Alternative start. Alternative start - live a different life. What it is

If, at the start of a new game, you are tired of wading through the smoking Helgen into the coveted Skyrim every time, the mod for an alternative start is exactly what you need. The "Live Another Life" plugin was created for lovers of the new and the unexpected. You no longer need to watch the video with the execution of the rebels over and over again, listen to the pompous Imperials and escape along the painfully familiar route from Alduin, bursting with fire.

The modification presents a lot of options for the introductory quest to choose from.

Dunmer Refugee Option # 1 - Windhelm

You did not find a quiet life in Morrowind and decided to go to Skyrim. The destination was Windhelm, but fate decreed otherwise. It seems that the Dunmer, thirsty for a peaceful life, willy-nilly will have to become an adventurer.

Important: next to the protagonist there will be a bag and a sleeping bag belonging to him. You can sleep well and have a safe place to store your prey.

Moved to Skyrim

You have crossed the ocean and anchored in one of the major ports of Skyrim. Time to go ashore! A handful of septims, some supplies and modest clothes - all that is behind the soul of the future hero of the northern kingdom.

Alik "rsky warrior

Life in Hammerfell has disappointed you. Having joined the ranks of the alik "rtsev, you are heading for a new mission in Skyrim. The future hero clearly does not share the interests of black mercenaries.

The decision to leave your people and look for another path in life comes naturally.

Live Another Life "- proven, popular and possibly best mod to an alternative start to Skyrim.

Attention: some of the introductory quests involve the possibility of playing only for a specific race.

Version: 3.1.7
If you are tired of playing Helgen every time you start a new game, then this plugin is definitely for you.

Required necessarily:
- All DLCs: Dawnguard, Hearthfire, Dragonborn

Voice acting for the statue of Mary: Russian from the creative studio Blue Broccoli Rec. (Alexander (Shurik) Mikhalev - idea, working with an actor, mixing. Julia Melissa Bu Shoose - voice acting. Vergil, pet9948 help with the technical part)

The "Live Another Life" modification allows you to start the game in an alternative way. It was created for those who do not want to go through a lengthy introduction and execution in Helgen. You will be given the opportunity to choose a race, and then new life for your character. There will be many options available. The choice will affect further play, so choose carefully, otherwise the gods may leave you again!

Alternative start options:
The vampire lord at the court of Harkon
Dunmer Refugee (Windhelm)
Dunmer Refugee (Raven Rock)
Thalmor Embassy Agent
Caught trying to illegally cross the border (standard start)
Moved to Skyrim
Property owner
Guild Recruit
Lodger in the tavern
Outlaw on the loose
Soldier in the army
Your camp in the woods
Shipwrecked
Attacked and left for dead
Vampire in a secluded den
Necromancer in a secret laboratory
Watcher Stendarr
Orc Fortress Life
Khajiit Caravan Guard
Outcast Tribe Warrior
Argonian Dockworker
Refugee from Morrowind
Alik "rsky warrior
Surprise me - the game will randomly choose one of the above options, apart from the standard start via Helgen. The start of the game, unique for each race, will be available only if the player chooses the appropriate race for his character.
Try to find your own path in Skyrim.

Skyrim provides several options for the development of the main plot, even if you start the game according to the standard scenario through Helgen. The appearance of Alduin does not force the player, after leaving Helgen, to immediately start completing the main quest. Thus, this mod provides the ability to bypass Helgen and also not meet with Alduin. The game will wait patiently until you decide to resume the main plot. Therefore, you do not need to make any special efforts to avoid resuming the main quest. Just don't start it.

To start the main quest, you need to ask any resident about rumors of hostilities taking place near Helgen. After going through a certain chain of actions, the hero, in the end, will see the flight of Alduin. After that, you can go to warn the inhabitants of Riverwood, or try to find Hadvar or Ralof in the cave from which you left, starting the game in the standard way. Since the players wanted to meet their buddy (Hadvar or Ralof), the game was redesigned so that they both lay injured in the cave. The hero chooses who exactly to help, giving one of them a healing potion, you can also leave them both to die. If you decide to help one of them, you can go to Riverwood together.

If you don't choose anyone or decide not to follow the one you saved, you can resume the main quest in the usual way - go to Whiterun and inform the Jarl about what happened. After which the main quest will continue as usual. If you do not start the main quest of Skyrim - do not come and inform the Jarl of Whiterun, then many tasks in the game will be unavailable - it will be considered that you have not left Helgen.
The exceptions are: the beginning of the game in a camp in the forest, and the backstories for the participants in the civil war - you will not need to visit Helgen to start the main quest.
The standard start via Helgen along with this mod will be exactly the same as in the original game.

