Hello all. I have recently purchased Oblivion and I have been lurking on the forums quite a bit lately but this is my first post. I have come to request assistance in finding the perfect Elder Scrolls race for me to play my game as.

I am able to trace my blood all the way back to 13th century Scotland. This is something I take pride in so I would like to play Oblivion as a sort of medieval Scottish warrior type. I want a character that is intelligent and somewhat diplomatic, but fights for what he believes is right when need be, who loves his homeland and his people, but has little or no quarrel with any other races. So I ask, what Elder Scrolls race is most similar to what I am looking for?

I have considered the Nords, but I dislike that their province, Skyrim, is so cold and covered in snow all of the time. I also dislike that they are generally an unintelligent people and that NPCs in Oblivion will often call you Snowman because you come from Skyrim. In real life, I hate the cold, and I imagine this character that I am trying to create would do the same. Perhaps there are some warmer areas in Skyrim that I don't know about?

So then I considered Imperials. So far I love the province of Cyrodiil, and I like that Imperials are intelligent, civilized, and well-spoken, but I have been reading up on a bit of lore and they seem to be a bit.. well.. imperialistic. They seem to be too stuck up their own arses to give a flip about anything else going on. I also read that they are supposedly the TES "Romans," which I don't think is what I'm looking for.

So then that leaves the Bretons. Very intelligent and well-spoken like the Imperials, but not quite as self-centered. I also read that Bretons are sort of the Celts of TES, which is kind of what I'm looking for I guess. Only thing is, based on many of the NPCs names in Oblivion, I think they may be more French than Scottish. Plus, their voices in Oblivion sound a bit too soft to be Scottish warrior-like.

So what race do you think suits me?

Thank you all for your help.

Have you taken a look at the Races in Game yet? Nords themselves can actually be rather interesting and intelligent group of people, like all races in-game. Pick one of those races and play through the tutorial dungeon, and if you aren't happy, you'll get one chance at the end to change your race.

The character your describing rings as a good Imperial through and through, but I mean that as a good thing. Look at the Imperial Watch! You'd fit right in if they were join-able.

A last thing, is that you have to take into account each races strength's and weaknesses. Nords are great fighters, but Imperials can make good ones as well. Breton's on the other hand are excellent mages.

I'll take you to this article for further information:
http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Races

Yes, I've played the game a bit. I realize I can raise a Nord's Intelligence when I level up, so I guess that factor doesn't matter much.

I have tried playing as all 3 of these races, but I'm looking to make a decision based more on lore than on gameplay. Is all of Skyrim just a big pile of snow, or are there areas of temperate climates?

Not really. It's mostly mountainous with several forests and such. I'll try to find an amazing Article I had read on it a while ago.

The Nords are not generally unintelligent, they may fulfil the barbarian idiot trope in regards to gameplay, but they have scholars and farmers, even sorcerors (really awesome ones as well). If you'll note, even in Oblivion, there are tons of them in the mages guild.

Nords have a nice bonus to Restoration, too.

The Bretons are definitely inspired by the Celts, or at least we can generalize them into that area due to Bethesda constantly alternating between English and French references, with both these peoples (the Angles and the Gauls) having Celtic origins.

Unlike the English, French, and Irish, I believe Scots are more Nordic than Celtic, but I could be mistaken on this.


Bethesda used English naming conventions for them in Arena and Daggerfall (surnames like "Wickston", "Hawksley", and "Yeomcroft"), then more French-sounding names started to come into use for Morrowind and Oblivion. No comment on this.


This has been brought up numerous times, but I assure you that http://ladyn.tamriel-rebuilt.org/Skyrim.php. Have you been to Norway or, well, Scotland? Also, if anything, the http://www.imperial-library.info/pge/skyrim.shtml implies Skyrim may perhaps be the Earth-like province with the most potential for variety. Imagine cities built into mountainsides, tunnels hollowed out of frozen lakes, hot springs, vegetated chasms with faint traces of sunlight seeping through, et cetera.

High Rock's climate is pretty similar to that of Scotland and England, with topography ranging from swampy moors to rolling green hills to more mountainous areas.

This is my speciality. It depends on whether or not your 'medieval Scottish warrior' is Highland or Lowland, which were and are almost the opposite of each other culturally and politically. Either way, however, DO NOT CHOOSE THE NORDS. They appear to be the best candidate to the eye that's been taught its history almost exclusively by Braveheart and Highlander, but they're nowhere near as historically accurate as TES.

I would go for either the Bretons or, wait for it, the Dunmer. The Bretons are based on the Bretons, a real Celtic race (although from a different branch of the Celts than the Gaelic Scots - not many people realise there are significant differences). They're the best choice if your warrior is Lowland, with a feudal culture, but many bardic and tribal traditions.

