DIVERSE SKYRIM
Adds hundreds of new NPC:s with unique appearences to the Vanilla levelled lists for added variety and diversity while staying lore friendly.
1. TL;DR
Q: What does this mod do?
A: It adds hundreds of new NPC:s with unique appearences to the Vanilla levelled lists for added racial diversity while staying lore friendly. Stats, levels, items, abilities, spawning, etc is entirely handled by Vanilla mechanisms, which ensures great compatibility with mods that for example tweak combat stats, or add and change clothing and weapons.
Q: Does this mod change outfits, weapons, armor, or ANYTHING from Vanilla except Level Lists?
A: Orc Legionnaires get Heavy Armor. Otherwise, there’s no changes at all. My screenshots feature items from Immersive Armors, Wet & Cold, Cloaks of Skyrim, Enhanced Stormcloak Variety, and many others. ENB is Truevision.
Q: Will I see Orc Legionnaires and Khajiit Vampires everywhere?
A: No, I’ve made sure to keep ratios lore friendly to ensure that races that should be rare are rare.
Thanks to Brodual and Sinitar Gaming for featuring the mod!
2. Introduction
Sometimes I feel like I’m slashing and shooting my way through the same enemies all the time. Almost every Vampire is an Elf, is J’zargo really the only magically gifted Khajiit in Skyrim, and what happened to that Dark Elf on his way to Solitude to join up with the Legion?
Why are there no Orcs in the Imperial Legion, despite the in-game lore saying they’re so highly valued as soldiers that the Orcish race is gaining acceptance in Skyrim and throughout the Empire thanks to their service?
Why are the only Vampires in the game Nords, Bretons, Dark Elves and High Elves? Surely Redguards, Khajiit, and other races are also susceptible to contracting Vampirism?
My mod seeks to add things like these which I feel are missing from the game, while still keeping it as lore friendly as possible. You won’t find Khajiit Legionnaires or High Elf Hunters, all Master Vampires are still male while all their foot soldiers are exclusively female (damn Vampire patriarchy!).
When I’ve added new races, for example an Orc and an Argonian Hunter, I’ve also added new Nord and Wood Elf NPC:s to keep racial distribution faithful to the lore so that every other Hunter you find won’t be an Orc or Argonian one. Those races are still rare in Skyrim, although they fit well as Hunters.
3. Compatibility
First of all, you more than likely need a Bashed Patch. Luckily, creating a Bashed Patch is super simple, and here’s an idiot proof video guide.
– Wrye Bash Download
– Wrye Bash Guide. Instructions after Mod Organizer specific intro apply to NMM as well.
Other mods which alter NPC or Race stats, abilities etc (ASIS, Immersive Citizens Imperious, Requiem, RoTE, Vampire NPC mods) or directly changes things related to my mod (Warzones, CWO) you’re better off asking the respective authors.
>>> Tell them this mod only adds more NPC:s of different appearances and races to Vanilla level lists. <<<
4. Affected Factions
Couriers
Finally, that poor ginger kid doesn’t have to run all over Skyrim by himself to deliver messages. All his new colleagues look quite young and thin due to the cardio the job requires. Many are Nords, but Redguards and Wood Elves are naturally suited for the job with their speed and endurance.
Dawnguard
– Added Wood Elf crossbowmen.
I was going to make more changes, but I realized most Dawnguards wear full face helmets even with most mods, so variety felt less necessary. I’m planning on expanding Dawnguard variety in the future.
Guards
– Added several dozen new Guards to Legion and Stormcloak controlled cities and towns.
As Guards are recruited locally from the Holds they grew up in, Nords are in the clear majority regardless of who controls a city, but you will notice that Legion controlled cities are clearly more diverse from the start.
Also, since many able-bodied men and women have been recruited to the Civil War, many of the new Guards either look quite young or like scarred veterans, who might have signed up if they hadn’t taken an arrow to the knee.
Hunters and Fishermen
– Added rare Orcs and Argonians, more Nords and Wood Elves to keep ratio lore-friendly.
Orcs who live outside Strongholds mostly live on the edges of society, just like the Argonians who are close to nature and have bonuses to stealth and archery.
The game uses the same NPC:s for Hunters and Fishermen, so my new NPC:s will show up as both.
Imperial Legion
– Added female Legionnaires, Orcs, Dark Elves, and lots more Nords, Imperials, and Bretons to keep ratio lore friendly. Most new Legion soldiers are clean shaven.
There are female officers and there are mentions of people’s daughters out fighting in the Legion. According to lore, Orcs are highly praised for their service in the Imperial Legion, and there are both Dark and High Elves as commanders at Imperial Camps.
The Imperial Legion borrows heavily in aesthetic from the Roman Empire, where the norm was to be clean shaven so most of my new Legionnaires soldiers have either no beard or at most a few days worth of stubble. The exception being Orcish Heavy Infantry, as they are a special force of some sort.
Guard lists are separate from Soldier lists, so you won’t find any Orc or Elvish city guards after conquering a Stormcloak territory, because that might have a negative effect on public order.
Stormcloaks
STANDARD VERSION:
– Added a few Redguards, Imperials and Bretons and LOTS of Nords to keep ratios lore friendly. Many males sport facial hair and Blue war paint for extra distinguishment from the clean shaven Romanesque Imperial Legion. Ratio between males and females is the same as in Vanilla.
Reasoning: Many non-Nords have made Skyrim their home and might sympathize with the Stormcloak rather than the increasingly weak Empire. Hammerfell especially left the Empire after the Great War, but remains politically fractured. Some Redguards remain in Imperial service, but others who have found a home in Skyrim might see the Empire as weak and dying and prefer to join up with the Stormcloaks.
OPTIONAL VERSION:
– No Redguards or Imperials for those who want to keep their Stormcloaks to be 100% Nordic.
Vampires
– Added all races, prevalence based on how common the race are in Skyrim and affinity for Magic.
For example: Wood Elves are the rarest because of their strong resistance to disease, Khajiit are rare because there’s few of them in Skyrim and they have little affinity for Magic so only exist as lower level Vampires, Nords are middling just because they’re natives, High Elves are the most common, especially as higher level Vampires due to their affinity for Magic and greedy ambition.
See the Readme for a highly detailed example!
Vigilants of Stendarr
– Added Dunmer, Redguard and Orc Males, Orc female and more NPC:s of the vanilla races and sexes to keep ratio lore friendly.
There are 12 NPC:s for the 5 level brackets, meaning a total of 60 unique Vigilants.
NOTE: Since there are only two available Voice Types for Vigilants I had to choose between having everyone sound the same, or have some Vigilants with generic dialogue only. And in the name of diversity, I chose the latter. 90% of Vigilants will still work as usual, but the rest won’t lecture you on the dangers of Daedra or be able to cure your disease.
Warlocks
– Added Redguards, Argonians, Orcs, and Khajiit.
Anyone can be bitten by a Vampire, but to leave society and pursue life as a criminal magician requires both skill and ambition. Redguards have bonuses to Destruction and Alteration, but there are no Redguard Warlocks in the game. The other races are rare but tend to be pushed to the edges of society where those magically gifted might fall in with the wrong crowd.
The game already does a good job of diversity where certain races are under or over represented in different elements: For example, High Elves are over represented in every element, Nords are over represented as Ice Mages, but non-existant as Necromancers and Dark Elves as Fire Mages, while Conjurers are pretty evenly split by several races.
