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About this mod
A Class Mod designed to perfectly blend into Skyrim's skill system. Start as one of my carefully crafted classes, or choose your own Major and Minor Skills.
Select a Standing Stone, re-allocate attributes, and choose if you want to weight in your racial skills.
Build you class at the beginning, and play without any restrictions.
- Permissions and credits
- Changelogs
Introduction
Classes of the Sky and Rim is a class mod that was designed to fit the core principle of Skyrim, and to provide maximum synergy with other character progression mods. It provides many options to build a class for your character and define its play style, while not locking you into any permanent decissions. Classes of the Sky and Rim pushes your character into a certain direction by providing a boost for Major and Minor Skills, starting equipment, and optional stat-boosts and Standing Stone blessings. At the same time, none of those mechanics add custom buffs or abilities to your character, which would irrevisibly lock you into a certain style or direction, which goes against the free character development and role playing options that is the core of Skyrim's gameplay.
Classes of the Sky and Rim provides the following features:
Classes of the Sky and Rim started as a small modification of Classic Classes and Birthsigns (Revisited) and turned out to be a complete re-write of the inner workings of that mod, as well as its mechanics. Multiple major modifications were made to create a class mod that fits the philosophy of free character development, which is the core of Skyrim's design, while still providing many options to strongly push your character in a certain direction.
Why Classes of the Sky and Rim?
Many class mods try to bring back the Classic Classes of past Elder Scrolls titles. Classic Classes And Birthsigns, as well as Character Creation Overhaul are such mods. Other mods like SkyRem Classes add a more invasive approach and build a class system that works in parallel to Skyrim's character progression.
The issue of the later is, that it goes somewhat against how Skyrim is designed and might not feel like an integrated part of the game (SkyRem manages classes via MCM for example). The approach with Classic Classes has its flaws because skyrim offers less and different stats than Oblivion. Having both, an Acrobat and a Thief class for example does not make much sense in Skyrim, where we do not have the Agility Skill.
To solve the issue with missing stats, Classic Classes and Birthsigns adds custom abilities, like 'reduced fall damage' to somehow grab the gist of those classic classes. This however comes with the drawback, that you have that permanent ability attached to your character, going against the free character development approach of Skyrim.
Classes of the Sky and Rim was built to address those issues and to build on the great foundation of Classic Classes and Birthsigns (Revisited). The core philosophy of this mod is to go organically with the character progression of Skyrim, to be non-intrusive and to combine free character development with a strong incentive to stick with the selected class.
What at first might seem like opposite ends of a spectrum, turns out to go well together within the progression system of Skyrim.
Classes of the Sky and Rim consists out of multiple stages of character building.
Class Creation
Here is how classes are being built:
All this combined (together with carefully class descriptions) provides your character a head start in the specific professions selected and greatly pushes you into a certain direction. You are completely free however, to level up any amount of skills in addition to your class. In fact, it might be even highly beneficial for some certain skill combinations. However, starting non specialized skills at level 5 requires some considerable investment to get them to a level to be useful and to start putting perks into them. This might not be the case if you use exploits in regular Skyrim but if you play the game regularly, or especially when using mods like Experience and Statis Skill Levelling, then levelling up those skills requires some effort.
You have 3 options to choose a class:
Classes of the Sky: Choose one of the 21 classes I created for you. Balanced for a specific theme and playstyle, with some lore attached to it.
Classes of the Rim: Freely pick your Major and Minor Skills and create your own character
I am a Seeker: Do not pick any proficiency and start with every skill at level 15
Beyond Classes
Classes of the Sky and Rim provides you with further options to build the identity of you character
Attribute specialization
You have the option to strengthen one of your attributes (Health, Magicka, Stamina). You can add any number between 0 and 60 points to that attribute. This comes with a cost however: Half of that amount will be subtracted from each of the other attributes. So in the end, you will not gain anything, but only distribute real estate.
You can choose a negative value, which will decrease the selected stat by that amount and increase the others by half of that, each.
Toggle Racial Skills
In Skyrim, each race starts with points allocated in some certain skills. Some people do not like that, so Classes of the Sky and Rim offers you a balanced way to choose if you want to apply racial skill bonusses or if you want to focus on your class. If you focus mainly on your class, the skill calculation works as described above. If you apply racial skills, then your Major and Minor Skills will upgrade your skill levels by a lesser amount. If your racial skills are neither Major or minor, they will loose 10 skill points upon class creation, just like any other skill would. However, they will end up with a skill level higher than 5. This ensures that both options are balanced and offer roughly the same amount of skill points.
This option allows to create your character to your liking and define his/her back story. You may either choose your path on your own, or follow the tradition of your tribe.
Standing Stone Blessings
You may optionally start the game with the blessing of any of Skyrim's Standing Stones. The custom Birthsign Buffs that Classic Classes and Birthsigns introdiced were removed. This, again, allows you to push you character into a certain direction at the start, or to simply save you some time by not having to visit the Standing Stone.
If you play with the great Mannaz and Freyr, Standing Stones provide unique skills depending on your race. I highly recommend those for maximum character customization.
You are free to mix and match all of the above. If you select "The Seeker" and combine it with "No Racial Bonus" for example, then you start with every skill at 15. If you select racial bonusses as a Seeker, you do a vanilla start with vanilla stat distribution.
Classes of the Sky
Classes of the Sky were hand-crafted to perfectly match the skills available in Skyrim. They were designed to fit thematically and with gameplay in mind. I took inspiration from Oblivion's classes and wither adapted them with great freedom, or replaced them with new classes.
During class creation, the following criteria were applied:
Those rules led to some severe headache and creativity. I could not simply make the same class over and over again with just a minor variety, but had to create totally unique ones. I spent days creating the class descriptions, making sure that each skill assigned to the class gets mentioned in some (indirekt) way. That way, each class is coherent and makes sense. As someone who is very bad at role playing, having a class description at hand helps greatly.
