Humble Beginnings is a class mod designed to embrace Skyrim’s freeform character building instead of fighting it. It doesn’t try to recreate the class systems of Oblivion or Morrowind. It doesn’t box you into a specific set of skills. It doesn’t give you a huge power boost in the early game. Instead, Humble Beginnings simply gives your character some history. Who were you before Helgen? A simple country farmer, a bloodthirsty killer, a merciful healer, a Daedric cultist? Your choice marks the beginning of your journey, but not the end.

Backgrounds

Humble Beginnings let you choose a Background for your character. Every Background gives you something to wear and something to fight with.* You also get some food and gold, but quantity and quality vary. Some Backgrounds get extra spells, consumables, or miscellaneous “flavor” items. Finally, every Background gets a class “ability” (a passive buff, viewable in your Active Effects list). Each ability gives you +25 to Health, Magicka, or Stamina and +25% increased experience to one skill.

* A weapon or offensive spell, but some Backgrounds may stretch the definition of “weapon.”

I’ve loosely sorted Backgrounds into four categories: Civilians, Warriors, Mages, and Rogues. Generally speaking, Civilians will be weaker in combat (at least for the early levels) than Warriors, Mages, and Rogues. My goal with Humble Beginnings was not to balance all classes against each other – a peasant will (and should!) be weaker than a fighter. That said, all Backgrounds are balanced around the idea that you are a Level One character, so no Daedric swords and ultimate healing potions.

Choosing a Background: Simply pick a scroll and cast it! To get the scrolls, you can use a mod like AddItemMenu or QUI, the console, or one of the optional patches (see Addons below).

Civilians

• Peasant - Stamina, One-Handed - woodcutter’s axe, basic clothes, torch, pitchfork
• Miner - Stamina, Smithing - pickaxe, miner’s clothes, iron ore
• Blacksmith - Health, Smithing - random 1h, blacksmith’s clothes, random ingots
• Herbalist - Stamina, Alchemy - dagger, basic clothes, random potions & poisons, random alchemy ingredients
• Artificer - Health, Enchanting - destruction staff, basic clothes, Soul Trap spell tome, some soul gems
• Merchant - Stamina, Speech - dagger, merchant clothes, Amulet of Zenithar, random vendor items
• Chef - Health, Alchemy - knife & fork, chef’s clothes, ladle, cast iron pot
  

Warriors

• Fighter - Health, Block - random 1h, iron armor and shield
• Barbarian - Health, Two-Handed - random 2h, hide armor, alcohol
• Hunter - Stamina, Archery - bow and arrows, fur armor, random animal parts
• Duelist - Stamina, Light Armor - sword and dagger, hide armor, alcohol
• Crusader - Health, Heavy Armor - mace, iron armor, Amulet of Stendarr, Turn Lesser Undead
  

Mages

• Elementalist - Magicka, Destruction - novice robes and hood, Flames, Frostbite, and Sparks spell tomes
• Cultist - Magicka, Conjuration - hooded robes, Bound Dagger and Conjure Flame Atronach spell tomes
• Necromancer - Magicka, Conjuration - dagger, necromancer robes, Raise Zombie and Soul Trap spell tomes, skull
• Druid - Magicka, Alteration - fur armor, Oakflesh, Conjure Spectral Wolf, and Frostbite spell tomes, random alchemy ingredients
• Healer - Magicka, Restoration - robes, Amulet of Mara, Healing and Healing Hands spell tomes
• Trickster - Magicka, Illusion - dagger, basic clothes, Fury and Calm spell tomes, random poison, lockpicks
  

Rogues

• Witchhunter - Magicka, Archery - bow and arrows, basic clothes, Amulet of Arkay, Lesser Ward and Lightning Rune spell tomes, magicka poisons
• Petty Thief - Stamina, Lockpicking, Pickpocket - dagger, hide armor, lockpicks, random gems
• Cutthroat - Stamina, Sneak - 2 daggers, hide armor, random poisons
• Bard - Stamina, Speech - random 1h, tavern clothes, Amulet of Dibella, Courage spell tome, random instrument
• Brawler - Health, Heavy Armor - basic clothes, alcohol
  

Note on Potions: Warriors get roughly 2 health potions and 1 stamina potion, with a chance for an extra. Mages get 2 magicka, 1 health. Rogues get 2 stamina, 1 health. Civilians don’t get any potions (except for the Herbalist).

