One thing we gamers love about RPGs is their ability to immerse us in their world. Story-telling is one method to do this, and RPGs have a tendency to get us involved in these worlds by immersing us in quests. But of course, even when quest writing is concerned, not all of them are created equal. Unfortunately, some of them range from mediocre to downright bad.
And you’d think there’s no hope, but surprise, surprise! Modders to the rescue, once again! Now, quest enhancement mods aren’t new. If you go down the history, you’ll see that modders have been making some stuff like ‘Daedric Quest for Good Guys’ and other stuff that gives you alternate choices. With the passage of times and new talents, the quality of these mods have only gotten better.
20. The Choice Is Yours
Let’s start with something very simple - the right to say no. Which is something Skyrim doesn’t always give us. Actually, it’s something we never get. Whenever there’s a quest being waved in our faces, it automatically enters the log and your only option is to ignore it. That’s not a dealbreaker, but it’s terrible for roleplay.
This mod makes many changes to quests so that they don’t trigger from just being mentioned. Your character doesn’t care about the Dawnguard? Now the mention of their name won’t trigger the quest. It will still trigger if you choose dialogues that imply active interest. It also makes changes to certain quest conditions, so they’ll be more immersive (and realistically painful.)
The only problem with this is that because it affects so many quests, you will have to check the list before installing new mods. It’s bad news when two mods alter the same thing. Worse when it’s something as sensitive as quests. Just be careful and you should be fine.
Download Mod: Legendary | Special
19. Finding Susanna Alive - A Blood on the Ice Trigger Revision
This mod is very, very minor. With this mod, you have a better chance of meeting Susanna alive during Blood On The Ice. Now, this might sound like it gives you an unfair edge, but allow me to explain.
The way the game chooses to kill Susanna is counting how many times you’ve been to Windhelm. Except, your count will go up even if you stay outside the city and never hear about the Butcher. Now that’s what’s unfair.
With this mod, the clock will only tick when you’re inside the walls. You’ll have several chances to meet the poor innkeeper. Of course, this mod doesn’t give you the chance to save her. But I have something down the list which will give you that opportunity.
Download Mod: Special
18. Finding Helgi... and Laelette - A Laid to Rest Overhaul
Despite being straightforward, Laid to Rest is a fairly decent quest. Even though you never really have to do any actual investigation, it does have some decent story beats that have you uncovering what happened behind the scenes. But with this mod, it becomes a real investigation.
The most notable change of this mod is the pacing. Instead of everything being told to you and having the quest progress as vanilla, you’ll have to investigate more. There’s also a lot more dialogues that can reveal the true nature of what’s happening. For example, you can tell Hroggar that you spoke to the ghost of his daughter. Making the quest open-ended was definitely the right choice because it leads to more ways to play it.
Download Mod: Special
17. Improved College Entry - Questline Tweaks
This one is more Quality of Life rather than Quest Enhancement, but it does enough of both for it to earn its place here. It makes many changes, so I’ll try to talk about the most important ones.
First one is Faralda. Now, the school she’ll test you on depends on which dialogue option you choose. No longer will your destruction mage be forced to learn Magelight. Second, you can skip Mirabelle’s tour and head on straight to the lesson. Because by now you know where everything is. Finally, a lot of dialogue has been slightly modified to make the scenes smoother.
Download Mod: Legendary | Special
16. Blood On Ice Redux
Blood On The Ice is a cool quest on the surface. It’s a mystery/investigation quest that has you looking for clues to find a serial killer. The problem, as with a lot of quests in Skyrim, is that your investigation is meaningless. No matter what you do, you won’t be able to catch the real killer until Susanna dies and you wrongfully accuse Wulfharth.
This mod lets you begin investigating even before Susanna is killed. Since talk of a killer is rife in Windhelm, it’s only natural that a nose or altruistic player might start looking around. If you time it right, you might even be able to save Susanna and prevent the poor court wizard from being incriminated.
Download Mod: Legendary | Special
15. Dawnguard - Alternate Start Route
I’m not going to lie that I have a sweet spot for the Dawnguard DLC. But one thing that really annoys me is that there is no way to start the quest without joining the vampire hunters. In other words, as a vampire wanting to join the Volkihars I have to jump through too many hoops. Cure myself, join the Dawnguard, betray them - you get the picture.
This mod adds 2 alternate ways to start the quest. You can find clues if you investigate the destroyed Hall of the Vigilants. Alternatively, you can stumble upon Dimhollow Cavern and accidentally start the quest. Even if you’re not roleplaying as a vampire, you can refuse Harkon and join the Dawnguard afterwards.
Download Mod: Special
14. Save the Icerunner - Lights Out Alternate Routes
On paper, Lights Out is a cool quest. You sabotage a lighthouse to make a ship crash so that you can loot it. The execution is pretty weak though. The only way to finish the quest is to get duped by Jaree-Ra and then eventually killing everyone.
First, this mod gives you the alternate good guy route. You can actually talk to the guards, foil the plan and save the icerunner. Obviously, given the title.
