Philosophy in Skyrim
Skyrim breathes philosophy, but rarely expresses it. Philosophy of Skyrim fixes that by giving Tamriel a lore-friendly collection of philosophy books. Dovahkin can now finally challenge his or her assumptions and become a critical thinker. This mod also adds five miscellaneous quests and an ancient riddle to solve.
The Special Edition version has quests, NPCs, dungeons, and even a small new land.
I feel bad about the fact that I never did this for legendary edition. After the port was done, I started getting more and more familiar with the Creation Kit and things got out of hand. I am afraid I am not intending to backport this larger version any time soon.
Still, a big THANK YOU to all you guys who downloaded the original Philosophy in Skyrim. Without you, I would never have considered it to port it to SE in the first place.
No Lollygaggin’
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200 unique downloads! It is nothing in comparison to other mods, but it still made me very happy! A big THANKS to you all! I am working hard on the SSE port.
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This mod is considered finished.
Feel free to comment, express your experience, or suggest ideas, and if you enjoyed this mod, don’t forget to click the endorse button. Thanks!
Introduction
This mod is for lovers of philosophy, those that admire the written word, scavenger hunters, and mystery solvers. This is neither a combat nor an npc mod. It does not add any real npcs (except a simple vendor) nor does it add any new monsters. Neither are there any texture changes. It simply uses all the assets from skyrim legendary edition.
The mod comes as a simple plugin file (with some additional files) by the name of stoicbooks.esp.
What does this mod do?
Philosophy in Skyrim adds:
20+ books
5 miscellaneous quests
A merchant
A context of philosophical practice in Tamriel
An ancient riddle waiting to be solved
Philosophy books
These books were not created by a simple copy paste technique. All the texts have been carefully read and edited to ensure that they fulfill the two following conditions: lore-friendliness and readability.
lore-friendliness was achieved by creating references to elder scrolls lore and adding a context of philosophical practice. Readability was implemented by editing the original texts and turning them into a more easy read during the game.
All these books, except the rare ones, have been added to leveled lists. You will therefore find them in loot chests and you can buy them at certain vendors. Some books are also hand placed in the gameworld.
Most of the fragments are from philosophers such as: Heraclitus, Parmenides, Confucius, Plato, Descartes, Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche, and Wittgenstein. Others have been written by the author, but were inspired by Eloise, Pierre Abelard, Duns Scotus, Occam, Geraud de Cordemoy, Norman Malcolm, Schopenhauer, and Marcus Aurelius.
Quests
The five miscellaneous quests are similar to the ancient falmer tome quests of Dawnguard. Philosophy in Skyrim provides hints on their locations in an immersive way. If you find one of the ancient tomes, it should trigger a quest (with drumroll, objective, and marker). Please let me know if there are any issues.
Philosophical Context
For this mod a background of philosophical practise was invented. This is reflected in a) the introductions written to some translations of ancient works of philosophy, b) the names of the philosophical authors, c) a written introduction to Tamrielic philosophy, and d) some rivalry between authors implicit in the books. This will make philosophy come alive in skyrim. It will make it feel real.
Merchant
If you don’t feel like going on a scavenger hunt to collect all books, you can find all the common ones on a merchant by the name of Duns Scotus in Riverwood. The rare books, however, cannot be gained so easily.
Riddle
Hidden within these books is an ancient riddle. Solving it requires scavenger hunting, following clues, and deduction. You will be rewarded with loot, literature, and lore.
This mod is for scavenger hunters, philosophy enthusiasts, and booklovers. Do not expect any fights, monsters or political intrige from this mod, but there is a dungeon…
Any feedback is welcome!
FUTURE PLANS
The following is in progress:
Porting the mod to SSE.
BACKGROUND
This is my first mod, so all feedback is welcome. It started as a simple way to add philosophy books to Skyrim in an immersive way. Instead of using the console, one would find them in game, on vendors, etc. But as I started modding, the idea evolved and turned into something larger. I share this now with you. Why do I share this? Well, I have taken a lot from the modding community (under a different name) and now it is time to give something back. I hope you enjoy! I also hope it will inspire some of you to check out the covered philosophy books for real. This mod only contains either fragments or abridged versions…
Special Thanks
I wish to thank the following great minds: Confucius, Heraclitus, Parmenides, Plato, Marcus Aurelius, Duns Scotus, Pierre Abelard, Eloise, Rene Descartes, Immanuel Kant, Arthur Schopenhauer, Gottfried Hegel, Friedrich Nietzsche, Norman Malcolm, Geraud de Cordemoy, Bertrand Russell, and Ludwig Wittgenstein. And a huge thanks to Bethesda and the modding community.
And a special thanks to Marinos and Yannick for their ideas and support.
And a lovely thanks to Peach, my muse.
TECHNICAL
Installation/Uninstallation
The use of a mod manager, such as Vortex, is highly recommended.
Requirements
This mod uses assets from Dawnguard and Dragonborn. The update is also a requirement.
Compatibility
This mod should be compatible with most mods. Conflicts can arise when combining this mod with other mods that change the book levelled lists. Since it is such a popular and great mod, a patch for Legacy of the Dragonborn can be downloaded. It should be compatible with bookcovers of Skyrim. In general, the use of TES5EDIT and common sense to ensure a good gaming experience is highly recommended.
Files
This mod entails a plugin file by the name of stoicbooks.esp, 25 voice files (which are copies of npc voice files from Dawnguard), 5 dialogueview files, 11 scripts, and a SEQ file.
FAQ
Will you add book X to the mod?
Probably not. I think the current collection is balanced. It is big enough to make it feel real, but it is still small enough to keep philosophy a rare profession.
Can you make a patch for mod X?
I am a working father and husband. So I won’t have the time. But you can easily make a patch yourself with TES5EDIT. Not only is it easy and fun, it also helps you to understand how a game works.
Will you port this to Special Edition?
I am working on it. It is turning out into something very special… so give me time.
Can I port this to Special Edition and upload it to Nexus or Steam Workshop?
No longer needed: Kagrenfahlz: The Dwemer University.
I am also planning on creating a lite version for SSE.
