The beginners Guide to the Races of TamrielTamriel is the home of ten races, each with its own unique abilities, skills, and powers. Each race has a home province from which it originated with the exception of Orcs, who currently live in Orsinium, but did not originate from there. Your choice of race determines your character's initial Attribute levels. Each race also has special abilities (and in some cases weaknesses) as we now shall learn. This does however not affect your character or the game in any real sense, only in the way you might play.
Altmer (a.k.a. High Elves)In the Imperial tongue, the haughty, tall, golden-skinned peoples of Summerset Isle are called High Elves, the Ayleid referred to them as Salache, but they call themselves Altmer, or the "Cultured People." In the Empire, "High" is often understood to mean "proud" or "snobbish," and as the Altmer generally personify these characteristics, the "lesser races" harbor little warmth for them. Altmer confidently consider themselves, with some justice, as the most civilized culture of Tamriel; the common tongue of the Empire, Tamrielic, is based on Altmer speech and writing, and most of the Empire's arts, crafts, and sciences are derived from Altmer traditions. However, the Altmer's smug self-assurance of superiority can be hard to bear. Deft, intelligent, and strong-willed, Altmer are the most strongly gifted in the arcane arts of all the races, and Altmer boast that their sublime physical natures make them far more resistant to disease than the "lesser races." However, they are also somewhat vulnerable to fire, frost, and shock.
The High Elves are among the longest living and most intelligent races of Tamriel. Because of this they often become powerful magic users having centuries in which to practice their art. Due to their incredibly strong minds, some Altmer are naturally immune to paralysis, both natural and magical.
Starting Attribute levelsAgility:
40 Endurance:
40Intelligence:
50Personality:
40Speed:
30Strength:
30Willpower:
40ArgonianArgonians are the reptilian denizens of Black Marsh. Little is known and less is understood about them. Years of defending their borders have made the Argonians experts in guerrilla warfare, and their natural abilities make them equally at home in water and on land. They are well-suited for the treacherous swamps of their homeland, and have developed natural immunities to the diseases and poisons that have doomed many would-be explorers into the region. Their seemingly expressionless faces belie a calm intelligence, and many Argonians are well-versed in the magical arts. Others rely on stealth or steel to survive, and their natural agility makes them adept at either. They are, in general, a reserved people, slow to trust and hard to know. Yet they are fiercely loyal, and will fight to the death for those they have named as friends.
Starting Attribute levelsAgility:
50Endurance:
30Intelligence:
40Personality:
30Speed:
50Strength:
30Willpower:
30Bosmer (a.k.a. Wood Elves)The Bosmer are the various barbarian Elven clan-folk of Valenwood, a forested province in southwestern Tamriel. In the Empire, they are often collectively referred to as Wood Elves, but "Bosmer", or "the Tree-Sap People", is what they call themselves. "Tree-Sap" suggests the wild vitality and youthful energy of Wood Elves, in contrast with their more dour cousins, the Altmer and Dunmer. Bosmer reject the stiff, formal traditions of Aldmeri high culture, preferring a romantic, simple existence in harmony with the land, its wild beauty and wild creatures. These country cousins of the High Elves and Dark Elves are nimble and quick in body and wit, and because of their curious natures and natural agility, Bosmer are especially suitable as scouts, and thieves. But most of all, the Bosmer are known for their skills with bows; there are no finer archers in all of Tamriel. Their ability to command simple-minded creatures is also well known. As part of their Green Pact, they are religiously carnivorous and cannibalistic, but do not destroy trees or plant life, though they are not averse to using wooden or plant-derived products created by others.
Starting Attribute levelsAgility:
50Endurance:
40Intelligence:
40Personality:
30Speed:
50Strength:
30Willpower:
30BretonBretons are the human descendants of the Aldmeri-Nedic Manmer of the Merethic Era and are now the inhabitants of the province of High Rock. They are united in culture and language even though they are divided politically, for High Rock is a factious region. Bretons make up the peasantry, soldiery, and magical elite of the feudal kingdoms that compete for power. Many are capable mages with innate resistance to magicka. They are known for a proficiency in abstract thinking and flamboyant customs. They are not the only ethnicity of High Rock; the Horse People of the Bjoulsae River and the Witchmen of the Reach could possibly be referred to as Bretons as well, though it would be a primarily geographic label.
Starting Attribute levelsAgility:
30Endurance:
30Intelligence:
50Personality:
40Speed:
30Strength:
40Willpower:
50Dunmer (a.k.a. Dark Elves)Dunmer, also known as Dark Elves, or Moriche in the Ayleid Language, are the dark-skinned Elven peoples of the Eastern Empire. "Dark" is variously understood to mean "dark-skinned," "gloomy," and "ill-favored by fate." The Dunmer and their national character embrace these various connotations with enthusiasm. In the Empire, "Dark Elves" is the common usage, but in their Morrowind homeland, and among their Aldmeri brethren, they call themselves the "Dunmer". The dark-skinned, red-eyed Dunmer combine powerful intellect with strong and agile physiques, producing superior warriors and sorcerers. On the battlefield, Dunmer are noted for their skilled and balanced integration of the sword, the bow and destruction magic. In character, they are grim, aloof, and reserved, distrusting and disdainful of other races.
