SU’MMER: Skyrim Universally ‘Mursive Mechanical Expansion & Recalibration

SU’MMER is a comprehensive gameplay expansion that introduces new mechanics, restores old ones from previous Elder Scrolls games, and balances out existing ones in Skyrim. It includes:

New combat features: parrying, dodging, and aim-shake for bows

New magic (spells from previous Elder Scrolls games, new lore-friendly spells, and a new necromancy system)

New stealth features and balancing mechanics (disguises, knockouts, and new lockpicking mechanics and level requirements)

New speechcraft features (begging, brawling, robbery, and yielding) and an expanded follower system

New crafting features and balancing mechanics (potion toxicity, deployable traps, and Dwarven automata)

It is designed to allow total customization, to blend in with the vanilla game, & to maximize compatibility with other mods.





FEATURES

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Combat





﻿

﻿

﻿

Magic





﻿

Touch-range offensive spells for each elemental type for mages willing to get up close and personal

Touch-range debuffs to opponents' resistances to the elements

Projectile spells to inflict pure non-elemental damage to opponents

Spells to destroy opponents' armor and weapons, below a certain threshold of quality and value

Spell forms of the Unrelenting Force and Cyclone shouts to fling opponents through the air

Powerful spells that instantly change the weather, decreasing nearby actors' resistances to a specific element and conjuring a storm of projectiles with that element from the sky (present as Alduin's firestorm shout in vanilla), which can only be cast outdoors

Spells to raise the caster's carrying capacity or decrease opponents' to slow their movement

A spell version of the 'Disarm' shout

Spells to create elemental shields that reduce damage of a certain type, and inflict it to opponents in melee range

Spells to increase jump height and decrease fall damage

Spells to walk on water and swim faster

Teleportation spells that can instantly teleport the caster a short or moderate distance to a targeted area

Mark & recall

Spells to slow time, either one-time casts like the 'Slow Time' shouts or concentration spells that slow time while being cast with one hand

Spells to increase or decrease the game world's timescale

Spells to grab NPCs and throw them through the air (like the Vampire Lord's 'Vampiric Grip' spell)

Spells to lock and unlock doors and containers (see 'Un/Lock' below)

Runes to calm, frenzy, or demoralize opponents

Spells to put actors and creatures below a certain skill level temporarily under the caster's command

Spells to blind actors, decreasing their accuracy with spells/bows

Spells to silence actors to prevent them from casting spells

Spells to see better in dark environments

A spell to briefly conjure a phantom form to distract opponents

A 'Sanctuary' spell that renders the caster unable to deal or take damage while it's being cast

A spell that creates a noise at its impact location that will serve as a diversion to sneak by hostile actors

New offensive Restoration spells with a poison archetype (these were originally Destruction spells in Morrowind, but because Skyrim's 'Poison Rune' spell falls into the Restoration school these have been moved for consistency, and since Restoration previously lacked offensive options)

Spells to absorb health/magicka/stamina from opponents

Spells to dispel temporary magic effects on the caster or others

Spells to cure poison and diseases

Spells to fortify the caster's health/magicka/stamina, or increase their regeneration rates

Spells to increase resistance to the elements and poison

Spells that reflect a percentage of incoming damage at attackers

Spells to absorb magicka from incoming spells

Spells to non-lethally knock out actors (see 'Knockout' below)

A spell that can resurrect dead allies (not as controlled undead as the vanilla spell, but as fully functional actors - this is designed as a master-level spell with high costs to cast and may result in buggy behaviors depending on who you resurrect, so use with discretion)

Conjured weapons for all the weapon types missing from the vanilla game (war axe, warhammer, etc.)

