Main Quests

Here is my work on the quests. I tried to be as creative as I could with them. They are not yet finished though, and I would like someone to help me finish them.

Crimson Renaissance
Upon approaching the Night Mother, the player is informed of Sithis’ anger as a result of Astrid’s, and demands the blood of his subjects and that of his enemies (refer to questline). The Night Mother tells the Listener to search for Umbra Mortis is Riften. From there, they will be able to rebuild the Black Hand. Umbra willingly leaves Maven to rejoin the Brotherhood as Speaker.

Lost Relatives (Sub quest of Crimson Renaissance)
When Umbra makes it to the Dawnstar Sanctuary he informs the player that he has been watching a vampire named Sinistre Valtieri, because he knows the secret of his lineage (being related to Vicente Valtieri). Umbra informs the player to look for him in Solitude’s Winking Skeever.

When the player approaches Sinistre, he appears rather paranoid, and even threatens to kill the player if they point out his condition. However, after explaining his family history and being offered to join the Brotherhood, he opens up a little, but still feels suspicious of the Player. He tasks the player with eliminating a dunmer vampire hunter named Roris, (Who has taken Sinistre's family amulet, whic Sinistre allows the player to keep as a reward) who has been giving him trouble and tells him that the hunter lives at a small camp outside the city and sleeps during the day and next to a fire as a measure against Vampires.

The Player has the option of killing him any way he wants, or can push him into the fire as he sleeps.

With this done, Sinistre willingly joins the DB and makes his way to the Dawnstar Sanctuary. The player returns to Umbra (Still in the Dawnstar sanctuary)

A Sister’s Retribution (Sub quest of Crimson Renaissance)
Upon bringing Sinistre in to the Brotherhood, Umbra tells the player that he has located who he suspects to be another possible candidate for the Black Had. He points out that the description of a young girl in the Markarth warrens matches that of a former DB member who was believed dead after the fall of Wayrest.
Upon entering the Warrens, the player finds out (by asking people in the warrens or by finding the woman) that the Woman is Evangeline Maria. When approached, she acts rather defenceless and tries to convince the player to leave, as she is ‘unimportant’. When the player informs her that the Black Hand is rebuilding, and she is requested to become a speaker, she is flattered and admits to her past.

However, she cannot leave for the Brotherhood immediately, as she had recently been raped by a man who she believes is a Forsworn named Urach. She asks the player to kill him before she will rejoin the DB. She tells the player that he has recently been discovered and thrown in Cidhna Mine, and that she and the Silver-Bloods have an arrangement in which she ‘assists’ them and they assist her, she then directs the player to Thongvor Silver-Blood (not Thonar, because he can become killable).

The player then approaches Thongvor, who will tell them that the Target has been released to act as an agent within the Forsworn. He also tells the player that he is stationed in a small cave near the city, and is expected to meet alone with another Silver-Blood agent.

When the player arrives at this cave, he is greeted by the Target and a few other Forsworn. After a short monologue, Urach and his Forsworn attack. When they are dead, the player returns to Evangeline and she joins the DB and makes her way to the Dawnstar Sanctuary.

Crimson Renaissance (continued)
Upon Evangeline joining and making her way to the Dawnstar Sanctuary, Umbra informs the player that he has not found another member for the Black Hand. The other members join in a short conversation about possible candidates, but all are unable to join (they are either dead, have joined the Penitus Oculatus or whatever).

Deldyn Sadri then enters and states that she has heard of the DB reforming, and requests to join the Black Hand, explaining her credentials. The black hand has no reason to refuse, but they still consult the Player (who can only agree).

The Player is then greeted a few in-game days later by a courier, who gives the player a message from the Morag Tong, but only says that it’s from a friend (Like when the player gets a message showing them a Word Wall). This starts the next phase of the mod.

Mephala’s Awakening
A few days after the Black Hand has been rebuilt, the Player is contacted by a courier who greets the player the same way as if he had a note detailing a word wall. However, he gives the player a note from the Morag Tong, reading: The Webspinner watches. With the Seal of the Morag Tong at the bottom.

