Old Ebonheart Thieves' Guild Questline

Priority: 

Stage: 

  • Merged

Development Progress: 

100

Merged into: 

Claim Type: 

Faction: 

Description

7-25-18 READY TO MERGE.

Updated 6-19-18

The questline has been finished. It consists of 10 quests (as opposed to the 8 quests in the plans). The quests (in order) are:

  • 01 - Eye of Argonia (TR_m3_TG_Fentus1)
  • 02 - High-Flying Plans (TR_m3_TG_Fentus2)
  • 03 - Facing Eviction (TR_m3_TG_Moranie1)
  • 04 - Thieving Rivalry (TR_m3_TG_Fentus3)
  • 05 - When the Nord's Away... (TR_m3_TG_Fentus3d)
  • 06 - Happy Birthday, Ruma Soanix (TR_m3_TG_Fentus3b & 3c)
  • 07 - A Message from Mister Delagia (TR_m3_TG_Fentus4)
  • 08 - Infiltrating the Gang (TR_m3_TG_Moranie2 & 2b & 2c)
  • 09 - Lost in Chunzefk (TR_m3_TG_Fentus5 & 5b)
  • 10 - An Empress' Ransom (TR_m3_TG_Moranie3 & 3b & 3c & 3d & 3e)

A questline for the Thieves' Guild in Old Ebonheart. See child claims for more details and claiming.

The quests take place in the Old Ebonheart Section.

1. The Eye of ArgoniaThe player gets tested by Cap’n Fentus as he sends the player chasing a non-existent artifact.
2. High-Flying PlansPlayer is tasked with robbing Dwemer schematics from the Imperial Navy, moving unseen in the sewers.
3. Facing EvictionPlayer helps a poor commoner settle her debts with a gang of loansharks.
4. Thieving RivalryPlayer is sent to retrieve an item in an ancestral tomb that another thief is trying to steal too.
5. A Message from Mister DelagiaThe Thieves Guild’s local rival gang sends the guild a threatening message by killing their mark.
6. Infiltrating the GangPlayer is tasked with infiltrating the rival gang to help a kidnapped associate escape and put an end to the gang’s activities.
7. Why did it have to be Spiders?With the rival gang gone, the player is tasked with rescuing the thief who previously tried to one-up them from a tight spot.
8. An Empress' RansomPrevious deeds return to haunt the Guild as the leadership gets jailed; the player is tasked with finding an artifact that could be use as ransom; the annoying one-up thief returns for the one final time.

NOTE: these quests make up the main plotline for the Guild in Old Ebonheart. In addition to these quests there could be some low and mid tier quests preferably set somewhere before quest 5.

 

Relationships

Comments

Note to questline claim

Kevaar's picture

Note to questline claim makers: Put the child quests up as DESIGNS rather than UNCLAIMED so that they do not clog up the main page filter.

IMO this quest line is

fufulames's picture

IMO this quest line is lacking by not progressing anything politically in OE or for the thieves guild. And not having a strong core narrative.

Also fentus character is interesting by himself.  A comical 2 or 3 quest series with him contracting the TG rather than being part of it and living in a steampunk / mad, swashbunkling inventor themed apartment would be way more cool. And leave room for a more serious and mischievous political epic for the TG main story.  Fentus  is both a comical adventurer, genius inventor and mastermind of TG charged with operating a sophisticated, criminal organization.  but the whole time his largest plans involve sending you on errand to build his dwermer airship. ?? Simply separating him from the guild and rewarding player with one of his inventions and old apartment would resolve this.

The main quest line for TG should be political any minor ones should be a side  quest if they do not progress the main TG narrative politically. Not being a dev here I don’t have much sway but the core quest line for TG is imo lacking even if some of these quests, individually, are intriguing. Maybe a couple more can be added in  for the political, core-narrative that is still lacking.

There is plenty of inspiration to draw from on the old forum. honestly except for a couple choice quests there are many much better options in the link:

  http://tamriel-rebuilt.org/old_forum/viewtopic.php?lt=24491&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=

Ps. Typing / editing w. mobile device on new forum is a nightmare!

Those are legitimate concerns

Rats's picture

Those are legitimate concerns and good points. I'll tone down Cap'n Fentus' quirkiness for starters and see if some of the old forums' ideas could be implemented here. Some political stuff would indeed be alright here.