English is not as a main language, so I am always open for suggestions on how to improve the class descriptions. I focused very much on keeping them as short and concise as possible but that might not have been the best way to deal with it :)
(I broke the rule once)
Warfare Classes
Assassin
Assassins have mastered the art of elimination. They specialize in silently taking out targets without leaving a trace, whether through a shot from the dark or a swift strike by the blade. Their dueling skills enable them to face enemies head-on if necessary, and their ability to lift targets non-violently rounds out their arsenal.
Major Skills: One-Handed, Archery, Sneak
Minor Skills: Block, Light Armor, Pickpocket
Berserker
Berserkers are agile and wild fighters. They wield heavy weapons with light armor to maximize both offense and agility, and despite their savage combat style, they recognize the value of a bow to soften the enemy before the clash. Aiming for maximum impact on the battlefield, Berserkers not only optimize their weapons and armor, but also enhance their bodies through alchemy.
Major Skills: Two-handed, Smithing, Light Armor
Minor Skills: One-handed, Archery, Alchemy
Knight
Knights are trained to behave gracefully and with discipline, whether on the battlefield or in society. These heavy warriors are skilled with various types of weapons and specialize in defensive techniques. Despite their combat prowess, Knights aim to solve disputes with diplomacy and may avoid confrontations by controlling weak minds with Illusion magic.
Major Skills: Block, Speech, Illusion
Minor Skills: One-handed, Two-handed, Heavy Armor
Marauder
Marauders wreak havoc wherever they appear. Those heavily armored Shadow Knights descend upon you, leading their army of daemons and the undead, while casting spells to stun and paralyze their victims. Marauders take whatever is yours without regard for the consequences, stealing your possessions, and even your dead body to replenish their army of doom.
Major Skills: Two-handed, Heavy Armor, Conjuration
Minor Skills: Smithing, Pickpocket, Alteration
Paladin
Paladins are the ultimate bulwark against the forces of evil. They are a walking fortress that can withstand hordes of enemies, fortified by both steel and enchanted protection. Paladins use magic to heal themselves and to purge the darkness with sun and fire.
Major Skills: Block, Heavy Armor, Restoration
Minor Skills: Smithing, Destruction, Enchanting
Runesmith
Runesmiths are master craftsmen, creating the finest armor tempered with steel and magic. Their deep understanding of mechanical arts enables them to open locks with precision, and they harness magic to refine ore into delicate materials. While not trained warriors, Runesmiths wield a heavy war hammer with lethal effectiveness.
Major Skills: Smithing, Alteration, Enchanting
Minor Skills: Two-handed, Block, Lockpicking
Weaponmaster
Weaponmasters are elite combatants, excelling in the use of all types of weapons. Whether in close combat or at range, they dominate every encounter with their exceptional proficiency. Weaponmasters keep their armor and weapons in top condition and value defensive skills as much as offensive ones.
Major Skills: Two-handed, Smithing, Archery
Minor Skills: One-handed, Block, Heavy Armor
Utility Classes
Agent
Agents specialize in interrogations and infiltration. They rely on their advanced skills in conversation and lockpicking to reach their target, using Illusion magic to enhance their efforts. Agents prefer diplomacy and to leave no trace, but do not hesitate to use a bow and arrow if the mission demands it.
Major Skills: Lockpicking, Speech, Illusion
Minor Skills: Archery, Light Armor, Sneak
Arcanist
Arcanists blend heavy armor with mastery over alchemy and spellcraft. As scholars of both the arcane and the mundane, they use their deep understanding of persuasion to influence and command. Their knowledge extends to brewing powerful potions and skillfully picking locks, while also summoning allies and unleashing elemental attacks.
Major Skills: Heavy Armor, Alchemy, Conjuration
Minor Skills: Lockpicking, Speech, Destruction
Phantom
Phantoms are a living nightmare, combining heavy weapons and armor while moving invisibly through the darkness. They haunt their foes from the shadows, appearing out of nowhere to take their possessions and souls. Phantoms wear thick enchanted armor that protects them from physical and magical attacks, making them seem like intangible demons during their slaughter.
Major Skills: Sneak, Illusion, Enchanting
Minor Skills: Two-handed, Heavy Armor, Lockpicking
Ranger
Rangers excel in archery and swift movement, blending light armor with mastery over alchemy. They craft powerful bows while enhancing their arrows with deadly poisons. Rangers are expert survivalists, utilizing alchemy and restoration magic to heal and thrive in the wild, while moving unseen to track and ambush foes.
Major Skills: Archery, Light Armor, Alchemy
Minor Skills: Smithing, Sneak, Restoration
Rogue
Rogues are silver-tongued vagabonds with great dueling skills. Their talent for lifting valuables and unlocking doors often gets them into delicate situations, but their charm and sly illusions allow them to elude those inconveniences gracefully. Rogues can talk themselves out of -and into- peculiar situations, but can equally well handle more intense encounters.
Major Skills: One-handed, Block, Speech
Minor Skills: Pickpocket, Lockpicking, Illusion
Thief
Thieves are masters of stealth and deception. They excel in sneaking, breaking locks, and picking valuables without a trace, while moving swiftly and silently in the lightest of armor. Thieves avoid violence at all costs but are skillful at brewing exotic potions and poisons, and in bending the truth to their own interests.
Major Skills: Sneak, Lockpicking, Pickpocket
Minor Skills: Light Armor, Speech, Alchemy
Wanderer
Wanderers are experienced adventurers, well-equipped to survive the wilderness. They have learned how to brew herbs to treat their wounds and are well-versed in conversation, thanks to their broad experience. Wanderers possess a wide set of skills, excelling in combat, crafting, and silently avoiding threats.