The next time the player sleeps, he/she awakens at a place called Webspinner’s Shrine in the Velothi Mountains (the mountain range bordering Skyrim and Morrowind). Nothing is there, save a shrine to Mephala and a Morag Tong agent. The agent greets the player, and gives a brief speech about the Morag Tong and Dark Brotherhood, and then grants the player the chance to abandon the Brotherhood and join the Tong. The player can either respond with Remain Silent, I’m Listening or Blasphemer! Sithis shall feast on your soul and the Brotherhood shall spread like an unholy plague throughout Tamriel! Choosing the first two options makes the agent give the player a writ ordering the execution of Nazir (the player has the option to stab the MT in the back) (an example of a Morag Tong writ can be found at http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Honorable_Writ_of_Execution) while choosing the last option initiates combat.

Should the player accept the Morag Tong’s offer, they must kill Nazir. This can be done in any way fit, but the MT agent gives the player the option to bring him to the shrine, and to then trap him (like Boethia’s quest [I haven’t tried this, so don’t blame me if I’m getting this wrong]) and then kill him in a very ritualistic manner.

If the player chooses to remain loyal to the Brotherhood, they may either initiate combat, stab him in the back after ‘accepting’ the offer to kill Nazir, or beat him to submission, and force him back to the Dawnstar Sanctuary to butcher him in front of the Black Hand. After the MT agent lies dead, the Player speaks with Umbra Mortis, who gifts the player with a set of Black Hand Robes and Hood, and then continues to the next part of the Main Quest.


Dark Brotherhood Main Quest


Sweet Solitude
If the Player decides to remain loyal to the Brotherhood, they return to Umbra Mortis and inform him of events that have transpired. Umbra is shocked to hear the Morag Tong is operating outside of Morrowind, and asks the Player for guidance. The Player then calls the first meeting of the newly reforged Black Hand. In the meeting, the Black Hand is divided over what course of action should be taken. Some (Sinistre) argue that the fight should immediately be taken to the Tong. Others (Umbra and Deldyn) believe that the Brotherhood should re-establish itself in Skyrim before such action is taken, and Evangeline advises that the brotherhood should fortify its position in Dawnstar. With the Hand divided, they turn to the wisdom of the Player, who declares they shall rebuild their presence in Skyrim before any further action is taken. The Hand willing bows to the Player’s wisdom.
With this, the Hand now turns to discussing possible locations for Sanctuaries. Sinistre recommends using an old crypt beneath Solitude that is accessible through a tunnel in Solitude’s Hall of the Dead. However, the only problem facing this plan is Styrr, who would never permit the Dark Brotherhood to operate in his Hall of the Dead. Thus, Styrr needs to be persuaded to let the Brotherhood act within Solitude.

When the player talks to Styrr, he initially refuses to permit the brotherhood to act in Solitude, and he will threaten to call the guards. The player then has the option to either bribe or Intimidate him to overlook things, or leave without a fight. If the Player has a high Speech Skill, they can convince him to give the brotherhood access to the crypts, or they could just kill him (if he is already dead, the quest proceeds as normal). If the player has a low Speech skill, this will fail. If the Speech test fails or the player simply leaves, they have the option to speak with Sinistre, who will tell the player that while Styrr may flat out refuse, it may be possible to force him to let the Brotherhood act inside Solitude by blackmailing Jarl Elisif.
If the player opts to blackmail Elisif, they are told to search her quarters, as she may secretly worship Talos. Upon searching her quarters, an inscribed amulet to Talos is found. If the Player takes this to her, and threatens to inform the Thalmor, she will bend to the Brotherhoods whim, and write a letter to Styrr forcing him to let the Brotherhood operate from within the Hall of the Dead. When this is given to Styrr, he has no choice but to permit the Brotherhood access to the crypts beneath Solitude.

****Note, this will not have any effect as a result of the outcome of the Civil War, As the Thalmor would still be able to have Elisif abducted, or assassinated. This would still happen if the Stormcloaks won the war, as she is still an symbol of the Empire to some extent, and the Thalmor would still want her dead.