This is not the main questline for Thieves' Guild, however, but questline for the local guild chapter in OE. The large-scale stuff, involving a gang war with the Camonna Tong, is still a long way off.

I would go as far as

fufulames's picture

I would even go as far as seperating Cap'n Fentus entirely, or at least part of his character so it all makes more sense.  I think you guys can do better than this. I like the character but not as a Thieves Guild leader! Also maybe have a few contract type mission for  a couple interesting charcters in OE to introduce them, but maybe distguish between "contracts" and internal TG stuff.  Would love to see OE thieves focus more on epic contracts and higher level politcs and intrigue quests.

Cap'n Fentus - contract ex.
stealth, persuasion
quest one: contract, simple - steal plans for his dweremer airship from imperials docked in harbor. obstacles. sneaking into ship and imperial guards
quest two:  contract, epic   -  loot 2 components from dwermer ruin
quest three: contract, epic  - convince a member of Imperial Archaeological Society to compile a report in layman's terms on dwermer components, their function and installation so airship can be completed.  required documents are kept secret in a highly secure area and to make matters even more difficult half of the needed documents are on loan to arch mage of the MG
reward: Captain Fentus 2 sails away leaving you his workshop apartment and a unique dwermer inspired invention

Thieves Guild quest ex.
quest one: TG, local - persuasion
arbitration- settle a dispute : TG member in hiding after being caught on job gone wrong
"Maybe an operative is stuck between a rock and a hard place with the vengeful target of a botched job on one side, and a disgruntled client on the other, where the player is asked to step in and resolve the situation on both sides?"  - tondollari
quest one, part two: TG, local - stealth, persuasion, optional combat
After coming to an understanding with both parties player is tasked with smuggling compromised TG member from city. Get a well known thief past guards and onto ship.
"Maybe the player is asked to help an operative secure passage out of the province, and then help smuggle said operative onto said ship?" -EJRS
quest two: TG, local - persuasion
Mending relations with crimelord Otrebus Delagia.
He's too ambitious, and the city guard is getting nervous (bad for the status quo). The player must convince him to pay some guild dues and limit his operations (Tone down violence against locals, stop stealing from OE's well-to-do area). -tondollari
quest two, part two: TG, local - stealth (if part one fails)
The player must steal Otrebus' loan paperwork and a selection of his riches. The paperwork will be destroyed; the riches will be dumped in the OE slums.  -tondollari
quest three: TG, local
frame strongly anti-TG  guard captain/ politican for corruption or colluding with TG in order to replace with another who actually is on TG payroll

thers a bunch of other good stuff in the old thread and elsewhere im sure.

 

Update. Uploaded a WIP file

Rats's picture

Update.

Uploaded a WIP file of the first three quests (The Eye of Argonia, High-Flying Plans, and Facing Eviction). I changed the plot of the first quest slightly; the meat of the quest is now that the player is placed under interrogation by a Navy officers, who demands to know who told them to steal the "Eye of Argonia" from the Navy. The second and the third quest involve NPCs giving the player directions ("go to the Docks, find a sewer pipe, enter the sewers and take the first door to your left" that sort of stuff), which I hope people would comment on--I'm not quite 100% they make enough sense.

Work continues...

a wip file up gotta take a

Rats's picture

a wip file up

gotta take a few days break now due to real life stuff. will work on this again on the weekend.

Update. Questline finished.

Rats's picture

Update. Questline finished.

There are now 10 quests: 

  • 01 - Eye of Argonia (TR_m3_TG_Fentus1)
  • 02 - High-Flying Plans (TR_m3_TG_Fentus2)
  • 03 - Facing Eviction (TR_m3_TG_Moranie1)
  • 04 - Thieving Rivalry (TR_m3_TG_Fentus3)
  • 05 - When the Nord's Away... (TR_m3_TG_Fentus3d)
  • 06 - Happy Birthday, Ruma Soanix (TR_m3_TG_Fentus3b & 3c)
  • 07 - A Message from Mister Delagia (TR_m3_TG_Fentus4)
  • 08 - Infiltrating the Gang (TR_m3_TG_Moranie2 & 2b & 2c)
  • 09 - Lost in Chunzefk (TR_m3_TG_Fentus5 & 5b)
  • 10 - An Empress' Ransom (TR_m3_TG_Moranie3 & 3b & 3c & 3d & 3e)

Quests #5 and #6 are new quests, which are not in the original plans. Quests #8 and #10 have multiple ways the player can finish and/or fail them, so they need testing. I have done a couple of full playthroughs myself and tried to be as thorough as possible weeding out the bugs. 

