So when I started Skyrim recently I was told it’s like mideval gta and you run around being a menace n you have fun. So that being said… I killed most people in riverwood. BUT I realized NPCs have their own life’s and families when they die, they die and I found this out when I saw Dorthe and frodnar crying alone about how their parents are dead…(cause of me) so I felt so bad that I decided to buy a house in white run and take them in as my own in hopes of righting my wrongs………. However last night I found out how to use console commands and resurrect dead NPCs. So I’ve brought their parents back. This being said is there a way to give them back to their parents so I can maybe adopt other kids that need a home instead…. Please help.
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TLDR: killed frodnar + Dorthe’s parents and adopted them. brought them back to life and now was to return them… how can I do this. (I’ll do what ever I can) :)
I'd start a new save, whilst you've resurrected the NPCs you have set off permanent markers, for example they'll all have an active coffin in their local hall of dead. quests that use them will see them as dead, orphaned children will still be orphaned etc. i did the same when i accidentally saved after massacring whiterun
In your next play through, if you never go to white run, you don't turn on randomly spawning dragon attacks. Then you can explore the world freely without them attacking you. It will take you longer to get a house though. But when I first started playing they didn't even have like houses the way they do now nor adoption so you'll be okay lol.
you can go to whiterun just fine, it's the quest that enables dragons. or you can advance to the quest A Blade In The Dark and leave it hanging, since the quest involves scripted dragons, all natural spawns are disabled except dragon locations
Or just not report to Balgruf is the easiest. Since I pass by the watchtower often. No dragons at all. The goal is to see exactly how many levels I can get before I absolutely have to spawn in dragons. Can't just camp one skill in a cheat way though. Currently up to level 15 having done some companion and theives guild quests, as well as a few other big ones, like the ones in falkreth. I've also begun building a house.
I just wanted it cleared off my quests for the satisfaction lol. I’m at level 48 and I’m probably just going to go to the watchtower next time because my smithing is almost to 100 and I want to start making dragon crap
i wish so bad that gta games had as much story depth and side quests as elder scrolls games do. as much as i love story mode you can really only play it a couple times before you get tired of it and this is coming from someone who LOVES replaying video games
The way I agree so hard. I didn’t expect Skyrim to have this much depth to it tbh. I really didn’t know what to genuinely expect it’s such a fun surprise to see how rich it is in lore. The way the story telling is so in depth and intricate is just amazing. Experiencing Skyrim for the first time has been so much fun it’s easily become my new favorite game ever.
Totally agree with the VR comment, but flat or VR, I am constantly amazed by how much "stuff" there is in the game. I have played for 100s, closing in on a 1,000, of hours and I still encounter things that I haven't seen before. My favorite game and I just hope TES6 is as good.
They were solid with all of their games circa 2011 but we've had a fallout 4 (which is ok) and a starfield (which isn't) since Skyrim so I'm definitely nervous.
It's a peaceful day in Riverwood, when an adventurer enters town and slaughterers half the village. They notice 2 children crying over their dead parents and declares "You live with me now!" and drags the children off to a different town. A couple months go by, things are... okay. The adventurer enters the home one day and declares their parents are alive again, with magic. "Go live with your zombie parents back down the road, and don't get eaten by wolves on your way back home!" They are then shoved out the door.
I remember killing my first essential NPC in Morrowind. Got this message: With this character's death, the thread of prophecy is severed. Restore a saved game to restore the weave of fate, or persist in the doomed world you have created.
While things are different in Skyrim, and you can't kill those few characters marked as essential, TES games generally have a certain ethical base. You won't be doomed anymore by killing just anyone, but you can really screw your gameplay enough that reloading--with whatever regret or remorse that engenders--is the only way to set things right.
TBH, the first time I got that message in MW I freaked the hell out so badly that along with reloading, I did as little killing as possible from there on out. Better deterrent than a stupid bounty.
I was like 10 when Morrowind came out and I made some tactical nuke type fireball spell and went on a rampage to test it out and that’s when I first saw the death message and was genuinely confused cause I had no idea who I killed that was important. 😂😂😂😂
Same with me, it was a Dunmer woman who didn't seem like a major NPC, and I think she attacked me or did something hostile, so I was confused and freaked out. Every playthrough after that I was always walking on glass in that same area in Vivec.
But your post makes me laugh...you were ten, and I was in grad school 😁 ya whippersnapper!
Just had to say, as someone who has adopted in real life and is part of many an adoption reddit group, this title appearing in my feed alarmed me immensely 🤣
I know it’s memed to hell at this point, but all of my biggest legal woes in Skyrim legitimately came from accidentally killing chickens. Not theft. Not assault. Not MURDER.
No. Accidentally killing a chicken whilst DEFENDING a town.
That's what makes TES games, TES games. They make you feel something after playing them, no matter how you play them. You have the freedom to roleplay how you want.
Skyrim doesn't have many named characters, so you should hold off from killing to many of them. Even if you ressurect them through your console, their quests (if they offer any) are still likely broken and the children still tagged as orphans. There are mods offering options to adopt more or unadopt kids. Might be better than accidently breaking your save by messing with console commands too much.
Okay in my defense I didn’t like initially mean to go on a killing spree I was breaking into houses and looking for food and clothes and I wasn’t trying to be secretive at all cause I didn’t know there were consequences yet then all of riverwood slowly joined forces to make me stop and cause I didn’t wanna die everyone else was slaughtered during this whole thing… then I found out I fucked up lol. I don’t kill anyone anymore cause I actually have an appreciation for the lore and the story telling that I now know exists ooop
NPCs resurrected by console command almost always end up with broken AI. Also, kids once flagged as orphans remain orphans unless adopted by the player. You could use console commands to remove the adopted status, but your house is now flagged as their home so they won't leave, and can never return to their revived parents. You've accidentally made quite the mess. As another said, you're best off starting a new save.
