However, there are a few things that don’t make up when it comes to immersion. Why isn’t Jarl Balgruuf the Greater enraged when he’s awakened up in the middle of the night by an out-of-bounds Dragonborn? Why do perfectly healthy NPCs take an eternity to get out of bed (well, nine seconds)? Why do they all appear to have died the moment their heads hit their pillows? Who knows what will happen. However, a new mod has emerged that will turn slumbering Skyrim-style into an entirely new experience.
Esteemed modder JaySerpa, whose body of work includes creations that let you pet dogs, make interactions way more immersive, and expand famous quests, is behind the new sleeping overhaul. Inspired by a playthrough that saw his Dragonborn ambushed by bandits while rousing from slumber, the mod has three key features: NPCs will now acknowledge being woken up mid-nap, they’ll now actually breathe while they sleep, and you can adjust the speed at which they get up from their beds.
The first new feature adds around 50 voice lines used either whole or spliced from the base game, which NPCs will bleat at you if you bother them while they’re catching their ZZZs. This is “just for fun”, mind, so you won’t see any effects to relationships or quests beyond their shouting.
These responses can vary from person to person, too. Some will be more confused, while others – we’re looking at you, Jarl Balgruuf – will be grumpier:
Sleeping NPCs get new animations (two for beds; three for bed rolls) that adds “100% more breathing than in vanilla”. It’s worth noting these are pretty minor changes, but they do make things that bit more realistic.
Finally, the mod lets you pick between three different waking speeds, with the fastest letting your Dragonborn leap out of bed and get battling fast if they’re caught off-guard. On the new animations, JaySerpa explains that “these different get in/get out of bed animations are context aware and will play based on fitting conditions dynamically. Most of the vanilla animations are sped up about 33%. This ensures they (hopefully) still look realistic and natural, but do not get in the way of your gameplay”.
If you’re keen on the new-look Skyrim slumbering, you can grab the mods at Nexus Mods there. As ever, mod with caution, and be sure to check out our rundown of the best Skyrim mods about on PC.
