NOTICE: Any characters that are in the process of, or that have completed the Volkihar questline will have Xelzaz abandon them after updating or installing the mod. This will happen even if Xelzaz hasn't been recruited yet, Xelzaz will simply continue on to High Rock on his lonesome. This will happen on new saves with the update installed too. If you wish to have Xelzaz along for the Volkihar questline, please bring him along when you are joining the Vampire Clan for the first time.
Thank you for this amazing mod! Xel feels like part of the family with my weird collection of Nirnian misfits, and the dialogue with Remiel is *chef's kiss*
Your voice acting is phenomenal, Xel has such a fantastic casual charisma, and the writing is just fantastic.
SPOILERS AHEAD
I also appreciate the direction you took with Dawnguard. I know you got a lot of flak for it, but it really makes Xel feel like his own character, in the spirit of Bioware squad members that have their own motivations and will NOT stand while you, say, genocide the Quarians in Mass Effect. Or genocide the Krogan in Mass Effect. Mass effect really has a lot of genocide.
Anyway, Most skyrim players are not used to that, and I'd argue that especially modders are not, as we are all used to changing anything we want about a game world to fit however we want to play. If I was given a 10-line wish list of changes to the elder scrolls series, all ten of those lines would be wishing for more difficult decisions like this one.
So PLEASE don't take this as a complaint. The controversial decision to have Xel irreversibly turn on you was a step toward solidifying his identity as a character. You are also ultimately his creator, and far be it from me to suggest you change his character to match what people are demanding. Modding is a labor of love, and just as I wouldn't complain about a spice used on my mother's fantastic thanksgiving turkey, and demand she stop using it, I wouldn't complain about you expressing your vision of a deep and nuanced character that you created from nothing.
My only request is that the player be warned before joining Volkhair.
I'm a pretty dedicated vampire cultist in most of my playthroughs. I like the aesthetic of castle Volkhair much more than the dusty dawnguard and their grouchy orc patriarch. I would, however, have abandoned my pointy-toothed and catty clan of hemophiles in a hearbeat if I had known that joining them in my playthrough would lose the support of my aloof and clever companion.
However, I do quests slow and scattered. I chose to join Volkhair over 10 gameplay hours ago, and to undo that choice I would be losing much of my playthrough. I wish that I had known that much later in the story, the choice I made would lose Xel, so I could have made a different one.
What are your thoughts on either:
1) An informational message stating that the path you are proceeding down is fundamentally incompatible with Xel's companionship OR 2) Not giving the speech option to convince Xel to stand by you after you initially turn.
Option 2 is less immersion breaking, maintains Xel's character, and will inform the player that they need to reload a save if they want to keep Xel right after the problematic decision is made, rather than potentially quite a long time after.
Option 1 lets you keep all of Xel's dawnguard-related story beats in place, lets the slow burn build up before he eventually (understandably) chooses the good of nirn over the good of the player character, but still gives the player the chance to choose to keep Xel and choose a lighter path.
There is of course, always, option 3, which is to keep it as it is. This choice should always be there for you as a mod creator, nobody should complain about its presence, and if anyone feels so strongly that his story should play out different, they can make a mod to patch the quest out.
I hope this doesn't come off as a complaint, because I can't stress this enough, this feature of Xelzaz makes me like and respect him more, and is an example of the RPG elements that would take Skyrim from a 4/10 RPG to a 10/10 RPG.
I appreciate the feedback, and I also appreciate for once not having someone ask me to give them a way to keep him. I won't add any warnings for anything, as this clashes with vanilla and is very unimmersive. This is the same reason there aren't any warnings for A Lawman's Ambition. It is important to me that Xelzaz feels like he is a part of the vanilla game, rather than a mod.
