Morrowind:Breton

Illustration of a typical Breton male.

Bretons are the human descendants of the Aldmeri-Nedic Manmer of the Merethic Era and are now the inhabitants of the province of High Rock. They are united in culture and language, even though they are divided politically, for High Rock is a fractious region. Bretons make up the peasantry, soldiery, and magical elite of the feudal kingdoms that compete for power. Many are capable mages with innate resistance to magicka. They are known for a proficiency in abstract thinking and unique customs. Bretons appear, by and large, much like other pale-skinned humans. They are usually slight of build and not as muscular as Nords or Redguards. Their Elvish ancestry is usually only detectable upon a closer inspection of their eyebrows, ears, or high cheekbones, though many individual Bretons appear to be more Nordic or Imperial than anything else. The great diversity in their appearance is to be expected from their politically fractured society, though their clothes, accents, customs and names are fairly uniform.

For more information, see the main Lore article.

Base Attributes Attribute M F Strength 40 30 Intelligence 50 50 Willpower 50 50 Agility 30 30 Speed 30 40 Endurance 30 30 Personality 40 40 Luck 40 40

Skill Bonuses Skill Bonus  Conjuration +10  Mysticism +10  Restoration +10  Alchemy +5  Alteration +5  Illusion +5

In-Game Description Passionate and eccentric, poetic and flamboyant, intelligent and willful, the Bretons feel an inborn, instinctive bond with the mercurial forces of magic and the supernatural. Many great sorcerers have come out of their home province of High Rock, and in addition to their quick and perceptive grasp of spellcraft, enchantment, and alchemy, even the humblest of Bretons can boast a high resistance to destructive and dominating magical energies. Specials Power: Dragon Skin -  Shield 50pts for 60sec on Self Ability:  Resist Magicka 50% Ability:  Fortify Maximum Magicka 0.5x INT (50% more Magicka)

Ideal Character

Bretons are good magical characters, more interested in using magic for their own personal use than hurting others. Their bonuses are entirely in the school of magic, so it makes sense that you'd get some extra magicka to work with. You might also consider backing your Breton up with a magicka enhancing sign for a further Magicka boost, particularly if you plan of focussing mostly or entirely on magic for dealing with enemies. Another nice bonus is the magic resistance. Quite the opposite from the almost-berserker mindset the Altmer have toward magic, a 50% magic resistance can make many negative effects seem much more manageable. It is worth knowing that there are relatively few enemies using genuinely dangerous Magicka spells, Vampires being a notable exception, so an innate Resist Magicka Ability is not as exciting as it may initially seem as it does not protect at all against all those powerful elemental spells. However, it is a significant boost towards getting a 100% Resistance to Magicka which can be helpful in a variety of ways, from wearing the Boots of Blinding Speed without penalty right up to shrugging off annoying Bonewalker attacks.

Unfortunately, the Bretons have no offensive skill bonuses to speak of. It should be borne in mind however that racial Skill bonuses are usually only slight, being a matter of 5 or 10 points, and they make no significant difference in the long run. So even though, for example, a Breton may not have a Destruction bonus, it would not take long to make up that difference even through natural skill-raising. Possibly in the early stages of the game you may want to support your magic with some non-magical method of damage, perhaps using your magic to enhance yourself or hinder your enemy rather than damaging them directly. Using Conjuration to have your summoned creatures fight for you is another way to get around the non-offensive magic.

Notes

• A list of all the Bretons in Morrowind can be found here.