q3-3-Mis

[Haplo]

Claim type: Quest
Claim ID: TR_q3-3-Mis (#2577)
Faction: Misc
Parent claim: TR_3-1-Ind (#105)
Claimed by: rot
Status: Approved (Progress: 100%)
Location: 1:(4273, -3855):0
Files: TR_q3-3-Mis_Haplo_1.7z; TR_q3-3-Mis_rot_8.esp

---

Bosmora misc quest: Investigate a recent spree of burglaries (working title).

Rumors in Bosmora say that some of the richer citizens have been losing their possessions lately and that some fear there is a thief in Bosmora. Bosmora’s Guard captain Relamus Saravyne has been investigating this but hasn’t had any luck yet. He’ll ask the player to investigate instead and will give the player two suspects; Kissen the Khajiit, who is known around town as someone who has had ‘shady dealings’ and the Bosmer Elegel, who is visiting a friend at the Bosmora temple and who came into town right before the items started going missing. The player will also be given the names of three people who have reported their property missing: Gadavyne Farys, Sidene Farys, and Salms Andala. The player is above suspicion, because they arrived after the thefts started.

The player should visit the people who had their property stolen, and question the suspects. Both admit to having been involved in some extralegal activities in the past, but there shouldn't be enough evidence against either of them - Kissen seems worried about other things (he's being blackmailed, try staying away from his greetings) and Elegel seems to honestly just want to visit his friend at the Temple - so Relamus Saravyne boldly proposes a plan to lure the thief into the Indoril Vaults. Somehow the rumor is spread that the vault will be unguarded for a night. The player is stationed in the lower area of the vault and the other NPCs are removed, and the real thief, Balamus Arthre, sneaks into the vault and is caught red-handed by the player. Several endings are possible here - either the player convinces the guy to come quietly, or a fight breaks out, you name it. Having some options would be nice. Depending on the course of action the player takes Relamus Saravyne should have some different rewards. Arresting Arthre should be the solution that gives the best reward.

See existing entries in "latest rumors" for Bosmora for the initial clues to start this quest.

design credit goes to Yeti - I'd put it in the claim description if the quest claim forum wasn't as broken as it is. Sorry about that!

[Why]

Build the quest in a new .esp, with the latest M3A8 file loaded alongside it. The NPC'd exterior can be found in this thread:

http://tamriel-rebuilt.org/old_forum/viewtopic.php?t=21208

Be sure to visit the last pages of that thread for the latest version of M3A8!

also tell me if you can read the description of this claim alright, forums have been acting up.

[Yeti]

Thank's for making my vague suggestion for a quest into a coherrant plan, Why. All I did was list the npcs and give a general idea for how it should be done, so you really deserve just as much credit for this one's design as I do.

[Stryker]

Claiming.

Good ol' Bosmora. Will work on this with slightly higher priority than the NPC claim, if that is fine.

[Why]

Make it fun and Indorilly where it applies. If you drop this claim before you're finished I will destroy you in StarCraft. So be warned.

[Stryker]

Revoke. Ain't nobody got time for this.

I expect my SC2 or PoE based punishment soon.

[Not]

I expect my SC2 or PoE based punishment soon.

No, I think a good dose of Force Lightning will help you to...see the error of your ways.

[Why]

Wheh, okay. Because you're all about the NPCs now I'll forgive you.

[rot]

Thoughts,




Why would the vault be unguarded?

-> some event, made-up or real, in Bosmora? an Indorilly tribunal ceremony thingy would be nice and a believable reason for all the guards having to be involved. The Vault clerk dude is a minor Indoril member has to be there too. Or doesn't and is just a wimp who couldn't handle a thief





Need a justification for the captain having the PC doing the ambush instead of just any guard,

-> Bosmora is small enough for the thief (assumed to be a local) to know the guards and be able to recognise them, or know how many guards there are and see that one's missing at said pretext event, perhaps making it a public thing / at the Temple / ...

-> OR, the guard captain suspects one of the guards might be responsible. Newly appointed guard captain, paranoid son-of-a-noble can't-trust-the-men type. Still makes the pretext a rumour, to boast about it later or just in case, makes a show of giving the vault guards their leave for the night, ...






Now for the hard part; this is a misc quest, why the hell does a guard captain trust an outlander to be alone in the bloody Indoril vaults while the thing is unguarded?

