Mittean's Skyrim Civil War Campaign (Inactive)

Game Master mittean

I am considering running a campaign set in Skyrim. It would be using Pathfinder rules, with a couple of potential House Rules tweaks of my own, but using the Skyrim setting.

I'm curious to see if anyone would be interested, and get peoples opinions on a few things. If you have any ideas or suggestions, this is the place for it.

First: Dragons. I am thinking the easiest thing would be to just substitute PF dragons of various colors and ages for the Skyrim Dragons. Thoughts?

Second: Magic. Again, just substituting the spells and mana of Skyrim for spellcasting classes and options in PF rules.

Third: Armor and weapons. This is slightly more complex, with the various types of Skyrim armor (Daedric, Iron, Dwemer, Nordic, etc). These are all different "power levels" in Skyrim. My thought was to just define each as a material type (Stone for Forsworn, Bone for Falmer, Bronze for Iron, Cold Iron for Ebony, Mithral for Elven, etc).

It'll be less tiered like Skyrim, but it could work. And I'd likely remove magical bonuses (no more Longsword +5's) and make the bonuses part of the Skyrim weapons upgrade system. Fine, Superior, Exquisite, Flawless, Epic, Legendary. So a Steel Longsword that you smith up to Exquisite will have a +3 attack and damage bonus, but is not necessarily magical. Magic weapon (like a +1 Longsword in Pathfinder) would now gain a +1 special ability, like flaming, etc.

So you could find a Superior Defending Forsworn Longsword. It would be made of bone, have a +2 to attacks and damage, and be a "+1 weapon" for all DR overrides and such, because of it's defending quality.

Fourth: Races. They would likely be all human, orc and elven. I'm not terribly interested in trying to come up with a balanced Khajit or Argonian, so unless they already exist and I like them...I suppose I would just say "your a Khajit. It's stats are just like a human for now. Go." I'm aware that sucks, lol.

Fifth: Skyrim's classless system. Yeah. Can't do that in PF. So, no. PF classes are the way I'd go.

Yeah...thats it for now. I would consider having a place to post pictures online, so that I can throw up a picture of the weapons or armor you just looted, or the city you just walked into, just for a little flavor. Undecided on that.

I would likely go for two or three players. Not more, as this is already a little daunting at having to adjust everything on the fly.

I would choose who, if anyone, might become Dragonborn in the party, so that would not be part of a character's history or goals. Everything else in the world, that a player would conceivably know about, I'd consider. (note: that means no on the assassin's guild. You'd be a citizen. It's a myth. They approach you, you don't seek them).

Any thoughts? Keep in mind, this is not a call for characters...yet. I'm just gauging whether I think it's worth it.

I may post House Rules later. We'll see.

Catfolk would have to be the Khajit, they are purrfect for it. Argonian's might could be Kobolds. Anyway I love it and would love to play.

Kobolds are small though. There's a lizardman race that probably works better, even though they're a little warrior-y. Dreamscarred press has made Ophidian, which might work, or the Nagaji, Vishkanya or Gillmen could all be acceptable substitutes.

Do you have an idea of what the plot would be like?

I could get behind this. I felt that the story was weak in Skyrim overall. I never felt I had any genuine impact on the world around me as I slayed friggin' dragons.

So something with a more focused plot, rocking the fun weapons and spells from that world, with a group, certainly sounds like fun to me.

Because I can improvise much better than the game, I can make it feel more impactful. That's not too much of an issue. :)

I'll take a look at cat-folk. :) thanks.

This interests me. Would it be PbP or realtime (Roll20 or similar)?

There's also some conversion docs floating around that have a bunch of Morrowind/Elder Scrolls stuff statted out for PF already. I can't find the specific one I'm thinking of at the moment, but here are some others to check out: PF Elder Scrolls stuff on Reddit

PBP

Other factions that can be joined?:

* Stormcloaks?
* Imperial?
* Thief Guild?
* Dark Brotherhood?
* Mage College?
* Bard College?
* The Companion?
* Dawnguard stuff?