The Player then tells Sinistre that the Solitude Crypts are open to the Brotherhood, and Sinistre will request the player to visit him there. He will then make his way to the solitude crypts. When the player meets him there, the crypts are empty, with nobody there except Sinistre and the Player. Sinistre tells the player that The Brotherhood has the funds to be able to rebuild this Santuary, but that would be about the extent of the brotherhoods funds at the moment, and he advises the Player to return to Umbra at Dawnstar.
Umbra will tell the player that the Black hand is close to working out the details of another Sanctuary in Markarth, but it has not yet been fully decided. He instead tells the player to complete a few Side Assassinations before they can continue.

The Wrath of Sithis
After the player completes a few side assassinations, they are given directions to speak with Umbra Mortis. Umbra will tell them that the plans for the next sanctuary have been sorted out, but a bigger problem has come up.

Among the initiates to the Brotherhood, there lies some feeling of unrest and rebellion. Some of the initiates have idolised Astrid and her views on the Brotherhood. Until now, it has been relatively harmless. But recently, their leader, a Dunmer named Sathis Hlaalu, has shown clear disregard for the tenets by spitting on the corpse of the Night Mother and exclaiming how he thought she was ‘outdated’. Before justice could be extracted upon him, he had fled. He has now sought protection from the Penitus Oculatus (more treachery). Umbra explains that the Wrath of Sithis must be extracted upon him, and that he must also serve as an example to others. Umbra requests that his head is severed, and bought back to the Dawnstar sanctuary.

The player then travels to Dragon Bridge and breaks into the Penitus Oculatus outpost. In the outpost, there is a trap door leading to a basement. It turns out that the information regarding Sathis was slightly out. The basement turns out to be a small torture room, with Sathis in binds and being tortured by a PO agent. When the torturer lies dead, Sathis is terrified to see the player. He begs for forgiveness and swears he will obey the tenets, but to no avail. The player then has the option to decapitate him while he is bound, and the head is added to their inventory. Or he may be killed by other means and his head may be looted.

Either way, the player takes Sathis’ head back to Umbra, who praises the player, and informs them that they may now continue to build the next sanctuary. Sathis’ head is mounted on a pike in the Dawnstar Sanctuary.

Blood and Silver
After Sathis has been eliminated, umbra will inform the player that plans have been made for a sanctuary in Markarth, and tells you to speak with Evangline, who has done the most work in the area.

Evangeline informs the player that she has organised with the Silver Bloods to have a sanctuary built in the Markarth Warrens (because she has close ties to the Silver-Bloods). However, she has received disturbing reports that the Morag Tong may be trying to establish itself in the Reach, and that they need to be taken care of. The player may eliminate them any way they see fit. Meaning they can simply barge into the MT camp and take them all out.

However, Evangeline tells the player that because of her personal experience in Wayrest, where the Sanctuary was destroyed when the city was sacked, she had made some contacts with the Forsworn behind the backs of the Silver-Bloods. She sees the MT activity in the area as a way to test these contacts, and arranges the player to meet one at his camp (relatively close to the MT camp), and gives the player a false Mt note, that will lead the Forsworn to believe the MT have plans to eliminate key Forsworn leaders.

If the player chooses to manipulate the Forsworn, they go to the camp that Evangeline directs them to. The leader of the camp is unaware of who the player is at first, and threatens to attack, but when the player tells the forsworn who they are, they settle down. The player then gives the Forsworn leader the note. After reading the note, the Forsworn leader then rallies his soldiers, and they charge for the MT camp. The player may watch the forsworn destroy the MT, and even join in the fight. Or they may leave to speak with Evangeline.

When the player meets back with Evangeline at Dawnstar, she praises the player, and asks them to meet her at the location where the new DB sanctuary in Markarth will be. The player then meets Evangeline in the area proposed for the new sanctuary. It is similar to Solitude when the player first enters it, completely empty save the player and Speaker. Evangeline tells the player that she has organised with the Silver-Bloods to build the new sanctuary, and that she will take care of the rest. The player then travels back to Umbra, who will thank the player.

Kingpin
After Umbra is informed about Markarth, he tells the player that he has decided the fourth sanctuary will be placed in Riften, and he shall assume the role of Speaker for the sanctuary, leaving Deldyn as Speaker for Dawnstar. Umbra also tells the player that he had kept in contact with Maven Black-Briar, as he knew that being connected to her would pay off.

