Source
r/EnaiRim•
Claky

Character motivation for Breton pickpocket illusionist

I'm kind of new to using mods and I've found that I don't like playing my character lately because I don't know what her motivations would be.

I did the alternate start mod where I wake up as a warlock's thrall and went straight to the thieves guild. On the way, I started worshiping Vaermina after getting the skull of corruption. Now I'm halfway through the thieves guild quest line, halfway through the mages college, halfway through the main quest line and haven't picked a side in the civil war. I guess I'm also thane of Whiterun and Morthal and a bard.

I just hit lvl 40 with 100 Illusion, 100 Pickpocket and 70 Speech so I can steal everything, store them with the steed stone, calm anyone who notices, fence them to any merchant and start generating perks with Dragon's Hoard.

Does anyone have a suggestion for where to go next? What's a good motivation for a pickpocket that isn't just kleptomania?

Posted Aug 23, 2019, 5:13 PM UTC

38
Ignorus•

Pull a con on the civil war factions by stealing and keeping the crown(Don't finish it. For style points, wear the crown in the ceasefire negotiations with the grey beards.)? Also through breaking into Aretino Residence get suckered into the DB. Maybe get infected by vampires (boni through sacrosanct to illusion), thus starting the Dawn guard mess?

6
Dear_Occupant•

Oh, this is an easy one. You're a dream thief! You don't burglarize people's houses for mere material wealth, though that's a happy side effect. The real prize is their fears and horrors, which you then use to terrorize the waking. Steal someone's dream, make up a story about what that character's worst fear would be, then make it reality. Use Mind Control or Shadowbond to trap people in extremely high places where they can't get out. Use Paralyze to bury them alive under a giant pile of bodies. Let your Dream Thralls follow you into dangerous rapids while you use Featherlight to calmly watch their drowning nightmares come true. Use Phantasmagoria to make two friends or lovers fight. The Guild is just there to help you get where you need to be to better serve Vaermina.

6
xSaturnx•

Now that's some wickeldy evil creativity right there, lol. But true, that indeed would probably work very well with an evil character; even moreso for one worshipping Vaermina of course.

Question: What's Featherlight? I've found Phantasmagoria; it's the Devotee power for Vaermina. Can't find Featherlight mentioned on any of Enai's modpages, though.

4
Dear_Occupant•

It might be from Lost Grimoire. I always think those spells are Enai's because they're so good. It's just waterwalking plus reduced fall damage, apprentice level Alteration, 45 seconds base duration I think. It combines really well with Longstride for getting out to remote islands, among other things.

E: Yep.

2
xSaturnx•

Aaah, okay. Thanks! :)

1
ClakyOP•

Thanks for this! I’m going to start embracing my chaotic evil side

2
Dear_Occupant•

I am turning into a broken record about this guy, but check out Shadeling4Hire if you need some inspiration. There's a mod called Take Notes that will let you keep a diary of these horrors you're inflicting on the NPCs of Skyrim, but this would make an awesome video series if you really decide to dig into it. When you watch those Shadeling videos, skip to the middle part and start with the commentary. He's using EnaiRim and he goes into great detail about what he's doing.

2
ClakyOP•

Wow this is awesome, great recommendation. It took me a while to find the part where he actually starts explaining but this guy is super creative

1
dnmt•

In my opinion, it's hard to narrow down things like this when you are such a jack of all trades in regards to quests and guilds. Like, for my thief build, the motivation is just to become Guildmaster and restore the guild to former glory. Doesn't bother with the College, the main quest, or the civil war. Creating a lore-friendly motivation and backstory for someone who does all of those things is pretty much impossible considering how unlikely it would be from a lore-based angle.

5
Ukiah•

I actually run into this problem somewhat frequently with my builds. I tend to start with the purest of intentions. I make build/perk/deity/etc choices based on the (back)story I have in my head. Then, in practice, I start making compromises to deal with frustrating game events or mechanics I didn't forsee and then I've lost the thread of the story and I delete and start over.

2