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About this mod
The attribute and skill gains that go along with being a vampire no longer count toward the attribute and skill cap of 100.
- Permissions and credits
- Changelogs
This plugin basically makes it so that the attribute and skill gains that go along with being a vampire no longer count toward the attribute and skill cap of 100. For attributes, it does this by temporarily removing the attribute gains from the player upon resting, so that attributes will be at their base values when leveling up. For skills, this plugin makes the spells that grant the skill gains curses rather than abilities, so that the skills are trained based upon their base value, not their fortified value.
See below for a more detailed discussion of why this is a good thing and how it works.
Details
This discussion is rather long-winded. If you want to skip it, scroll down to the "Attribute Gains" and "Skill Gains" subsections below.
In vanilla Morrowind, the attribute and skill gains you get upon becoming a vampire count towards the cap of 100 for attributes and skills, limiting how far you can increase your attributes and skills by leveling, and making training your skills more difficult.
For example, let's say you have a strength of 50 when you become a Quarra vampire. Being a Quarra vampire increases your strength by 40, for a total of 90 points of strength. The +40 to strength is implemented as a permanent (well, at least until you're cured of vampirism) ability, just like birthsigns that increase your attributes. This means that your base strength is considered to be 90 as far as the game is concerned.
So, when you level up, your strength is listed as 90, not 50, and you can only increase it a further 10 points by leveling, to a maximum of 100. The +40 boost for being a Quarra vampire ends up being wasted. The only way to avoid the strength boost being wasted is to wait until your base strength is already 100 before becoming a Quarra vampire, in which case it will be boosted to 140.
Likewise, let's say you have an unarmored skill of 30 when you become a Berne vampire. Being a Berne vampire increases your unarmored by 50, for a total of 80 points in the unarmored skill. The +50 to unarmored, like the bonuses to attributes, is implemented as a permanent ability, so your base unarmored is considered to be 80 as far as the game is concerned.
This means that your unarmored skill levels up as though it were 80, not 30 (it will suddenly take much longer to increase your unarmored skill). Furthermore, your unarmored skill will stop increasing at a boosted value of 100, since the game considers that your base value, so the +50 boost for being a Berne vampire ends up being wasted. The only way to avoid the unarmored boost being wasted is to wait until your base unarmored skill is already 100 before becoming a Berne vampire, in which case it will be boosted to 150.
If you only intend to remain a vampire long enough to do the vampire quests and then take the cure, this doesn't matter much. But if you plan to play the game as a vampire, and don't want to wait until you're already supremely powerful before becoming one, this is a problem.
There are a few ways around this issue. The first is to enable the attribute and skill uncapper patches in Morrowind Code Patch, so attributes and skills no longer have a cap of 100. But this is a radical change to the game that isn't in everyone's tastes.
Another option is to create a script that will remove the stat gains before you level, and add them back after. The mod Level Up Birthsign Remover does this for birthsigns that increase attributes. Every time you rest, the spell that provides the attribute boosts is temporarily removed, so that your attributes are at their base values on the level up screen.
This works for attributes, and this is the method this plugin uses to address this problem with attribute gains (see below for more details), but it doesn't work for skills.
A third option is to make the spells that provide the stat gains curses, rather than abilities. As far as the game is concerned, an ability stat boost is a permanent stat boost, and the stat is considered to be at its fortified value for the purposes of the game. But a curse is considered to be temporary (even if it's permanent), so when a stat is fortified by a curse, the game remembers what the real base value is when you level up and when you train skills. The mod Vampire Curse by Lythoc takes this tack.
But this presents its own problem. There's a bug in the game where if an attribute or skill is fortified by a curse, and the player is hit with a Damage Attribute or Damage Skill effect for the relevant attribute or skill, that stat is *permanently* damaged. A Restore Attribute or Restore Skill effect will not restore the stat above its base value, and since the curse is permanent and cannot be removed, the damage to the stat is permanent (at least until you take the cure for vampirism).
