STAGE · Creating your character
Choosing a race
Available from the startRace sets your look, gives three races a resistance or immunity, and online gives six races bonuses with particular weapons.
This page is further along your path. Read ahead if you’re curious; you can return when you reach this stage.
What race decides
Race sets your character's appearance: portrait, face set and body shape. It sets one defensive trait for three races, and online it adds combat bonuses with certain weapons for six. It does not add to attributes at creation (they come from your class plus a roll), and it does not raise skills.
The eight races
| Race | Body | Defence | Weapon bonuses (online) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Breton | Human | Resistance to Magic | None |
| Redguard | Human | None | Long Blade, Blunt Weapon, Axe, Archery |
| Nord | Human | Resistance to Frost | Axe, Blunt Weapon, bare hands (damage only) |
| Dark Elf | Elf | None | Long Blade, Short Blade |
| High Elf | Elf | Immunity to Paralysis | None |
| Wood Elf | Elf | None | Short Blade, Archery |
| Khajiit | Khajiit | None | Short Blade, bare hands |
| Argonian | Argonian | None | Short Blade |
No playable race carries a weakness: none has low tolerance or critical weakness to anything.
Racial weapon bonuses
The table shows each bonus for a character with 50 in every attribute, as an example. Higher attributes raise them.
| Race and weapon | Damage | To hit | Driven mostly by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Redguard, Long Blade | +2 | +9 | Agility |
| Redguard, Blunt Weapon | +2 | +5 | Strength |
| Redguard, Axe | +4 | +3 | Strength |
| Redguard, Archery | +2 | +4 | Agility |
| Nord, Axe | +4 | +3 | Strength |
| Nord, Blunt Weapon | +4 | +4 | Strength, Endurance |
| Nord, bare hands | +2 | +0 | Strength, Endurance |
| Dark Elf, Long Blade | +4 | +4 | Agility, Strength |
| Dark Elf, Short Blade | +2 | +3 | Agility, Speed |
| Wood Elf, Short Blade | +2 | +4 | Agility |
| Wood Elf, Archery | +4 | +9 | Agility, Strength |
| Khajiit, Short Blade | +2 | +4 | Agility |
| Khajiit, bare hands | +4 | +6 | Strength, Endurance, Agility |
| Argonian, Short Blade | +2 | +5 | Agility |
A matching race and class weapon add up: a Wood Elf archer gets the racial archery bonus and any bonus their class gives for archery.
How much the racial effects matter
When a hostile spell or effect reaches you, you get a saving throw: a chance to shrug it off, starting at 50%. Racial effects change that chance:
| Racial effect | Effect on your saving chance |
|---|---|
| Resistance (Breton: magic; Nord: frost) | +30 points (50% becomes 80%) |
| Immunity (High Elf: paralysis) | Set to 100%: the effect never lands |
Immunity to Paralysis (High Elf) is the strongest of the three. Paralysis stops you acting entirely. A class can undo it, though: a custom class with low tolerance or critical weakness to paralysis cancels the racial immunity (see Custom classes).
Resistance to Magic (Breton) applies to spells that carry the magic flag, which covers a wide range of hostile magic.
Resistance to Frost (Nord) applies to frost spells and effects.
Class traits add on top. A custom class can buy a resistance (+25 points) or an immunity (+50 points), and these add to the racial bonus, so a Breton with a class resistance to magic saves at 50 + 30 + 25. The chance always stays between 5% and 95% unless something grants full immunity.
Next
Sources & checked facts
src/systems/races.js:RACES(ids 1-8),RACE_TEMPLATES,MORPHOLOGY_OF,RACE_EFFECT_FLAGS,build(Breton magic resistance, Nord frost resistance, High Elf paralysis immunity; no other flags, no weaknesses)src/systems/chargen.js:rollStats(attributes from the career, not the race),applyCharactersrc/combat/pcaao.js:pcaaoRacialModifiers(per race, per weapon skill, stat-driven; bare hands for Khajiit and Nord); used bysrc/combat/combatStats.jswhen the overhaul core is activesrc/systems/online/onlineLane.js:ONLINE_ROOM_MOD_KEYS/ONLINE_WHOLE_MODS(pcaaoforced on, whole)src/systems/effects.js:isEntityImmuneToParalysis(racial immunity unless the career has low tolerance or critical weakness)src/systems/spellcast.js:savingChance(base 50; racial resistance +30, racial immunity 100; career resistant +25, immune +50, low tolerance -25, critical weakness -50; clamped 5-95 unless immune)Research note:
handbook/research/C1.md