Oblivion:Races

There are ten playable races in Oblivion, 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). An analysis of racial demographics by city in Cyrodiil can be found here.

Human	Mer (Elven)	Beast
Breton Imperial (Cyrodiils) Nord Redguard (Yokudans)	Altmer (High Elves) Bosmer (Wood Elves) Dunmer (Dark Elves) Orc (Orsimer or Pariah Folk)	Argonian (Saxhleel) Khajiit

Your choice of race determines your character's initial Attribute values and also provides bonuses to various Skills, as detailed in the following table. All races and genders have 320 total base Attribute points. Each race also has special abilities (and in some cases weaknesses) as detailed on the individual race pages.

Attribute		Altmer			Argonian			Bosmer			Breton			Dunmer			Imperial			Khajiit			Nord			Orc			Redguard
		M	F		M	F		M	F		M	F		M	F		M	F		M	F		M	F		M	F		M	F
Strength		30	30		40	40		30	30		40	30		40	40		40	40		40	30		50	50		45	45		50	40
Intelligence		50	50		40	50		40	40		50	50		40	40		40	40		40	40		30	30		30	40		30	30
Willpower		40	40		30	40		30	30		50	50		30	30		30	40		30	30		30	40		50	45		30	30
Agility		40	40		50	40		50	50		30	30		40	40		30	30		50	50		40	40		35	35		40	40
Speed		30	40		50	40		50	50		30	40		50	50		40	30		40	40		40	40		30	30		40	40
Endurance		40	30		30	30		40	30		30	30		40	30		40	40		30	40		50	40		50	50		50	50
Personality		40	40		30	30		30	40		40	40		30	40		50	50		40	40		30	30		30	25		30	40
Luck		50	50		50	50		50	50		50	50		50	50		50	50		50	50		50	50		50	50		50	50
Magicka Bonus		100	100								50	50
Skills		+5 +10 +5 +10 +5 +10			+5 +10 +5 +5 +5 +5 +10			+5 +10 +5 +5 +10 +10			+5 +5 +10 +5 +10 +10			+5 +10 +5 +10 +5 +5 +5			+5 +5 +5 +10 +10 +10			+10 +5 +5 +10 +5 +5 +5			+5 +10 +5 +10 +10 +5			+10 +10 +10 +5 +10			+10 +10 +10 +5 +5 +5
Resists		-25												75
		-25																					50
		-25
											50															25
					100																								75
		75			75			75																					75
Height*		1.1	1.1		1.03	1.0		0.9	1.0		1.0	0.95		1.0	1.0		1.0	1.0		1.0	0.95		1.06	1.06		1.06	1.06		1.03	1.0
Weight		1.0	1.0		1.05	1.0		0.95	0.9		1.0	0.9		0.95	0.9		1.0	1.0		1.0	0.95		1.1	1.06		1.1	1.0		1.03	1.0

*Each race's movement speed is multiplied by its Height attribute (under Body Data in the CS). With the same Speed, Athletics, encumbrance, etc., an Altmer will move 10% faster than an Imperial because of the extra Height. Similarly, any race that is smaller than normal, such as a male Wood Elf or female Breton, will move slower than normal.

Non-Playable Races

These races exist in the game or the Shivering Isles expansion, but are not selectable as a race you can play.

Attribute		Dark Seducer*			Dremora			Golden Saint*			Sheogorath*			VampireRace**
		M	F		M	F		M	F		M	F		M	F
Strength		30	40		50	50		40	50		50	50		50	50
Intelligence		30	40		60	60		30	40		50	50		50	50
Willpower		30	40		35	45		30	40		50	50		50	50
Agility		40	50		30	30		30	40		50	50		50	50
Speed		40	50		50	50		30	40		50	50		50	50
Endurance		30	40		45	35		40	50		50	50		50	50
Personality		10	10		10	10		10	10		50	50		50	50
Luck		25	50		40	40		25	50		50	50		50	50
Skills		+5 +5 +5 +5 +10 +10 +5			+5 +5 +5 +10 +10 +5 +5			+5 +5 +10 +5 +5 +5 +10
Resists					33
		-50
					-20
								-50
Height		1.0	1.1		1.1	1.1		1.0	1.1		1.0	1.0		1.0	1.0
Weight		1.0	1.1		1.1	1.1		1.0	1.1		1.0	1.0		1.0	1.0

* These appear only in the Shivering Isles expansion. Sheogorath is of course unique. By appearance, he is an Imperial. The separate race exists to give him a beard, and to have eyes like those of the Golden Saints.
** This race exists in the Construction Set but is not used for anything. Actual vampires can be any race, as it is a disease applied to the character, rather than an actual race.

In addition, there are also many other races that are known to exist in the Elder Scrolls universe, but are not present in the game of Oblivion. These races may be rare/extinct, live in remote areas, dwell on other planes of existence or in some cases are even thought to be pure myth. These races are all listed on the Races page.

Reactions

Different races also have different reactions towards each other. These affect the base disposition that members of different races have on each other.

NPC Race	Altmer	Argonian	Bosmer	Breton	Dunmer	Imperial	Khajiit	Nord	Orc	Redguard
Player's Race
Altmer	+5	-10	-5	-5	-10	-5	-10			-5
Argonian		+5
Bosmer			+5
Breton				+5
Dunmer	-10	-10	-5	-5		-5	-5	-5		-5
Imperial
Khajiit							+5
Nord								+5
Orc	-5	-5	-5	-5	-5	-5	-5	-5		-5
Redguard				-5		-5				+5

The player's race is on the left and the race they are interacting with is shown at the top.