-> No, not just high Disposition. Disposition is lame, and more a trust-you-with-a-task or let-slip-some-info thing than a trust-you not to run away with the Great House's coffers while I make sure nobody's watching- thing

-> There ARE good locks and good traps, but really, the guards being there is the main thing keeping you from stealing everything. Captain makes you give up all your probes and lockpicks before, just to make sure? And your open spells? Nah.

-> solution: PC is made accountable for anything that disappears during the mission. Half-gameplay solution but still better than nothing. Since we obviously don't want to have dozens of custom references just to script them for a quest, a global script keeps count in PC inventory of all item IDs inside the vaults (containers de-randomlisted if they were). Some opportunity for cheating - swap vault items with own, put them in an unguarded corner to pick back up after the quest... - but that'd require knowledge of the scripts. Some risk if the player's got some fancy companion giving them items or gold while on the mission (scripted door so only the player's sent inside?). Also, careless PC would end up with a bounty in the thousands, but they're warned.

-> other solution is that he doesn't. (trust you not to steal the pot, the captain) The vaults are discreetly emptied before, nothing in the chests, all items gone - technically: an empty duplicate interior is added above/under the real one and a script makes the quest happen there. And if you absolutely want to give the player an occasion to rob the Indoril, the loot's placed somewhere else during the quest under lighter guard than usual, just the clerk. That's a bit contrived, emptying the vaults just to catch a thief, but practically the best solution I think






Perhaps-workable idea for some added play: the thief is probably going to be watching the area, making sure everybody inside the vaults has left, no mousetrap bar hanging around, etc. - PC has to get inside without the thief noticing

-> just getting and staying in there long before the rumour's spread

-> mark before, recall inside anytime

-> through dumb stealth through the door, yeah I don't like it that much either but that's game mechanics... using some distraction instead?

[rot]

Claim, plans:

First part as from description,
("people who have reported their property missing: ...Salms Andala" -> the burglar robbed the Temple, right?)
From visiting them you learn that the items were stolen while they were away. This works well with the Temple, as its being closed and empty for whatever reason would have been public notoriety.

The rumour's spread that the Indoril will be busy doing something (don't yet have specifics for a believable excuse).

Either the captain or the vault clerk is waiting in the Vault, and the player has to get into the there reasonably in advance otherwise either the quest immediately fails or the thief doesn't show up.

While on the quest everything happening in the Vault takes place in a duplicate empty area just above the original shell. (empty chests, no valuables around - that means no scripts on items, and hopefully somewhat takes care of the case where the player'd take all items from the vault BEFORE that quest... by not mentioning it at all. did I say take care? I meant reasonably ignore)

Thief gets in, diplomacy or kill. Perhaps some option to capture him if he's knocked down by the player? (screen fades, a few hours pass and guards show up) Or if he's paralysed long enough?

[Why]

I'm very much against using duplicate areas because there's a risk the player drops stuff that becomes unretrievable, etc. How about having the guard captain accompany the player? Surely that guy is competent enough to get into the vaults unnoticed, especially if the town knows they'll be away.

As for the reason why there wouldn't be any guards at the vault, Councilwoman Meris Denaven has requested them to attend a lecture on the benefits of nonviolent resolution of conflicts at Denaven Estate. They really can't turn down the invitation since Lady Denaven is one of the most influential Indoril nobles and rarely appears in public so this is a very special occasion indeed. Heck, it could even be an actual thing instead of just an excuse for the guards to stay in their barracks for a day.

I just made that up, but it kind of works. Feel free to come up with something else though, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

A justification for having the PC do it, the guard captain doesn't know for sure the thief isn't someone from the town, and the PC appeared after the thefts started, so they're in the clear. Does that work? Maybe incorporate some sort of reputation requirement instead of just a disposition check?

Did I answer everything? Oh, I'm supposed to say, take care with Kiseen since he's also involved in another quest, but you're the one who made that other quest so you're aware of that. Good luck, you know where to find me.

[rot]

Revised plans: player waits for the thief between the first locked door and the locked jail door, the vault accountant dude is behind the locked jail door and if the player opens it he yells. Bounty, relinquish the quest reward, or something.
Find a way to lampshade the thieving mechanics (blame the thief!) if the player still ends up emptying the vault unnoticed after that. Or just have the accountant re-lock the door whenever it gets opened while on the quest, and keep the script checking for player stealing stuff in there---

[rot]

First quest up,

mostly basic dialogue, could make the part where you investigate Kiseen & Elegel more interesting later (actually require to ask around about them, or something)


- for the next part: still sticking to the "gameplay rules apply to NPCs" concept? That would mean the thief (if captured) gets released after a few dozen days at most.