Conjured armors that behave as their Morrowind/Oblivion equivalents - appear instantly and replace currently equipped armor, and disappear when the spell expires or they're unequipped in the menu, automatically re-equipping the previously equipped armor - their visual effects and shaders match Skyrim's bound weapons, in that they're visually Daedric but transparent and glowing purple - these use custom variations on the vanilla mesh and textures, but shouldn't look out of place with any texture or mesh replacers due to their transparency

A spell to put undead below a certain skill level temporarily under the caster's command

A spell version of an unused vanilla 'Conjure Ghost' effect

An area-of-effect version of Soul Trap

Stealth





﻿

Imperials (Light/Heavy Legion Armor)

Stormcloaks (Stormcloak/Officer armor)

Thalmor (Hooded Thalmor Robes and clothing, Elven Armor)

Guards (hold-specific helmets and cuirasses)

Companions (Wolf Armor)

Thieves Guild (Thieves Guild, Improved, and Guildmaster Armor)

Dark Brotherhood (Shrouded Armor and Robes)

Forsworn (Forsworn Armor and Armor of the Old Gods)

Penitus Oculatus (Penitus Oculatus Armor)

Dawnguard (Light/Heavy Dawnguard Armor)

Dragonborn Cultists (Cultist Mask, Robes, and clothing)

Vigilants of Stendarr (Amulet of Stendarr with hooded robes and steel armor; implemented, but has no practical use)

Greybeards (Greybeard robes and clothing; implemented, but has no practical use)

Psijic Order (Psijic robes and clothing; implemented, but has no practical use)

Mythic Dawn (Mythic Dawn robes and clothing; implemented, but has no practical use)

﻿

﻿

Speechcraft





﻿

﻿

Crafting





﻿

﻿



﻿

Recalibration





All skills start at level 10 (down from 15), plus any racial bonuses - skills will level quickly in the early game and characters will have higher overall levels relative to the levels of skills, but gameplay will be harder in the early game

Carry weight starts at a base of 100 for all races, 150 for vampires - to increase this, I recommend using this alongside mods like Campfire or Bandolier that add storage options

Characters no longer start the game with 'Flames' and 'Healing' spells

Movement, swimming, and horse movement speeds have been decreased

Fall damage scales more realistically - characters take enough damage from short falls to prevent them from easily jumping down mountains, and most will die falling from a height of more than a few stories

Traps will deal their maximum damage at any level, and larger ones will now stagger or knock down actors who walk into them

Light and noise have a greater effect on stealth and detection levels

Enemies search longer when alerted

The crime alarm radius has been decreased

Animals, monsters, bandits, spouse, and housecarls won't report crimes

Khajiit caravans now buy stolen goods

Animals and creatures are less aggressive, and you can get closer to them without being attacked

Travel, lodging, and companion animals cost more

Speech checks are harder, and now tend to require a skill level matching the 'Novice/Apprentice/Adept/Expert/Master' system, so you'll be more persuasive after hitting level 25, 50, etc.

Gold has weight (0.01/piece)

Dead bodies can now be moved around as physical objects; this can be used as an alternative to the 'Knockout' drag feature

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How it Works

SU'MMER's features are generally additive and edit few parts of the base game. It will play nicely with most other mods , even ones that make similar changes or add similar features. If you want to use SU'MMER but want one or two conflicting features from another mod (see 'Compatibility' below) you can generally load the preferred mod after SU'MMER and deactivate the offending features in SU'MMER's MCM.

, even ones that make similar changes or add similar features. If you want to use SU'MMER but want one or two conflicting features from another mod (see below) you can generally load the preferred mod after SU'MMER and deactivate the offending features in SU'MMER's MCM. SU'MMER does not touch any leveled lists or parts of the game world by default - this can be done optionally through the MCMenu after installing the mod (recommended), or by incorporating SU'MMER items into a leveled list injecting mod like SKYAI﻿ or Automated Leveled List Additions﻿.

While SU’MMER is calibrated to make the game more difficult and open-ended out of the box, players who want to balance it to fit with other mods have the ability to customize almost every feature to their liking. Features can be toggled on/off, values and thresholds can be tweaked, and most commonly-requested tweaks by users have been added across updates.

SU’MMER is a lore-friendly mod that makes nods to previous Elder Scrolls games while improving the changes that Skyrim has made to their formulas. Most of the included spells are ripped from the lore of previous games, and those that aren’t fit in through naming conventions and the use of vanilla assets. New assets for objects like bound armors, portals and Dwarven Automata recycle existing assets, and will be affected by texture replacers.

