Which races are "canon" and which are not?

[MarkInMKUK]

I've got the Race Rebalancing Project installed, and (like Beautiful People) it adds a few extra races, including assorted elf variants. Which races are "lore compliant" and which are "just tacked on cos they look cool", and how do I go about disabling the latter in race menu, without screwing up their use in people's mods? Edited February 16, 2011 by MarkInMKUK

[micalov]

Dont use Beautiful ppl so no clue wha it contains but list of lore races http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Races

 

To "remove" them simply open the ESP with CS and under race sectin untick playable under ext/discription tab of that race, aslong as any depended mods dont require them for NPC's

[MarkInMKUK]

Yes, npc's is the problem - hence the question. I know you can thoroughly bork the game setting npcs to unplayable.

[chaospearl]

What exactly are you trying to achieve?

 

If you're worried that by using a mod that adds non-canon races to the game as playable options, you'll end up with random NPCs wandering around as that race -- don't be. Each NPC in the vanilla game is already assigned a specific race and that won't change just because new races are added by Race Balancing Project or any other. The only NPCs that will be of the new race are the ones added specifically by a mod that is aware of that race (and if so, it'll tell you in the mod's description that you need to have the particular race installed otherwise the mod won't run).

 

So even if you have RBP installed, you won't ever see any of the new races UNLESS you choose your PC to be one, or you also use a mod that specifically alters the races of existing NPCs or adds new NPCs.

 

If you don't want to see NPCs who are non-lore races, then don't use mods that add NPCs of new races. There really aren't that many of those, anyway, since mod authors tend to steer away from stuff that requires people to have a particular race installed. It cuts down on "your mod is broken, this sucks!" posts from people who didn't bother to read the docs and don't have the required race installed. If a mod requires a specific race, it'll say so loud and clear in the description, or it'll come with the files from that race already packed into the mod.

 

If you really, really want to use a mod that adds non-lore NPCs, but you can't stand the Hidden Elves walking around in your game, your only option is to go into that mod's guts with the CS and change the race of the offending NPCs. It's pretty easy to do.

[Ferryt]

You know, if you're concerned about "lore-compliance" in Oblivion, try to rethink your stance. One thing which Oblivion is not, is lore-compliant. Bethesda pretty much threw lore out the window when they made Oblivion. :) It's pretty much its own game with vague, shadowy connections to previous Elder Scrolls incarnations. While I really don't want to see hobbits, aliens (as in the movie), and the like in my game, I really don't mind mods that take a little bit of license with existing races. I love the Khajiit based upon the snow-leopard, for instance, even though that's obviously not lore-compliant. I use the Cobl "Balanced Races" option, which modifies the game in non-lore-compliant ways. I really don't see that trying to make Oblivion an extension of Morrowind is worth the bother.

[MarkInMKUK]

The thing I'm getting annoyed about (probably because I'm in a Victor Meldrew kind of mood) is having to wade through 15 extra races which are added to my initial options purely because the modmaker has a npc of a new variant race and hasn't worked out how to make it work unless they make it playable. I think the first one was the mod that customised Uriel and Martin Septim to look like Patrick Stewart and Sean Bean, and added both of them as separate playable races! When you get to some bigger mods, they add things like Beautiful People or Race Balancing Project as pre-requisites, and hence I get a shedload of variants on mystic elves and enough static hairs to supply several wigmaker's shops.

 

OK, maybe I'm just suffering from being an old curmudgeon.

 

<mutters something about 'I don't believe it! as he wanders off into cyberspace>

[ElricOfGrans]

You know, if you just checked the RBP readme it actually tells you which are vanilla races, which are mod races based on actual lore (eg Ohmes-raht), and which are just purely in because they are cool (eg Hidden Elf). You should always, always, always start with the readme.

[MarkInMKUK]

Aaarghh! I've been RTFM'd!

 

Good point, although it doesn't help the second part of the query.

[Ferryt]

Oh noes! Captain Picard got killed by the Mythic Dawn! Call out Starfleet -- every available ship. We'll blast Nirn into red hot cinders!

 

Seriously, though? I thought it was quite enough that they used him for Uriel Septim's voice ... and then we find out later on in the game that he also voiced one of the beggars. I still wind up doing a double-take on that, even though I know it's going to happen, now.

 

Actually, though, I think the malady you're suffering from is "moditis". You just don't know when to leave well enough alone. Personally, I'm totally not interested in installing a bunch of other races. I added the Cobl ones because I wanted Balanced Races and I sort of wanted to see the included custom races, but after seeing them I doubt I'll ever play one. I like having eyes that look more cat-like, and the extra hairstyle that I settled upon for the Khajiit character I'm playing now, and I like the racial balancing that Cobl does, but that's about it. For the most part, though, Oblivion already has more races than I'll ever play. No mod should force you to add races you don't want. That's just my opinion, but I think its a sound principle for people who release mods that include additional races to follow.

[MarkInMKUK]

We can't call out Starfleet yet - the guy working on the Enterprise model did Kirk's ship not Picard's one! Darn, now I'm hijacking my own thread!