Skyrim Character Building » Discussions


Character Building Help Desk

Tags: #Help Desk  #Crucial Discussion 
  • August 29, 2019

    Paws said:

    I like the idea, Ben, emulating and becoming the Wabbajack is a really cool concept. Have you seen Henson's article on Wabbajack: The Probability of Awesome? It might be helpful here. I can't help but feel the concept is really hard to pull off due to the unique nature of the staff's effects. Just a thought, what if you focused on the three faces on the stafff, the three emotions depicted there?

    By in large, I think the effects of the Wabbajack can be replicated. Some of the more novel things like transformations are probably not doable (without mods). The rest of the effects should be doable with spells and shouts. The one effect I need to do testing on is "instakill" and it's variants. I have read that casting 2 reanimate spells almost simultaneously at a target can have an "instakill" effect. I'll be playing around with that soon. Ultimately, this build is about become a living version of the Wabbajack, one that also happens to be Dragonborn and imbued with additional power from the Aedra (I think Sheogorath would love the idea of taking control of the Aedra's mortal champion on Nirn). This "new version" of the Wabbajack does not necessarily need to be an exact replica. The new version may in fact have other, greater effects. I think I can replicate enough of the effects to make the player feel connected to the Wabbajack staff, but be their own unique version of the Wabbajack as well.

    I like the 3 faces of the staff you mentioned. I envisioned this character having 3 phases to the character arc. (1) Initial "bardishness" and exploration. This is more joy, excitement, and intrigue. This phase will have minimal use of the Wabbajack. (2) Will be more focused, power hungry, and prone to violence. The use of the Wabbajack will increase substantially in this phase. This phase will also have greater unpredictability of moods and the character will begin to mirror Sheogorath more in their mood and actions. I think cunning and violence sum up this phase. (3) Will be the decent into the new version of the Wabbajack and madness, marked by extreme unpredictability and power. I hope these phases will coincide with the level progression, which should allow for freer use of the Wabbajack thanks to Enchanting and Destruction skill advancement. I need to get more information on the 3 faces to see how I can tie this together.

    Another aspect I'm keen on, which I failed to mention previously, is the use of the Atronach Stone. A 50% chance to absorb the character's summons seems like a good way to incorporate madness into the build. Thanks to skill increases in Conjuration and Conjuration cost reduction gear, spell absorption will actually replenish the magicka pool for the character. What will be truly cool about the Atronach Stone is that madness will literally fuel the character.

    I think part of the joy of this build will be the instant playability. There are 1 (maybe 2) artifacts needed for this build. The Wabbajack, which is obtainable at lvl 1, and possibly the Sanguine Rose, which is a quest that will automatically be presented to the character. Everything else needed for the build is largely organic to level progression and exploration. I personally can get hung up playing builds due to the amount of time spent collecting items, shouts, powers, and completing quests in order to make the build come to life. This build is alive from the very start.

    I'm currently playing this build, so we'll see how it progresses. I plan to really enjoy the RP of it, so it may take a while. I'd love to entertain other thoughts and ideas on the build as I work through it.