Immersion

Immersion is one of those little things that makes the world feel like it's not just an empty husk. I mean, it's still pretty empty but this guide will alleviate the boredom… or pain. These mods can range from big content packs, to smaller tweaks. Please note that most mods with the word “Immersive” in the title are most likely created by a dumbass who's just trying to advertise his mod to other dumbasses.

Alternate Starts

Dont you hate it when you want to make a new character but you have to go all the way through Helgen? Well with these two mods, you can totally forget about Helgen and even forget about becoming the Dragonborn too! USE ONLY ONE AT A TIME.

Realm of Lorkhan	My personal pick for Alternate Start mod. This starts you off in a safe tutorial realm where you can create your character and explore around. The realm also doubles as a pocket dimension that you can access every level.
Skyrim Unbound	Another great pick for alternate start mod. Skyrim Unbound starts the player off in various mod configuration menus where you pick all sorts of things about your player (including choosing not to be a dragonborn at all. This mod also edits the start of the Main Quest instead having it start when the player (If they are a dragonborn) kills a dragon.
Alternate Perspective	A different take on an Alternate start mod placing the player as a bystander during the original game opening. This mod also turns Helgen into a functional town and can remain a functional town if the player chooses. I haven't tried it out myself but I've heard good things
Opening Scene Overhaul	Restores a bunch of cut content from the original opening making it longer and better at setting the scene of the game. If you want a vanilla+ alternate start this is your mod!

Audio and Atmosphere

You might not think that audio plays a big role in immersion, but it actually does. Walking through a forest with the sounds of nature and light hearted fantasy music in the wind makes you feel right at home in a game like this. Also because listening to the song, Under an Ancient Sun, can get tiresome and repetitive for some people. A good change of music can make a big difference in how you want your game to feel like!

Chapter II - Jeremy Soule Inspired Music	Adds around 2 hours of exploration & town music using Jeremy Soule's composing techniques. New tracks are added regularly.
Acoustic Space Improvement Fixes	A compatible, vanilla-friendly lookover of every interior cell to stop small homes and shops from sounding like castles and chasms.
Skeletons of Daggerfall	LE mod that works out of the box with SE. This mod replaces the sounds of vanilla skeletons and replaces them with the sounds of skeleton warriors from The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall.
Combat Music Fix	Fixes the combat music bug
Sounds of Skyrim	Big overhaul to the ambient noises of Skyrim!
Whales Off The Coast	Uses Sound Record Distributor to play distant whale sounds while exploring coastal regions.
Distant Dragon Roars	Simple mod utilizing Sound Record Distributor to take vanilla distant dragon roars and add them as ambient sounds to exterior regions.
Murder of Songbirds	Utilizes Sound Record Distributor to play several varieties of bird (and bat) sounds throughout all regions of Skyrim. Including (but not limited to) hawks, crows, owls, seagulls, & woodpeckers.
Blackreach Eerie Ambience	Utilizes Sound Record Distributor to place eerie, ambient sounds in Blackreach. Optional Nirnroot Whisper included.
Nordic Winds	Utilizes Sound Record Distributor to replace regional wind loops with more unique varieties. FOMOD installer included.
Wildwood Echoes	Utilizes Sound Record Distributor to place new ambient sounds in the forests of Skyrim. Including (but not limited to) many natural tree sounds, wind gusts, frogs croaking, wolves howling, distant dogs barking, and more!
Ambient Warfare	Utilizes Sound Record Distributor to add ambient sounds of war to exterior regions.
Whispering Tomes of Apocrypha	Utilizes Sound Record Distributor to revamp the sounds of Apocrypha. Highly modular FOMOD installer included! Optional Base Object Swapper file to swap out sound markers.
Revenant Spirits of the Soul Cairn	Utilizes Sound Record Distributor to revamp the sounds of the Soul Cairn. FOMOD installer included. Optional Base Object Swapper file to remove lightning bolts.
Murmurs and Mead	Utilizes Base Object Swapper to replace the single vanilla tavern loop with 18 unique varieties, plus more! FOMOD installer included.
Ribbit Remix	Utilizes Base Object Swapper to replace almost every frog sound loop marker scattered through Skyrim with 26 new varieties.

Survival Overhauls

To make a mod good, sometimes you have to rework a certain aspect of the game. Adding new features while still keeping the game stable and fit with the rest of the original work. Here are a few overhaul mods that add brand new features to the game that will change your experience of Skyrim as you know it now. However, only use these mods on light loads as they are script heavy and impact your game. Some of these mods overlap with the CC Survival Mode. If you choose to use that plugin but don't want to use survival mode there will be mods covering how to do so in the Paid Mods section of the guide.

Shadow of Skyrim	Adds a defeat playstyle to the game. Instead of reverting to your last save when you die you'll be knocked out and wake up someplace else with some gear missing (configurable) and a new quest to go slay whatever killed you and recover your lost gear. Finally defeat is a valid playstyle!
Campfire	Campfire is the original camping mod. Adds new skill trees and camping system to the game.
Frostfall	Frostfall is the original survival mod. It uses Campfire to add new skill trees and overhauls the cold weather experience in Skyrim. Not for everyone but for some the game just isn't the same without it! Be sure to grab the updated patch
Last Seed	Last swan song of the great survival modder Chesko before he was put to the slave pits of Bethesda. Excellent needs mod and my personal choice above all other needs overhauls!

Roleplaying Elements

Do you want to RP in a single player game? Well my friend that sounds kind of dumb, but we can at least help you out with some very unique mods.

