Automatic Random Enchantment System (ARES) 1.0.2F

This is a BETA version. Testing has shown it to be robust and balanced, but one person can only test so much, hence the beta. Please report any bugs, errors, or imbalances (see readme).

The Automatic Random Enchantment System does exactly what it says: it provides a system where items found in the gameworld can be randomly enchanted. ARES gives modders a very powerful set of tools to control exactly how, when, and why a particular item is enchanted the way it is. ARES also comes with a rather large mod implementing these features, adding millions of potential balanced enchantment combinations to any game.

ARES then takes this information, describing possible enchantments, and randomly applies them to items sitting in containers or worn by NPCs throughout Oblivion. Each enchantment is created dynamically based on the parameters set by the modder.

Names are associated with these enchantments through an "affix" system, similar to the one used in games such as the Diablo series. For example, a modder might decide that a "Flaming" weapon has a moderate amount of fire damage — associating it with a Common soul. ARES may then choose the "Flaming" affix, and apply it to an item, giving it a Fire Damage enchantment comparable to what one could make with a Lesser Soul Gem. He may also associate a weapon "of Frost" with some Frost Damage, and ARES could combine the two into a "Flaming Sword of Frost" that does both Fire Damage and Frost Damage.

All of the values for the enchantments, such as magnitude or duration, are normalized to match values found in any particular game, based on the mods installed. For example, if a mod decides to make the Chameleon effect more expensive, ARES will generate smaller amounts of

that effect as a result. If a mod makes Grand Soulgems very rare and only appearing late in the game, then similarly-powerful enchantments will only be found in high-level areas and worn by high-level enemies.

ARES is also distributed with my own mod created using the tool, which is simply DW_ARES.esp. DW_ARES.esp implements hundreds of affixes for literally millions of possible combinations. However, it also does not use all of the features that ARES makes possible; it is a large but

simplistic implementation of an ARES plugin.