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* *
* The Elder Scrolls: Chapter II *
* =---------------------------------= *
* D A G G E R F A L L *
* *
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Background Generating Questions Guide
Completed: 21 January, 2017
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|| Why this guide? ||
===============================================================================
During character generation, whether you use a custom class or select a premade
class, you are given the option to answer some questions to help generate your
background and affect the starting values of a number of your skills. Sometimes
it is difficult to determine what some of the answers do! So I have written
this guide to help.
There are 18 different sets of questions you can get depending on the skills
you select for your class. How to get which questions is not covered in this
guide (as the method is unknown). However, the possible rewards (and hidden
effects) is listed below.
The questions and their affects are listed in the next section. For an in-depth
discussion of my analysis of the game files and conclusions for making this
guide, see the last section.
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|| The Questions ||
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What school of magic have you been studying the longest?
* +6 to the chosen school of magic
As you grew older, you received additional magical training in ___.
* +6 to the selected school of magic
After the College of Destruction, what school of magic have you been studying
the second longest?
* +8 to Destruction and +3 to the selected school of magic
What motivates you into a life of adventure?
or
What motivates you into a life of burglary?
a. Riches
+500 gold pieces
b. Fame
+10 rep with Scholors and Merchants
c. Knowledge
Random book added to inventory
d. Fun
+3 to Etiquette and Streetwise
e. Helping Others
+10 rep with Peasants
What thieving skill have you been studying the longest?
or
The one skill you could not work without must be ___.
or
Which of the following skills have you been studying the longest?
or
You spend any free time you have training with ___
* +6 to the selected skill
In between formal study, you spent your time ___.
or
Whenever you had a chance growing up you liked to spend time ___.
a. socializing with aristocrats
+6 to Etiquette
+5 rep with Nobility
-5 rep with Peasants
b. learning streetsmarts
+6 to Streetwise
+2 rep with Peasants
+3 rep with Merchants
-5 rep with Nobility
c. practicing acrobatics
+2 to Jumping (an error in one file instead gives +2 to Orcish. Ha!)
+2 to Dodging
+2 to Climbing
d. learning economics
+6 to Merchantile
e. swimming
+6 to Swimming
f. sparring
+6 to Hand-to-Hand
At an early age, your family considered it important that you learn how to __.
or
One of the most important survival skills you picked up was how to ___.
a. Mend simple wounds
+6 to Medical
b. Ingratiate yourself
+6 to Etiquette
c. Boss people around
+6 to Streetwise
d. Haggle with merchants
+6 to Merchantile
e. Fight with a knife
+6 to Short Blade
You were an active child, ___ than anyone else your age.
a. faster
+6 to Running
b. sneakier
+6 to Stealth
c. a better climber
+6 to Climbing
d. a better swimmer
+6 to Swimming
e. a better brawler
+6 to Hand-to-Hand
Since childhood, you have saved ___.
or
In gratitude for services rendered, the Emperor gave you ___.
or
Before you set out for the Imperial City, your mother gave you ___.
or
Given your choice of reward, you would choose ___.
or
Though certainly not due to hard work, you happen legitimately to own ___.
or
Before you set out for the Imperial City, you brought with you ___.
or
You were loaned and later allowed to keep ___.
or
Given 200 gold pieces as a reward, you decided to ___
or
After a months work, you have ___.
or
Scrounging through an alley, you came upon ___.
* listed items are added to inventory. Note that if a material is not
specified then it will be made of iron.
* There is a special version of the "Since childhood" question that offers
"a dozen arrows" as one of the options--in fact each option includes 9
arrows, so choosing a dozen actually nets you 21.
* The above only happens with the version of "Since childhood" that offers
both "a dozen arrows" and "a cuirass". The ones that also offer a round
shield, ring, or amulet do not give extra arrows.
You can get most of the things you want by stealing from ___.
* One random trinket is added to your inventory representaive of the type of
establishment chosen.
Where is your expertise in combat?
* +6 to the relevant weapon skill and also an iron weapon of the chosen type.
No arrows are included with the bow. I think choosing Hand-to-hand nets you
a pair of iron gauntlets.
You spend any free time you have training with ___.
or
You have a certain degree of training with ___.
or
Your favored weapon type is ___.
* +6 to the relevant weapon skill and also an iron weapon of the chosen type.
6 arrows are included with the bow. The "free time" question will NOT gift
a long blade, but the others will. Go figure.
Besides the bow and arrow, you are best at ___.
* +9 to Archery and +3 to the chosen weapon and an iron weapon of that type.
Strangely a bow and arrows are not included!
You are most fond of using ___.
* +12 to the relevant weapon skill and also an iron weapon of the chosen type.
3-6 arrows are included with the bow.
