Simple Bandit Children
⚪ Last updated 2022⚠️ Install Order · 5 steps
Install in this order, then this mod last — most mods fail to load without their framework and dependencies in place.
Preview

🔍 Analysis
- 👍 0.7% endorsement rate
- 🏆 #116 of 162 Immersion mods in this game by downloads
📋 About This Mod
Inspired by the mod Banditkiin - Bandit Children of Skyrim, but completely different. Banditkiin does too much for my taste. It adds a lot of things, making it hard to maintain the mod and control the balance of the game, especially for larger load orders. So I set out to find a simpler and cleaner implementation of Bandit Children that fits in more with my vanilla+ mentality. If you'd like a more extensive Bandit Children experience spanning across different factions, head on over to Banditkiin's mod page and download that one.
So what does Simple Bandit Children do?
On very rare instances, Simple Bandit Children spawns a Bandit Child from the Bandit Levelled Lists (around 1/30 per spawn if my calculations are correct) wherever/whenever the game uses vanilla bandit spawns. The Bandit Child uses the same fighting style as adult bandits (either melee or magic), only they will run away faster and won't initiatate combat on their own, but they will help their allies. The Bandit Children aren't meant to be strong, spawn only rarely to occasionally remind you of the cruel world that Skyrim is. The Bandit Children should be considered more like cannon fodder than worthy adversaries. My mod is mainly for adding a little bit of immersion and moral dilemma to Skyrim. Life is brutal.
If the spawn chance is too high or too low, let me know and I'll provide a patch to increase of decrease the ammount of Bandit Children you'll encounter.
My mod keeps edits to a bare minimum, but it needs the following two mods to function properly. Both are hard requirements:
- Slayable Offspring SKSE by powerofthree
- Savage Offspring SKSE by powerofthree
Those two mods are .dll files and bypass engine limitations and allow children to perform actions they couldn't in vanilla Skyrim (like fighting and getting killed), without needing to resort to workarounds such as creating new races and disabling child animations.
My mod consists of only 32 records and does the following:
- Creates 8 NPC's, 6 melee Bandit Children and 2 magic Bandit Children
- Adds an Armor Addon + Armor entry for Fur Armor, Fu Bracers and Fur Shoes to make those pieces of equipment work properly on child npc's
- Adds 1 Child Bandit outfit consisting of the above 3 pieces of equipment
- Creates two new levelled lists (BanditChildrenMelee and BanditChildrenMagic) with respectively a 50% and 66% chance to spawn NONE so that spawn rarity is maintained
- Inserts those two levelled lists into the relevant Levelled Lists for Bandits (these are the only two conflicts with vanilla Skyrim and as such is extremely easy to patch, even in large load orders, in xEdit)
Optional patch:
- The main file gives each meele Bandit Child NPC a different iron weapon for variety (War Axe, Sword, Warhammer, Battleaxe, Greatsword, Mace). The optional patch gives all NPC's
Simple Bandit Children adds very rare instances of bandit children to the bandit levelled lists, making encounters with child bandits a rare and memorable event. This immersion-focused mod is for players who want a touch of dark fantasy in their bandit encounters. With 192 endorsements and 28,658 downloads, it has a modest but dedicated following.
✨ Key Features
📊 Pros & Cons
✅ Pros
- Adds a unique and memorable twist to bandit encounters that you won't find in vanilla.
- Community-approved with 192 endorsements and 28,658 downloads, so it's been tried and tested.
- Lightweight and simple—just a levelled list edit, so it won't bloat your load order.
⚠️ Cons
- Rare spawns mean you might play for hours without seeing a bandit child, which could be disappointing if you want more frequent encounters.
- Potential compatibility issues with other mods that overhaul bandit levelled lists, so you'll need to check for conflicts.
- The mod hasn't been updated since May 2022, so it may not be compatible with the latest game version or other recent mods.
For Skyrim players who want a dark, immersive twist on bandit encounters and don't mind rare spawns. If you're looking for frequent or gameplay-changing additions, this isn't it—it's purely a subtle immersion tweak.
💡 Beginner Tips
- Use a mod manager like Vortex or Mod Organizer 2 to install and manage this mod easily.
- Check for compatibility patches if you use other mods that modify bandit levelled lists, like OBIS or Heritage.
- Since the spawns are rare, you might want to test in a new game or use console commands to verify it's working.
📊 Mod Details
- Game
- Skyrim Mods
- Author
- bientje
- Version
- 1.1
- Downloads
- 28,658
- Endorsements
- 192
- Category
- Immersion
- Created
- 1/9/2022
- Updated
- 5/29/2022
🔧 How to Install Skyrim Mods
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Visit the official mod page for specific installation instructions for this mod.
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