Maven has agreed to fund a sanctuary in Riften if the Brotherhood accepts a contract on a high priority smuggler, an elderly Khajiit named Ra’Basha.

Ra’Basha is not the average skooma trafficker, he commands an international crime ring that spans over The Aldmeri Dominion, Elsweyr, Cyrodiil, High Rock and Hammerfell, and is renowned for his cruelty. He has now recently moved his attention to Skyrim, to expand his sphere. He had been working on expanding into skyrim for a while, sending a few groups to attempt to set up in the area, but now, he has taken a personal interest in Skyrim, and has personally come to Skyrim to coordinate efforts.

Ra’Basha is currently living aboard his private ship, and is docked in Solitude (or in the area). His ship contains a number of sailors and guards (all Khajiit). The player may sneak abord the ship in a similar fashion to the ‘Hail Sithis’ quest. They player then makes their way to Ra’Basha’s private quarters, only to find the room almost painted with blood and Ra’Basha dying. A conversation between the Player and Ra’Basha ensues as follows (or if someone else has a better idea for a conversation, please share it)

Ra’Basha: (Cough), What!? (Cough) Who are you? (Small Coughing fit) You’re not with the one who came before (Cough)

Player: What happened here?

Ra: I’m enjoying a nice bowl of Elsweyr Fondue, idiot! What does it look like! (Cough) I suppose I should be a bit more humble, I’m not in much of a position to lord power over you. But my question still stands. Who are you?

P: I am the Listener of the Black Hand. Leader of the…

Ra: Dark Brotherhood. Yes yes, I know (cough). And I can guess why you’re here. And you’re obviously a bit late. (Small coughing fit)

P: Who did this?

Ra: Ah, hunting the hunter are we? (Cough) Well, I have nothing to hide from you. I don’t know his name, or his exact affiliation, but what I can tell you is he was a Dunmer, and he said something about meeting up with his superiors in the ‘Ratway’ in a melodramatic monologue after he did this. If you run fast as the sands, you may be able to catch him. But before you go, may I please request something?

P: That depends.

Ra: I’ve spent much of my life as a drug lord, a Kingpin. I have many enemies, all of which would have paid for my execution. I’d like you to give me the killing blow. If I’m going to die, I’d like to do so on my terms. The final insult to my various enemies.

P: So be it.

With this, the player kills Ra’Basha (he only has one point of health), and then proceeds to chase down the other assassin in the Ratway. A map marker leads the player to what will become the Riften Sanctuary. As there is no Black Door yet, the Morag Tong have access to the area, and small group of them are gathered. The Player, as they enter the sanctuary, can easily hide from them and listen to a conversation. ZIn this conversation, a Morag Tong agent is reporting success in assassinating Ra’Basha to their superior. The player has the option to either start combat immediately, or listen to the conversation. Either way, the player must eliminate the MT.

With this done, the player returns to Umbra in Dawnstar, who will again praise the player and announce that the area used by the MT will be the new Sanctuary in Riften. He then informs the player that he will organise the Riften Sanctuary. HE also tells the player that he and the other Speakers had taken the liberty to found a personal sanctuary for the player south of Windhelm in the Velothi Mountains. He also informs that in a few days, the Black hand shall meet in the Player’s new sanctuary to discuss the next moves of the Dark Brotherhood.

