Tutorial: Readable Spell Tomes

Object: To make spell tomes readable, instead of losing them when the spell is learned.

Difficulty: Easy-Moderate (involves script editing)
[edit] It appears that modifying the spell tomes causes conflicts with the vendors lists with Crash To Desktop whenever the spell tomes are hovered in the lists. Hence another solution will have to be figured out but the tutorial is still interesting to approach the functions of spell tomes and scripting.

Time Needed: Less than 5 minutes

Things you will need:

• Creation Kit. The Creation Kit is the modding tool for Skyrim and can be downloaded for free on Steam.
• Some previous experience with item-editing, and (preferably) script editing

Note: The scripting part of this tutorial is a one-time ordeal. After the script has been made, you will simply need to add it to each book that you want to apply it to, rather than creating a new script for each item. For users of the Readable Spell Tomes mod on the Nexus and the Workshop, you can skip to step 8.

Download: To download the Readable Spell Tomes mod, visit the:
Steam Workshop at:  http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=13474
Nexus at: http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=10954

1. Open the Creation Kit and load the appropriate Data Files.

2. Open the 'Gameplay' Menu and click 'Papyrus Script Manager.'

3. Right-click in the Script Manager, and click 'New.' This allows you to create a new script.

4. Name your new script "SpellTomeReadScript". This is not a required name, but it is simple and easy to find when you search for it later. Also, type "ObjectReference" into the Extends text box. It MUST be "ObjectReference" and NOTHING else.

5. Click OK, and type/copy the following into the editor that pops up:

Scriptname SpellTomeReadScript extends ObjectReference  
{Adds spell to player on equip}

Event OnEquipped(Actor reader)
if (Game.GetPlayer().HasSpell(SpellLearned))
Debug.Notification("You already know this spell.")
endIf
Game.GetPlayer().AddSpell(SpellLearned)
EndEvent

Note that the first time you open a script you may need to tell Windows which program it should use to open the script file. If so, choose a program like Notepad (or Notepad++ if you have it) in the list Windows proposes.

6. Don't worry about the last line that you see in the image above. That is added in automatically by the CK when you add the script to an item later in the tutorial. (nox.fox: personnaly I had to add this last line to compile the script successfully)

7. Save the script. Right click on the script in the Script Manager, and click 'Compile'. Click on your script in the box that pops up. If the box disappears, then the script was compiled successfully and no errors were found. If it says that there was an error, then something in the script was typed incorrectly.

8. In the Object Window, navigate to the Items > Books category, and find the Spell Tome that you want to modify.

9. Double-click on the book to edit it. The first thing you must do is to deactivate the standard option of teaching a spell. On the left side of the Book window, there should be a 'Teaches' section, and then two options. For a spell-tome, the 'Spell' option should be filled, and the appropriate spell should already be selected in the drop-down menu. Open the drop-done menu, scroll to the top, and click NONE. This deactivates the spell-teaching, so that we can use the SpellTomeReadScript instead.

10. Now click 'Add' in the Scripts section of the Book window. A window should pop up that lists all of the scripts. Find the 'SpellTomeReadScript' and click OK.

11. In the Scripts section of the Book Window, select the 'SpellTomeReadScript' and click 'Properties.'

12. Click Add Property in the window that pops up.

13. Select SPELL from the drop-down menu in the new window, and type "SpellLearned" in the 'Name' text box.

14. Click OK. Select your new property, and click 'Edit Value'.

15. Select the spell that you want to add to the player from the drop-down menu, and click 'OK.

16. The script should be added correctly to the item. Save the mod, and test the spell tome ingame.

17. To make other spell tomes readable, repeat steps 9-15 for the spell tome or book that you want to modify.

Notes/Possible Bugs:

1. Note: This process can be used on any book to have it teach a spell without being destroyed.

2. If you have tested your book out, and it is not working, then go back over the tutorial carefully and make sure that everything was typed in correctly and that you disabled the standard method of making books teach a spell.

Feedback:

If you have any comments/questions, or would like to request a tutorial, then please feel free to leave a comment. I will answer your question as quick as I can. If you request a tutorial, I'll let you know when/if you should expect your request to be fulfilled.