* as a side note, do the fancy titles all go to the DragonBorn by default, or will the other PC have a chance?

Race?:

* Vampires?
* Vampire Lord?
* WereWolf?

I'd be interested in this. Tried my hand at making an Elder Scrolls version of Pathfinder a couple years ago but gave up when I realized how much work it would take for just a few players. One thing I figured was, with humans anyway, to give them one of the Heart of... alternate racial traits for free or or something to represent the various human races in Elder Scrolls. For instance, Nords would get Heart of the Mountains/Snows (either one), while Bretons would get Heart of the Streets.

Third: Armor and weapons. This is slightly more complex, with the various types of Skyrim armor (Daedric, Iron, Dwemer, Nordic, etc). These are all different "power levels" in Skyrim. My thought was to just define each as a material type (Stone for Forsworn, Bone for Falmer, Bronze for Iron, Cold Iron for Ebony, Mithral for Elven, etc).

It'll be less tiered like Skyrim, but it could work. And I'd likely remove magical bonuses (no more Longsword +5's) and make the bonuses part of the Skyrim weapons upgrade system. Fine, Superior, Exquisite, Flawless, Epic, Legendary. So a Steel Longsword that you smith up to Exquisite will have a +3 attack and damage bonus, but is not necessarily magical. Magic weapon (like a +1 Longsword in Pathfinder) would now gain a +1 special ability, like flaming, etc.

So you could find a Superior Defending Forsworn Longsword. It would be made of bone, have a +2 to attacks and damage, and be a "+1 weapon" for all DR overrides and such, because of it's defending quality.

Armor as DR? Piecemeal Armors?

No vampires or werewolves. At least not to start, for sure.

Thieves guild (to me) would be more difficult, as the LOOT EVERYTHING thieves guild of Skyrim is not so easy to do in PBP. But, yes, I could consider it. All other factions are joinable.

Plot lines will go anywhere. I'll for sure drive to certain things, if I feel it warrants it, but if the group is following a storyline, we'll go there.

That's an interesting idea about the Heart of the (fill in the human blank).

Armor as DR, and piecemeal, likely. I'm going to look at my House Rules tonight and think about it. So if it's piecemeal and DR, that could be interesting. We'll see

All the "titles" can be with any player. No worries.

1) No vampires or werewolves. At least not to start, for sure.

2) Thieves guild (to me) would be more difficult, as the LOOT EVERYTHING thieves guild of Skyrim is not so easy to do in PBP. But, yes, I could consider it. All other factions are joinable.

3) Plot lines will go anywhere. I'll for sure drive to certain things, if I feel it warrants it, but if the group is following a storyline, we'll go there.

4) That's an interesting idea about the Heart of the (fill in the human blank).

5) Armor as DR, and piecemeal, likely. I'm going to look at my House Rules tonight and think about it. So if it's piecemeal and DR, that could be interesting. We'll see

6) All the "titles" can be with any player. No worries.

1) Yeah, sorry, I didn't mean right off the bat.

2) Most guilds would require some house rulling anyway.

3) K.

4) I agree with you and DekoTheBarbarian there. (but something like that would be needed for the elves as well, and in TES, Orcs and Dwarves are also Mer, or elves.)

5) It would be closer to how TESV:Skyrim works.

6) *Thumbs Up*

For the elves, you'd prolly have to go into 3pp or 3.5 products to differentiate the different elves of Skyrim. There's not a lot of room to maneuver with them. Orcs, I'd say use the stats of Half-Orcs for them, just call them Orcs in-game. Dwarves no longer exist in Skyrim, Mer or not, so there shouldn't really be any need to use them. And Catfolk would make good Khajiit. (Use Catfolk to make a character based off of a Khajiit character on my Skyrim game once, really worked out great.)

