Request, Discussion, Challenge - Making a primal Skyrim

[Mochahotte]

So this was...something kinda fun and funny that a friend brought up to me once and figured I'd give it a shot if possible. They wanted to make Skyrim into something more themed toward caveman days. In theory, it could be kind of simple with some mod overhauls, such as:

 

- Something to make armors and clothing either all fur and/or bone, or some other kind of fabric rather than hard leathers, metals, etc. And somehow get NPCs to wear these rather than default attires.

 

- Make weapons look more crude and primitive: I think there's a mod out there called "Immersive Weapons" that does wonders on this; but it also seems to add in a bunch of things that wouldn't fit as well. Also need a way to get NPCs to use them by default rather than other items.

 

- The hardest part I felt, finding or making an overhaul on the settlements to make them into something more like huts than houses and castles. I know there's tons of tents and all in Skyrim already; but how on earth to get those used for the current houses?

 

I'm trying to think of other ideas that may work toward this concept, or know if anybody has any clue as to what mods may be useful. Could be interesting to see work somehow!

[Kendo 2]

Pretty sure there is already a mod that wipes Skyrim clean of all traces of civilization.  Towns, cities, roads, etc. have all been removed.  I think it was a hunting mod on Nexus.  Anyway, it would be a good starting point since the things you don't want are already gone.

 

A Paleolithic Skyrim sounds cool, but it would have to be really inventive to be interesting and make sense in the context.  The big problem would be 'so what is there to do?'  There would be an empty world without Ancient Nord or Dwemer ruins to explore.  There wouldn't be any chances for multidimensional intrigue in towns and cities because they don't exist, guild quests would be a no-go, etc.  Aside from roaming the countryside hunting and fighting enemy tribes it would be pretty devoid of 'adventure'.

 

Magic would be rare or nonexistent aside from shamans or witch doctors.  There wouldn't be any scrolls, spell books, etc.  And magic-users would be either greatly feared/respected or outright ostracized.  To primitive cultures magic is a very real thing, bordering on the spooky-evil side of the supernatural.  All of that would have to be accounted for in a Paleolithic Skyrim.

 

Another consideration is primitive xenophobia.  Outsiders and non-tribe members are either enemies or competition for resources.  The player just waltzing in to a camp full of strangers to trade would be very rare.  This is considering that everyone involved is of the same race.  Depending on the viewer an orc or an elf might be looked at like we would see a real life extraterrestrial.  Primitives wouldn't trust outsiders, be it they are from another tribe or another race.

 

Limiting armor and weapon selection would be easy by simply creating new leveled lists.  Since stock NPCs (Stormcloaks, Imperials, the Thalmor, etc.) wouldn't be around and new leveled lists for NPCs would need to be created anyway.  Making everyone in the game world wear primitive clothing and use primitive weapons is probably the easiest part of this mod to do.

 

I could go on forever with this line of thought so I'll just stop now. 

[Mochahotte]

Pretty sure there is already a mod that wipes Skyrim clean of all traces of civilization.  Towns, cities, roads, etc. have all been removed.  I think it was a hunting mod on Nexus.  Anyway, it would be a good starting point since the things you don't want are already gone.

 

A Paleolithic Skyrim sounds cool, but it would have to be really inventive to be interesting and make sense in the context.  The big problem would be 'so what is there to do?'  There would be an empty world without Ancient Nord or Dwemer ruins to explore.  There wouldn't be any chances for multidimensional intrigue in towns and cities because they don't exist, guild quests would be a no-go, etc.  Aside from roaming the countryside hunting and fighting enemy tribes it would be pretty devoid of 'adventure'.

 

Magic would be rare or nonexistent aside from shamans or witch doctors.  There wouldn't be any scrolls, spell books, etc.  And magic-users would be either greatly feared/respected or outright ostracized.  To primitive cultures magic is a very real thing, bordering on the spooky-evil side of the supernatural.  All of that would have to be accounted for in a Paleolithic Skyrim.

 

Another consideration is primitive xenophobia.  Outsiders and non-tribe members are either enemies or competition for resources.  The player just waltzing in to a camp full of strangers to trade would be very rare.  This is considering that everyone involved is of the same race.  Depending on the viewer an orc or an elf might be looked at like we would see a real life extraterrestrial.  Primitives wouldn't trust outsiders, be it they are from another tribe or another race.

 

Limiting armor and weapon selection would be easy by simply creating new leveled lists.  Since stock NPCs (Stormcloaks, Imperials, the Thalmor, etc.) wouldn't be around and new leveled lists for NPCs would need to be created anyway.  Making everyone in the game world wear primitive clothing and use primitive weapons is probably the easiest part of this mod to do.

 

I could go on forever with this line of thought so I'll just stop now. 

 

If there's one like it already, I haven't seen it. I did find a wiki with something about a "Savage Skyrim" mod; but turns out it was just somebody compiling a thing on what they think it'd be like. Made me sad it wasn't actually a thing, but it did have some nice little ideas on it: http://tesfanon.wikia.com/wiki/Savage_Skyrim

 

Would you happen to have a link to what you're talking about though? I'd love to see that!

