About This File
Drow Race - Unofficial Dawnguard Edition
Version: 2.5.2a
Last update: March 29th, 2014
Requires Skyrim v1.9.32.0 and Dawnguard DLC.
Supports UNP, UNPB, CNHF, CBBE, SeveNBase, CHSBHC and ADEC body replacers.
This mod is an unofficial and unauthorized update to Zazemel's 'Drow Race BETA', made due to the author's absence primarily for my personal use. In addition to just updating it, I've tried to make the drow more authentic to the source material.
New in 2.5.2a
- Hotfix: Reverted 1st person flags back to normal to fix a mystery crash with cloaks. Oops?
New in 2.5.2!
- Partial SOS support. Thanks to b3lisario.
- Replaced the male body textures.
- CharGen Extended works out of the box now, no ini editing involved. Thanks Expired6978.
- Internal cleaning.
How is this different from Zazemel's original mod?
- 100% Dawnguard & Dragonborn compatible.
- Mounted combat compatible.
- Uses 'RaceCompatibility for Dawnguard' by TMPhoenix.
- Cleaned the plug-in with TES5Edit and removed unused files and references.
- Can be used with any body replacer that is compatible with textures from UNP, CBBE, CHSBHC or ADEC bodies.
- Drow racials are now Spell Resistance (25%) and Darkvision.
- Drow are now shorter and skinnier, and males are now shorter than females.
- Drow Vampire appearance can now be safely altered with the race menu.
- Removed the Drow Child race.
[ INSTALLATION ]
1). Use WinRAR, 7z or an equillevant program to extract the contents of the download to your Skyrim data folder.
Default location is 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\Skyrim\Data\'
2). If you are using one of the following bodies: CBBE, CHSBHC or ADEC body, copy the appropriate texture files from Optional Files folder.
3). Enable the files from the launcher.
4). If for some reason you're not using the 'Unofficial Skyrim Patch', delete the file 'RaceCompatibilityUSKPOverride.esp'.
Note to CNHF users:
As of v2.5, CNHF uses UNP compatible textures. Textures for the older version of the body are no longer included in this package.
Note to Better Vampires users:
Download 'Race Compatibility for Skyrim and Dawnguard' for a compatibility patch.
Note on custom skeletons:
Drow race will automatically use any skeleton that you have currently installed in default path.
[ WHAT ARE THE DROW? ]
Drow are what people usually think first when they hear the name Dark Elf. They are an evil race of dark elves from the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop roleplaying game, and they were popularised in 1980's by books taking place in the Forgotten Realms setting, which has been featured in most D&D based computer games such as 'Baldur's Gate' and 'Neverwinter Nights'.
Exiled from the surface after an elven civil war, drow are now native to the Underdark, a vast network of subterrean caverns, which is inhabited by some of the most dangerous creatures on the world of Toril.
Drow elves live in large, heavily fortified cities and they are organized in Great and Lesser Houses that are engaged in constant strife and secret warfare with each other. Each drow House is ruled by its Matron Mother who holds absolute authority over her people. Most powerful Matron Mothers form the city's Ruling Council.
As the drow are a theocratic society and always seeking the favour of their spider-goddess Lolth who allows only female clergy, drow are completely female dominated society in every aspect.
Males, who are practically always smaller and weaker than the females, have no real social standing beyond of what skills and talent they can provide.
How did your drow character end up on Tamriel? That's not for me to decide, but I'll provide bit of a backstory if you need help with it...
You could be the last surviving member of a fallen House. While being hunted you found an ancient devide capable of opening doors to a thousand different worlds. As a crossbow bolt barely misses you there is no time to hesitate. You jump through the portal and find yourself in middle of a scene of battle. Disoriented from the planar travel and blinded by the sunlight and snow, you're captured by a group of surfacers - human soldiers who call themselves imperials.
As you're loaded on the cart with other prisoners you realise that your captors don't seem to be bothered at all by your appearance, as if seeing a dark elf is nothing out of ordinary to them. What can that possibly mean?
[ Q & A ]
Q: Do I need the original 'Drow Race BETA' installed?
A: No, and just to be safe you should uninstall it completely first before updating to this.
Q: Will you put the child race back?
A: No.
Q: Does this work with my old 'Drow Race BETA' saves?
A: It should work as long as you're not using the removed child race. You may have to enter the race menu again to fix skin colour if it's mismatched.
Q: OMG the presets are so ugly!
A: Hey that isn't a question! Well I've thought of replacing them, but with RaceMenu & CharGen Extended around you can make any face you want and save your own presets, so I see very little point in bothering anymore.
Q: How about support for Lady Body?
A: I'd like to make it happen, but doing it would involve jumping through lots of extra hoops to get it working, so I can't be bothered unless lots of people suddenly start pestering me about it.
Q: I liked the skin gloss from the earlier versions. Is there any way to restore it?
A: Either adjust the brightness of the specular maps by 10-15%, or alternatively try out GlossTech program to restore it.
[ KNOWN ISSUES ]
- If you change your character's race after becoming a vampire lord, your Revert Form power will be broken.
This is a Dawnguard bug and not caused by this mod and a fix for it is available here: http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/11307
- Reportedly some other custom races can break this mod. Disable them if you run into any issues to see if that fixes it.
- Darkvision doesn't work with ENB.
[ CREDITS ]
Zazemel - Original 'Drow Race - BETA' mod
TMPhoenix - RaceCompatibility for Skyrim and Dawnguard
betterbecause - UNP/CBBE textures from 'True Daughters of Skyrim'
AnTiWoMaAgNoT - CHSBHC textures
AcDale - ADEC textures
Male body textures from Schlongs of Skyrim.
Visit the original mod pages for full credits.
If your work is included in this mod but you are not credited here, please let me know and I'll correct it as soon as possible.
[ PERMISSIONS ]
Although I've tried to credit everyone involved, I don't have permission to use the original mod or any of the assets included or later added. That said, as far as I'm concerned, you can redistribute or modify this mod freely as long as you understand that uploading it to certain websites such as Nexus or Steam will be a undisputable violation of their rules. You have been warned.
[ LINKS ]
Drow Race - BETA (NOT REQUIRED! DO NOT USE WITH THIS MOD!)
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/16399
- Original mod page for reference only. Obsolete, do not download.
RaceMenu by Expired
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/29624
- Highly recommended for additional character customization options.
CharGen Extension by Expired
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/36925
- Highly recommended for additional character customization options.
XP32 Maximum Skeleton -XPMS by xp32
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/26800
- Recommended skeleton replacer.
Werewolf script _ Vampire Lord fix
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/11307
- Use only if your Revert Form power was broken by a character race change.
CNHF v2_5 Female Body Replacer by calyps & nuska
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/44979
- Recommended body replacer.
Calientes Female Body Mod Big Bottom Edition -CBBE-
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/2666
- Supported body replacer.
DIMONIZED UNP female body by dimon99
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/6709
- Supported body replacer.
UNP BLESSED BODY UNPB - With Optional BBP Breast Physics
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/14899
- Supported body replacer.
SeveNBase a custom FemaleBodyReplacer by Crosscrusade DeMoNhUnTeR1986 Sevennity
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/36992
- Supported body replacer.
CHSBHC - BBP - Nude and Jiggly Mod by CherryHotaling
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/4888
- Supported body replacer.
Acdale EyeCandy Body ADEC now TBBP Compatible by AcDale
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/5390
- Supported body replacer.