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I Taunt and taunt but I can't get anyone to raise a fist or a sword, even after they say something such as, "Then pay with your life" or "You shall die for that" or something of that sort.

The characters then just stand there, waiting for me to hit first and get in trouble and arrested/fined. The dialogue says, "Taunt Success" but I can't provoke anyone into hitting me first so I can use the old Self Defense excuse. I have tried the Taunt/Bride yadda yadda technique but that won't work either. According to my freinds that are familiar with this game, the characters are supposed to get in a fit of rage, but on my system, they won't.

My character isn't exactly a goodie goodie, but I'm not usually a murderer either. I consider myself middle-of-the-road by Morrowind standards.

"Yeah I'm gonna beat you, but YOU gotta throw the first hit." Is what goes through the mind of the Taunted employess of House Telvanni.

First of all, welcome to the forums.

Taunting is dependent on your speechcraft, the higher it is the better you will get.

First you make sure the NPC has a reasonable disposition with you, say around 50+
Taunt until you get the disposition down to around 10.
Bribe the disposition back up to 50+
Repeat until you get the red goodbye.
Let the NPC hit you first, otherwise you could still be liable for a fine if you hit first.

Takes a bit of practice but it does work. Like anything else in this game, it gets easier as you advance.

Like rohugh said, let them hit you first after you've taunted them enough times successfully. Most of the time they take a few seconds after exiting the conversation to actually hit you, so don't swing your weapon thinking they'll immediately react and hit you before your weapon hits.

I find trying to talk to them again after you get the red goodbye also helps to make them react quicker and confirm that they're about to attack you.

Nels Llendo on the road south of Pelagiad wanted 50 gold from me. I said "NO". He complained of me making an unwise decision and having to ruin his fancy clothes. Usually this is where I am supposed to get "The Red Goodbye." I didn't get it, and he just stared at me waiting for me to throw the first punch. So I just walked away and went on my way.

Something seems odd as I can't get "The Red Goodbye" and nobody can get provoked into attacking me. Not even Morrowind's worst tempered hot heads will throw a punch at me. I can't even provoke those Sleepers to beat on me. They say they gonna kill me, but then just stare waiting for me to hit first so they can turn the gaurds against me. I have tried several suggestions from other users but still nothing.

When I get my monster gaming PC running next week, I'll try testing a new install on it with my saved game files and see what happens. Soon I will also post a YouTube vid to further illustrate my point of a conspiracy within my game against me.

I paid $60 for this game way back in 2003, and only around now got around to getting deep into it. I cosider it a bargain considering its depth.

Well, make sure you're getting several successful taunts and that the conversation ends with them saying "Goodbye" and muttering some curse or other at you. It's not red, at least never in my experience, but you have to make sure you taunt them successfully several times.

As for Nels, why he wouldn't attack you after you didn't give him the gold he wants is beyond me. He's supposed to.

You don't have anything affecting your personality do you?

i have similar problem and it could be that mask of clacious vile is causing it. in fact the taunt was not only sucessfulle, but when i tried to get back into conversation it said " the character is in combat", yet they didn't attack me. so i thought since they are in combat how about i punch them in the face. turns out they want to talk now and want me to pay a fine (it was a guard i was provoking). so i took out the sword and finished what i started. but strange...

i think maybe it is because of the mask.

I thought perhaps I had some sort of disease or curse, but I went to the alters and took some cure potions but that didn't change anything. I'm installing this on a new computer and trying my save games there and seeing what happens.

Thanks for the help boys and girls, it's appreciated.