On the other hand, you can proceed with the quest as usual without getting duped. If you head to the Broken Oar Grotto beforehand and find evidence of Jaree-Ra’s sketchiness, you can confront him and make him a partner. You’ll even get him as a follower.
Download Mod: Legendary | Special
13. Thieves Guild For Good Guys - Taking Care of Business Redux
If you fancy yourself as Robin Hood, then the Thieves’ Guild is not the place to be. The Gray Fox would frown at how poorly the thieves of Riften treat the innocents around them and fall in line for Maven. There really is no honor here, and this mod comes in to give you some roleplaying options.
This adds a lot of alternate choices that let you progress the quests without framing an innocent man, extorting the locals or beating them up. You have the option to stand up to Maven and not do her dirty work. The mod also lets you distribute money to the poor and rebuild relationships once you become the leader. Truly, the ultimate Robin Hood roleplaying experience.
Download Mod: Legendary | Special
12. Stormcloaks For Good Guys
The top brass of the Stormcloaks are racists, there is no doubt about that. And the same mindset is pretty prevalent through most of Windhelm. But as a player, you don’t have to roleplay as someone sharing that mindset. You could be a decent person who wants Skyrim’s independence. In vanilla Skyrim, you don’t get to fight against the discrimination.
While this mod won’t create world-changing outcomes, you will still see tangible changes. First, for roleplaying purposes, there are dialogue options that let you stand up against racism. You can also talk to Ulfric and Galmar and convince them to treat the minorities fairly. The mod also adds extra quests that let you team up with Brunwulf to improve things around Windhelm. You get to keep your pride, and your integrity.
Download Mod: Legendary | Special
11. At Your Own Pace
Pacing is very important, and I’m sure you hear this all the time. While I don’t really complain about the vanilla game’s pacing, I have to admit that realistically it is a little strange. There’s no pause between quests in the same questline, so you either have to finish them all or put a halt to them. Which doesn’t make a lot of sense.
This mod has different plugins that tackle the Main Quest, the College, Bards’ College and Theives’ Guild. I won’t go into too many details regarding what is changed, the mod page has a very long description for that. And I believe the changes are best experienced by playing the game without knowing beforehand.
The bottom line is for all the questlines, instead of just handing over the next quest, you’ll have to unlock them by asking about it. It can get a little frustrating to figure out who you have to ask to progress the quest. So if you really have to know, don’t feel bad about checking out the mod page.
Download Mod: Legendary | Special
10. Your Choices Matter - A Dark Brotherhood Expansion
The Dark Brotherhood questline is probably the best among Skyrim’s guilds, but even that isn’t without its flaws. There is one big missed opportunity in the vanilla quest. You always have different types of responses available. But no matter what you choose, the outcome is the same.
As said in the title ‘your choices matter.’ Now, everything you say will contribute towards the outcome. If you play your cards right, you can even save Astrid. The mod also makes her marriable, which I personally find weird. But whatever, I can just ignore that.
The only downside of this mod is that you can’t use it with A Brotherhood of Old. Technically you can, but the story won’t make any sense. That being said, this mod also comes with new quests that take place after the climax, so you’ll still have some post-ending content!
Download Mod: Legendary | Special
9. Nilheim - Misc Quest Expansion
Okay, so before we start talking about this quest, the next few are all going to be JaySerpa’s mod. They are one of the most talented modders, and they’ve contributed greatly to this category.
The Nilheim quest is very minor. So minor that it won’t even show up anywhere. You run into an injured person beside the road who lures you into a trap. You fight and kill the bandits, and call it a day.
With this mod, there are few ways to approach the mini-quest. You can now interrogate Telrav, who will attack you if you press too hard. You can also directly go into the bandit camp, in which they’ll attack you immediately. Paraphrasing the mod author - ‘you saw their camp, you need to die.’
Download Mod: Legendary | Special
8. Caught Red Handed - Quest Expansion
Caught Red Handed is a very forgettable quest. You might remember doing it in Riften, but you’d be easily forgiven if you didn’t. The quest revolves around shaming and extorting Haelga for practicing Dibellan arts, which isn’t cool if you’re a chill person. And even if you’re not roleplaying as a good-person, your character might just be progressive-minded!
First, you can straight up refuse the quest and let Haelga mind her own business. But that’s boring. You can give Svana a pep-talk and encourage her to stand up for herself. Or, you can beat up her cat-callers and be a hero without shaming Haelga. On the other hand, you can also help Haelga and protect her reputation.
Download Mod: Legendary | Special
7. Paarthurnax - Quest Expansion
While there are a lot of mods that deal with this one, Jayserpa’s take is my personal favorite. With that out of the way, let’s talk about Paarthurnax and the Blades.
At one point in the game, the Blades throw us a pretty hard ultimatum. We can either kill Paarthurnax or we become estranged from the Blades. Even if we’re ignoring the fact that Delphine is basically ignoring the duties, the original quest doesn’t really give any room for discussion to understanding. It’s clear cut - Paarthurnax wise, Blades stupid.
