Community Challenges

Table of contents

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1. The Serf Start
2. Lizzy’s Challenge
3. Wes’s Challenge
4. DamnPeasants’s Challenge
5. Wandering Merchant Challenge
6. The Ironman Challenge

These are challenges set by the community for those lacking inspiration on how to play. Each offers a unique ruleset to modify your Wildlander experience.

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The Serf Start

Difficulty: Extreme
Focus: Medieval immersion, early-game hardship

Is your Wildlander experience too easy? Make your early game an even more miserable experience, the medieval way.

The goal of this challenge is to begin your Wildlander character as truly helpless as possible, emulating the life of a peasant farmer in the dark ages. This will make the early game incredibly difficult, and force the player to rely on non-combat methods of increasing their skills, like training and studying.

We recommend using a F10 - Custom start to do this, as it will mean less stuff to remove.

Installation Steps:

1. Remove all background related skills and perks.
   • Remove all perks. You can either choose to do a F10 “custom start” and select from the MCM to start with 0 perks. Or, if using the standard Wildlander start, then use the command SPP 0
   • Lower your background related skills by using the command player.setav (skill id) 1. You may optionally keep your race related skill bonuses (e.g., if you pick the Nord race, keep the skill bonuses from your race). Do not lower your skills to zero as this will cause issues with scripted leveling such as quests, skill books and dummies.
2. Remove all background related starting gear from your inventory.
   • For most characters, this will include a weapon, some armor, and some miscellaneous gear, like a toolkit.
   • You may keep any gear which a peasant would reasonably have, like a torch.
3. Drop all your gold.

Congratulations! You are now ready to experience the world of Skyrim as its people would - like a true medieval peasant.

Optional Difficulty Modifiers:

1. Lower skill gain in the Requiem MCM menu (recommended: 50%)
2. Do not commit any crimes - The Divines frown upon unseemly deeds
3. Only save at the start of each day, after waking up

This challenge was intended to be played alongside DamnPeasants’s own challenge to create a truly miserable experience. Being the dragonborn is optional, but for true serfdom, pick non-dragonborn.

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Lizzy’s Challenge

Difficulty: Hard
Focus: Roleplay restrictions, crafting limitations

Rules:

• Saves only when passing through a doorway with load screen, or when sleeping
• Can only craft items you will use - no crafting for sale
• Maximum of 5 spell books can be purchased (find or craft others using Spell Research)
• Maximum one mercenary/follower (excluding quest-forced followers)
• Cannot steal Midnight or Frost
• Respect the dead - cannot strip corpses except for Gold, jewelry, or weapons

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Wes’s Challenge

Difficulty: Very Hard
Focus: Immersion, no HUD, combat restrictions

Rules:

• No wood chopping
• Skill rate in Requiem MCM set to 50%
• Weapon changes only via hotkeys - no pause menu allowed
• No potions or food use during combat
• Disable HUD (press X) - only sound and message popup hints

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DamnPeasants’s Challenge

Difficulty: Extreme
Focus: Skill progression, crafting restrictions, roleplay rules

Experience and Skills:

• Start from F10 start with no perk points
• Trainers only allowed up to skill level 25 (Apprentice)
• Alchemy completely prohibited - Alternatively, ingredients must be gathered manually and the 2nd Alchemical lore perk is off limits
• Merchant perk from speech tree not allowed
• Skill books may only be studied between 6pm-12am (you are an adventurer, not a student - read only at night before bed). Same hours for spell research.
• Once a College of Winterhold student, may spend weekends in library studying - WEEKENDS ONLY, no other days

Hunterborn:

• Do not interfere with time mechanics - leave them as is

Crafting:

• Cannot sell paper crafted with alembic or from broken down ruined books
• Can make mage scrolls with paper and sell those (note spell book buying limitations apply)
• Cannot spam craft jewelry once smithing reaches 50 just for profit
• If crafting jewelry, must find raw materials yourself (mining, looting, breaking down sources)
• Maximum of 3 sets of armor and 3 of every weapon may be crafted and tempered

Decision Making & Behavior:

• Cannot loot anything guards killed (includes animals straying into towns or vampires from missives). If you didn’t kill it yourself with no assistance, you can’t loot it.
• Cannot loot enemy armor from corpses with value/weight ratio less than 50, unless enchanted (prevents breaking down trash for smithing leveling). Looting from containers is allowed.
• Can take what you intend to use (not sell). Example: Want an orcish sword? Find orcish armor, break it down and craft/commission a sword.
• Items allowed from corpses:
  • Gold
  • Jewelry / Gems
  • Scrolls / Staves
  • Lockpicks
  • Raw materials
  • Food/Water
• Cannot engage in combat while on horse (rest of Skyrim doesn’t either)
• Cannot steal a horse unless you’ve already lost the Divines’ favor
• Can only BUY a total of 3 spell books - rest must be found, gained through perks, or spell research
• Cannot hire followers before level 10, and cannot assign them to heal you or cast armor spells
• If a summoner with the “Cognitive flexibility” perk, cannot have any followers
• Maximum one follower (exception: dragon hunting - can bring larger party as afforded)
• Can only save at dungeon entrances and before/after walking through doors with loading screens (recommend disabling autosaves)

Optional:

• Restoration is powerful and easy to level - consider restricting the “Power of life” perk or “Essence of life” perk
• Orc not allowed - they’re overpowered

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Wandering Merchant Challenge

Creator: JU12000
Difficulty: Hard
Focus: Immersion, merchant roleplay, one-life run

You have only one life (collision glitches exempt).

Rules:

• No armor or tradesman skills (enchanting, alchemy, smithing)
• Must walk roads and cities of Skyrim (except during/avoiding combat)
• Can only take delivery and gather missives - no dungeon clearing or initiating attacks on creatures
• Combat only in self defense; illusion spells like Calm preferred
• Followers allowed (use them for combat)
• Only loot items with value/weight ratio of 50+, or known trade route items
• Learn and walk trade routes of Skyrim for income

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The Ironman Challenge

Difficulty: Extreme
Focus: Gear restrictions, no-perk progression, permadeath

1. Armor Restrictions:
   • Starting armor is the only armor allowed
   • No enchants to weapons or armor
   • No rings or necklaces for any character
   • Weapons must not exceed Iron/wooden tier (can buy replacement bows if they break or swap out sword for axe/dagger/mace)
   • Only Alvor in Riverwood may temper armor and weapons (only to repair degraded gear)
   • Mages may use a replacement novice robe only to replace chest piece
2. Progression:
   • No perks can be learned after initial 6 perks
   • No followers (except quest-forced)
   • Mages limited to apprentice spells (may buy up to this tier, no higher)
3. Abilities:
   • Shouts allowed, but limited to second word only (Unrelenting Shout exception - quest forces all words)
   • Buffs from food allowed; may level up Magicka/Health/Stamina each level - no perks
   • No additional mods beyond what’s in the pack
4. Travel & Combat:
   • No fast travel (horses and carriages allowed since you pay for them)
   • No potions or food use during combat
   • Restorative potions allowed; fortify potions not allowed; poisons OK
   • Cannot engage in combat while mounted
5. Rules:
   • No console commands for items, places, killing, or GOD MODE
   • Alternate forms (Vampire, Vampire Lord, Werewolf) allowed if from faction questline, but no perks associated with them
   • Cannot disable Sunhelm, Frostfall, or other mods in MCM
   • If you die - it’s the end of your run

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