Gain skills through experience

This is a simple mod that gains (just) a little character XP from skills, but mostly gains character XP as intended by the experience mod. I'm mainly uploading it so that my learning process can be beneficial to others.

I recently worked on Lexy's Dragonborn modifier legacy, which gave me access to some tools I'd never used before. I don’t ask them to have expertise, but I enjoy the learning process. For example, when it came time to add some modules that I felt I needed but didn't cut Lexy out of, I hit the "Help" button in SSEEdit and learned how to make a conflict resolution patch. I just wanted to mention it because this is one of those things that I've heard modders discuss like it's the simplest thing in the world, but it always sounds amazing to me. However, it's not difficult if you take the time to learn and think about what you are doing. If I can do it, then yes.

What I'm doing here, I initially didn't think was necessary. The experience ini file allows you to use skill XP normally (I didn't want to use it separately because then you would get the "extra" XP from the experience source to what I feel is a vanilla level). Lexy's list includes the Skyrim Skill Uncapper, which has variables to control the amount of character level XP contributed by skill level advancement. Unfortunately, as z4x explained to me in the Experience comments section, his mod and Uncapper try to use the same functionality, and only one works. However, there is a game variable fXPPerSkillRank that is usually equal to 1 by which the character level XP in the skill is multiplied. It's not as flexible as the unpacker, but it's enough for my needs. The biggest problem is that the main way to set it is with the setgs console command, which is not persistent across saves. I could make a one-line batch file with a short name (e.g. "me") and access it by typing "bat me", which reduces my typing in the long run, but means I still have to open the console every time I launch the game.

z4x explains the simplest solution "set it to CK and save as esp plugin". Now, I've only ever used the Genesis Toolkit to convert my Form 43 files to Form 44 simply because someone (or some program) asked me to. Hence, *magic*. But I only loaded the creation kit with Skyrim.esm (File>>Data, double click on Skyrim.esm but not click "Set as active file"). I'm a little intimidated by the giant buttons across the top of the window, but as with many problems, you can find a solution if you just evaluate each option one at a time. In this case it's "Game Settings>>Settings..." and about two-thirds of the way down the list is fXPPerSkillRank. So I clicked on it, changed the number in the field in the right half of the window from 1.0 to 0.1, clicked File>>Save, and named the new esp. I then spent ten minutes looking for the file because I had forgotten that due to launching CK from Mod Organizer 2, it was sent to MO2's Overwrite file, just like the other files generated when Lexy List was installed.

That's the hard part. I've also included the Experience and SkyrimUncapper ini files I used. I'll explain my idea a little bit, but I put them in the mod because it makes them easy to find (per Lexy's instructions, her modified Experience ini is in the Experience folder, but the SkyrimUncapper ini is in the (SJG) Omega folder). But to make it work properly you need to follow...

Installation instructions: Install this mod last (or at least after any other files that include these ini files) so that this mod can overwrite them - it's easy to do in MO2, just drag the mod to the bottom of the left panel). Finally load esp. It's literally the same thing, so if there's anything covering it, it doesn't make sense. Yes, I washed it just to be sure. No, it doesn't conflict with anything on Lexy's list or other mods I use. Yes, I set the ESL flag because seriously, that's just a thing.

So in terms of values, that's what I think. I haven't finished playing Experience or Lexy's Guide yet. I …