Skyrim:Races

There are ten playable races in Skyrim, each of which has its own unique abilities and powers, as well as a +10 bonus to one skill and +5 bonuses to five other skills. As a result, race is the only choice during the character creation process that has an effect on gameplay. The races can be organized into three categories:

Human	Mer (Elven)	Beast
Breton (Manmer) Imperial (Cyrodiils) Nord Redguard (Yokudans)	Altmer (High Elves) Bosmer (Wood Elves) Dunmer (Dark Elves) Orc (Orsimer or Pariah Folk)	Argonian (Saxhleel) Khajiit

Summary

The following table summarizes the differences between the ten playable races. Full details on all racial abilities and powers are provided on the individual race pages.

Race	Male	Female	Home Province	Abilities	Powers	Initial Bonuses	Height (M)	Height (F)
Altmer (High Elves) 00013743			Summerset Isle	+50 Magicka	Highborn Regenerate magicka 25x faster for 60 seconds, once per day	+10 Illusion +5 Alteration, Conjuration, Destruction, Enchanting, Restoration Additional Spell: Fury	1.08	1.08
Argonian 00013740			Black Marsh	Resist Disease 50% Waterbreathing Higher unarmed damage	Histskin Recover health 10x faster for 60 seconds, once per day	+10 Lockpicking +5 Alteration, Light Armor, Pickpocket, Restoration, Sneak	1.01	1.00
Bosmer (Wood Elves) 00013749			Valenwood	Resist Poison 50% Resist Disease 50%	Command Animal Make an animal an ally for 60 seconds, once per day	+10 Archery +5 Alchemy, Light Armor, Lockpicking, Pickpocket, Sneak	0.98	1.00
Breton 00013741			High Rock	Resist Magic 25%	Dragonskin Absorb 50% of the magicka from hostile spells for 60 seconds, once per day	+10 Conjuration +5 Alchemy, Alteration, Illusion, Restoration, Speech Additional Spell: Conjure Familiar	1.00	0.95
Dunmer (Dark Elves) 00013742			Morrowind	Resist Fire 50%	Ancestor's Wrath Opponents getting too close take 8 points of fire damage per second for 60 seconds, once per day	+10 Destruction +5 Alchemy, Alteration, Illusion, Light Armor, Sneak Additional Spell: Sparks	1.00	1.00
Imperial 00013744			Cyrodiil	Imperial Luck Imperials always find more gold.	Voice of the Emperor Calms nearby people for 60 seconds, once per day	+10 Restoration +5 Block, Destruction, Enchanting, Heavy Armor, One-handed	1.00	1.00
Khajiit 00013745			Elsweyr	Claws Claws do 12 damage.	Night Eye Improved night vision for 60 seconds, can be used multiple times a day.	+10 Sneak +5 Alchemy, Archery, Lockpicking, Pickpocket, One-handed	1.00	0.95
Nord 00013746			Skyrim	Resist Frost 50%	Battle Cry Targets flee for 30 seconds, once per day	+10 Two-handed +5 Block, Light Armor, One-handed, Smithing, Speech	1.03	1.03
Orc (Orsimer) 00013747			Orsinium	None	Berserker Rage You take half damage and do double damage for 60 seconds, once per day	+10 Heavy Armor +5 Block, Enchanting, One-handed, Smithing, Two-handed Additional status: Blood-Kin	1.045	1.045
Redguard 00013748			Hammerfell	Resist Poison 50%	Adrenaline Rush Stamina regenerates 10x faster for 60 seconds, once per day	+10 One-handed +5 Alteration, Archery, Block, Destruction, Smithing	1.005	1.00

Notes

• The movement speed of each race is dependent on its height. High Elves have the largest speed multiplier due to being the tallest race, with Orcs being second tallest.
• There are minor dialogue differences depending on what race you choose. For example, many people in the game will respond positively to you if you are a Nord but negatively if you are a Dunmer.
• Although the in-game text says "Khajiit claws do 15 points of damage.", the actual effect magnitude is only 12 points
• Along with information like height or skill bonuses a weight value can be found in the game data. The meaning or impact of that value is unclear however.

Weight	Altmer	Argonian	Bosmer	Breton	Dunmer	Imperial	Khajiit	Nord	Orc	Redguard
Female	0.5	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Male	0.5	0.5	1	1	1	1	0.5	1	1	1

Non-Playable Races

Other NPC races that exist in the game, but are not available to the player, are:

• Breton Child
• Elders (a.k.a. Old People Race)
• Dremora
• Imperial Child
• Invisible Race, the race of the Ancient Dragonborn^DB
• Nord Child
• Redguard Child
• Snow Elves^DG

All other races in the game are considered to be Creatures (every variety of creature has its own race), but are not detailed here because those races are not NPCs.