As a child, your nickname was ___.
a. Rabbit
+6 to Jumping (an error in one file instead gives +6 to Orcish. Ha!)
b. Guppy
+6 to Swimming
c. Quicksilver
+6 to Running
d. Scrapper
+6 to Hand-to-hand
e. Monkey
+6 to Climbing
You feel most comfortable ___.
a. On stable ground
+4 to Running
b. In the water
+4 to Swimming
c. On a ledge or tree
+4 to Climbing
d. Anywhere dark
+4 to Stealth
e. With other people
+2 to Etiquette and Streetwise
You are friendlier than most with ___.
or
You have an unusually high affinity with ___.
* +6 to the language skill for the chosen species.
What god, if any, do you worship?
* +5 rep with that god's temple. If you chose none then you instead get +5
rep with Scholars.
You have the most trouble ___.
a. Resisting poisons
-10 modifier to resisting poison effects
b. Staying awake and alert
-5 to your maximum fatigue (I think!)
c. Getting along with others
-5 modifer to all reputation checks (I think!)
d. Avoiding diseases
-5 modifier to resisting diseases
e. Resisting magic
-5 modifier to resisting spells
f. Fighting without magic
-5 to your to-hit roll in combat (ouch!)
Your frail health as a child has made you ___.
a. Less resistant to poisons
-5 modifier to resisting poison effects
b. Less resistant to disease
-5 modifier to resisting diseases
c. Easily tired
-5 to your maximum fatigue (I think!)
d. Less resistant to magic
-5 modifier to resisting spells
Of all disagreeable types, you have the most personal hatred for ___.
or
You are intimate friends with ___.
or
You preferred criminal method is ___.
* I am unsure! See discussion below.
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|| Method and Analysis ||
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The information for this guide comes from the BIOG00T0.TXT to BIOG17T0.TXT
files which are found in the Dagger\Arena2 folder. Open up any of those files
and you'll find code like this example:
----------------------------------------
2. What motivates you into a life of
adventure?
a. Riches
#4162
!4263
GP +500
b. Fame
#4163
!4266
r4 +10
r2 +10
c. Knowledge
#4164
!4260
IT 7 0 0
d. Fun
#4165
!4265
1 +3
2 +3
e. Helping Others
#4166
!4261
r0 +10
----------------------------------------
And so on. From there we must use contextual clues to infer their use. For
instance, the line "22 +6" means that skill #22 is increased by 6 points. What
is skill #22? Well, fortunately by combing though all the 17 different bio
files there are enough combinations of the response and what number is
affected that I have determined that they are numbered as this:
Number skill
-----------------------
0 medical
1 etiquette
2 streetwise
3 jumping
4 orcish
5 harpy
6 giantish
7 dragonish
8 nymph
9 daedric
10 spriggan
11 centaurish
12 impish
13 lockpicking
14 merchantile
15 pickpocket
16 stealth
17 swimming
18 climb
19 backstabbing
20 dodging
21 running
22 destruction
23 restoration
24 illusion
25 alteration
26 thaumaturgy
27 mysticism
28 short blade
29 long blade
30 Hand-to-hand
31 axe
32 blunt
33 archery
34 crit strike
-----------------------
The entries r0 to r4 represent the 5 main reputation groups: merchants,
peasants, scholars, nobility, underworld. Their arrangement takes a bit more
guesswork, but I believe they are assigned like this:
rep group
-----------------------
r0 Peasants
r1 Underworld
r2 Scholars
r3 Nobility
r4 Merchants
-----------------------
Other entries are more self-explanatory:
entry effect
-------------------------------------------------------
IT adds a specific item to your inventory
GP adds a number of gold pieces
TH adds to your to-hit roll in combat
RD affects your roll to resist diseases
RP affects your roll to resist poisons
FT affects your amount of fatigue (I think!)
RM affects your roll to resist magic spells
RR affects your general reputation (I think!)
-------------------------------------------------------
There are two entries, however, that I am unsure of. They are related to the
questions "Of all disagreeable types, you have the most personal hatred for
___." and "You are intimate friends with ___." All responses use the code AE
or AF, along with a string of other values. I had always assumed that these
questions affected your reputation with these groups, but the code is entirely
different than the one used to affect reputation with certain groups (see the
example for "What god, if any, do you worship?"). Therefore I am certain that
these responses do not affect reputation, and further I think they do nothing
at all!
I think that these were originally intended for features that did not make it
into the final version of the game, and that AE and AF stood for "add enemy"
and "add friend". Perhaps at one time you were to gain a nemesis or ally? I am
not sure. If you know what these do, please let me know!
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|| The End ||
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END OF GUIDE
Questions? Comments? Corrections?
Contact me at:
[email protected]
Date completed: 21 January, 2017
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Copyright 2017 Matt Smith
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