Blades Samurai Armour and Kimonos
This mod adds a variety of standalone samurai-themed armours, kimonos, and weapons for all genders and races. As it is gear intended for the Blades it aims to be as lore friendly as possible, but it should be useful for any melee focused character who wishes to emulate a samurai archetype.
Description
This mod adds a variety of samurai-themed armours, kimonos, and weapons for all genders and races. As it is gear intended for the Blades it aims to be as lore friendly as possible, but it should be useful by any melee focused character. All items are craftable (armours and weapons at the forge and kimonos at the tanning rack), and the armours and swords may be tempered for increasing quality.
All items are non-replacers and does not alter any blades gear. The ratings for the armours are identical to the default Blades Armour. The kimonos have an armour ratings of about 25. Info is provided below for players who wish to change certain details.
In order to be able to have a single quiver for all arrow types, “Akaviri arrows” can be crafted at the forge from regular arrows in bunches of 10, e.g. 10 Elven Arrows to 10 Akaviri Elven Arrows. These arrows have the same damage and stats as the defaults. The colour of the quiver is chosen when the arrow is crafted. Regular arrows with their respective quivers still function normally, so there is no requirement to craft them into Akaviri arrows.
Armour and weapons are in seperate .esp’s, so either or both can be used.
The Quest
The Dovahkiin Armour is unique and can only be found by completing a quest. The quest is triggered from Sky Haven Temple by reading the note on the table in the equipment room, and taking the key from the lore box.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How do I get the two swords on one hip?
The swords on the hip are actually a single item, called a daisho. There are several colour variations, and they are craftable when you have a katana and a wakizashi of the same colour in your inventory. Crafting the daisho will replace the katana.
2. Why don’t some items don’t appear in the crafting menu?
You need to have the appropriate book in your inventory, and in the case of armour also have the Steel Smithing perk. The crafting is now done in a hierarchy fashion, so some items won’t show up until you have crafted the previous required item. More information is in the Crafting section below, as well as with the included crafting diagram.
3. Why don’t the textures show up correctly?
Try version 5.0 if you haven’t already. All of the textures have been compressed.
4. Where are the crafting books?
The books can be found in the Sky Haven Temple. Look in the various cases and chests. The books are no longer in the Sleeping Giant Inn in Riverwood. That is in part because of issues people seemed to be having as well as making it more rewarding to get access to them later on.
5. Can you remove the undershirt from the kimonons?
I’m afraid not. The shape of the model doesn’t lend itself very well to the traditional “V” neck of a kimono. This is my way of compensating for that.
6. Can you add item X or change thing Y?
As of version 6.0 I consider this mod complete. I’ve pretty much added everything I intended to and then some, so forgive me for declining requests to add additional things.
7. Why do the kabuto helmets not appear on my character’s head?
This is a known issue with the model I’m using for the helmet. I’m not sure how to address it so likely this problem won’t be fixed.
8. I don’t want to go through the main quest to get the items, what can I do?
From the console if you type without quotes “help artisan” that should give you the id’s for the books you need in your inventory to craft the items. Then you can use this cheat to add them to your inventory “player.additem 1”.
9. I found a bug! What should I do?
I am not surprised! There have been a lot of changes that have been made with the various versions, and unfortunately I do not have the time to do complete testing of everything. Check the known issues section first to see if you find your problem here. If not, please either send me an IM at one of the locations mentioned above, or leave a note in the comments section. Even though I doubt I will be adding more items to this mod, I am willing to address bugs that I am able to. So please let me know!
Items
Armour:
Armour has the normal set for each: boots, cuirass, gauntlets, and default helmet. Each set also has additional helmets. There are three shields that should match all of the armour sets.