Perhaps the least visible feature from the player’s perspective, I hope this aspect of SU’MMER will make a difference on the durability and adaptability of the mod, and will serve as a proof of concept for other other modders. Most mods that add gameplay elements of similar complexity make use of player-centric scripting methods or quest-based tracking systems that, while efficient, cannot be easily extended to new contexts or characters in the game world. SU’MMER takes the opposite approach and implements its features through dynamically-implemented effects and player-agnostic scripting - apart from certain player-centric systems like follower dialogue, experience gains, screen & controller effects, etc., most features and spells added by SU'MMER could theoretically be used by any actor in the game world. This isn't usually the simplest or most performance-friendly way to implement a feature, and SU'MMER may be 'script-heavier' than other mods that add similar features, but I hope this design choice may open up new ways for SU’MMER to interact with mods like ASIS﻿ and Spell Perk Item Distributor﻿ that expand existing game systems to NPCs, and online multiplayer mods like Skyrim Together and Tamriel Online that decentralize the player’s role in the world.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How to Use

Requirements

SKSE, preferably its latest version

SkyUI (for the Mod Configuration Menu)

Installation



It is recommended to start a new game for SU'MMER - most features will work with existing saves, but the Traps and Followers features may not work properly depending on your progress in the game. Download through your Mod Manager (I recommend M02) or manually, ensuring that 'SU'MMER.esp,' 'SU'MMERecalibration.esp,' 'SU'MMER.bsa,' and 'SU'MMER.bsl' end up in your Skyrim/Data folder and are activated in the launcher or mod manager. Load order of SU'MMER and SU'MMERecalibration shouldn't matter, but I personally load SU'MMER first. If using a translation, download the main file first, install the translation after, and allow the ESPs from the translation to overwrite the original. If using any mods with competing features, load them below SU'MMER and deactivate the conflicting feature in the MCM if possible. For dodge, trap, and multi-follower mods in particular, it should be enough to let the competing mod overwrite the humanoid animation trees, trap activators, and DialogueFollowerQuest respectively - these are the only vanilla forms touched by the main mod. If using a follower mod that is reported to be incompatible or doesn't work when you test it, download the SU'MMER Followers Override Patch in the 'Misc Files' section here and ensure it is loaded below SU'MMER and above whatever follower mod you are trying to use with it. If building a merged patch for other mods that edit leveled lists, you do not need to include SU'MMER - all edits to leveled lists are triggered at runtime through an option in the MCM. AFTER INSTALLING, VISIT THE MAIN MCM WINDOW AND CLICK 'DISTRIBUTE SU'MMER ITEMS' IF YOU WANT FEATURES FROM THIS MOD TO APPEAR THROUGHOUT THE GAME WORLD. To maintain compatibility and remove the need for patches, this mod makes no direct edits to the game's leveled lists. To distribute SU'MMER items like spell tomes, staves, scrolls, traps, and dwarven automata throughout the game world, open the MCM, choose 'SU'MMER Configuration,' check the 'Distribute SU'MMER Items' button and confirm your choice. You will receive confirmation onscreen when the process is done, and will start to encounter objects from SU'MMER in containers and on actors. If you wish to test individual features of the mod before committing, use the testing functions in the MCM to add items, perks, and spells directly to your character. To uninstall, check the 'Uninstall SU'MMER' option in the main configuration window and confirm your choice. This will remove perks from your character, deactivate certain features, and remove SU'MMER objects from leveled lists (you do not need to separately un-check the 'distribute' option before running this). Like any mod, this does not make it safe or advisable to uninstall SU'MMER mid-playthrough, especially if you have distributed items or are using features that add scripted effects to NPCs, such as 'inter-NPC parrying.'

Updating



Do not update on a save where any of the mod's features (disguises, toxic aftereffects, deployed dwarven automata) are currently applied to the player or active in the cell around them.

It should be safe to update from the previous version (1.0) to the most recent one (1.1) without starting a new game or uninstalling - upgrading from older versions is not guaranteed to work. Some papyrus errors may appear upon initial loading if you have papyrus logging on, but all should be due to variables changed in the MCM and will not lead to any orphaned scripts, save bloat, etc.

