Skyrim talk:Black Book (quest)

Radiant?

Could this quest be a radiant template for Black Book: Epistolary Acumen and Black Book: Waking Dreams. I can't see those in the game data. --Alfwyn (talk) 13:12, 7 December 2012 (GMT)

No those two books are actually part of the main quests and cannot be completed until their specific quests. Epistolary Acumen is required for the 2nd to last main quest and Waking Dreams is acquired in The Temple of Miraak quest but is actually the finale of the main quest. Lord Eydvar ^{Talk|Contribs} 06:30, 11 December 2012 (GMT)

Bug?

X-Box: I have already collected all Black Books and finished their quests when I encountered the Madman, but he sent me to Tel Mithryn anyway. Since the Black Book is not there anymore but in my inventory, I have no way of finishing the quest. If someone could confirm this, it should probably be added to the bug-section. --62.46.211.115 20:27, 25 February 2013 (GMT)

I'll confirm it - just happened to me on PC. All books collected and the main quest completed some time ago. Screwball (talk) 14:11, 10 March 2013 (GMT)

Same problem on PC. There is no way to finish this task, unless using console to set quest stage.Dreamshadow (talk) 11:10, 27 March 2013 (GMT)

playing on XBOX, the Madman would not die. Farkas, myself and my summoned wrathman beat him down, but he would only huddle on the ground the way protected characters do. Farkas and the wrathman left him alone and I could not kill him. --Magskall (talk) 08:43, 5 October 2013 (GMT)

Are you sure this was an NPC called "Madman"? There is nothing in the game data that I could find that says he is ever flagged as essential. If you're sure this was a madman, this would be a bug. --Xyzzy ^Talk 17:25, 5 October 2013 (GMT)

Yes, there was no doubting that. He was labelled Madman and had all the regular Madman dialogue. I left him on the ground where he was (just east of Raven Rock above the mine) and came back after approx 10 game days to that spot. He was still there and attacked me on sight, but I killed him this time. Still, he was on the ground like a protected character and Farkas and my Wrathman stopped attacking him on the ground. When he got up again the attacks commenced and ended once he was down again. I figured it was a bug worth mentioning.--Magskall (talk) 15:05, 11 October 2013 (GMT)

(←) Ok. I'll go ahead and add a bug to Dragonborn:Madman. --Xyzzy ^Talk 03:27, 12 October 2013 (GMT)

When does the map marker appear?

The quick walkthrough and the detailed walkthrough differ a little in when the map marker appears. Does it appear when the Madman is ranting, or when you read the note you find on his freshly-dead body? --Xyzzy ^Talk 04:59, 6 April 2013 (GMT)

In my case, there are two ways to trigger the quest and make the marker appear. 1 talk to him and agree to help him. 2 kill him, loot his body for the note and read it. Dreamshadow (talk) 05:36, 6 April 2013 (GMT)

This is quite different than the walkthrough. Is there an option to peacefully talk to him and help him? The article wording implies that combat with him is inevitable. --Xyzzy ^Talk 07:42, 6 April 2013 (GMT)

I have never been able to simply agree to help him without him attacking me after I exit the conversation... Are you sure that it is possible? Jeancey (talk) 07:44, 6 April 2013 (GMT)

Yeah, he will turn hostile. Never mind. While the second case means kill him at a distance without having any dialogues with him. Dreamshadow (talk) 09:06, 6 April 2013 (GMT)

Then that doesn't apply really because it is the same as killing any quest NPC. Jeancey (talk) 09:39, 6 April 2013 (GMT)

I loaded a previous save and met him again. If you choose to talk to him and trust him (don't say good luck). You can ask him where to find the book and he will show the location to you. At this moment, the map marker appear, even one dialogue before he turn hostile. In this case, the note has nothing to do with the quest. If you choose to kill him and loot his body for the note. Read it and the map marker will appear. However, the note itself won't be marked as a quest item. If you've found all the black books, you may kill him and leave the note alone to avoid a bug. Dreamshadow (talk) 09:55, 6 April 2013 (GMT)

(←) So, in summary, it sounds like there are two ways to get the map marker: talk to him or kill him and read his note. Is this correct? --Xyzzy ^Talk 15:16, 6 April 2013 (GMT)

Yes, that's true~ At least, for my own experience. Dreamshadow (talk) 15:51, 6 April 2013 (GMT)

I can confirm what Dreamshadow is saying. --Morrolan (talk) 13:42, 7 April 2013 (GMT)

Can't drop the books?

As far as I can tell, I've finished the Black Book quest, at least it's not in my 'active quests' list any more. But I'm not able to drop any of the books, when I do I get the message that I can't drop quest items. Maybe I missed something somewhere along the line and I'm not really finished the quest, but I dunno... I'm on the xbox, so console solutions won't work for me, but if anyone has any ideas, I'd be happy to hear them. Obax (talk) 00:13, 29 May 2015 (UTC)

The books are permanent quest items, intended to stay in your inventory forever so that you can go back and change your reward choices at any time. – Robin Hood  ^(talk) 01:25, 29 May 2015 (UTC)

Well dang. Ah well, thanks for the info. Obax (talk) 22:42, 31 May 2015 (UTC)

Quest requirements

I'm not really sure how to go about checking this, but don't you need to have already found a Black Book for the Madman to appear? It's possible I'm just making assumptions based on my play-through experiences. ParadoxPraxis (talk) 21:09, 23 May 2020 (UTC)

No. I got the madman to appear with a hint about the Tel Mithryn Black Book before having picked any up. I was deliberately slow about getting any because I wanted to see if I could get him to appear multiple times. So far no, just the once. --Olaus (talk) 04:46, 11 September 2021 (UTC)

Raven Rock Mine unable to be offered?

For my own esoteric purposes, I'm trying to receive all five black book quests from the madman on Solstheim. However, I have encountered him 30-40 times and have never been offered the Raven Rock Mine black book quest. I've gotten all four of the others and reloaded because I don't want them, I want to start with Raven Rock Mine.

My game is completely unmodded, Steam version of Special Edition (not Legendary or Anniversary). I have only recently arrived to Solstheim and done very little. I have not read any black books. The main quest is still very early on, sending me to investigate the Temple of Miraak.

My method is to use the random world interaction that spawns south of Old Attius Farm just outside of town. I start just past the Bulwark, run south until the encounter loads, and reload if it's the Netch hunters, cultists or random hostile race individual. About 30% of the time I get the madman, half the time he's by the shore and half the time he's further inland and gets attacked by Ash Hoppers that I save him from. I am never offered Raven Rock Mine. I have also tried the spawn west of Tel Mithryn a few times and had the same result.

Anecdotally, has anyone ever been sent to Raven Rock Mine for this quest? Is there anything about his script that might prevent it? Is this a new bug, or was he never actually able to offer it in the first place?

Sporky (talk) 22:24, 5 July 2024 (UTC)