Only a Public Test build of Tuxborn is currently installable, due to a mod used in the previously stable version vanishing from Nexus Mods.
We are working as fast as we can to bring this public test to a final, stable 1.0 release. Unfortunately, we cannot at this time guarantee that saves will be compatible between this Public Test build, and the final release.
Thank you for your understanding.
Introducing Tuxborn, a performance-focused Wabbajack Modlist, with profiles tailored for both handheld devices and Laptops/Desktop PCs.
If you need support or wish to chat about Tuxborn, join the Aetherius Modding Discord , grab the Tuxborn role from Channels & Roles and look for us in the #txbn-general channel - support queries can be directed to the #txbn-support discord forum. Or if you just want to chat about Wabbajack Modlists on Steam Deck/Linux in general, then drop by the #unofficial-linux-help channel of the Official Wabbajack Discord.
Inspired by the likes of Septimus, Eldryn and Redoran, Tuxborn was initially created to fill a gap in the Wabbajack Modlist landscape – A Modlist that specifically targets the performance profile of the Valve Steam Deck. Since inception, Tuxborn has evolved to become a great option for those using less powerful PCs or laptops, as well as the full range of handheld PCs that are now on the market.
Tuxborn supports only the Anniversary Edition of Skyrim on Steam, updated to v1.6.1170. You must own Skyrim Anniversary Edition to run Tuxborn.
While Tuxborn was initially designed for the performance profile of the Steam Deck, that doesn’t mean it’s limited to that platform! It’s also a great, content-, lightweight (in terms of performance) list for less powerful systems. There are no less than six Performance Profiles included that you can choose from, depending on if you wish to play with BFCO (Combat Animation Framework), your desired performance target, or system specs (if not the Steam Deck):
Tuxborn – Deck: This profile aims for a locked 40FPS experience on the Steam Deck.
Tuxborn - Deck CS: This profile aims for a locked 30FPS experience on the Steam Deck, but with the additional visual benefits of the Community Shaders mod and profile.
Tuxborn – Desktop: This profile is for slightly more powerful PCs, has an expanded Community Shaders suite and higher INI settings. Performance of this profile will depend on your system specs.
Tuxborn – Deck BFCO: This profile aims for a locked 40FPS experience on the Steam Deck, and includes the BFCO Combat Animation Framework.
Tuxborn - Deck CS BFCO: This profile aims for a locked 30FPS experience on the Steam Deck, but with the additional visual benefits of the Community Shaders mod and profile, and includes the BFCO Combat Animation Framework.
Tuxborn – Desktop BFCO: This profile is for slightly more powerful PCs, has a full Community Shaders suite, higher INI settings, and includes the BFCO Combat Animation Framework. Performance of this profile will depend on your system specs.
While the Deck and Deck CS profiles target a locked FPS, they are not capped at those figures. Instead, it is expected that Deck users use the frame limiting feature of the Steam Deck to cap the FPS. Frame limits can be set via SSEDisplayTweaks - See the FAQ section for details on how to do this.
Please Note: Due to the need for shader cache building on the Steam Deck, there may be a noticeable stutter in the first 1-2 hours while the cache builds. It should be good after that.
Tuxborn balances enhanced visuals with smooth performance, ensuring an immersive experience optimised for performance. Our curated selection of mods integrates high-quality content and graphical enhancements, all while maintaining our commitment to keeping frame rates smooth.
Using the brilliant Anvil Modlist as a base, Tuxborn creates a balance of game fixes and QoL improvements, a carefully selected mix of Enairim and Simonrim gameplay changes, and a performance-focused selection of graphical enhancements across the board. Tuxborn includes the latest version of Legacy of the Dragonborn (v6), optional BFCO combat overhaul, a vast array of additional or overhauled quest content, NPC/Character Enhancements, Extra Weapons and Armours, Character Customisation options, Followers, and more!