Major Skills: Light Armor, Speech, Alchemy
Minor Skills: Two-handed, Smithing, Sneak
Magic Classes
Battlemage
Battlemages have devoted themselves to mastering the art of arcane warfare. They seamlessly blend physical and magical skills, wielding enchanted robes and weapons. Battlemages use magic to deal damage, heal wounds, and protect themselves, while combining magic with melee for offense or shields for defense.
Major Skills: One-handed, Destruction, Restoration
Minor Skills: Block, Alteration, Enchanting
Bowcaster
Bowcasters are the ultimate blend between archer and mage. They use enchanted bows and destruction magic to rain down havoc upon their foes, while conjuring powerful creatures as their front line or to amplify their barrage. Bowcasters are swift and agile fighters who use magical wards to protect themselves against enemy fire, and always carry a staff with them in case they run out of arrows and magicka.
Major Skills: Archery, Conjuration, Destruction
Minor Skills: Light Armor, Restoration, Enchanting
Herbalist
Herbalists are the blessing of the downtrodden and the bane of the opulent. They speak for those on the fringes of society and directly address the redistribution of unjust wealth. Herbalists often live with those they aid, using Alchemy and Magic to heal the wounded and weak, while summoning companions and altering their surroundings to survive in the wilds.
Major Skills: Pickpocket, Alchemy, Restoration
Minor Skills: Speech, Conjuration, Alteration
Shadowmancer
Shadowmancers are mages who have mastered the art of shadows. They use Illusion and Alchemy to move unseen and unheard through any terrain, while manipulating objects without a touch. Shadowmancers strike out of nowhere with deadly precision, either with poisoned blades or by casting spells from afar.
Major Skills: Sneak, Illusion, Alteration
Minor Skills: One-handed, Lockpicking, Destruction
Sorcerer
Sorcerers are geared to dominate and survive on the battlefield. Clad in the thickest enchanted armor, they are well-protected against enemy magic and arrows while unleashing mighty spells and cruel demons upon their foes. Sorcerers use potions and magic to push themselves to the limits, while wielding bound weapons if a foe draws too near.
Major Skills: Heavy Armor, Destruction, Enchanting
Minor Skills: Alchemy, Conjuration, Restoration
Trickster
Tricksters began as students of the arcane but quickly realized the usefulness of combining magic with more sinister arts. They relieve pockets, chests, and tombs of their possessions while playing all kinds of magical tricks on their unsuspecting victims. If necessary, Tricksters use bows and conjured creatures to sow distraction, opening new passages for advancing or disappearing from delicate situations.
Major Skills: Lockpicking, Pickpocket, Illusion
Minor Skills: Archery, Conjuration, Alteration
Wizard
Wizards are scholars who seek to uncover ancient secrets and what lies beyond the physical realms. As proficient mages, they master all schools of magic and wield forces beyond the grasp of common minds. Wizards do not engage in conflicts about the mundane but pose a formidable threat to any obstacle standing between them and the knowledge they desire.
Major Skills: Destruction, Alteration, Restoration
Minor Skills: Illusion, Conjuration, Enchanting
Starting Gear
Gear is coupled to skills. Depending on whether a skill was chosen as a Major skill or Minor Skill, you get different gear. All gear was selected to make sense for one or the other reason.
Alchemy for example not only gives potions and poisons, but also an axe as a weapon. This makes sense because when you are choppig and harvesting ingredients, you need an axe as a tool. Also, I needed a weapon for the Herbalist. Smithing gives maces and Warhammers for the same reason.
So once again, the limitations I had to work with enhanced some great creativity. Pretty much all skill combinations will start with a set of gear that makes sense and provides good gameplay. The only slight downside is, that the current system provides some clutter. Block will always grant a shield, even if your character blocks with weapons. Major Conluration always provides a nevromancy spell, even if you character does not do necromancy, ...
I am open for suggestions on how to tweak gear distribution further. There is no chance that I will make this separate from skill distribution. It would be a major pain to set up all the message boxes.
Since I do not have a proper ASCII table at hand, please take a look at that screenshot of the table I made
How to use
At the start of the game, you'll get a book called "Classes of the Sky and Rim". Open the book and build your character. The mod does NOTHING, if you do not open the book, it's fully optional.
Use my mod AFTER you have spoken to the Statue of Mara in Life an Other Life. Technically it does not matter, but I am not sure if the statue will remove all your starting geal. So use the book AFTER you have decided your fate and slept in the bed.
It is highly recommended to use my mod before you have levelled up and allocated skills. You may use my mod any time, nothing will crash or corrupt. However, if you choose "I am devoted to my destiny", all skills will be SetSV to 15 before class bonusses will be added. So you will loose any progression you had.
It it totally save to use the mod any time, if you decide to "be trained in your racial skills". Skills will not be reset and only the values you selected will be added.
Once again, USE EARLY, IDEALLY BEFORE LEVELLING UP. It just makes sense ;)
Compatibility
Compatible with everything except Classic Classes and Birthsigns (Revisited) because both mods share the same scripts. I see no reason why one would want to combine both mods.
Soft incompatible with Hand to Hand - An Adamant Addon. Both mods work perfectly together but my classes are not being made with one perk tree being replaced by a Hand to Hand tree. So the descriptions do not fit. You can, however buid your custom classes around the new perk tree, and use all the oter features of Classes of the Sky and Rim in combination with that mod.
Requirements
The base game and all DLC are required. I use some spells and gear from those, directly via FormID.
So in order for those few cases to work correctly, your load order MUST start like this
Mod Suggestions
None of the below is required in any case. Those are just personal recommendations of mods that go well with this mod.
Set of Skills: Adds a completely optional job system to Skyrim. This will be a nice addition to my class mod.
Mannaz & Freyr: Adds unique standing stone bonusses for each race. Enables close combat High Elves and magic Orcs. Perfect to add more variety to character creation.
Experience & Static Skill Levelling (Rewritten): Overhauls how you level up and how you gain skill levels. This will help you to distribute skill levels and to not exploit the game.
