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BIG: Sneaking Bonuses for What You Wear (a Better Improvements for Gameplay mod)

This mod improves the realism of sneaking by making you harder to detect when you wear no armor, or more stealthy armors. What makes an armor more stealthy? Think of a ninja: They dress all in dark apparel and cover their faces. So armors that are dark and cover the face (like Nightingale and Dark Brotherhood armors) now make you less likely to be detected than armors that are more easy to see, like shiny Elven and Glass. This goes for heavy armors, too. Dark Ebony and Blades armors now boost your chance of going undetected more than gleaming Dwarven and Steel Plate. And if you're a Mage who wears no armor, you get much better stealth bonuses than in the vanilla game!


When it comes to how clothing and armor affect sneaking, the only thing the game considers is how much the apparel weighs. So wearing shiny Dwarven or Glass armor doesn't make you any more likely to be seen than wearing darker Ebony or Nightingale armor. Wearing noisy Orcish armor doesn't make you any more likely to be heard than wearing quiet hide or fur armor. In fact, add a mod that makes Dwarven armor weigh nothing, and you'll sneak as well wearing it as when you wear nothing at all! But that's not realistic. The weight of the armor you wear shouldn't be the only thing to consider when it comes to hiding in the shadows. Should it? I mean, have a thief dressed in dark Nightingale armor hide next to another dressed in sprakling Glass armor. Who are you more likely to see? The one who glitters like a Christmas tree!


The mod does NOT change any armor in the game, nor add any new perks. It simply changes existing perks in the Sneak skill tree. The changes assure that wearing specific armors, or no armor, give you even better Sneak perk bonuses, and make you even harder to be detected. The mod doesn't add a penalty for wearing any armor considered unstealthy. When you wear those armors, the Sneak perks you get are the same as in the vanilla game. It simply rewards you for wearing more stealthy armors, or no armor, by increasing the perk bonuses. This adds realism to the game, by making you even harder to be detected when dressed for stealth! It's great for mages, thieves, assassins and anyone who wants to blend into the shadows. But the mod isn't so overpowered as to be game breaking. It's only powerful enough to make it real.

• Stealth 1 - 20% harder to detect. 25% if wearing certain armors. 30% if wearing no armor, or the most stealthy armors.
  
• Stealth 2 - 25% harder to detect. 30% if wearing certain armors. 35% if wearing no armor, or the most stealthy armors.
  
• Stealth 3 - 30% harder to detect. 35% if wearing certain armors. 40% if wearing no armor, or the most stealthy armors.
  
• Stealth 4 - 35% harder to detect. 40% if wearing certain armors. 45% if wearing no armor, or the most stealthy armors.
  
• Stealth 5 - 40% harder to detect. 45% if wearing certain armors. 50% if wearing no armor, or the most stealthy armors.
  
• Muffled Movement - make 50% less noise. 75% if wearing certain armors. No noise at all if wearing no armor, or the most stealthy armors.

Normal Stealth Perk Bonus and Normal Muffled Movement Perk Bonus (50% less noise)
The bonuses for the Stealth perk (levels 1 - 5), and the Muffled Movement perk will remain unchanged if the armor worn meets all of these requirements:

• It's not an armor rewarded for completing a Daedric quest
  
• It requires something other than leather to improve it, such as an ingot
  
• It has brilliant hues, instead of a dark or earth-tone colors

+5% Stealth Perk Bonus and +25% Muffled Movement Perk Bonus
You will be +5% harder to detect for the Stealth perk (levels 1 - 5), and the Muffled Movement perk now lets you make 75% less noise, if the armor worn meets two or more of these requirements:

• It's not an armor rewarded for completing a Daedric quest
  
• It has dark or earth-tone colors, instead of brilliant hues
  
• It requires leather to improve it, instead of an ingot or some other material
  
• It's a matching set of Armor of the Gods, Nightingale or Dark Brotherhood armor without a helmet, hood or cowl
  
• It's a matching set of Blades, Daedric or Ebony armor, with helmet

+10% Stealth Perk Bonus and +50% Muffled Movement Perk Bonus
You will be +10% harder to detect for the Stealth perk (levels 1 - 5), and the Muffled Movement perk now lets you make no noise at all, if you meet one of these requirements:

• You're wearing no armor at all (wearing clothes, a mage robe, a hooded mage robe, a mage hood or circlet, each with no armor value)
  
• You're wearing armor rewarded for completing a Daedric quest and no other light or heavy armor
  
• You're wearing a matching set of Armor of the Gods, Nightingale or Dark Brotherhood armor (with helmet, hood or cowl)

In addition, you see exactly how each outfit you put on affects sneaking. Just equip the apparel you want, get into a sneaking posture, and open the Active Effects menu. The Stealth Perk active effect indicates the precise percent harder you are to detect. So there's no doubt how stealthy your apparel is! The list below shows perk bonuses for each armor type.

Normal Sneak Perk Bonus and Normal Muffled Movement Perk Bonus (50% less noise) *
Banded Iron, Blades (less than 4 equipped), Daedric (less than 4 equipped), Dragon Bone, Dragon Scale, Dwarven, Ebony (less than 4 equipped), Elven, Elven Guilded, Falmer, Glass, Hold Guard, Imperial (Heavy), Iron, Orcish, Scaled, Steel, Steel Plate, Stormcloak, Studded

+5% Sneak Perk Bonus and +25% Muffled Movement Perk Bonus (75% less noise) *
Armor of the Old Gods (matching set without helmet), Blades (matching set with helmet), Daedric (matching set with helmet), Dark Brotherhood (matching set without cowl), Ebony (matching set with helmet), Fur (Bandit), Hide, Imperial (Light), Leather, Nightingale (matching set without hood), Thieve's Guild, Thieve's Guild Leader

+10% Sneak Perk Bonus and +50% Muffled Movement Perk Bonus (no noise) *
Armor of the Old Gods (matching set with helmet), Clothes (hooded mage robes, mage robes, magic hoods, circlets), Daedric quest reward Ebony Mail**, Daedric quest reward Savior's Hide**, Dark Brotherhood (matching set with cowl), Nightingale (matching set with hood)

* Bonuses are based on the least-stealthy armor item worn.
** Wearing armor on head, hands or feet will negate the +10% bonus for the Savior's Hide and Ebony Mail armors.


This mod is completely free. But it takes a lot of time, effort and expense to make it and mods like it. If you appreciate the fun they provide and want to give a little back, log into PayPal[www.paypal.com] and make a donation to sp0ckrates@outlook.com. No amount is too small to help!


The Sp0ckrates Steam Skyrim Workshop currently has more than 1,000,000 subscribers and more than 4,000 followers. Many thanks to all who've tried out our mods over the last two years. Dudes! You're the best!


To make sure this mod loads, after subscribing, launch Skyrim, wait for the launch screen to display a message that all mods finished synchronizing, then exit Skyrim to the desktop. Relaunch Skyrim. The mod should now be loaded.