Vayne Remastered - Custom-voiced Follower with Detailed Romance Features

Author's Note

I spent more time on the design and development of this mod than any other I've made in the past, including the Iceheart Sisters. I took what I learned from that duo and tried to improve all of those systems or create new ones that were better. I removed features I thought were a detriment, or could be better handled by other mods (like managing outfits, since the latest outfit management mods out there are so amazing, why recreate the wheel?).

Vayne is voiced by the lovely and talented Alexia Renaldis, the voice of Lily from the game Subverse and other titles. She has been such a pleasure to work with. Always polite and ready to make changes as needed. When I work with voice actresses, I don't focus on timelines, I focus on making sure they have everything they need to voice the character. Busy schedules? That's fine by me. I'll wait. There is no rush. I prefer real actresses over AI voices, not that I have a problem with those, but I always prefer the real thing. If you are interested in voicing a character for the community, just reach out.Overview

More than another follower. A fully-featured companion with advanced AI, a unique romance system, and enhanced combat.

Vayne is a deadly assassin who emerges from the shadows to fight alongside the player. She is designed for higher difficulty games, and as such she is extremely strong even at low levels. Every one of her systems is detailed below.Background

Vayne's parents were once devout worshippers at the Shrine of Azura, but fled their duties fearing the Goddess' prophetic visions. Settling in Winterhold, they raised Vayne, who enrolled in the College of Winterhold to study illusion magic. A traumatic assault by a noble-born student, unpunished due to his status, led Vayne to exact vengeance by sneaking into his chambers and slitting his throat. Betrayed by the College's inaction, she abandoned her studies and fled to Riften.

There, she honed her stealth with the Thieves' Guild, rising swiftly through their ranks. A charismatic Dark Brotherhood assassin, Eland Dax, recruited her, becoming her mentor and lover. Vayne executed numerous contracts under his guidance, only to discover Eland's manipulative intent to use her skills to seize control of the Brotherhood and discard her afterward.

Heartbroken but resolute, Vayne abandoned the Brotherhood and became a freelance assassin, taking contracts for the Black-Briar family and other wealthy clients. A hidden secret ties her to the shadows: a distant Dhampir ancestor (half-vampire), granting her an innate lesser power of invisibility and uncanny prowess in darkness.Character Details

Location

Mistveil Keep in Riften.

Special Perks

• Blood Money - dagger damage while invisible increases based on gold in her inventory. 100 gold = 10%, 500 gold = 50%, 2000 gold = 100%
• Nightmare - fear spells have a 25% chance to paralyze in low light. Dagger attacks deal increased critical damage against fearful or paralyzed foes, and invisibility increases the effect

Special Weapon

• Dagoth's Tooth - a magical dagger that drains stamina from her targets

Perks

Spoiler

Illusion Dual Casting, Light Fingers, Savage Strike, Matching Set, Custom Fit, Unhindered, Fighting Stance, Kindred Mage, Quiet Casting, Misdirection, Cutpurse, Perfect Touch, Light Foot, Assassin's Blade, Muffled Movement, Master of the Mind, Aspect of Terror, Armsman, Agile Defender, Stealth, Illusion Apprentice/Adept/Expert, Skill Boosts, Silence, and Deft Movement.

Combat Features

Advanced Stealth AI

• Shadow Step - Vayne casts an improved invisibility on herself at the start of combat and every 10 seconds after, and can invisibly teleport to her targets
• Sneak Attacks and Backstabs - like the player, she gets a damage bonus from stealth, and will maneuver behind enemies to land backstabs
• Enhanced Target Priority - she breaks off melee to hunt ranged threats, spellcasters first, then archers

Survival Instincts

• Smart Healing - when her health drops she flees to heal, then slips back into the shadows and re-engages
• Post-Combat Recovery - she heals herself after a fight if needed

Romance System

Three Levels of Relationship

To romance Vayne, you earn points to progress through three levels: Strangers, Friends, and Lovers. Reach Lovers and you can ask her to marry you. Ask how she feels about you at any time to check your progress.

Her dialogue, idles, and follower responses change as you climb. As a stranger she doesn't trust you and won't share much. As a friend she opens up and treats you as an equal. As a lover she treats you with love and adoration.

Gain Romance Points

• Complete quests and questlines together
• Clear dungeons and discover locations
• Perform sneak attacks and backstabs
• Learn dragon shouts
• Pick locks and pockets (she appreciates skill)
• Use persuasion and intimidation
• Simply spend time together (daily bonus)

Lose Romance Points

Note: you can lose levels as well as points.

