Spell Research

I always felt that there was something missing in the magic game play of Skyrim. You could become the arch-mage, ally of the Psiiic Order, and a master of every single school of magic, but you only ever got spells by buying them off of other mages. Other mods have already tried to alleviate this through other methods. Requiem gives you new spells whenever you get a new perk in a magic skill. And of course the excellent mod Spell Crafting for Skyrim adds in the simplistic yet effective spell crafting system from previous games. However there was something missing from these mods as well. Magic is not something you can simply understand by taking a perk, or meticulously craft to fit your each and every need. It is elusive, complex, it defies simplicity. To even attempt to understand it, you need to do what seemingly every other mage in Skyrim is doing; you need to do some research.

So, after over a year and a half of on and off coding, balancing, and testing, I bring you Spell Research, a truly different spell crafting system. With this system, by the time you actually become a master of magic, you will feel like you earned your place among legends. You will have spent days, weeks, or possibly months, of game time frantically spent studying spells and relics just to add one more spell to your repertoire. Additionally, new avenues of game play are opened up. You can finally roleplay as the cowardly scholar, spending all his time studying alone in a dusty tower. You can finally effectively utilize scrolls, once you write enough of them yourself with this mod's in-built scroll crafting system. Alchemists will also have reason to use this mod, as you can now dissolve items using Alembics and Cauldrons, then analyze and mix them in a Victorian-Era-esque system to mass produce powerful alchemical solutions, or further enhance your knowledge of the magical world.

Still confused on what this mod does? Check out this guide by Goldymires:

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In this mod, spells are not simple mixtures of cantrips or effects, but each spell is a completely unique piece of art, and each mage casts each spell slightly differently. Instead of studying what spells are 'made' of, you study how to manipulate and invoke magic. This system is told in terms of Archetypes, the elements and techniques you need to understand in order to cast spells. You can discover and study these elements and techniques through several ways. You can spend several in-game days studying your own spells in a comfortable tower. You can dissolve and analyze the tons of ingredients and potions you have stored. Or you can go out to find and study ancient text, tomes, and artifacts.

Once you have discovered and studied enough Archetypes you can then compose magical Theses. Using these you can try to compose a spell. The theses y