A similar problem exists when you're hit by a Drain Attribute or Drain Skill effect. The attribute or skill will not be restored above its base value when the drain effect wears off, which means the drain effect becomes a *permanent* damage effect that cannot be fixed until you cure your vampirism.
Morrowind Code Patch fixes a similar bug when your attributes or skills are being fortified by a constant effect enchantment, but the bugfix does not apply when the fortification is provided by a curse, so this bug is present even with MCP.
There's also a third threat: the Remove Curse effect. Being hit with any Remove Curse effect will permanently remove all of your vampire stat gains. There are no Remove Curse effects in vanilla Morrowind, but mods can add them.
The Vampire Curse mod addresses this problem by adding a spell that triggers a script when cast. The script temporarily removes all of your vampire stat gains, fully restores all of your attributes and skills, and then reapplies the attribute and skill boosts. This is extremely powerful - a spell that will fully restore all your attributes basically for free, on demand. Vampire Curse tries to compensate for how unbalanced this is by limiting the restoration spell to once a day, but that's nothing that can't be gotten around by pressing the wait key.
Fortunately, the restoration script is really only unbalancing for attributes, not for skills. Damage Skill effects are essentially non-existent in vanilla Morrowind (as long as you're playing the latest official patch), and while Drain Skill effects do exist, they're relatively rare. Also, Drain Skill effects are supposed to be temporary and wear off anyway, so it's not unbalancing to let you cast a spell for a magicka cost to fix the permanent damage bug (unlike with attributes, where the restoration script basically allows you to ignore the much more common and much more debilitating Damage Attribute effect).
My plugin takes this same tack for skill gains: it makes them curses and adds a special spell that will restore the relevant skills when needed. As the special script is no longer unbalancing, it's not even necessary to limit it to once a day.
Below are details on how the changes made by this plugin work, and special considerations to be kept in mind. In addition to the below, this plugin incorporates the Patch for Purists fixes to the modified scripts, including the addition of the Vampire Fly (levitation) spell for vampires, which was omitted from the vanilla scripts.
Attribute Gains
This plugin separates the attribute and skill gains for becoming a vampire, and takes two different tacks to address the problems described above. For attributes, the plugin adds a script that temporarily removes the attribute gains when you rest, and re-adds them after, just like Level Up Birthsign Remover does for birthsigns. So, when you level up, your attributes will be at their base values, and so can be increased up to a *base* value of 100.
There's only one complication from this, and only if you're also using a retroactive health mod like Talrivian's State-Based HP. Your health is temporarily reduced when you rest (the vampire spell that boosts your strength is removed, so your strength is lowered, therefore your health is lowered). If you have very low health when you rest, the result is instant death.
The minimum safe health upon resting is 11 for Aundae and Berne vampires, and 21 for Quarra vampires. In practice, the safe thresholds are a bit lower than this, I think because you actually gain a bit of health by resting before the attribute gains are removed.
To address this problem I created an alternative version of the plugin with a modified script. This version of the script basically checks your health before it removes the spells, and if your health is below the minimum safe threshold, it's increased to the safe value. The downside of this is that you basically get a bit of free healing when resting with very low health.
Skill Gains
To address the problems with skill gains described above, this plugin makes the skill gains curses, rather than abilities, just like the Vampire Curse mod. The most immediately obvious change is that the relevant skills will show highlighted in the menu, just like skills fortified by an enchantment.
If you get hit by a Remove Curse, Damage Skill or Drain Skill effect, your vampire skill boosts will be permamently removed or reduced. Remove Curse and Damage Skill are nonexistent in vanilla Morrowind, but Drain Skill effects do exist.
To get around this problem, a new spell called Vampire Restoration is added. The spell is just a Restore Fatigue effect, but when you cast it a script is triggered that removes the skill boosts, restores the relevant skills, then re-adds the skill boosts. In practice, unless you're playing a mod that adds Damage Skill or Remove Curse effects, you'll only need to cast Vampire Restoration when hit with a rather rare Drain Skill effect against one of your boosted skills.
