Normally, you’ll slog through Skyrim’s overwhelming Thieves Guild questline, inevitably replace the guildmaster, and feel a whiff of boredom strong enough to make you question the hundreds of hours you’ve spent playing Bethesda’s RPG. Or maybe that’s just me.
You do score an armor, a magical amulet and the key to a tribute chest that occasionally fills up with loot, but your life as a crime lord just kind of ends. Even your second-in-command Brynjolf, who recruited you in the Riften Marketplace at the beginning of the questline, apologizes and says “I have important things to do” when you try to communicate with him from then on. The brutal wanker.
That wasn’t good enough for Elizabeth Jackson Hall, who called a mod Brynjolf has time for you (opens in new tab) to make sure the corporate criminal still wants to talk when you replace his boss. That was four years ago, and I think it still wasn’t enough for Hall, who has now released a more important fully voiced quest mod called Brynjolf and the Riften Guild – Birthright (opens in new tab) to extend the expansion even further.
This mod features four dungeons, thousands of lines of additional dialogue (including over 2,000 lines for Brynjolf created just by editing his existing dialogue, plus seven brand new NPCs voiced by volunteers), and multiple quests. Yes, with one of those quests you can romanticize Brynjolf.
Brynjolf and the Riften Guild – Birthright also includes a questline to finally let you figure out what’s going on with Rune, an amnesiac member of the guild who survived a shipwreck but lost his memory. Previously, you could promise Rune that you would “keep an eye” for things related to his past, but the plot thread didn’t go anywhere. Now it is. You can also unlock the guild’s vault, make Brynjolf your follower, bathe in the waters of the guild’s lair, give Brynjolf some soap to encourage him to join you, and explore some extra forsworn crypts and dwemer ruins .
To install the mod you must first install the Skyrim script extender (opens in new tab) if you haven’t already, grab the file from Nexus Mods where it’s available for download for both Skyrim special edition (opens in new tab) and Oudrim (opens in new tab). To begin the mod you must have done the Thieves Guild storyline until completing the climactic Darkness Returns quest, then view the red journal added on a bookshelf near the entrance to the guild’s Cistern HQ .
To start the Rune questline, you need to chat with Vekel, the bartender of the secret thieves’ pub, the Ragged Flagon. To open the vault, talk to your regular seeker Delvin, and if you want to be more than just friends with Brynjolf, you’ll need to wear an Amulet of Mara, one of the necklaces that indicate your eligibility for marriage in Skyrim .
Here are more of the best skyrim mods and the best skyrim special edition mods. Check out Sneak Tools to add thieving options like water arrows, throat slitting and blackjacking, as well as Ars Metallica – Smithing Enhancement if you want to be able to craft your own lockpicks and arrows.