Compatibility



The following rules should help you determine what mods will and won't be compatible:

Follower mods that add multi-follower support or new command options to followers may be compatible out of the box by loading them lower than SU'MMER. If not, the 'SU'MMER Followers Override Patch' in the misc downloads will manually restore the follower system to its vanilla configuration, and should be loaded after SU'MMER and before the preferred follower mod.

that add multi-follower support or new command options to followers may be compatible out of the box by loading them lower than SU'MMER. If not, the 'SU'MMER Followers Override Patch' in the misc downloads will manually restore the follower system to its vanilla configuration, and should be loaded after SU'MMER and before the preferred follower mod. Trap mods that edit vanilla objects like the bear trap, pressure plate, spike traps, etc. either to change their damage values or add detection events will be partially incompatible - their changes will be partially or fully overwritten by SU'MMER, which adds script properties to these objects to make them interactive and have NPCs properly react to them. If using such mods with SU'MMER, I recommend loading SU'MMER lower - the Recalibration module also includes damage changes to traps which are fully compatible.

that edit vanilla objects like the bear trap, pressure plate, spike traps, etc. either to change their damage values or add detection events will be partially incompatible - their changes will be partially or fully overwritten by SU'MMER, which adds script properties to these objects to make them interactive and have NPCs properly react to them. If using such mods with SU'MMER, I recommend loading SU'MMER lower - the Recalibration module also includes damage changes to traps which are fully compatible. Animation mods will be incompatible with the dodge feature if they overwrite the humanoid attack and power attack animations. Any conflicting animation mods should be compatible by loading them below SU'MMER and deactivating the Dodge feature in the MCM.

will be incompatible with the dodge feature if they overwrite the humanoid attack and power attack animations. Any conflicting animation mods should be compatible by loading them below SU'MMER and deactivating the Dodge feature in the MCM. Perk mods will be compatible, unless they remove vanilla perks like the 'Dwarven Smithing' perk, which will render Automata uncraftable, or the 'Fists of Steel' perk, which will prevent players from smashing locks with gauntlets. Most perk mods simply edit and expand on these vanilla perks, and can generally be used with SU'MMER without a patch. Perk mods that add similar gameplay features (like Ordinator) will be compatible, and conflicting SU'MMER features can generally be turned off/ignored.

will be compatible, unless they remove vanilla perks like the 'Dwarven Smithing' perk, which will render Automata uncraftable, or the 'Fists of Steel' perk, which will prevent players from smashing locks with gauntlets. Most perk mods simply edit and expand on these vanilla perks, and can generally be used with SU'MMER without a patch. Perk mods that add similar gameplay features (like Ordinator) will be compatible, and conflicting SU'MMER features can generally be turned off/ignored. Combat mods like Ultimate Combat, Vigor, Smilodon, etc. may add conflicting features like stamina drain or parrying. In those cases, simply deactivate the conflicting feature in SU'MMER's MCM and no patch should be necessary.

like Ultimate Combat, Vigor, Smilodon, etc. may add conflicting features like stamina drain or parrying. In those cases, simply deactivate the conflicting feature in SU'MMER's MCM and no patch should be necessary. Magic mods that add new systems around existing spells like Spell Research and Spell Crafting will not be compatible without a patch. Ones that simply add new spells to the world or add new perks that interact with spellcasting should be compatible without a patch, as all SU'MMER spells are integrated with vanilla perk keywords, and all changes to magic-related leveled lists that other mods might edit are done through the 'Distribute SU'MMER Items' feature at runtime.

that add new systems around existing spells like Spell Research and Spell Crafting will not be compatible without a patch. Ones that simply add new spells to the world or add new perks that interact with spellcasting should be compatible without a patch, as all SU'MMER spells are integrated with vanilla perk keywords, and all changes to magic-related leveled lists that other mods might edit are done through the 'Distribute SU'MMER Items' feature at runtime. Stealth mods that change values like noise multipliers, light multipliers, and AI detection settings are fine to use but will be redundant with the Recalibration module - if you want their changes to overwrite SU'MMER's, load them below SU'MMERecalibration.esp.

that change values like noise multipliers, light multipliers, and AI detection settings are fine to use but will be redundant with the Recalibration module - if you want their changes to overwrite SU'MMER's, load them below SU'MMERecalibration.esp. Mods I know to be compatible from my own testing include: Arthmoor's mods (Unofficial Patch, Alternate Start, Cutting Room Floor, Run For Your Lives, settlement mods), Chesko's mods (Campfire, Frostfall, Simply Knock), other needs mods (iNeed, Frozen North, Survival Mode), rebalancing and leveling mods (Morrowloot, Arena Encounter Zones)

