Race specific stats and abilities were confirmed in OPM, so the Races won't be the same. A Nord won't be as fast as a Khajit, for example.

Some had speculated that this wouldn't be the case, if I recall correctly. No need to worry now.

The article didn't go into specifics, so what do you think these Race specific stats and abilities are?

Discuss.

MW and OB had racial and gender stat modifiers. Don't remember if Arena and Buggerfall had them.

For example Altmer in OB had:



Go figure.

Some I can guess:

Altmer: undoubtedly something that makes them better at magic than any other race

Imperial: probably an automatic boost to disposition or something

Wood Elf: special archer abilities

Redguard, Orc, Nord: all combat related



I just hope it isn't like in Oblivion where you could completely negate race bonuses by leveling up; at level 50 essentially everyone was the same. I'd really like the race bonuses to be something other races can't attain.

Well, Attributes have been nixed. I think that's why some people thought the races wouldn't be different. There can't be anymore +10 Strength or -10 Willpower. Some skills are gone as well. Altmer will no longer get that +10 Mysticism.

@RAF That's a good point. I agree.

Innate perks serving the same purpose, perhaps?

IDK. I hope so. Race specific perks are a good idea.

I think the attributes being nixed makes the races likely have even more differentiation.

I hope Khajiit balance means they get knocked around more in combat, but recover faster and can cover ground over short distances/reposition themselves faster than any other race (Roughly twice as fast). Their overland speed should be about the same as the other races, but in combat, especially if they have digitigrade feet, they should be far more agile, at the cost of stability.

To really differenciate the races they should have skills that no other race can get even through spells. Nords for example could be 100% resistent to ice effects whereas the highest enchantment item you could get for it would be only 75%.

This is only an example I'm sure others will come up with better examples of what could be done.

I think wood elves for example should rather than just being short (which is the only way to identify them in Oblivion), should have ridges along the nose or across the forehead or something different in their apperance than just being short.

Race specific perks are also a good idea

That's what I've always assumed. To be honest I think Racial Perks would be a really good idea for making each race unique rather than giving them boosts at the beginning of the game that won't matter at the end and abilities that are weak after the first few levels.

Khajiit: Nighteye or sneak bonus

Argonian: Underwater breathing

Imperial: Speech/Mercantile bonus

Nord, Orc, Redguard: Combat oriented as stated by RAF1940

Altmer, Breton: magic related

Dunmer: no idea

Bosmer: archery related

I am against your first example. Natural resistances (Such as Nord Frost Resistance, Breton Magic Resistance, and Dunmer Fire Resistance) are good enough to not have to be maximized: They free up an enchantment slot, so you have a much easier time gaining 100% Immunity to your natural resistances.

The mods that made Khajiit Eye-of-Night and Argonian Permanent Water Breathing are a good example of how those two races could have always notable differentiation.

If the tech's out there, I hope they can make Khajiit darkvision dynamic and unique from Nightvision spells, so it automatically adjusts to the right brightness needed to function, possibly by increasing the Contrast of the brightest part to be amplified to Almost White, and have the in-between sections correspondingly scale. A functionality no spell could replicate, but it's not as obviously broken as your suggestion of One-of-a-kind Frost Immunity for Nords. (Theives might disagree, because they can't hide from Khajiit!).

With stats gone, they could further differentiate the races with percentile-based bonuses:
Redguards would be the most "Proficient" warriors have greater effectiveness from their block and weapon skills, such as 10% greater effect than their skill level would normally indicate, or the ability to ignore a small % of the damage reduction from armor. They could also gain slight move and attack speed bonuses the more injured they are, from Adrenaline Rush. Thus, they get greater emphasis on "Weapon Mastery" fighters.

Nords would be the "Strongest" warriors. getting their Frost Resistance, as well as a natural, static-percent Damage reduction to give them melee survivability, but most of the bonus would be greater Impact (Stagger chance) and wider area of attack with two-handed weapons.

Orcs would be the "toughest", getting a flat percentage bonus to damage (Outpaced by Redguard damage bonus at higher levels, but superior at lower ones), as well as treating armor worn as having +10-25% greater base protection value. They would also have a resistance to magicka.

Khajiit could be more mobile in combat, but less stable (As I suggested earlier) In addition, they also jump higher, further, and have greater mid-air control of their jumps than other races, on top of their nightvision.. Perhaps greatly increasign their "walk" speed in combat would achieve the first goal of greater mobility. A 10% bonus to Fire Damage inflicted (Fuzzy pyromaniacs) would also be appreciated, even if it comes with a vulnerability to fire as well.