Downloading a Wabbajack Modlist gives you everything you need - you do not need to install ModOrganizer yourself, or copy mods to the Vanilla Skyrim directory, everything is already done for you!.
A full list of mods included in the list can be found on the Load Order Library page, but as a brief overview, Tuxborn utilises the following:
Gameplay Changes (Simonrim): Adamant, Blade and Blunt, Mysticism, Thaumaturgy, Apothecary & Stormcrown
Gameplay Changes (Enairim): Mannaz, Freyr, Sacrilege, Growl & Apocalypse
Gameplay Changes (Levelling): Tuxborn utilises Static Skill Levelling that changes the way levelling is handled. After gaining a level, you will be presented with a menu to select the skills you wish to level up. A better description can be found on the Nexus mod page, but essentially instead of gaining Skill XP as you use skills, you gain level XP. Once you level up and sleep, you can allocate points to the skills as you wish - no more min/max'ing, or casting the same spell over and over to level up a specific skill! Please note that this mod is optional and can be disabled before starting a new save. It cannot be disabled mid-save.
Gameplay Changes (BFCO): Entirely optional, Tuxborn includes three performance profiles that includes the BFCO - Attack Behavior Framework bringing modern combat animations and features to Skyrim, including new animations for melee/range weapons, while also allowing attacks while jumping and swimming. Replaces Blade and Blunt with Plus Combat and Chocolate Poise Plus
Visual Enhancements: Skyrim AIO, Azurite Weather and Seasons, Happy Little Trees, Community Shaders (CS and Desktop Profiles).
CharGen Changes: We have included High Poly Head, CBBE and a whole range of Head, Body,Hair and Eye mods, as well as four sets of Character presets, the options available in Tuxborn should allow you to create your perfect character.
NPC Changes: We have been careful to enhance the visuals for NPCs throughout the game world, without going for the "supermodels everywhere" look. A carefully thought out list of NPC mods and replacers, combined with a hand-picked merge of multiple NPC mods, creates a vast improvement on the Vanilla experience, while maintining immersion in how characters appear.
Content: Tuxborn aims to include as much of the good quality quest content and enhancements, including (but not limited to) Legacy of the Dragonborn (v6), JaySerpa Quest Expansion Series, Beyond Skyrim - Bruma, Byeond Reach, Vigilant, Glenmoril, Unslaad, The Grey Cowl of Nocturnal, Falskaar, Wyrmstooth, Midwood Isle, Moonpath to Elsweyr plus a whole load of smaller quest mods!
Survival: We've included the Survival Overhaul Starfrost for those that enjoy the survival gameplay. While not enabled by default, it can be turned on by following the same steps as enabling Survival mode in Vanilla Skyrim. You can toggle the ability to fast-travel by editing the mod's ini file. More details can be found on the Starfrost Nexus page.
Tuxborn includes the Pronouns mod, allowing you to select your preferred pronouns. As per the mod page details
Selecting they/them pronouns could prevent you from completing certain quests that don't provide gender-neutral dialogue alternatives. To combat this issue, I've developed the Pronouns Patcher, which allows They/Them players to default to fallback pronouns in those cases. Run the Pronouns Patcher via xEdit, then set your fallback pronouns in the MCM.
We've done the xEdit bit for you, but you will still have to set your fallback pronoun via the MCM in-game.
Custom Presets Go in Here: An empty folder to put any custom racemenu presets in (.jslot file format).
SSE FPS Stabilizer: A SKSE plugin that dynamically changes settings based on a performance target, can be disabled if you run into weird performance issues.
Small HUD: Makes the HUD smaller in scale.
Lower Render Resolution: An optional mod that lowers the render scaling to 0.75 to help with performance on handhelds that have 1080p and higher screen resolutions.
Skyrim Upscaler: DLSS FSR2 XeSS: more FPS or longer battery life with the help of FSR upscaling.
Enemy (R)Evolution of Skyrim: EEOS: gives npc more perks and spells to use against you.