The Dunmer's politics are similar to that of the Lordship of the Isles, the de facto kingdom that ruled the Highlands and Islands for a few hundred years, with the Great Houses beneath a single High King. They also have similar ways of choosing their leaders. Their different cultural groups are similar to those of Scotland, from the Border raiders in the south to the Nords in the far north. The arrogance of the Ashlanders is also similar to many quotes from Macdonald bards - the spectacularly rich and powerful clan wasn't quite as innocent as it still tries to claim, and there are definitely many parts of 'Roman' arrogance in 'son of world rulers,' and 'noblest race from which each good man is descended.' It could even be something an Ashlander would say.

None of them come close to a Scottish warrior. The militia of the Lowlands, and the knights, were pretty typical. Anything would suit them. The ceitherne, galloglaich, and birlinns of the Highlands aren't really that similar to anything in TES. The best you can do is get a claymore, chainmail armour, an iron helmet, and tell someone else to carry the rest of your weapons. Don't expect it to come close to anything that Somerled would recognise



Depends whether you mean the cultural group, Scots (Lowlanders), or the ethnic group (Highlanders). I won't go there, it will get pretty confusing

Wow thanks those were interesting!

So I read that the flat part of Skyrim is in the western part of the province, called "The Reach." This is where most of the population resides. Is this because it is a warmer climate? Do you think the northern coastal town of Solitude would be warmer or colder due to its proximity to water?

A good case made by Gallowglass. You could also interpret the Dunmer to be Judeans during the Roman occupation. I'm no authority or anything, but like them, the Dunmer have their own Temple and priesthood, having cut a deal somewhat different from other lands under the (Roman) Empire's sway. Like them, the Dunmer have Zealots running around assassinating outlanders. The Ashlanders are desert nomads, and so on. I don't need to point out that both groups were waiting for a messiah who (in the mythical expectations) would be a warrior king, driving out the outlanders.

But then, I've noticed in the past that there are similarities between Robert the Bruce and King Helseth. Both men were determined to be king even if they had to make deals with a powerful empire.

Hmm.. I was almost sold on Nords until I read this lol..

I really can't see myself playing a Dunmer. It just doesn't feel right at all.

You said Bretons are based on actual Celts, but not really the Gaelic Scots, which I think is what I'm going for.

What kind of Celts are Bretons based on (i.e. what is a "lowland warrior")? And are the Dunmer the only TES race that resembles the Gaelic Scots?

Colovians versus Nibenayans (sp) here? One group is lowland, one highland as far as I know. Gallowglass can interpret this better than I can.

Nah, Colovians versus Nibeneans is the awesome dour people of Northern England against the smarmy effeminates of Southern England. See, it fits?

I guess my question is what is the difference between a Highland Scot and a Lowland Scot, and what are the parellels between them and races in the TES universe?

The Bretons are based on the Bretons, which are a Brythonic Celtic group, as opposed to Goidelic. Lowland warriors are the militia and armoured knights of the Scottish Lowlands, a typical feudal army with Gaelic weapons.

And, no, they're not the only ones, and they're not that good of a match (I just think they're the best). There are some Highland parts in Nordic culture (weapons, and a similar political system in a few areas), and Altmer culture (the navy, the islands, the towers, independent local rulers with their own armies beneath a regional king, and a High King).

It depends, really, on whether you only want the appearance and equipment of a 13th century Highland warrior, or want your character to be as close as possible to the culture and society.



Almost, except they're fairly similar in their culture, language, education, legal system, politics, warfare, and heritage, and the Highlands and Lowlands are completely different. I'd agree with turns-the-page, the Colovian and Nibenean is far more similar to the north and south of England.



You can't really get more different. For most of their history, the Highlands and Lowlands have had separate rulers, who ruled over completely different societies. It would take a long time to go into every detail, but linguistically, religiously, culturally, militarily, and socially, there are very few similarities between 1200 and 1914.

The parallels in TES are the geopolitical situations in Morrowind - the Border raiders in the south, the feudal Houses in the middle, the traditionalist clans and political factions in the north (although not as united as the Highlands were in the 1300s), and the Nords in the far north, and on some of the islands.

Ashlanders have a few similarities with the Macdonalds, Kings of the Hebrides, from the large number of retainers and advisors in the service of their chief to their worship of their ancestors. They also practiced slave raids long after many others had abandoned it. There are a few major differences: Macdonald arrogance was never really associated with religious or racial intolerance. The Ashlanders also seem to discriminate against women, and their ashkhan can take ignore his council if he wants to, which the Lords of the Isles couldn't (unless they wanted to have to kill the best soldiers of their rivals, as one of them was successful at doing)

The Nords have the same High King system, or at least had it, and if the Moot was a group that could choose a king from a selection of heirs, rather than just the king's son, then that's tanistry - something practiced by the Kings of the Hebrides and encouraged by the Council of the Isles. The Altmer have the navy, and the reputation as explorers.

So why would Nords not be what I'm looking for?

I feel as if the Bretons are more reflective of the Angles and the Gauls, though I cannot really go into detail with my reasoning as Gallowglass should be able to.


Funny you should bring this up. I, too, am of Celtic (and Norse, actually) heritage, but I definitely favor the cold and consider Winter to be my favorite season. Tranquility. Clarity. Oh, and running around in a t-shirt until December. That's me.