Arthmoor's mods (Unofficial Patch, Alternate Start, Cutting Room Floor, Run For Your Lives, settlement mods), Chesko's mods (Campfire, Frostfall, Simply Knock), other needs mods (iNeed, Frozen North, Survival Mode), rebalancing and leveling mods (Morrowloot, Arena Encounter Zones) Some mods with minor conflicts include: Enai's mods including Wildcat/Smilodon (also add stamina drain on bow aiming) and Ordinator (add parallel systems for necromancy and Dwarven engineering), but these are soft incompatibilities that can be solved by deactivating or ignoring competing features in those mods - nothing game breaking

Enai's mods including Wildcat/Smilodon (also add stamina drain on bow aiming) and Ordinator (add parallel systems for necromancy and Dwarven engineering), but these are soft incompatibilities that can be solved by deactivating or ignoring competing features in those mods - nothing game breaking Mods that are known to require a patch include: Nether's Follower Framework (use the 'Followers Override' patch here), and probably other Follower systems like it.

Nether's Follower Framework (use the 'Followers Override' patch here), and probably other Follower systems like it. Mods that I use and you should think about using too!:

Campfire or Bandoliers - if using the Recalibration module (which turns carry weight down from 300>100), gives you ways to increase your carry weight in a logical, gameplay-connected way

Mortal Enemies - makes the dodging features even more relevant

Skyrim Alchemy Fixed - makes small tweaks to potions and alchemy that balance them in a totally-different but totally-complimentary way to the Toxicity feature here

Smilodon - I started playing with this as of testing v1.1 and find the deadlier combat meshes well with the dodge and parry features here - just turn off either mod's stamina drain feature for drawing bows since that's redundant (requires Smilodon's MCM patch if desired, but can be done through SU'MMER too)

Cathedral Weathers and ELFX - darker nights and dungeons make the most of the distraction spell and placeable traps, and work well with the sneak tweaks in Recalibration

Skyrim Belongs to the Nords - an underrated population mod I wish I had found sooner. Essentially the only population-adding mod that doesn't have visual bugs or balancing issues around NPC inventories and storage. Great if you need more people to beg from or rob beyond the vanilla Skyrim populace.

Bugs and Troubleshooting



A specific feature isn't working

The MCMenu provides access to debug modes that will send notifications describing how various features work behind the scenes. Try to reproduce the bug with the debug feature on and note any messages that seem irregular in the comments, i.e. not appearing, appearing repeatedly, showing illogical values, etc., and note that when describing your problem in the comments/bug report here.

New persuasion topics don't appear on actors

This is a problem with the engine. Save with the plugin loaded then re-load and they should start appearing. Additionally, it may be that dialogue conditions or priorities are preventing them from showing up. Make sure that your clothing actually has the 'ClothingPoor' keyword if trying to beg (vanilla clothes with this keyword include the Ragged Robes, but not the 'Roughspun' items - the Unofficial Patch adds it to several other clothes as well). If brawling and robbery options don't appear, it may be due to quest priorities or scenes that are temporarily overriding them.

Actors who yield are running away or won't talk to me

This is often the intended behavior in combat. When actors say their 'yield lines' and drop down on their knee bleeding out, their confidence and ally-assistance values are set so they'll run away from any conflict. If an actor yields but combat is still going on nearby, they will run away and be difficult to talk to. Once combat stops, you can try to take their things or recruit them as normal.

I made a quest target yield and told them to go away, but the quest doesn't update unless I actually kill them.

This feature only supports vanilla quests, and not certain ones where the target needs to be dead for story/script reasons. This does support mod-added NPCs, but generally only in vanilla radiant quests.

Characters casting Bound Armor spells appear transparent along with the armor

This visual bug can occur on the first time casting Bound Armor spells, but will usually resolve itself by removing and replacing the armor, recasting the spell, or reloading.

Casting the bound shield spell removes characters' gauntlets

This only occurs for certain items (just the Fur Gauntlets, as far as I know) due to the way that their slotmasks were set. It would be outside the scope of this mod to edit a vanilla item record for compatibility, so this will remain as-is, as it only occurs on a small minority of items. Weapons and Armor Fixes Remade﻿ and Weapon AF﻿ may solve some of these issues, though I haven't tested it myself.