Addons
SimonRim
An optional addon to the main file. It strictly requires Mysticism and presumes that you also have Adamant and Hand to Hand (it will work without Adamant and H2H, but the Petty Thief and Brawler backgrounds will have inconsistent mechanics and descriptions).

• Artificer - Soul Trap spell tome replaced with 3 Soul Trap scrolls
• Brawler - Heavy Armor skill boost replaced with Hand to Hand
• Cultist - Conjure Flame Atronach spell tome replaced with 3 Conjure Flame Atronach scrolls
• Druid - Frostbite spell tome replaced with Poison Spray spell tome
• Healer - Healing Hands spell tome replaced with 3 Heal Other scrolls
• Necromancer - Soul Trap spell tome replaced with Conjure Skeleton spell tome
• Petty Thief - Lockpicking and Pickpocket skill boosts replaced with Security
• Witchhunter - Lightning Rune spell tome replaced with 3 Lightning Rune scrolls
  

Darenii Spells Addon
An optional addon to the main file. It requires Natura, Abyss, Lunaris, Bloodmoon, Flames of Coldharbour, Necrom, Stellaris, Vulcano, Arclight, Desecration, and Arcane. It can be used with or without the SimonRim addon. 11 new classes!

• Cryocultist - Magicka, Destruction - Cold Flames spell tome, 3 Cold Burn Touch scrolls
• Hemomancer - Health, Destruction - Blood Spray and Blood Stance spell tomes
• Lunar Pilgrim - Stamina, Restoration - Moonlight spell tome and 3 Lunar Body scrolls
• Shadow - Stamina, Illusion - Shadow Chains and Shadow Drain spell tomes
• Wild Mage - Magicka, Restoration - Water Spray, Elusive, and Life Pulse spell tomes
• Eldritch Apprentice - Magicka, Alteration - Eldritch Tentacles and Black Tome: Eldritch Shield spell tomes
• Starcaller - Magicka, Restoration - Astral Dust and Astral Reconditioning spell tomes, 3 Astral Shield scrolls
• Ashwalker - Magicka, Destruction - Molten Ash spell tome, 3 Molten Body scrolls
• Arclight Conduit - Magicka, Destruction - Arclight Sparks spell tome, 3 Arclight Bolt scrolls
• Corpsefire Warlock - Magicka, Destruction - Necrotic Flames spell tome, 3 Necrotic Fire Rune scrolls
• Mana Weaver - Magicka, Alteration - Arcane Draw and Arcane Mist spells tomes
  
  

It also edits the Druid background to have spell tomes for Bug Spray and Call Wolf and 3 Aspect of the Bear scrolls.

Other Patches
These patches can be used to get the class scrolls.

• Helgen Keep - adds a scroll chest to the Torturer's Room (recommended for vanilla starts)
• Add Scrolls to Character - simply adds the scrolls directly to your inventory when you start a new game
• Alternate Start - Live Another Life - adds scrolls to a satchel on the table in the starting cell
• Optional Quick Start - adds scrolls to the chest outside the starting cave
• Realm of Lorkhan - adds scrolls to the adventurer's backpack on the table
• Skyrim Unbound Reborn - adds a preset to remove all other starting items and an addon to give you the scrolls (thanks to nRek for originally making this)
  

Compatibility and Load Order

Humble Beginnings doesn’t edit any vanilla records. It does use some vanilla leveled lists and will therefore inherit changes to those lists. For example, an Artificer’s destruction staff could be a Staff of Flames, or a Staff of Stone Spray from Natura. Load the SimonRim and Darenii addons after the main file; load the Darenii addon after the SimonRim if you want its changes to Druid, or vice-versa if you prefer the SimonRim Druid. Load alternate start patches late. When in doubt, always consult SSEEdit.