Yoroi Armour – black with gold lacing
Nuinobe Armour – black with red lacing
Hotoke Armour – black with blue lacing
Do-maru Armour – red with black lacing
Haramaki Armour – blue with black lacing
Dovahkiin Armour – black with gold lacing with dragon symbols
Yoroi Suneate – black and gold greaves and sandals
Hotoke Suneate – black and blue greaves and sandals
Nuinobe Suneate – black and red greaves and sandals
Haramaki Suneate – blue greaves and sandals
Do-maru Suneate – red greaves and sandals
Yoroi Eboshi Helmet – black and gold samurai helmet and mask
Hotoke Eboshi Helmet – black and blue samurai helmet and mask
Nuinobe Eboshi Helmet – black and red samurai helmet and mask
Haramaki Eboshi Helmet – blue samurai helmet and mask
Do-maru Eboshi Helmet – red samurai helmet and mask
Yoroi Zunari Helmet – black and gold samurai helmet
Hotoke Zunari Helmet – black and blue samurai helmet
Nuinobe Zunari Helmet – black and red samurai helmet
Haramaki Zunari Helmet – blue samurai helmet
Do-maru Zunari Helmet – red samurai helmet
Yoroi Haribachi Helmet – black and gold helmet with raised wings
Hotoke Haribachi Helmet – black and blue helmet with raised wings
Nuinobe Haribachi Helmet – black and red helmet with raised wings
Haramaki Haribachi Helmet – blue helmet with raised wings
Do-maru Haribachi Helmet – red helmet with raised wings
Yoroi Kawari Helmet – black and gold helmet with large horns
Hotoke Kawari Helmet – black and blue helmet with large horns
Nuinobe Kawari Helmet – black and red helmet with large horns
Haramaki Kawari Helmet – blue helmet with large horns
Do-maru Kawari Helmet – red helmet with large horns
Yoroi Kabuto – black and gold helmet
Hotoke Kabuto – black and blue helmet
Nuinobe Kabuto – black and red helmet
Haramaki Kabuto – blue helmet
Do-maru Kabuto – red helmet
Yoroi Genji Kabuto – black and gold helmet with large horns
Hotoke Genji Kabuto – black and blue helmet with large horns
Nuinobe Genji Kabuto – black and red helmet with large horns
Haramaki Genji Kabuto – blue helmet with large horns
Do-maru Genji Kabuto – red helmet with large horns
Yoroi Daimyo Kabuto – black and gold helmet with large horns and dragon
Hotoke Daimyo Kabuto – black and blue helmet with large horns and dragon
Nuinobe Daimyo Kabuto – black and red helmet with large horns and dragon
Haramaki Daimyo Kabuto – blue helmet with large horns and dragon
Do-maru Daimyo Kabuto – red helmet with large horns and dragon
Ashigaru Armour – black
Ashigaru Armour – red
Ashigaru Armour – blue
Dragonguard Armour – black with gold lacing
Dragonguard Armour – black with red and gold lacing
Dragonguard Gauntlets – black with gold lacing
Dragonguard Gauntlets – black with red and gold lacing
Dragonguard Greaves – black with gold lacing
Dragonguard Greaves – black with red and gold lacing
Dragonguard Helmet – black with gold lacing
Dragonguard Helmet – black with red and gold lacing
Dragonguard Mempo – black
Dragonguard Mempo – gold
Dragonguard Mempo – red
Ao Shield – blue and black
Kiniro Shield – gold and black
Aka Shield – red and black
Dovahkiin Shield – gold and black with dragon symbols
Kimonos:
Hatamoto Kimono – traditional black and grey
Koshogumi Kimono – black and white
Kensai Kimono – black and blue
Dragon Kimono – black and red with dragon theme
Dragonborn Kimono – black with gold dragon theme
Daimyo Kimono – red and blue with flower scheme
Ronin Kimono – Samurai Jack theme
Shihanke Kimono – Jin theme from Samurai Champloo
Nyokan Kimono – pink and flowers for females
Kengo Kimono – Ukyo theme from Samurai Shodown series
Meijin Kimono – blue version of Hatamoto Kimono
Doshin Kimono – Jubei theme from Samurai Shodown series
No-Kami Kimono – green and blue with flower scheme
Daikan Kimono – white with flower scheme
Tandai Kimono – black and green
Septim Kimono – black and red with Imperial mon
Daijin Kimono – black, red, and white with Minamoto mon
Kenshin Kimono – purple and white based on Rurouni Kenshin series
Tandai Kimono – black and red with flower pattern