I just hate how everything is so colorless and dead.

I can't claim to know as much about medieval European ancestry as Gallowglass, however I feel his dismissal of the Nords is premature. Great Britain in particular was settled several times over the course of many centuries, and what I find most interesting is the cyclical nature of that settlement. Although the Saxons, of north European descent, failed to colonize Britain against it's more Celtic inhabitants, nordic warriors later carved out extensive territories in mainland Europe, giving us "Normandy" in France. These Normans then came and invaded England successfully, essentially conquering people who were often descended from a similar lineage as themselves.

But now I'm rambling. My main argument is this. The celtic peoples of mainland Europe, Ireland, and England were probably most like the Bretons of TES. However, the Scottish highlanders, being from a more northern geographical location, may have had more interaction with cultures from Scandinavia, and therefore have been more like the Nords. In fact, some of the oldest inhabitants of Scotland were the historical Picts, who the Romans described as painted barbarians...very similar to the Nords.

If you aren't happy with the Nord's province, you could still pick them if you feel they best suit you. After all, You could always RP that your Nord Character was born In Cryodiil or another province. Nords don't even come from Skyrim; Didn't they sail from Atmora?

I didn't give the Nords much consideration.

It's true that the Highlanders did marry with the Norse settlers - that's how you get the Gall-Gaels, or Foreign Gaels, which was what we called the people of the Hebrides until the 1800s. The name for the Hebrides, Innse Gall, means Islands of the Foreigners.

But Nordic culture was quickly taken over, and the Norse clans (the most famous of them is probably Macleod) abandoned their heritage in favour of the Gall-Gael culture. Although their language, religion, and weapons continued, there was no real Norse culture in the Hebrides; the only traces of Norse occupation in the 1500s were placenames.

So, it would be pretty unsuitable to emphasise the Nords in a character based on a 13th century Highland warrior, and playing as one is probably not the best idea, especially as language and religion aren't represented in Oblivion.



The Bretons and the Gauls, in real life, are both related to each other, in the same group of Celtic nationalities. The Bretons are essentially the Gauls that escaped to Great Britain, and then fled back to Brittany (which is named 'Little Britain') when the Saxons and Angles conquered England and Cornwall.

Additionally, to the best of my knowledge, the Roman invaders were unable to conquer all of Scotland as they did with England and Ireland(?). As such, I'm assuming the Highlanders are among those tribes that were not assimilated as heavily as their counterparts in Britain.

Well, as we can see it's very difficult to find a good solution to this if we separate Nords and Bretons from one another (which are, I believe, the two races that are closest). But come, if you'd have to answer the question "Which culture is closest to the Scottish culture: The British culture, or the Scandinavian culture?", which would you choose? If we think of British culture as in "teatime, red buses, red phone booths, stiff upper lip, Queen Mum", then it's just as far away as the drunk vikings that live in the snow.

My suggestion is the following: Don't think of them as two separate races/cultures. Rather, think of them as hundreds of different races/cultures. And of these, you can choose the one that comes closest.

StoneFrog already said that Arena's/Daggerfall's Bretons had "British" names, while Morrowind's/Oblivion's had French names. This just proves that there are differences between the Bretons, and they are not one uniform culture and race. If you consider that there are/used to be many many different kingdoms in High Rock, and that these kingdoms all have different backgrounds historically AND geographically, I bet you'll find lots of similarities to your Lowland/Highland thing.
Same with Skyrim. It is just one province, but it consists of many different cultures. You can't use the stereotypes you get presented in the game for your judgment, because if we went by such stereotypes, then we also wouldn't have to separate the Scottish people between Lowland and Highland, because they'd just all be the same funny speaking British guys for us. Best to disregard the racial bonuses and other gameplay aspects, too.

It is also worth noting that Skyrim shares a border with High Rock, around which the cultures will probably be more similar than anywhere else.
So it's probably the best idea to look at these border regions, and all the different kingdoms nearby. Try to find out which one of them comes closest to the homeland of your Scottish warrior (geographically/historically), and pick that one. If it happens to be in Skyrim, then you're a Nord; if it happens to be in High Rock, then you're a Breton.
And really, it won't be a big difference.

You're right. The "townies" in the more mountainous kingdoms in Daggerfall actually appear to be Nords. I also recall a kingdom on the northern end of High Rock, "Ykalon", which was significant for one reason or another and certainly sounds Nordic to me. I don't believe the Iliac Bay region visited in Daggerfall encompasses all of High Rock (certainly not Hammerfell, as cities such as Rihad are far to the south) or just the inner section.

It's hard to say as the map of the Iliac Bay in http://www.imperial-library.info/realms_iliac/ is very, ahem, "clean". This isn't really the case though, as the province of High Rock has a very http://www.imperial-library.info/maps/HighRockSmart.jpg shape (both in more recent maps and the old http://www.imperial-library.info/maps/highrock.png map). I'll assume Daggerfall's map was just oriented as such so it'd be easier to interpret.

:whisper: Check the compass at the bottom left; North isn't vertical.