Bosmer should be harder to detect because of their small profile, and have a bonus to draw speed with a bow. The ability to calm any animal (As
a lesser power) or control a number of them (Greater Power) are also some ideas.

Imperials should get a bonus to the effects from the Dragon Shouts, discounts for selling and buying, the ability to fence any stolen goods to anyone, the ability to talk themselves out of certain fines, and a lower chance of being "recognized" by intelligent enemies (Making them the third "Thief" race)

Bretons have their magic resistance, and could have 50% greater Base Magic than other races. This more than outpaces the slight Argonian spellcasting bonus.

Dunmer get their fire resistance, a small magicka bonus, and reduced mana cost for destruction and conjuration spells because of their Daedric connections.

Altmer have a weakness to Magic that applies to both negative and beneficial effects, as well as double the base magic of non-spellcasters.

Argonians should have a 50% reduction on the effect Running has on Stamina, making them better athletes. They can't drown, and also are immune to poison, and strongly resistant to disease. Their skin coloration should give them a slight advantage in avoiding detection. and they should have a small bonus to the cost reduction of spells from skill. A small natural armor bonus might also fit, making them a nice "Jack of All Trades" race.

It was an example that i did say wasn't very good but there needs to be more variation in some way I think you will agree with that

How about one for Bosmer that's related to The Green Pact?

The PC could eat his fallen foes.

While we are discusing other matters id just like to throw in that khajit should have a permanent night eya at that nighttime due to obvious reasons

The big question is whether racial abilities are bonuses or modifiers.

*Meaning does the ability alter the base result, or merely give the PC a starting bonus to that ability. If three PCs of three different races were all three maxed out in their abilities ~would they all max out at 100?
(or would racial ability raise them above 100 in specific instance?)

That's not what I understand racial abilities to be. I was thinking of Night Eye and Adrenaline Rush, for examples

I was thinking resistances, and racial aptitudes.

I would certainly prefer natural talents be permanent... but that is mainly beast folk right?

Well that means health stamina and magic dont all start out the same. And we were already told skills dont start out the same.

I suspect alot more impactful things happen this time... Like altmer and bretons getting more impact out of ever spell and alchemy and enchant. Nords just doing more damage and taking less.

This is really the heart of the matter, as far as these things go. Well... first was simply whether or not differentiation existed, which seems to have been cleared up, at least within the context of that somewhat dubious magazine article. But beyond that is the question of the permanence of any bonuses or penalties.

All nattering about attributes and perks and such aside - the issue with many of the racial bonuses and penalties in Oblivion having no bearing late in the game had nothing at all to do with whether they pertained to the much maligned attributes or not - it was simply that the maximum value for those attributes remained 100, so the bonuses and penalties were inevitably temporary. If they're to retain the much-vaunted late-game differences that they're said to be striving for, any bonuses and penalties to skills or to derived attributes have to be permanent - that is, for instance, any character who gets +10 on something needs a maximum of 110, while any character who gets -10 needs a maximum of 90 (or whatever the appropriate numbers or percentages might be).

Presuming that there are some manner of numerical bonuses and/or penalties to derived attributes and/or skills, if they are not permanent - if they don't change the maximum possible value for those things - then we're going to end up with the exact same late-game sameness that plagued Oblivion.

Would be nice.

Differentiating races? Bring back attributes.

I think that todd said in the beginning is that the races only affect the aesthetic quality, but I could be wrong

No need. They can get more unique qualities by directly applying abilities to the races, than trying to go through an arbitrary number that has no hopes of capturing the intricities of the abilities.

I find that to be a shame. Where one creature is a man, and another is an anthropomorphic reptilian; that can breath underwater (which I find odd BTW), and they are effectively the same, and experience the world in the same way ~possibly even treated the same way as any other by their own species; when surely there could [and should] be various aspects and situations that would pertain only to an Argonian. :shrug:
*Like... merchants offering only an Argonian a de-scaler to help clean off the last skin; or a pub that exists at the bottom of a 50' pool, where few but Argonians can make the swim (and they like it that way).

No, they cant. The variable 1-100 are more than anything they could get from perks exclusively, basically have perks and attributes. Some people just couldn't understand a simple mechanic like attributes. they recite previous newbs by saying fallacies like "They were redundant", or they were "middlemen". None of which were true. Newbs just didnt want to have to think. and dont get me started on the "Oh No, Numbers!" crowd. They probably have never played a real RPG in their lives.