Skyrim mod lets you match the pace of NPCs so you can more easily follow them around

Surely everyone knows this extremely specific frustration: a game expects you to accompany an NPC while they lead you to the next part of the quest, talking the whole way, but they travel slower than your running speed and faster than your walking speed. You have to alternate awkwardly between a stroll and a jog the whole way, instead of just being able to walk alongside them like a normal person.

While some games let you match the pace of NPCs when you need to, Skyrim does not. Which can be a real hassle when Esbern or some other mouthy plot-related character has to guide you to the next bit of story. Here's modder wSkeever with the solution: Simplicity of Stalking—Automatically Follow NPCs.

It's a straightforward mod. Simply hold shift and mouse over an NPC to make the «follow» option appear. Press E to activate it, and you'll follow them wherever they go—even through loading screens—whether they're a quest NPC or a courier you just feel like following to see where they go. I tested it by doing exactly that, and it worked like a charm. To stop following them, press any movement key or attack.

If you're wondering about the unusual name, it's part of a series of extremely specific mods with names that abbreviate to «SOS». It began with Schlongs of Skyrim, but going out of your way to name your mod so it has the same abbreviation has been a trend among Skyrim modders for a while now. Just looking at wSkeever's work, there's Security Overhaul SKSE, Sidequests of Skyrim, Sweeping Organizes Stuff, and Subtypes of Snowberries, among many others.

To install Simplicity of Stalking, you'll first need to install PapyrusUtil and powerofthree's Papyrus Extender if you haven't already, then download it from Nexus Mods.