Creating a New Bound Weapon

Loading Necessary Files

Make sure the basic objects you're going to need are available to work with. These are contained in the master files that belong to the original game and subsequent updates and add-ons. If bound weapons are the only thing your mod edits, load only the Skyrim and Update master files.

The easiest way to create a new vanilla weapon is to make a copy of an existing object and edit the new object. Find whichever bound weapon you intend to work with. Make sure you are searching ALL of your loaded content. ie. If the new weapon is a bow, find the bound bow, all of its associated effects, spells and tomes.

Creating the New Weapons

I suggest ordering search results by type. The two bound weapons that will be the end result of the summon should be the last two on the list. Duplicate each of them. Edit the plain bow. Give it a new ID, Name and Damage. Do not let the kit create a new form. Click 'No' when prompted after clicking 'OK'. If the player has the Mystic Binding perk, a different version of the bow is summoned. Edit the mystic version of the object to reflect whatever ID, Name and Damage you wish. Click 'OK' and 'No' when asked to create a new form. This avoids the clutter of unused objects. If you do accidentally create a new object you can simply use the leftover duplicate for your next weapon, or be sure to delete it if you need no more new objects with that base. It will not disappear immediately after being deleted. The mod must be saved and reloaded first.

Note: This may also address a glitch that could prevent a bow from being successfully summoned. When opening my mod in the kit after my first failed test run it flashed up two messages (exactly equal to the number of objects I had just created) that read: 'Bad Reach Value Found for Weapon ID: 02000D67' and again for 02000d66. I took a fresh look at both of my Bound Bows and both had 1.0 reach values. Reloading the game again yielded a successful and accurately powered cast.

Create the Weapon's Effects

The next objects you'll want to edit are the Effects that point to each of the weapons. There's an effect for both the un-perked, and perked versions of the weapon. Create duplicates of these as well. Open the Edit dialog on your effect duplicates. Change the ID to one you can easily relate to the intended weapon. Feel free to keep the effect name the same. Just under 'Min. Skill Lvl' you will find the heading: Assoc. Item 1. This should read 'BoundWeaponBow'. This points to the actual weapon object. You have already created your new weapons so they should be available to you in the drop down list. In my case I'm using smithing improvement suffixes to differentiate between weapons. So I chose my 'BoundWeaponBowExquisite'. Click 'OK' and do not create a new form if prompted. Do this for the mystic effect as well. I selected "BoundWeaponBowMysticExquisite" as the Assoc. Item 1.

Creating the Spell

Next comes the spell your Tome will point to. The spell will be marked by an S in a red box in the object window also the object type 'SPEL'. Duplicate this spell. Open the Edit dialog. Change the ID to be unique to this weapon. Change the name. This name is what appears in your Magic menu and it's best if it's unique. In the Effects box on the right-hand side you will see two effects listed. Delete these. Right click and select New. In the drop-down menu beside 'Effect' select the effect you have just created and edited for the un-perked version of the weapon. Also select the duration of the spell. Be careful of whether you are entering minutes, seconds, days, etc. In my case, for each upgrade of the weapon the duration will increase by 30 seconds and the base duration is 120. This will automatically calculate the amount of Magicka required to cast the spell. Click 'OK'. Right click in the Effects box again and select 'New'. This effect will govern the perked weapon. In the Effect drop-down menu, select the applicable 'mystic' effect. Set an identical duration. Click 'OK'. This automatically calculates a balanced cost to cast the spell. You can edit this if you wish.

Create the Spell Tome

Next, create a duplicate of the Spell Tome used for the original spell. Open the Edit dialog. Edit the ID and Name to identify it specifically to your new weapon. Decide on a new value for the Tome. The fact that the book teaches a spell will already be selected. In the drop-down menu just underneath this, select the spell you have just created. For example: 'BoundBowExquisite'. Change the text in the text editing window to a name that matches your new weapon. ie. 'Bound Exquisite Bow'. Click 'OK' and do not create a new form.

Save your plugin, boot up Skyrim, cast your spell. Please see the Note above if you are not successful the first time.

Suggestions

If you wish to create a weapon with a custom appearance I suggest using this process to create a framework for your custom weapon. Only once you have verified it is summonable and usable in game, should the meshes be changed.

Sections Needed

- How to create new or altering existing meshes - How to customize effects

Based on a tutorial regarding how to create a custom seat, I know how to substitute existing meshes. I have no clue how to create new ones.

Note: I will be recording here anything learned from creating a mod that simply creates a different versions of existing weapons, giving a Conjurer the ability to improve summonable weapons. Specifically the bow. I cannot be counted on to provide a walk-through for anything over and above what's required to do this successfully.