Looking for a way to create custom races in Skyrim? Today, we have compiled a list of 18 best Skyrim custom race mods that allow you to customize your character’s race and also add new and unique races to Skyrim that you have never heard of.
The vanilla races in Skyrim can feel quite boring after a point, especially if you have been playing the game for years now. But players who are looking for some interesting race choices can turn to some of the best Skyrim custom race mods to develop the characters they desire.
So if you are tired of spending hours adjusting the same sliders, stats, and attributes (e.g. head texture, male texture etc.) to create a perfect character, your misery is over! Because in this article, we have listed the 18 most popular and new custom race mods that you can use to enhance your character and customize them into a stronger one with the most attractive attributes and backstories.
Top 18 Best Skyrim Custom Race mods of All time
#1 COTR: HQ Characters Creation
HQ Characters Creation is a comprehensive appearance mod in Skyrim that changes the different face shapes of various races in Skyrim. This is the perfect mod for players who want to change the facial characteristics (such as structure) of their characters.
Some of the best features of this mod include:
- Dozens of new slides to edit the actors through Racemenu
- All new polygonal head models with great details that are much better than vanilla head models.
- Can work with body replacers such as UNP and CBBE.
To install the HQ Characters Creation mod, install the mod using the mod manager. If you are going to be a female character in the game, you can build your female in BS with the “Build morphs” option and then copy the texture files and body nif to the COR folders. And voila! You’ll be all done.
Download the HQ Characters Creation mod for Skyrim and Skyrim SE.
#2 Realm of Lorkhan
Realm of Lorkhan is a massive new realm which allows you to create your character all over again with exciting new possibilities and features. It allows you open the character creation menu and discover the real to customize your character’s stats, starting equipment (such as bows or swords), and create an interesting backstory.
The Realm of Lorkhan is full of mysteries and hidden secrets that are waiting to be revealed. The mod also brings permanent and new class buffs, standing stones, a “boons and curses” feature, some starting gear, and various portals to pick your starting location. You will be swayed away by the mesmerizing visuals!
Download the Realm of Lorkhan mod now for Skyrim and Skyrim SE.
#3 Imperious – Races of Skyrim
When it comes to the variety in the stats and abilities of races in Skyrim, there are very few options to choose. Of course you can pick khajiits in Skyrim for unarmed claw damage. However, your options are still limited.
The Imperious Races of Skyrim is a mod that adds unique starting stats and abilities for each race. So no matter which race you play with, every single one of them will feel worth it with their new stats and abilities. It adds three passive abilities and a new power for each race that can be availed after a new quest.
What’s more, these abilities and powers are not just limited to your character. They are also applied to the NPCs. There are many more customizable options available in the game through the MCM menus. So get your hands on this mod to diversify all the races in Skyrim today!
Download Imperious Races of Skyrim mod now for Skyrim, Skyrim SE (PC), and Xbox One.
#4 Enhanced Character Edit
If you are one of the rare souls who are not a big fan of the Racemenu, or if a certain mod is incompatible with your game, you should definitely check out Enhanced Character Edit (ECE). This mod adds advanced features to Skyrim and Skyrim Special Edition to give you more options for the cosmetic character creation.
In total, there are more than 50 sliders for cosmetic character creation, including expression and color sliders, lighting options, a zoom function, and the option to save and load the appearances. It even has the options to undo and redo different changes in case you have gone wrong with a feature. How cool, right?
Download the Enhanced Character Edit mod for Skyrim and Skyrim SE.
#5 CBBE
Caliente’s Beautiful Bodies Edition (CBBE) is one of the most top-rated body replacer mods out there for females in Skyrim. Usually, most of the clothing and armor mods only work with a certain mod, which limits your ability to pick various suits. The best part about this mod is that it can be paired up with Bodyslide and Outfit Studio, allowing you to create custom female bodies however you like.
Some of our favorite features about CBBE include:
- Option to create striking proportions by using the body slide functionality.
- Can be paired up with different movement mods to make your character’s movements appear more realistic.
- Comes with body shape presets in curvy, slim, and vanilla options if you don’t want to use Bodyslide.
Download the CBBE mod now for Skyrim and Skyrim SE!
#6 Racemenu
Racemenu is one of the biggest mods in Skyrim ever developed for custom races. The best part about this mod is that it is compatible with most of the face paint overlays and similar mods, which makes it really convenient to use. What’s more, it even works with mods that are not compatible with ECE.
