An Unexpected Consequence...

Not about OpenMW? Just about Morrowind in general? Have some random babble? Kindly direct it here.
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DanielCoffey
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Joined: 20 Jun 2015, 11:14
Location: Edinburgh, UK

An Unexpected Consequence...

Post by DanielCoffey »

Morrowind threw one of those unexpected consequences at me yesterday that I am sure experienced players would have seen a mile away. Me, being new at the game, got caught by the short and curlies as they say.

As you know, NPCs in Skyrim don't really give two hoots when you nick their stuff... OK, sure, they may send a couple of random thugs after you a few weeks in the future even if there was no way they could have seen you taking their Sweetroll but they are still happy to trade with you, give you quests and generally be BFFs.

Morrowind? Hoo boy! It is littered with booby traps for the light-fingered.

I discovered by accident while sharing a cup of Greef that some traders or service providers bear an eternal grudge if some of their stuff goes walkies. Take the Alchemist in Balmora with the Diamond for the Thieves Guild quest... or in my specific case the Enchanter Mage in the Balmora Mages Guild. She goes downstairs leaving a tray of rare and expensive soul gems unattended and of course they are gone when she gets back. What in the Tribunal's name did she expect? But, despite being on a different floor of the building entirely, she remembers forever the scrawny Dunmer who was hanging around Ajira. If he so much as turns up with a Petty soul gem in the future with a lowly Mudcrab soul asking for something to be enchanted, it is all yelling for the Guards and red hot pokers time!

I did understand that sometimes Morrowind has consequences and as such is a more "grown up" game than Skyrim. You do have the opportunity to fail through ignorance or greed. Are there any other types of consequences I should be aware of like this?

I assume there are other Enchanters in the game but how screwed am I now by having taken those soul gems? My previous save is a good two hours gameplay behind back in Pelagiad where I nearly screwed up a later Thieves Guild quest by nicking a Dwemer Convector and flogging it for coin since I was so poor - thank you Morrowind Rebirth. At least I remembered which fetcher I had sold it to and went and bought it back.

On that subject, how do you organise your save games? One master save or many more granular ones after each major session or event?
Nomadic1
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Joined: 16 Apr 2012, 09:08

Re: An Unexpected Consequence...

Post by Nomadic1 »

You're fine, just never talk to Galbedir again ;) There are plenty of other enchanters in the sea... though Galbedir is one of the best enchanter services in the game and in that aspect you may regret your actions for the rest of your game.

If you steal from a merchant you have to make sure you never try to sell to them any item you stole, so IMO only steal from those you'll never visit. If you want to rob someone, wait until there's a quest or you might steal a quest item unintentionally as you've already discovered. Morrowind has less hand-holding than the later games so it's much more difficult to discern if you have taken a quest item or not. Also watch out for guild affiliated services - you can find yourself permanently expelled from a guild if you aren't careful. IMO it's usually not worth it. Although it's pretty easy to get rich in MW without robbing merchants, especially late game and once you come across and start selling to the two super rich merchants (not gonna spoil anything more).

But everybody robs Galbedir blind when she leaves all that loot lying on her desk (that's one of my "what was bethesda thinking?" moments).

I personally kept three save games and cycled through them. If I made a tragic mistake or encountered a horrible bug, it offered a better safety net to go back without having to go through hundreds of save files.
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DanielCoffey
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Location: Edinburgh, UK

Re: An Unexpected Consequence...

Post by DanielCoffey »

I have been careful not to steal stock from merchants in Balmora so far but there are several who will notice missing items when they next go upstairs at the end of the day or when they check their chests and sacks.

The Dwemer Coherer in Pelagiad caught me by surprise but I guess if I spot a valuable or unusual item out on a shelf rather than tucked away in a desk or box I should be more careful just in case it is a quest item. The very early stages of a Morrowind Rebirth playthrough has you grubbing around for every penny you can scrounge.

As for Galbedir, I suppose I was warned when I joined the Guild and agreed to the rules - never steal from a Guild member. Well now I know.

I am also aware that Morrowind quest-givers have supernatural hearing and eyesight. They can tell if you killed, robbed or intimidated the person they wanted you to deal with. it is like being a teenager living with an elderly relative in the house. They can spot *anything*!

Thanks for the tips.
Nomadic1
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Joined: 16 Apr 2012, 09:08

Re: An Unexpected Consequence...

Post by Nomadic1 »

I don't know Morrowind Rebirth but in the base game at least NPCs are static, and if they didn't see you steal it, they have no idea it's stolen unless you flash it under their nose. But yeah, questgivers are like elderly women and see everything.

There are subtler quest items out there are as well, as in a "Really, *THAT* item in *THAT* place was a quest item!?" sort of deal. Sometimes you can't pick up such an item until the quest fires, like with the puzzle box. Other times it is obvious, especially in retrospect, like the Dwemer coherer. But you've been warned that you aren't always afforded that luxury.

Oh yeah, and now I want to play Morrowind again. If only I had time.
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DanielCoffey
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Location: Edinburgh, UK

Re: An Unexpected Consequence...

Post by DanielCoffey »

Another question on the subject of consequences...

...how do the antagonistic Guild questlines affect each other?

I am at the early Fighters Guild quest to deal with four Telvanni Agents at the Caldera Ebony Mine. Eydis has been to great pains to say they are Thieves Guild but that I can murder them without repercussions. As a Thieves Guild member in good standing myself (also only at the early quests.. I have not gone to Hla Oad yet), will there be consequences if I proceed with this Fighters Guild quest?

I am playing as a Mage/Thief so from a roleplaying perspective at least, my career in the Fighters Guild is probably halted. I am just trying to learn how the various Guilds fit together.
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Amenophis
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Re: An Unexpected Consequence...

Post by Amenophis »

I remember playing a Thief/Fighter Guild character. And is said that that guys in Caldera Mine are not with the Thieves Guild. You always can look here http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Telvanni_Agents
Nomadic1
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Joined: 16 Apr 2012, 09:08

Re: An Unexpected Consequence...

Post by Nomadic1 »

Don't link to the wiki, it can be tempting to check it too often. :)

The agents are fine to kill at the mine, the guild wouldn't know it was you.

As a heads up: watch out for the code book quest - that one has repurcussions.
freem
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Re: An Unexpected Consequence...

Post by freem »

If I remember correctly, for imperial guilds (fighter, mages and thieves), you have several lines of conduct inside the guild itself.

In practice, I remember that there have sub-factions in guilds, which will fight other guilds, and sub-factions which will be more friendly with others.

For example, the 2nd quest of fighter's mage in Vivec is to "silent" someone of the thief guild of ald'run. I know less the fighter's guild than others, but I can say that (hopefully I do not spoil too much), in last quests of guilds, you can sense that thieves are not really friendly with the empire officials. Is it really spoil, I wonder, it sounds quite obvious said like this.

I do not know all "threads" of quests, because I usually try to be friendly with everyone. But I recently made a new character, and I guess this time I could play a bad guy. Could be fun to kill half vvardenfell just because someone asked me to. With a high elf warrior to make things harder hehe!
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