I like the idea of using the Armor as DR rules, would make a lot more sense for this setting.

For the elves, you'd prolly have to go into 3pp or 3.5 products to differentiate the different elves of Skyrim. There's not a lot of room to maneuver with them. Orcs, I'd say use the stats of Half-Orcs for them, just call them Orcs in-game. Dwarves no longer exist in Skyrim, Mer or not, so there shouldn't really be any need to use them. And Catfolk would make good Khajiit. (Use Catfolk to make a character based off of a Khajiit character on my Skyrim game once, really worked out great.)

I like the idea of using the Armor as DR rules, would make a lot more sense for this setting.

3pp, 3.0, 3.5, ARG, ...

Most Video Games use Armor as DR anyway.

To me, (I'm thinking about it in the line to go see Minions), you would end up with low AC, high DR...hmmm.

To me, thinking about it in the line to go see Minions, that you would end up with low AC, high DR...hmmm.

House Rule some Parry/Block/Dodge thing?

I've got one, yeah. I'll have to see.

Veeery interested.

Sounds like it would be fun

Have you thought about using the Piecemeal Armor rules from Ultimate Combat Pg. 198. I think it would fit really well in this setting

I am very interested but not going to put myself forward, not yet at least. If you wanted to go that way, I present you the Gestalt A badly named customizable class that gives you build points to take class features.

I also suggest Spell Points. A variant spell casting system from D&D's unearthed arcana that will do much to replace the mana system.

I thought about an alternate spell system, but I don't want to have to learn a new spell system along with everything else here. But I do think it would be a good fit.

This all needs to happen.

If you decide to go with the spell-point system, the amounts should probably be changed a little, to account for the differences between pf and 3.5. Also, the way damage spells work should be like all the other spells - direct damage isn't all that good in the first place.

Updated Number of SP by level by class, based on spell slots:

And there it is.

Here's the link I was looking for earlier: Morrowind in PF. Hope that helps some, for ideas at least.

Thanks, Dragon. I'll take a look, and consider the options.

And thanks for the link, Tvarog.

I like a lot of this stuff in the link. That should save a lot of time and answer a lot of my questions. Thanks again, Tvorag!

Hey there mittean, glad to see you back on the boards.
Hope life's treating you well.

Always interested in a game you're running :)

Ha! Thanks, Spaz! Yeah, have been busy with film for a while. Life is brilliant. :)

And always interested in a character you're playing. I still miss Daxur, lol. He showed up in a home game as an NPC last year, lol.

LOL, hope he was suitably awesome, otherwise the original might get upset :)

Look forward to what you come up with here, never played Skyrim, but did a abit of Morrowind and a lot of Daggerfall, way back when...

Right on. Thanks. :) I do a lot of Skyrim, especially modded, and after a couple of Dark and Stormies the other night (they sure are tasty), I decided to officially consider doing this. :D

So, judging by the presence of a Dragonborn, am I correct in assuming that this will be set exactly during the game of Skyrim?

Like, will we all be on the back of a cart, with our hands bound, heading to an execution?

Because if that's the case.... I've got a bit of a Guin Saga itch to scratch..

~

Cathay-raht or "Jaguar-men"

Ability Mods +2 Str, +2 Con

Natural Armor: +2 AC

Darkvision 60 ft

Hulking Build- Cathay-raht are treated as Large for the purposes of combat maneuvers, armor class, purchasing/wearing armor, and carrying capacity.

~

By points, that's a cheap race, though it's quite powerful, and I'd be quite open to a nerf.

Hulking Build is my attempt at a flavorful but not overpowered version of "nearly large size" ability.

It is set in that exact timekeeper, it would not be in the back of the cart.

I've got a bit of a Guin Saga itch to scratch...

Gettin all Amano up in here.

* Forsworn?
* Dremora? (< Joke)
* "Old People Race"?
* Afflicted?
* Pets?