But what does this mod actually do? Well, it completely revamps the character creation menu to add several features with sliders, such as foot paints, body paints, RGB war paints, and hand paint. The RGB color selection is available for nearly all the elements of a character, which makes it really cool.
Moreover, there is an incredibly comprehensive face sculpting mode as well as several camera rotation and lighting options to view your character while customizing it. How cool, right? So you can now build your own characters in Skyrim and Skyrim SE.
Download the Racemenu mod for Skyrim and Skyrim SE.
#7 Character Creation Overhaul
The Character Creation Overhaul mod brings some of the most loved character classes from Oblivion to Tamriel in Skyrim. If you are someone who loves concocting interesting backstories and classes for your character like in Oblivion and Morrowind, you may be pretty bummed about not having this option in Skyrim.
However, your days of misery are over. The Character Creation Overhaul mod for Skyrim is supported by most of the alternate start mods in the game, bringing so many new and exciting things for you. So nearly everything you love about these old classic games is back in Skyrim.
For instance, this mod brings back the birthsigns so that you can select which birthsign your character is born from. Moreover, all the 21 original classes from these games have come to Skyrim. You can even create a customized class of your own. Get all of this and more for both PC and Xbox One!
Download the Character Creation Overhaul mod now for Skyrim, Skyrim SE, and Xbox One.
#8 UNP Female Body Replacer
UNP Female Body Replacer is one of the best female body replacement mods for clothing and armor. This mod brings new facial and body textures for females with an option to equip undergarments. The proportions in these textures are so realistic that your character will not stand out as off among the NPCs. The eyebrow textures, especially, are really high-quality.
If you want to avoid the nudity in these textures, make sure to select the option for undergarments when installing the mod. Most of the best armor and clothing mods require this mod to work. So it’s definitely worth getting!
Download the UNP Female Body Replacer mod now for Skyrim and Skyrim SE.
#9 Custom Races
The Custom Races mod brings separate textures, skeletons, and meshes from all the characters in Skyrim. So you can edit your character to stand out from the NPCs. All the races and genders are covered under the mod. Moreover, some of the slider options are now unlocked so you can make changes in your character.
For instance, elves can now have human eye shapes, males can have orc beards and Redguard hair, and vampire, dremora, and elves eye colors are now available for everyone. Moreover, players can now easily become werewolves.
In total, the mod adds about 20 races, including the Custom Argonian race, Custom Breton Vampire race, and more. Although you won’t really have to use a different skeleton or head mesh from the vanilla meshes, you can still use them. You also don’t need 1st person, feet, and hand models. However, you can use them if the mod has them. You can also use the tri files from Expressive Facegen Morphs SE and Expressive Facial Animation.
Download the Custom Races mod for Skyrim and Skyrim SE.
#10 Requiem – Custom Races Patches
This patch makes the Custom Races mod compatible with Requiem, the original mod. It solves all the compatibility issues in the two mods by disabling health regeneration so you won’t receive any debug messages. Moreover, the mod edits the starting stamina, carry weight, magicka regeneration, and health regeneration to make Custom Races compatible with the vanilla races in Requiem.
The mod does not change anything else or use any assets. The patch comes in an esp plugin form with Custom Races and Requiem mods as master files. You will need the Requiem mod, the RaceCompatibility mod, Skyrim, and Dawnguard DLCs for this mod.
Download Requiem – Custom Races Patches for Skyrim.
#11 High Poly Head For Custom Races
This is an add-on mod for Custom Races that brings the incredible High Poly Head for over 30 custom races in Skyrim SE. It also comes with an Auto installer and a Vampire head fix.
Over 30 custom races can use the amazing High Poly Head on VectorPlexus. Now with a Vampire head fix and Auto installer. You can convert to a high poly head by using the Face Part slider. If the complexion of the head becomes dark, you can switch the player weight and the skin shader will be updated. The mod also has high poly versions for the vanilla scars, beard, and brows.
Download High Poly Head For Custom Races mod now for Skyrim Special Edition.
#12 Character Editor – All In One Customization Pack
This pack for Character Editor brings retextured horns for all the races. It also unlocks the human face complexion and many other complexion options for all races, including Dark Elves. For instance, the orcs in Skyrim will not appear to be pissed off all the time.
Additionally, this customization pack also adds new hair colors, skin colors, eye color options, and warpaints for all races, orc eyebrows for elves and humans, presets and new hairstyles, and unlocks hairstyles for each gender to be used with the opposite gender.
How cool, right? You can now edit your races and customize the relevant body part with the new additions. Hell, you can even mix and match the hair color, skin color, and other elements to create characters that appear like aliens.