The Dodge animations are not playing properly

Make sure you don't have another mod installed that is overwriting SU'MMER's edits to the animation trees or triggering other actions through the 'Sprint' button that may be interfering with dodging. Since dodging is implemented by a scripted ability on the player character, this feature may be sensitive to script lag: if you experience significant lag or cannot run Skyrim at a framerate of at least ~20-30 fps, its animations may not play properly. Users who have problems with this may want to deactivate the 'Dodge' feature and use a dll-based alternative like TKDodge﻿﻿.

My screen is stuck shaking after shooting an arrow

This generally occurs due to problems with script lag. While the scripts handling aim-shake have redundant checks to ensure that the screen only shakes when it's supposed to, users who run many scripted mods or have low framerates may experience this issue - it can generally be solved by drawing another arrow and firing.

My followers aren't following orders properly

SU'MMER uses scripts to track follower dialogue to implement its multi-follower system without having to edit numerous dialogue options as many other follower mods do. For users with heavy script lag, followers may occasionally misunderstand which command is meant for them when giving multiple commands to multiple followers within a few seconds. If followers are behaving unexpectedly, use the 'Reset Followers' feature in the MCM to reset them before re-recruiting them.

I used a disguise that made guards or certain groups hostile who wouldn't otherwise be, and even after removing it they keep attacking me

Under most circumstances, enemies will stop attacking you if they see through your disguise and wouldn't normally be hostile, e.g., if you walk into Markarth wearing Forsworn armor, guards will attack, but if you remove enough pieces or they see through your disguise due to your low skill level they'll stop attacking. However, this stopping can take a few seconds and must be done NPC attacking you based on distance and skill, so if you have high sneak skill or continue to run away some may not realize your true identity and continue to pursue you. To fix this, you can try running toward them without your disguise on to show them you're not hostile. Because of the way disguises are implemented, deactivating a specific disguise or turning off guard hostility after you've been witnessed in that disguise will not stop hostility - do not change those settings while wearing one of those disguises unless you're comfortable killing or pacifying people. This doesn't have any big game-breaking effects that you wouldn't get from assaulting guards or townspeople anyway, so if you find yourself in this situation just try to get taken to jail, kill everyone/get them to yield, or reload from an earlier save.

I have some other bug not mentioned here

Turn on the debug mode for the relevant feature in the main window of the MCM, note what messages you see, where, when, and whether you're using any other mods that add similar features, then post a comment here - I'll occasionally go for long periods inactive on Nexus, but the mod itself contains all the tools you need to troubleshoot issues and identify conflicts.

Permissions



Permissions are open - anyone who wishes to use part or whole of this mod in their own creations is welcome to do so.