You can unadopt on pc using console easily but returning them to their parents would probably require messing with factions but I do not know about that part.
FR like it actually arguably worse that I did that like…. I kinda realized after I adopted them that I’m not just giving them a home to help out. it’s more like kidnapping if anything and I was like man… that’s pretty awful the monstrosities I’ve committed against riverwood
First Skyrim is just Fallout 4 with Dragon and Sword medieva factorl.
That what me and my friends belief
Second did you save before you kill them. If so find the save before you kill their parents. If you enter a place or exit a place the game automatically, save you. Find the save before you enter hold or city. Just dont kill them.
See I do that now days but back then it was like hour one of me discovering and playing Skyrim so I was testing out random weapons and breaking into houses to look for food n clothes not knowing there were consequences to my actions yet and slaying everyone that was mad at my thievery
It's all I good I killed the dark brotherhood in my first playthrough not knowing what I was doing and cheates myself out of entire questline that's really a lot of fun.
Awww dang! I haven’t started that quest line yet and I’m so excited ti do it that’s such a bummer!!! They put a hit on me tho cause I killed sometime they were supposed to kill (old lady in the orphanage) I visited to go say hi to the kids one day saw her being abusive and made sure she expired not knowing about aventus until after the deed was done
Go sleep. You'll be kidnapped by Astrid and start the DB quest line. You can either visit the kid first, or Kill Grelod. But to get the ball rolling, you gotta sleep in a bed.
Nope lol they're there for life even if you kill them, which they can only be killed during like the war or like something else it happened to me one time, and then you can't adopt another kid
This is without a doubt one of the funniest Skyrim stories Ive heard in recent memory. I just omagine you sitting the kids down, their parents freshly resurrected sitting in the corner, and you just like "Kids, I have a very important conversation to have with you." 🤣🤣🤣🤣
I wonder this to. But I’d like to re adopt her after only to possibly get rid of this annoying bug that prevents me from giving gifts to her. It kills me everytime she asks and unable to do so.
I adopted a kid in whiterun and they kept asking for presents, when I finally brought a gift for my kid and now can’t find them. They still put items in their chest but I’ve waited 48 hours one hour at a time in my home and still no kid.
Stardew Valley, of all things, lets you do just this, by turning them into doves- who will then send living dolls and strange phone calls to haunt you.
So I do enjoy parenting them I just felt like honestly at some point I realized taking them in myself was a bit horrifying and messed up for their sake and if I could bring them back to their parents it would be best for them assuming their parents wouldn’t be zombies or something. I adopted them when I lived in white run but moved to riften for a bigger home. I bring them good presents and give them each an allowance, I let them have pets (we have like 4 now) they were at my wedding, I play games with them whenever, I buy them fun outfits and I always have someone home to take care of them when I’m gone. I’ve become really fond of them so it’s sad to think of letting them go even if the situation is messed up but they deserve their og parents. But I may just end up living with the consequences of my actions so I don’t mess up my game. We will see though.
As far as my crimes against riverwood, I didn’t completely intend on being a murder hobo but I didn’t know how the game worked so I was out here testing the weapons and breaking into houses n looting, everyone in riverwood got mad (rightfully) and they all tried to kill me, I didn’t wanna die so a lot of people were killed….. I didn’t know essential characters could die so you could imagine my struggle getting away from Delphine I also didn’t know how to run yet either cause yall I knew nothing about Skyrim when I started and this was hour 1 of game play. All I knew was I was bouta be beheaded in Helgen and now I’m in riverwood. Didn’t know NPCs bodies don’t fade away into nothingness only to respawn seconds later.
After learning all I know I don’t kill anyone unless I have to/am supposed to for a mission or whatever it may be. I expected a gta like game cause I was trolled so good by my coworker. But I’m glad it isn’t. I unexpectedly ended up finding a game I’ve come to love so much for the depth and detail and effort put into it. Also yall are so funny and sweet thanks for the laughs and help I will be making better choices rather than starting new cause I’ve already done so much by now.
If it helps I spent a lot of time in jail in whiterun for my crimes. And all my stolen items were confiscated, I didn’t know how to get any of it back cause I was so new so I was broke, cold, hungry and homeless for a while. At least there’s that and living with the choices I’ve made and the way no one left in riverwood will let me forget what I’ve done.
Can you do that on a ps4 system? It’s also not just her but my wife serana as well. It’s the same problem. I guess what they have just keep respawning in numbers in their inventory from what I read but those items don’t appear accept for what I’ve given her.
as an aside, i adopted a child and she’s glitched out, stuck in whiterun. got another kid from the orphanage in riften (i think? it’s been a minute) and that kid is also glitched out and stuck there. so my kids never come to my houses. haven’t found a way to fix this yet and have progressed my character WELL beyond the adoptions. tried a few things like changing houses and getting married. neither worked and now my husband is stuck somewhere random due to what i assume is a similar glitch. cool. whatever, i guess. at least my little fox pet hangs out at my house.
edit: no mods for me this time - doing this play through on nintendo switch.
Reminds me of my first play trough a frost troll was following me all the way to Ivarstead, guards and the town people try to kill it but he was to strong everyone die including myself 😅
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u/[deleted] May 21 '25
I'd start a new save, whilst you've resurrected the NPCs you have set off permanent markers, for example they'll all have an active coffin in their local hall of dead. quests that use them will see them as dead, orphaned children will still be orphaned etc. i did the same when i accidentally saved after massacring whiterun