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 dont 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 dtats 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 Male Female Speed Endurance Luck Personality

30 30

30 40

30 30

50 50

50 50

40 30

50 50

40 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. Bees 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 Apodians 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 references 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 avatars 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 ThirdPerson 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 ingame 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