Decapitation Strike
During the second meeting of the Black Hand in the Listener’s sanctuary, the Black Hand discusses how to combat the Morag Tong. The Dark Brotherhood has already been interfering with Morag Tong Writs, eliminating Tong agents and contacts where possible, and a few members have attempted to infiltrate the Tong. However, it is clear that to really make a move against the tong, more direct action is needed. The Hand discusses what exactly to do. Deldyn has been doing the most intelligence activity against the Tong (while the player was establishing sanctuaries), but has only turned up some reliable information. Of the reliable information she has turned up, she announces that Ingvar Twin-Daggers has is an agent for the Morag Tong in the court of Windhelm. She believes that this evidence of a Morag Tong sanctuary in Windhelm. However, she has no solid proof of this, yet alone has any idea of where exactly it would be located (other than somewhere in the grey quarter). She suggests that searching his quarters will reveal some information on where the Tong is operating out of Windhelm. She also suggests having Ingvar ‘taken care of’. She then goes on to detail how to eliminate the sanctuary. She tells the player to sneak into the sanctuary and kill the master. The player must then search around for any information about Tong strategies/activities/locations (found on the master or in the library). Finally, she requests that the player sneaks to the sanctuaries well and poisons it. She suggests that this would best be done all without being noticed, but if it comes to it, the player may just assault the sanctuary (but that would be… unprofessional). She gives the player two bottles of a slow acting poison to poison the well. She states that one would be more than enough, but she gives the player another one, just in case.

In Ingvar’s personal quarters (in the Palace of Kings, or an inn) a letter from Bradasou Hlaalu praising the effort Ingvar has done so far in manipulating the court of Windhelm, and requests that Invar meets him in the ‘sanctuary beneath the New Gnisis Cornerclub’. There is a key to the sanctuary next to it.

To ‘take care of Invar’, the player may just kill him. Or they can tell the Jarl about Ingvars association with the Tong (and provide the evidence for it). This will result in Ingvar being immediately arrested, and his execution is carried out the following morning (if the player is outside of the Palace of Kings at the time, they may witness it). His final words in this case are “You fools. You sad sad fools. You execute me for my association with the Morag Tong. But in doing so, you directly help the Dark Brotherhood rise again. No matter. Mephala have pity on me.” These words do not change the situation. Another option is to learn that Invar has a horrible drinking problem (how unlike a Nord). The player then has the option of visiting him between 8pm and 12am, and offering him a 'drink' (one of the bottles of poison). He will gladly accept it and drink it, but comment that he must of had a bit to much to drink, as it seemed to taste a bit odd. He then makes his way to bed. A few hours later, he will die.

With Ingvar dealt with (or his execution arranged), the player then proceeds to eliminate the Morag Tong sanctuary in Windhelm. The Player may opt the stealthy method of eliminating the master, taking his intelligence and poisoning the well, or they may just barge in and slaughter everyone (they still need to take the intelligence).

When the Sanctuary has been eliminated, the player returns to Deldyn in Dawnstar to report success. Deldyn praises the player, and instructs them to meet with Umbra in the Riften Sanctuary, and give him the information found in the Windhelm sanctuary. There Umbra will take the intelligence, praise the player and proceed to tell them about the next target.

If the player decides to return to the Windhelm sanctuary for any reason, the MT members will all be found dead.

Flooded Marshland
After the assault on the Windhelm MT sanctuary, the player is told by Umbra that the intelligence points out several sanctuaries. The most interesting is Morthal, as it is home to one of the most senior MT members, short of the Grandmaster himself. However The intelligence report does not have anything to say on the location of the Grandmaster.

Umbra suggests that the player eliminates the Master in any way the player sees fit. After the player sneaks into the Morthal sanctuary, the proceed to find its Master. Without many guards in the immediate area, the player comes across a dark room with an elderly Dark Elf woman (covered almost entirely in shadow) sitting on a throne in the middle of it. This turns out to be Llaala Gidran, Master of the Morthal sanctuary. Regardless of how stealthy the player is Llaala stll notices them, and gives a short, melodramatic monologue (how many am I going to put into this mod?) stating that she is a legend of the Morag Tong, and despite her age, she is still a formidable opponent. Even so, she summons the rest of her sanctuary to assist her ‘just to be safe’. With this, she gets up to fight the player, and the rest of the assassins in the sanctuary run into the room to help her. When the player kills Llaala, she utters he last words ‘Bravo. You truly are a born killer’. With this, the MT assassins that survived the fight become completely demoralised and flee.

The player then returns to Umbra, who will then praise the player (for the hundredth time).







A few thoughts on some future quests
When the player attacks the sanctuary/base with a library (not the Grandmaster’s/Listener’s) they are asked to retrieve a book that lists the plans of the opposing group, and poison the sanctuary’s well (all without becoming discovered, or they will just have to fight through the base/sanctuary).