The first persuasion/relationship check is there because the stakes at that point aren't high enough, but he is distraught and distrustful enough of you to dig in his heels, but it is still possible to keep him along. Of course that all changes when the prophecy is revealed. This could be characterized as a fake out. Which I suppose is fair, but not the intent. The situation changes, and as Xelzaz states himself if he even has a slight doubt, he will turn on you. Also in relation to option 2, that warning would need to come literally when you make the choice to join Harkon, as at that point the fate of Xelzaz abandoning you or being slain by you is sealed. Again, this feels out of touch with vanilla, it scream "mod" to me. And it is unimmersive. The other big thing is that a warning is effectively a spoiler. I feel this would take out all the drama and surprise from the moment when he finally does turn on you, as you'd know it was coming before it happens.
All of your reasons are valid. Also, I changed my mind and just went back to that save 10 hours ago, because if I have time to type that massive wall of text I have time to go back and experience that extra bit of Xel that I've never gotten to see because I'm a sucker for pointy teeth. Looks like I'm choosing the orcish underbite instead of the vampiric overbite this time.
Ultimately, if Skyrim wasn't so full of inconsequential choices, players would be used to this kind of thing anyway. It took me by surprise because it's a cut above what most authors do, and what the base game does, but your decision to not include a warning makes sense. Were I the creator I may decide differently, but ultimately now that I know about that story beat I can make my decision on future playthroughs anyway.
Funny you say you want Xelzaz to feel like a part of the base game and not a mod, but Xelzaz is such a thought out and compelling character that he actually exposes Bethesda’s writing. There’s dialogue options with this scaly bro, unlike 90% of the other NPCs in the game.
I wanted to play an Argonian alchemist and figured I'd get an Argonian follower to accompany me. Turns out he's really into alchemy too! I then sought out blackreach for crimson nirnroot to brew some powerful poisons, turns out he's really interested in crimson nirnroot too! He's perfect for her! They even agree morally! Only shame is they can't marry! But it was really cool happening across a follower that fits with her perfectly! I take him along with other characters now too, love how much dialogue he has, and his opinions on things, like doing the Sheogorath quest with him was really interesting. Got me revisiting old questlines just to see what he thinks about them!
Thank you so much for releasing this mod! I recently decided to give Skyrim another playthrough after playing Morrowind for the gazillionth time, and was inspired to play as a Telvanni mage. Imagine my excitement when I stumbled upon a mod that adds fellow House Telvanni member who’s also my favorite race in lore and design!
Xelzaz has a wonderful story to him, and his personality and actions are so well written that I’m never shocked by how he reacts to things like I am with so many other companion mods. His voice is very soothing to listen to, and I’ve actually utilized the book reading feature just to have more dialogue with him. He isn’t OP in combat or obnoxious with any abilities, and I always value his opinion on what seems to be almost any situation I get into.
My favorite aspect about him is that he isn’t a kiss ass. He has his own stance on the world of Nirn, and he doesn’t back down just because I’m the main character. He realizes it’s foolish to pursue daedric artifacts, and is against the worship of said Daedric Princes. That is cool! It makes me think twice before doing Molag Bal’s quest just because I’m in the area, instead I’ll remain in my roleplay and instead only utilize the items and make decisions that make sense for my character.
This is probably rambly but again thank you so much! Xelzaz honestly has become one of my favorite companions in all of the Bethesda games, vanilla or modded. I’m excited to see what’s next in store for him if he gets further updates, and I’m looking forward to the next adventure my Player Character, Xelzaz, and Khash get into.
Hello, I like your mod (and your voice)! I have one problem though. The guar cannot be mounted, as Xelzaz will T-Pose and stuck on the ground whenever he tries to mount. I spawned a guar charger with console command and the same happens to the player character. I have the Convenient Horse mod and Witcher Horse expansion mod which affect horse system. Does this mod by any chance require a patch with either of these two? Thank you!
I'm having a problem with Xelzaz conjuring his flame atronach. I'm using NFF which is great for vanilla followers, but Inigo, Kaidan, and even Lucien turn on Xelzaz when they get hit by his flame atronach. I can calm Kaidan and Inigo by using their summoning spells, but Lucien hasn't given me one, yet and if the atronach is still aggro with them, they will continue to fight it until it despawns. The upside is that they don't attack Xelzaz while they're fighting his atronach.
