Skyrim:World Interactions

World interactions are random events that can occur as you explore Skyrim. Some events force your involvement, others need you to make the first move or they will just pass by, and some do not require your involvement to complete. All unnamed NPCs and animals involved in encounters are leveled unless stated.

There are 149 spawn points where an event can occur; you will not experience an event at every location every time you go near it. Some events take place over a fairly large distance, as each part of the same event takes place. The event is determined a fair distance from the spawn point which, if correctly estimated, allows one to manipulate which event occurs. The first spawn point likely to be found is between Riverwood and Honningbrew Meadery, with its event border extending to just before the bridge out of Riverwood.

While playing Skyrim, you may encounter many other combinations of animals and hostile NPCs fighting, however, there are only a few deliberately set to happen. Most hostile animals and NPCs have a large radius of detection that is perhaps a deliberate attempt at setting up more random encounters, saving game data by not having any additional scripts to handle.

Interactions added by Dawnguard, Dragonborn, and Creation Club are annotated with "DG", "DB", and "CC" superscripts, respectively.

Reactive Events
A few non-random events will occur as a result of your actions.

'''An enemy's gratitude: If you kill someone, a rival of that person may send you one of two letters of gratitude.
Apologize or combat: Assaulted   NPC or relative will demand an apology.
Invisible Child: If you use magic near a child they will ask you to make them invisible.
Revenge, Hired Thugs: If you kill someone, a member of their family may hire thugs to kill you.
Shout - Guard says stop: If you Shout near a guard they may approach and ask you to stop.
Steal, Thugs hunt player: If you steal an item, an NPC from that location may hire thugs to teach you a lesson. You do not have to be seen by the victim for this to occur.

A few minor quests randomly start after specific actions have taken place.

Buy Dwarven artifact: If you purchase a dwarven item in a shop a letter may be sent via courier asking you to bring it to Calcelmo.
Inheritance: A friend has died and left you a sum of gold. A letter of inheritance will be sent via courier to inform you of the tragic event.
Scare my Enemy: If you assault someone bare-handed, a letter may be sent from an NPC asking for a favor.
Shout - learn about word wall: If you Shout, then a letter may be sent via courier to tell you about an important place.

Reactions
The following random events occur in settlements as a direct result of an action that has been performed.



Random Events
Beneficial Encounters
These are encounters where the only outcome is beneficial to you, or at the very least, do not have any sort of hostile outcome under any circumstance. The rewards can take any form, be that an enchanted weapon, a new location to discover, or simply knowing you have helped someone. If you choose to attack any of the participants, they will turn hostile.



Encounters With Differing Outcomes
Hostilities may break out in the following encounters, but can be avoided depending on your actions and faction relations.



Hostile Encounters
The following are encounters where you have no option but to fight. The non-hostile party in some of these quests may win the fight, even without your aid. All NPCs or creatures encountered in hostile encounters are leveled unless otherwise noted.



Random Quest Encounters
These encounters and events occur as a result of actions taken during a quest, and they usually have a theme of revenge. Unless otherwise noted, the related quest must be completed.


 

Notes
The dragon encounters are not in the Random Quest Encounters section because they are not a direct result of perceived actions during the Dragon Rising quest; rather, they are simply possible after the completion of that quest.
Random vampire attacks on settlements (added by Dawnguard) are disabled in Special Edition and the Nintendo Switch version of the game.