A quest to assassinate a former member of the MT/DB for betraying the Tenants (DB) or for freelancing (MT).

I think the attacks on Windhelm/Solitude (depending on the players respective faction) would make for a good start to the assault, as they contain the libraries (containing information for either side to use) and they would be important bases. A sudden and swift assault on them would be devastating to the player's opposition.

I think this is sounding good.

Perhaps you will consider a slight variation on Sinistre's quest so both aren't simply "kill this NPC" type quests. Perhaps the goal is to not only eliminate the other vampire but also recover an item that was stolen, perhaps some Valtieri heirloom (a piece of gear with assassin type buffs) in which Sinistre notes that you can hold on to it for him as a reward.

I also think it's best if the enemy vampire is in a cave - out of the sunlight. The heirloom will be in a chest nearby. If you arrive during night, the enemy vampire may be awake or even out of the cave - best to come at day to catch him unaware.

For the second encounter - given we are assassins - I think the player should be given a route to successfully assassinate each of the target's Forsworn guards prior to the monologue. When entering the target's room he automatically sees you and his monologue starts. Perhaps he first calls for his guards - if the player did not kill them, they come a running and the monologue is cut short. If you did kill the guards he cowers in some way and ask why the player is here. The player would than be given options - 1) he tells him why 2) He tells him nothing saying he is here to kill him or 3) he remains silent.

If 1 is picked maybe we have him gloat before the conversion ends and the player runs him through.

Hey,
Sinistre is being troubled by a vampire hunter, not a vampire. That is why the Hunter is in the sunlight and next to a fire (to be pushed into). But the idea of retrieving an heirloom of the Valtieri family makes sense.

And I thought maybe the second encounter was expected to be alone (making him an easy target for an assassin). Maybe he was expected to rendezvous with another agent of the Silver-Blood family, and thus meeting him with bodyguards would make for a surprise (hopefully). He is actually a double agent (still unknown to the Silver-Bloods), and was expecting a knife in the back. Still, giving the player the option to either tell him why he is here, to just say he is going to kill him, or just remain silent is good.

Oops - well okay than, Vampire Hunter - that makes much more sense. The heirloom could have tipped the hunter off to Valtieri's whereabouts.

I thought you said the target was with other Forsworn, I thought those were meant to be his lackeys. Maybe I misunderstood. Perhaps you meant he is just in an area with other generic forsworn?

No, the target was a Forsworn, and is with more forsworn.

He is supposed to working with the Silver-Bloods as an inside agent, but he has betrayed them and now work for the forsworn.

He knows (or thinks) that the Silver-Bloods will try to have him killed. And so, he has bodyguards (more forsworn).

I thought it would add to the plot if he was expected to be alone, but turned out to have a few bodyguards, forcing the player to fight.

Ok, I got it. It all makes sense now.

Cool.

And I'm sorry if I'm a bit hard to understand.

Hi guys,

are we assuming that the mt knows about the db?

another way the db could find out about the mt and infiltrate it is by having the player sent to recruit another member and happen to sneak up on the potential recruit talking to the what would appear to be a mt member. the potential recruit could either be one of the mt's recruitment targets or already be a member of the mt. depending upon how much the mt knows about the db then the play might be able to infiltrate the mt this way.

so far the main story sounds good. i think we might want to make a dialog somewhere where the player is told that just because some one says that their mark will be some where at some time dose not mean he should take them at their word and have the player encouraged to shake down the place before the mark should to be there. that way we could make some good assassination opportunities outside of what quest dialog would suggest.

for example, the players is told the mark will be at some generic cave entrance to meet some other npc's at a specific time. what the player would not be told is that if he comes early he could kill off the mark who is located not too far from the generic cave entrance making him easy to pick off while on his own. dose that make any sense?

The MT would know about the DB for a few reasons. One, it is not a hidden fact that the DB has (or had) outposts all over Tamriel. Two, if you just walk around, people tell you about them. The Db would not expect the MT to make a comeback, and definitely not in Skyrim. But the MT make themselves known when they approach the player. The DB would either know about the MT when the player returns, or they would figure out if the player leaves.