Skyrim Skill Uncapper: Allows you to level your major skills above level 100 if you set it up that way
Geometric Stat Growth: Gain fewer attribute points at the lower levels. Great to commit to the attribute specialization of this mod. (Skill Uncapper provides a similar mechanic)
Levelling Freedom: Tweak you level curve to level up slower. Helps you to stick to your class longer
Skyrim Outfit System: Lets you change your appearance regardless of your armor. Lets you define the looks of your character right from the start. Your Marauder urgently need one of those awesome deamon armor mods.
Gardden's Perk Trees Merged: Provides a huge and clean perk overhaul, and many patches for MCO, Elden Parry and Elden Counter.
FAQ
"Starting at level 35 makes me too strong and removes all early game progression"
This is a concern but hear me out. Pushing your Major Skill up to level 35 is quite a lot. The reason why I chose that value is to make major and minor skills very much distinct from each other. I want to really feel the difference. There are measures to balance this.
First, compared to Blassc Classes and Birthsigns (Revisited), I do not provide you with a free extra Birthsign and Class Ability. Second, I am using SetSV to increase stats, which slows down your further progression in your main stat considerably. Static Skill Levelling makes this even moresevere. So you might clear the first few enemies faster, but you do notlevel up as quickly as you would otherwise. So your class provides you a strong start but slower progression in those stronger skills.
Third, all non proficient skills loose points, which balances out the gain, and compared to classic Classes and Birthsigns (Revisited), only 3 skills get that big boost, instead of 6.
Further, if you add up all skill levels, distributing 15 points to each skill adds up to 240. In Vanilla you will get 270 skill points in total. ;)
"What is the meaning of classes if I can do whatever I want"
Different to other class mods, I reduce all your non-proficient skills to 5. You totally can use and get proficient in those but this requires some considerable effort. You will start quite strong in your class and that will mentally push you in that direction. There is no game mechanic that will put any other barrier upon you.
"Is it not too strong to allow almost free re-allocation of attributes"
It might be, especially if you play a physical fighter and allocate most of your magicka to health and stamina. On the other hand, why would such a class want to start with balanced stats. I am open to suggestions on how to balance this further, if it turns out to be too strong.
"How can you live with the Berserker destroying the otherwise beautiful skill distribution"
It bothers me and I can not stop thinking about it. I simply do not see as much value in third Warfare Class with Pickpocket compared to Alchemy. Please help me to either ease my mind and justify that crime, or give me a good reason to do a Pickpocket Berserker.
Plans
Tweak starting gear (likely)
I am not sure if Leather and Steel for Major Skills feels good enough, or if I want to add gear one level stronger. I have a strong feeling like that would be too much.
Further, most of the utility skills feel not satisfying to me in regards to their starting gear. If you have any suggestion, feel free to drop them in the comment section. Please be aware that I do not want to introduce a whole lot more complexity by creating a distinct starting gear selection. I do not have time for that.
Customization (possible)
I want to add some way for the player to customize at least the amount of skills to choose and the amount of skill level gained. I might either use PapyrusUtil or offload the values in a perk or skill and read from those.
PapyrusUtil would provide way more options and would allow to offload EVERYTHING in a config file. I would love to have starting gear and more, like providing a toggle to use ModAV instead of SetAV for skill levels. The downside wuld be that non-SKSE people would not be able to make use of that.
My plan is to flesh out the mod first, so that someone can pick it up and port to console or whatever. After that, I can make a version 2 with Papyrus util.
Stronger Major Skills (unlikely)
One idea I had was to add a third option to the race skill toggle dialog. At first, Majors Skills at 35 is too low and I would love to have them at 40. I just do not do that by default because people would most certainly complain. To balance things a little, I want to reduce non specialized skills to 1, keep minor at 25, and push Major to 40. This is the only of my plans that is very likely to be done in the near future.
Abilities in the form of rings (highly unlikely)
One idea I had was to add abilities like Classic Classes and Birthsigns (Revisited) has in the form of enchatend rings. they would provide a further small boost at the beginning but later one would replace the rings with stronger ones. It is very unlikely that I will do that because stock Skyrim and DLC does not provide too many interesting rings, and I do not want to use unique custom ones.
License and Credits
Classic Classes and Birthsigns (Revisited) was released under the WML 1.0 Cathedral license. As a consequence, this mod inherits that license.
You are free to distribute and modify this mod in any way without asking. you are welcomed to port the mod to console or Oldrim.
You must credit me and every author this mod is based upon.
Classes of the Sky and Rim is a derivate of Classic Classes and Birthsigns (Revisited) by clackie1996. That mod once again is based on "Classic Classes and Birthsigns" created by Kearsage and ported to SSE by watafuzz.
Classes of the Sky and Rim is a class mod that was designed to fit the core principle of Skyrim, and to provide maximum synergy with other character progression mods. It provides many options to build a class for your character and define its play style, while not locking you into any permanent decissions. Classes of the Sky and Rim pushes your character into a certain direction by providing a boost for Major and Minor Skills, starting equipment, and optional stat-boosts and Standing Stone blessings. At the same time, none of those mechanics add custom buffs or abilities to your character, which would irrevisibly lock you into a certain style or direction, which goes against the free character development and role playing options that is the core of Skyrim's gameplay.
Classes of the Sky and Rim provides the following features:
- Classes designed from the ground up to fit Skyrim's skill system
- Each class has 3 Major and 3 Minor Skills
- Non-specialized skills have their skill level reduced
- Build your own class if you want, or to start as a "Seeker", without any specialization
- Starting equipment gets distributed immersively according to your Major and Minor Skills
- Choose if you want Racial Skills to be part of your character or if only your class decides your Skills
- Optionally increase attributes at the cost of others (Health, Magick & Stamina)
- Optionally select a Standing Stone to start your game with, compatible with Standing Stone overhauls
- Combine any of the above, each feature is completely optional
- No special abilities or buffs, your class pushes you into a certain style but does not force anything upon you that can not be revoked afterwards
Classes of the Sky and Rim started as a small modification of Classic Classes and Birthsigns (Revisited) and turned out to be a complete re-write of the inner workings of that mod, as well as its mechanics. Multiple major modifications were made to create a class mod that fits the philosophy of free character development, which is the core of Skyrim's design, while still providing many options to strongly push your character in a certain direction.
