Skyrim mod transforms Falkreath into an impressive city with a fully functional Oblivion-style arena

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Falkreath's arena in Skyrim alongside a warrior from Oblivion.
Credit: RedBag on Nexus Mods.

Modders have put an awful lot of effort into making sure Skyrim has continually evolved and expanded in the years since it was first released into the world.

Many have focused on changing the game by adding massive new questlines, redesigned mechanics, and plenty of cheese wheels to it, with a few even going as far as gifting Vampire Lords a plethora of new powers or giving you the chance to become high priest of your own temple.

If you’re someone who’s more interested in finding somewhere interesting to hang out between dungeon delves and you don’t fancy the isolation of retreating to a coastal manor or a private spa, a new mod might be worth taking a look at.

Feel like firing up Skyrim and fighting to become the champion of Falkreath’s new arena this weekend?

The mod in question is called ‘RedBag's Falkreath’, and, as you might expect, is the work of modder RedBag. Some of their previous projects have overhauled other towns and cities throughout the province, including Rorikstead and Solitude, as well as giving you the keys to a cosy Druid’s hut.

This time, they’ve decided to rebuild Falkreath, a settlement that feels like little more than a village in the vanilla game, into a majestic metropolis worthy of its storied history.

In order to achieve this, the mod outfits the town located at the heart of the Pine Forest with an array of unique architecture, which includes some new additions in the form of imposing walls with guard towers, a couple of houses and a stave church.

That said, the enhancement that’ll likely excite adventurers, especially those who’ve visited Oblivion’s Imperial City, is a fully functional arena that you can pay to challenge some of the extra NPCs also added to the hamlet by the mod to duel you in, as shown in the preview video below.

Winning one of these skirmishes will seemingly allow you to earn double the amount of gold you wagered, meaning they’ll probably be pretty useful for early-game characters trying to build up money, as well as an interesting diversion for those who’ve already earned their fortune.

The former is pretty serendipitous, as RedBag strongly recommends that you start a new game after installing the mod, due to its “complexity and invasiveness”, which can only be partly subdued by the collection of patches that’ll help it to get along with a lot of the other works that might be in your load order.

Meanwhile, if you’re after a player home nearby to retreat to between arena bouts and don’t fancy the hut mentioned earlier, JJerem’s ‘Hunter's Treehouse Player Home’ might be a good shout.

Regardless of whether your Dragonborn is already starting their ascent to colosseum stardom, make sure to follow us for more updates on The Elder Scrolls 6 and the interesting world of Skyrim modding. You can also check out our mods of the month for March 2023.

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