The Bretons are among the most mysterious and unique human races of Tamriel.
One of the main reasons is the theory that they’re not 100% human but instead descended from ancient humans and Aldmeri – leading some to call the Bretons “Manmeri.”
Their natural predisposition toward magic makes a Breton Dragonborn fantastic if you want to play as a spellsword or a full-on mage.
Here’s a collection of mods worth trying to improve your Breton experience, whether by making your character more attractive, or introducing awesome Breton-themed content.
Enai Siaion’s Imperious is a classic, must-have racial mod meant to diversify the races of Skyrim. It achieves this by overhauling their stats, powers, and racial abilities.
It adds three new potential racial abilities for each race, and introduces a race-specific quest to unlock a new power.
As expected of a race well-known for their magical prowess, Bretons start with a little extra Magicka and Magicka regeneration – though not as much as the Aldmeri.
My favorite new Breton ability is Stones of Galen, which makes standing stones grant additional effects. This works well with the quest-locked power, Shared Ancestry, which lets you copy the racial powers of other characters once a day.
But you don’t need to spend even a minute in character creation to play as an attractive Breton.
You just need to download Polingc’s Duncan de la Fonte, a dashing Breton adventurer preset with a miraculously well-groomed beard and great hair.
The creator describes Duncan as a former special agent in service of Daggerfall lords. After a nasty mission, he decided to quit and cross the border to Skyrim to start a new life.
Of course, you don’t have to play Duncan as the creator intended. He doesn’t even have to be called Duncan!
Whatever you choose to do, you’ll look amazing doing it.
If you’d rather play as an attractive Breton woman, check out Xayany’s Evanescence preset.
Fit for a vampire or a high-born Daggerfall lady, this preset has refined features, a strong jawline, and gorgeous blue eyes. The contrast between the dark chestnut hair and porcelain white skin gives this preset an air of nobility and grandeur.
It’s never explicitly stated anywhere on the mod’s description, but this preset doesn’t only share a name with the famous American rock band. It’s easy to find similarities between this preset and Evanescence lead singer Amy Lee in her younger years.
Not everyone wants to play as a strong willful woman from the beginning.
Sometimes, you’d rather watch a shy pixie slowly unfurl her wings as you level up and develop your character’s magical powers.
MrSkeliman’s Mira is the perfect high-poly preset for such a character.
Mira has a delicate face with small, refined features that look precious and fragile. She might have grown a sheltered Breton noble, or perhaps she escaped from a convent somewhere in High Rock.
Either way, bandits and other wrongdoers will have their minds blown when this little lady goes Fus Ro Dah on them.
Another incredible Breton preset you have to try if your rig can handle high-poly faces is Brida – a beautiful and robust female huntress from High Rock.
With cute freckles, thick and healthy eyebrows, and a firm gaze, Brida looks like the quintessential outdoorsy bombshell.
Brida comes in two versions – the regular, cleaner one that’s fit for mages or any “delicate” class, and an optional Huntress version with more unkempt hair and blue war paint on her skin.
The rough and tough version greatly resembles Brida from The Last Kingdom, who served as the character’s inspiration.
Once you’ve created the perfect Breton character, it’s time to find you some authentic High Rock equipment.
Knights, paladins, and other heavily armored warriors will love The Breton Paladin set by FrankFamily – based on Breton armor from Elder Scrolls Online.
This intricately ornamented full plate armor is what you’d expect of a mythical questing knight of Arthurian lore like Sir Lancelot or Sir Tristan. Even King Arthur himself would be pleased with this masterpiece.
The set includes:
The whole plate armor
Two different helmets
A ring
A greatsword
A mace
And one of the most amazing shields I’ve seen in a Skyrim mod
And there are three versions of the armor, each made of a different material. There’s the average steel, a lighter-colored alternative, and a “black knight” ebony version I’m sure you’ll go crazy for.
Not everyone likes heavily-armored characters, especially when you’re playing with the magically-oriented Bretons.
Breton Apparel – Imperial Renaissance by Odelaly is the perfect mod for Breton mages, bards, and negotiators of Skyrim.
The pack includes three outfits intended for a fancy wizard, a wizened philosopher, and a pious cleric.
You need only look at the glorious Elizabethan ruff on these ‘fits to know the wearer is a noble soul, a scholar, and a person of culture – Breton culture.
Roleplaying a true Breton isn’t just about looking the part – you also have to live it.
Creator Joopvandie invites us to explore Haafstad & The Border of High Rock, a new playable area based on the towns and islands connecting High Rock and Skyrim.
This new land mod utilizes the previously inaccessible empty space beyond Skyrim’s border to build the Nord town of Haafstad and the Breton Lordship of Pinemarch. You’ll also gain access to the island of Kirkmore by boat.
This mod features custom Breton architecture, fully functional NPCs, and voiced followers.
There are also new monsters guarding four dungeons filled with Breton treasure – and two new player homes in High Rock.
A much more grim picture of High Rock is painted by the Beyond Reach mod – a DLC-sized adventure brimming with intrigue, dark plots, and moral dilemmas.
You’ll have to use every trick in your toolbox to survive this hardcore campaign.
War, curses, famine, and disease threaten to consume the Reach – and you thought Skyrim’s civil war and dragons were bad enough.
The land beyond Markarth is the size of three Skyrim holds, full of new factions and NPCs who’ll drag you into their struggles and put you at odds with great powers, both human and divine.
If you want to take the Breton roleplay to the next level, you can begin your adventure across the border in Haafstad & The Border of High Rock or Beyond Reach with the Alternate Start mod.
Nelson Chitty is a Venezuelan expat living in Argentina. He’s a writer and translator passionate about history and foreign cultures. His ideal weekend is spent between leisurely playing games of Civilization VI and looking for the next seinen anime to marathon.