I like you're opinion on assassination opportunities. Most of the assassinations in the main quest would be against the leaders of the player's rivals (they would just be in their sanctuary, and there would generally be only a limited number of ways to kill them). I have an idea to include between rebuilding sanctuaries were the player executes a former member of the DB/MT who ad disobeyed the rules (either an MT agent has been freelancing, or a DB assassin had broken one or more of the tenets).

You could include that in the Side Assassinations (I think you said you'd take them). I wanted a part of this mod to bring back the stealthy and creative murders from Oblivion.

Next quest finished.

I' trying to get them done, but I have a horrible problem with procrastination, and an incurable Skyrim addiction.

On the topic of killing Nazir, I could only imagine murdering him with the Ebony Blade. That would please Mephala.

Regarding making the side assassinations, i do want to do them. my problem is that i want to make them much more special then the go here kill this dude come back. but im not sure how many liberties i can take and even though i have a pretty decent idea about what can and cant be done easily through modding im not familiar enough with skyrim to know who i can kill off.

will all the side assassination targets be scripted in? or will they be already existing citizens? can i make the side assassination very close to the story line? or do they have to be mostly unrelated? for example the main story line quest when the player is sent to kill the forsworn double agent, could i make a side assassination that dabbles in the same context and have say bonus targets that would be i could craftily weave in to the story line?

off the top of my head the first method of killing some one off that idt has been done in game yet is to dress up as a more ordinary citizen and provoke some one through dialog in to attacking you some where out of sight, then running through town and let the guards kill em. for the a fore mentioned quest however i would rather enjoy getting a chance to take advantage of the great heights in Markarth and the excellent advice of the guards and enabling some gravity related accident.

Another fun thing to do in an assassination would be to kill tow birds with one stone and frame on mark for killing the other

what do you guys thing? how far can i go?

The idea I had was that the Side Assassinations were not tied to the Main Quests. They are just like what Nazir gives you (But it wouldn't be necessary to complete them to advance in the questline). They are simply for fun and to get some gold moving (possibly to pay for the sanctuaries). However, I like the idea of making a few side assassinations that are related to, but not essential to the main story.

For example, we could assassinate some rivals for the Silver-Bloods, Maven Black-Briar, and the jarls to help gain their support in Skyrim. And perhaps even take jobs from governments in the other Provinces, such as Hammerfell, Black Marsh and even the Thalmor (like taking out dissidents hiding in Skyrim).

Some ideas to make it more interesting would be to kill them in specified and unique ways, have different ways they could be killed (Some possible unique) and have high priority figures (heirs of Jarls, Imperial/Thalmor executives), or seeing as a war is on, we could be asked to kill some leaders of the warring parties. Oblivon DB was hailed for it's variety in assassinations, and it's uniwue ways to kill people. This is severely lacking in Skyrim, and I was hoping you would be able to try and bring i back a bit.

I'd imagine these characters would be new. Simply so we don't interrupt any questlines and we know they are not essential.

However, if you are thinking of making an existing character a part of anything, the UESPWiki has a good number of pages on NPC, detailing if they are essential, if they are a follower, if the are involved with any quests etc.

Sunny, I like where you are going with these - using the "gravity" in Markarth sounds splendid. The quest giver might even state to the player that you shadow the target for a while so you can make it look like an accident.

Another could be to poison food or drink. It would need to be scripted so that an item is poisonable and it would probable require a unique instant kill poison.

As for as using current NPCs, I agree with Sithis. However, some situations might call for specifically using a new NPC, like if there are any interactions with the target - voice acting could be done for them as opposed to trying to match and existing NPC's voice.

One of the quests we need to bring back from Oblivion is "Whodunit". Hailed as one of the best quests in the game.

For anyone unaware of this quest, essentially the player is locked in a house with 4-5 other NPCs. The NPCs are all looking for something (like this is a challenge), and have agreed to be locked in the house until they have found the prize.

However, there is no prize, and the player must kill them all secretly, and then leave (they are given the key to the house in advance). As each NPC is killed, the others have new dialogue options. Some are afraid, some are looking for the killer, and some think it's simply competition.

Ah good times.