V1.1 fix: Changed a few discrepancies between Excel Spreadsheet and the ESP. Everything is now as it should be.
Please see this Spreadsheet for a full list of changes.
Race Balance Excel Spreadsheet @ Rapidshare (this is also included in the download)
A simple ESP. Place
Permissions and credits
Credits and distribution permission
Other user's assetsThis author has not specified whether they have used assets from other authors or not
Upload permissionYou are not allowed to upload this file to other sites under any circumstances
Modification permissionYou must get permission from me before you are allowed to modify my files to improve it
Conversion permissionYou are not allowed to convert this file to work on other games under any circumstances
Asset use permissionYou must get permission from me before you are allowed to use any of the assets in this file
Asset use permission in mods/files that are being soldYou are not allowed to use assets from this file in any mods/files that are being sold, for money, on Steam Workshop or other platforms
Asset use permission in mods/files that earn donation pointsYou must get permission to earn Donation Points for your mods if they use my assets
Author notes
This author has not provided any additional notes regarding file permissions
File credits
This author has not credited anyone else in this file
Donation Points system
Please log in to find out whether this mod is receiving Donation Points
V1.1 fix: Changed a few discrepancies between Excel Spreadsheet and the ESP. Everything is now as it should be.
A simple ESP. Place in your Data folder and you're away. Races: Unhappy with the racial bonuses, skill perks and base attributes I decided to do a total overhaul on every single race in Tamriel. The fact that most races 'preferred' the male on attributes made me decide to level the playing field. Males and females that form the humans and elves of Tamriel are now the same. The Beast Folk do show dimorphism... And How! Argonians and Khajiit are now split between their male and female members with a greater dimorphism than before. The skills have been reworked for all races as have the Abilities & Powers.
Birth signs: The Birth Signs earned my ire when I discovered that it was practically stupid to pick anything other than the Mage, Warrior or Thief. Not only that but the Lore behind each and every one was, in my opinion, fatally flawed (discounting the Mage). "You are born under the sign of the lord and are therefore weak to fire" WTF?! After I had finished changing the Races I wanted to level the playing field for the birth signs as well. The only unchanged sign is that of the Mage, which, in vanilla Oblivion, was considered the Sign to choose at the expense of all others, even for some Warrior and Thief builds. All other Signs have received buffs of varying magnitudes as well as reworking them to better fit into my view of the Lore that each one would signify.
--|| RACES ||--
The Elves. When I think of Elves, I think "Ultimate Specialist", against another race there should be no comparison. The Altmer should be the ultimate in spell casting, Bosmer should be able to hit a fly between the eyes at 100 paces and the Dunmer should use bow, sword and spell with a skill that no mere human could match.
Altmer The Altmer remain largely unchanged over Vaniloblivion. An Altmer is the ultimate in aggressive spell casting, light and nimble on his feet and the most aprochable of the three types of Elves. They pay for this by sacrificing brute strength and endurance. After careful consideration I decided not to give the Altmer any Powers or Lesser powers. My rational is that since you are an Altmer you have Magicka comming out the wazzo, only you will be able to cast some of the more advanced spells and you easily outstrip every other spell caster. You are the kind of person who is going town to town, finding the best spells and begging, borrowing or stealing the most powerful spells you can get your mitts on. Originally I did give them a Once a day power; after a few hours I forgot I even had it. Enough of my rambling. The Stats!
Bosmer I think that the Bosmer got a poor rap when Vaniloblivion first let me play as a Wood Elf. A lousy command beast spell that I found got passed over time and time again, simply because it was easier to shot the damn thing. The Bosmer are still sneaky and not to be trusted when a valuable is on display but, after a bit of tweaking, they have become a true hunter. The arrows loosed from their bows are the most deadly and the poisons they make are the most potent. The Bosmer has become a clear choice for the archer in anyone.
Powers Beast Tongue: Command Beast up to lvl 25. Hunter's Grace: Fortify Sneak & Marksman 25 for 30sec. Spell IDs: 01002a66, 00047ea9 & 00047ad7
Note: I've made the Bosmer taller as well. I really didn't like them being so dwarfish. They are not as tall as High Elves and are the same hight, roughly, as Dark Elves.
Dunmer I have to say that the Dunmer has become a firm favourite of mine but they were tricky to get right. How do you make an elf good at fighting, spellcasting AND archery... while also being balanced among the other races? The Dunmer are universally disliked and/or distrusted, but outright hostility is shown by Argonians and Khajiit. The Slave trade, though now officially halted, still brings up bad memories and old prejudices among the Beast-folk. (Khajiit and Argonians have a -15 disposition modifier when you, a Dunmer, speak to them) Since they can rely on only half-hearted help from any other race they have an inner strength that allows them to best all odds stacked before them
Powers Grace of the Ancients: Fortify Strength 15, Willpower 25 and Magicka 50 for
60 seconds. Spell IDs: 01002a62 & 00047ad7
Orc (Technically an Elf) Now this one has changed a lot; previously an Orc had the best willpower in the game and yet was not particularly tough or strong (Being beaten by the Nord on both accounts.) This. Has. Changed. When I think of an Orc I see someone who goes with the crowd, as long as he's surrounded by friends willing to die then he does likewise. If however the line breaks then the Orc will run just like any other. They're not brave The Orc is now THE close combat specialist able to take all in his or her path and doesn't miss the chance to berserk one bit... in fact an Orc is now in almost constant berserk mode, no one is tougher, no one is stronger, no one is more frightening... which brings me to the power choice of the Orc. When all that strength goes to your head you start taking risks, picking on someone bigger and better than you, even getting into down-right life threatening danger. So what do you do? You bellow your anger in your opponets face. For even the most stalwart of soldiers, your heart quakes at the sound.