A minor annoyance is that, if your damaged skill value is still higher than the base value, it will still be highlighted in white in the menu, so it's not immediately obvious that the skill has been damaged. You'll just have to keep an eye on them.
Installation and Load Order
Use a mod management tool such as Wrye Mash, or just copy the .esp file you wish to use to your Data Files directory, and select the plugin in the Morrowind Launcher.
Two versions of the plugin are included: a "regular" version, and one intended to be used with Talrivian's State-Based HP. Use only one version of the plugin, not both.
Due to how the new scripts are started, this plugin should be enabled *before* becoming a vampire. If you're already a vampire when you enable this plugin, it will not be fully effective.
Also included is an optional file containing a patch for Vampire Realism. If you use VR, load the patch after both this mod and VR. VR should also come after this mod in the load order. So if you use both mods, the proper load order is:
1. Vampire Stat Gains Fix (this mod, either version)
2. Vampire Realism
3. Vampire Stat Gains Fix - VR Patch
Compatibility
This plugin edits the following vanilla spells:
Vampire Skills
Vampire Aundae Specials
Vampire Berne Specials
Vampire Quarra Specials
And the following vanilla scripts:
Vampire_Aundae
Vampire_Berne
Vampire_Quarra
Vampire_Aundae_PC
Vampire_Berne_PC
Vampire_Quarra_PC
Vampire_Cure_PC
It should be compatible with anything that does not edit these things, but will be incompatible with anything that does. Other vampire mods are likely to edit at least some of these things, and so will probably be incompatible.
However, an optional file contains a patch for Vampire Realism. Thanks to Exovi for the patch! The patch should load after VR, which should itself load after this mod.
Credits
Level Up Birthsign Remover, by AzuMite and Hollaajith, is an inspiration for part of this plugin. My remover script is a modified version of theirs.
Vampire Curse, by Lythoc, inspired the other part of this plugin, and my restoration script is a modified version of theirs.
Exovi created the Vampire Realism patch, so much thanks to them!
Usage
Feel free to use this however you want. If you use the remover script (that removes the spells that provide the attribute gains on resting), you should credit AzuMite and Hollaajith, creators of the Level Up Birthsign Remover mod. If you use the restoration script (that restores damaged skills), you should credit Lythoc, who created the Vampire Curse mod that the original version of that script came from.
See below for a more detailed discussion of why this is a good thing and how it works.
Details
This discussion is rather long-winded. If you want to skip it, scroll down to the "Attribute Gains" and "Skill Gains" subsections below.
In vanilla Morrowind, the attribute and skill gains you get upon becoming a vampire count towards the cap of 100 for attributes and skills, limiting how far you can increase your attributes and skills by leveling, and making training your skills more difficult.
For example, let's say you have a strength of 50 when you become a Quarra vampire. Being a Quarra vampire increases your strength by 40, for a total of 90 points of strength. The +40 to strength is implemented as a permanent (well, at least until you're cured of vampirism) ability, just like birthsigns that increase your attributes. This means that your base strength is considered to be 90 as far as the game is concerned.
So, when you level up, your strength is listed as 90, not 50, and you can only increase it a further 10 points by leveling, to a maximum of 100. The +40 boost for being a Quarra vampire ends up being wasted. The only way to avoid the strength boost being wasted is to wait until your base strength is already 100 before becoming a Quarra vampire, in which case it will be boosted to 140.
Likewise, let's say you have an unarmored skill of 30 when you become a Berne vampire. Being a Berne vampire increases your unarmored by 50, for a total of 80 points in the unarmored skill. The +50 to unarmored, like the bonuses to attributes, is implemented as a permanent ability, so your base unarmored is considered to be 80 as far as the game is concerned.
This means that your unarmored skill levels up as though it were 80, not 30 (it will suddenly take much longer to increase your unarmored skill). Furthermore, your unarmored skill will stop increasing at a boosted value of 100, since the game considers that your base value, so the +50 boost for being a Berne vampire ends up being wasted. The only way to avoid the unarmored boost being wasted is to wait until your base unarmored skill is already 100 before becoming a Berne vampire, in which case it will be boosted to 150.
