I made this mod because constantly being forcegreeted by the Falkreath guards once I reach level 10 annoyed me enough that I avoided Falkreath. Now there are mods located in Falkreath that I want to use.
The vanilla quest is started when a level check on the Falkreath guards dialogue and Lod the blacksmith's dialogue passes. If the Player is level 10 or higher, the guard will forcegreet you with dialogue about seeing a dog on the road. Alternately, if you manage to avoid the guard, Lod will have similar dialogue for you if you talk to him.
EDITED 1 August 2023
VERSION 2.0: Edited the Guard's forcegreet package to use the same conditions as the dialogue. Thanks to CalebMenge for pointing this out. I've just gotten back into modding again. Better late than never
In the Level 25 version, the dialogue is conditioned to start the quest at level 25, but you can change that by opening the console and typing
set jknjbDA03StartLevel to XXX
where XXX is the level you want to start at, or by opening the mod in xEdit and changing the value of jknjbDA03StartLevel to be whatever you want.
VERSION 2.0B:
For this version, dialogue is conditioned to not start the quest until you set the global to a number greater than 0. When you're ready to start the quest, open the console and type
set jknjbDA03StartLevel to XXX
where XXX is the level you want to start at, or by opening the mod in xEdit and changing the value of jknjbDA03StartLevel to be whatever you want, so long as it is greater than 0.
Use one or the other, not both.
Should be safe to switch versions mid-game so long as you have not started the quest "A Daedra's Best Friend" as the mod just alters dialogue conditions and a global variable value. If you do switch versions mid-game, you may need to change the value in jknjbDA03StartLevel, however.
Again, you can change the value of the global variable at any time up until you've actually had the quest to talk to Lod about the dog (a miscellaneous quest given by the guard) or you speak to Lod and he gives you a miscellaneous quest to look for the dog, or "A Daedra's Best Friend" (given once you talk to Barbas) appear in your quest journal. Once ANY of those quests have appeared in your quest journal, DO NOT CHANGE THE GLOBAL.
If you have finished "A Daedra's Best Friend" DO NOT CHANGE THE GLOBAL. I have no idea what will happen if you try to re-run the quest this way. I doubt it will be good for your game.
Just to be clear: if I'm already force-greeted by the Falkreath guard about seeing a dog, I can't use this mod to delay the quest anymore? I haven't talked to the blacksmith yet, so I thought the quest was "delayed" a bit, but I'd prefer not being asked at all by the guard (I got up to level 10 within Falkreath).
Thanks in advance! Downloading this mod for the next play-through. (Really wish this quest was originally included in the "Timing is Everything" mod, though.)
That's correct; if you're seeing the dialogue, the quest has already started.
EDIT: I just opened the mod and took a look. It looks like if you're only being force-greeted and the guard didn't give you the miscellaneous quest to look for the dog in your journal, you're OK. If you complete the dialogue with the guard, or you talk to Lod about it, the miscellaneous quest to find the dog starts and it's too late to use the mod. Just in case, if you're going to use the mod, make a hard save first (not a quicksave) and see if the guard dialogue goes away. If it does, you should be good. If it doesn't, it's too late to use the mod, revert to the hard save and wait until the next game.
FWIW, installing mods mid-game is bad modding practice. If you do install this mid-game, put it at the end of your load order. It just overwrites some dialogue conditions, there are no script changes.
Thank you very much. I've been devoutly avoiding Falkreath like the plague for years now because being force greeted by the entirety of the town guard, one after the other, endlessly, and the blacksmith being broken until I agree to deal with the dog is one of the worst conceived situations in this game.
I'll never understand why "Timing is Everything" opted not to touch this quest. I look forward to Falkreath not being a plague zone any longer.
I thought I saw a patch recently that delayed the start of some of the CC quests, but I don't remember what it was called, or if it included Saints and Seducers. I actually haven't played that quest yet, but I'll take a look at it and see how difficult it would be to make a delayed start for it. No promises, though.
Mod is a great idea, but one thing keeping it from perfect :) You can also change the package DA03StartGuardStartQuestGreet condition from level 10 to your global variable too - this will prevent the guard silently following you around near the entrance of Falkreath after level 10, seemingly desperate to ask you about dogs but just can't find the words
Played around with the mod with this tweak and its perfect, no issues at all, all dialogues and force greets trigger properly etc
I avoid that stretch of road outside Falkreath because just coming anywhere near that damn dog force-starts a long and annoying dialogue I can't escape from. I will literally run through the nearby woods to avoid that dog.
yes, it´s nice to have a possibility to delay this quest but... all the "forcegreet" does is putting the dialog on Lod. Of course if you have other plans with Lod but... you can pass the persuasive check even with low speech skill. Than you can meet Barbas and than? Nothing is forced. Your choice to enter the cave or not and at your time / level. It just puts the quest into your log.