Powers Intimidate: Demoralize up to lvl 25 for 30sec. Spell ID: 01000ceb & 00047acf
The Humans. Normal people in a world of Magick, Monitors and Marauders. How can a simple human hope to last in this world? I wanted to give each of the humans very middling stats; you may have noticed that the High, Wood and Dark Elves have "50s" and "30s" letting them be very specialised right at the start. Humans have no such luxury. Anything that a human wants to be will be a long, hard journey to the finish.
Imperial I am still unhappy with my representation of the Imperial in Tamriel. To be brutally honest if you want to play as a pure human then you probably don't want a hundred bells and whistles on the box. The Imperial is as bland as they come, a blank slate for you to write, what you will, upon.
Powers Word of the Empire: Charm 30 on target for 20sec. Spell ID: 00047add
Redguard My version of the Redguard favours strength, speed and a sharp blade. Because of the prejudices against some forms of magick in their homeland I thought that very few Redguard would have any skill with the arcane arts and only the simplest destruction spells would be well known to a Redguard. Defiantly the skirmisher's choice.
Nord After looking at the Nord I decided that the Woad Warriors should be a little more barbaric. After a quick mess around with various ideas I simply gave them frost resistance and a modified version of the Orc's Berserk power. This power when activated makes the Nord practically unstoppable and easily able to hold his ground against many foes.
Breton Almost no change in form or function, the Breton was a good choice in Vaniloblivion and is still one now. Check his stats along-side an Altmer and you can see an uncanny resemblance.
The Beast-Folk. I don't know about you but I love the beast-folk. Yes, I am a lizard-Lover :D So when I found out that the Argonians and Khajiit got some terrible skill bonuses and powers (Or rather the lack thereof) I decided to do something special with them. Ever notice that, in nature, Males and Females sometimes have wild differences between them? Lions for instance; Males are big, strong and not good at much else other than protecting the Harem he has got himself... a Prince of cool. Females on the other hand are lithe, fast and Strong, doing the hunting for the pack. Oh yes, Khajiit are now very different, a bit more lion-esk then their previous incarnation. Argonians too have gotten a big boost, but more on them later. On to the Kitties!
The Male Khajiit Big. that's pretty much how I would describe a male Khajiit. Big and scary... but not too bright. A male now stands an easy 6 inches above any other person in Tamriel and as you look up into his eyes you suddenly have the picture of long, curved fangs meeting in your throat. It's best not to argue with something that big and that scary. In any conversation or in bartering for a new blade You can be sure that the Khajiit is setting the terms, not the vendor.
10 Light Armour, Sneak & Blade. 5 Athletics, Acrobatics and Hand to Hand.
Powers Stalk: Fortify sneak & acrobatics 25 for 60sec.
Lesser Power Eye of Night: I highly advise you pick up Toggleable Night Eye for this
one. Spell Id: 01002a64 & 00047ae0
The Female Khajiit Strong, agile and damn fast! I designed the Female Khajiit exclusively off the characteristics of a Cheetah. Unwilling to fight for long a female Khajiit must use her small frame and soft padded feet to get close to a target and do some major damage. With her natural abilities and "Stalk" at her command the blade fall will be swift and most likely terminal.
And now to my all time favourite... Argonians. These guys got the worst of Bethesta's blunders. Terrible skill bonuses, Poor abilities (when compared to the others) and no powers at all. I felt robbed. So I did something about it. Argonians are, as with Khajiit, split between the males and females. Both share a tolerance, that is unprecedented among other races, for swamp survival. Forget the lousy Argonian resistances of the past... these ones are bigger, better and scary in the extreme.
The Male Argonian A guerilla fighter, perfectly at home hiding in wait only to jump from behind the nearest tree or spring out of the water and deal you a fatal blow. Corded muscle and sinew, Long talons and curved fangs. Something you would never want to fight in or around water, trees or anything that would give him an advantage. Tough, deceptively strong and more intelligent than you could guess looking at his expressionless face.
Power Poison Spur: 5sec paralyse on touch. Spell ID: 01002a60, 00047ace & 00047ad6
The female is totally different. I pictured the female Argonian as something akin to a tribe shaman, a healer and weaver of magick; connected to magicka so strongly that it flows in her veins as thick as any Elf.
Do these changes work retroactively (i.e. on existing characters) or do they only work on new games?
The quick answer? I have no idea. It would depend on how Oblivion handles things like your characters current Stats.
I do know that any of the Major/Minor powers, Race abilities and Birth Signs would indeed change. (ie The powers/attribute bonuses given to you by the thief would change to their new powers/bonuses and the new powers that, say, an Argonian can wield, would change.)
I doubt however that your Stats (Ie strength/intelligence/endurance/etc) values would change to my values. Those, I think, would remain the same as your last save. (So no loss no gain)
I would advise against trying, personally. Use this for your new characters and I can guarantee your game will not be messed up. Using it for existing characters... well do so at your own risk.