- at the end of the vault thing, must remember to make sure a bounty contracted inside doesn't break the quest - either make the guard captain a non-Guard class duplicate, or use Greeting 0, so he doesn't have default greetings when PC has a bounty... or make it so you can't get a bounty inside and record the crime elsewhere...

[rot]

Backbone for the second quest.

Far from finished but you can already give it a spin and tell me if, like, the timeschedule is unclear or too restrictive or such - (you have to start the quest between 5-7 PM two days after getting it)

Oh also, is the thief being invisible too much? His outline should give him away, especially since he's moving, but maybe I'm only seeing him because I know he's there - it does seem to be less noticeable in the green Ind set interior.

[rot]

Almost done,

more script-heavy than originally intended. Luckily haven't had many bugs so far but those few I had were hard to explain = this is going to need lots, lots of testing (mostly by me atm, but it'd already be reassuring to know the scripts don't insta-crash on others' installs)

Removed anything that had to do with accusing the PC of theft, because the global script tracking stolen items just COULD be unreliable if you have a companion in the Vault and take items from them that are similar from items in the vault. I kept the script for some dialogue before the quest (safe even if the above happens, just covers the "what if the player already stole everything in the Indoril vault before even starting that quest") and some quest outcome dialogue, (less safe, player stole pretty much everything in the vault = blame it on the thief) but can and maybe should be removed,

removed the case where the thief flees and you had to pursue him outside, just too much potential for screwups,

should add a chair allowing the player to rest during the quest...

oh also I gave this as the best reward, for lack of a better idea:
Watchman's ring - on use
60% Dispel / 20 ft
(+60 Light for a few seconds, and 1 sec nighteye for laughs)
Good enough? If not perhaps a one-charge paralysis ring?

[rot]

Playtested, I think I've covered all cases. Needs someone else's opinion now,

Last file up is test-ready (the doors that will have to be placed during merge are already there, but you do need to open/displace the original ones to free the way)

[rot]

@arvis - dialogue directions added on file _6


Might want to check the "chair" script. Stops and restarts the DBAttack script to skip assassins in the vault. Pretty sure it's safe even with mods that edit the DBAttack script?


dumping various info while I'm at it:

_ quest can be obtained in two ways:
- being told the rumor by generic town NPCs adds the topic "burglaries", which can then be used with Ararvyne Saram. He'll also show the topic when asked on "latest rumors"
- Saram will directly greet about burglaries if Disp >60, or react if his disp is so raised
_ Have to be in the Indoril Vault before 7 AM
_ Have to start the quest there (force-greeted if not sleeping) before 12 AM
_ The guards in town are disabled between 5 PM and 10 PM
_ The thief can enter the Vault between 7-9 PM - as long as the PC isn't Loitering (WakeUpPC doesn't work unless "sleeping" on the chair)
he'll invisible-sneak a bit inside then just leave, seeing how there are two fishy people around
options:
- Speechcraft/Personality DC 65/30
- Speechcraft DC 45
- Command
- Recognise him from having met him before -> intimidate
- Attack him (he tries to flee if you're too strong)
- Strong character -> intimidate
- Kill him
- Knock him down
- Paralyse (more than 8 seconds, or restrain w/ STR+H2H DC 80)

_ If he's captured, cut to 10 PM when the guards are back, and Relamus Saravyne enters the Vault




How does the Player Not Get a Bounty When Assaulting the Thief
- I'm lowering Ararvyne Saram (vault clerk)'s Alarm rating while the thief is around, and the PC isn't in the (normally enclosed) area with the chests. Should be ok, but in case you can find a not-too-deliberately-contrived way of breaking it...
(- other solution: make Ararvyne Saram AiFollow. Same potential problems probably)
(- other solution: make Ararvyne Saram startcombat with the thief, and Stopcombat+Startcombat on the thief the first time he's hit. Not oneshot-proof.)



Why Balamus Arthre (thief version) Has to Be a Duplicate:
- he might have never been loaded before in the game, so his script wouldn't load if he was PositionCell'd in the Vault
- the dup also has to be another object ID to have a different script on him, so the original one disappears regardless of the cell he's in - Command spell... (either that or make him not appear if he's been tampered with, this is easier)





TODO:

- empty Balamus Arthre's house of gold and stolen valuables if he's captured (= duplicate empty area, and stuff the player might've dropped there disappearing won't be a problem in that context) - done

- maybe add guards at Denaven manor during the thing, since it's supposed to happen even if you give up the quest and go there - didn't do that

- maybe make the topic "burglaries" appear in blue (clickable) in the latest rumor you obtain from generic NPCs, so one can then know right away the topic is then available on Ararvyne Saram, which isn't obvious without talking to him about rumors (or having high disposition)? made topic show up in virtually all his greetings

- ?