I have done a million things to prevent neutral/all/friend friendly fire, but there's nothing to be done about summoned creatures. Is there a way to stop Xelzaz from summoning creatures? If not, can there be?
Hello. I am new to modding, and I have never used a custom follower before. I am a bit confused on how to have multiple followers in a way that would work with Xelzaz as it is stated in many places that he doesn't work well with mods that allow multiple followers such as AFT and the like. I was about to install NFF as a few sources say that is one of the better ones but if it messes with Xelzaz in a bad way I'm not sure if I want to install it.
So how does Xelzaz interact with the other followers?
Xelzaz doesn't take up a follower slot. You don't need, and shouldn't use a follower manager with him. AFT is aggressive and imports any followers it can find and manages them. I have a script in place to blacklist him from it, but unfortunately it often finds a way to manage him regardless. From what I understand NFF you have to manually import followers to the framework. Just don't do that for Xelzaz.
Hello i really like Xelzaz a lot and planning to add him as one of my permanent follower on every skyrim gamethrough. If there's a chance i hope there will be a banter for other custom followers like Auri, Aniya and Val, also support on custom mods like Vigilant, Glenmoril (once its done) and Beyond Reach, I feel that he can be a good follower for those depressing quest mods.
Xel has been a valued member of my party for some time now; I really dig his backstory (and the potions aren't bad either, especially after repairing a certain phial). Him leaving permanently if you piss him off enough or rush through his initial quest was also great; there being consequences to your actions really make him feel like a part of the game world. He has his own take on things, and while I may not agree with him 100% all the time I do want to hear what he has to say! Are there any plans to add dialogue with Val Serano? I imagine they'd find common ground on being outsiders growing up in Dunmer culture and there's a lot of potential for interesting banter.
What is Xelzaz's ref id?? I lost him and the last save he was around at, so I can't bring him to me. I have fast traveled, slept, been inside and out of several worldspaces, nothing like that works. I think I accidentally disabled him or something. PLEASE HELP. /||\
You're best served not getting his ref ID, as placing a clone would break everything. Rather you should grab the real one. Either load back a save where you have him, select him with the console and then reload to your newest save. This maintains the selection. From there you can either type in that ID and move yourself to him, or you can simply do moveto player, moving him to you. The other alternative without saves is typing SQV BPUFXelzazFollower which will show the aliases and what IDs they are filled with. The Xelzaz ones will of course be filled with the ID you want to grab Xelzaz in a similar manner as I mentioned above.
The last saves where he was enabled were lost, I almost gave up hope, but then I got this mod and it saved Xelzaz. He had all his stuff and his ai was the same as I remembered, he still regarded me the same and was aware of the missions we are on. So thankful for this mod as my alternative was to just give up entirely. I combed throught SSEedit for hours for nothing, but this mod fixed it in minutes. lol Skyrim Search SE - Simply find your missing followers at Skyrim Special Edition Nexus - Mods and Community
If this ever happens again, I recommend this mod. https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/76063 This has saved me a lot of time, I just teleport lost followers to me or teleport to them.
Hello there, i played this mod like a year ago and now in playing skyrim again so i had to play it again, tho i noticed that not much has changed with names and base dialogues.
Idk how to say it without sounding rude to be honest because im sure that you are doing the best you can so ill clarify that this is just a suggestion :)
Why not adding some (useless but realistic) dialogues like "how are you doing?" Or "What are you thinking about?", i feel like it would add even more realism to this amazing companion.
Also, is there any way you could add some more names? :)
If not, its understandable, again i didnt want to sound rude, have a good day and happy new year, awesome mod :D
Next update features more general dialogue. Names are dreadfully boring to implement, and strangely are physically straining. The monotonous work to implement them I find myself unconsciously straining my muscles just from the monotony. Names are submitted and voted on from the Discord server, submissions open close to the release of a new update. However with the next update I have a lot of stuff I want done, and I want it released for Feb 1st, so it likely will not have submissions opened for the update.