Masculine Animations for Female PCs/Feminine Animations for Male PCs: changes some animations for the Player Character.
For Windows players, follow the Wabbajack instructions below, and once the Wabbajack installation is complete, run the ModOrganizer.exe file located in the Tuxborn install directory you selected in Wabbajack to start and launch the modlist. On Steam Deck, the process is a little more involved, so see below for Installation instructions, but please read through the below as well as the information still applies. Once You have have completed the Wabbajack Installation on Deck, return to this guide, rejoining at Starting the Game.
For best results, you should consider fully uninstalling and reinstalling Skyrim from your system prior to installing the Modlist via Wabbajack. This will ensure that there are no additional, unneeded or unclean files that could interrupt or make the Wabbajack installation process fail.
For the actual modlist install, it is strongly recommended that you have a Nexus Premium account, otherwise you will need to manually download each of the mods, when prompted by Wabbajack.
For both the installation via Wabbajack and playing the modlist (either on Windows or on Steam Deck/Linux), you will need to have launched Vanilla Skyrim at least once, and have downloaded all the Anniversary Edition Creation Club content from within Skyrim. Failure to do so may result in the modlist install failing, especially due to the mismatch of Curios naming versions.
Downloads for Tuxborn are currently ~120GB, and the resulting modlist install size on disk is ~184GB. Wabbajack lists generally advise having an aditional 40GB of space available for temporary files that will be removed after the install process, so you will need at least a total of 344GB free disk space on your system to download and install Tuxborn. Deck users, the downloads and install can live on different storage (Internal and SDCard). This is covered in more depth in the Steam Deck install guide. If you do not have enough disk space on deck, or just don't want to run Wabbajack there, you can install Tuxborn on any other system that will run Wabbajack, and then transfer the modlist install directory to the Steam Deck. If you are using this method, you do not need to transfer the Downloads directory, only the Install directory, so you will need at least 184GB of free space on the Steam Deck or SD Card.
Tuxborn can only be installed using the Wabbajak application. There are different meethods required depending on if you are running the Wabbajack installation on Windows or Linux/Steam Deck.
As mentioned above, it is now possible to run Wabbajack directly on the Steam Deck (or any Linux system), though this method is still considered experimental until we get more data with regards to full success rates. If you wish to use this method, see the Steam Deck Install Guide. Alternatively, you can download Tuxborn using a Windows system using the below Windows instructions, and then transfer the Modlist Install Directory to the Deck (see here for some methods of transferring the data to the Steam Deck).
On your Windows system, install Visual C++ x64 & .Net Runtime v5desktop x64 – these are required to run Wabbajack.
Download the Wabbajack application from here and place it in a folder such as C:\Games\Wabbajack – Do not place it in Program Files, Downloads, or on your Desktop.
Very soon, Tuxborn should be available directly from the Wabbajack Modlist Gallery, but for now, you will need to download the .wabbajack file from the Tuxborn Nexusmods Page. This will download a 7zip file archive with the .wabbajack file contained within. Extract it somewhere easily accessible.
Open Wabbajack, and click the “Install from Disk” option.
Browse to where you downloaded and extracted the Tuxborn.wabbajack file, select it, and click OK.
Enter the details for where you want to store the Modlist Installation and Downloads directories - do not select a directory in Downloads, Program Files or on the Desktop - use something like C:\Games\Tuxborn instead.
Click the Cog icon in the top-right of Wabbajack, then 'login' next to the Nexus Mods button and enter your Nexusmods account details.
Once ready, click the Play button in Wabbajack to begin the Wabbajack process.
Downloading any Wabbajack Modlist can take a while - how quickly it completes will depend on the speed of your internet connection and processing power of your PC.
Steam Deck Users: If you plan to use one of the BFCO profiles, due to a clash between RaceMenu, Steam Input and Bethesda "helping", you will need to add steamdeck=0 %command% to the launch options in Steam:
You should also temporarily map the 'R' key so that you can initiate the Character Naming pop-up during character creation. You could for example map it to one of the back buttons using Steam Input configuration. This is only needed for Character Creation. You can thank Todd for this requirement.