More annoying for me is the start of "Grimsevers Return" that forces you to level-up to start the quest-dialog of Mjoll... and all that and more can already be adjusted in "Timing is Everything"
15 comments
The vanilla quest is started when a level check on the Falkreath guards dialogue and Lod the blacksmith's dialogue passes. If the Player is level 10 or higher, the guard will forcegreet you with dialogue about seeing a dog on the road. Alternately, if you manage to avoid the guard, Lod will have similar dialogue for you if you talk to him.
EDITED 1 August 2023
VERSION 2.0:
Edited the Guard's forcegreet package to use the same conditions as the dialogue. Thanks to CalebMenge for pointing this out. I've just gotten back into modding again. Better late than never
In the Level 25 version, the dialogue is conditioned to start the quest at level 25, but you can change that by opening the console and typing
set jknjbDA03StartLevel to XXX
where XXX is the level you want to start at, or by opening the mod in xEdit and changing the value of jknjbDA03StartLevel to be whatever you want.
VERSION 2.0B:
For this version, dialogue is conditioned to not start the quest until you set the global to a number greater than 0. When you're ready to start the quest, open the console and type
set jknjbDA03StartLevel to XXX
where XXX is the level you want to start at, or by opening the mod in xEdit and changing the value of jknjbDA03StartLevel to be whatever you want, so long as it is greater than 0.
Use one or the other, not both.
Should be safe to switch versions mid-game so long as you have not started the quest "A Daedra's Best Friend" as the mod just alters dialogue conditions and a global variable value. If you do switch versions mid-game, you may need to change the value in jknjbDA03StartLevel, however.
Again, you can change the value of the global variable at any time up until you've actually had the quest to talk to Lod about the dog (a miscellaneous quest given by the guard) or you speak to Lod and he gives you a miscellaneous quest to look for the dog, or "A Daedra's Best Friend" (given once you talk to Barbas) appear in your quest journal. Once ANY of those quests have appeared in your quest journal, DO NOT CHANGE THE GLOBAL.
If you have finished "A Daedra's Best Friend" DO NOT CHANGE THE GLOBAL. I have no idea what will happen if you try to re-run the quest this way. I doubt it will be good for your game.
Thanks in advance! Downloading this mod for the next play-through. (Really wish this quest was originally included in the "Timing is Everything" mod, though.)
That's correct; if you're seeing the dialogue, the quest has already started.
EDIT: I just opened the mod and took a look. It looks like if you're only being force-greeted and the guard didn't give you the miscellaneous quest to look for the dog in your journal, you're OK. If you complete the dialogue with the guard, or you talk to Lod about it, the miscellaneous quest to find the dog starts and it's too late to use the mod. Just in case, if you're going to use the mod, make a hard save first (not a quicksave) and see if the guard dialogue goes away. If it does, you should be good. If it doesn't, it's too late to use the mod, revert to the hard save and wait until the next game.
FWIW, installing mods mid-game is bad modding practice. If you do install this mid-game, put it at the end of your load order. It just overwrites some dialogue conditions, there are no script changes.
I'll never understand why "Timing is Everything" opted not to touch this quest. I look forward to Falkreath not being a plague zone any longer.
Mod is a great idea, but one thing keeping it from perfect :)
You can also change the package DA03StartGuardStartQuestGreet condition from level 10 to your global variable too - this will prevent the guard silently following you around near the entrance of Falkreath after level 10, seemingly desperate to ask you about dogs but just can't find the words
Played around with the mod with this tweak and its perfect, no issues at all, all dialogues and force greets trigger properly etc
Also, with Obsidian Weathers and Seasons, Dynamic Volumetric Lighting and Shadows and Supreme Fog for Obsidian.
yes, it´s nice to have a possibility to delay this quest but...
all the "forcegreet" does is putting the dialog on Lod. Of course if you have other plans with Lod but... you can pass the persuasive check even with low speech skill. Than you can meet Barbas and than? Nothing is forced. Your choice to enter the cave or not and at your time / level. It just puts the quest into your log.
More annoying for me is the start of "Grimsevers Return" that forces you to level-up to start the quest-dialog of Mjoll... and all that and more can already be adjusted in "Timing is Everything"