 

Though I don't think wiping the whole map and story would be something that's required to do it. It'd be a simple matter to just make up a story or whatever to integrate core aspects of the game into things. For example, as far as ancient Nord cairns, tombs, and dungeons go, it's easy to just translate those into tribal burial mounds. Lore-wise, that's what they are anyways. Dwemer ruins would indeed be a little harder to integrate; but I think it could be possible if going by lore as well. It's easy to say that they were an advanced race from ages ago that wiped themselves out; and primitives who don't know any better (or perhaps do) don't go near the ruins because of the "metal gods" they may disturb or something like that.

 

Magic, I can agree would need to be reworked; but also probably not as much as that? Scrolls and other writing materials would likely go out the window, yeah; or be redone to look like leather or stone slabs to be painted/chiseled on. As far as fears go, I feel this is also something that's already pretty well integrated with the game too. Beyond court magicians (or in this case, "tribal shamans"?), magic is something that the natives aren't fond of. Sure, the reasons are different and pointed more at what's happened in neighboring kingdoms of Tamriel; but if we're looking at Skyrim itself, Nords often go, "We don't like that voodoo stuff." So depending on how deep modding wants to go into that, it could either be "ignored" or taken to more of an extreme?

 

Xenophobia...that's a tricky one, yeah. Maybe this is something you'd just hafta either play as with a native race for immersion sake, or use your own imagination if going with something not native to Skyrim? As the game is, there's already a bit of xenophobia; but that's yet another area where stuff may have to more intense to get the right feel for it...

 

Orrrr...I dunno! That all really made me think - Skyrim kind of is just a primitive land where caveman days would simply be taking social things to extremes while a wrecking ball is applied to almost everything structural. But maybe going complete Paleolithic era with it isn't entirely the right thing to do, like with the Dwemer's ruins. After all, it is a fantasy game, so with some proper lore there should be plenty wiggle room for a lot of stuff, right?

[Kendo 2]

I don't remember the name of the Skyrim turned wilderness mod.  Sorry.

 

Anyway,  you could always set your mod in the early Merethic Era, sometime between when the cosmos stabilized (after the Dawn Era) and before Ysgramor lands in Skyrim for the first time.  There were already established human nation-tribes with territories in Skyrim when Ysgramor came with his sons.  His was one of many human migrations from Atmora to Skyrim.  This age would be before the Snow Elves decided men were becoming a threat.  Both men and the Snow Elves got along somewhat.

 

Realistically you could represent the Snow Elf mer as something similar to the Aztecs or pre-Hellenic Greeks.  They have enough technology to have cities and a road system but everything is still based on agriculture.  Men would still be in state of semi-savagery; a mixture fur wearing ax dragging brutes and the more settled pastoral and agricultural types.

 

Even though the Dragon Cult didn't start until much later you could still introduce a localized and very early incarnation of it.  Treat like any other totem animal, but maybe there is one tribe that reveres dragons above all others; like pre-Roman Celtic death head cults, or the Cult of Mithras and the bull-worshiping thing.

 

If you went with this time frame you'd still have to address the Dwemer dilemma since they would still be around and be the dominant culture in their areas.  One way to solve that would be their cities are off limits to non-Dwemer and they live sequestered lives removed from the rest of the world.  *shrugs*  I know it sounds like a cop-out but how else are going to deal with them?

[panthercom]

  Here's an idea, about 200 years ago there was a war, a war of magic. Arrogant wizards got carried away

and tore temporary holes in space and time... why it was almost like NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS!

 

 When you're living in the iron age, where else can you go but BACK TO THE STONE AGE.

 

 There you go. Various ruins are tainted with a magical miasma, which will kill you if you're exposed

for too long.

 

 I hope Bethesda doesn't steal my idea and make a game out of it. This is what happens when I'm stoned

[Kendo 2]

@panthercom

 

That's actually a good take on a 'primitive' scenario.  There was a holocaust caused by some sort of magical malfunction on a Nirn-wide level and it thrust everyone into a new state of barbarism.  What little technology they had would be lost.  If it centered on major cities (where mages congregate) that would wipe out seats of power and learning in one shot.  The thing is, since the people are already clod-hopper dirt farmers not a lot would change for them.  The ruling class wouls switch and shit would be crazy for a generation or so but it would eventually calm down.  Think about our own Dark Ages.  Peasants suffered until new warlords came along and then they were back behind the plow again.

 

Something else would have to happen along with the initial magical blast that ended it all.  Maybe a nuclear winter where nothing will grow?  Or magical fallout that corrupts plants and animals (and people too).  Humans are determined to survive so something REALLY bad would have to take place for them but to spring back like they have in the past.

[panthercom]

 Oh no! You said the 'F' word (fallout) Now the secrets out

 

 I was reading a theory about how the ancient mind saw the world in a different way than

the modern mind does. Their world view had parallels with schizophrenia, in that

they would actually see things that weren't there as a way of dealing with things they didn't

understand. So think of a consciousness - altering event; kind of like the acid bomb paranoia

of the 60's, where armies prepared for attacks with psychoactive substances. The land could

be infused with the residue   of mind-altering weaponry. Do you know how hard it is to make

yourself do work if you do pot all the time? 

 

 You could do something with The Afflicted in the game too; now they're plague vectors.

[winny257]

I have not much to say, only this.
this weapon set is something very special, not only that you can forge these weapons.
No, such weapons automatically use many NPC's. 

 

Weapons of the Third Era by 747823

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/3871/?

 

 

edit: and this weapon set is good.