In Skyrim, the best defense is usually a good offense, and timing counts for next to nothing. Heavy weapons suffer little from their slowness, blocking is boring, and dual-wielders and spellswords must resort to button-mashing and kiting to end fights before defense is needed. Marksmanship provides an irresistible advantage against the game’s bumbling AI opponents, which has sent countless diverse and promising Dragonborn down the well-worn path of stealth archery.opens up defensive options to dual-wielders and spellswords, and helps to balance the strength and staggering power of two-handed weapons by penalizing their sluggishness and predictability. Swing a weapon or fist within an instant of your opponent’s to block their blow, mitigating the damage you receive. Successful parries level Block. Parrying by default only takes place between the player and NPCs, but can be optionally extended between NPCs using the MCMenu.provides a high-risk/high-reward alternative to blocking, and increases the pace of combat. Tap the sprint button while moving sideways or backwards with a fist, weapon, or spell raised to dodge, prompting a brief window where you are invulnerable to damage. Dodging through an attack or projectile provides experience to Block. Dodges utilize unused animations from the base game. NPCs continue to have access to the 'sidestep dodge' they have in the vanilla game. Stamina costs and invulnerability are configurable.To make timing more urgent during archery, characters' stamina will drain and the screen (and controller) willwhile drawing bows, making aiming more difficult and encouraging careful shot timing to conserve stamina. Having higher skill and more stamina decreases the intensity of the shaking. Shake strength, stamina drain rate, and the weight of skill and stamina are configurable.More than previous Elder Scrolls games, Skyrim suffers from a lack of spell diversity, with old favorites and even generic staple spells having disappeared only to be replaced by boring gradations of fire/ice/shock/healing spells. While Skyrim brings a number of interesting new magic archetypes to the table, many of them are available to the player only as shouts.bring back the best of Morrowind and Oblivion andcreate entirely new playstyles for mages, which will particularly benefit characters who do not follow the main quest but want access to the effects afforded by shouts. All spells follow naming conventions from Elder Scrolls games and will appear throughout the game world as staves, tomes, and scrolls (must be activated through MCM).has always featured prominently in Elder Scrolls lore, but been essentially indistinguishable from any other form of Conjuration in practice. Now, characters can harvest flesh and bones from the dead to use in new spells that raise undead thralls which never expire and don’t count toward the summon limit, allowing you to lead an army of the dead, including Draugr, Skeletons, and Skeletal Dragons.have been added to the game in the form of tomes, scrolls, and staves, including:have been added to the game in the form of tomes, scrolls, and staves, including:have been added to the game in the form of tomes, scrolls, and staves, including:have been added to the game in the form of tomes, scrolls, and staves, including:have been added to the game in the form of tomes, scrolls, and staves, including:that create undead thralls from harvested body parts, which don't count toward the caster's summon limit. Players will now find random bones and flesh on slain opponents (added when the actor is killed using a variation on a vanilla perk), which can be used as raw ingredients for ritual spells that will turn them into an undead thrall. More powerful thralls require more powerful ingredients: skeletons require a basic set of bones and leather strips to bind them, while draugr require additional flesh, and skeletal dragons require large amounts of dragon parts. The bone/flesh harvesting mechanic can be turned off at 0% and spells ignored for players using another necromancy overhaul.Stealth in Skyrim boils down to an exercise in abusing invisibility when you’re outgunned and gaming sneak attack multipliers when you’re not. Stealth mechanics like disguises are hinted at in quests, but only in constrained circumstances. There are few non-lethal means to accomplish an objective. Lockpicking is a skill with no bar to entry and little sense of progression, making it possible for anyone with enough lockpicks to crack ancient chests and reinforced doors with minimal patience and no training.provide an alternative to invisibility and evasion. Actors will recognize your character as a member of numerous factions when wearing enough pieces from a set of clothing or armor from those factions (requirements are noted in the MCM and partially configurable, but most sets require at least a body and head covering as well as either gloves or feet coverings). Disguises must be donned out of sight of actors (except for followers), and won't take effect until a short time passes without being witnessed undisguised. Actors have a chance see through disguises at a configurable interval (default once per few seconds) that decreases if the wearer has a higher sneak skill than the witness and with greater distance between the two. Crimes committed in disguise are removed if the wearer escapes unrecognized, or manages to kill all witnesses (as in vanilla Skyrim). Incidentally, clothing must be chosen more carefully in public; walking into a city in armor from an opposing war faction may cause a conflict, and guards may treat actors from factions like the Forsworn, Thieves Guild, Dark Brotherhood, and Miraak Cult with open hostility (configurable). Actors who are only hostile to the wearer because of the disguise will stop combat after seeing through the disguise, but aggressive actors will not, large groups of opponents may continue to mob the wearer to quickly for this to make a difference, and fighting back while disguised will make witnesses hostile even after the disguise is broken. Disguises include:Pacifists or criminals who prefer non-lethal approaches can nowenemies with a fist, shield, special spell, or the blunt of a weapon while undetected. Unconscious characters can be looted and dragged, and will revive after a random configurable period of several hours, or when struck by another weapon or spell. Foes