Starting Attribute levelsAgility:
40Endurance:
40Intelligence:
40Personality:
30Speed:
50Strength:
40Willpower:
30ImperialKnown as Cyrodils, or Cyro-Nordics, before the time of Talos, the well-educated and well-spoken Imperials are the natives of the civilized, cosmopolitan province of Cyrodiil. Imperials are also known for the discipline and training of their citizen armies. Though physically less imposing than the other races, the Imperials have proved to be shrewd diplomats and traders, and these traits, along with their remarkable skill and training as light infantry, have enabled them to subdue all the other nations and races, and to have erected the monument to peace and prosperity that comprises the Glorious Empire. Their hegemony has waxed and waned throughout the eras, and most historians refer to three distinct Empires. The repeated rise and fall of Cyrodiil has never failed to reorder the continent, and each Empire has marked a new epoch in Tamrielic history.
Starting Attribute levelsAgility:
30Endurance:
40Intelligence:
40Personality:
50Speed:
40Strength:
40Willpower:
30KhajiitThe Khajiit are a race of feline creatures hailing from the province of Elsweyr, well-known for their keen Intelligence and Agility. While these traits make them superb thieves, Khajiit are also fearsome warriors, although seldom gifted with the skill to harness magical forces. This is not to say that Khajiit do not possess the ability, merely that strenuous training must be undertaken to make wielding magic a serious option, either in passive or aggressive actions.
Physiologically, Khajiit differ greatly from both the varied races of man and mer, not only in their skeletal structure (possessing a tail and digitigrade -toe walking- stance) and dermal makeup (the "fur" that covers their bodies) but in their digestion and metabolism as well. The Khajiit, along with the Argonians, make up the so called 'beast races' of the Empire, due to their therianthropic qualities.
Starting Attribute levelsAgility:
50Endurance:
30Intelligence:
40Personality:
40Speed:
40Strength:
40Willpower:
30NordThe Nords are a race of tall and fair-haired humans from Skyrim who are known for their incredible resistance to cold and even magical frost. They are enthusiastic warriors, and act as soldiers and mercenaries all over Tamriel. Eager to augment their martial skills beyond the traditional methods of Skyrim, they excel in all manner of warfare. They thrive in the cold, reminiscent of their native Atmora, and are known as a militant people by their neighbors. Nords are also natural seamen, and have benefited from nautical trade since their first migrations across the sea from Atmora. They captain and crew the merchant fleets of many regions, and may be found all along Tamriel's coasts.
Starting Attribute levelsAgility:
40Endurance:
50Intelligence:
30Personality:
30Speed:
40Strength:
50Willpower:
30Orc (a.k.a. Orsimer, Pariah Folk, or Corrupted Elves)Orcs, also called Orsimer, "Corrupt Elves," or "Pariah Folk" in ancient times, are sophisticated barbarian beast peoples of the Wrothgarian Mountains, Dragontail Mountains, and Orsinium, also known as the "City of the Pariah." They are noted for their unshakable courage in war and their unflinching endurance of hardships. In the past, Orcs have been widely feared and hated by the other nations and races of Tamriel, but they have slowly won acceptance in the Empire, in particular for their distinguished service in the Emperor's Legions. Orc armorers are prized for their craftsmanship, and Orc warriors in heavy armor are among the finest front-line troops in the Empire, and are fearsome when using their berserker rage. Most Imperial citizens regard the Orc society as rough and cruel, but there is much to admire in their fierce tribal loyalties and generous equality of rank and respect among the sexes.
Starting Attribute levelsAgility:
35Endurance:
40Intelligence:
30Personality:
20Speed:
30Strength:
45Willpower:
30RedguardThe most naturally talented warriors in Tamriel, the dark-skinned, wiry-haired Redguards of Hammerfell seem born to battle, though their pride and fierce independence of spirit makes them more suitable as scouts or skirmishers, or as free-ranging heroes and adventurers, than as rank-and-file soldiers. In addition to their cultural affinities for many weapon and armor styles, Redguards are also physically blessed with hardy constitutions, resistance to poison, and quickness of foot. Redguards do not share the same blood as the other human races, and they have no connection with the ancestral human homeland of Atmora.
Starting Attribute levelsAgility:
40Endurance:
50Intelligence:
30Personality:
30Speed:
40Strength:
50Willpower:
30More information about the races can be found
here. 
