Executive Summary

The game The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion contains 10 races that the player can use (playable races)

and 5 races that the player cannot use (non-playable races). The races are as follows: Argonian,

Breton, Dark Elf (or Dunmer), High Elf (or Altmer), Imperial, Khajiit, Nord, Orc (or Orsimer),

Redguard and Wood Elf (or Bosmer), and Dark Seducer, Dremora, Golden Saint, Sheogorath and

Vampire, respectively.

All of these playable races have both male and female variants, either of which can be played. Males

and females sometimes have different abilities or attributes from each other. Each race has a set of

unique attribute- and skill-bonuses and a number of special abilities that they can use. The races

can be divided up into Men (Breton, Imperial, Nord and Redguard), Elves (Altmer, Bosmer, Breton,

Dunmer and Orc) and Beasts (Argonian, Khajiit and Orc) (it should be noted that Bretons are

considered Half-Elves, and Orcs are considered to have Elven heritage).

Each race and gender have a unique voice set, and each can be customised with a variety of eye

colours and hair styles, though some are more limited than others (Dark Elves only have one eye

colour, and Argonians don’t have hair at all). Each race also has a different disposition towards

another (where everyone dislikes a Dark or High Elf in some fashion, and everyone feels neutral

towards an Imperial, for instance), and dispositions between races are reflected in-game by how

other non-player characters (NPCs) treat the player.

Every NPC is a member of particular Class which further manipulates their Attribute and Skill

points, and there are Factions that any NPC can belong to that have an effect on how other Factions

treat them, and what items or areas they are permitted to take or enter.

For the purpose of this project, a new race has been developed for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion,

named the Apodians (reference to the Superfamily (Apoidea) of bees, the prime source of

inspiration that the Apodians were modelled off of). The Apodians are a bipedal bee-like race with a

pair of multilayered wings, a body-moulded hardened carapace and a large stinger on their rear.

They also have a pair of antenna upon their head, and a light golden-brown fur on their torso and

legs, and a yellowish skin on their face, arms, hands and legs. Their hands and feet are all but

identical to those of Men, as is the majority of their face. This is due to technical and animation

constraints; a mini-game within Oblivion is a disposition manipulator that relies on a general face

layout to animate pre-generated facial expressions to succeed.

Oblivion is set in the Tamrielic province of Cyrodil, the home of the Imperials. Tamriel is the main

continent of the Elder Scrolls secondary world, and contains the other provinces of: the frozen,

mountainous peaks of Skyrim, the home of the Nords; the rocky High Rock, the home of the

Bretons; the wastes of Hammerfell, the home of the Redguards; the golden and magnificent

Summerset Isles, the home of the High Elves; Valenwood, a forest home to most of Tamriels

fantastical creatures and home to the Wood Elves; the forests and badlands of Elsweyr, the home of

the cat-like Khajiit; the poisonous and swampy Black Marsh, the home of the Argonians; tropical

ash and gloom Morrowind, the home of the Dark Elves; and the craggy mountains of Hammerfell

and High Rock that are home to the Orcs. Cyrodil is ruled by an Emperor (at least up until the start

of Oblivion), and the Emperor has an unsteady rule of each other province in Tamriel, though civil

unrest in each province is a drastic understatement, with countless uprisings, rebellions,

revolutions and coup d’états putting endless pressure on the rulers of Tamriel. The empire was

originally stabilised by Emperor Tiber Septim I, who was immortalised as one of the Nine Gods of

Western worship, which brought about the beginning of the Third Era, the end of which Oblivion is

set in.

The Tragic and Tumultuous History of the Apodians

The Apodians are a bee-like race that originally existed in a forest-isle to the north of the

Summerset Isles that was organised as a hive-society amongst the tops of the spectacularly tall

tress of the isle. However, they were enslaved by the then technologically advanced High Elves at

the beginning of the Second Age. During this time they were cowed and ‘cultured’ by their captors,

forcing them into a ‘traditional’ way of society that was the norm in most Tamrielic, or at least High

Elven, society. Once capable of flight, the Apodian race was rendered flightless as their captors

crippled and restricted their wings, resulting in them becoming all but useless as the race

reproduced and evolved.

As slavery was outlawed in all provinces apart from Morrowind, so was the slavery of the Apodians

abolished (their lack of notable strength and flight overweighing their speed and dexterity as useful

slaves) and they were granted their forest-isle back as compensation for the generations of torment

that they suffered underneath slavery. However, having been rendered flightless during this period,

they could not competently erect their homes in the trees, nor could they re-establish a working

society on the ground.