wearing helmets may be invulnerable to knockouts (configurable). A new spell in the Restoration school can be used for completely silent knockouts. Actors will be upset when they wake up and search for the person who attacked them.prevent characters from cracking locks above a configurable skill level, so training is now essential for thieves to get loot and access new areas. Mages who invest in Alteration will have access to newthat scale to their skill level, and even pure warrior types will be able towith enough force from a weapon (or fists, with the Fists of Steel perk). Spells include touch-range spells (which are silent) and ranged spells (which cause a small amount of noise on impact). Each approach to opening locks confers experience to the appropriate skill. Level requirements are fully configurable, but are balanced out of the box to encourage training & specialization: it takes more skill in One-Handed/Two-Handed to smash a lock of a given strength than it takes in Alteration to use an unlock spell, and actual lockpicking has the lowest level requirements of any option. Actors who see a lock being magically unlocked or smashed will sound an alarm, unless the lock is explicitly owned by the caster/smasher.Beyond securing better prices and ensuring success in the few minimally-consequential persuasion opportunities sprinkled throughout the game’s quests, Speechcraft offers few advantages in the way you interact with the world. Attempts at Speechcraft mechanics like yielding are broken in the vanilla game and do not provide any alternative to deadly combat.Contextualopportunities open up new gameplay options and roleplaying possibilities.for money while wearing ragged clothing,passers-by with a weapon drawn, or instigate awith raised fists and an insult. These options bear risks though; powerful characters may see through these threats and attack preemptively, and weak ones may be so intimidated that they sound an alarm. Downed foes now actually, and yielding characters can now befor their equipment,as followers (only non-essential non-unique actors with vanilla voice types for compatibility reasons), or told never to show their faces again, which can be used to clear bounty/assassination quests non-lethally or clear characters out of sensitive locations.You can now recruit, up to 7 of each (3 by default, and recommended maximum unless using mods that increase difficulty). You can also set a maximum party limit that applies jointly to followers and animals. As the party grows, leaders will learnthat can direct all followers in a growing radius simultaneously.Beyond grinding for perks and resources, crafting skills are irrelevant in combat. Crafting progression is reflected only in other armor and weapon skills, and hours spent grinding crafting skills are regularly invalidated when you level up and start finding gear made from more powerful materials. The mechanics of potion consumption imbalance combat in favor of the player by allowing them to instantly heal or choose effects without consequences.Potion effects are followed after their expiration bythat impair the skills or stats buffed by the original potion proportionate to its strength and duration, encouraging careful timing and strategic consumption. For example, taking a potion that instantly restores health will lead to an aftereffect that debuffs health regeneration to a level proportional to the original potion's strength a short time later, or taking a potion that boosts fire resistance will lead to slight weakness to fire several minutes after, so chugging potions in the middle of a long battle can have consequences. Tolerance towards these effects builds with Alchemy skill and receives an immediate buff from Poison Resistance, so certain potions can be used as a buffer for other more-toxic potions (just beware the crash afterward...). The intensity of these effects, the effect of Alchemy skill on mitigating them, and whether they are active at all are fully configurable. This system works with all vanilla magic effect archetypes (even those that don't have dedicated potions in the vanilla game), and is fully compatible with mods that change vanilla effect archetypes (e.g., making all potions restore over time) or rebalance potions.Traps can now beat will, including the bear traps, pressure mines, tripwires, and explosive urns found throughout vanilla dungeons and forts. New recipes make it possible to enhance traps with offensive properties such as frenzy, paralysis, or good-old-fashioned explosions. Actors who walk into a trap will become hostile to whoever laid it if they are within view. Traps can now be purchased at general merchants and found as loot (after choosing to distribute items throughout the game world in the MCM). With the optional Recalibration module (see below), traps are deadlier.For more academically-minded smiths, the remnants of the Dwemer civilization laying about Skyrim’s ruins can now be used to craft, including Spiders, Spheres, Ballistas, and Centurions, which can be stored in the inventory and deployed in combat. For non-enchanters, this offers an alternative sink for the hundreds of otherwise-useless soul gems acquired during the game. Each automaton requires specific combinations of Dwarven scrap found in ruins along with specific Dwarven weapons and a filled soul gem of appropriate strength, with more powerful automata having the highest requirements. By default, Automata cannot be crafted, deployed, or controlled without the Dwarven Smithing perk, and whether they can be found as loot and/or crafted is fully configurable. No edits were made to the base dwarven enemies - these are implemented as a separate system.Anwith select gameplay adjustments that incentivize the use features from the core mod and offset some of their more-overpowered benefits, but that edit too many records from the vanilla game to merit inclusion in the main file. This is packaged as a separate .esp file that is entirely optional, and can be safely overwritten by other mods affecting the same features.While many of these features exist in other mods, SU’MMER was created as a comprehensive, 'vanilla-plus' gameplay expansion, and was made with a 'universal' design philosophy that emphasizes adaptability. While it looks similar on the exterior to other large-scale gameplay mods, its execution makes it different under the hood.