All Players:
There are six MO2 Profiles to choose from. Select the profile you want to use in the top left of MO2.
To start the Tuxborn, make sure “Tuxborn” is selected in the top right, and then click Play!
Steam Deck/Linux Users: There are known issues on first launch of any modlist running via Proton. Such as:
- Crash on first launch during shader compilation
- Anniversary Edition Content prompt:
Press A followed by X, and X again on Deck/Gamepad, or Enter, Escape, Escape on keyboard. You do not have to re-download the CC Content.
- Lack of some controls during Character Creation - restart Tuxborn one last time
- Can't name Character on BFCO Profiles - see above guidance for adding
steamdeck=0to launch options.
Tuxborn makes use of the Alternate Start - Life another life SSE mod - this allows you to select an alternative location or settings to start your journey. We have deliberately removed some of the alternate start options as they proved to be buggy or cause issues further into a save.
After making your Character, PLEASE WAIT until there are no longer any notification messages show in the top-left of the screen.
When no more messages are displayed (the finaly message should be "Museum List Build Complete", and does take quite a while to appear, but only needs to happen once), pick up the book ont he table, and then speak to the statue and select your Alternative Startm then sleep in the bed as directed to being your adventure!
There are a few changes to the keybinds/buttons in use with the BFCO-based Tuxborn Profiles. The keybind/button changes are:
Controller
X = Dodge/Sprint
LB = Block with 1h+Spell
LT = Block everything else
RB = Heavy Attack
RT = Light Attack
L3 = Shout/Power
Dpad Left = Sheath Weapon
Dpad Down = Sneak
Keyboard
V = Block with 1h+Spell
Alt = Dodge/Sprint
G = Heavy Attack
M1 = Block everything else
M2 = Light Attack
(Keyboard users on the BFCO profile will need to select the Combat Keyboard Keys under optionals and disable Tuxborn Combat Controller Input in MO2.)
Thieves Guild Requirements: Sneak Skill: 50, Pockets Picked: 25, Items Stolen: 250
Most have been delayed with Rebalancing Anniversary Edition, you can check the mcm in game for details. Some notibales changes are:
Saints and Seducers: Level 30
Hendraheim: Level 25
Myrwatch: Magicka level of at least 350
Gallows Hall: Level 35
Beyond Reach: At level 25 in a large city in Skyrim.
VIGILANT: After level 25 in the Windpeak Inn.
GLENMORIL: After level 30 at the maingate of Falkreath.
UNSLAAD: After level 40, by touching the doll in the High Hrothgar courtyard.
Gray Cowl: After level 10, be the dragonborn and finish the thieves guild. Steal something to start.
Moonpath: Part of Lotd, will start when collected enough for the museum and after the Way of the Voice.
Moon and Star: After the Way of the Voice in any settlment in Skyrim.
AHO: Visit the Braidwood Inn and investigate a suspicious orc at Mixwater Mill.
Helgen Reborn: At level 20 and after Bleak Falls in any settlement in Skyrim.
Forgotten City: At level 25 in any settlment in Skyrim.
Undeath: At level 30 with Enchanting 50 and Conjuration 75 look for a note in the Silver-Blood Inn.
The Wheel of Time: Other side of the river of the Riverwood mill.
If the mod/quest isn't listed above, please check the orginal mods page for how to start it, or what the requirements are.
Steam Deck Specific:
Boot Time of the game - Modded Skyrim can take an awfully long time to boot on Steam Deck. Even more when you have as much content as Tuxborn does, and have so many methods applied to try and squeeze out every FPS we can. Timing on the original LCD Steam Deck, it takes roughly 10 minutes to fully load the game to the main menu. We have tried to bring this down, but is part of the cost of having so many mods included in the list. If we discover any way to lessen this initial load time, we will absolutely implement it.
