Skyrim's been out for 13 years, but players are still being surprised by the fact that NPCs die if you steal their hearts (2024)
Nearly 13 years later, Skyrim players are still somehow surprised to discover that if you pickpocket an NPC's heart, they'll probably die.
In a recent post on Reddit, one user asked the community if they were "slow" for only recently having discovered that "when you pickpocket a Briarheart's heart they instantly die." While in an RPG as sprawling as Skyrim there are plenty of things that players tend to discover at their own pace, this one does seem pretty obvious.
Forsworn Briarhearts are powerful NPCs found, unsurprisingly, in Forsworn encampments around Skyrim. The result of a ritual that appears to leave them partially undead, Forsworn Briarhearts are created by having their hearts cut out and replaced with a Briar Heart, a plant-like ingredient that, despite its appearance, can't be looted from any actual, in-game plants.
The Briar Hearts are placed in the Forsworn's chest cavities, although they're not particularly secure. To get around that obvious danger, the Forsworn Briarhearts are especially good at detecting approaching players, and can even detect them through spells like Invisibility and Muffle. That doesn't mean it's impossible to get the drop on them, however, and particularly light-footed Dovahkiin should be able to pickpocket a Briar Heart right out of the Forsworn's bodies.
Doing so, of course, will immediately kill them Forsworn. That feels like it shouldn't come as a surprise - it's been known about for several years, for one thing, but it's also just medical fact. What would happen to you if someone removed your heart from your chest?
Nevertheless, this is exactly the kind of detail that Skyrim is great at presenting to players even if they have hundreds of hours of playtime or years of history with the game. It's a biological given, but it's also something that the game actively fights against - Forsworn Briarhearts are foes not to be messed with for many players, and their senses give them an active counter to exactly this strategy. Perhaps it's no surprise that this interaction can take a long time to discover, even if its existence in the game shouldn't come as too much of a shock.
There are two impossibly massive Skyrim mods remaking classic Elder Scrolls RPGs, and both had some extensive, gorgeous gameplay to share recently.
Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter
Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more
I'm GamesRadar's news editor, working with the team to deliver breaking news from across the industry. I started my journalistic career while getting my degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick, where I also worked as Games Editor on the student newspaper, The Boar. Since then, I've run the news sections at PCGamesN and Kotaku UK, and also regularly contributed to PC Gamer. As you might be able to tell, PC is my platform of choice, so you can regularly find me playing League of Legends or Steam's latest indie hit.
More about the elder scrolls
20 years after quitting Bethesda, veteran Morrowind dev returns to the funky RPG to create new modsAfter hours of Skyrim NPCs blurting out NSFW dialogue courtesy of his Twitch chat, streamer concludes "this entire thing was a mistake"
Latest
Steven Spielberg's next movie will be released in 2026 – and he's re-teaming with Jurassic Park and War of the Worlds screenwriter
See more latest►
See comments
Most Popular
After surviving Embracer's $460 million studio shuffle, director of anticipated open-world roguelike hits back at "cascading effect" of corporate consolidation
Star of fan-favorite Netflix show to play young Dexter in prequel to hit serial killer show
XDefiant opens with skill-based matchmaking but drops it quickly, and players are loving the SBMM-free life
After 30 years, Spawn's greatest enemy is finally getting an in-depth origin story
Elden Ring director Hidetaka Miyazaki has a "strong will" to make an Armored Core 6 follow-up, because "there's still room for improvement"
Tantalizing new Elden Ring DLC images might be teasing Miquella, a classic FromSoft castle, and an odd Dark Souls 2 reference
This 2024 Hisense mini-LED TV is down to its lowest-ever price for Memorial Day
20% off the Lego Millennium Falcon makes this build the ideal Memorial Day activity
Nintendo Switch deals are popping off at Walmart ahead of Memorial Day - here are the 5 games I’m buying this weekend
This iconic Witcher 3 sword made it into the RPG's best expansion, all because a modder won a replica of it years before
Saw and The Conjuring creator is rebooting a beloved ‘60s horror-comedy
To select the body to be resurrected, they must then click on the desired body, which will then direct all following commands towards the body. Then type the command "resurrect" (without the " signs). The NPC will then be living, with all normal behaviors and a reset inventory.
Once an NPC dies, they are gone for good from that world. However, their tombstone will remain, and you can create another house to spawn the same type of NPC again. Take good care of your NPCs—they depend on you!
When focusing on the main objectives, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is about 34½ Hours in length. If you're a gamer that strives to see all aspects of the game, you are likely to spend around 232 Hours to obtain 100% completion.
For example the first era was 2920 years long. The second was 896 years long I believe. The third was 433 years and the fourth era is at least 201 years old. The reason eras end or change is because an event that changes the continent happens.
The Altmer are the closest "pure" descendents of the Aldmer, which are often regarded as the first Elves. The Chimer split away from the Aldmer during their exodus to what is now Morrowind and later became the Dunmer. Bosmer are also an offshoot of Aldmer but are more adapted to their environment.
Typically, any NPC that has a unique name will not Respawn. However, if they're needed for a Quest or something, an NPC is usually marked as Essential (and unable to be killed) this is mostly so the game won't mess up completely if someone important dies! A named NPC will go to a holding cell a while after death.
Bethesda's modern take on essential NPCs in Skyrim prevents players from killing certain characters, ensuring the continuity of the game's quests and storylines. Dead bodies of certain named NPCs in Skyrim are moved to a junk cell inaccessible to players to prevent crashes when trying to delete them.
You could try opening the console and then clicking on the individual corpses and typing "disable". Just use a raise zombie spell and lead them out of your house, one by one. Or use the ritual stone power to get them all at once. Then give your friend a Fus Roh Dah.
If you don't mind using the console, hit the ~ key, click on their corpse, and type 'resurrect' (without quotes) and hit enter. They'll get back up. If you DO mind using the console, they're dead.
Address: 55021 Usha Garden, North Larisa, DE 19209
Phone: +6812240846623
Job: Corporate Healthcare Strategist
Hobby: Singing, Listening to music, Rafting, LARPing, Gardening, Quilting, Rappelling
Introduction: My name is Foster Heidenreich CPA, I am a delightful, quaint, glorious, quaint, faithful, enchanting, fine person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.