Download the All In One Customization Pack for Character Editor today for Xbox One and PS4.
#13 Daedric Princess Nox – Skin Texture for Custom Race
If you are a fan of Daedric Princesses and would like to play as one, this is the perfect mod for you. This skin texture mod for custom races comes with UNP textures in 4K and 2K, including a RaceMenu preset and UUNP BodySlide. So you can now play like an evil Princess, known as Nox, which means night.
This mod is designed to be used with Custom Races mod, which lets you have your own meshes and textures without the NPCs having them. This unique mod brings highly detailed textured for Nox’s face, with has been sculpted to get a 3D look.
Moreover, the body uses a Fair Skin complexion. However, you can edit it to make the princesses more evil with Daedric skin. Whereas the muscles are beautifully chiseled and the skin has a shiny look, giving her a detailed overall look.
Download the Daedric Princess Nox mod now for Skyrim.
#14 Alternate Start – Live Another Life
Alternate Start is one of the best alternate life mods in Skyrim that allows you to skip the overly long tutorial and introduction in Skyrim and get to the good part. This mod adds all new options for your character to feel unique and for you to enjoy a wonderful playthrough.
With Alternate Start, you can bypass the intro and the tutorial to start the game at character creation. You will get multiple options to start as a hunter, a member of the guild, an orc as a member of The Companions, or as a land lord in the city. You can start the main story more quickly by walking back to Helgen and finding out about the recent dragon attack.
Download the Alternate Start mod for Skyrim, Skyrim SE, and Xbox One.
#15 Complete Custom Race Stats
Image Credits: ThieFsrevenge
The Complete Custom Race Stats mod allows you to change all the statistics and specifications of your character and configure them the way you want. You can pick your desired base skill levels, racial abilities for different races, and change the 35 skill levels to whatever you want for any race. So you are no longer restricted by Preset race stats, console commands, or .bat files.
However, do note that you will need to start a new gameplay for this mod to take effect. You can start changing stats before the executioner’s block and after the character creation menu. With this mod, you can select the base number from 0 to 15 for each skill and change all the stats and specifications of your character.
Download the Complete Custom Race Stats mod now for Skyrim.
#16 Aetherius – A Race Overhaul
The Aetherius mod is a complete overhaul of different races in Skyrim to balance them and make them more powerful. These include the elf, beast, and human races. The mod removes greater powers to make the passives more strong and attractive.
While all the races are supposed to have their own specific roles, the changes brought forward by this mod make room for various builds. Moreover, all the starting skill levels are also reduced by ten so that the player can focus more on their choice of race. Some of the races that have been overhauled include Argonian, Breton, Dark Elf, High Elf, Imperial, Khajiit, Nord, Redguard, Orc, and Wood Elf.
This is a pretty lightweight mod that does not interfere with any mods, excluding those that change the race records. It also does not use scripts so you will not run into any problems.
Download the Aetherius mod now for Skyrim, Skyrim SE (PC), PS4, and Xbox One.
#17 Predators — The Lost Tribes
If you are a fan of the Predator films, then you ought to have the Predators mod for Skyrim. This mod adds the Predator tribes to Skyrim and Skyrim SE. There are a total of three playable races of the Yautjas added to the game. Not only do these races look like Predators, but also have Dreadlock styles, eyes, heat vision, powers, and body customization options.
Moreover, the mod also adds 42 Predator weapons to the game, including gauntlets, necklaces, armor, equipment, melee weapons, wristblades, futuristic arms, mace, daggers, and more. You can mix and match these items to create a custom Predator character in Skyrim.
Download Predators — The Lost Tribes mod now for Skyrim and Skyrim SE.
#18 Fallen Minions – A Fallen Armor Pack
This alien-themed Skyrim mod adds alien civilizations from other planets, known as Eliksni, or “Fallen”. The Fallen have four arms and are insect-like creatures who blindly follow a God-like machine, called Traveler. These creatures are seeking revenge to fight the Darkness, in a mod created by ChakraSSE. This armor mod also adds different sets of equipment that are divided into Five Fallen units, including Vandal, Marauder, Wretch, Dreg, and Captain. So who needs alien proof when you have these creatures roaming the lands of Skyrim?
Download the Fallen Minions mod for Skyrim SE.
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Conclusion
So that’s all, folks! This list sums up some of the best Skyrim custom race mods for The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim and Skyrim Special Edition. These mods totally go with the Elder Scrolls lore and do not make massive changes like an entire galaxy overhaul.