[rot]

Last file up _8 is cleaned, which means merge instructions are needed to test it ingame (placing the two doors inside Bosmora, Indoril Vault). Use _7 (slight changes only) if you want to quickly test without doing that. Quest can by obtained by talking to Relamus Saravyne on topic "burglaries". (no real need for Disposition anymore because let's not hide quests... latest rumors can still add the topic but that's mostly unnecessary now)

Let's call this finished!


for merge:

- replace the Indoril guards "TR_ind_guard" and "TR_ind_guard_s" in Bosmora, Indoril Vault - and, less necessary but might as well, also in outdoors Bosmora, and the Marketplace/Farys Manor/Starlight Inn -
with the scripted versions ""TR_ind_guard_Bosmora" and "TR_ind_guard_s_Bosmora" (disabled 5: PM-10:PM during the quest)

- in Bosmora, Indoril Vault, replace "In_MH_door_02" with "TR_m3_q_3_VaultDoor"
and "In_MH_jaildoor_01" with "TR_m3_q_3_VaultDoor2"
(for both doors remember adding the lev100 Lock, corresponding trap, ownership?)

- I strongly suggest replacing the wandering guard downstairs in the Indoril Vault with the _s static version : due to his AiWander he will usually appear upstairs, even through the locked doors, if the player "rests" in the cell. leaves the area downstairs unguarded, it might also block the other NPC's AiTravel during the quest

- Unrelated to this quest, Kiseen's greetings 1 should go back to greetings 5 (otherwise he'll be friendly to vampires/criminals etc. before his quest, and hostile after)

changes/comments not related to this quest:

- removed Kiseen's quest not being done as a requirement for the rumour concerning him (mistake I'd made in my claim q3-4, no reason for the rumour to disappear and it only left 2 other random ones)
- added another rumour as a replacement for the "iron mine people" one (which might need to stop appearing a while after Kiseen's quest)

- I noticed the quest hook on topic "Ahasou Saravyn" is unexploited (topic itself never obtained, I guess it was meant to be added by the resultbox of TR_m3_Alammu_Saravyn's background entry if ever used?)
- I assume Saravyne (guard captain) and the Saravyn brothers (in the temple) are unrelated?

[arvisrend]

Attached is a somewhat modified version of rot's claim, which depends on the newest m3a8 file and needs no merge instructions anymore. Just load after the newest m3a8 and playtest! (Unless your savegame already has been started with an old m3a8 version :( )

[arvisrend]

Updated version with one bug fixed (the bug appeared when you talked to the victims first, but not to the suspects, and then reported back to the guard guy; it was caused by scripting errors in a dialogue results).

Two issues I have not fixed:

1) https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/83265276/sound.jpg

2) If I break into the basement while on duty and kill Ararvyne, the quest doesn't finish.

[rot]

Thanks arvis!


- fixed voice filepath like you said, also removed the superfluous text that went along with it (judging from your screen it can display in dialogue if you have subtitles turned on?)

- edited thief's behaviour if you're using an uber character. ("What? No... I give up! Mercy!") If you insist on killing him, lazy fix: he'll try to run to the door first but should fight back afterwards.

- added contingency for that unfinishable path (way to reproduce that was: kill clerk dude, wait for the thief to get inside but let him get away, exit the Vault and don't reenter it, and go talk to the captain in Relamus Saravyne's Quarters after 10 PM. So pretty much doing it on purpose and saying "fuck the quest" huh :>)

- fixed a couple typos

- added a condition in script TR_m3_q_3_global to make the thief not appear in the vault if the quest was abandoned (not meta-realistic but~)

- fixed a bit in the loitering detection in TR_m3_q_3_Burglar_sc :
a condition which was ( GameHour >= 21 ) rendered it useless, is now >= 20

Haven't tested all changes!

[arvisrend]

Gadavyne Farys: "Captain Saravyne has recruited you to help in the investigation? A... peculiar choice, but I trust he has his reasons. The theft happened two weeks ago, while my wife and I were away in Akamora. Our chest downstairs was emptied of its gold, and a bottle of fine brandy went missing." This response now sets TR_m3_q_3_infoFarys to 2 if TR_m3_q_3_infoFarysWife == 1; otherwise the quest, I believe, was unfinishable if one would talk to his wife first and then to him.