Why Classes of the Sky and Rim?
Many class mods try to bring back the Classic Classes of past Elder Scrolls titles. Classic Classes And Birthsigns, as well as Character Creation Overhaul are such mods. Other mods like SkyRem Classes add a more invasive approach and build a class system that works in parallel to Skyrim's character progression.
The issue of the later is, that it goes somewhat against how Skyrim is designed and might not feel like an integrated part of the game (SkyRem manages classes via MCM for example). The approach with Classic Classes has its flaws because skyrim offers less and different stats than Oblivion. Having both, an Acrobat and a Thief class for example does not make much sense in Skyrim, where we do not have the Agility Skill.
To solve the issue with missing stats, Classic Classes and Birthsigns adds custom abilities, like 'reduced fall damage' to somehow grab the gist of those classic classes. This however comes with the drawback, that you have that permanent ability attached to your character, going against the free character development approach of Skyrim.
Classes of the Sky and Rim was built to address those issues and to build on the great foundation of Classic Classes and Birthsigns (Revisited). The core philosophy of this mod is to go organically with the character progression of Skyrim, to be non-intrusive and to combine free character development with a strong incentive to stick with the selected class.
What at first might seem like opposite ends of a spectrum, turns out to go well together within the progression system of Skyrim.
Classes of the Sky and Rim consists out of multiple stages of character building.
Class Creation
Here is how classes are being built:
- Each skill starts with 15 points
- Major skills add 20 points -> 35
- Minor skills add 10 points -> 25
- The rest gets reduced by 10 points -> 5
- Major Skills grant a wide variety of spells, equipment and tools associated with that skill
- Minor Skills grant grant the basic spells, equipment and tools associated with that skill
All this combined (together with carefully class descriptions) provides your character a head start in the specific professions selected and greatly pushes you into a certain direction. You are completely free however, to level up any amount of skills in addition to your class. In fact, it might be even highly beneficial for some certain skill combinations. However, starting non specialized skills at level 5 requires some considerable investment to get them to a level to be useful and to start putting perks into them. This might not be the case if you use exploits in regular Skyrim but if you play the game regularly, or especially when using mods like Experience and Statis Skill Levelling, then levelling up those skills requires some effort.
You have 3 options to choose a class:
Classes of the Sky: Choose one of the 21 classes I created for you. Balanced for a specific theme and playstyle, with some lore attached to it.
Classes of the Rim: Freely pick your Major and Minor Skills and create your own character
I am a Seeker: Do not pick any proficiency and start with every skill at level 15
Beyond Classes
Classes of the Sky and Rim provides you with further options to build the identity of you character
Attribute specialization
You have the option to strengthen one of your attributes (Health, Magicka, Stamina). You can add any number between 0 and 60 points to that attribute. This comes with a cost however: Half of that amount will be subtracted from each of the other attributes. So in the end, you will not gain anything, but only distribute real estate.
You can choose a negative value, which will decrease the selected stat by that amount and increase the others by half of that, each.
Toggle Racial Skills
In Skyrim, each race starts with points allocated in some certain skills. Some people do not like that, so Classes of the Sky and Rim offers you a balanced way to choose if you want to apply racial skill bonusses or if you want to focus on your class. If you focus mainly on your class, the skill calculation works as described above. If you apply racial skills, then your Major and Minor Skills will upgrade your skill levels by a lesser amount. If your racial skills are neither Major or minor, they will loose 10 skill points upon class creation, just like any other skill would. However, they will end up with a skill level higher than 5. This ensures that both options are balanced and offer roughly the same amount of skill points.
This option allows to create your character to your liking and define his/her back story. You may either choose your path on your own, or follow the tradition of your tribe.
Standing Stone Blessings
You may optionally start the game with the blessing of any of Skyrim's Standing Stones. The custom Birthsign Buffs that Classic Classes and Birthsigns introdiced were removed. This, again, allows you to push you character into a certain direction at the start, or to simply save you some time by not having to visit the Standing Stone.
If you play with the great Mannaz and Freyr, Standing Stones provide unique skills depending on your race. I highly recommend those for maximum character customization.
You are free to mix and match all of the above. If you select "The Seeker" and combine it with "No Racial Bonus" for example, then you start with every skill at 15. If you select racial bonusses as a Seeker, you do a vanilla start with vanilla stat distribution.
Classes of the Sky
Classes of the Sky were hand-crafted to perfectly match the skills available in Skyrim. They were designed to fit thematically and with gameplay in mind. I took inspiration from Oblivion's classes and wither adapted them with great freedom, or replaced them with new classes.
During class creation, the following criteria were applied:
- A class must make sense from a lore and gameplay perspective
- Each class must differ from any other by at lest 2 skills (major/minor does not matter here)
- Each profession must be allocated the same amount of skill points (Warfare, Utility, Magic)
- Each skill must be assignes equally (7 times each)
- Each skill must be Major and Minor at least 3 times
Those rules led to some severe headache and creativity. I could not simply make the same class over and over again with just a minor variety, but had to create totally unique ones. I spent days creating the class descriptions, making sure that each skill assigned to the class gets mentioned in some (indirekt) way. That way, each class is coherent and makes sense. As someone who is very bad at role playing, having a class description at hand helps greatly.