The player gets a key at the start of TR_m3_TG_Moranie3 which is supposed to open a trap door in "Old Ebonheart, The Empress Katariah" but doesn't. This is a known issue, which I couldn't fix: the key has to be assigned to the door in TR_Mainland.

 

review notes 1. when using "-

Mortimer's picture

review notes
1. when using "--" there should be spaces before and after, as in, "The Apographa are the 'hidden writings' -- secrets known only at the highest levels of priesthood and inquisition."
2. [Speechcraft] checks shouldn't say [Speechcraft]. vanilla morrowind conventions, I'm afraid
3. maybe change some of these from speechcraft to other stats. intelligence, strength checks to threaten people, i dunno. morrowind really isn't that kind of game but i appreciate changing it up a bit. right now a single telvanni bug musk will get you every good option.
4. there are a lot of uses of "..." and "--" that could probably be better served by standard punctuation.
5. completely blocking the door with the Hired Guard despite being a guild specialized in stealth feels a bit contrived but it isnt high on my list of changes
6. if you kill the Delagia gang the questline ends after the ruma quest without telling you. How I would fix it: have delagia disabled until the "mister delagia" quest and leave a note in this room saying he left somewhere. that way the player can brutally slaughter his henchmen while he's conveniently away.
7. "mister Delagia" -> mister should always be capitalized

 these quests are really fun

uploaded a new file which (I

Rats's picture

uploaded a new file which (I hope) addresses the things mort pointed out. also fixes some dialogue typos and script errors I encountered.

new file up the questline is

Rats's picture

new file up

the questline is playable and relatively bug free

rot had some script optimization suggestions which I haven't had the time to implement yet; work continues tomorrow

Uploaded OE_Thieves_Guild

Rot's picture

Uploaded OE_Thieves_Guild_Questline_7-4-2018.ESP

 

note: older comments not fixed, did the getdeadcount ones only
note to self: you can remove the boat parts from the ext with dirty scale hacks
note also: only cleaned vanilla lines, there were dirty TR_mainland lines, will need to check that the dirtied OE section lines haven't changed since they were dirtied they haven't
check "tr_m3_ephaie calicca" script in openmw or report it

Just for the record: Here are

Arvisrend's picture

Just for the record: Here are all the common forms between Mainland and OE TG (both the intentional changes and the accidental dirtiments):

 

And here are merely the changes that change nothing (i.e., definitely accidental) (obtained by making the ESP depend on Mainland and cleaning it with tes3cmd):
 

 

So it is just the rest we need to check.​

Checked the objects, the

Rot's picture

Checked the objects, the records with modifications are quest-related. The dialogue records that aren't just dirty are deliberate would still be better to clean the dirty ML dialogue in case other claims get merged before this one edit cleaning listed

new file up - fixed grammar

Rats's picture

new file up

- fixed grammar issues, typos and other dialogue issues pointed out by rot, Jani and Violet on Discord
- added the AiWander fix
- (supposedly cleaned the file's dirty dialogue with tes3cmd, but plz check)

Taking file

Rot's picture

OE_Thieves_Guild_Questline_7-9-2018.ESP

 

not done

 

New file up -- hopefully the

Rats's picture

New file up -- hopefully the penultimate one.

Here's what's new (bugs/errors/comments reported by rot):

--------------------------------

"Moranie's dialogue checks that the player already has the mask only if it's in inventory,
what happens if player stashed it? there isn't a variable that records having looted it yet, is there? will guard dialogue break if you bring the mask but don't have the right quest state?"

CHECKED: the guards' dialogue doesn't break.

"need to disable tr_m3_three-scales and tr_m3_naamalvu erendi when failing the questline?"
FIXED: they will now get disabled

"if there are several guards each one forces greeting again and they all keep giving another 5000 bounty, should the script avoid making them forcegreet if crime level is already 5000? the quest dialogue should also be disabled then since it overwrites their normal guard dialogue for high bounty?"
FIXED: the guards won't give the player a new 5000 drake bounty if the bounty already is >= 5000; for the duration of the quest it's alright to overwrite the standard guard dialogue. The new unique quest dialogue is needed so that the player can properly end it by failing.

"I left the wounded Antio Florane behind to die" but I killed him through the gate and he wasn't wounded
FIXED: edited the NPC script on "TR_m3_Antio Florane", so you won't get this error.

