Even if you haven’t tried Skyrim, you probably don’t need me to tell you how huge the Elder Scrolls games are. They eat your free time like the Cookie Monster with a box of Chips Ahoy. In January, Bethesda is releasing the Skyrim Creation Kit, and the mods that have as yet been missing will begin to appear. Ostensibly, I’ll even be able to log on with my phone, select mods, and they’ll automatically be installed when I next play.
That said, I’ve noticed a number of things missing from Skyrim, and here are the mods I’d most like to see.
Darker Dungeons / Droppable torches
Oblivion had two mods that I loved. One was called darker dungeons, and did just what it said. By default, there are no areas in the game in which you need a torch, lantern, or light spell. You can walk around the deepest caves and still see just fine. The Darker Dungeons mod made it so that nighttime and dungeon environments were actually dark, requiring some light source.
The second was called Droppable Torches, and made it so that if you were holding a torch and drew a weapon, the torch would automatically drop to the ground and continue to provide light. Together, these two mods completely changed the experience of dungeon delving, much for the better.
Improved Alchemy
Alchemy has been one of my favorite parts of The Elder Scrolls games, but there are a few improvements I’d like to see made. Firstly, I think you should be able to name your potions. For example, when I combine Canis Root, Imp Stool, and Orange Dartwing to create my favorite poison, it damages the foe, paralyzes him, and also has a lingering damage effect. But the name is simply “Poison of Paralysis”. There has to be some way to better identify this amidst a list of dozens of potions that I’m carrying. Were I able to relabel the poison “Bloodboil” or even “Paralysis and Damage”, it would help a lot.
Another thing I think could make alchemy more interesting is delayed onset effects. Whether this was governed by ingredients and skill or manually chosen by the alchemist, I think it could add some interesting complexity. Imagine if when I create a paralysis/slow/damage poison, I could delay the onset of the slow effect until after the paralysis wears off. It would be much more useful. Similarly, imagine that when I use the more common Red Mountain Flower in a Damage Health poison, it takes 4 seconds before the damage takes place, but when I use the much rarer Troll Fat, it’s instantaneous. Seems like a cool twist.
Indirect fire weapons
Other than magic spells, bows are the only projectile weapon in the game. How cool would it be to allow alchemy to create molitov cocktails or acid flasks? I’m sure that the physics behind the indirect fire would be a bit tricky, but the engine has gravity built in, so it may not be too bad.
New Monsters
As much as I love fighting giants and sabrecats, I do sometimes miss Oblivion’s goblins, scamps, and minotaurs. How about a mod that would re-add those monsters?
New Mounts
I know that it’s possible to climb into the back of a carriage. How about making the thing mobile? How about allowing players to mount a tamed mammoth or sabrecat in the same way that you can mount a horse? Could be epic.
New Spells
Skyrim has some wonderful and creative spells. The rune traps and the wall spells are great in that they’re new and creative, and the clairvoyance spell is fantastic. What about a spell that duplicates the effect that occurs when you’re hit by a giant? Boom – and you go flying up in the air.