Realising that what was once their home was now a lost cause, they used their crafting skills that

had developed during their long age of slavery to fell hundreds of trees along the coasts of their

home to create sea vessels with which to travel to the main province of Cyrodil – the home of the

Imperials.

Arriving in the 36th year of the Third Era (3E 36), they petitioned the then great Emperor Tiber

Septim for sanction to live within the borders of Cyrodil as alternative reparation for their suffering.

Trying to avoid the revolt of an entire race that had only years earlier been freed from slavery,

Tiber Septim was practically forced to grant them land. Not wishing to settle the Apodians within

the lands of Cyrodil, he moved them to the central-western forests of Elsweyr, as all other provinces

proved to be insufficient for the needs of the Apodians, be they too cold, too barren, or too hostile.

Upon the death of Tiber Septim in 3E 38, his successor Pelagius virtually ignored the Apodians,

leaving them to fend for themselves in foreign lands. The Khajiit – who had originally accepted this

strange race within their borders so as not to complicate the current political instability of Tamriel

as a whole – took this as a go-ahead to begin to eradicate the Apodians.

During this time the Apodians harnessed and strengthened their abilities of stealth and speed,

beating the Khajiit in every area the cat-race had originally thought they were masters of. They

managed to trick the Khajiit into believing that they had been exterminated by retreating into the

darkest corners of the heaviest forests on the Elsweyr/Valenwood border.

Here they remained for roughly three and a half centuries, and arose to take the Wood Elven side

during the Five Year War against the Khajiit in 3E 395. Upon the defeat of the Wood Elven side in

the war, the Khajiit pushed into the western border of Valenwood and took the majority of the land

that the Apodians had been hiding in.

Stranded and in danger, the Apodians fled to Valenwood and took sanctuary within their borders,

co-mingling with the many fantastical creatures that already resided within the forest-province and

avoiding the majority of the political turmoil and inner-fighting of the Wood Elven society. To this

day they remain secluded within the forests of Valenwood and are a rare sight in the province on

Cyrodil, or any other.

Apodian

Race: Apodian (AH-poe-DEE-ahn)

Apodian Attributes, Skills, Unique Abilities, Racial

Dispositions and Extraneous Details

Attributes

All eight Attributes in Oblivion (Strength, Intelligence, Willpower, Agility, Speed, Endurance, Luck

and Personality) begin at a Base level of 40 which all up is equivalent to 320. All races in Oblivion

have bonuses or penalties to these Attributes in relation to their nature (an Orc has higher Strength,

for instance), but the total amount of points in each Attribute will always equal a total of 320. What

the Apodians lack in substantial strength or magical power they make up for in speed and agility,

and while the male is not as clever as the female, they more than make up for it in their higher

durability. The following table defines the Attributes of the Apodians:

Strength Intelligence Willpower Agility Speed Endurance Luck Personality

Male 30 30 30 50 50 40 50 40

Female 30 40 30 50 50 30 50 40

Male: +10 Agility and Speed. -10 Intelligence, Strength and Willpower.

Female: +10 Agility and Speed. -10 Endurance, Strength and Willpower

Skills

Every race has bonuses to various skills, usually in increments of 5 or 10. These bonuses must equal

a total of 45. The skills of the Apodians are mostly in their acrobatic, athletic and stealth skills,

though they do possess skills in related abilities such as archery, alchemy, the Alteration school of

magic, and in wearing what little Light Armour they can actually equip. The following is a list of skill

bonuses that the Apodians receive:

+10 Acrobatics and Sneak. +5 Alchemy, Alteration, Athletics, Light Armour and Marksman.

Racial Abilities

Each race has a number of unique activatable or passive racial abilities, such as the ability to talk to

animals or a permanent boost to speed. These abilities usually come in threes depending on the

magnitude of the spells. The following is a list of these abilities for the Apodians:

Sting (Greater Power): The Apodian stabs their foe with their stinger, injecting a poison that

wounds and paralyses their opponent for a short time. This ability is costly though, and wounds the

Apodian in turn.

Effect: Damage Health 35 × ((Player Level / 4) + 1) points and Paralyse for 10 seconds on Touch,

and Damage Health (20 × ((Player Level / 5) + 1) points on Self, once per day.

Bee’s Grace (Passive): The dexterity of the Apodians is unmatched even by the agile Khajiit or the

nimble Bosmer.

Effect: Fortify Acrobatics, Agility, Athletics and Speed by 10 points

Natural Armour (Passive): The Apodians have a hardened carapace covering vital parts of their

body that protects them from harm to a degree and strengthens as they grow and evolve.

