Exposed" from the listed chattel implant effects. It may be a real concern of effect replacement, or it could be purely visual.

Edited April 5, 2025 by Vinccino

[MetZwerg]

On 1/1/2025 at 5:40 AM, Wolf470 said:

Very nice concept and mod... however I downloaded this and have made sure that both esm's are active... but there's no chatteling in crowds (my poor girls got the NSS spacesuit) I currently don't have the perk for my poor girl active - is that required for chattel crowds to work?  

 

Oh and MetZwerg... if you enter a quest that strips your char just add the inhibitor back in with the console... (now if you can't access your inventory - it might be a problem)

usually you die instantly, as soon ast the inhibitor gets removed...

to take it off without dying, you have to disable the "Chattel" character perk first....

[Wolf470]

22 hours ago, MetZwerg said:

usually you die instantly, as soon ast the inhibitor gets removed...

to take it off without dying, you have to disable the "Chattel" character perk first....

Well as I'm only partway through the game... however I have noticed that even with a chattel marker in the inventory of 'civilians/NPC's' in big towns/cities, I have through poking around dicovered that any civilian has no base body (or rather the base body is a civilian, bald, black female with normal clothes - yes even the males) and only named mobs in cities/towns have the 'PC' type base body - which basically means that chatteling the civilians is useless and it only works with shopkeepers, quest targets and the random named NPC's (probably works)  you don't have to worry about companions or bad guys cause they all seem to use the 'PC' template.  It does make the old 'remove from inventory' console trick a pain... you have to choose an appropriate target.

[Vinccino]

Additional notice: The chattel perk and its effects can cause minor to major conflicts with certain other mods. I noticed some changes after disabling this mod that indicate said conflicts.

[mdc4211]

Just threw up new version from my latest play-through.

[DocClox]

I don't suppose you'd consider an option to have female only crowd chattel? I like looking at naked women, but guys don't have the same appeal, somehow.