Souls of Cities - SFSE
🟡 Updated this yearThis mod was updated after the recent game update — it should work on the current version. (Starfield Update 1.16.244 – June 11, 2026)
⚠️ Install Order · 2 steps
Install in this order, then this mod last — most mods fail to load without their framework and dependencies in place.
Preview

🔍 Analysis
- 👍 1.6% endorsement rate — high engagement, a strong quality signal
- ✅ Updated 2 days after the latest game patch — actively maintained
- 🏆 #20 of 105 Characters mods in this game by downloads
📋 About This Mod
About this mod:
Whether you're looking to select the faces, outfits, voices, height, facial animations of generic NPCs you see in every large city (selectively for male and female characters with population ratio control), or just looking for a mod that simply makes cities a bit more lifelike by replacing the worst parts of the vanilla crowd system with a new implementation which doesn't feature funny looking/robotic moving characters but features full names (for everyone), properly aligned and fully enabled facial morphs (FaceGen), animated clothing with physics enabled; all this included with an SFSE framework to allow adding your own unique characters to the game world, then this mod may sound interesting to you.
If you're not looking to customize the characters and fine with the default presets, then aside from some random unique characters occasionally showing up, what you'll see is fully featured human crowd characters instead of "zombies". The unique characters I added are vanilla quest characters like Lieutenant Crisanto Torres (from Groundpounder), Estelle Vincent (Crimsom Fleet questline) and.. a bonus Mr. Howard.
If you're looking to personalize the characters for yourself by adding them selectively to the four supported locations (New Atlantis (and The Well), Akila City, Cydonia and Neon), then the good news is that you can do so by simply editing a .txt or .ini file which doesn't take more than a minute. Update: now that the Creation Kit 2 is released, modders can create human NPCs and make the SFSE plugin load them either as unique characters or random citizens.
The mod is made of two subsystems: the Modular People System (MPS) and the Unique Character (UC) system.
MPS: basically the custom crowd system that replaces the vanilla crowd NPCs. It randomly picks NPCs' faces, expressions (emotions), names, voices and outfits from .txt ("database") files. These files aren't big and quickly editable; they contain names (EditorIDs) and formIDs. Each location has a set of .txt files to allow location-specific setups like "more happy NPCs in New Atlantis, less in Cydonia" or "more males wear business suits than females" and so on. Population ratio control is also available per location.
UC: as mentioned above, MPS only makes it possible to edit the databases it randomly picks characters and their data from. In order to provide full character-specific customization, I made the UC system. It works like this: you create a new .ini file and specify their character data like appearance, name, outfit, voice, encounter chance, encounter locations and so on then the mod ensures the presence of this unique character at the given location, locations with the specified appearance and other NPC data.
I also exported the IDs (with names, when applicable) from Starfield.esm
Souls of Cities - SFSE completely overhauls the crowd system in Starfield, making NPCs more dynamic and lifelike. With 1,170 endorsements and 72,219 downloads, it's a popular choice for players seeking a more immersive urban experience.
✨ Key Features
📊 Pros & Cons
✅ Pros
- Huge community trust (1,170 endorsements) — this is a crowd favorite.
- Massive download count (72k) means it's been tested by many players.
- A total crowd overhaul is a game-changer for immersion — no more lifeless streets.
⚠️ Cons
- Requires SFSE, so you'll need to set that up first — extra step.
- No detailed feature list provided, so you're going in blind on what exactly changes.
- Last updated June 2026 — might not be compatible with future Starfield patches.
For Starfield players who want bustling, believable cities and are comfortable installing SFSE. Skip if you're on console or prefer minimal mod setup.
💡 Beginner Tips
- Make sure you have SFSE installed and launch the game through its loader, not the default exe.
- Check the mod's comments section for any known issues or load order advice.
- If you're using other crowd or NPC mods, test for conflicts early.
📊 Mod Details
- Game
- Starfield Mods
- Author
- LarannKiar
- Version
- 10.0
- Downloads
- 72,219
- Endorsements
- 1,170
- Category
- Characters
- Created
- 2/21/2024
- Updated
- 6/14/2026
🔧 How to Install Starfield Mods
Download from Nexus.
📖 Full step-by-step install guide for Starfield →
Visit the official mod page for specific installation instructions for this mod.
🎮 Need cheat codes or console commands? Check ur gaming wiki for Starfield commands, item IDs, and more.
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