Please note that due to the complex specifics of the plugin, it should be as low as possible in the list of downloadable mods. The author highly recommends using a utility to sort your mods. This utility is now fully compatible with new system the order of loading Skyrim mods.

The modification makes it possible to choose an alternative start in Skyrim, instead of the base one in Helgen. You can become an ordinary resident or be a bandit, each plot has its own location and unique inventory.

To choose a start, we go to the statue of Mary, then go to the bed and go to bed, thus confirming the choice.

Alternative starts:

Watcher Stendarr
- You are an official member of Stendarr's Watch, you have a private room in the Watch Hall, which is not far from Dawnstar, where you can store your belongings.

Wounded
- You have robbed robbers, you need to survive, you only have torn things with you.

Dunmer Refugee
- You fled from the mainland of Morrowind to the island of Solstheim in the location "Crow Rock".

Dunmer Refugee 2
“You fled from the mainland of Morrowind to Skyrim, to the city of Windhelm.
- You only have a sleeping bag and a bag, you can store your things in the bag, it is safe.
Illegal crossing of the Skyrim border
- Standard start, only skips race selection, execution, etc.

Hello skyrim
- You will have the opportunity to arrive by ship to the port of Solitude, Windhelm or Dawnstar. You will have some things with you to start a new life in a new province.

Thalmor Embassy Agent
- You are an agent of the Thalmor faction.
- You will start the game inside the Thalmor Embassy on the top floor, next to your bed, in your room.
- The main thing is not to go to Helgen, you will be excluded from the faction, the Thalmor will become hostile to you.

Property owner
- You will start the game in one of the 4 houses in Skyrim. The house in Windhelm is missing due to the quest you need to complete to buy a house.
- You will have money, armor, clothes.
- You can also become the owner of the farmhouse, which is located southeast of the Dragon Bridge. The farm brings constant profit, money can be taken from one of the workers.

Lodger in the tavern
- Choosing a tavern where you will be a guest.

Criminal
- You will start the game in one of the random locations with a gang of bandits, automatically a reward of 500 gold will be assigned to your head in the possession in which you appear.

Guild Recruit
- You will become a recruit in one of the existing guilds of Skyrim. The Bards Guild is missing.

Soldier
- You start the game as a Stormcloak recruit or Imperial Legion.

Camp in the woods
- You will start the game as a hunter who lives in the forest near Helgen. This will allow you to directly watch the dragon attack on the city.

Shipwreck
“You are a passenger on a merchant ship that sailed to Solitude, but ran into an iceberg. You need to get out of the sinking ship as soon as possible, do not forget to grab valuable things along the way.

Vampire
- You will appear in the "Eye of Mara" location.
- You will appear immediately with stage 4 of vampirism, so be careful.

Outcast Tribe Warrior
- You will start the game as a warrior of the outcast tribe.

Necromancer
- You are a necromancer who is located in the "Black Reach" location, in your secret laboratory.

Orc Fortress
- The game will begin in the village of Dushnik-Yal, you will be wearing a full set of orcish armor and a two-handed ax.

Khajiit Caravan Guard
- You have been a caravan guard for a very long time, now the owner has hired a new guard, so you can start traveling around the game world.

Argonian who works at the docks
- You are an Argonian who has been working at the docks for a long time, it is time to change something in your life, you choose.

Alik "rsky warrior
- After living in Hammerfell, you joined the Aliks and went to Skyrim. This option is only available to Redguards.

There is also a random choice of start for your hero.

Compatibility: Compatible with all mods except those that remove the "essential" flags from characters in Helgen.

Requirements: Skyrim DLC Dawnguard or Dragonborn DLC

How to set an alternate start

1. Download file
2. Unpack the archive into the game / Skyrim / Data folder
3. Done

Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim "Alternate Start (SE) / Alternate Start - Live Another Life"

Description and instructions

Description:
If you are tired of going through Helgen every time you start a new game, then this mod is for you. He lets you skip it. By installing this mod, you can play a role at the very beginning of the game: assassin, bandit, thief, hunter, vampire, necromancer, ally, soldier of the Empire or Stormcloaks, farmer, drunkard in a tavern watching Stendarr, etc. In addition, each role offers unique starting locations and a unique set of equipment, as well as unique characteristics... Moreover, unlike the original Skyrim, there is no unambiguously positive choice, each role has both its positive features and negative ones. The mod will provide you with the opportunity to experience alternative starts of the game if you are tired of constantly going through the "Escape from Helgen". You will be given the opportunity to choose a race and start a new life for your character. Perhaps you want to become a well-to-do homeowner, hotel or farm owner, or, on the contrary, you are attracted by the role of the guard of the Khajiit caravan or the Watchman Stendarr?