Stormcloak Kimono – blue with stormcloak mon
Miko Kimono – red and white shrine maiden
Chouchou kimono – butterfly scheme
Kyuzo Kimono – blue and white based on Kyuzo from Seven Samurai
Renshi Kimono – brown and black
Dawnguard Kimono – brown and grey scheme based on the Dawnguard colours
Zen Monk Robes – black and white Buddhist monk robes with black belt
Nichiren Monk Robes – black and white Buddhist monk robes with white belt
Tendai Monk Robes – yellow Buddhist monk robes
Sohei Clothes:
Sohei Monk Cowl
Sohei Footwraps
Sohei Monk Robes
Sohei Gauntlets
Other Items:
Tabi and Sandals – black, clothing and armored
Tabi and Sandals – white, clothing and armored
Zori Sandals
Blades Kensei Gauntlets – extra armor for use with kimonos
Straw Hat
Straw Hat – darker
Leather Straw Hat
Leather Straw Hat – darker
Furoshiki Sack – white
Furoshiki Sack – flowers
Jingasa armour hat
Sashimono – akaviri
Sashimono – blades
Sashimono – dragon
Sashimono – dragonborn
Sashimono – dragon character
Sashimono – imperial
Sashimono – stormcloak
Sashimono – minamoto
Sashimono – taira
Sashimono – tokugawa
Sashimono – oda
Sashimono – takeda
Sashimono – hojo
Sashimono – tiger
Sashimono – dawnguard
Sashimono – dragonslayer
Sashimono – white tiger
Sahsimono – katsumoto
Sahsimono – dragonguard (ESO)
Sahsimono – dragonguard (Skyhaven)
Weapons:
Bo Staff – monk’s quarterstaff
Daikyu Yumi – regular wood and red wood
Daisho – black, red, and blue versions
Katana – black, red, and blue versions
Tachi – black, red, and blue versions
Wakizashi – black, red, and blue versions
Tanto – black, red, and blue versions
Naginata
Dovahkiin Katana
Dovahkiin Wakizashi
Arrows:
Akaviri Ancient Nord Arrow – black, blue, and red quivers
Akaviri Daedric Arrow – black, blue, and red quivers
Akaviri Dwarven Arrow – black, blue, and red quivers
Akaviri Ebony Arrow – black, blue, and red quivers
Akaviri Elven Arrow – black, blue, and red quivers
Akaviri Falmer Arrow – black, blue, and red quivers
Akaviri Forsworn Arrow – black, blue, and red quivers
Akaviri Glass Arrow – black, blue, and red quivers
Akaviri Iron Arrow – black, blue, and red quivers
Akaviri Nord Hero Arrow – black, blue, and red quivers
Akaviri Orcish Arrow – black, blue, and red quivers
Akaviri Steel Arrow – black, blue, and red quivers
Most items can be obtained in the Sky Haven Temple in various containers. Others can be crafted from these items.
Crafting:
Crafting has been overhauled from version 3. Some items like helmets have been organized into crafting trees, and also organized into different categories.
Samurai armour and light armour kimonos are craftable at the forge. Clothing kimonos and cloth sandals are craftable at the tanning rack. Weapons are also craftable. Armours and weapons can be tempered as well. Akaviri Arrows can be crafted from regular arrows, 10 at a time.
In order for the items to appear at the appropriate crafting station your character will need the STEEL SMITHING PERK (for armour only) and the appropriate lore book in their inventory. The Lore books are:
Armour Lore of the Akaviri Artisans
Kimono Lore of the Akaviri Artisans
Weaponry Lore of the Akaviri Artisans
The books can be found in the Sky Haven Temple in a box in the equipment room.
These books both contain real world descriptions (slightly modified to make them more Skyrim lore friendly) of the components and construction methods of Samurai armour, kimonos, and weapons. They also describe the crafting trees. The crafting trees are:
clothing kimonos (tanning rack) -> armour kimonos (forge)
straw hat (tanning rack) -> leather straw hat (tanning rack)
the following items require the steel perk:
tabi and sandals (tanning rack) -> armoured tabi and sandals (forge)
helmet -> Haribachi Helmet -> Kawari Helmet
-> Zunari Helmet -> Eboshi Helmet
Kabuto -> Genji Kabuto -> Daimyo Kabuto
katana (+ wakizashi in inventory) -> daisho
Installation
Extract the archive into the main directory of you Skyrim installation, e.g.