If you only intend to remain a vampire long enough to do the vampire quests and then take the cure, this doesn't matter much. But if you plan to play the game as a vampire, and don't want to wait until you're already supremely powerful before becoming one, this is a problem.
There are a few ways around this issue. The first is to enable the attribute and skill uncapper patches in Morrowind Code Patch, so attributes and skills no longer have a cap of 100. But this is a radical change to the game that isn't in everyone's tastes.
Another option is to create a script that will remove the stat gains before you level, and add them back after. The mod Level Up Birthsign Remover does this for birthsigns that increase attributes. Every time you rest, the spell that provides the attribute boosts is temporarily removed, so that your attributes are at their base values on the level up screen.
This works for attributes, and this is the method this plugin uses to address this problem with attribute gains (see below for more details), but it doesn't work for skills.
A third option is to make the spells that provide the stat gains curses, rather than abilities. As far as the game is concerned, an ability stat boost is a permanent stat boost, and the stat is considered to be at its fortified value for the purposes of the game. But a curse is considered to be temporary (even if it's permanent), so when a stat is fortified by a curse, the game remembers what the real base value is when you level up and when you train skills. The mod Vampire Curse by Lythoc takes this tack.
But this presents its own problem. There's a bug in the game where if an attribute or skill is fortified by a curse, and the player is hit with a Damage Attribute or Damage Skill effect for the relevant attribute or skill, that stat is *permanently* damaged. A Restore Attribute or Restore Skill effect will not restore the stat above its base value, and since the curse is permanent and cannot be removed, the damage to the stat is permanent (at least until you take the cure for vampirism).
A similar problem exists when you're hit by a Drain Attribute or Drain Skill effect. The attribute or skill will not be restored above its base value when the drain effect wears off, which means the drain effect becomes a *permanent* damage effect that cannot be fixed until you cure your vampirism.
Morrowind Code Patch fixes a similar bug when your attributes or skills are being fortified by a constant effect enchantment, but the bugfix does not apply when the fortification is provided by a curse, so this bug is present even with MCP.
There's also a third threat: the Remove Curse effect. Being hit with any Remove Curse effect will permanently remove all of your vampire stat gains. There are no Remove Curse effects in vanilla Morrowind, but mods can add them.
The Vampire Curse mod addresses this problem by adding a spell that triggers a script when cast. The script temporarily removes all of your vampire stat gains, fully restores all of your attributes and skills, and then reapplies the attribute and skill boosts. This is extremely powerful - a spell that will fully restore all your attributes basically for free, on demand. Vampire Curse tries to compensate for how unbalanced this is by limiting the restoration spell to once a day, but that's nothing that can't be gotten around by pressing the wait key.
Fortunately, the restoration script is really only unbalancing for attributes, not for skills. Damage Skill effects are essentially non-existent in vanilla Morrowind (as long as you're playing the latest official patch), and while Drain Skill effects do exist, they're relatively rare. Also, Drain Skill effects are supposed to be temporary and wear off anyway, so it's not unbalancing to let you cast a spell for a magicka cost to fix the permanent damage bug (unlike with attributes, where the restoration script basically allows you to ignore the much more common and much more debilitating Damage Attribute effect).
My plugin takes this same tack for skill gains: it makes them curses and adds a special spell that will restore the relevant skills when needed. As the special script is no longer unbalancing, it's not even necessary to limit it to once a day.
Below are details on how the changes made by this plugin work, and special considerations to be kept in mind. In addition to the below, this plugin incorporates the Patch for Purists fixes to the modified scripts, including the addition of the Vampire Fly (levitation) spell for vampires, which was omitted from the vanilla scripts.
Attribute Gains
This plugin separates the attribute and skill gains for becoming a vampire, and takes two different tacks to address the problems described above. For attributes, the plugin adds a script that temporarily removes the attribute gains when you rest, and re-adds them after, just like Level Up Birthsign Remover does for birthsigns. So, when you level up, your attributes will be at their base values, and so can be increased up to a *base* value of 100.
