It's been a while since our most recent Complete Skyrim Overhaul article, which rounded-up the best graphics mods and quest mods for Skyrim, and now we're back! With Christmas creeping just days away, Skyrim's modding community has kicked into the spirit of bringing Rudolph-like mounts, trees, Falmer workshops, gifts, and candy cane weaponry (useful for subduing other shoppers) to the game.
This quick Skyrim mod round-up helps you bring the holidays (or Saturalia) to Skyrim. Let's jump to it!
Father Christmas / Santa Claus Follower
Nothing says "Christmas" like an intrusive, drunken fat man shouting racial slurs at Dunmer. This silly mod adds a Santa Claus follower to the game, who can be located in Winterhold and recruited at the player's level. Father Christmas is a standard follower and is fairly unremarkable beyond his Santa outfit and goodies in his inventory.
Download link: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=203337068
Skyrim Flying Rudolph Mount Mod
He's one of the season's most prolific characters and he has now invaded Skyrim. This one doesn't try to cover-up with lore, and instead just drops a flying Rudolph mount straight into Skyrim. The mount is presented to the player by means of a courier, and after some bell-ringing, you'll get a new "Happy Thoughts" power to summon Rudolph.
Flight is handled just like swimming. Aim your camera at the intended direction and proceed ahead.
Download link: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/48591/
Saturalia - Christmas in Skyrim Mod
This is one of the most comprehensive Christmas-themed mods for Skyrim; it even goes through the effort of attempting to provide some lore/back-story, shrouding the add-ons under the guise of Saturalia -- Skyrim's Xmas equivalent.
Saturalia revamps fortresses and player housing with holiday decorations, adds carolers to Skyrim's cities, and introduces Father Saturalia's Workshop -- a shop filled with Falmer workers under a grueling taskmaster.
"Saturalia trees," presents, and food are also added to the game.
Download link: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/28093/
Festive Weapons & Armor Mods
If you've ever had a craving to smash someone's head in with a candy cane, you should probably see a doctor. You should also download this mod, though. This one replaces Akaviri Katanas, glass daggers, and hunting bows with a festive retexture; as an added bonus, combine this mod with the Festive Armor mod for the full "murderous, overworked workshop elf" effect.
Weapons download link: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/4352/?
Armor download link: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/4425/?
Christmas in Whiterun
Perhaps one of the more ambitious mods, Christmas in Whiterun adds a snowy theme to the city's streets, hosts wrapped packages throughout the town, and features a large, decorated tree in the city square. Snowmen, gingerbread men, and lights are present along Whiterun's streets.
In addition to these changes, a candy cane weapon set and Santa hat are made available to the player, similar to our above Festive Weapons mod.
Download link: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/28715/
Special Events of Tamriel
This one goes a bit beyond the immediate holiday, building-in a total of 19 observable holidays within Skyrim. The idea here is to give the player a greater observance of time as it passes in-game, using each of the 19 events as a means to keep lore alive and interesting in the player's eyes. Bartenders will talk about the in-game holidays as they occur, offer small, lore-friendly items, and merchants will put other items on sale during the events.
Just wait until we get "Black Fredas" and "Cyber Morndas."
Download link: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/48498/
Christmas Lanterns & Lights in Skyrim
Up there with Saturalia, this is one of the most popular holiday-themed mods for Skyrim. This small addition scatters colorful holiday lanterns across Skyrim's cities and landscapes. It's a bit more simplistic than the Saturalia mod, so if you're just looking for some lighting effects and non-sweeping changes, this is a good mod for you.
Download link: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/27845/
That's all for this one. Have a safe and happy holiday, everyone. Watch out for the dragons - I hear they forget how to fly around this time of year.
- Steve "Lelldorianx" Burke.