Start of the main quest:
- The mod will offer you different variants start of the main quest, even if you complete the initial quest "Escape from Helgen". Nobody forces you to complete the main quest after Helgen. The mod will provide a system that allows you not to complete the starting game quest and avoid meeting with Alduin
- At the start of the game, you will be asked to choose your path

Update: 4.0.1
- Fixed missing water data (water flow was broken) that needed editing.

Update: 4.0.0
- Made conversion for Skyrim Special Edition
- Corrected "krakozyabry" in words. The version of the mod is unchanged.

Alternative starts options

Dunmer Refugee (Windhelm)
Morrowind is still very hostile and you decided to return to Skyrim. Upon arrival, it turns out that you are not in Windhelm.
It looks like it's time to drop your expectations of an easy life and become an adventurer
Note - the sleeping bag and bag will be next to you, these are your belongings.

Dunmer the Refugee (Raven Rock)
The mainland of Morrowind is still hostile. You are about to enter the island of Solstheim in Raven Rock.
After your arrival, you were hoping for the best. All residents will treat you like a stranger. It looks like life will not be easy. It may be time for some adventure.
Please note that there are no safe storage chests in Raven Rock, so don't expect items to remain in chests !!!

Thalmor Embassy Agent
You are assigned to be an agent of the Thalmor Embassy. You are tasked with regulating various issues in Skyrim. Although Elenwen does not trust you with the assignment yet.
You start the game inside the Thalmor Embassy on the top floor, standing next to the bed. You will be a member of the Thalmor faction, so you can take whatever you want from the building at any time and you can sleep in any bed.
Once you arrive in Helgen, you will be expelled from the faction and the embassy. The Thalmor can become hostile towards you due to the assumption that you have left your post. It should be remembered that membership in the Thalmor faction can also make the Stormcloaks hostile towards to you!

Caught trying to illegally cross the border
For those who prefer the standard start of the game through Helgen, this option will speed up the process by skipping the race selection dialog before the execution itself. Most of the tutorial tips will also be removed.

Moved to Skyrim
You will arrive by boat at the port of Solitude, Dawnstar or Windhelm. You will have some supplies, middle-class clothing and a modest amount of money with you to start a new life.

Property owner
You will start the game in a fully furnished house in one of the 4 main cities. The house in Windhelm is not included in the list due to the quest that is directly associated with it.
You will be dressed appropriately for the status of your home, and you will have some remaining amount of money. And in the chest of the bedroom you can find a set of weapons typical for this city.
If owning a house in the city is not interesting, or if you want to have access to all the local quests, then instead, you can become the owner of a farmhouse. The lodge is located next to the main road southeast of Dragon Bridge. There you will meet two NPCs who will be your workers. Your farm will generate constant profit that you can take from one of the workers. You will have to return home from time to time to pick it up.

Guild Recruit
You will become a recruit of one of the guilds available in the game. Companions, College of Winterhold, Dark Brotherhood or the Thieves Guild. Your initial equipment will correspond to the guild you have chosen.
After choosing the Thieves Guild, you will find yourself in the Ragged Flask, near the exit from the Rat Hole. Talk to Brynjolf to join the guild.
By choosing The Dark Brotherhood, you will find yourself right inside the Falkreath Hideout. Talk to Astrid to join the guild.
After choosing the College of Mages, you will appear next to the entrance to the Hall of Elements. The first stage of admission to the guild will have already been passed.
After choosing the Companions, you will find yourself inside Jorrvaskr and begin at the stage of a training match with Vilkas.
The College of Bards will be added later if Bethesda refines this guild. On the this moment this is just a formal guild, not worthy of attention.

Lodger in the tavern
You can choose from several taverns throughout Skyrim. Some of them are relatively safe, while others are not very safe. For example, the "Night Gate" tavern is isolated in the mountains, so it is more dangerous than in most others. Be careful.

Outlaw on the loose
You will start the game as a member of a group of bandits. For a change, a group of bandits will be randomly selected. You will start out in standard bandit gear. The bandits in the starting location will be friendly to you until you piss them off yourself. But be careful, because you will be rewarded with a reward of 500 gold, in the possession the game chooses. The guards won't kindly stand and watch you dash through populated areas unless you're willing to pay the fine.

Soldier in the army
You will start the game as a Stormcloak recruit or the Imperial Legion. Your starting outfit will depend on the choice of the side. The test before joining the ranks of one or the other, which is slightly more than completely a task from the category of "go and kill", will already be completed.

