Someone murdered Hilde

[Didz]

I've just ridden back into Riverwood after another successful looting expedition into the Helgen, and there's Hilde laying dead on her threshold.

Is this normal, has she died of old age or been murdered?

I rushed to the Sleeping Giant, and Sven is ha[[ily singing away as though nothing has ha[[ened and there was no new dialogue to take into account the sad loss of his mother.

I'm confused whats going on?

[Jela'n]

Maybe the stray wolf the roams around the Riverwood area got to her. Ive had this happen with Faendal.

[[DFnatic]Gamer]

Sven is singin' dat melody of having the house to himself =p

[k9mouse]

could be a vampire attack or a dragon attack -- one theory This is up to you in how u want to play, but there are console comamnds to either rise from the dead (not as a thrall or undead, just the same before, same AI and everything) or one can use a console command to make another copy of her in the game world -- thus she never really "die" in the 1st place.

Some might call this cheating or others like my self just to do that to get around a "ghost town" bug that can happen....

[Didz]

Without giving too much away, is it going to be a problem for me that she's dead?

If not then I'll probably assume she died mysteriously and leave it at that.

[Elvis II]

No. Important NPCs can't die. They just go unconscious. Some NPCs related to minor side-quests can die, though.. I don't remember if she has a quest or not.

[Jela'n]

No quest involves Hilde.She just makes for some amusing conversation at times. Dont worry about her death.

[Didz]

Ok! well I've disposed of the body, so it doesn't make the place look untidy. The guards made a few comments as I was carrying her body to the river, but I never got arrested or anything, so I assume they realised I was just doing my civic duty.

[maidofmanynames]

NPCs seem to regularly die from dragon and vampire attacks and personally it drives me crazy. The mechanisms that are supposed to supply replacements for shopkeepers etc. don't always work. Thankfully there are mods that can remove or get rid of this all together.

There is a series of mods that make most NPCs run if a dragon or vampire attacks. I remember that the vampire version is 'When Vampires Attack'. You'll have to search for the dragon version. There is also the 'No More Sad Songs' mod that makes all people impossible to be killed... except by you. Another mod allows you to choose the timing and frequency of attacks called 'Timing Is Everything'.

Keep in mind some of the mods are on the Workshop and others on Nexus.

[Jela'n]

The dragon version is called Run for your Lives.I cant link, ISP problems today.

[k9mouse]

for me, i use a console comamnd if one if a NPC dies from vampy or dragon attack. fast and easy to do.

[LizardWizard]

I'd recommend you get 'My Skyrim People Protected!' and 'My Solstheim People Protected!' instead. Those NPC AI revamps in 'Run for your Lives' and 'When Vampires Attack' are notoriously ineffective for me.

[Didz]

Originally posted by maidofmanynames:

There is a series of mods that make most NPCs run if a dragon or vampire attacks. I remember that the vampire version is 'When Vampires Attack'. You'll have to search for the dragon version. There is also the 'No More Sad Songs' mod that makes all people impossible to be killed... except by you. Another mod allows you to choose the timing and frequency of attacks called 'Timing Is Everything'.

I already had 'Run for your Lives' installed, but I shall have to take another look at it as I thought it covered everything.

If it doesn't deal with vampare attacks then i might need to get 'When Vampires Attack' too. However, I saw the mod that makes all NPC's invulnerable to third party attacks and shied away from going that far, as it destroys the immersion a bit.

I mean in a way it's kind of cool that Hilde is dead, it's an unexpected event in my game. But equally one would hope that she didn't just stand there like an idiot and let it happen.

[Zefram Cochrane]

Yeah it can happen, random vampire attack if you have Dawnguard installed? Dragon attack? That drunken guy from the Companions was lying dead at the foot of the steps for some time before I noticed him in my game, no idea what happened to him, certainly nothing to do with me. I used the "resurrect" command to resucitate him, no idea if i'll have any lasting effects.

Random vampire attacks are major PITA in my game, some of my fave NPC's have died so many times its ridiculous, in the end I opened the Creation Kit and marked them all as "essential" so they can't die anymore and I don't have to reload a save after the end of a long campaign ever again.

Originally posted by Didz:

I mean in a way it's kind of cool that Hilde is dead, it's an unexpected event in my game. But equally one would hope that she didn't just stand there like an idiot and let it happen.

If I did that Whiterun would be almost deserted in my game, theres hardly a guard left as it is. However that Aerin guy died in a vampire attack in Riften the other day, I was tempted to leave him that way...

[Didz]

Originally posted by Zefram Cochrane:

If I did that Whiterun would be almost deserted in my game, theres hardly a guard left as it is.

Hmm! yes I can see that could become a problem.

Also I've read elsewhere that the game doesn't replace them with a new NPC, even if they performed a useful role such as being a vendor.

I'm also a bit worried what will happen if an NPC dies before I even reach somewhere. I mean if Hilde had died before I reached Riverwood, and her body had been somewhere less public than her doorstep my character might never have known she existed in the game.