Effect: Shield ((0.6316 * Player Level) + 7.3684) points on Self.

Racial Dispositions

Each race has a set disposition modifier with another race, be it neutral, friendly or passive.

Scorned by the High Elves and distrusted by the Khajiit, the Apodians are loved by none other than

their own. The following is the disposition modifiers for each race, directed towards the Apodian.

High Elves: -10. Khajiit: -5. Other Apodians: 5.

Each race also has a set disposition modifier towards every other race. The Apodians hate no one

anymore than any other, with the exception of their hatred for the High Elves and Khajiit which

sought to enslave or destroy them. The following is the Apodian’s disposition modifier towards

other races, following the general standards represented within the pre-existing game:

Argonians: 0. Bretons: 0. Dark Elves: -5. High Elves: -15. Imperials: 0. Khajiit: -5. Nords: 0. Orcs: -5.

Redguards: 0. Wood Elves: 0.

Armour Limitations

Due to the hardened carapace that covers much of their body, the Apodians are limited to wearing

only Boots and Gauntets in any set of armour. The Apodian armour is estimated to be slightly

weaker than the armour they could be wearing.

The Shield effect on every Apodian character in the game is roughly one or two points weaker than

the armour that they would be wearing at those levels. For example, at Level 6 the game will begin

generating Chainmail Light Armour which, without Gauntlets and Boots, would give a player 14

Armour Value. With the formula above, an Apodian at Level 6 would, without Gauntlets and Boots,

have 11 Armour Points. Again at Level 15, the game will begin generating Elven Light Armour

which, without Gauntlets and Boots, would give a player 18 Armour Value, however with the

formula above, an Apodian, without Gauntlets and Boots, would have 17 Armour Value.

Control Inputs

There are no additional control sets for the Apodian race from those already existing within

Oblivion, however for reference’s sake these are the following character control sets for the PC,

Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, respectively.

Turn: Move Mouse/Right Stick/Right Stick

Move Forward: W/Left Stick Forward/Left Stick Forward

Move Left: A/Left Stick Left/Left Stick Left

Move Right: D/Left Stick Right/Left Stick Right

Move Back: S/Left Stick Down/Left Stick Down

Sneak: Control/Press Left Stick/Press Left Stick

Run: Shift/NA/NA

Attack: Left Mouse Click/R1/Right Trigger

Cast Spell: C/R2/Right Bumper

Unsheathe and Sheath Weapon: F/Square/X

Block: Right Mouse Click/L1/Left Trigger

Activate: Spacebar/X/A

Grab: Z/L2/Left Bumper

Change View: R/Press Right Stick/Press Right Stick

Vanity View: Hold R/Press and Hold Right Stick/Press and Hold Right Stick

Open Journal: Tab/Circle/B

Wait: T/Select/Back

Pause: Esc/Start/Start

Camera Considerations

The camera in Oblivion is pre-set as a First-Person camera through which the player can see their

arms and any weapon or spell they are using. The First-Person model in this view is actually only

the arms and weapon loaded, which can be seen if the player frees the camera (by typing the tfc

command in the scripting window). This First-Person camera is the primary camera for Oblivion

due to the player having a set of crosshairs in the middle of their screen for aiming when fighting in

both melee and ranged combat, and for picking up items and talking to NPCs, among other things.

The player can also toggle to a Third-Person camera (in which the entire model is loaded) so that

they may view their avatar within the game; however, aiming in the Third-Person camera is much

more complicated than in the First-Person camera, and while playable in this form the player will

find it harder to fight and activate items if they do not know if they are pointing exactly at them.

While playing the Third-Person camera is positioned above and behind the avatar’s head so as to

see the majority of the body. If the button to change to Third-Person is held down while either

camera is activated, the game enters ‘vanity view’ where the camera can be positioned in Third-

Person on any rotation of 360 around the avatar, and the distance can be manipulated so that the

camera is either very close or very far. However, the player cannot attack or perform other related

tasks while in this view, and is really only for ‘vanity’ purposes.

Lastly, if the game is left inactive for a certain amount of time without being paused, the game

enters a ‘vanity view’ of its own in which the camera slowly circles the in-game avatar at the

distance that has currently been set in the player-usable ‘vanity view’ (if no distance has been

defined then the pre-set distance is used). When the player returns to play a mere touch of any in-

game controls will snap the view back to either the First- or Third-Person view, depending on what

the player was using before ‘vanity view’ turned itself on.

However, the Apodians express no unique camera controls upon the game.

Move List