Your camp in the woods
You are a lone hunter camped in the forest. You have the appropriate low-level gear, a campfire, a bowler hat, a sleeping bag, and a tent. The camp is located in the forest / hills near Helgen, allowing you to witness a dragon attack without being directly in the village itself. The camp will always be in the same place, so you can return and settle there.

Shipwrecked
Shipwreck! You were a passenger on a merchant ship bound for Solitude, but the ship hit an iceberg and capsized. Try to escape from the sinking ship, not forgetting to grab some useful things along the way, and then get to the nearest ice floe. From there, you can determine how far offshore you are.
Be careful when using survival mods, especially hypothermia mods. You can quickly freeze to death!

Attacked and left for dead
The bandits robbed you and left you to die in some wilderness. They left you nothing but old tattered rags. Can you survive in this wilderness and get to safety?

Vampire in a secluded den
The Eye of Mara pond has always been your home for as long as you can remember. You have already forgotten how long ago you became a vampire, but you know for sure that you are hungry and still crave adventure.
Keep in mind that you will start the game at Stage 4 of Vampirism. From the moment you leave your safe lair, everyone you meet will try to kill you. If you are going to remain unnoticed among the townspeople, then you first need to quench your thirst for blood.

Necromancer in a secret laboratory
The laboratory that you found in the Black Reach is starting to run out of supplies. It looks like you will have to leave it and replenish food supplies, and at the same time have a look at what is happening in the world now.
Immediately I warn you that behind the door you will encounter a Dwemer sphere. You need to think about a plan of action in advance before going outside.

Watcher Stendarr
You were accepted into the Vigilantes of Stendarr and assigned a room in the Hall of the Marines south of Dawnstar.
There is a chest in your room where you can safely store your belongings.

Orc Fortress Life
You will start the game in the orc fortress Dushnik-Yal. Despite the fact that you have lived there for quite some time, the local orcs still call you an outsider. And now you are hungry for adventure again.
Some people may see this as unbalancing, since you start out with a full set of Orc armor and a great two-handed poleaxe to boot. But you are still at level 1, so even a weak enemy can easily kill you.

Khajiit Caravan Guard
You accompanied the caravan for a long time and finally the leader hired a new guard. It's time for new adventures, but you will still be welcome at the caravan camps near Whiterun or Markarth. This feature is only available to the Kajits.

Outcast Tribe Warrior
As the true masters of the Reach, your fellow tribesmen and relatives are forced to drag out a miserable existence in the middle of rocky mountains, far from a comfortable life. It's time to leave home and go in search of your own adventures. Available to Bretons only.
Remember, you will have your own chest in the starting location, which is safe for storing things.

Argonian Dockworker
You've worked at these docks for many months, maybe even longer. The local Nords haven’t become friendlier to you, so it’s time to change something. A life, full of adventure and fame is what you need now.
Remember, the first nightstand on the door side, with the shower stone stand on top, is yours and can be used as storage. It is safe for storing things.

Refugee from Morrowind
Morrowind is still a very hostile place, so you decided to try your luck in Skyrim. However, upon arrival at the place, you saw that Windhelm is not at all what you expected and hoped for. It looks like it's time to give up your dreams of a carefree life and embark on a journey of adventure.
Note:
You own a sleeping bag and a mesos next to which you appear. You can safely store your belongings in the bag.

Alik "rsky warrior
After experiencing the frustration of living in Hammerfell, you joined the Aliks and went on a mission to Skyrim. But you clearly do not share the beliefs of these spies, and it seems that it is time to find your own path. In any case, no one at home will know about it. Only available to Redguards.

surprise me
The game itself will randomly choose one of the above options, except for the standard start through Helgen. The start of the game, unique for each race, will be available only if the player chooses the appropriate race for his character.

Requirements:
- Skyrim special Edition 1.1.47.0.8 or higher
- Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch is Highly Recommended!

Important:
Subtitles must be turned on in order to see the text when talking to the statue in the starting location. After you choose who you want to play, you can turn them off.
3rd person camera will not be available until you decide on the choice and use the bed

Compatibility:
Compatible with Open Cities Skyrim, verified by testing.
Incompatible with any mods that remove essential flags from characters in Helgen.

Known Issues:
You will not be offered to immediately become a tan in the city if you, having started a new life, received a house there.
Once you start the game as a Companion, you will need to watch the battle before Vilkas begins to train you.
Having chosen one of the sides in the Civil War, it is recommended to view the scene with the Jagged Crown, otherwise the quest may not start and the entire line associated with the Civil War may be ruined.
Perhaps there are still some missing dialogues mentioning Helgen. If any of these are found before activating the charred corpse, please inform the author of the mod.

