Christmas comes to Skyrim (sort of) with this mod

One tends not to associate the likes of Skyrim with Christmas. Which is surprising, really, given all that snow and burly men with big beards. But with the holiday season upon us, one modder decides to bring yuletide festivities to this cold slice of Tamriel.

Back with another addition to your vanilla Skyrim playthrough, veteran modder JaySerpa has just released “The Gift of Saturalia – A Quest for the Holidays.” This mod encapsulates an Elder Scrolls type of winter celebration with a new quest to hopefully get you in the Christmas spirit.

Featuring fully voiced acting and expansions to some NPC lore, you’ll be given the chance to help others out, as a “bearded old trader” teaches you about the tradition of Saturalia. The quest itself is said to not be too long, but it’s supposed to have “lasting effects, scenes and dialogue after its completion, altering some locations and the life of several NPCs.”

Also, that trailer is pretty current

Here’s everything that “The Gift of Saturalia” boasts:

• Fully voiced, with a mix of new characters (with new VA) and spliced vanilla lines.
• Expands the stories of several vanilla NPCs that don’t usually get much love.
• Around 500 lines of dialogue. Quest duration is overall short, but it will take you all over Skyrim. Roughly 1 or 2 hours of playtime.
• Lore friendly and feasible: My goal is to make content that feels like it could’ve been in the vanilla game from the start.
• Dynamic changes: The attitudes, routines, relationships and basically the life of several NPCs will be altered by the end of the quest. Some of the NPCs involved might live in a new home or even a new city. All with voiced reactions, custom scenes and quest-awareness.
• Persuasion options take into account your “history” with the characters you’re talking to as part of the quest. Meaning, if you’ve helped them in the past (or wronged them), the persuasion attempt is more or less likely to succeed.
• Quest is very speech-centric and suitable for all ages. A literal quest for the holidays.
• If you own the Anniversary Edition Upgrade (including the Saturalia official addon), this mod will improve on the CC Saturalia NPC by giving him a new voice and appropriate lines (He will talk about his reindeer, trying to sell it to you, etc.)
• Interesting rewards that encourage staying in the cold areas of Skyrim.

For those who aren’t aware (I must admit, even as a lifelong Elder Scrolls player, I was a bit ignorant), Saturalia is a Breton celebration that takes place on the 25th of Evening Star. It’s a time for gift giving, get-togethers, and partying. Sound familiar?

Honestly, if this mod doesn’t get you into the swing of the holiday season, then I don’t know what will. Probably something else, I imagine. Who am I to judge? Not Santa, that’s who.