Conditioned the "Well, what are you waiting around for? Since you're here, as much as it pains me, I suppose we DO have to go through with the plan. Follow me." response to journal TR_m3_Bo_Burglar2 < 21; else he would give it again after the thief was caught. Ararvyne now has a (mildly inappropriate) standard greeting after Balramus is caught and wanders against the wall (until you leave the vault and enter it again), but at least there is no hard bug here anymore.

Also, in "and wait for the thief whom he expects will be lured in.", I've replaced the "whom" by "who" since I see no dative here.

[rot]

- changes in script TR_m3_q_3_VaultClerk , new lines are within the two comments marked with "4o4"
- added SetJournal to the Journal updates 26 and 27 in script TR_m3_q_3_global
- added a couple more logical greetings. The one commented 4o4 in resultbox was a failsafe but is probably useless now

[rot]

- makes the quest fail even if you teleport out and back in. Again not 100% logical but too many issues otherwise.

New lines in global script all commented by 4o4. A couple old ones are almost redundant now but better safe than sorry...

note: if you start the quest between 5-7 AM by talking to Ararvyne Saram and then exit but *before the step where he closes the door on you*, you can still go back and resume before 7 AM. Not an issue.

[arvisrend]

Minor dialogue fix made, not enough to warrant a new filename.

[rot]

_VaultClerk script now makes sure he's placed back up after the next day if his teleportation time interval was skipped by sleep

[arvisrend]

Another update, more bugs fixed.

I am going to read through the dialogue tomorrow, take another look at the scripts and declare this finished. I am not going to review it in the sense in which I use the word in the usual case of a moderately scripted quest claim (i. e., understand what every line of code does and which actions are recognized by what, and check by pen and paper that there are no dead ends). I have playtested the second quest some 20 times by now, and I still have not seen all of the ways to failure (as for ways to success, probably I've tried them all now). Nevertheless I believe it is riper for release than most of our map-2 quests were back when we got SE 1.0 out. The second quest in this claim surpasses every existing TR quest in complexity and code length, including "Killing the Messenger". It has at least 3 ways to finish correctly, including an almost easter-eggish chaotic-evil lateral solution; at least 4 ways to fail it, triggering different behavior; and lots of implicit choices-and-consequences such as dialogue depending on whether one has talked to the thief beforehand, checks on one's strength and hand-to-hand skills, one's speechcraft, and whether one has stolen from the vault. (The first quest also has a neat side-branch where you tip off Kiseen about the lecture and the absence of the guards.) Quality-wise this quest is among the best I've seen in TR. Nevertheless, any help with playtesting would be highly welcome.

[arvisrend]

Two issues:

- Teleporting out of the vault after capturing the thief (and after the fade-to-black) but before Relamus forcegreets you, and then returning back to the vault, results in Relamus appearing both in his house and in the vault. The one in the house has weird responses to "burglary" and "cunning plan". The one in the vault arrests a non-existing burglar.

- If I flee the vault (by teleport or by foot) while fighting the burglar, and then report back to Relamus at his home, the quests fails as it should. BUT before I report back to Relamus at his home, a Relamus appears in the vault, with no reasonable greeting, stalking me all the way down to the other Relamus. Also, Ararvyne keeps the "As I said, I wouldn't expect..." response to "cunning plan" all the way until I report my failure to the Relamus at his home.

[rot]

- first one: fixed by disabling player controls before Relamus forcegreets. I'm not very comfortable with that but can't just let the player do whatever all the time

- second (fleeing while the burglar's in): very simple and very lazy fix that properly fails the quest soon as you exit the vault while he's inside. Shortcuts ensuing issues


Also added a 'Return' in the burglar's ondeath script so his corpse doesn't immediately disappear if you kill him right as he's on his way out. (not doing anything more wrt that - once he gets arrested he's an NPC you have no reason to kill, so that falls in the psychopathic-murderer player category we don't bother with)

[arvisrend]

Latest rumors reordered, now needs the new version of M3A8.

rot, are the rumors correct and reasonably ordered now? They used to be broken.

[arvisrend]

Final version of q3-3 along with the latest m3a8 file. Ready for merge, which is to happen now.

Congrats, rot, for the most intricate and one of the most fun to play quests in Tamriel Rebuilt!

[arvisrend]

Finished. Merged.