• Become a vampire (daily loss) or feed on others (each feeding)
• Complete any College of Winterhold quests (she despises the College for a tragic event in her past)
• Get arrested (she considers getting caught a failure)
• Harm innocent creatures (be careful of those bunnies)

These penalties are for role-play. It is still entirely possible to win Vayne's love while doing all of these things. It just takes longer. Love conquers all, and even a vampire can marry Vayne if they work hard enough at the relationship.

Romance Dialogue

At each level, talk to Vayne using that level's dialogue topic until it disappears. She replies and rewards you with bonus romance points. At the Lovers level, each conversation on the romance topic grants points and fades to black to signal a private moment, then returns you to play after a few seconds.

Marriage

Once married, Vayne gains permanent trust: she no longer costs you romance points or levels, and she puts up with vampirism, becoming Archmage, and even hurting those poor bunnies. You also gain permanent skill bonuses:

• +10 Sneak
• +10 Pickpocket
• +10 Speech

You can still keep gaining points after marriage, so go ahead and brag to your friends about your total.Settings and Extras

Home Management

• Home Assignment - tell Vayne to make your current interior location her home
• Move Out - ask her to move out before you can assign a new home, which brings the Home Assignment option back

Hairstyle Management

• Select a Hairstyle - choose from 13 Non-SMP and 12 SMP hairstyles and Vayne changes her hair
• Hairstyle Settings - hide Non-SMP or SMP styles from the menu, or show both, for complete control over what you see

Debug Toggle

Turn romance and debug notifications on or off. Default is OFF, but some players like seeing points as they earn them.

Summoning Power

After the brief introduction quest, you automatically learn the Summon Vayne lesser power. Call her whenever you need her. She won't mind. Much.

Introduction Quest

A short conversation between the player and Vayne before she will follow. Nothing long or intricate: you talk, you get a little information, and then she is ready to travel with you.Other Features

• Fully voiced - over 570 voice lines from a real actress
• Quest-aware comments - extensive commentary for Dawnguard (dialogue options and random idles) and the Dark Brotherhood (random idles)
• ESL-flagged - saves a spot in your load order
• Your body, my skin - uses the Visions skin over your installed default body. Works with 3BA, BHUNP, CBBE, TBD, or UNP
• Visions architecture - smaller footprint on your drive and better performance

Requirements

• Visions Asset Pack - required (provides the skin and shared assets)
• SkyPatcher - required
• FSMP - Faster HDT-SMP - required
• Backported Extended ESL Support - required for Skyrim SE 1.5.97

Optional outfit patches (only if you run the matching outfit mod):

• ELLE - ZK Rogue
• Dark Envoy - CBBE 3BA BodySlide
• Soul Hunter Armor Mashup

Installation

1. Install the required mods above. On Skyrim SE 1.5.97, also install Backported Extended ESL Support.
2. Install the main Vayne Remastered file with your mod manager.
3. If you use ZK Rogue, Dark Envoy, or Soul Hunter, install that outfit's mod, then install the matching outfit patch from the Files tab.
4. Talk to Vayne at Mistveil Keep in Riften to begin the short introduction quest.

Compatibility

Compatible with:

• All versions of Skyrim. Vayne was built on the latest version (1170) with the latest Creation Kit. Older versions just need Backported Extended ESL Support.
• Body mods: 3BA, BHUNP, CBBE, TBD, or UNP.

A good outfit manager is highly recommended. I personally use Skyrim Outfit Equipment System NG. It is very powerful and easy to use.Support

Check the Support section for the FAQ, articles, and help requests.Dedication

This mod is dedicated to my friend, Migal. You might remember him from Bathing Beauties or Beefcake Luxury Suite (BBLS), a legendary location mod he made many years ago and has managed to update all this time. I didn't know of his work when I met him. He invited me to his Discord and befriended me. Always giving me good advice, teaching me about modding, and helping me do better. Together we expanded his Discord server into what it is today, Modharbour, where over 20 fantastic mod authors have their own channels and frequently collaborate.

Last December, Migal became ill. It is not my place to talk about his private health, but I will say it took a toll on his life in just about every way. Every day I thought about him and hoped for a speedy recovery. Selfishly, I missed talking to him, coming up with ideas, and collaborating on new things. This mod is my gift to him.

Update: Migal has recovered. Wohoo!Credits

• Alexia Renaldis - the voice of Vayne
• Chuck Gideon - you know why you are here, my friend. I can't thank you enough for everything you have done for me
• Jobi-Wan - banter and comments
• SerketHetyt - screenarchery
• Galactic Emperor Batman - additional screenshots
• Taranis, Yandros, JobiWanUK, and CommanderShepardHere - testing and advice. Special thanks to Taranis for help with audio file issues and for being a great sounding board

A huge thank you to everyone who helped keep the bugs to a minimum. In something this big, a few are impossible to avoid.