Auto Move	Makes the player move to custom destination using AI pathfinding. Helpful for those who don't use fast travel.
Transportato Real Time Trains and Ships	Mod that adds real time moving trains and ships. I personally recommend only using the trains since newer mods have made the ships plugin obsolete.
Animated Ships	NPCs sail their ship through ports, beaches, and sea. Player can ride on them.
Boats	Changes boats and ferries to transport the player in real time.
Striding Silt Strider	Silt Striders start to stride Solstheim.
Animated Carriage	Framework for carriages to move around the map dynamically. Make sure to grab the addon to add more carriage routes!
Sensible Bribes	Bribes make no sense in vanilla, as the value mostly depends on your level, not your speechcraft. This mod fixes that.
Coins of Interesting Natures	Adds new types of coinage of all different values to make Skyrim's economy more interesting and challenging.
Skyrim's Got Talent	Play instruments, get better, NPCs react to your skill dynamically, many new songs, lots of easter eggs, simple implementation. A compact, yet powerful Bard Gameplay Overhaul.
Immersive Rejections	Skyrim incel simulator.
NPCs Wear Amulets of Mara PLUS	NPCs who are DTF now wear amulets of Mara and can purpose to the player!
Wintersun	Overhaul of the religion system in the game giving the player a patreon deity to worship and earn rewards from!
No more Radial Blur	This mod removes radial blur completely
In Your Shadow	Lets the player choose whether or not they want to be the Dragonborn. Not compatible with Skyrim Unbound!

Nature and Weather

It's the small things that you admire in a vast game like this. Usually when you want to get immersed into something, you take it slowly and observe all the hidden elements it has to offer. Mods are no different.

Seasons of Skyrim	Huge overhaul to Skyrims seasonal system. There's a million addons to make seasons more in depth and interesting. The best place to start would be Turn of the Seasons which makes the seasons visually distinct. This mod really deserves it's own section down the line but for now this is what I have!
Cultured Orc Furniture	Beast races count as nature right? I don't know where to put this mod but it's really cute so go grab it!
Splashes Of Skyrim	SKSE plugin that adds projectile based water splashes and ripples, and underwater explosions.
Rain Ash And Snow Shaders	“R.A.S.S.” adds visual effects to the Player and NPCs during certain conditions.
Azurite Weathers and Seasons	My current pick for weather mod. Weather mods effect how the game looks dramatically so do your research and pick whatever seems best for you!
Smoking Torches and Candles	Candles and torches emit smoke now!
True Storms	Overhauls the storm system and weather effects of storms.
Northern Roads	A complete overhaul of every single road in Skyrim. Script-free fast travel disabler.

Dynamic World Mods

Similar to nature and weather mods these mods will change how your world changes over time. If you complete a quest to save a person's castle they should slowly rebuild? These mods are some of my favorites and really add a level of soul to the world!

Khajiit Has Wares - A Caravan Camp Overhaul	Adds new objects around the Khajiit Caravan Camps for some exotic flair.
Environs - Kolskeggr	Required Provides an overhaul to the area around Kolskeggr Mine and implements small dynamic changes to the location after clearing the mine. Makes the small quest feel more impactful and the location more interesting and memorable.
Environs - Whiterun Watchtower Doesn't Stay Broken	Required Rebuilds the Western Watchtower slowly over time after the dragon attack. A simple change of scenery to help Skyrim's world space feel more alive.
Environs - The Ruined Tundra Farmhouse	Required Adds dynamic changes that occur over time to the ruined farmhouse near Whiterun. An immersion mod that adds a small change of scenery to help Skyrim's world space feel more alive.
Environs - The Shrines of Talos	Required Adds a series of dynamic changes and environmental details to several locations related to Talos worship. An immersion mod designed to help make the world feel more alive and consequential.
Environs - Riften Warehouse	Required Turns the empty warehouse by Riften’s docks into an East Empire Company outpost after the quest to eliminate Riften's skooma supply.
Environs - Hroggar's House	Required After meeting Eisa Blackthorn at Frostmere Crypt she will now reside in Morthal and eventually rebuild the burned house that belonged to Hroggar.
Environs - Abandoned Abodes	Required Adds new NPCs to reside in buildings left empty after certain vanilla quests. Helps make cities feel a bit more lively and dynamic.
Environs - The Greenwood Shack	Required Adds dynamic changes that occur over time to the Greenwood Shack in Falkreath. At the start of the game, its inhabitants will be alive, but the location will evolve as the game's story unfolds. Creates a small change of scenery to help Skyrim's world space feel more alive.
The Stumbling Sabrecat	Opens a new tavern in one of the forts you clear out!
Depths of Skyrim	Overhauls the underwater environment and adds content to the sea of Ghosts.
The Blackest Reaches	This mod is a visual upgrade for Blackreach originally created by Sinisterax using only vanilla assets.
The Marshlands	Transforms much of the hjaalmarch march area into an immersive and claustrophobic flooded forest, particularly around movarth's lair and the abandoned shack near morthal.
Holidays	Adds several lore friend holiday celebrations around Skyrim. Works perfectly with Seasons of Skyrim to make the game actually feel like time is passing! Be sure to grab the script fix here
Oblivion gates	This mod adds twelve unique Oblivion Gate ruins throughout Skyrim. No this isn't the Oblivion gate mod by Arthmoor. Avoid that one.
Dark Anchors Ruins and Dolmens	This mod adds six Dolmens to both Eastmarch and Rift, placed in the exact locations they were in ESO.
Lawbringer	Adds the ability to capture forts and points of interest around Skyrim. Has a lot of addons for various quest mods!
Skyrim Realistic Conquering	Another overhaul that allows the player to capture forts but this one slowly fixes up the forts as time passes. Requires SRC - Exclude from Radiant System Options and Fort Takeovers Framework

Miscellaneous

Mods that don't fit into any of these previous sections. I honestly don't know where to put them, but here they are!

Note: This section is to remain empty until the Gameplay section is complete.

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