2336 comments
From version 1.12.3 onwards you need to have Backported Extended ESL Support installed if you aren't on the most recent version of Skyrim.
Your voice acting is phenomenal, Xel has such a fantastic casual charisma, and the writing is just fantastic.
SPOILERS AHEAD
I also appreciate the direction you took with Dawnguard. I know you got a lot of flak for it, but it really makes Xel feel like his own character, in the spirit of Bioware squad members that have their own motivations and will NOT stand while you, say, genocide the Quarians in Mass Effect. Or genocide the Krogan in Mass Effect. Mass effect really has a lot of genocide.
Anyway, Most skyrim players are not used to that, and I'd argue that especially modders are not, as we are all used to changing anything we want about a game world to fit however we want to play. If I was given a 10-line wish list of changes to the elder scrolls series, all ten of those lines would be wishing for more difficult decisions like this one.
So PLEASE don't take this as a complaint. The controversial decision to have Xel irreversibly turn on you was a step toward solidifying his identity as a character. You are also ultimately his creator, and far be it from me to suggest you change his character to match what people are demanding. Modding is a labor of love, and just as I wouldn't complain about a spice used on my mother's fantastic thanksgiving turkey, and demand she stop using it, I wouldn't complain about you expressing your vision of a deep and nuanced character that you created from nothing.
My only request is that the player be warned before joining Volkhair.
I'm a pretty dedicated vampire cultist in most of my playthroughs. I like the aesthetic of castle Volkhair much more than the dusty dawnguard and their grouchy orc patriarch. I would, however, have abandoned my pointy-toothed and catty clan of hemophiles in a hearbeat if I had known that joining them in my playthrough would lose the support of my aloof and clever companion.
However, I do quests slow and scattered. I chose to join Volkhair over 10 gameplay hours ago, and to undo that choice I would be losing much of my playthrough. I wish that I had known that much later in the story, the choice I made would lose Xel, so I could have made a different one.
What are your thoughts on either:
1) An informational message stating that the path you are proceeding down is fundamentally incompatible with Xel's companionship
OR
2) Not giving the speech option to convince Xel to stand by you after you initially turn.
Option 2 is less immersion breaking, maintains Xel's character, and will inform the player that they need to reload a save if they want to keep Xel right after the problematic decision is made, rather than potentially quite a long time after.
Option 1 lets you keep all of Xel's dawnguard-related story beats in place, lets the slow burn build up before he eventually (understandably) chooses the good of nirn over the good of the player character, but still gives the player the chance to choose to keep Xel and choose a lighter path.
There is of course, always, option 3, which is to keep it as it is. This choice should always be there for you as a mod creator, nobody should complain about its presence, and if anyone feels so strongly that his story should play out different, they can make a mod to patch the quest out.
I hope this doesn't come off as a complaint, because I can't stress this enough, this feature of Xelzaz makes me like and respect him more, and is an example of the RPG elements that would take Skyrim from a 4/10 RPG to a 10/10 RPG.
I won't add any warnings for anything, as this clashes with vanilla and is very unimmersive. This is the same reason there aren't any warnings for A Lawman's Ambition. It is important to me that Xelzaz feels like he is a part of the vanilla game, rather than a mod.
The first persuasion/relationship check is there because the stakes at that point aren't high enough, but he is distraught and distrustful enough of you to dig in his heels, but it is still possible to keep him along. Of course that all changes when the prophecy is revealed. This could be characterized as a fake out. Which I suppose is fair, but not the intent. The situation changes, and as Xelzaz states himself if he even has a slight doubt, he will turn on you. Also in relation to option 2, that warning would need to come literally when you make the choice to join Harkon, as at that point the fate of Xelzaz abandoning you or being slain by you is sealed. Again, this feels out of touch with vanilla, it scream "mod" to me. And it is unimmersive. The other big thing is that a warning is effectively a spoiler. I feel this would take out all the drama and surprise from the moment when he finally does turn on you, as you'd know it was coming before it happens.