"tr_m3_oe_tg_maskguard01
- "I've decided to keep it for myself" - they all disappear on goodbye
- when giving mask of katariah, fentus and moranie released but player (bounty collected from them before) isn't cleared"

FIXED: The guards and Moranie now disappear only when the player is away. Giving the mask now clears the player's bounty.

""I don't even doubt your ability to kill them all" I'm lvl 1"
FIXED: she now has three slightly different responses depending on the player's level

Other fixes:

- went through the scripts and fixed the things rot had commented earlier

- added yet another way the questline can end (after Fentus5, if the player has -- rather unexpectedly, but still -- killed Medemilian Rane)

- a global script now handles disabling teleportation in Raathim Ancestral Tomb ("TR_m3_OE_RaathimTeleportGlobalScp"). the script is launched by an activator placed in each of the tomb's interior cells.

------------------

STILL TO DO:

"Delagia and his crew have scared greetings when player has bounty
the lines that make them attack for killing Delagia are in Greeting 5 so a bounty will overwrite them

many of the greeting 0 should be greeting 1 (like all of TR_m3_Karandia Corrux greetings, TR_m3_OE_HhontjulfDog's don't even need to be in 1 it's a creature)"

NOT FIXED: I don't know how to move dialogue efficiently enough to make this worth the hassle. rot said he'd do it for me :)

TR_m3-591_raathim_crank uses

Rot's picture

TR_m3-591_raathim_crank
uses MoveWorld and should have SetPos or Enable after moving if the change should persist

TR_m3-591_sconce_script already does it

this. is. it. new and final

Rats's picture

this. is. it.

new and final file up. tweaked the Faction reputation gained from quests a little. the max total is now 25 instead of 23. the quest givers also refuse to give and talk about jobs if the player has been expelled from the guild (with the exception of the last quest; they can't afford to say no there). all quest topics link to the "jobs" topic now, for convenience's sake.

TR_m3-591_raathim_crank
uses MoveWorld and should have SetPos or Enable after moving if the change should persist

^the change doesn't have to persist. left it as it was.

test test test :D

From Discord: "1. you kill

Jani's picture

From Discord:
"1. you kill Antio in Chunzefk
2. you return back to find the inn empty
3. you start "An Empress' Ransom" as if you had rescued Antio
4. you get stuck after picking up the mask"

Otherwise, I haven't found any issues despite doing my best to break everything. Good work.

^fixed the above gamebreaker.

Rats's picture

^fixed the above gamebreaker.

If the player kills Antio in Chunzefk, the Imperial raid in the inn never takes place and the questline ends with Cap'n Fentus angry at the player.

Also removed a Journal line that tells the player they've been expelled from the Guild when they're not.

fixed two final issues. 1.

Rats's picture

fixed two final issues.

1. Yggulf the Mute now has a silent response for "make amends" topic
2. Fixed Karandia Corrux's script by editing one line

if ( GetJournalIndex "TR_m3_TG_Fentus4" >= 35 )
    if ( doonce )
        set DayTarget to ( DaysPassed + 1 )                    <-- this was "set DayTarget to DaysPassed" before
        set HourTarget to GameHour
        set doonce to 0
    endif
    If ( controlQ >= 2 )
    ElseIf ( DaysPassed < DayTarget )
    ElseIf ( DaysPassed == DayTarget )
        If ( GameHour >= HourTarget )
            set controlQ to 2
        Endif
    ElseIf ( DaysPassed > DayTarget )
        set controlQ to 2
    Endif
    If ( controlQ == 2 )
        sethealth 0
        additem "T_Imp_Silkbolt_02" 5
        Journal "TR_m3_TG_Fentus4" 45
        set controlQ to 3
    Endif
endif

with that, I guess this is good to go?
 

new file by arvisrend (2018-7

Rats's picture

Ready to merge. Use arvisrend's file.

oops, not quite ready-to-merge, yet. found last little hiccup. fixing that now.

 

Now this is ready to be

Rats's picture

Now this is ready to be merged.

Changed two litte things:

  • the banner at the entrance of the Raathim tomb was moving too slowly (this was due to some weirdness with the old MoveWorld function); it now moves the same speed as the stone door 
  • changed the coordinates on Antio Florane's script when he teleports to Chunzefk; earlier he was standing a little too close to the collapsed rocks that the player blows up using Dwemer satchel packs.