Installation:(can be done manually or via NMM manager)
1. Place files Alternate Start - Live Another Life.esp, Alternate Start - Live Another Life.bsа, Alternate Start - Live Another Life.ini in the Data folder in the game and activate the mod in the launcher
2. We read how to install mods in this topic.

Removal:
- Before deleting the mod, you need to make sure that the main quest of the game has been started. The "Live Another Life" quest must be marked as completed, and the quest "Before the Storm" should be in the list of your current tasks, otherwise removing the mod will disrupt the work of the main quest and chains about civil war
- If you chose to start the game in the farmhouse, then before deleting the mod, you need to take all your things from there, otherwise you will lose them
- After that, you can delete the mod in any convenient way. .Esp and .bsa files must be completely removed

Loading order:
The mod should load as low as possible. Many other mods change Helgen and the character generation menu. Loading this mod at the bottom of the launcher should help in case of problems. It is recommended to follow the order indicated by BOSS (if installed)

Questions and solutions:
Nothing changed. I started new game, but again found himself in Helgen
Make sure the mod is actually activated. Even if the mod is activated in your mod manager, check if it is activated in the Skyrim Launcher

I tried to use the bed but nothing happened
This can happen if you still haven't deleted old version mod that uses free files, not BSA archive

The quest "Live another life" has not ended and remains in the list of current quests in my journal
It should be so. The quest remains ongoing until you find the adventurer and start the main quest.
The quest will end only when you save one of the guys in the cave, or go straight to Jarl Balgruf to report the attack on Helgen.

General Tullius and Ulfric Stormcloak are missing.
I haven't done anything like that. You must start the main quest before they become available again. It's a shame, but that means you won't be able to take part in the civil war until the start of the main quest. Don't blame me. Bethesda has messed things up so much that there is no way to make out all this mess without breaking a whole bunch of things.
If you want to have fun, you can always use console command player.moveto to move to them in the location. You have to admit it: P But don't do this if you are playing seriously, or it might hurt something.

I found your burnt body and pressed it, but nothing happened
AHA! This is not my body at all. This is some other body. If you find mine, then you will not be able to inspect it in the usual way. You need to activate it, after which the diary will be automatically added to your inventory.
At this point, you should also see Alduin flying over your head. If you didn’t see it, then something went wrong.
Read the diary to continue or go straight to the Jarl of Whiterun. Main quest will begin immediately after you do all this.

I did everything, went into a cave, but there is nothing there
The quest marker does not have GPS accuracy. You need to find two poor unfortunate souls who lie on the ground, hunched over in pain. This is Hadvar and Ralof. Come and talk to one of them.
If these guys are NOT here, then you have another mod installed that changed the AI ​​priority and made them move somewhere else. There is nothing I can do about it other than increase the priority on my quest scripts. The mod loading order will not fix the problem.

No you did not understand! A whole piece has disappeared in Helgen's cave. What have you done?
It's not me!
No, really. It's not me. There is a bug that becomes more and more noticeable as different mods are released that make changes to the same locations. It is not yet known what exactly is the cause of this bug. This issue has been widely reported in a number of different mods. As a rule, it is impossible to determine exactly where this bug will manifest itself.
I believe this is due to the mods created with the help of unofficial editors that were used before CK. Unfortunately no reliable way to reveal such a mod. If, when using Wrye Bash, you see a message that one or more mods have bad version headers, then such mods should be disabled first.
Usually such mods can be fixed by uploading them to CK and then immediately saving them unchanged. But this method does not guarantee the result.

Like 10

This mod hardly needs an explanation, because almost all Skyrim fans familiar with mods have already heard about it. If you are not launching your first game here and you are tired of the tedious introduction with the failed execution of Ulfric every time and want to try something new, then "Alternative Start" is the best solution.

You wake up in an incomprehensible cell and your only chance is to pray. You pray at the statue of one of the goddesses, and she gives you a second chance - which one is up to you. You can immediately become a student of the College of Winterhold, you can join the civil war on the side of the Imperials or the Brothers of the Storm, you can become a sentinel of Stendarr or an assassin from the brotherhood, thereby skipping the first boring quest of these organizations. Well, if you're not comfortable with being a part of society right away, you can start as a lone savage with a small camp at Helgen, or crash on a merchant ship. At the same time, the main storyline you will not miss - you will immediately have the quest "investigate the attack on Helgen", from where the main story will go. Well, if you change your mind, then you can return to the standard start by selecting the appropriate item in the menu next to the statue. In short, I see no reason not to download this mod.