There's only one complication from this, and only if you're also using a retroactive health mod like Talrivian's State-Based HP. Your health is temporarily reduced when you rest (the vampire spell that boosts your strength is removed, so your strength is lowered, therefore your health is lowered). If you have very low health when you rest, the result is instant death.
The minimum safe health upon resting is 11 for Aundae and Berne vampires, and 21 for Quarra vampires. In practice, the safe thresholds are a bit lower than this, I think because you actually gain a bit of health by resting before the attribute gains are removed.
To address this problem I created an alternative version of the plugin with a modified script. This version of the script basically checks your health before it removes the spells, and if your health is below the minimum safe threshold, it's increased to the safe value. The downside of this is that you basically get a bit of free healing when resting with very low health.
Skill Gains
To address the problems with skill gains described above, this plugin makes the skill gains curses, rather than abilities, just like the Vampire Curse mod. The most immediately obvious change is that the relevant skills will show highlighted in the menu, just like skills fortified by an enchantment.
If you get hit by a Remove Curse, Damage Skill or Drain Skill effect, your vampire skill boosts will be permamently removed or reduced. Remove Curse and Damage Skill are nonexistent in vanilla Morrowind, but Drain Skill effects do exist.
To get around this problem, a new spell called Vampire Restoration is added. The spell is just a Restore Fatigue effect, but when you cast it a script is triggered that removes the skill boosts, restores the relevant skills, then re-adds the skill boosts. In practice, unless you're playing a mod that adds Damage Skill or Remove Curse effects, you'll only need to cast Vampire Restoration when hit with a rather rare Drain Skill effect against one of your boosted skills.
A minor annoyance is that, if your damaged skill value is still higher than the base value, it will still be highlighted in white in the menu, so it's not immediately obvious that the skill has been damaged. You'll just have to keep an eye on them.
Installation and Load Order
Use a mod management tool such as Wrye Mash, or just copy the .esp file you wish to use to your Data Files directory, and select the plugin in the Morrowind Launcher.
Two versions of the plugin are included: a "regular" version, and one intended to be used with Talrivian's State-Based HP. Use only one version of the plugin, not both.
Due to how the new scripts are started, this plugin should be enabled *before* becoming a vampire. If you're already a vampire when you enable this plugin, it will not be fully effective.
Also included is an optional file containing a patch for Vampire Realism. If you use VR, load the patch after both this mod and VR. VR should also come after this mod in the load order. So if you use both mods, the proper load order is:
1. Vampire Stat Gains Fix (this mod, either version)
2. Vampire Realism
3. Vampire Stat Gains Fix - VR Patch
Compatibility
This plugin edits the following vanilla spells:
Vampire Skills
Vampire Aundae Specials
Vampire Berne Specials
Vampire Quarra Specials
And the following vanilla scripts:
Vampire_Aundae
Vampire_Berne
Vampire_Quarra
Vampire_Aundae_PC
Vampire_Berne_PC
Vampire_Quarra_PC
Vampire_Cure_PC
It should be compatible with anything that does not edit these things, but will be incompatible with anything that does. Other vampire mods are likely to edit at least some of these things, and so will probably be incompatible.
However, an optional file contains a patch for Vampire Realism. Thanks to Exovi for the patch! The patch should load after VR, which should itself load after this mod.
Credits
Level Up Birthsign Remover, by AzuMite and Hollaajith, is an inspiration for part of this plugin. My remover script is a modified version of theirs.
Vampire Curse, by Lythoc, inspired the other part of this plugin, and my restoration script is a modified version of theirs.
Exovi created the Vampire Realism patch, so much thanks to them!
Usage
Feel free to use this however you want. If you use the remover script (that removes the spells that provide the attribute gains on resting), you should credit AzuMite and Hollaajith, creators of the Level Up Birthsign Remover mod. If you use the restoration script (that restores damaged skills), you should credit Lythoc, who created the Vampire Curse mod that the original version of that script came from.