Alternate Perspective

 

Skyrim’s opening cart ride is iconic. It’s neat! Once. Maybe twice. But if you haven’t already started dozens of new playthroughs, with any luck, you will. And sooner or later you’re going to pray that you never again hear the words, “Hey you, you’re finally awake!”

If you’ve never played Skyrim before and would like to experience the opening sequence as-is (more or less—this is modded, after all), it’s still available. You’re just no longer forced through it every single time.

Only in 4.0 RC3+

MGO 4.0 RC3 is the first version of the list to include Alternate Perspective. If you’re on an older build (or if you just can’t get enough of this wonderful web site), you can still read all about Alternate Start - Live Another Life.

Choose a perspective

MGO uses Alternate Perspective - Alternate Start. A new game begins in a room modeled on a room at Helgen’s inn1, and that’s where you create your character. The room has several containers of gear to help you build out whatever sort of character you have in mind.

Give it a minute

After you finish creating your character and RaceMenu closes, wait a bit before you talk to the dragon or fiddle with mod settings. Many mods include an MCM (Mod Configuration Menu), and once you name your character, MGO configures the MCMs for you.

The menus themselves need to be registered, and MCM Recorder needs to apply MGO’s pre-configured settings by automatically opening those menus and clicking through them in the background. If you dig through menus or start your scenario while it’s working, you might derail the MCM Recorder playback and leave things in a less-than-ideal state. Wait until the torrent of notifications subsides, and then choose your new life.

Gear up

Rather than starting you with the same spells and equipment every time, Alternate Perspective gives you some choices. Be sure to grab what you need before heading out.

In the nearby wardrobe, you’ll find choices for light armor, heavy armor, and mage robes.
At the foot of the bed lies a locker full of weapons of various types. Take your pick!
Alternate Perspective does not automatically start you with the Flames and Healing spells, but rather stuffs a variety of spell tomes in a nightstand. Whatever school of magic your character prefers, you’ll find appropriate starting options (including Flames and Healing).
Playing a thief (or just want a little help)? You’ll find a strongbox at the end of the table loaded with gold, gems, and lockpicks.

Choose your destiny

When you’re ready, talk to the little dragon perched on the lantern interact with the Shine of Akatosh (a statue of a dragon perched on a lantern) near the door. Doing so will offer you a smörgåsbord of ways to begin. Pick one, then open the door beside him and step into the void to kick off the scenario you chose.

If you head through the door without picking any particular start, you’ll end up with Alternate Perspective’s default start. Rather than skipping Skyrim’s intro, this option presents the same story from (as the mod name suggests) a different perspective. You’re still present for Alduin’s attack on Helgen, but your head isn’t the one on the chopping block.

The Messenger shall return, but he’s buggy enough that he has been removed in MGO 4.0 RC4.

Interacting with the shrine presents you with a number of scenarios, many of which offer additional choices once you select them.

None (Default)

Start in Helgen’s inn, The Resting Pilgrim. Talk to the innkeeper Matlara and sleep in your room to experience that alternate perspective you were promised.

Random

Does just what it says on the tin: Starts in any one of the available options.

Regular (Inn)

Begin as a guest in one of 12 inns across Skyrim.

From Overseas

Arrive by ship at Dawnstar, Solitude (“East Empire Trading”), Windhelm, or Raven Rock.

Wanted Criminal

Start out in the wilds with a price on your head in multiple holds.

Left for Dead

Wake in the wilderness, badly hurt and saddled with a nasty disease. Choose from The Reach, The Rift, Winterhold, or let fate1 decide.

  1. or a random number generator, as it were ↩︎

Shipwrecked

Wake up underwater as the lone survivor of a shipwreck. If you want the struggle for survival to begin immediately, look no further!

My Own Home

Start in one of the four vanilla, pre-Hearthfire player homes.

Vampire

Start as a member of a vampire clan in Bloodlet Throne, Haemar’s Shame, Movarth’s Lair, or Pinemoon Cave.

Werewolf

Make Hircine proud! Begin as a werewolf in the forests of Falkreath.

Forsworn

Are you sick of the Nords and the Imperials? Join the Forsworn at Druadach Redoubt.

Guilds

Begin as a member of one of Skyrim’s guilds: The College of Winterhold, The Companions, The Dark Brotherhood, or The Thieves Guild.

The Dragonborn

Jump straight into the main quest. You can skip ahead to High Hrothgar, having already been recognized as the Dragonborn, or you can choose from three different points in the game’s opening sequence: as a prisoner on a cart ride (vanilla), in Helgen Keep after Alduin’s attack (having chosen to follow Ralof), or at the end of the Helgen Keep sequence.

More perspectives, new in RC4

RC4 adds an assortment of Alternate Perspective add-ons, including some fan-favorites2.

Border Crossing

Alternate Perspective Border Starts puts you at one of Skyrim’s four border passes with only the equipment that you picked up in the starting room.

Thalmor

Alternate Perspective - Thalmor Start begins your story at Northwatch Keep as a member of the Thalmor.

The Midden

Start in the Midden wakes you beneath the College of Winterhold with empty pockets and no explanation. (Any gear you picked up in the starting room will be removed.) There’s gear scattered nearby, along with a hint about how you ended up down there.

Adventurer's Starts

Adventurer’s Start adds a handful of beginnings in media res.

  • Roadside Ambush, ambushed on the road by three level 1 bandits
  • Fell In a Spike Pit, lying at half health in the spike pit at Halted Stream Camp
  • Bounty Hunter, starting at a bandit camp with a bounty side quest in your journal
  • Bandit Prisoner, locked in a cell in a bandit-held fort
  • Orc Stronghold, start as a Blood-Kin if you’re not an Orc yourself
  • Saved By Vigilants, locked in a cage in Hob’s Fall Cage, about to be sacrified until the Vigilants show up
  • Out In the Wilderness, starts you away from cities and towns, intended for survival-focused playthroughs
Relic Hunter (Guildmaster)

For Legacy of the Dragonborn fans, Relic Hunter - Guildmaster Start begins with you already serving as guild master of the Explorer’s Society, on site at a small Akaviri excavation near Rorikstead, with the Society’s relic tools ready to grab in a nearby tent. This was originally built for That Other Alternate Start Mod, and has been patched to work with Alternate Perspective.

  1. “Modeled after” because, strictly speaking, this room is isolated and not technically the one at the inn. ↩︎

  2. I’m the fan. They’re my favorites. ↩︎