There will be pets, yes. For druids and Paladins and such their normal creatures, as well.

Forsworn, I suppose I'd consider, but I'd need to look at it. I consider them almost more of a faction than a race, as I believe they are Bretons...I think.

The Tamriel scholars are about to destroy me...

I don't know what the old people race is. No Akaviri, if that's what you mean.

Afflicted are a no. As I understand it, its just normal races afflicted with a specific disease.

Dremora...good joke. ;)

This will not be SUPER lore-friendly, as I'm no scholar with Tamriel-lore. I may just throw in some Pathfinder monsters cause...deal with it. Or whatever. We'll see.

Like I have no issue using basically any Demon or Devil and just calling them Dremora. But again, that's why I wanted to discuss it here.

And then there's the Nine divines and the Daedric princes.

I tend to be less of a fan of cleric and priest player classes, anyway. I don't like heal-bots. But a priest praying with you at the temple before you leave, and blessing you...that I love. It's story, and roll-playing. It's character motivation and world-building. Casting Cure Light Wounds and healing 1d8+4 HP in this round as a Standard Action...I hate it. Its all mechanical. It's not how I ever envisioned religious folk to work in stories...because they don't.

As an example, I've never been able to think of a single character in a movie who was a "cleric" class. No healers in combat. No matter what the fantasy movie. Zero in the Hobbit or Lord of the Rings trilogies. Zero in the Mummy series. I don't recall one in Willow. Zero in Game of Thrones. (The Red Priestess doesn't use it in combat, and some would say she's faking it anyway. The Red Priest certainly uses it after combat, to bring Dondarrion back.) Zero in Sleepy Hollow. Zero in the Harry Potter series. (I think it's Madam Malkin who is the school nurse, but again, she never uses it in combat, just in story). Pirates of the Caribbean? Had Tia Dalma, but she was a deity, and was more of an Oracle than a cleric, anyway.

Anyway, I'll step down from my soap-box. :)

I could say I've found an example, know all those stories where the mere sight of some angelic or heroic figure inspires and renews the strength of those around?

Sounds a lot like a Channel Energy in a setting where HP is understood to be your ability to dodge or reduce wounds, gradually tiring, rather than your ability to shrug off a sword through the heart, but then immediately keeling over to a rock to the arm a moment later.

Thats a bit of the idea, yes. :)

Cleric and other Priest type classes are frequently played as healbots.... And it's valid mechanically. But you can also play them like this...

Madam Malkin makes robes. You're thinking of Madam Pomfrey.

I am! Lmao. Good catch.

Not really, I just read far more Harry potter fanfiction than is healthy.

That's a pretty low bar, Korak :)

Sadly enough, I'm in the same boat as Korak. Way too much HP fanfics in my life.

Check out The Arithmancer by White Squirrel Very good read.

I don't know what the old people race is. No Akaviri, if that's what you mean.

Not sure either... seems to represent older characters regardless of normal races... some info.

And I meant playing as a pet.

HERE is a good mock-up of the races, already done by another.

Hey ho, Tenro, how's my favorite accessory to murder? (Illia- here.)

They still didn't have Cathay-raht, and, after more thinking, I think that's my favorite idea so far. "Rawr, I'm a giant Jaguar and I EAT YOUR FACE!"

Hey ho, Tenro, how's my favorite accessory to murder? (Illia- here.)

They still didn't have Cathay-raht, and, after more thinking, I think that's my favorite idea so far. "Rawr, I'm a giant Jaguar and I EAT YOUR FACE!"

oh, same old same old. I'd probably go with a Shadowscale myself here, if argonians are indeed allowed after my linking the races (the lack of which had GM decrying all nonhumans)

I'd probably pass on playing as a pet. I see far less opportunity for quality role-play there. :/

And I love a good HP fan-fiction. A good one. :)

Tenro, thank you for those races in the link. I may decide to use those.