What’s really cool about this mod are the new dialogues. Good writing is always a plus, and the Blades put a good case against Paarthurnax. At the end of the day, I’m still siding with the dragon, but I appreciate the thoughtfulness. But if you do decide the Dragon Slayer route, the fight against Paarthurnax will be challenging. The other dragons won’t just sit idly while you murder their new master!
Download Mod: Legendary | Special
6. House of Horrors - Quest Expansion
House of Horrors is a quest that involves a haunted house in Markarth. Upon further inspection, it is revealed that the house has a desecrated shrine of Molag Bal. You might remember him as the guy who’s literally the worst! In the end, you don’t really have a choice other than killing Vigilant Tyranus, hunting down the priest of Boethia and mutilating him in the name of Bal.
Besides expanding the vanilla quest, the obvious highlight of this mod is the good guy route. Because this is Molag Bal, you’ll have a very slim window to try to convince Tyranus and return him to his senses. If you go down the good route, you won’t get to keep the Mace. Which makes sense, being an artifact of evil and all.
Instead, you get the Vigilant as a potential follower. His lines are pretty limited, so he won’t have commentary for the Main Quest and what not. But he’s got a bit of a personality. Because he’s a Vigilant, he will not follow players who are vampires or werewolves.
Download Mod: Legendary | Special
5. The Only Cure - Quest Expansion
The Only Cure is a quest given by a follower of Peryite, the Taskmaster. In the vanilla quest, we go to a Dwemer ruin and kill a bunch of afflicted refugees. While the reward for the quest is pretty sweet, the writing is very bland.
The mod expands the quest with many alternate choices. Don’t like the Daedra? You can simply attack Kesh, or just head towards Bthardamz when you learn of the plague without summoning Peryite. The villain has a few more lines which fleshes him out as someone without motivations. And you even have the option of straight-up betraying Peryite!
Download Mod: Legendary | Special
4. College of Winterhold - Quest Expansion
The College of Winterhold might have been the most underwhelming educational experience of my life. My IRL degree was more fun, and that’s never a good thing. Part of the problem was that there was very little college experience in Skyrim. You join the College, but you get sidetracked into getting Eye quest, and somehow end up as the archmage.
Jayserpa’s expansion mod adds 7 new quests to the College. Unlike the grand scale of the vanilla questline, these quests are very education-oriented. That is to say, you’ll roleplay as a student learning magic.
It doesn’t replace the vanilla questline, instead you’ll have to learn some magic before you head to Sarthaal. It’s also very compatible with other mods that alter the College’s location, architecture or parts of the quest.
Download Mod: Legendary | Special
3. The Whispering Door - Quest Expansion
The Whispering Door is one of the Daedric Quests of Skyrim. In this quest, you uncover a dark secret in Dragonsreach that leads you to Mephala and her Ebony Blade. The quest was a pretty short one, with you talking to a few people, getting the sword and then… well, that was it. The mod expands that further.
Like all of JaySerpa’s mods, you always have the option of proceeding with the vanilla route. Alternatively, you can ask Balgruuf to investigate the mystery, leading to a peaceful resolution. Of course, that’s for boring people. There are expanded routes that you can play for roleplaying purposes. And once the quest is over, NPCs will react accordingly.
Download Mod: Special
2. Innocence Lost - Quest Expansion
Innocence Lost is a quest in Skyrim that has us kill an old lady for the greater good. Well, kinda. She’s the abusive overseer of the Honorhall Orphanage. But the reason we kill her isn’t altruism. It’s because we’re all psychopaths who can’t turn down the chance to join the Dark Brotherhood.
This mod opens up the roleplay options in several ways. You can go the classic route by killing her, but there’s many ways to kill her. You can stab her, poison her or push her into the water. Lots of fun ways to assassinate someone.
You can also go the non-lethal good-guy route. Instead of killing Grelod, you can have her arrested. Choosing to do so will lock you out of the Dark Brotherhood route. So if you want to save the kids without murdering an old lady, be sure to get this mod.
Download Mod: Legendary | Special
1. Saints And Seducers
It would be downright criminal if I didn’t mention Saints and Seducers. Back when Bethesda made the controversial decision to unveil their Creation Club, gamers felt a little hope when they announced new quests. Unfortunately, instead of the DLCs we wished for, we got half-fleshed stories and a lot of “It’s all in this note.”
Extended Cut is a huge project that aims to rewrite Skyrim’s Main Quest, but that’s still yet to come. This is a teaser from the same team, and they have rewritten the CC’s Saints and Seducers. For those of you who have played Oblivion’s Shivering Isles, you know what’s up. This mod will take you to the realm of the Daedric Prince of Madness, and you’ll meet the man himself.
The mod removes the entire quest that was made by Bethesda and replaces it with one that was written by the team. And don’t worry, the writing and voice acting is top notch! I’m not going to spoil anything else, because something of this caliber has to be experienced by playing it. If you have to choose between one item from this list, it should be this one.
This one, unfortunately, will never be available on the Legendary Edition. Since the content is based on CC. Even if Bethesda decides to backport all the stuff (which is never happening) it’s very unlikely that the team will do that for the mod.
Download Mod: Special
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