When he’s not working his day job on the socials of Sea of Thieves over at Rare, he’s busy with his music or his popular TikTok Series 'Skyrim Guard Tales' featuring Jesper the Guard. He’s now brought the eponymous character to life in-game for anyone to recruit as a follower, so settle in and join me as we chat all about this new companion!
Hey there, thanks for joining us today! In your own words, why don’t you give us a quick introduction?
Hello! I’m Jared and I am a musician, modder and a social media coordinator in the games industry.
First up, how did you get into gaming and modding? Is there anything you’re playing at the moment?
I first got into modding like many; with Skyrim.
I originally played the game on the Xbox 360 and loved it… I decided to pick up the game for PC and was surprised by just how robust the community was when it came to creating mods for the game. This was around 2012, and I have been using Nexus Mods ever since.
Currently when I’m not making content for Skyrim, I’ve been back into playing lots of roguelike games (Dead Cells, Risk of Rain, Hades).
You’re currently working at Rare, right? How did modding influence your journey into the games industry?
I think that modding gave me a fascination with how games were made. Poking around in the Creation Kit as a kid was a bit of an eye opener as it made game development a bit more tangible and logical rather than, well, “it just works.”
While I didn’t end up on that side of the table when it comes to game dev, I believe it was formative in my curiosity and drive to participate in the industry.
Do you have any favourite mods on Nexus Mods?
When it comes to mods for Skyrim, I have always loved player homes, so it’s no surprise that a lot of my favourites are made by Elianora.
Elianora’s work when it comes to clutter and lighting is top tier. Home in a Hat is always in my load order (especially as someone who is a chronic mage player!)
So, you’ve recently released your own mod, Jesper the Guard, we’d love to chat about this with you! How did Jesper the Guard begin?
Jesper the Guard is a mod that brings the main character from my Skyrim TikTok series ‘Skyrim Guard Tales’ to the game as a follower. The mod, currently in beta, is fully voiced by me and includes lots of unique dialogue and songs, with more to come! It’s been very heartwarming to see clips from players posted to TikTok of their interactions and adventures with Jesper.
Why Skyrim? Do you ever plan on expanding to any other games?
Skyrim has always been the natural choice for me when it comes to modding, but I also have a mod for Fallout 4!
I am the creator of two music mods for both Skyrim and Fallout 4, both of which add new exploration music to the games. All the music was composed and record by me and aims to fit in with the existing soundtracks. I’m hoping to expand on those mods further.
If you’re interested in them, they are both available on Nexus. The Skyrim mod is called ‘Songs to Play Skyrim to’ and the Fallout mod is called ‘Radium - A Music Mod’.
Does working in the game industry help inspire you with your mod creation?
Absolutely! I’ve been lucky enough to work on Sea of Thieves for the last year as a social media coordinator creating much of the brand content for TikTok and other social platforms. Each day I’ve felt myself learning more and more about my personal creative process. That has firmly helped me refine my skills when it comes to creating content – be it mods, or videos about our Whiterun Guard friend, Jesper. Being surrounded by top notch creatives every day is a gratifying experience that I’m thankful to have.
What made you want to create a mod for Jesper the Guard, and how did you begin?
I saw a lot of people in the comments of my videos wishing they could bring Jesper along on their adventures… Luckily, with Skyrim, I could make that happen! I had never made a follower mod before, so I turned to one of the best – JosephRussell, author of Lucien.
His YouTube tutorials have been instrumental in bringing Jesper the Guard to Skyrim. While I still have a way to go before Jesper reaches his full potential as a follower, I’m quite proud of how he’s turned out so far.
Did you run into any hurdles when creating Jesper the Guard?
Lots, and still running into them! I had quite the time getting Jesper’s bard functionality to work (once again, shout out to JosephRussell for pointing me in the right direction). However, every time I run into a snag, it feels like a challenge to overcome. Creating the mod has been a very rewarding experience so far.
What has the community reaction been like?
The reaction has been so wholesome. Seeing all the love for Jesper on TikTok has been incredible. It has made me really feel like there is a community forming around my silly characters. Hopefully down the road I can bring more of them to the game to adventure alongside Jesper and the Dragonborn!
A huge thank you to Jared for joining me today, and if you’re looking for more content for your For You page, make sure to give ‘Skyrim Guard Tales’ a follow! And, if you’re looking for more interesting stories like this one and know someone who’d be a perfect match, send SlugGirl a DM. See ya!
10 comments
Best of luck to Jared for the future and a big TY to the team for the interview and introduction to Jared.