Aging in Skyrim

AGING IN SKYRIM

Time leaves its mark on everyone in Skyrim, you included.

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( Characters ALL age naturally / This was to show you a manual difference )

The Nords say only the mountains are eternal. Until now, nobody in Skyrim ever grew a day older. The blacksmith who was in his prime when you left Helgen is exactly the same 100 hours later. The innkeeper never greys. You never get a single wrinkle.

Aging in Skyrim changes that. Every adult in the world, and you, now gets older as the days go by. You can watch faces line, hair turn silver and bodies weather with the years. When their time comes, people die, quietly and of old age, and the world moves on without them.

It runs on a native SKSE plugin with no scripts running on NPCs and nothing polling the whole world, so it stays light even in a heavily modded game.

MAIN FEATURES

⌛ Real ages, measured in years

• []Every adult NPC and the player has an actual age that rises with in-game time.[/]

  []By default, one year passes about every 33 in-game days, so people age around five years over a long playthrough. You can change the rate separately for NPCs and the player in MCM options.[/]

  []The world starts with a natural mix of ages: ordinary NPCs begin anywhere from 18 to 40, essential characters at 30, and those the game made old already carry their years.[/]

  []Ages are tracked per person, not per NPC template, so two bandits from the same template age as individuals.[/]

  🎲 A different lifespan for every person

  • []Each person rolls a lifespan once: 80 years ± 5 by default.[/]

    []Essential characters get an extra +20 ± 5 years, so the heroes of the story stay around longer.[/]

    []You can't predict who goes first. Some live long lives and some don't.[/]

    👴 Aged skin you can actually see

    • []Five wrinkle stages for men and women, at 50, 60, 70, 80 and 90.[/]

      []Covers the face, body and hands: crow's feet, forehead lines, a creased neck, aged hands, loosening skin.[/]

      []The wrinkles were strengthened so they show clearly in game, and the male faces got extra work so they age as visibly as the women's.[/]

      []Only the normal map (the surface detail) changes. Your skin colour textures stay exactly as they are, so this sits on top of any skin texture pack.[/]

      []Skin showing under armour ages too, and it all re-applies when gear changes.[/]

      []Bodies keep their age: someone who dies of old age looks every bit as old as they were.[/]

      🫥 Age spots, moles and warts, different on everyone

      • []From 55, skin grows paler and uneven, with liver spots on temples, cheeks, hands and shoulders.[/]

        []From 65, many (not all) grow moles, warts and skin tags.[/]

        []Drawn on top of the skin with RaceMenu overlays, so no two elders look the same, and it works with any skin texture. Needs RaceMenu; skipped without it.[/]

        🦳 Hair that greys over time

        • []Hair, beards and eyebrows start greying at 50 and are fully silver by 90.[/]

          []Greying starts from each person's own hair colour, so a redhead fades differently than someone with black hair.[/]

          []Applied per person, so one old bandit going grey doesn't grey every bandit.[/]

          []Works on every humanoid race, including elves, orcs, Khajiit and Argonians.[/]

          []If another mod resets hair colours, the plugin notices and restores the grey within seconds.[/]

          🚶 The walk of the very old

          • []From 70, NPCs walk, stand and run with a hunched, careful posture (needs Open Animation Replacer).[/]

            []They also move about 20% slower, so the town elder really does take his time crossing the square.[/]

            []NPCs only. Your own character keeps the normal animations.[/]

            📏 A little shorter every decade

            • []Like real people, Skyrim's elders lose a little height, up to about 2. 5% by 90, so the old blacksmith now stands a touch lower than his sons.[/]

              ⚰️ Death by old age

              []When someone outlives their lifespan, they die of old age. That includes essential NPCs, whose protection is lifted when their time comes.[/]

              []Never in the middle of a conversation with you.[/]

              [*]Bodies are cleaned up after 2 in-game days, and only once