Hello everyone,

So, in regards to a relatively recent post by MK on how different races, especially beast races, in TES should be more unique down to the user interface and mechanics that the player has access to, I was thinking up some ideas of what would potentially be cool to see in TES: 6 to make the roleplaying experience of different races truly unique.

What I'm suggesting is adding a certain flair to each race as we play it to allow those players who are actually passionate about their race to demonstrate that with actual in-game mechanics that are consistent with lore. Personally, I think this can be easily achieved by simply adding an additional greater or minor racial power to the ones already defined for the races, and allow these to help the player immerse in his racial choice. Here are some of my ideas about potential diversification, but I would love to hear from you if it sounds logical, and more importantly, if you also have awesome ideas

1. The Altmer: Considering their unique mythology and folklore, I've always considered the Altmer to be a rather mystical race, down to differences in physiology and psychology if you wish. Of course, they have always received more magicka as a passive racial, and in Skyrim they can regenerate it very, very quickly, but I still think there is much potential to make the race truly, uniquely distinct. It would be cool, I think, to add an extra greater power like "Gift of Magnus" or "Auriel's embrace" that would help the Altmer establish a stronger mystical connection with their patron deities by absorbing the most abundant source of magic on Nirn... sunlight. Just standing in the Sun and activating the power, followed by a short animation of the Altmer assuming a mystical, praying posture and absorbing sunlight itself to further increase his magicka and mana regeneration for 8 hours (the Bretons would also have increased magicka, let's say 50, but with "Gift of Magnus" perhaps the Altmer can go up to 75? 100?). Praying at Daedric altars of shrines, however, removes the blessing.

2. The Bosmer: The famous Green Pact seems to be a very, very tricky one to implement. In Skyrim, of course, we had the "Ring of Namira", which was the best way to properly honor the pact by consuming an enemy's flesh.But think about it - how cool would it be to actually be able to take a bite from an enemy's corpse and uphold the thousand-years old traditions of your people? Thus, there could be a minor racial power "In Yffre's Honor", available multiple times a day, which would allow the Bosmer to take a bite from an enemy's flesh and gain a bonus to health and stamina regeneration, or a flat bonus to health and stamina themselves, for a short duration (30 seconds, 5 mins etc). Kind of like a mini Ring of Namira right there. If the Bosmer, however, picks or eats any plantlife while the bonus is active, she/he will lose the "Honor the Pact" buff.

3. The Dunmer: The Dunmer have always fascinated me. With the intricacy of house conspiracies, Daedra worship and ancestor worship, I think there are a lot of things that can be done with the Dunmer to make them even more distinct. Now, traditionally, the Dunmer have always been able to summon an ancestor's spirit to aid them, usually in battle - with "Ancestor's Wrath" and "Summon Ancestor Guardian", the Dunmer clearly have a thing for ancestor necromancy. Wouldn't it be cool, however, apart from summoning spirits to aid them in battle, for the Dunmer to also summon ancestors for "advice", if you will. Summon an ancestor spirit to grant you his blessings and insight for 8 hours. Now, what that bonus would be I'm still not sure, but there is a lot of room in terms of unique animations - kneeling before a pyre/fire and uttering weird, ghostly sounds, and an orb of fire dispersing around the Dunmer to grant him insight, wisdom and blessings to aid in the future. Praying at a Aedric shrine, however, removes the buff (but praying after the blessing, of course).

4. The Orsimer: Now, for the Orcs, I don't have as many inspirational ideas, but I think it would be cool if they could invoke some of Malacath's/Mauloch's power by drawing their blood with a weapon. Utter the code of Mauloch, utter a prayer to the mighty king-god of the Orcs, cut yourself and let the blood flow, knowing that you will receive a boon to aid you. This could be, perhaps, a flat HP bonus for 8 hours, or HP regen, or something like that. You get the idea.

5. The Humans: Now, I think the humans are supposed to be normal and rather mediocre, and very, very diverse and split in factions - they are humans, after all. Thus, I think it would be cooler to make them more diverse when you actually create them, picking a unique "background" to notify the unique human sub-culture that has shaped your childhood and, more importantly, your skill bonuses. The Bretons, for example, could choose between "Iliac Bay" ancestry, referring to mainstream Breton culture, and "Born of the Reach", if you want to play as a reachman. The only difference would be in the skill bonuses, with the people of the Reach getting, perhaps, a bonus to destruction and one-handed and light armor, while the mainstreams being more magic and defensive oriented. With the Imperials it's even easier - Colovians and Nibenese, warriors and diplomats/mages. This mechanic is possible with the Redguards as well - warrior-nomads of the Alik'r desert, or more mainstream citizens of the coastal regions. The only race I can't really split into two distinct ethnicities/cultures is perhaps the Nords, but I'm sure we can think of something. But you get my idea - not so much give the humans extra racial powers, because there isn't so much about them in terms of that, but rather give them more diversity/roleplaying opportunity at the very start, at character creation.

6. The beasts: Now, I'm personally not a huge fan of the beast races, but in this section there is the greatest freedom you can get to make the Khajiit and the Argonians truly unique. With 16+ breeds of Khajiit, and the Hist trees and hist sap, you can make a lot of interesting changes. What about choosing a Khajiit sub-race (from the bipedal ones, of course), and allowing the Argonians to actually drink sap, which can temporarily increase stats? With unique animations, of course. Or allow Argonians even to communicate with Hist Trees. There is so much potential with these races, it's hard to even start putting down ideas.

So, what do you guys think? Any ideas of your own? Do you expect Bethesda to do something like that in the future?