English is not as a main language, so I am always open for suggestions on how to improve the class descriptions. I focused very much on keeping them as short and concise as possible but that might not have been the best way to deal with it :)
Spoiler:
Show
(I broke the rule once)
Spoiler:
Show
There is one exceltion to my rule: Pickpocket and Alchemy. Distributing Pickpocket to 7 classes was a huge pain. I hat to force it into several classes crafted some quite unique ones as a result. The Berserker, which originated from the Oblivion Barbarian, had Pickpocket assigned instead of Alchemy at first. This was justified by the wild and plundering nature of the Barbarian and totally made sense.
However, from a gameplay perspective, I decided that a fighter with alchemy skills for buffing and healing made more sense. Aside from the Paladin, there is no one in the Warfare Classes with healing skills and not a single one with Alchemy skills. So I decided to give Alchemy to the Berserker.
I hate what I have done. It was so satisfying to see the perfectly balanced skill table. However, I personally would never use the Berserker with Pickpocket over the Weaponmaster. Alchemy on the other hand makes the class way more interesting for me, so I decided to break my rule that one time. It hurts, believe me.
However, from a gameplay perspective, I decided that a fighter with alchemy skills for buffing and healing made more sense. Aside from the Paladin, there is no one in the Warfare Classes with healing skills and not a single one with Alchemy skills. So I decided to give Alchemy to the Berserker.
I hate what I have done. It was so satisfying to see the perfectly balanced skill table. However, I personally would never use the Berserker with Pickpocket over the Weaponmaster. Alchemy on the other hand makes the class way more interesting for me, so I decided to break my rule that one time. It hurts, believe me.
Warfare Classes
Assassin
Assassins have mastered the art of elimination. They specialize in silently taking out targets without leaving a trace, whether through a shot from the dark or a swift strike by the blade. Their dueling skills enable them to face enemies head-on if necessary, and their ability to lift targets non-violently rounds out their arsenal.
Major Skills: One-Handed, Archery, Sneak
Minor Skills: Block, Light Armor, Pickpocket
Berserker
Berserkers are agile and wild fighters. They wield heavy weapons with light armor to maximize both offense and agility, and despite their savage combat style, they recognize the value of a bow to soften the enemy before the clash. Aiming for maximum impact on the battlefield, Berserkers not only optimize their weapons and armor, but also enhance their bodies through alchemy.
Major Skills: Two-handed, Smithing, Light Armor
Minor Skills: One-handed, Archery, Alchemy
Knight
Knights are trained to behave gracefully and with discipline, whether on the battlefield or in society. These heavy warriors are skilled with various types of weapons and specialize in defensive techniques. Despite their combat prowess, Knights aim to solve disputes with diplomacy and may avoid confrontations by controlling weak minds with Illusion magic.
Major Skills: Block, Speech, Illusion
Minor Skills: One-handed, Two-handed, Heavy Armor
Marauder
Marauders wreak havoc wherever they appear. Those heavily armored Shadow Knights descend upon you, leading their army of daemons and the undead, while casting spells to stun and paralyze their victims. Marauders take whatever is yours without regard for the consequences, stealing your possessions, and even your dead body to replenish their army of doom.
Major Skills: Two-handed, Heavy Armor, Conjuration
Minor Skills: Smithing, Pickpocket, Alteration
Paladin
Paladins are the ultimate bulwark against the forces of evil. They are a walking fortress that can withstand hordes of enemies, fortified by both steel and enchanted protection. Paladins use magic to heal themselves and to purge the darkness with sun and fire.
Major Skills: Block, Heavy Armor, Restoration
Minor Skills: Smithing, Destruction, Enchanting
Runesmith
Runesmiths are master craftsmen, creating the finest armor tempered with steel and magic. Their deep understanding of mechanical arts enables them to open locks with precision, and they harness magic to refine ore into delicate materials. While not trained warriors, Runesmiths wield a heavy war hammer with lethal effectiveness.
Major Skills: Smithing, Alteration, Enchanting
Minor Skills: Two-handed, Block, Lockpicking
Weaponmaster
Weaponmasters are elite combatants, excelling in the use of all types of weapons. Whether in close combat or at range, they dominate every encounter with their exceptional proficiency. Weaponmasters keep their armor and weapons in top condition and value defensive skills as much as offensive ones.
Major Skills: Two-handed, Smithing, Archery
Minor Skills: One-handed, Block, Heavy Armor
Utility Classes
Agent
Agents specialize in interrogations and infiltration. They rely on their advanced skills in conversation and lockpicking to reach their target, using Illusion magic to enhance their efforts. Agents prefer diplomacy and to leave no trace, but do not hesitate to use a bow and arrow if the mission demands it.
Major Skills: Lockpicking, Speech, Illusion
Minor Skills: Archery, Light Armor, Sneak
Arcanist
Arcanists blend heavy armor with mastery over alchemy and spellcraft. As scholars of both the arcane and the mundane, they use their deep understanding of persuasion to influence and command. Their knowledge extends to brewing powerful potions and skillfully picking locks, while also summoning allies and unleashing elemental attacks.
Major Skills: Heavy Armor, Alchemy, Conjuration
Minor Skills: Lockpicking, Speech, Destruction
Phantom
Phantoms are a living nightmare, combining heavy weapons and armor while moving invisibly through the darkness. They haunt their foes from the shadows, appearing out of nowhere to take their possessions and souls. Phantoms wear thick enchanted armor that protects them from physical and magical attacks, making them seem like intangible demons during their slaughter.
Major Skills: Sneak, Illusion, Enchanting
Minor Skills: Two-handed, Heavy Armor, Lockpicking
Ranger
Rangers excel in archery and swift movement, blending light armor with mastery over alchemy. They craft powerful bows while enhancing their arrows with deadly poisons. Rangers are expert survivalists, utilizing alchemy and restoration magic to heal and thrive in the wild, while moving unseen to track and ambush foes.
Major Skills: Archery, Light Armor, Alchemy
Minor Skills: Smithing, Sneak, Restoration
Rogue
Rogues are silver-tongued vagabonds with great dueling skills. Their talent for lifting valuables and unlocking doors often gets them into delicate situations, but their charm and sly illusions allow them to elude those inconveniences gracefully. Rogues can talk themselves out of -and into- peculiar situations, but can equally well handle more intense encounters.