Ultimately, if Skyrim wasn't so full of inconsequential choices, players would be used to this kind of thing anyway. It took me by surprise because it's a cut above what most authors do, and what the base game does, but your decision to not include a warning makes sense. Were I the creator I may decide differently, but ultimately now that I know about that story beat I can make my decision on future playthroughs anyway.
Only shame is they can't marry! But it was really cool happening across a follower that fits with her perfectly!
I take him along with other characters now too, love how much dialogue he has, and his opinions on things, like doing the Sheogorath quest with him was really interesting.
Got me revisiting old questlines just to see what he thinks about them!
Has to be my favourite follower mod, thanks! :)
Xelzaz has a wonderful story to him, and his personality and actions are so well written that I’m never shocked by how he reacts to things like I am with so many other companion mods. His voice is very soothing to listen to, and I’ve actually utilized the book reading feature just to have more dialogue with him. He isn’t OP in combat or obnoxious with any abilities, and I always value his opinion on what seems to be almost any situation I get into.
My favorite aspect about him is that he isn’t a kiss ass. He has his own stance on the world of Nirn, and he doesn’t back down just because I’m the main character. He realizes it’s foolish to pursue daedric artifacts, and is against the worship of said Daedric Princes. That is cool! It makes me think twice before doing Molag Bal’s quest just because I’m in the area, instead I’ll remain in my roleplay and instead only utilize the items and make decisions that make sense for my character.
This is probably rambly but again thank you so much! Xelzaz honestly has become one of my favorite companions in all of the Bethesda games, vanilla or modded. I’m excited to see what’s next in store for him if he gets further updates, and I’m looking forward to the next adventure my Player Character, Xelzaz, and Khash get into.
I'm having a problem with Xelzaz conjuring his flame atronach. I'm using NFF which is great for vanilla followers, but Inigo, Kaidan, and even Lucien turn on Xelzaz when they get hit by his flame atronach. I can calm Kaidan and Inigo by using their summoning spells, but Lucien hasn't given me one, yet and if the atronach is still aggro with them, they will continue to fight it until it despawns. The upside is that they don't attack Xelzaz while they're fighting his atronach.
I have done a million things to prevent neutral/all/friend friendly fire, but there's nothing to be done about summoned creatures. Is there a way to stop Xelzaz from summoning creatures? If not, can there be?
So how does Xelzaz interact with the other followers?
AFT is aggressive and imports any followers it can find and manages them. I have a script in place to blacklist him from it, but unfortunately it often finds a way to manage him regardless.
From what I understand NFF you have to manually import followers to the framework. Just don't do that for Xelzaz.
Rather you should grab the real one.
Either load back a save where you have him, select him with the console and then reload to your newest save. This maintains the selection.
From there you can either type in that ID and move yourself to him, or you can simply do moveto player, moving him to you.
The other alternative without saves is typing SQV BPUFXelzazFollower which will show the aliases and what IDs they are filled with. The Xelzaz ones will of course be filled with the ID you want to grab Xelzaz in a similar manner as I mentioned above.
Skyrim Search SE - Simply find your missing followers at Skyrim Special Edition Nexus - Mods and Community
This has saved me a lot of time, I just teleport lost followers to me or teleport to them.
Idk how to say it without sounding rude to be honest because im sure that you are doing the best you can so ill clarify that this is just a suggestion :)
Why not adding some (useless but realistic) dialogues like "how are you doing?" Or "What are you thinking about?", i feel like it would add even more realism to this amazing companion.
Also, is there any way you could add some more names? :)
If not, its understandable, again i didnt want to sound rude, have a good day and happy new year, awesome mod :D
Names are dreadfully boring to implement, and strangely are physically straining. The monotonous work to implement them I find myself unconsciously straining my muscles just from the monotony.
Names are submitted and voted on from the Discord server, submissions open close to the release of a new update. However with the next update I have a lot of stuff I want done, and I want it released for Feb 1st, so it likely will not have submissions opened for the update.