DLC-sized Skyrim mod adds fully voiced 'Bioware-style' companions, over 9,000 lines of dialogue

While Skyrim may have plenty of NPCs who will follow you around, carry your burdens, and even agree to marry you in spite of the fact you probably reek of dead mammoth, there's definitely a limit to how much personality they have. (Which is why some of the best Skyrim mods are the ones that add fully voiced followers.) Warden of the Coast is a newly released mod for Skyrim Special Edition that adds a new questline, locations, and nine "Bioware-style" companions.

Each of those companions has their own loyalty quest, and thanks to 27 hard-working voice actors, Warden of the Coast includes more than 9,000 lines of recorded dialogue. Three of your companions can accompany you at any time, Dragon Age-style, and will let you choose their perks, skills, and attribute increases as they level up. And yes, some of them can be romanced.

Warden of the Coast's storyline sends you to an island where Oblivion gates have opened. You'll have to do battle with dremora and prevent the daedric lord who is behind it all from achieving their schemes. The main quest involves choosing between factions, and you can consult your companions to see how they feel about each option. It includes a "dynamic companion regard system modified through dialogue, player kills, and quest choices." 

Modder TheBawb says it should take 10 to 15 hours to make it to one of the five main endings of Warden of the Coast. The mod's story will kick in after you finish The Way of the Voice quest, though there's an option to begin sooner if you want to get right into it on a fresh save. Though you should be aware it's balanced for characters who are at least level five.

A planned update will make it possible for any of the companions from Warden of the Coast you romance to become a potential marriage partner after you finish the mod's questline. TheBawb notes that, after applying the update, "players will not need to replay the quest for the changes to be applied." You can find Warden of the Coast on NexusMods. You won't need any other mods installed for it to work, though it is incompatible with The Great City of Solitude and Redbag's Solitude

Jody Macgregor
Weekend/AU Editor

Jody's first computer was a Commodore 64, so he remembers having to use a code wheel to play Pool of Radiance. A former music journalist who interviewed everyone from Giorgio Moroder to Trent Reznor, Jody also co-hosted Australia's first radio show about videogames, Zed Games. He's written for Rock Paper Shotgun, The Big Issue, GamesRadar, Zam, Glixel, Five Out of Ten Magazine, and Playboy.com, whose cheques with the bunny logo made for fun conversations at the bank. Jody's first article for PC Gamer was about the audio of Alien Isolation, published in 2015, and since then he's written about why Silent Hill belongs on PC, why Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale is the best fantasy shopkeeper tycoon game, and how weird Lost Ark can get. Jody edited PC Gamer Indie from 2017 to 2018, and he eventually lived up to his promise to play every Warhammer videogame.

Read more
Serana from Skyrim, modded to look like a desiccated corpse.
Skyrim realism mod fixes your vampire girlfriend, giving her a voice and look more suited to someone who just got out of a coffin after 2,000 years
Pixel-art portraits of Astarion and Shadowheart against a seasonal backdrop of Stardew Valley
The Baldur's Gate 3 mod for Stardew Valley is out, so here's another opportunity to romance Astarion
A redhaired woman holds a sword in Maelstrom, one of the best Skyrim Special Edition mods
The best Skyrim Special Edition mods
A foppish figure stands in fine clothes and a strange red mask.
Hero modders take a break from their 25-year quest to make the rest of Morrowind to make the Oblivion we should have got instead
Avowed companions sketched in lineart
All the Avowed companions who will join you in the Living Lands
Shadowheart's eyes go white as she holds a glowing magic artifact
Baldur's Gate 3 modder says the community's been making 'huge strides' towards custom campaigns: 'I think we'll see many of them refined, improved, and released this year'
Latest in RPG
A screenshot from SaGa Frontier 2, showing one of the protagonists wandering through a quaint fantasy village
One of Square Enix' most underrated PlayStation-era JRPGs just shadow dropped on Steam
kingdom come: deliverance 2 henry looks confused
'Medieval Batman' completes Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 pacifist playthrough with zero kills and 535 knockouts
The Huntress holding a bloody spear.
The biggest update since Path of Exile 2's early access launch is coming next week, bringing a new class and a bunch of endgame changes
Key art for the Ranger class in Path of Exile 2
Path of Exile 2 director isn't worried about ARPG competition, in part thanks to seasons: 'So long as people are willing to come back and play our game for a month four times a year, then I'm good'
Wuk Lamat, a character in Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail, stares in an unimpressed manner.
'I can't really say what they were thinking' says whistleblowing modder, as Final Fantasy 14's attempt to thwart stalkers falls terribly short of the mark
Raidou Kuzonoha and pals, looking like they've about to drop the most fire single of the 1930s
Raidou Remastered is finally bringing the historical Shin Megami Tensei supernatural sleuth spinoff to PC this June
Latest in News
A screenshot from SaGa Frontier 2, showing one of the protagonists wandering through a quaint fantasy village
One of Square Enix' most underrated PlayStation-era JRPGs just shadow dropped on Steam
The titular character from Princess Mononoke is depicted riding the wolf goddess Moro and carrying a spear.
Studio Ghibli AI image trend floods social media, cheered on by OpenAI and denounced by critics as an insult to Hayao Miyazaki
Marvel Rivals tier list - Wolverine
Marvel Rivals director says a future patch will reduce the shooter's insatiable hunger for RAM: 'It's a very big problem'
Hogwarts Legacy potions professor holding a potion
An unannounced Hogwarts Legacy expansion and 'definitive edition' have reportedly been cancelled
Story of Seasons - A cahacter in a purple tuxedo stands outside in a town square talking to the player
Story of Seasons is doing another Harvest Moon remake and it might be the best the series has ever looked
Assassin's Creed Shadows change seasons - An upper-body shot of Yasuke looking cheerfully up into the distance.
Assassin's Creed Shadows puts up the 'second highest day-one sales revenue in Assassin's Creed franchise history'