Major Skills: One-handed, Block, Speech
Minor Skills: Pickpocket, Lockpicking, Illusion
Thief
Thieves are masters of stealth and deception. They excel in sneaking, breaking locks, and picking valuables without a trace, while moving swiftly and silently in the lightest of armor. Thieves avoid violence at all costs but are skillful at brewing exotic potions and poisons, and in bending the truth to their own interests.
Major Skills: Sneak, Lockpicking, Pickpocket
Minor Skills: Light Armor, Speech, Alchemy
Wanderer
Wanderers are experienced adventurers, well-equipped to survive the wilderness. They have learned how to brew herbs to treat their wounds and are well-versed in conversation, thanks to their broad experience. Wanderers possess a wide set of skills, excelling in combat, crafting, and silently avoiding threats.
Major Skills: Light Armor, Speech, Alchemy
Minor Skills: Two-handed, Smithing, Sneak
Magic Classes
Battlemage
Battlemages have devoted themselves to mastering the art of arcane warfare. They seamlessly blend physical and magical skills, wielding enchanted robes and weapons. Battlemages use magic to deal damage, heal wounds, and protect themselves, while combining magic with melee for offense or shields for defense.
Major Skills: One-handed, Destruction, Restoration
Minor Skills: Block, Alteration, Enchanting
Bowcaster
Bowcasters are the ultimate blend between archer and mage. They use enchanted bows and destruction magic to rain down havoc upon their foes, while conjuring powerful creatures as their front line or to amplify their barrage. Bowcasters are swift and agile fighters who use magical wards to protect themselves against enemy fire, and always carry a staff with them in case they run out of arrows and magicka.
Major Skills: Archery, Conjuration, Destruction
Minor Skills: Light Armor, Restoration, Enchanting
Herbalist
Herbalists are the blessing of the downtrodden and the bane of the opulent. They speak for those on the fringes of society and directly address the redistribution of unjust wealth. Herbalists often live with those they aid, using Alchemy and Magic to heal the wounded and weak, while summoning companions and altering their surroundings to survive in the wilds.
Major Skills: Pickpocket, Alchemy, Restoration
Minor Skills: Speech, Conjuration, Alteration
Shadowmancer
Shadowmancers are mages who have mastered the art of shadows. They use Illusion and Alchemy to move unseen and unheard through any terrain, while manipulating objects without a touch. Shadowmancers strike out of nowhere with deadly precision, either with poisoned blades or by casting spells from afar.
Major Skills: Sneak, Illusion, Alteration
Minor Skills: One-handed, Lockpicking, Destruction
Sorcerer
Sorcerers are geared to dominate and survive on the battlefield. Clad in the thickest enchanted armor, they are well-protected against enemy magic and arrows while unleashing mighty spells and cruel demons upon their foes. Sorcerers use potions and magic to push themselves to the limits, while wielding bound weapons if a foe draws too near.
Major Skills: Heavy Armor, Destruction, Enchanting
Minor Skills: Alchemy, Conjuration, Restoration
Trickster
Tricksters began as students of the arcane but quickly realized the usefulness of combining magic with more sinister arts. They relieve pockets, chests, and tombs of their possessions while playing all kinds of magical tricks on their unsuspecting victims. If necessary, Tricksters use bows and conjured creatures to sow distraction, opening new passages for advancing or disappearing from delicate situations.
Major Skills: Lockpicking, Pickpocket, Illusion
Minor Skills: Archery, Conjuration, Alteration
Wizard
Wizards are scholars who seek to uncover ancient secrets and what lies beyond the physical realms. As proficient mages, they master all schools of magic and wield forces beyond the grasp of common minds. Wizards do not engage in conflicts about the mundane but pose a formidable threat to any obstacle standing between them and the knowledge they desire.
Major Skills: Destruction, Alteration, Restoration
Minor Skills: Illusion, Conjuration, Enchanting
Starting Gear
Gear is coupled to skills. Depending on whether a skill was chosen as a Major skill or Minor Skill, you get different gear. All gear was selected to make sense for one or the other reason.
Alchemy for example not only gives potions and poisons, but also an axe as a weapon. This makes sense because when you are choppig and harvesting ingredients, you need an axe as a tool. Also, I needed a weapon for the Herbalist. Smithing gives maces and Warhammers for the same reason.
So once again, the limitations I had to work with enhanced some great creativity. Pretty much all skill combinations will start with a set of gear that makes sense and provides good gameplay. The only slight downside is, that the current system provides some clutter. Block will always grant a shield, even if your character blocks with weapons. Major Conluration always provides a nevromancy spell, even if you character does not do necromancy, ...
I am open for suggestions on how to tweak gear distribution further. There is no chance that I will make this separate from skill distribution. It would be a major pain to set up all the message boxes.
Since I do not have a proper ASCII table at hand, please take a look at that screenshot of the table I made
Spoiler:
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How to use
At the start of the game, you'll get a book called "Classes of the Sky and Rim". Open the book and build your character. The mod does NOTHING, if you do not open the book, it's fully optional.
Use my mod AFTER you have spoken to the Statue of Mara in Life an Other Life. Technically it does not matter, but I am not sure if the statue will remove all your starting geal. So use the book AFTER you have decided your fate and slept in the bed.
It is highly recommended to use my mod before you have levelled up and allocated skills. You may use my mod any time, nothing will crash or corrupt. However, if you choose "I am devoted to my destiny", all skills will be SetSV to 15 before class bonusses will be added. So you will loose any progression you had.
It it totally save to use the mod any time, if you decide to "be trained in your racial skills". Skills will not be reset and only the values you selected will be added.