F:GamesSteamSteamAppscommonskyrim
If you have a previous version of the mod installed, simply overwrite files while extracting.
When starting the game select Data Files from the menu, then CHECK the checkbox for SamuraiBlades.esp and/or SamuraiBladesWeapons.esp.
Or you can use the Nexus Mod Manager to install.
To replace regular Blades armour textures, create the following directory in your main Skyrim directory:
Datatexturesarmorblades
In there place a copy of the files for the set of armour you want to use to replace the default one and rename the textures to the following:
bladesarmour.dds
bladesarmor_m.dds
bladesarmor_n.dds
bladesboots.dds
bladesboots_n.dds
bladesgauntlet.dds
bladesgauntlet_n.dds
bladeshelmet.dds
bladeshelmet_n.dds
e.g. rename texture samuraiarmor_black.dds to bladesarmour.dds, etc.
Uninstall
Remove the following directories and included files:
Data\textures\armor\samuraiarmour
Data\textures\clothes\kimono
Data\textures\clothes\tabi
Data\textures\clothes\tabi\sakkat
Data\textures\clothes\backsack
Data\textures\Clutter\books
Data\textures\weapons\akaviri
Data\textures\weapons\katana
Data\textures\weapons\yumi
Data\textures\weapons\spear
Data\meshes\clutter\books
Data\meshes\clothes\kimono
Data\meshes\clothes\tabi
Data\meshes\clothes\sakkat
Data\meshes\clothes\backsack
Data\meshes\weapons\katana
Data\meshes\weapons\quarterstaff
Data\meshes\weapons\yumi
Data\meshes\weapons\spear
Data\textures\actors\character\FaceGenData\FaceTint\SamuraiBlades.esp
When starting the game select Data Files from the menu, then UNCHECK the checkboxes for SamuraiBlades.esp and SamuraiBladesWeapons.esp and delete them.
Modding Information
All added entries in the Creation Kit have “Blades” in the name, so you can find all the new entries by entering “Blades” in the filter and selecting *All in the object window.
Players should be able to find any item and alter either the name or stats to their liking.
Known Issues
– The Gengi helmet models appear in incorrect postions in the inventory menu.
– Some players have reported not finding the books at the Sleeping Giant Inn. I have attempted to correct this but I didn’t have the original problem so I can’t be sure upon release of version 3.0
– some clipping issues on straw hat with khajit
– there is no quest marker for the Dovahkiin Armour quest, but the Hall’s location is in the map
Credits
This mod could not have been completed without the assistance and generosity of other modders of the Skyrim community. The following people contributed to this mod and all parts included from other mods are used with permission.
Samurai Helmet: hothtrooper44 and CD Projekt – Akaviri Samurai Armor
zyuu – Samurai Blades Helmet
Sandles: Higeyosi – Ronin outfit
Straw Hat, naganita, bokuto: Arcane51388 – Samurai Clan Pack
Genji Helmet: TheKrusty and Arcane51388 Genji Armor, Oblivion model by Nitiren – Samurai Genji Armour
cageu – Breton Longbow
Katanas and Wakizashis: 747823 – Weapons of the Third Era (used under general permission guidelines)
JZBai – Quarterstaff (used under general permission guidelines)
Furoshiki Sack: FrankDema – Travel BackPack
Kabuto Mempo: Zairaam and Natterforme – Tribunal Robes and Masks (used under general permission guidelines)
ironmonkbr – suggestion to use book as “on/off” for having armour and kimonos in the crafting menus to avoid clutter
metalhead808 – suggestion for the Blades Daijin Kimono
DasRoteBaron – suggestion for the Blades Imperial Kimono (Skyrim Imperial logo taken from www.dragoart.com)
Permissions
Modders that wish to use all or part of this mod in future works please ask by message first. I do believe in the collaborative part of modding so in most cases I’m glad to contribute! I just want to have some control over my efforts. Also, if you wish to use the parts of the mod there were contributed by others as listed above, please get their permissions as well.