Please report bugs or issues to the appropriate Discord channel, as described at the top of this page. To file a bug report, you must have NO ADDITIONAL MODS OR HAVE MADE ANY CHANGES TO THE MODLIST. Always include which profile you are running (Deck/TuxBFCO - Deck, Deck CS/TuxBFCO - Deck CS or Desktop/TuxBFCO - Desktop)
CTD/freezing - Please include the following information:
- Is it repeatable or not?
- What were you doing at the time, where are you, with whom?
- Which proton version have you selected (If running on Steam Deck/Linux)?
- Always include the crashlog in Documents\My Games\Skyrim Special Edition\SKSE or /home/user/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/$APPID/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/My Documents/My Games/Skyrim Special Edition/SKSE/crash-$DATE.log if on Deck/Linux. Protontricks will tell you the $APPID.
- Where possible, include your nearest save game. This can be found in Tuxborn/Profiles/[Profile Name]/Saves
World conflict/Weirdness
- Please Include at least one screen shot.
- Is it just ugly or does it get in the way/break something?
- Make a new save and include it the report. Save games can be found in Tuxborn/Profiles/[Profile Name]/Saves
Broken Quests
- Does reloading an earlier save and redoing it fix the issue?
- Make sure it's broken and that you are not just missing something.
- What were you doing at the time, where are you, with whom?
- Did you do anything weird before hand or use setstage in the console?
- Make a new save and include it the report + plus your most recent save before that. Save games can be found in Tuxborn/Profiles/[Profile Name]/Saves
Please note that Pull Requests to this github for small issues may have the suggested change applied without performing a merge. Please create an Issue describing the correction instead.
Before updating please backup your saves and CharGen presets, just in case. Repeat the same steps with Wabbajack from the Installation section, but make sure you toggle on the “Overwrite Existing Modlist” checkbox in the bottom right.
Unless otherwise stated, generally Modlist version 0.0.X updates are save-safe, any others are not.
Steam Deck users that used the Wabbajack on Windows plus transfer method to get Tuxborn onto the Deck, can either use Wabbajack directly on the deck to update the list, or use an application such as WinSCP to correctly update the Tuxborn data on deck. See this guide for details.
You are free to install you own mods into Tuxborn, but this voides your offical support. If you do still want/need help look for the #modlist-modifications channel in the Aetherius discord. It's higly recomand that you look at these guides before you make any changes Lively's modding wiki and Althro's resources
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It takes ages to load the game! - Yes, especially on handhelds, it can take 10 minutes to fully load. Sadly this is unavoidable with the mount of content and the hardware of most handheld devices.
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An update has been released, how do I update Tuxborn? - Windows users can see here for guidance on updating the list, while Steam Deck users can see here
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On Steam Deck, Mod Organizer closes instantly when I press play! - Mod Organizer will crash if you use the touchscreen while in Desktop mode on the Deck. We do not know why, but will implement a solution if one is found.
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How do I disable Stamina drain on Sneak? - This is part of Blade and Blunt. You can disable this feature but adding the following line to the Bladeandblunt.ini file contained within the "Tuxborn - Settings" mod entry under the "Patcher Output" section in MO2:
bEnableSneakStaminaCost = false -
It's too dark at night! - This can be a side effect of the lighting mods. The best option here is to craft a lantern and attach it to your character.
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Using Survival mode, I have levelled up but didn't get the option to increase my skills! - This is part of Static Skill Levelling. Once you sleep, you will be able to apply the skill points.
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How do I change resolution or the Framerate limit? - These are both controlls by the SSEDisplayTweaks.ini contained within the "Tuxborn - Settings" mod entry under the "Patcher Output" section in MO2.
Omni and Ouroboros would like to thank the entire Wabbajack community for being so awesome, but with a special mention for Althro, Cacophony, Arnold, Foamimi, colinswrath, Diana TES GotH, Styyx and Zooey, who have been a great help in us getting this far.