Once again, USE EARLY, IDEALLY BEFORE LEVELLING UP. It just makes sense ;)
Compatibility
Compatible with everything except Classic Classes and Birthsigns (Revisited) because both mods share the same scripts. I see no reason why one would want to combine both mods.
Soft incompatible with Hand to Hand - An Adamant Addon. Both mods work perfectly together but my classes are not being made with one perk tree being replaced by a Hand to Hand tree. So the descriptions do not fit. You can, however buid your custom classes around the new perk tree, and use all the oter features of Classes of the Sky and Rim in combination with that mod.
Requirements
The base game and all DLC are required. I use some spells and gear from those, directly via FormID.
So in order for those few cases to work correctly, your load order MUST start like this
- Skyrim
- Update
- Dawnguard
- HearthFires
- Dragonborn
Mod Suggestions
None of the below is required in any case. Those are just personal recommendations of mods that go well with this mod.
Set of Skills: Adds a completely optional job system to Skyrim. This will be a nice addition to my class mod.
Mannaz & Freyr: Adds unique standing stone bonusses for each race. Enables close combat High Elves and magic Orcs. Perfect to add more variety to character creation.
Experience & Static Skill Levelling (Rewritten): Overhauls how you level up and how you gain skill levels. This will help you to distribute skill levels and to not exploit the game.
Skyrim Skill Uncapper: Allows you to level your major skills above level 100 if you set it up that way
Geometric Stat Growth: Gain fewer attribute points at the lower levels. Great to commit to the attribute specialization of this mod. (Skill Uncapper provides a similar mechanic)
Levelling Freedom: Tweak you level curve to level up slower. Helps you to stick to your class longer
Skyrim Outfit System: Lets you change your appearance regardless of your armor. Lets you define the looks of your character right from the start. Your Marauder urgently need one of those awesome deamon armor mods.
Gardden's Perk Trees Merged: Provides a huge and clean perk overhaul, and many patches for MCO, Elden Parry and Elden Counter.
FAQ
"Starting at level 35 makes me too strong and removes all early game progression"
This is a concern but hear me out. Pushing your Major Skill up to level 35 is quite a lot. The reason why I chose that value is to make major and minor skills very much distinct from each other. I want to really feel the difference. There are measures to balance this.
First, compared to Blassc Classes and Birthsigns (Revisited), I do not provide you with a free extra Birthsign and Class Ability. Second, I am using SetSV to increase stats, which slows down your further progression in your main stat considerably. Static Skill Levelling makes this even moresevere. So you might clear the first few enemies faster, but you do notlevel up as quickly as you would otherwise. So your class provides you a strong start but slower progression in those stronger skills.
Third, all non proficient skills loose points, which balances out the gain, and compared to classic Classes and Birthsigns (Revisited), only 3 skills get that big boost, instead of 6.
Further, if you add up all skill levels, distributing 15 points to each skill adds up to 240. In Vanilla you will get 270 skill points in total. ;)
"What is the meaning of classes if I can do whatever I want"
Different to other class mods, I reduce all your non-proficient skills to 5. You totally can use and get proficient in those but this requires some considerable effort. You will start quite strong in your class and that will mentally push you in that direction. There is no game mechanic that will put any other barrier upon you.
"Is it not too strong to allow almost free re-allocation of attributes"
It might be, especially if you play a physical fighter and allocate most of your magicka to health and stamina. On the other hand, why would such a class want to start with balanced stats. I am open to suggestions on how to balance this further, if it turns out to be too strong.
"How can you live with the Berserker destroying the otherwise beautiful skill distribution"
It bothers me and I can not stop thinking about it. I simply do not see as much value in third Warfare Class with Pickpocket compared to Alchemy. Please help me to either ease my mind and justify that crime, or give me a good reason to do a Pickpocket Berserker.
Plans
Tweak starting gear (likely)
I am not sure if Leather and Steel for Major Skills feels good enough, or if I want to add gear one level stronger. I have a strong feeling like that would be too much.
Further, most of the utility skills feel not satisfying to me in regards to their starting gear. If you have any suggestion, feel free to drop them in the comment section. Please be aware that I do not want to introduce a whole lot more complexity by creating a distinct starting gear selection. I do not have time for that.
Customization (possible)
I want to add some way for the player to customize at least the amount of skills to choose and the amount of skill level gained. I might either use PapyrusUtil or offload the values in a perk or skill and read from those.
PapyrusUtil would provide way more options and would allow to offload EVERYTHING in a config file. I would love to have starting gear and more, like providing a toggle to use ModAV instead of SetAV for skill levels. The downside wuld be that non-SKSE people would not be able to make use of that.
My plan is to flesh out the mod first, so that someone can pick it up and port to console or whatever. After that, I can make a version 2 with Papyrus util.
Stronger Major Skills (unlikely)
One idea I had was to add a third option to the race skill toggle dialog. At first, Majors Skills at 35 is too low and I would love to have them at 40. I just do not do that by default because people would most certainly complain. To balance things a little, I want to reduce non specialized skills to 1, keep minor at 25, and push Major to 40. This is the only of my plans that is very likely to be done in the near future.
Abilities in the form of rings (highly unlikely)
One idea I had was to add abilities like Classic Classes and Birthsigns (Revisited) has in the form of enchatend rings. they would provide a further small boost at the beginning but later one would replace the rings with stronger ones. It is very unlikely that I will do that because stock Skyrim and DLC does not provide too many interesting rings, and I do not want to use unique custom ones.
License and Credits
Classic Classes and Birthsigns (Revisited) was released under the WML 1.0 Cathedral license. As a consequence, this mod inherits that license.
You are free to distribute and modify this mod in any way without asking. you are welcomed to port the mod to console or Oldrim.
You must credit me and every author this mod is based upon.
Classes of the Sky and Rim is a derivate of Classic Classes and Birthsigns (Revisited) by clackie1996. That mod once again is based on "Classic Classes and Birthsigns" created by Kearsage and ported to SSE by watafuzz.