Hello. Thank you for having a look at my quest showcase!
Note: There were no simple miscellaneous quest claims open when I started this, so I wrote it around an unused daedric shrine in the armun ashlands. Incidentally, the shrine was bugged, causing vanilla clients to crash upon entry. This file fixes that issue by changing the death animation of the sacrificed caravaneer in the shrine and adjusting the sword he has been stabbed with to match. (Thank you Discord for helping me find the cause of the problem!)
This quest starts just outside the Bapatipi shrine to the north (Armun Ashlands Region -9, -24 or "Bapatipi, Shrine" interior), where an alchemist and his assistant have set up camp. The alchemist, Dathrus, wants the player to bring him the heart of the dremora Rathmeer from the shrine for use in a potion he is making. As it turns out, Dathrus just wants Rathmeer dead in an ill planned attempt to release him from his oath of service. The player can kill Rathmeer and return the heart, or listen to Rathmeer's proposal to kill Dathrus and do the same. In the case of the later, Dathrus will attempt to convince the player to take his assistant's heart to Rathmeer in place of his. The player can choose either and is rewarded by Rathmeer and the surviving member of the two. More details and the full script for the quest are included in the attached pdf.
This is my first time using the construction set outside of following the Kevaar tutorial on the quest guidelines page, but I've tried to keep everything clean and working. I am a little concerned about the default scripts/NPC local variables and the local rumor in Arvud, so please take a look at those in particular and let me know if I've messed them up.
Thank you for reviewing this, and I hope you like the quest!
:)
| Attachment | Size | Date |
|---|---|---|
 SQ_Showcase.ESP | 23.36 KB | 2023-07-19 20:29 |
2023-07-19 19:10
1 year 5 months ago
Here is the pdf because I wasn't able to attach both at once.
2022-04-18 15:48
6 days 19 hours ago
Hey SQAP, thanks for your showcase! Really good first effort. The design of the quest is nice and simple, and the writing is good. There are still some issues that need to be ironed out:
Style (see Style Guide)
You use single hyphens in the dialogue. Morrowind standard is to use double hyphens. "-" -> "--"
You need to include the main quest topics in the first journal entry. In the journal entry about bringing Dathrus Rathmeer's heart, you need to use the words "dremora's heart". In the journal entry where Rathmeer asks you to bring him Dathrus' heart, you need to use the words "Dathrus' heart".
Your dialogue is organised top-to-bottom. TR standard is bottom-to-top. This makes it easier to review. What this means is that earlier dialogue should be at the bottom of the list, and later dialogue should be at the top.
The quest characters probably don't need to have the NoLore scripts. The default dialogue shouldn't be unsuitable on them.
Issues
If I kill Rathmeer and take his heart, then talk to Dathrus about Dathrus' heart, I can no longer give Dathrus Rathmeer's heart. This is quest-breaking.
It's possible to pickpocket everyone's hearts. The hearts should probably be added to them by script OnDeath.
If I give Dathrus Rathmeer's heart, he still has the topic "Dathrus' heart" with the response "Go ahead and deliver Rathmeer the heart..." which doesn't make any sense.
Nirasa should probably have some different dialogue for after Dathrus is dead.
The command to move Nirasa should use PositionCell, not Position, as it's more reliable.
Showcase Requirements
You need to show that you can make scripts. If you can script it so the characters have their hearts added OnDeath, and so that if both Rathmeer and Dathrus are dead the quest is advanced to a finished stage, then I think that's good enough.