〜Why I Came To Skyrim〜
Sometimes starting a new character and roleplaying them can be a bit difficult as you’re missing some initial guidance or purpose for your adventurer until they can start building their own story, getting quests and getting into the flow of the game. This mod provides an initial quest to give some initial purpose to newly created characters.
The mod introduces 40 origin quests. You will be assigned one at random when you interact with the Book of Origins. If you dislike your origin story, you can interact with the book again to get another one, or cancel it altogether.
This mod is not a replacer for Alternate Start mods. It works alongside them. Each of the 40 origin stories have been fully implemented as in-game quests, with fully working objectives, journals, letters, etc. Most of them use the radiant system so no quest is ever the same twice. The quests are simple in nature and open ended, so you can roleplay on top of them and they work no matter your background or race.
Showcase
- 40 origin quests to help guide the initial motivation of your character
- All quests have their journal, their objectives and their own narratives
- All stories are open ended and will work regardless of your race, gender, class, etc.
- The journals don't change, but the actual objectives are generated using the radiant system, so no story will ever be the same
- You get a random story upon interacting with the Book of Stories, if you don't like it, you can cancel it and get another one, or go with no story
- By default, your character will have a debuff until they complete their origin quest. The debuff, called "Unfinished Business", is meant to encourage the player to prioritize finishing the starting quest. This can be disabled if you wish.
- You also get a fitting reward upon the completion of the quest. This can be disabled if you wish.
- Rewards are "proportional". So a very easy quest, like visit all the Skyrim cities will have a much smaller reward than the similar quest like finding all the Standing Stones. Easy quests like joining factions are also in this category of "smaller" rewards.
- Most of the objectives don't give you a quest marker, so you actually have to invest time in finding the places. However, if you have the spell Clairvoyance, the spell can guide you to your objective.
- "DLC": If you have the mods Ascend or Leaps of Faith, you can get two additional possible origin stories.
There are 40 quests, each with their journals, objectives and rewards. You can see a quick overview over here:
Example of some of the quests:
- Ashes of the Dragon Cult: Many of your ancestors were enslaved and suffered under this dragon priest. Your family never forgot the debt that is owed. Rumors say the dead walk among the living once more. Find the Dragon Priest, and claim justice for your ancestors. Reward: 10% more damage against draugr.
- Left For Dead: Bandits attacked you and your family on the road. You fought bravely but were defeated. You survived. You don't remember much, but you remember the name of the bandit leading the rest, it's time for payback. Reward: 10% more damage against bandits.
- Marked By The Moon: The last letter you received from your friend made it clear. He has turned into a werewolf, and is losing control. The beast has taken over, and he doesn't know how much longer he can endure this. He asks you to find him, and put an end to his suffering. Reward: 10% more damage against werewolves.
- The Great Hunt: You've heard stories of a great beast, a sabre cat like no other, roaming the lands of Skyrim. No hunter can hold its ground against it, but you wish to be the one that slays the beast. Reward: 10% more damage against sabre cats.
- The Last Lesson: He taught you everything you know, but in his search for knowledge, he lost himself. Your mentor has fallen prey to the daedra, and will do anything for power. You owe it to the man you knew to put an end to this. Hunt your mentor. Reward: 10% more damage against necromancer.
- Knight on the Road: An old soldier saved your life, but lost his in the process. Among his things you found his journal. It seems he was on his way to Skyrim to fix his relationship with his son, a bard. Now it falls onto you to find the bard and deliver the journal. Reward: Enchanted item.
- Trader's Folly: In a moment of weakness, you sold your family heirloom. You regret it and you want it back. Problem? It was resold already. Check all shops until you find the merchant who has your item, and fix your mistake. Reward: 10% better prices.
Compatibility:
The mod edits no vanilla records, so it's compatible with everything. The fomod includes support for the following start mods:
- Realm of Lorkhan
- Alternate Start
- Alternate Perspective
- None (If you are using something else)
Also: if your start mod of choice is not covered or you've already started a character and want to have access to the mod mid-game, you can install the optional file. It will place a book in Farengar's room, in Dragonsreach, so you can access the new stories no matter what.
For mod authors: If you want to make a patch or an addon for my mod to make the Book of Origins available somewhere else, you just need to put the Book activator anywhere you like.
〜Ares, Arkaeus, Boukun, Cache, Chris, Dalinar,
Dillon, El, Eric, Fatsalaad, Hengest, Kek, Kevin, Megnoeu,
Mike, Mr Rat, MrWobbly, Nell, Nick, Quartz, Raogathar,
Robert, Sa'kura, Soanfriewack, Sudish J, Tardis, Tatherionrex,
Tiradox, Tony, Tzephira, Vampiric, VoidWolf, Wesley, Zogarth〜
& everyone who is supporting me on Patreon or via other means
Thank you! Your support means a lot!
Is it ESL flagged?
Yep!
Is this available in Gate to Sovngarde?
Yes, it's included in v99.
What the hell is Gate to Sovngarde?
GTS is a pre-made and pre-configured modlist that you can install with one click (if you have premium).
If you enjoy my mods, chances are you will enjoy the modlist, as I consider it my greatest contribution to the community.
It's one of the most curated Skyrim experiences you can get, with tons and tons of work and thought put behind it.
I've poured my soul into it with a changelog document that is close to 500 pages, with hundreds of custom mods, edits and fixes just for it.
There's also a very friendly discord community around it.
But my character's story is that he was already in Skyrim!
That's fine. Despite the title of the mod, the stories don't determine whether your character was already in Skyrim or not.
I have already started a save, can I install this?
Yes, but you should install the optional file then, to get the book in a vanilla location you can access. (Farengar's room in Dragonsreach.)
I don't like it being random, I want to choose my own story!
Just use the console for now. I've written an article with all the console commands.
The start mod I use is not listed in the compatibility list! What do I do? Do I need a patch?
No patches needed. Just install the optional file that places the book in Farengar's room, inside Dragonsreach in Whiterun.
But you said last week we were not getting anything else this Saturalia!
This mod wasn't planned. I had one week of vacation, and this is the outcome. Still, you should play The Gift of Saturalia <3.
Instructions
No instructions provided.Why I Came to Skyrim - Origin Stories
Type: Main
Date uploaded07 Jan 2026
File Size771.61 KB
Unique DLs0
Total DLs0
Version1.04
